Day in the story: 16th December (Tuesday)

"Bravo! Alexa, that was a wonderful spectacle. You've proven that the hope I placed in you was not in vain," Joan said once they were close enough that there was no need to shout. I had seen them approaching for some time, and Edward had noticed as well. His eyes darted back and forth between the advancing Shattered and me, as he kept trying—futilely—to break through the invisible wall separating us.

"Joan, what do you mean? What's going on here?" Edward demanded.

"My son, I apologize that we didn't stop this sooner, but we offered Alexa a partnership," Joan replied, emphasizing the word as they spoke, "and we wanted to test her abilities."

"I understand, Joan," Edward replied, and without another word, he turned and walked calmly toward the Solitary Twin.

"Does Edward have a problem with honor?" I asked, rising from the ground.

"He's working on it, but being Shattered doesn't make change easy."

"You're kidding, right? You change like a kaleidoscope."

"Only on the outside. The flaws that led to our being chosen are difficult to uproot. Not everyone even wants to."

"Did you succeed?"

"Yes," they answered plainly, with a slight smile. "I'm not ashamed of how I look, or of who I am because of it."

"Shouldn't you become something opposite to the Shattered if you managed to root out your shame?" I asked out of curiosity.

"Something that's once been broken will always bear the marks of the fracture, even if we glue it back together and repair it."

"So your God doesn't mind you acting against him?"

"We're not acting against him. Our imbalance is what caused us to be chosen, but that doesn't mean we can't work on bettering ourselves."

"I see. Of all the Gods I haven't met yet, yours seems the most chill."

"I'm glad you think so, Alexa. Do you intend to step out of your frame? You know it doesn't work on me, right?"

"Of course I know." I replied and lifted all Authority from my painting.

"Your magic is fascinating, especially to us. Is your Domain identity?"

"Something like that," I answered quickly, trying to mask my true Domain. But then I realized there was little point in hiding it if I was to be rewarded with something that would help me develop it. "In truth, it's the Domain of Artistic Creation. Identity is one of my soulmarks."

"Truly interesting. Identity, for beings like us, is of great importance. A shift in identity, character, or even a few traits could determine whether we became Shattered or not. But what you did with Edward went beyond using identity as a weapon—it touched on the very concept and understanding of it, didn't it? You have an impressive talent for grasping how to wield your power."

"To be honest, this was the first time I used symbolism in identity against someone. I thought of you all as mirrors that had cracked because they couldn't reflect what they were meant to. Mirrors have frames, and the frame's identity is to hold the mirror within it—unless, like you, the mirror shatters. Then it can never truly fit its frame again."

"The way you saw the truth of the mirror's nature is what made your magic work as it did. We are curious to see how your abilities will develop further. And we can also see that, at least in terms of resourcefulness, we made the right choice in offering you work with us. We believe you will manage the tasks we entrust to you," Joan said. "Would you care to sit?" they asked, and I nodded in response.

Once again, everything around us changed. From the concrete, grass sprouted in an instant, scattered with flowers. The metallic trunks of trees grew bark covered in moss, and their leaves no longer fractured the light of the setting sun—instead they rustled in the wind and drifted down around us whenever the breeze grew strong. Birds sang from all directions. I crouched down to touch the ground and gently pressed my fingers into the soil. It wasn't just visual trickery, the changes were real. Warm earth slipped between my fingers, falling softly like sand into the hollow I had made.

Joan sat upon a seat shaped from vines and the trunk of a tree. I took my place on the matching seat they had prepared for me.

"What would you have me do?" I asked, watching Joan's graceful posture. Was them the figure the boys had seen earlier, when they ventured beneath One World Trade? I remembered them mentioning they had spotted mages there. "Joan," I added, stirred by the thought, "in the past few days, have there been others here? I mean… were there mages?"

"I'll answer your second question first, since it will be shorter. Yes, several mages have visited us—mages who, like you, work for us. Not all humans wish us dead, and in time, you will come to know them." Joan had a tendency to deliberately restrict any gestures. I was certain it was intentional, because with my outward-seeing eyes I caught fleeting moments where their hands almost moved, only to fall still again. For now, I wasn't sure whether that meant anything.

"The task I have for you would require your ability to shift locations. Tell me, please—would you be able to safely bring someone here from the other end of the city?"

"That depends which end, but once I've found this person, there shouldn't be the slightest problem. I can bring them here without issue."

"I thought as much. I felt your authority trying to slip free of my control. It was a strong bond between your Domain and some location. An unusual movement ability."

"Thank you. I do my best."

"Your tendency to joke and downplay the seriousness of situations is quite fascinating. Earlier, you mocked the Unreflected—and us—deliberately to provoke a reaction. Now, however, it flows from you naturally. And yet, in the blink of an eye, you can switch to complete seriousness when necessary. You can change as we do, only your changes occur within your character, isn't that right? Is that also part of your magic?"

"You could say it's part of my charm."

"I see."

"This person I'm supposed to bring here, can you tell me more about them?"

"Of course. How else could you bring them here?"

Oh Joan, I thought, I truly hope you'll get used to me if we're going to work together for a while.

"Alright, I'm listening," I replied.

"We'd like you to bring to us a Reclaimer by the name of Victor Bohr. He's an engineer who builds magical devices for us. Until now, he lived peacefully in the Bronx, but two days ago he sent us word that it was becoming dangerous there for shadows like him and that he wished to relocate to us. Unfortunately, we haven't heard from him since."

"In the Bronx on Earth, or here?"

"Here, in the Shadow World."

"You mean Ideworld?"

"Yes. Ideworld is sometimes called the Shadow World. I have a picture of Victor and his previous address." Joan pulled a phone from their pocket and showed me a rather ordinary-looking shadow, dressed in a long coat. He was quite hunched, but his face was friendly, a bit plump, with sharp, almost fox-like bulging eyes. His head was crowned with a wild mane of curly, raven-black hair.

"Do you think you can get there and look for him?"

"So not just extraction, but detective work too. I'm not sure that's within my skillset, Joan."

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"If you don't want to take on this task, I fully understand. Yesterday we sent a squad of Unreflected after Victor, but it will take them quite some time to reach the Bronx."

"I can definitely get there faster than your shadows. I'm not sure how quickly—or even if—I'll manage to find him, but I'm willing to try. What do I get in return?" I wasn't planning to work for free, though to be honest, the job sounded fascinating. Besides, I already had an anchor in the Bronx, so getting to the right place shouldn't be an issue.

"I don't have any artifacts prepared that would suit your Domain, though we do have such things in our collection and could prepare one within a few days. What I can offer you right now is crystallized Authority essence."

"…Wait, what? Essence, as in the stuff you need to develop your Domain? That can be crystallized?"

"They're fragments of a Soul Core that's been destroyed. They still hold the essence. With the right method, it can be absorbed to accelerate your growth."

"Of course, I won't learn the method until after I bring you your engineer, right?"

"No, Alexa. We're willing to show you here and now. We'll give you half of the essence immediately, and the other half—together with an artifact—once the task is complete. Would that arrangement be acceptable to you?" Honestly, I hadn't expected the conversation to turn out this way. Joan was proving to be quite a surprising individual.

"Yes, but—a big 'but'—before I agree to accept anything from you, I want to know what exactly Victor meant when he said things were getting dangerous for him. How dangerous is the Bronx on this side?"

"Everywhere in Ideworld is more dangerous than on Earth, Alexa. What Victor meant was human presence, not Shadows. Some faction has opened a permanent portal somewhere in the Bronx, which has stirred up guild activity in the area." That faction was almost certainly EoT. At least now I had an idea of what I might be dealing with.

"Why would Victor believe I've come on your orders?"

Joan's brows rose slightly—were they surprised by the question?

"Thank you, Alexa. Speaking with you, we forgot that we haven't worked together long—we're only just beginning. When you meet him, tell him that Razash sends his regards—that's the passphrase for our concord. Add that you're acting under my command."

"Okay, I'll take the job, Joan. Please show me how I'm supposed to absorb this essence."

"Wait just a moment," Joan replied. There had to be some kind of telepathic link between them, their god, and the other Shattered, because shortly after, an Unreflected emerged from the building, holding a purple crystal about the size of my fist in its clawed hands.

"It's fairly simple, but it must be done within your Domain," Joan began. "You need to keep the shard of another Domain close to you and touch your soul core. You'll feel your soul trying to absorb the remnants of foreign essence and its authority."

"Okay, okay. Hold on a second. Won't this affect my Domain? Change it—or change me?"

"No. The shard is small, so your Domain will process it into pure essence without any trouble," they replied. Still, I had no intention of blindly trusting them. I'd need to consult with Dam first.

"When the connection forms between you, your soul core, and the shard, you'll sense the lingering authority trapped inside the crystal. You'll have to engage in a mental struggle to bring it under your control. If you succeed, the essence stored in the crystal will be yours."

"A mental struggle—like when two authorities clash?"

"Similar, but not the same. When mages fight each other, often the stronger authority usually simply overwhelms the weaker one, and there's little you can do. With soul core shards, the battle is harsher, because the crystal knows it's a duel to the death—if it loses, it ceases to exist as a Domain."

"That sounds promising. Thank you," I replied.

"And what about your role as Jason? Can I expect the FBI to stop chasing me and release Peter?"

"I'll do everything in my power to see that's how the investigation ends."

"And how do you plan to get to Earth? Do you have your own portal?"

"Yes. In a few moments, I'll head there and play my part."

"All right. You'll give your performance for the police or the FBI—but what then? Jason can't just vanish again, can he? I imagine his family won't let him disappear into thin air so easily."

"I'll stay for a while, until things calm down. After that, Jason will decide for himself how to resolve the dilemma."

"Fair enough. Is there anything else you'd like to tell me? Anything that could help me find Victor?"

"Unfortunately, I don't know anything more. This is a fresh case, and there's no other way we can assist. If you were one of us, it would definitely be easier for you to discover what happened to him, but we hope you can manage on your own."

"What do you mean by 'one of you'? Why would it be easier?"

"Our eyes work like the senses of the Unreflected. We can see reflections left behind in mirrors, even if their owner has long since left the mirror." That was an incredible ability—one I had just decided to… borrow.

"So that means when you look into a reflective surface, you see everything and everyone who has ever been reflected in it?" I asked, wanting to know what to expect.

"No, it doesn't work that way. We have to impose our will on the mirror. We have to indicate the person whose reflection we're looking for."

"How do you do that?"

"I'm sorry, but I'm not able to describe it."

"I understand, Joan. No problem—and I'm not planning on becoming one of you anyway." But those eyes? I would definitely make use of them.

I reached out toward the Unreflected holding the fragment of someone's soul core. Without hesitation, it handed me the crystal. It was cold to the touch, unlike mine, which radiated warmth whenever I was near.

"If that's everything, I'd better get going. I've got a lot on my plate."

"Thank you for your help, Alexa."

"I haven't done anything yet," I replied, looking them straight in the eyes.

"You've taken a step that many fear. You've granted us trust despite the differences between us."

Trust? Joan, please.

"Trust is a long way off, Joan. For now, I've merely shown interest. I'm curious to see what comes of our collaboration."

"That's a good start as well."

"I think so too. See you, Joan." I said, and without waiting for a response, I teleported first to Old Oak, and then immediately to the Lebens'.

As the world shifted around me, I began organizing my tasks for the near future. First, I needed to start searching for Mr. Victor. Second, early tomorrow morning, I would move the Penrose people to Chinatown. Third, once Joan dealt with Jason's disappearance, I needed to check what was happening at the university. Fourth, I had to arrange a meeting with someone from the Guild. And fifth, return to training. Quite a bit had piled up.

The Lebens' training room looked as if someone had set off a bomb inside—walls and ceiling riddled with holes, and some wild beast had been let loose to trample everything further. In other words, nothing had changed. Unfortunately, no welcoming committee greeted me, so I hurried upstairs to see what was going on.

The moment I opened the door, I knew I was missing out on some absolutely divine meal. Everyone was sitting at the table, calmly eating. This time it was Korean barbecue: the grilled pork gleamed like bronze-gold, lightly bathed in some kind of mushroom sauce. On the table, beautifully decorated ceramic bowls held ramen with noodles that looked hand-pulled, and the egg yolks gently melded into the broth. My stomach twisted just from the sight, and when the aroma hit me, I was knocked off my feet—literally—and I cried out of longing for a simpler life. A life I realized I had never truly had. That was the power of food.

"Jess? Honey. Are you alright?" Ariana asked, rising from the table and running toward me. Dam got up right behind her, followed by Nick and Malik. At the table, only Malik's grandmother and Caroline remained.

"Sorry. My body dramatized things a bit when I realized I hadn't eaten in ages."

"Did the conversations go as you wanted?" Nick asked.

"Yes, I think so," I answered, pausing briefly to swallow, my saliva suddenly deciding to embark on an unplanned journey toward the floor.

"Is that a fragment of Soul Core?" Dam asked, pointing at the crystal I was holding. His question made Caroline stand up from the table and come closer. I, in turn, got up from the floor to at least pretend I had some dignity when it came to food.

"Yes. I got it as an incentive to start working with them. Apparently, you can extract pure essence from it to strengthen your Domain. Is that true?"

"Yes," Dam and Caroline replied in unison. Dam continued: "I didn't mention it because it didn't occur to me that you'd be fighting inside someone else's Domain and end up with a piece of the crystal. My apologies."

"No worries, Dam. Many things are obvious to you all. I'm learning everything from scratch. I just wanted to make sure I wasn't getting some kind of Trojan horse that would explode if I brought it into my Domain."

Dam held out his hand. "Can I?"

I passed him the crystal without hesitation. He closed his eyes and began stroking it gently, feeling every detail of its surface. After a moment, shadowlight swirled inside the crystal.

"It's definitely a fragment of Soul Core. I think you can safely use it. You know how?"

"Roughly speaking," I replied.

"There's a lot of essence in it," Dam added, which greatly improved my mood.

"While you're at it, Jessica, can you tell us what's going on as we eat?" Ariana added.

"I love you," I told her. "You don't even know how much I've been waiting to hear that."

I sat down at the table next to Malik, who wasted no time devouring the meat and slurping up noodles. Not wanting to fall behind, I decided to keep him company—slurping noodles myself and piling more slices of meat onto the plate beside my bowl. With the very first bite, I surrendered to the Authority hidden in the food. I had no idea what exactly the Lebens had served me, but apparently I already trusted them completely. I only hoped that trust wouldn't betray me.

"Delicious…" I said between mouthfuls, earning a smile from both Dam and Ariana.

"Food warms you up—it's perfect for late autumn evenings. It should also soothe the pain and help your surface wounds heal," Ariana explained, without bragging in the slightest about how unbelievably tasty it all was.

"As soon as you sent us here, I called Marek—my captain in the Hexblades," Caroline began once she had flipped her piece of meat. That woman ate the way she lived: with her whole chest. "Tomorrow, we'll set up a meeting for you with a representative of the Guild." She finished with her mouth already full of another huge bite.

"You sure about that?" Dam threw in. "You know what I think about the Guild," he added, swallowing a spoonful of soup with a chunk of egg.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Caroline shot back.

"Caroline, the Guild is made up of cheats, bureaucrats, and power-hungry caricatures of people. Don't pretend you don't know that. The Hexblades might be alright, but the rest—waste of words." He added. I liked that he wasn't shy about his views. Caroline seemed to like it too—she smiled and didn't press the matter further.

"Dam, better the devil you know than the one you don't," I said.

"Let's hope you're not wrong," he replied.

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