Chapter 203: Meld

“I am hungry,” Lee declared as they walked through the market district of Arbitage.

“That,” Moxie said, glancing at Lee out of the corners of her eyes, “is why we are getting food. I don’t typically just wander around looking for food only to stare at it.”

“Really? I do it all the time.”

“You do?” Noah raised an eyebrow. “I’m not surprised about the hungry part, but I’ve never seen you actually hold back from eating something that you wanted to.”

Lee shot Noah a pointed look. He thought for an instant, then realized that he’d yet to actually see something that Lee couldn’t eat. Noah had had just thought that, just because Lee could eat just about anything, that didn’t mean she actually enjoyed it.

Might have been wrong about that one. She’s definitely eyeing that food vendor’s cart – the literal cart.

“Maybe we should just get something fast,” Noah suggested. “I’ve been eating Evergreen’s fancy crap for a week now. I wouldn’t mind just sitting down and eating a normal meal.”

“Like what?” Moxie asked as they came to a stop at the side of the street, moving to get out of the way of passersby. “I was thinking something substantial.”

Noah scanned the vendors around them. There was no shortage of food, but his eyes quickly caught on a man with a variety of pies displayed on his cart. They ranged in shape and size, with a surprising amount of variety in their color. It looked like he’d distilled a rainbow into pie-form.

I know Moxie loves pies, and I don’t think Lee could care less about what we end up eating as long as we eat something.

“What about those?” Noah asked, pointing to the pie vendor. Moxie’s eyes lit up, but she quickly got her expression back under control and gave a small shrug.

“Are you sure? They’re a little… plain, don’t you think? I thought we’d want to do something more celebratory because everyone passed the exam.”

“Nothing wrong with that,” Noah replied. “Plain can be good, and I think I want pie right now. What about you, Lee?”

“Don’t care. Just put food in my mouth.”

Noah suppressed a laugh and the three of them walked up to the cart, much to the vendor’s delight. A few minutes later, they headed off with a small pile of pies in each of their hands.

They’d initially only planned to buy one or two each, but one thing had led to another and Lee’s insistence to try out every single flavor managed to win the other two over. When they all made it back to the teacher’s lodgings and got to Moxie’s room, Noah was more than slightly surprised that they’d managed to make it without dropping anything.

The three of them deposited their haul on Moxie’s desk, balancing everything precariously on it. By the time Noah stepped back to admire his handiwork, he couldn’t help but notice that Lee’s pile was considerably shorter than his and Moxie’s.

They both glared at her.

“What?” Lee asked, wiping some blueberry filling from the side of her mouth. “I tripped on the way up the stairs and some of the pies fell into my mouth. There was nothing I could have done. You wouldn’t want pies that I slobbered on, would you?”

Moxie’s response was to quickly snag a pie for herself and sit down on the floor. That seemed like a wise move, so Noah did the same. Lee two-handed a pair of them and ended up just shoving both into her mouth at once.

It was a little concerning to watch her head stretch to accommodate the pies – especially when she didn’t remove them from the tiny metal platters they came on – but Noah had seen Lee eat enough corpses to be more than used to it.

The three ate in silence for a few minutes, enjoying the food and the distinct lack of sour old women glaring in their general direction for the first time in a week. Once everything had been polished off, they all leaned back and let a few satisfied moments pass.

“That was good,” Moxie said, a small smile on her face. “Even if Lee ate the vast majority of the food.”

“It’s not like either of you could have eaten much more,” Lee said defensively. “I was just saving you from popping.”

“If you knew that, why did you insist we buy so many?” Noah asked.

Lee turned her head to look at him. Noah rolled his eyes.

“It was a rhetorical question, Lee. I think we all knew why.”

Moxie pushed herself to her feet with a grunt. She walked over to her cabinet and rifled through it for a few seconds before letting out a satisfied huff and pulling free a small vial full of glittering blue liquid.

“What’s that?” Noah asked as Moxie rejoined them on the floor. “Not more of your wake-up potion, is it? I’m still convinced you’re just a day drinker.”

Moxie rolled her eyes. “No, it isn’t. This is something we talked about a while ago. A Mind Meld potion.”

“That… doesn’t sound very friendly,” Noah said carefully, studying the vial in her hands suspiciously. On closer inspection, it looked like the vial was split in half by a thin sheet of glass running down its center. “Generally I prefer my mind un-melded.”

“As do I,” Moxie said. “But the better ones weren’t within my budget, and I’ve been stuck at a bottleneck for a long time now. You said you could fix my Runes, but you’d need to get into my soul. This is the easiest way to do that. I gathered a few Runes to fiddle with and at this point, I'd honestly take the setback over having useless Runes.”

Lee licked her lips. Moxie caught the gesture and nodded to the cabinet. “There’s another one in there for you, Lee. I bought two – but make sure you don’t drink it yet. You need to take half, then have the person that’s visiting your head drink the other half.”

“Looks like it tastes like blueberries.”

“It probably doesn’t,” Moxie said. She turned to Noah. “I know we just got finished with the exam, but I don’t know when I’ll get another chance to really focus on myself again in the near future. I don’t want to waste any time. That is if you’re willing to help, that is. I don’t know if you need to do some form of setup, or–”

“I can do it now,” Noah said, raising a hand to cut her off. Moxie looked flustered, which was a state he wasn’t used to seeing her in.

I guess she doesn’t really go around asking people for help much. I will refrain from making fun of that. Relying on others is good, and I don’t want to keep her from doing it in the future.

Moxie closed her mouth and nodded, holding the vial out. “Okay. So we both just drink half of this, and as long as I drink first, you should get pulled into my mind for an hour. Is that long enough?”

“Should be,” Noah replied. He paused for a moment, then cleared his throat. “You’re completely confident that this is safe, right? I don’t want to find out what would happen if my mind somehow gets stuck outside my body.”

“They’re not strong enough to permanently move somebody’s soul,” Moxie said with a shake of her head. “If anything, it’s more likely that the potion doesn’t last long enough or doesn’t do anything at all. It won’t get you stuck.”

“Great,” Noah said. “Lee, could you watch over us, then?”

“I’ll return the favor once Noah goes to fix your runes,” Moxie added.

Lee clambered to her feet, rubbing her stomach. “Okay. I’ll make sure nobody intrudes.”

“And you won’t drink your potion early,” Moxie said, sending Lee a pointed look. “Because then you’ll waste it, and I’m not going to buy you a second one.”

“Won’t drink it early,” Lee promised.

Moxie nodded, then glanced at Noah. “Now?”

“Now works.”

Pulling her grimoire out, Moxie opened it to a blank page and sat it on her lap. She dug her thumb into the cork at the top of the vial, then popped it off and placed the vial against her lips. Moxie tilted it back and downed her half in one go. She handed the half-full vial over to Noah.

There was a smaller cork on the top half of the vial that had kept the rest of the potion from pouring out. Noah pulled it out, then lifted it to his mouth and drank. A faint tingle ran down the back of his throat. The potion tasted vaguely like grass and copper.

A gentle buzzing sensation picked up in the back of his head. Noah swayed, his brow furrowing as his surroundings turned fuzzy. Moxie laid down beside him, and Noah quickly copied her before he collapsed.

I’d probably end up hitting my head and dying. As amusing as that would be, I’d rather not waste the potion.

Those were Noah’s last thoughts before he felt his mind lurch abruptly. Moxie’s room vanished from around him, and there were several seconds of nothing but darkness.

Then, with a lurching pop, color bloomed once more. Thick, colorful trees rose up all around Noah as he found himself standing in a beautiful, sunlit clearing. Moxie sat across from him, but her Arbitage uniform had been replaced by a plain green shirt and brown pants.

“This is… odd,” Noah said, glancing around.

Moxie frowned. “You don’t like it?”

“Nothing like that. Your mindspace is just really different from mine,” Noah said quickly. “It’s very beautiful – but where are your Runes?”

“We’ll have to pull them out. The soul naturally forms defenses when something that isn’t meant to be here arrives. I tried to resist it, but I’m nowhere near strong enough to have complete control over my subconscious.”

Noah rubbed his chin. He couldn’t see the edges of Moxie’s mindspace, but the foliage around them was so dense that it could have been a few feet away and he wouldn’t have known. Either way, it really was quite beautiful. There was something about it that made him feel at peace, even though Noah couldn’t place what it was.

“Is your soul always like this, then? Just with Runes in addition to the trees?”

“Yeah.”

“It’s nice,” Noah said. “Somewhere I’d enjoy spending a lot of time, if I could get away with it. Normally, nature is busy trying to kill me.”

Moxie laughed. “Yeah, it can do that sometimes. What’s your soul like, then? Typically, it becomes what you truly love. Hopefully you aren’t in a classroom.”

Noah’s brow furrowed. “I – really?”

Moxie nodded, but her smile faded when she saw the expression on Noah’s face. “Yes. Why? What’s your soul like?”

“It’s just empty. A big black void with nothing but Runes,” Noah said. He shook his head. “Now isn’t the time for that. We’re on a timer, and I don’t want to waste the money you spent on the potion. How are we meant to find your Runes? The faster I get you modified, the faster I can go back to sitting around in your mind and enjoying the view.”

I’d suggest starting by taking a little tour.

Noah spun, the blood in his veins running cold as Azel’s well-dressed form materialized behind him. Tiny motes of red ash drifted away from his eyes as a cocky smile passed over his face.

“What the hell are you doing here?” Noah demanded, taking a step back and reaching for his Runes.

“Come now, Noah.” Azel shook his head in mock disappointment. A hungry grin passed over his lips. “Our souls are bonded. Anywhere your happy little soul goes, I follow. Don’t look at me like that. This will be fun. Just the three of us, spending a little quality time together. What could possibly go wrong?”