Octavian stood in stunned disbelief for nearly a minute. The man’s domain swept over the room in a dozen different ways as he tried to trace Moxie. He kicked the pile of dirt and bone where she’d once been in search of the faintest clues and scoured his surroundings for anything at all.

  It was completely pointless. His efforts turned up nothing. There was no trace of Moxie remaining. No lingering magic nor some hidden trapdoor or cleverly created physical escape plan. There was simply nothing.

  There was eventually only one option left. After all, one could only stare at an empty room for so long.

  Octavian turned and left.

  Time passed.

  Seconds. Minutes. Hours.

  The rubble that had once been Moxie shifted.

  A tiny green sprout pushed up through the dirt. Two leaves split open at its top, no more than a few grains of rice in length. But in the time it took the sprout’s leaves to expand, it had already doubled in height.

  More leaves pushed out from its length. Feelers stretched out from it and slithered across the ground like a nest of writhing snakes. The sprout grew until it was as thick as a forearm, and it was not alone. A dozen other plants pushed up in a miniature forest.

  They bent at odd angles, reaching for each other instead of the light. Plants wove together, their surfaces twisting like the strands of a wicker basket. Pulses of magic carried through the rapidly growing ecosystem.

  The plants squeezed together tighter still. They formed into the rough shape of a human, weaving everything from toes to head in blooming matter.

  And then they merged.

  Skin bloomed from where chlorophyl had been.

  And then Moxie rose once more.

  She sat up, the final traces of green leaving her hair as it melted back into its normal red hue. The ground beside her rippled as Grim reformed alongside her, every single page of his book exactly as it had been.

  Even Moxie’s clothes wove themselves back into being. Within moments, she was entirely whole once more.

  The cycle had turned.

  She stretched her arms over her head and let out a yawn. Then she rose to her feet, grabbing Grim and slinging the large grimoire over her back.

  “Death mage,” Moxie muttered. “A death mage. Seriously? That’s just rude. After all the damn effort I’ve put into my runes and formation, I’m genuinely offended that someone would reduce everything down to just a death mage.”

  Grim’s pages rustled.

  “No death mage would have made clothes when they came back,” Grim said. “Those were a good addition. Maybe you could teach that trick to Noah. You’d not believe how many times I’ve been subjected to his entirety after he’s gotten himself killed. I may have seen every part of him even more than you have.”

  “You don’t need to brag,” Moxie said. “And I can guarantee you that you haven’t seen more of him than me.”

  “Now you’ve made it sound like a competition,” Grim said with a hissing laugh. “As if—”

  “It is,” Moxie said. “And it’s not one I have any plans of losing. Especially not to a perverted book. As for the clothes, I just figured there was no point coming back naked when I could just as easily bring my clothes along. They’re all just old, natural materials, after all.”

  Grim’s pages ruffled again. “I still think we should have killed that fool. His runes would have been delicious.”

  “You’d say that about anything,” Moxie said as she shook herself off one last time. She’d still yet to get entirely used to cycling herself. Channeling her formation in a such a matter was… difficult. It wasn’t something she was confident of pulling off in anything but a controlled situation. “And he wasn’t the worst person we’ve dealt with.”

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  “He tried to kill you.”

  “Technically, he didn’t,” Moxie said. “He wanted my Death Runes. And he was fairly polite about the whole thing. Compare that to the other idiots we’ve had to put up with. Not that I’d ever agree to such a thing. But maybe it’s easier to get Soul Mend potions here than it was in Arbalest.”

  Grim grunted. “We should have killed him.”

  “Control your greed,” Moxie replied. “We don’t know if we could have beat him in a fight. And if using death magic is banned here, then drawing on a ton of it might have drawn even more attention.”

  “I am no death mage,” Grim said. “Your assistance would not have been necessary.”

  “Now you’re just speaking out of your ass. Wait. Do talking books even have an — actually, don’t answer that,” Moxie said, shaking her head. “You don’t know how strong he was. That would have been a damn stupid fight to take.”

  “I miss Noah,” Grim declared. “Noah would have fought.”

  Moxie let out a weary sigh. “Shut up. I miss him too. But you’re stuck with me for the time being — and you’re going to like it.”

  “Has anyone informed you that the act of liking something cannot be demanded?” Grim asked. “Because you can’t just go around saying that—”

  “Watch me,” Moxie said flatly. “And if you want more runes, you’re going to agree. There are more ways to get them than trying to fight random powerful mages that come to bother us. I don’t want to get myself killed in the wrong way. That trick isn’t going to work every time.”

  “Your argument is suddenly sounder,” Grim said. “Though I must point out that it seems you are getting closer to becoming Noah the longer you spend away from him.”

  Moxie snorted. “Let’s hope not. The world doesn’t need two of him. Still, though. Why is death magic banned? This is a huge pain in the ass.”

  “I couldn’t say,” Grim said. “We can investigate it when we next go to a town.”

  “That does seem to be the only option.” Moxie grimaced. Then she ran a hand through her hair and shook her head. “I really didn’t want to head back so soon. But it’s getting a bit close to the tournament, isn’t it?”

  “Around two weeks,” Grim confirmed.

  “Then we don’t have much of a choice. I can’t miss it on accident. We’ll just have to push a little bit harder before we make it to Aqua Terra,” Moxie said. “I want to be stronger before participating in anything like that. Even with the improvements I’ve made to my runes and formation… there’s still no guarantee I perform well enough to get everyone else’s attention as things currently stand.”

  “I have runes,” Grim said. “It would be a simple matter.”

  “I am aware,” Moxie said. “The problem is using the right ones. But we should get going. I can figure out the semantics later. There’s still time.”

  “Shouldn’t you fix your face first?” Grim asked. “It’s been seen.”

  “Oh. Right. I forgot,” Moxie said. She reached up, pressing her fingers to her skin. Cracks split across her features. Her skin withered and turned brown before peeling away. Clumps of plant matter fell to the ground as Plant matter crumbled away, raining down in thick clumps.

  The face that she’d worn for the past few weeks fell away entirely, leaving behind her true features. A moment later, more plants wove across her skin. Moxie’s face changed, taking on the appearance of a rather striking woman in her mid-40s.

  “The new one suits you,” Grim said. “You were wise to establish such a mask. It should prevent Octavian from recognizing you the next time you stumble across each other… though he may recognize me.”

  “That’s something we can worry about later. I can’t hide your clunky form,” Moxie replied. Then her eyes narrowed. “Wait. Did you just say the 40 year old face suits me? I take offense to that. I’m still in my 20s.”

  Grim just laughed.

  “Just because you’re unburnable doesn’t mean I can’t find another way to be rid of you,” Moxie warned Grim. “And you’re threatening your only source of runes. I’m not above being incredibly petty.”

  “Childish.”

  “Look who’s talking,” Moxie grumbled. Then she winced. “I really need to interact with someone that isn’t you. I think my mental facilities have started to degrade. Definitely too much time wandering around ancient ruins with horrible company.”

  “Rude,” Grim said. “I am not horrible company. A great many powerful mages would give almost anything to merely be in my presence.”

  “And they’re probably all pricks,” Moxie said. She adjusted her mask slightly, aging it down a few years.

  “They are,” Grim admitted. “Shall we be rid of this place? I grow weary. I want to see something interesting. Go cause drama. It’ll be more interesting than rooting around in old caves for weeks on end.”

  Moxie grunted. “That, at least, I can agree with you on.”

  She stuck a hand into her travel bag and pulled free a fluffy white cloak. For a moment, she did nothing but hold it before her. A small smile pulled at the corner of her lips as memories brushed against her thoughts.

  It wouldn’t be much longer.

  She slung the cloak around herself, pulling the hood over her head. Every trace of her presence vanished. Then she turned for the exit of the ruins and strode up the stairs toward the surface.

  The tournament was getting closer. There was only so much time she could spend getting ready. Nothing would ever be perfect… but the rest of her preparations could be handled on the road.

  It was just about time she made her way to Aqua Terra.

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