Lexie's eyes popped open as it hit her, and she met Dewie's gaze.

"What?" Dewie sounded alarmed. "What did you see? Are my pathways that messed up?"

"No, it's just…" Lexie didn't want to tell him much, at least not until she was sure of what she'd seen. She had definitely detected subtle mana emanating from his soul, nothing as strong as Xena's, but still present. But she had to be sure that everyone else's soul didn't have the same thing.

"Hey," she called out to Jace, who was making his way toward them with a tray of food. "Can I hold your hand and read your pathways real quick? There's something I need to check."

"Uh…sure thing…" He took the seat beside her, put down his tray, and held out his hand. "How long is this gonna take, 'cause I'm really hungry. Or can I eat through it?"

"Sure," she said, shutting her eyes, and as he chewed, she quickly scanned his pathways and uncovered his soul. She searched through the particles she could sense, and did not see even a single trace of mana.

Still, that didn't mean anything. Jace could be the weird one here.

Later, she managed to try it with Anais, who wanted to practice solo with Lexie. While they were in the gym, attacking robot mannequins, Lexie asked, "Hey, do you mind if I do something kinda weird but totally harmless?"

"Sure," Anais spoke while still levitating one of the mannequins. "What is it?"

"Um…" How to explain? "So, I was thinking about making a card for you that makes telekinesis easier. That way you're not focusing so hard, and so you can lift more than one thing at a time."

Her eyes brightened. "Wait, you can make that?"

"I'm not sure. I want to check your pathways first, to see exactly how your skill works. That'll give me an idea of what to make."

"Neat." Anais set the mannequin down where it was and turned off its mechanism before she walked over to Lexie. "What do I need to do?"

"Just hold my hand while you try to levitate something."

"Okay. Wait, is this why you were holding hands with Dewie and Jace at lunchtime?"

"Yeah." She didn't know Anais had been watching.

"Oh. I thought it was something else." She held out her hand, and Lexie took it, immediately letting herself sink into focus mode.

She poked around Anais' pathways, watching them shift and form as she activated telekinesis. Lexie's pathway imaging must have improved with how often she used it, as she was starting to see the components of the pathways even more clearly. She also poked around the soul, but nothing popped out at her. No glow or mana was emanating from the particles.

She soon released, because maintaining a soul link to hers, while observing another soul, was an interesting and disorienting experience, like looking into a carnival mirror.

"Okay, I think I got it." Lexie opened her eyes and let go of her hand.

"Sweet. So you can make the card now?"

"Maybe," Lexie said again. "Now we have to spar, and you have to try to hurt me."

Anais grinned. "With pleasure."

The ensuing fight consisted of Anais mostly throwing things at Lexie and Lexie fighting back with her Party Planner Cards, not enough to win, just enough to stay ahead of her. The goal was to draw out the fight and to work herself up enough that she would hopefully get an intent for the telekinesis card.

Unfortunately, she didn't get the intent during the fight, but maybe it would come to her later, when she had time to think.

Two things happened on Lexie's way back to her lab. The first was that she got a text from Torin saying,

Torin: I heard you passed your simulation. Well done.

He even added a smiley face at the end for good measure. It made Lexie smile. That must have taken a lot out of him.

Lexie: Thanks! Just trying to be like you, big T.

The last sentence was a joke, but Torin replied earnestly.

Torin: Don't be like me. Be your own person.

For some reason, Lexie found that hilarious and started cracking up.

As she crossed the courtyard, she spotted two groups of students, first and second years, hurling insults and magic at each other. Openly fighting wasn't an unusual occurrence at Victoire. Fighting was allowed as long as it didn't cross certain boundaries and make too big of a mess.

The fight didn't look hectic enough, so it was probably fine, although it would go on for some time, given how many people were involved.

Lexie briefly debated staying to watch, but then she received a second alert from the school messaging system.

URGENT MEETING WITH HEADMASTER MELVIN JOURNEYMAN

Her breath caught when she realized she was being summoned to Journeyman's office.

She was instantly nervous. She figured Veronica had reported her for speaking Eldritch, and Journeyman was going to ask her about it. She had her excuse on deck, reciting it to herself on the way to his office.

"It was just a spell," Lexie muttered to herself. "I shouldn't have done it, and I'm sorry, but it was just a spell."

She got ready for retribution anyway. However, when she opened the doors and walked in, Journeyman didn't look to be in a scolding mood.

"Lexie Sparrowfoot," he said. "We meet again. I hope we don't make a habit of this."

"Yeah." She went in and sat down. "I'm sorry."

He raised an eyebrow. "For what?"

"For…" she hesitated, realizing that he hadn't yet told her what she was here for. "For whatever I did that brought me up here."

Journeyman's eyes twinkled, and his moustache trembled with his mirth. "You don't need to apologize for that. In fact, I was very impressed by your performance in the simulations. Despite its flaws, it was a spectacular show of bravery. We don't usually see such leadership and self-sacrifice in our students, at least until our third year."

"Oh." Relief eased her muscles. "So is that why I'm here?"

"Yes. I wanted to personally commend you for your actions. As you know, we take special interest in those who perform well in our simulations. It draws the interest of the Hero Association, and you might begin to get special privileges due to that. That does mean you might get to see action a little earlier than the rest of your classmates, and in times of crisis, you might be called on to join the third or fourth years in the field."

Oh. No.

"To be honest, I don't think I'm ready for that," Lexie said. "I didn't think things through, and my performance was probably a fluke anyway."

"There is no 'fluking' in simulations," he responded. "And by joining the hero academy, you have pledged yourself to be ready for anything, including protecting others with your life."

Oh shoot. This was not good.

He cocked his head. "That being said, I do have some concerns about your performance, and shall we say, your psychological motivations for it?"

"What does that mean?"

"I wonder what your goal was in doing what you did."

"The goal is to save people," she said. "I thought that was the point of the simulations."

"No," he said. "The goal of simulations is to save everyone. Even yourself."

"That would have been difficult in that scenario."

"It wasn't. There was a way. You simply didn't search hard enough for it," he sighed. "Life is not a game where you can take such chances and get a do-over even if you lose. Stop seeing it as such. Understood?"'

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Lexie nodded.

"Now, is there anything you want from me?" he asked. "As a reward for your performance."

"Oh. Umm, I'm not sure. I can't think of anything right…" She trailed off as a thought occurred to her. "Actually, there is one thing I wanted to ask you."

"Go right ahead."

"It's about Dewie…he um…" Dewie hadn't told her it was a secret, but she still wasn't sure how much to divulge here. "He used to see things sometimes, strange things that were occasionally predictive."

Journeyman didn't sound surprised by her assessment. He waited for her to organize the rest of her words.

"Obviously, it bothered him and made it hard for him to live a normal life, but, in a way, it was also part of what made him special. It was like a natural gift he had. He said that you said it was from a deformity in his pathways?"

"Yes," he answered. "It's called a Pyner's twist. It happens to about 0.01 percent of the magic-using population. It's typically undetectable until the individual awakens, and it's worse in people who have more mana capacity."

"Right. But see, the thing is, once you gave him those pills, he stopped seeing the things he used to see, and now, he can't even regularly use magic either."

"It takes time to correct such an error." Though Journeyman still looked unfazed, Lexie somehow sensed that he wasn't pleased with the direction of this conversation. "Is that all you wanted to know?"

"I guess," she murmured mildly.

"Good. Now, when you've thought up anything you want from me as a gift, you can come back and tell me. For now, I believe you have an upcoming meeting with Professor Madswick, don't you?"

Ugh, she'd almost forgotten about that.

"Yes," she said.

"Well, you'd better be on your way."

Lexie left his office with an unsettled feeling. There was certainly more to this Dewie thing than appeared, and Journeyman knew more than he was putting on.

She would ask her dad once he was done with work. For now, though, she had to face a meeting with the weird Professor Madswick.

She went to Professor Stein's office first, which was oddly bare of students, maybe because they weren't done de-stinking it yet. She knocked on the door and pushed it open to find him standing and staring at the wall.

"Ugh, Professor?'

His head whipped to her so sharply that she knew he hadn't heard her knock.

"Sorry, it's just that you said you wanted to be there for my meeting with Madswick, and I'm on my way there right now."

"Oh. I'll go with you."

She nodded, and he met her at the door so they could complete the short journey together.

Madswick's office was a door down from Steins, and now that she was close enough to knock, she noticed that there was a green trim around the door.

The door swung open suddenly before she could say anything, and Madswick poked his head out.

"Lexie Sparrowfoot," he said, "Come in."

As Lexie walked in, Stein leaned against the door, a challenging expression on his face. Madswick didn't look surprised to see him there, but he also didn't offer him a seat. His office was far more organized than Steins, with a host of books, trinkets, wands, boxes, and trophies on his shelf. A deck of cards also lay by a crystal ball, and Lexie wondered about it, but not enough to ask.

Unlike Stein's wall, which was plain and grey, Madswick had painted his a lively checkerboard of green and black.

"Well," he said. "I'm happy to finally speak to you, even given the circumstances."

"I'm sorry about what I did with Jett," she said. "I was just trying to help, but I shouldn't have meddled, given that I didn't know the full situation."

"Oh, that's perfectly fine," he said with a wave of the hand. "I just want to know what you did to him exactly that helped him."

Stein glanced at her, and Lexie said, "I'm not sure I did anything. The card didn't work."

"What card?"

"A Sleep Tight card. It helps with relaxing muscles for a short time, but it got destroyed when he tried to use it."

"Where did you get the card from?"

"A friend. I think he got it from a student deck."

"Which friend is this? And explain to me again how exactly the card was supposed to work?" His eyes glowed eagerly as he awaited her response.

Luckily, Lexie was saved from having to answer.

"How much longer are you going to grill her?" Stein said. "She already apologized, and the card in question did not work."

The first trace of annoyance ruffled Madswick's eyebrows as he glanced at Stein.

But he didn't argue. He leaned back in his seat and said, "I understand, and I accept your apology. You were doing what you thought was right, to help someone you felt sorry for, and that just proves that you have a lovely soul. I do like those with lovely souls."

Lexie nearly choked. Now, what did he mean by that?

Was she overreacting, or could he see her Eldritch soul?

"Thank you," she said, and Stein was already straightening. Lexie followed his lead, turning at Madswick's parting words,

"I hope we talk again, Lexie Sparrowfoot."

And I hope not, Lexie thought as they left the office, closing the door behind them.

Stein looked puzzled. "That wasn't as strange as I thought it would be."

"Hmm." Stein only thought that way because he hadn't read the subtext in Madswick's words. Professor Madswick mentioned she had a lovely soul.

Did that mean he could see her soul, how it truly was?

No. It couldn't be, because her father and Naem had gone through a lot of trouble to hide it. Madswick wasn't supposed to know there wasn't anything wrong with her.

He could just be referring to her soul damage, but soul damage wasn't lovely.

Lexie sighed. Yet another thing to ask her father.

Lexie went back to her lab and began to read a few articles, hoping to find the information she needed about Dewie's soul and Pyner's twist.

At around five thirty, right before dinner, she finally video-called her dad again, and he was at a dining table.

"Hello, honeybee."

She smiled. "Hi, Dad. Are you eating?"

"Yes. I'm having dinner at Emma's house. I've been so busy lately, I haven't had time to cook, and she's worried I'm getting too skinny."

"Emma cooked for you?" Lexie's eyebrows raised. "And you're gonna eat it?"

"Well, beggars can't be choosers."

"I heard that." Emma called in the background.

"Sorry, Em, but even you have to admit that the consistency of this porridge is ungodly."

"Keep talking smack and I'll show you something else that's ungodly."

Lexie snorted, and Aiden chuckled.

"What's happening with you?" Aiden asked Lexie.

"Oh, nothing," Lexie said. "Just wanted to chat. How was work?"

She kept up some small talk due to Emma's presence until Aiden said, "Alright, she's gone. What did you want to talk to me about?"

"Two things," she said. "One, do you know a Professor Madswick?"

"No. Should I?"

"I don't know. He made a weird comment about me having a lovely soul today, and it made me wonder if he could see, you know, how it looked."

"I doubt it. We went to great lengths to shield your soul's...peculiarities. I doubt the average necromancy professor can tell. It's probably just an odd phrase, but tell me if he does anything creepy and I'll report him."

"Alright. The second thing is a theory I have, about some people having magic in their souls."

Her father paused. "Why do you say that?"

"Because I sensed it." She told Aiden about how she sensed mana in both Dewie and Xena's souls but not in Anais' or Jace's. She also added Journeyman's reaction to her questions.

"Not to mention, both Dewie and Xena had some kind of magical ability even before they awakened. I think maybe it comes from their soul rather than their pathways, so it might be something innate, not system-given." She spread her fingers for emphasis. "Like, real human magic."

"I see…" Aiden said slowly and chewed on the mushy porridge. "It's funny you should find out now, because while researching the Pirate's powers, I've been looking into the Accursed."

"The what?"

"They're children of the former champions of the Guardians. Champions are those who received magic from the guardians, and occasionally, that magic is passed down to their descendants through souls. I'm not sure exactly how that works, but according to my research, there have been reports of a few people popping up with traces of defective or strange talents. It happens less and less every generation, and those talents are usually diluted enough that they fizzle out with time or don't amount to anything major. But once in a while, someone has a major defective ability and the system has to deal with it."

"Why?"

"Because it's dangerous. The guardian's magic was poorly controlled, could be hard on the body, and often contained some kind of sacrifice. Most of the time, that involved pledging yourself to them in some way, giving up something you love, fighting on their behalf, or sometimes that meant sacrificing your life too."

Lexie's jaw dropped. "So Xena and Dewie could die from using their powers?"

"No," he said. "That's not what I'm saying. To be honest, I don't know too much about this, and I thought it was mostly superstition up till now. The only sources I'm finding are from some very shady sites, and most of it is anecdotal. But Journeyman might know more, which is why he's intentionally suppressing Dewie's powers."

"But not Xena's?"

"Lightlarks are different. I assume, like all elementals, their bodies are more able to bear the complexities of their powers."

"I see." Lexie wondered if that was the reason why the Lightlarks had been chosen, and why System didn't make other Light users. Perhaps they couldn't. Perhaps only a Lightlark could bear the curse of having magic in their souls.

Did it apply to other elementals, too? Did they all have magic in their soul? She should check.

She didn't get a chance. During training, she asked Torin if she could hold his hand and read his pathways, and he said very plainly, "No."

She pouted. "Why not?"

"Because I said so. Now keep running."

Lexie frowned and stuck her tongue out at him before she went back to her lap.

If only Cara were here, she thought. Speaking of which, she should call her sometime.

Lexie was busy with her research, but she tried to spend time with her friends as much as possible as the time for Xena's departure drew near.

"At least I'll be here for Monday," Xena mentioned during one of their dinners with Jace, Jett, and Dewie.

"What's happening on Monday?" Lexie asked.

Xena gaped at her. "Are you serious?" She sounded outraged. "Did you really forget?"

Oh no. Lexie instantly panicked. What had she forgotten?

She went down the list of possibilities, noting that their friendship anniversary had already passed, Dewie's birthday wasn't for another three months, and Xena's was in four months.

Oh, hold on, wait…

"My birthday's on Monday." Lexie was as shocked as anyone to find out.

Jace laughed. "Yup. She definitely forgot."

"Unbelievable," Xena rolled her eyes. "Anyway, do you have anything in particular you wanna do for your birthday?"

"No," she said. "I think I'll take an exeat and have lunch with my dad. But apart from that, I wanna keep things pretty lowkey. We can just hang out and have a small, quiet, birthday thing."

"Of course," Xena said with a glint in her eyes. "Small and quiet. Perfect."

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