"You okay Roche? You look like you've swallowed a plug of ghostleaf..." Ernesto said as he returned to the little gatherin' by the sand.

  I didn't have the guts, the sheer meanness in me to tell anyone in that courtyard the truth for my clenched jaw and sudden, glare.

  It would've been rude. Downright disrespectful to up and tell Raphael I'd rather have whatever cash I had been entitled to than his lessons. Would've been a bit like spittin' in his and Ernesto's faces.

  Well, that's how I felt.

  So instead I kept a tight lid on it and played my reaction off.

  "Just a little tired," I said, "and sore. Been a busy couple days."

  Ernesto nodded, "Yes. I understand. I heard you went through a very difficult time on that University expedition. One of my cousins was set to go out on the supply caravan that would've followed your own arrival. She never made it there, thank the Hearthmother."

  Raphael and Esmee nodded along with the genuinely distraught lookin' Ernie. Seemed like he was one of the fellers with, what do you call it?

  Empathy?

  Poor guy.

  "Yeah," I said, "the, uh, the Wyrm was... got worse in the Vault. Don't want to talk about that though. If it's all the same, let's not."

  "Oh. Uh, sure," Ernesto agreed with a nod, "Auntie, can you bring those pastries now?"

  "Of course," the older, and clearly more perceptive woman said, her eyes lingering on my face a moment longer, and then she walked back into the house.

  "Right," Raphael said with a firm nod, "come sit, and eat, Mister Roche. It would do no good to start our first lesson on empty stomach."

  "Lesson?"

  Raphael grinned and gave a shrug, "Alexander is a clever one. I can't say no to a favor like this, no matter the cost. It's so rare to meet another person who's chosen a Path so close to my own. We're rare breed Mister Roche, those you embrace a monster's soul."

  Ernie blinked, and then he gasped, "No? Really? I knew Raphael was mad enough to use a Matrix containing a bound soul, but you Mister Roche?"

  Godsdammit Alexander! What the fuck did you put in that letter? What happened to keep my secrets you slimy back-dealing, strong-armin', son-of-a-bitch!

  Both men raised their brows at my expression, and at the roil of corded flesh beneath my gloves. it was reflex, instinct that called for me to think about survival, about what I might need to do and-

  And I sighed, and took a deep, calming breath. Pushed that animal part of me down. Alexander had had me by the balls already. If he told Raphael, it was because safe to do so. He wouldn't out on his investment by spilling this secret at least.

  "I was not aware," I said with a tight smile, "that our mutual friend was explicitly aware of, and inclined to share that information, Mister Raphael. Far as I knew, not many people were supposed to know that," I gave the man a dead eyed glare, "not many at all."

  The short man gave a shrug, "Well yes, best to keep it under one's hat. There are traditionalists in my own family who deride my choice to embrace the road less traveled. Though it's quite common in my mother's people, they've been drawing strength from the Heretic's way for centuries. Likely as soon as the old paradigm was broken."

  Ernesto nodded along, "Yes. You'll find that many Della Luna's are... a bit out of the norm. We're a family of oddities, a natural consequence when our policy has always been to adapt and overcome. When my grandfather first came to the fledgling colony of Agustus' Hope, he brought with him a single idea. A new way, for a new world. It's what we stand for, and what we do."

  "And what is that, exactly?"

  I knew they was rich, but still didn't really know why. Something to do with ships maybe? That'd explain them living so close to the docs.

  "Trade," Racheal cut in, "specifically with the Outcast tribes that are... shall we say, more open to the Empire's ways. We keep slavers from their lands, they sell the family specialty goods, guide our merchants in the deep deserts and the untamed jungles. It's fairly mutual, though I'll admit, we come out ahead on the whole."

  I nodded. No one was ever just a merchant. Even the nicest ones, the most honest, always had a dagger behind their back. It was necessity in a world as tangled as this, good manners and better sense demanded it.

  This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

  "Anyway. Enough about boring family business," Raphael said, "rest assured that the nature of your Patron will remain confidential, there's a reason the master of Hope's Hunter's Guild sent you my way, besides the fact that Ernie here owes you. Now, what is it that you wish to learn?"

  "I don't rightly know," I replied, and gave a shrug, "my Patron claimed my growth was stalled until I mastered all my, uh, gifts. They got number and shit next to them in my book," I said drawing out the small Rune Book.

  "Ah, I've seen one of those. Very useful. A bit too expensive for the average Hunter though, isn't it?" Ernesto said leaning over to peek at the contents.

  "I killed a man for it," I lied. He drew back.

  "Oh. I, well, that's... I'm sorry."

  I shrugged.

  Raphael leaned over and gave the book a long look, "Ah. Yeah. Can I see how you constructed your Path? I assume by the scar on your cheek you did it with a knife rather than ink? If I can see the physical structure you carved in addition to the contents of your Rune Book I can much better advise and train you."

  That made sense. Gotta see the problem to start fixing it, right?

  I looked around, there were still a few kids playing in the sand where Raph and Ernie had just dueled. I wasn't shy, but it seemed a bit odd to do it out here, where anyone could watch.

  "Goes pretty far down. Wouldn't mind privacy for that."

  Raph gave me a questioning look, but Ernie seemed to get it.

  "We can use my rooms. Let's wait for auntie and lunch first though. She would be very... cross with me if I asked for refreshments and did not stay to enjoy them."

  He did not need to say more. That woman plainly scared me.

  I made sure to be extra polite and thank her well when she brought cakes and tea, and well I couldn’t find a word for most of it, Outcast fare, but it was good. The natives of the New World had that same love for honey and spice as my mama’s people. The little pepper cakes especially remind me of home, just the right burn.

  I waited a quarter hour or so and we all sat on the low couches, had a bite and talked. About little things, about the weather, the city, all the things that didn't matter and could be safely ignored.

  Once we were done though, Ernie showed us to his quarters, and I started getting undressed. I felt oddly about two men watching me do so, but, hell it was just my skin and bits. Weren't like either of them was here to see my ass, or whatever else they might fancy.

  I had to remove the glove and the jacket first.

  "Don't uh, don't mind my mutations none," I said as I revealed the mass of thick, squirming tentacles that imitated a human arm and hand.

  Ernie stared and his lips parted, Raphael leaned in to look, extending a hand to touch without permission, "Incredible, the structure is so complete," he muttered and jerked away.

  "What's with you Luna boys and grabbin' a man," I snapped, a bit more harshly than I meant, and started hauling off my best. Damn thing was worn, the straps fraying and the monster hide scales scuffed and scarred. I'd need to replace it soon, and maybe invest in a nice bit of real armor.

  If the next job was as bad as the last one, and I had to assume life would only get worse thanks to all my new friends, it'd be worth the coin.

  "It is a strange thing," Raphael agreed, "we're a very tactile people. But I'm sorry if it offended you. My apologies. It's just rare to see such transformation mutations. They are normally limited in the scope and effect. What is your Patron? I would guess some dendric spirit, Dryad or-"

  "A Kraken bartender."

  Ernesto blinked, "You're shitting me. You are a truly fascinating man Mister Roche. I so glad it was you who got me out of that damned box!" Ernie laughed, like his abduction and confinement was some sort funny joke.

  I frowned.

  "Yeah, me too. Now," I said and pointed to the runic scars across my chest and shoulder, "this is my Path, carved it from stem to stern. Can take my britches off if you need to see where it ends."

  Raph said nothing, only tracing the complex symbol I had cut into my skin, his face growing paler and paler. Wonder if that was plain disgust or if I'd done something wrong?

  "This is a powerful, dangerous thing. Who gave you this knowledge, and how? A pattern this advanced is the work of a lifetime," he finally asked.

  Oh. Good. I didn't fuck up.

  "Heard it was good work before too," I recalled Dierdre's words, her assumption that I'd hired somebody with experience, "like I said, did it with a knife. Just followed my instincts. Knew I wanted at least three aspects to it, the fourth," I touched below my eye. Below the eye I had accidentally popped before Temperance fixed me up, "was mostly by accident."

  "Accident, yeah, of course," Raph agreed and stepped back, his eyes wide, "so, Foundation, Structure, Crown and Star. Four cuts, impressive. Makes sense you'd hit a roadblock in development if you've laid out a Path without end. The Gods don't like completely unchecked growth. Likely one has intervened to stop you from growing into something they fear."

  Damn. Okay, Raph was good. The Bastard, my Patron, had told me just that. The Deep, his own Goddess, had indeed been the one to yank my reigns.

  "You're smart," I agreed, "so what do I do?"

  Raph smiled and shrugged, "What all good students do, Mister Roche, is study, and work, and learn. We'll focus on each of your Abilities until they hit whatever mark has been set, and then we'll move on."

  "That's a bit vague."

  "It is. But it is also the best we can do. Your own fault for embracing such lofty ambition as an endless Path. Now," he clapped, "Let's return to the field and see your Abilities in actions. The descriptions in your Rune Book were terribly vague, which is quite common when dealing with a monstrous Patron. They really like to make us squirm."

  "Sounds fair, I guess."

  I guessed it was finally time to buckled down, get my hands dirty, and finally do some honest work.

  Damn.

  I hated honest work.