"Um, Janette? The book is shaking."

  "What?"

  "The book! It's-" He dropped it as soon as it closed itself, nding by his feet with a thud. Tootsie let out a mischievous chuckle, stifling it with a hand over her mouth. She was perched up on his shoulder, leaning on one hand and enjoying their reactions while she stared down at the book. It shook and jumped and shimmied, the hard cover fpping up and down with unease before it flipped open by force. The pair stepped back with Janette hiding behind a nearby pilr, peaking over to spy on the scene.

  The pages continuously flipped until it settled down as a swirl of green dust spiraled around the novel, sweeping it into the air. It held it open carefully as soon, its pages began to leak a murky bck liquid. They hovered above the book, drawn by some unknown force and becoming a growing bck mass that began to mold and take shape. The appearance seemed reminiscent of how the book would respond back, only with the ink emerging out of the book itself. First, an oval-like shape sprung out, dripping with gooey ink. Each drop would levitate an inch from the ground before being scooped up and returned into the bck object.

  Janette recoiled as another oval sprung from the opposite end, watching the back of this thing slope downward and forking into three little feathers. She looked confused, unable to take her eyes off from seeing this thing sculp itself like some clump of cy taking the image of a feathery little bird. It was an owl to be precise, pecking underneath its wing and fluttering his feathers as if it were stretching its limbs before turning its head around one-hundred and eighty degrees to lock eyes with Janette.

  "J'Nette Ov Cicarrio, it is a pleasure to be of your acquaintance, my dy." The Owl spoke out, forming clear words from its curved beak. "You've grown into such a beautiful creature full of promise, just as I said you would."

  Janette gulped before taking a step away from the pilr, revealing herself. "Um, hello? Are you the book thing?"

  "Come now, I wasn't granted this avatar just to have my name be forgotten. It's in the cover, is it not?" He descended onto his very own book on the ground, tapping his foot on the cover to make his point. "Hmm?"

  "By the Gods, you're Vardare." She realized, addressing Felix and Tootsie with wide eyes. "He's Vardare! You're the-the-the book, the magic book, and now you're talking to me as an owl? I've been writing to an owl."

  "Nonsense, I assure you this feathery form is simply an avatar." Vardare expined, coiling his head back around to face Felix. "I asked your friend if she could help bestow me such a form, so that I may communicate with Felix freely to circumvent his illiteracy."

  "Me?" Felix pointed at himself.

  "You're welcome." Tootsie stated proudly, checking her fingernails as she made herself comfortable ying down on his shoulder.

  Vardare hooted in a manner that seemed to imitate a snicker. "None other. A fine pleasure to meet you as well, am I expressing myself clearly or should I address you in simpler vocabury?"

  Janette had stepped around him to stand next to her friends. Now that she had a closer look, she snorted just by his appearance. "Okay, the little monocle over the eye is just adorable."

  "Madam, I have never!" The owl fpped its wings and was met with his guests shushing him with their fingers pressed to their lips. They both sternly pointed his attention to the werewolf snoozing off behind bars to their right. "Right, my humblest apologies. It has been ages since I st obtained a physical presence here."

  "How does a bird live in a book?" Felix asked.

  Tootsie stood up, leaning her arm against his neck. "Conjury and Spiritual Binding is what they call it by, magic older than even I."

  "Right you are, Tootsie." Vordure hooted in agreement, adjusting his wing. "I am Vardare of House Kucuk, renowned Schor, Librarian and Scribe. I had my spirit bound into this magical text in pursuit of whatever knowledge the future may bring. Though my ambition clouded my better judgement, for in my haste I overlooked the relevance of entertainment and mobility for myself, that is until your fairy came and corrected that for me, much thanks. Cooped up in a magical prism can be quite a bore, though being under thy ownership in light of recent events has been quite entertaining if I may say."

  "Gd you find delight in our misfortune." Janette grumbled back. "Okay Vardare, I've hundreds of questions but they can all wait. Right now, please tell us how your magic works. I've been trying for years to figure you out, Dad said you could answer any questions I had but at a certain point, it felt like you just repeated what I already knew."

  The owl turned to her and cocked its head. "Well, that is because I did. My entity, my magic functions by obtained knowledge through skin contact. When an individual touches me, I gain all their secrets, all their memories, everything they know is transferred into my mind and in return, I can answer freely onto you."

  "Memories and secrets?" Felix looked uncomfortable. "That only works for owners, right?"

  Vardare chuckled. "Afraid not, Felix. I am well aware of what you and your friends have experienced, ptonically and romantically."

  Felix turned red, groaning reluctantly when Vardare approached him.

  "I am also aware of your past and what you experienced before meeting your new friends. Though you doubt your strength and choices, know that you are doing the best anyone could ask for. To seek for success in every choice is asking for the impossible, for is it not our natural path in life to learn through our life choices? And what suits for better teachers than the mistakes we learn from, or the mentors and friends we come across?"

  Felix said nothing in return, choosing to sit down and nodding back.

  "As for you J'nette, have I not told you before to pursue your interests? That includes affection, young dy. I realize that things turned for the worse before, but it's clear that you and your friend share mutual interest for each-"

  "Shshsh-shush!" Janette hissed. "There are some things I'd rather you not share aloud. Now, about this magic of yours. Sounds like it's a one way route where you stand to benefit from others."

  "Not quite, though I obtain the knowledge from others I am unable to share it freely, and as you know I am confined to this prism as well. It is for my own personal gain, nothing further of nefarious or trickster means, I promise you. Ask whatever question you desire, and by oath I must answer honestly and to the fullest extent."

  "Then why couldn't you answer me about where Perdilius comes from or how to beat him?"

  "Because I can only answer what I myself know. None of my previous hosts know anything about this Perdilius figure, no more than you do."

  "Okay," Felix muttered, raising his voice as he built up to a suggestion. "So if you can't answer what you don't know, would it help if we get you in contact with Perdilius? Would that affect what you know?"

  "Quite so, be it the man himself or any of his acquaintances, I will know what they know and share it onto thee." Vardare lowered his head as he kept silent for a moment. "I must confess, I am unable to be of service in regard to your friend and her curse. Her curse intrigues me, but I only know what you learned from her."

  "And that is?"

  "That it can be passed onto another host by bite while in her monstrous form, nothing further. I apologize that I can't help with more, but I can share from the theories of other schors regarding curses and how they function. There are ways of removing a curse completely, not just by passing the burden to another host. They are but theories, but they do offer hope for a solution. J'nette, I would recommend you invest in finding books based from the nds in the East where your friend is from. They may contribute to finding the cure to your friend Mizuki. However, I can be of greater service regarding your feline hybrids."

  "Hybrids?" Both Felix and Janette asked in unison, looking at each other.

  Vardare cocked his head and blinked. "Yes, hybrids. See, I was touched by KuliKuli and her sister Dimyri as well."

  "Maybe phrase that differently, please." He mentioned.

  "Ahem, I came in contact with the pair. I know what they know," He paused, locking eyes with Felix. "Including the memories of your partner's past life, the one she knew as Nityri."

  "How is that? Not even she can remember, not with that bump on her head."

  "Head trauma can be a cause for some memory loss, but hers is not as severe for such a reaction. I believe some part of her memory is locked away in an act of self-preservation." He expined, gncing between the two. "Felix, much like you prefer not to remember of your childhood, KuliKuli is much of the same."

  "Remarkable." Janette excimed in awe. "We can actually learn about who she was before. This could help us learn more about her past and how Perdilius found her."

  "Er, she found him." Vardare corrected her, much to their shock. "KuliKuli, previously known as Nityri, was the one to make first contact with Father Perdilius."

  "B-By force?" He asked with a shaky lip.

  The owl shook his head. "By choice, and no bckmail either. I must warn you that should you investigate into her past, you may uncover more than you have prepared yourselves for. Felix, this won't be easy for you to learn either."

  Janette watched her friend shift in his stool, standing up and pacing back and forth. He sighed and dragged his hands over his face, closing his eyes and leaning against a pilr. The room was still with the sound of light snoring coming from Reta in the back. Tootsie adjusted herself and patted him on the shoulder where she sat, realizing the distress he was under.

  "Was their... what was their retionship before?" He nearly choked, forcing himself to speak those words aloud.

  "There was no intimacy involved, just a cat endangered by her curiosity of the outside world."

  He shook his head, returning to them and sitting down. "First, what do you mean by calling them hybrids?"

  "Felix, he's talking about them being monster girls." Janette expined in a matter-of-factly manner.

  "Incorrect. I know plenty about Monster Girls, but your partner and her siblings are hybrid entities." He expined. "Allow me to summarize. Magic is derived from an ethereal force surrounding all life. This is what we call essence, it is the key ingredient behind essence manipution which you know as magic. Essence comes in two forms, light and dark. Most living beings like yourselves have an attraction for Light and Dark essence, this is why most of us can learn both types of Magic. Few living beings carry only one type of essence. Dark essence is attracted to most monsters including Monster Girls."

  "So, we're all hybrids?" Felix asked.

  "Yes and no. Both types of essence are attracted to you but kept in an unbanced shape. Some attract more light essence, some attract more dark essence."

  "So, Emyri would be..."

  "She likely carries an attraction of dark essence to her."

  "Wait," Janette leaned forward, frowning. "That's impossible. You can't have an even bance of both essence. Light and Dark attract toward life but repel one another. An even attraction would be paradoxical."

  "Not quite." Vardare assured her. "It is incredibly rare but there have been cases in the past, only a select few. Possible only by the joining of one who is evenly attracted to dark essence and one evenly attracted to light essence."

  Janette shook her fist as she began to understand. "You're insinuating that the father is someone of pure light essence. H-How does that happen, are they just born with it?"

  The owl looked at her with narrow eyes. "Naturally, no. There have been myths of previous occupants described as embodiments of essence, capable of moving the earth with a flicker of their hand."

  "Gods?"

  "Close, not gods per se. Children of gods, maybe?"

  Janette leaned back, sitting on the floor at this point. "So what, Angels? Demons? Demigods?"

  "Who is to say? These are but myths and legends, stories uncovered through hieroglyphs and inscribed in walls, found in the ruins of lost kingdoms and cities who raised marble statues after these myths. There exist only theories, but nothing factual. I can say this, no one can be born with an attraction of light essence only. Not by birth, but there do exists alternate routes."

  "Rituals." Janette muttered, looking at Felix. "Right?"

  "Precisely. Painful, lengthy, and only a slim margin of survivability. Undergone by only the most devout of followers who take action in the name of their selected Gods."

  "Not Perdilious, right?" Felix asked, leaning in when Vardare hesitated. "Tell me he's not their father."

  "He's a father, but not their father, biologically speaking." The owl confirmed, watching him hang his head in relief.

  "Then who?"

  "I wish I could say. Dimyri has her suspicions, she seems upset with her mother. Emyri herself may seem remorseful, but Dimyri herself is uncertain of who the father may be."

  "She hasn't said who the father is before." Felix mentioned. "Come to think of it..."

  "She tends to dodge that question, and she gets all fidgety when we ask why Perdilious is after them." Janette added.

  Felix nodded and turned to Vardare. "If you touch her, I mean come into contact with her, would that be enough to learn her secrets?"

  "Felix." Janette gasped.

  Vardare shook his feathery hind. "I'll need to return into my prism. Get her to touch my book in any way, so long as there is no clothing or object. I require hand contact, or paw in this event."

  "Felix, you're suggesting we do this by force?" Janette stood back in shock as Felix reached for the book.

  "Only if she doesn't give us any choice. Aren't you tired of all these questions?"

  "Well yes, bu-'

  "It's time we get some answers." He stated coldly. "There's something she's not telling us."

  "But what about Reta, who's watching her?" She reminded him.

  "Damn." He scowled, banging his fist on hie forehead. "I kind of forgot in the moment."

  "I can watch her but that sleeping potion may be heavy for my size." Tootsie offered.

  "Let's just calm down here." Janette rubbed her eyes, taking a seat on a dusty box. "I'll go out and call for her here."

  "Okay, sounds fine." He muttered, sitting down and pnting his chin on his hands. "It was my idea but sure, go ahead."

  "Oh don't be such a grouch. We're doing this, aren't we?" She mused, patting his arm as she walked past him. "Vardare can keep you company, I'll be back in a-"

  She crashed into the wooden door, her hand gripping the tch and sliding it open.

  "Ow, hey!" She fussed, rubbing her bruised cheek.

  Felix covered his mouth to hide his amusement from her when she snarled at him. "Don't ugh! This stupid-oomph!"

  She pushed and shoved, pressing her weight against the door only to colpse.

  "What's wrong?" Felix ran in to help her up.

  "Damn thing won't budge, give it a try. Can't seem to get it open." She panted, stepping back and watching him grunt and groan with each attempt.

  "That's not right." He whispered, tugging the door forcefully. He peeked through the small window at eye-level of the door, growing armed as he began pushing and shoving his shoulder against it.

  Sm! Sm! Sm!

  "Felix, Felix calm down, what's wrong?" She asked, watching him grow angrier and more frantic.

  From the other side of the door through the small transom window, there stood a chair shoved in to prevent the door from opening. Someone had locked them in.