After Lis and Mahya calmed down and realized I was okay, I turo Mahya and said, “I o finish opening your els. Do you want to do it now?”

  “Are you sure? You’re not tired?” Mahya asked, her brows furrowing with .

  “I’m fine and want to get it done,” I assured her, a small smile.

  “Okay.”

  We went to my former room, and Mahya y down on the bed. I eled Ahesia and opehe els in her legs. They were in much better dition than her arms. There were spots where they had burned shut, but mostly they were just damaged by that awful curse that devoured her mana. It took me less than two hours to open both legs, and I stopped the ahesia.

  Mana: 2,070/8,800.

  It didn’t even drain me—success!

  She woke up, hugged me tightly, and said, “Thank you,” her voice filled with gratitude.

  “You’re very wele,” I replied, patting her back.

  In the living room, I noticed big paper sheets with diagrams scattered across the table.

  I asked Lis, “What is that? Are you building a spaceship?” I raised an eyebrow, half-joking.

  “No. Mahya is an advanced engineer from a high-tech world, so she was teag me,” Lis expined, pointing to the intricate drawings.

  I turo Mahya, impressed. “Cool. What kind of engineering?”

  “Energy version power pnts, antimatter spaceship drives, crystalliructures for spaceship AIs, and various engineering skills that support those subjects.”

  I whistled. “That sounds impressive as hell.”

  She gnced down, her shoulders slumping, and her fingers fidgeting with the hem of her shirt, twisting the fabriervously. Her face flushed, and she avoided eye tact. In a small, almost trembling voice, she said, “Not really. I didn’t learn any of it. I verted skills to get them from the Guidance.”

  “Oh, so how did you end up in Faerie?” I asked, tilting my head.

  “Where?” she asked, looking fused.

  “Sorry,” I said, “That’s the popur name oh for Tír na nóg.”

  With a surprised look, she asked, “They know about it here? How?”

  “Just legends, not crete knowledge,” I expined, shrugging.

  Lis said, “With the mana levels there, those bastards probably portal.”

  “Maybe,” Mahya said, frowning, “But how will they get back? The mana level on this side is abysmal.”

  “The legends are old,” I said. “Maybe they could in the past, but now ’t?”

  Both of them looked thoughtful and heir heads. The looks on their faces made me feel like the dumbest person in the room.

  I asked Mahya again, “How did you end up in Tír na nóg?”

  “As part of an exploration initiative, I joined a mission to ize a world. I didn’t care about ization; I just wao see space,” she said, her eyes shining with tears. “So, after we found a promising p, I was stuck monit the versis in the power pnt. When a Gate appeared, I left through it because I was bored out of my mind. It was very high mana, level 94, but I survived. I traveled high mana before, but not very high mana. When I found the Gate to Tír na nóg, it was only 89 in parison, so I thought I’d be fine.” She wiped tears from her eyes and tinued, “I was wrong. That pce is a nightmare and a horror show all rolled together.”

  I gently rubbed her bad asked Lis, “You wao move to Paris for the foht?”

  “Yes, and there will probably be new workshops,” he said, waggling his eyebrows suggestively.

  I asked Mahya, “Want to e to Paris with us or tinue on your journey?”

  Once more, she gnced downward and quietly said, “I must find work; I don’t have any money or selble objects.”

  “What happeo your Ste?” asked Lis, sounding surprised.

  “One of those monsters cast something on me, and I lost sciousness. All my Ste was around me when I woke up, and those monsters ughed,” she said, her voice breaking as she started g again. I moved beside her and hugged her, and she buried her fa my ned cried.

  When I g Lis, his expression was unmistakably tense. His brow furrowed, and his mouth was set in a thin, straight line. Our eyes met, and I raised an eyebrow in silent aowledgment, realizing I’d missed a step by not asking him first. He gave a brief shake of his head, brushing it off with a curt nod, but the stiffness in his jaw made it clear he wasn’t pleased. I sent him an apologetic look and jerked my head toward his room to suggest a private chat. He held my gaze for a moment, his face easing just enough to signal he uood.

  Once Mahya had calmed down, I told her, “It’s already the middle of the night. Let’s go to sleep, and we’ll talk in the m.”

  After an, she said good night ao her room.

  I followed Lis into his room, feeling a knot of guilt tightening in my chest. The minute he closed the door, I blurted out, “I’m really sorry I didn’t ask you before invitio Paris with us. It wasn’t fair of me. Since she’s teag you engineering, I just assumed you’d wao e, but I shouldn’t have assumed. I should have asked first.” I looked down, rubbing the bay neck.

  He held my shoulders, giving it a reassuring squeeze. “Rex, it is fine,” he said, and I noticed his gaze soften. “I was just surprised, that is all. And she should e with us until she gets on her feet.”

  “I have a solution for that,” I said, hesitating.

  “What?”

  I blushed, rubbed my neck, and said, “I told you about my te wife and her parents, right?” He nodded, so I tinued, “Well, before I left Earth the first time, I robbed them as a punishment. I still think the punishment was just, but the jewelry I robbed from them always made me feel ashamed. I’m not a thief, and that I stooped so low always made me feel like a criminal. But I have no iion of returning the jewelry; they deserved it and more—they tortured Sophie over money and jewelry i days of life and made her cry all the time. So, I thought of giving the jewelry to Mahya; it will help her get on her feet and do whatever she wants.”

  “You sure about it?” he asked, looking at me seriously.

  “Yes, I pced the jewelry in the far er of my Ste to avoid looking at it. The only things I did with it were giving one piece to a an to save his life and ao a nice princess I met in Shimoor.”

  “I prefer to stay away from nobles. Most of them are shitheads, as you so eloquently describe it here,” Lis ughed, “I must say that Earth has the most colorful descriptions of things.”

  “You should go to sleep; it’s the middle of the night for you,” I said, ughing.

  “You sleep here; you lost your bedroom,” he offered, pointing to his bed.

  “Nah, I woke up five ho after sleeping for two days. I’ll go cook; I’m sure we’re out of food if three weeks have passed. Since you wao relocate, and she is ing with us, now is the perfect time to sider Paris for a bigger pce.”

  “Yes, we should, and Mahya should join us. I was just surprised. You met her for less than a day, so I didn’t expect the offer. I spent three weeks with her, and we became friends. I would have sulted you anyway and asked her.”

  “Yeah, rub it in about not sulting you. Why don’t you?” I said, rolling my eyes.

  He ughed, pushi of the room. “Go cook already.”

  I cooked all night, and in the m, I called Rue and headed to return the rental car. At first, it needed a trip to a car wash. Despite the workers in the car wash being unimpressed with the dition of the car, they successfully ed it, and I retur.

  Those minutes in Faerie were expensive!

  Rue and I spent hours pying and roughhousing at the park. If I was gone so long, I was sure he missed me. When I got home, I saw Mahya and Lis reviewing some sketches. Mahya looked at me; her eyes were glowing bright blue, and she had blue streaks in her hair.

  “hat happeo your eyes?” I asked, startled.

  “What do you mean?” she asked, toug her face.

  “Those are Travelers’ eyes. It means that her mana system is finally funing properly,” said Lis, gng at her eyes. “Didn’t you notice our eyes?”

  “And the blue streaks in her hair?”

  “Developed mana system. At some point, you’ll have purple streaks,” Lis expined.

  “You don’t have green ones. How e?”

  “I don’t want to, and I developed enough trol to prevent it.”

  “Huh!” I said, scratg my head. “You learn something new every day.”

  Lis ughed and said, “Yeah, we talked about it.”

  I ughed, too, and nodded.

  I asked both of them if they wao search for Paris rentals.

  “Since you know the pce better, you should decide,” Lis said, shrugging.

  I spent the rest of the day on the puter making calls and found us a four-bedroom apartment in the Boulogne-Bilncourt suburb. It wasn’t cheap, but we could afford it. And I decided on a four-bedroom just in case.

  At dinner, I gave Mahya the bag with my mother-in-w’s jewelry and said, “Take this; it will help you get ba your feet. Sell the small items first, and ea a different pce. Leave the big items to sell in another world; they are tnizable.”

  Mahya looked ihe bag and excimed, “I ’t take this! There’s a fortune in jewelry in here! You saved my life and fixed my mana; I ’t take any more from you. I must find a way to repay you for everything you’ve done for me.”

  Lis told her, “You should take them. Right now, it’s b John’s sce that he disholy got this jewelry. So, you’d be doing him a favor by taking them from him and putting them to good use.”

  “Disholy?” she asked, looking at me with wide eyes.

  “I robbed some people as punishment,” I said in a sheepish voice.

  She ughed. “I thought you were a saint a unworthy. Thank you for showing me you are a normal person like the rest of us.”

  At least she took the jewelry.

  I slept on the couch that night. The following day, we went to say goodbye to our neighbor friends. I had to say goodbye to several people, Lis mainly the neighbors on our floor and the girl from across the hall that he ected with. Rue needed a whole day to do a farewell tour and say goodbye to everyone.

  This dog opur!

  We moved to Paris to a neartment and spent six weeks t the city and all the tourist attras.

  At Disneynd Paris, Lis and Mahya were like kids in a dy store, running around and ughing at every attra. I, oher hand, felt like my stomach was doing somersaults after each ride. The teacups and roller coasters especially did a number on me.

  We discovered dogs weren’t allowed in the park, which disappointed Rue. So, I got creative and jured dots that showed he was a Seizure Alert Dog. With his new “job,” Rue happily trotted beside us, his tail wagging like crazy.

  On the rides he could join, Rue’s ears fpped in the wind, and he looked like he was having the time of his life. He mentally grumbled about the ones he couldn’t go on, sending me images of his disappoi. But he quickly cheered up with all the kids around, making tons of new little friends.

  Even though I felt like I might lose my lun every ride, I stuck it out for Rue. By the end of the day, I ale and wiped out, but seeing Rue so happy made it all worth it. At least my green look helped sell the whole service dog story.

  As we walked through Versailles Pace, Mahya looked around with wide eyes and decred, “If I ever settle down somewhere, this is the kind of home I want to build for myself.”

  Lis smirked and nudged me. “Hear that? Mahya’s got some grandiose ambitions.”

  I chuckled, shaking my head. “Yeah, nothing like aiming for a modest little pace.”

  Mahya rolled her eyes but smiled. “Why not dream big?”

  “Just don’t fet the golden deliers and the endless gardens,” Lis teased, waggling his eyebrows.

  “And the hall of mirrors,” I added with a grin. “’t fet that.”

  We tio tease her about her grandiose ambitions for the rest of the day, ughing and poking fun at every eborate feature we passed.

  During our tour of Chateau de Chambord in the Loire Valley, Mahya was in awe of the castle’s grandeur. Her eyes sparkled as she admired the intricate architecture and sprawling grounds.

  “I think I might want this as my future home,” she mused, her voice filled with wonder. “But now I’m torween this and Versailles.”

  Lis and I exged amused gnces. “Oh, so now you want two paces?” Lis teased, nudging her pyfully.

  “Why not have both?” I added with a grin. “You could alterween them depending on the season.”

  Mahya ughed, shaking her head. “You guys are ridiculous.”

  “Just make sure there’s enough room for all your royal subjects,” Lis joked, pretending to bow.

  “And don’t fet the moat and drawbridge,” I said, smirking. “Every castle hose.”

  For the rest of the day, we didn’t let up. Every time we passed anraure, Lis and I would e up with more eborate suggestions for her future estate. Mahya took it all in stride, ughing along with us and rolling her eyes at our over-the-top ideas. It became a running joke that kept us eained, making the tour even more memorable.

  We spent three days at the Louvre Museum, and it felt like we were stepping into a different world. We entered ea filled with incredible art ay that left us speechless. Mahya’s eyes lit up as she examihe detailed paintings and sculptures, often stopping to take notes or sketch quick drawings. Lis wandered from piece to piece, his face showing a mixture of admiration and curiosity as he read the pques and tried to interpret the stories behind the art.

  I felt equally captivated, filled with a sense of wonder with each masterpiece we entered. The history, the skill, and the sheer creativity on dispy were nothing short of magical. We got so carried away, talking about the artists and how they created those masterpieces, and imagining what life must’ve been like when they made these works.

  Rue, however, didn’t share our enthusiasm. He trotted beside us, his tail occasionally wagging at the attention from museum-goers, but mostly he seemed unimpressed. I kept gettial images from him—pictures of him lounging in a park, chasing seagulls, or doing anything other than staring at old paintings. His grumbles were clear: he found the entire experiencredibly b.

  At one point, while we were admiring the Mona Lisa, Rue sent me a particurly vivid image of himself yawning exaggeratedly, makiifle a ugh. I patted his head and whispered, “Just a bit longer, buddy.”

  Despite Rue’s ck of i, the three days we spent at the Louvre were unfettable. We left with our minds buzzing with inspiration and a deeper appreciation for art. And Rue, well, he was just happy to be outside finally, ready to chase after anything that moved.

  Standing at the base of the Eiffel Tower, I felt a surge of pride and awe. “This is one of Earth’s most famous ndmarks,” I announced, gesturing towards the t structure.

  Lis and Mahya looked up, their faces bnk. “It’s just a big metal tower,” Lis said, unimpressed.

  I frowrying to vey its significe. “It’s not just any tower. It was built for the 1889 World’s Fair and has bee a symbol of architectural achievement and cultural heritage.”

  Mahya tilted her head. “But why is it such a big deal? It’s not even that tall pared to some buildings.”

  “It’s about the history and what it represents,” I insisted, ung into a passionate expnation about its stru, the engineering marvel it was at the time, and its role in French culture.

  They both exged gnces, still not getting it. “I guess it’s iing,” Lis said slowly, “but it just looks like a tower to me.”

  Mahya nodded in agreement. “Yeah, I don’t see why it’s so famous.”

  Feeling a bit defted, I sighed. “Well, it’s not just about the structure. It’s about what it symbolizes for Earth.”

  They nodded politely, but their ck of enthusiasm was clear. I did my best, but they still didn’t uand the significe of the Eiffel Tower. The alien perspective was annoying sometimes.

  On a Seine River Dinner Cruise with live music, the atmosphere was magical. The city lights reflected off the water, and the gentle sway of the boat added to the charm. Rue, however, was the star of the evening. He walked among the passengers, his tail wagging as he mooched treats from everyone.

  “Looks like Rue’s the attra tonight,” Lis joked, watg Rue charm yet another diner into giving him a pieeat.

  Mahya ughed, “He’s having the most fun out of all of us.”

  I smiled, seeing Rue’s happiness. Despite the elegaing and the live music, Rue’s joy was the highlight of the cruise.

  The Paris Catabs were eerie, with their winding tunnels and stacked bones. As we desded into the depths, Rue whined softly, pressing close to my leg. His usual fidence was gone, repced by an obvious disfort.

  I crouched doatted his head. “You okay, buddy?”

  Rue’s whine grew louder, augged at his leash, trying to head back towards the entrance. I started gettial pictures from him—images of wide-open spaces and the park, apanied by a strong feeling of unease. He was clearly sending a message: he wanted out.

  I recalled the mine in Shimoor, where Rue spent all his time outside. That was the first time I suspected he might have custrophobia.

  “It’s okay, Rue. We’re almost through,” I whispered, trying to soothe him. But the mental images of escape routes and the overwhelming feeling of wanting to leave made it clear he just wanted out of there. We hurried through the rest of the tour, with Rue practically draggiowards the exit.

  At a Cabaret Show in Montmartre, the dancers’ high-kig routines captivated Mahya. The day, she eagerly tried to imitate the moves, enthusiastically throwing her legs in the air. She ractig in the living room, trying to keep her bah her arms filing.

  For two days, she kept at it, her kicks growing slightly more coordinated each time but still far from perfect. Her dedication was both impressive and hirious. Ohird m, she misjudged her band toppled over, nding ft on the floor with a thud.

  I couldn’t help it—I burst out ughing, clutg my sides as I watched her sprawled out on the floor. Mahya, cheeks flushed with a mix of embarrassment and amusement, grabbed a pillow and threw it at me. “Stop ughing! It’s harder than it looks!” she excimed, though she was smiling too.

  “Alright, alright, I’ll stop,” she said with a grin, finally g defeat. “No more high kicks. I don’t want to break anything.”

  With that, she gave up otempts, sparing us the worry she might break something.

  After we fi the city, I sat at the puter to look for workshops to collect points. The ease of colleg points shocked Mahya, and she happily joined us.

  Create Your Self-Made Bracelet Souvenir From ParisMake Your Own Soap in A French WorkshopFloral Table terpiece Making WorkshopPrivate Floral Jewelry Making WorkshopCraft A Unique Parisian Luxury Bag A Unique Denim Jacket With French Celebrities’ DesignerSculpture Drawing LessonsTalk Dirty In French - Fun Language Workshop10anic Lip Care WorkshopCraft A Unique Souvenir Hat With Lady Gaga’s Renowned HatmakerPersonal Workshop in Paris 100% Natural Skincare RoutineShibari Rope ArtOne-Hour Private Makeup Css With A Pro Makeup ArtistManufacturing of Personalized Phone ClipsTable Manners A La FrancaiseStreet Art Workshop on vas Your Sneakers Into A Piece Of ArtBake The Perfect French Croissant With A Chefaking Workshop At Choco-StoryHands-On Ecir And aking With A Pastry ChefCheese-making Workshop, Including Wine And Cheese Tasting With an ExpertMille Feuille Napoléon Pastry CssApéro Lino: Linocut Workshop At Galerie WawiCreate Your Own Wine WorkshopOvere Under-earning - Women’s “Get Wealthy” WorkshopSmall Business - Payroll And Workers p WorkshopFoundations of Yoga WorkshopBrand Building Blueprint WorkshopMonthly Circle Songs - Group Improv WorkshopHair Transpntation Workshop: Fue & Fut Teiques TrainingWeaving on Wooden Frame WorkshopPreserved Flower Wreath WorkshopDistiltion Workshop in A Parisian Micro-DistilleryIntrodu to Card Magic WorkshopThe three of us started doing the workshops one by one, and Rue joined us occasionally. The service dog dot was a blessing. He could e to all the workshops except for the cooking ones, which made sense; nobody wanted dog fur in the food.

  Although we didn’t earn an ability point for the “Talk Dirty in French - Fun Language Workshop,” we had an absolute bst. The instructor was charismatid had us ughing from the start. We stumbled over pronunciations and blushed at the transtions, but we all threw ourselves into the spirit of the workshop.

  For days afterward, we couldn’t stop brainst French dirty talk ideas. Every versation seemed to devolve into fits of giggles as we tried out new phrases on each other. Lis took to dramatically reg his favorites in a faux romantie, whily made us ugh harder. Mahya enjoyed practig in front of the mirror, trying to get the sultry iions just right.

  Rue, however, found our antics thhly perplexing. He would sit in the er, tilting his head and sending me mental images of question marks and fusion. His feelings of bewilderment and slight exasperation were clear—he thought we were all nuts. Every time one of us burst into ughter, Rue would huff and roll his eyes, clearly w why his humans had suddenly lost their minds over strange-sounding words.

  I had a BIG surprise at the Shibari Rope Art workshop. I had assumed it would be like the Rafia workshop we had done before, involving making things with rope. But it quickly became apparent this was a branch of BDSM. My heart sank, and I felt a wave of mortification wash over me as the instructor expined we would be the ones getting tied up.

  As Lis and Mahya listened, I stood there, my face turning tomato red. I couldn’t stop gng around, wishing for an escape route. When it was my turn, my hands trembled as I relutly allowed myself to be tied. The ropes were snug but not painful, yet my embarrassment alpable. My mind raced with thoughts of how ridiculous I must look. For the entire day, I couldn’t shake the feeling of my face burning with humiliation.

  Lis, oher hand, was having the time of his life. He ughed and joked, fully embrag the experie first, Mahya and I exged knowing gnces and teased him for his enthusiasm, trying to lighten the mood and hide my disfort.

  “Looks like someone’s found a new hobby,” I said, trying to sound amused

  “Maybe you’ll be the rope artist,” Mahya added with a chuckle, though I could see she was warming up to the idea herself.

  Mahya, the traitor, soon got caught up in the fun, too. She fantasized out loud about using the teiques in Faerie, her eyes gleaming with excitement. “Imagine using these ropes to create one-of-a-kind tree decorations from the elves, especially tying their heads to their asses,” she mused, her voice filled with a sinister delight.

  I was so relieved Rue didn’t e and wasn’t there to question my sanity.

  We should have gmoured ourselves as women before the Private Makeup Css, but I didn’t think of that. Of course, the dies thought Lis and I were lovers when they saw two guys attending the css. Mahya, the trouble-making imp, decided to have some fun at our expense. I suspected it was a retaliation for all our teasing regarding her grandiose taste for her future home. She started making up stories about how we first met and fell in love. Initially, Lis thought it was funny, but he started giving her murderous gnces when she went overboard. I, oher hand, was tomato red—again.

  After css, Lis and I ered her. “You know, one of these days, I might strangle you,” Lis said, only half-joking.

  I nodded, still blushing. “ime, we o e up with a signal to shut you up.”

  Mahya just grinned. “Oh, e on, you know it was fun. Now, let’s go get some coffee, my treat.”

  We couldn’t stay mad at her for long, so we left the css ughing. At least we all got the point, and I learned how to y eyes “to make them pop out.”

  Ugh!

  The Table Manners’ workshop was a bust. We sat around a beautifully set table, learning how to haensils and fold napkins, but the system didn’t award us any skill points for the hardship.

  “Seriously? No points for knowing which fork to use?” I grumbled.

  “Guess table manners aren’t a real skill,” Mahya said, rolling her eyes.

  The three of us pined about it for days, but the system remained unvinced and still refused to give us the points.

  After the workshop, Lis, Mahya, and Rue developed an insatiable craving for ecirs and Choux. Every day, they begged for more, with Rue being the most insistent. He would sit by the kit, eyes wide and hopeful. When I tried to expin that chocote was bad fs, Rue used telekinesis to move things around, sending me a distinct feeling of “What dog?”

  “Who said giving a dog telekinesis was a good idea?” I muttered, watg a fork do figure eights in the air.

  For the Women’s “Get Wealthy” Workshop, Lis and I had to gmor ourselves as women, thanks to the workshanizers’ insistehat only women could attend—for some ridiculous reason.

  Stupid rules!

  Lis and I didn’t get a point for the Weaving on Wooden Frame Workshop; at least Mahya did. We cluded it was because of the other three weaving workshops we attended in London. It seems there’s a limit to skill variation farming. We still thought it was unfair and pined about it loudly. Mahya called us crybabies.

  After the aking Workshop at Choco-Story, we toured the whole useum and bought an ungodly amount of chocote. I personally spent over 20,000 euros.

  In the Card Magic Workshop, we attempted to master sleight of hand and various card tricks. After numerous failed attempts, we exged looks of frustration. “You know, actual magic is a lot easier,” Lis said, tossing the deck of cards aside.

  “Agreed,” Mahya nodded. “This is way too plicated.”

  We all ughed, deg to stick with real magi now on.

  Basically, Paris was a lot of fun.