With contracts signed and timetables established, David, Niala and Totori rented a small hotel room in Tulipvill, spending the night before leaving early the next morning, taking David's volante back to Fairlilly.

  They further discussed their plans for their business venture, David having convinced Niala to go along with it, under the promise that her creation would have a different name within the Fairlands.

  Totori would look into setting up a packaging facility to manufacture the herb packets, as well as a brewing facility, with David wanting the same kind of little metal cylinders that Kevin had drunk so eagerly, but for Niala's brew.

  Niala, for her part, would work on refining the recipe into something less potent, taking into account the fairies' susceptibility to the brew's effect, and trying to come up with a recipe that could be drunk cold or lukewarm.

  In the short term, the CBC would be sending shipments of the herbs necessary for the original Old Woman drink, destined for the mundaneworld market.

  David was going to get his adoptive brother Luke's help in setting up a small shop that would prepare and package the herbs, with Niala having better things to do than bagging thousands of Old Woman herbs.

  Niala had, of course, pleaded with him to change the name back in their world, but he had countered that it was too late; the name had already spread, and they were stuck with it.

  He also didn't want to tell her right away that he'd asked Luke to find an artist who would design a brand logo for the Old Woman brew. Even less that it was going to be a scowling grandmotherly catkin woman, loosely based on Niala herself...

  He thought back to all the poisons his girlfriend knew how to brew.

  Maybe he ought to bring up the topic before springing that surprise on her...

  “That was fun! But getting back home feels amazing!” Niala exclaimed, just before she threw herself onto her living room couch, luxuriating in its comfiness.

  He smiled at her, lifting her legs and sitting down at the far end of the couch, settling her legs back over his lap and running his hand over them. He basked in the moment, listening to Niala's happy moans as he began massaging her legs.

  His expression turned serious. “What do you make of everything we've learned? I feel like we went from a path through the woods and into a maze.”

  She looked at him, then let her head fall onto a cushion, groaning. “I know! It's so infuriating... but I've taken a lot of notes, and when Leandro's friend gets here, I'll run it by them. We can ask Kevin to come visit as well, maybe they can figure something out. We're not exactly experts...”

  She raised her head, looking at David. “Hey, speaking of Leandro, do you want to bet his friend is a woman?”

  He quirked an eyebrow. “What makes you certain?”

  “If it were a guy, he would have said it! He kept referring to them with generic terms!”

  “Hmm, I'll bite, what do you want to bet?”

  She grinned. “The Fairland name for the old woman. Whoever wins gets to decide, no argument from the loser!”

  “Oh. Good bet. I guess the Fairlands are getting the Old Woman drink after all.”

  “Nooo! I'm going to win, and it's going to be called the Ninergy drink!” She pouted, giving him a playful kick.

  He lowered his head. “You're being awfully difficult for someone with their feet in perfect tickle distance.” He said, removing one of her slippers.

  She froze and stared at him, narrowing her eyes. “You wouldn't.”

  “You kicked me. It deserves retribution.” He threatened, removing her other slipper.

  “It was playful! And with your big muscles and dull brain, I bet you didn't even feel it!”

  “Second offence, you insulted my big brain again.”

  “Your big dumb brain! Besides, I'm not nearly as ticklish with my feet! I can take whatever you can dish out!”

  She squeaked before clamping a hand over her mouth, as he brushed a few fingers over the sole of one of her feet. He grinned. “That didn't sound very confident, right there.”

  “I will resist!”

  He brushed her soles some more. She managed to hold back, only releasing a few puffs.

  He moved on to poking, running his fingernails up and down, proper tickling, but while she was sounding like a pressure cooker, she hadn't laughed yet.

  Until he got between her toes. Panic settled over her features as she lost control. “No! Not th-HAAHAAAHAHaHAAHSTOP!”

  He had found her weakness! Mercilessly, he ran his fingers around her toes, holding one of her legs in place while she kicked at him with her other one, laughing uncontrollably.

  He let her pull away after sufficient punishment had been rendered, only for her to coil her legs under her at the other end of the couch, and, before he realized what was about to happen, she leaped into him, snaking her agile little fingers under his shirt and onto his flanks, turning him into the laughing victim.

  The tickle fight devolved, going back and forth several times, before it moved into their bedroom, their clothes having somehow left their bodies, and the laughter was replaced with other kinds of sounds.

  Down at the front desk, in between clients, Linzy's ears twitched, and she grinned as she looked at the bellclock. “Not even fifteen minutes since they got home. That's a new record for them!”

  Some time later, their surplus of energy spent, Niala was snuggled against David's body, one of his arms tracing up and down her back.

  “I think we should try Geralkko's potion.” She said.

  “We both know it's a trap of some kind.”

  “I know, but still...”

  He sighed. “Would you be fine testing it on an animal?”

  She burrowed her head into his torso. “...if we have to.”

  “How about a rat?”

  “I guess that would be ok.”

  He looked down at his girlfriend. “Really? Aren't you the friend of all animals?”

  She bent her head back, meeting his gaze. “It's just a rat.”

  “But you felt bad about the bats, and those are rats with wings.”

  “What? No they're not! Rats are rats, bats are bats, they're not the same!”

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

  “Hmm, what about a mouse?”

  “What? No! Not those cute little fuzzies!”

  “But a rat is ok?”

  “Sure. It's just a rat.”

  He stared at her, as she did the same, puzzlement in her eyes.

  “Any other animals you'd be ok experimenting on?”

  “No, just rats.”

  “I don't get it.”

  She blinked.

  “It's just a rat. I don't see what's hard to understand.”

  He kept staring for a few seconds before dropping his head back on the pillow.

  “Right. It's just a rat.”

  On his damaged stone throne, Geralkko felt the slight tug on his soul, and his dried husk of a visage smiled.

  Finally, the fools had fallen for his ploy! They had consumed his potion!

  The connection between his current prison and his new body flared, a clear line to travel along.

  He detached his ancient soul from the body that had been bound to this throne due to a miscalculation of his part, so long ago.

  He flew forward without hesitation. He was free! Free to claim a kingdom for himself, as was his due!

  His soul cackled through the entire process.

  Geralkko looked up at the two mortals who had vexed him last time. He could see the fear and distress in their eyes. He drank from it, fuelling his ecstasy even further. “HA HA HA HA! INCONSIDERATE MORTALS! I am Geralkko, and you have fallen for my ploy! I am now nestled within one of your bodies, free from my prison! And I will make you both my...”

  Wait. He was looking up at both of them?

  Had they given the potion to a child?! Who would do such a thing?! No matter, it was only a setback. Soon, the child would grow, and his power would be great once again.

  He raised a balled paw at them. “IGNOBLE BRUTES! To volunteer a child in your stead! But fear not, I will-”

  A PAW?!

  Wait, they weren't afraid! They were amused!

  He looked at his arms. His fury little arms. He tried to look down further, but his head wouldn't bend. He had to turn it sideways, only to find... a small, brown-furred body. Quadruped, with a leathery tail...

  “A RAT!? YOU HAVE FED MY MASTERPIECE CREATION TO A RAT!?”

  Niala's giant, looming face smiled. “His voice is so squeaky! Look at his funny little angry eyes!”

  David frowned. “I have to test something.” And before Geralkko could react, the giant man's fist smashed Geralkko's new rat body into a broken pulp.

  He felt his soul get squeezed out of the body that had just died, only to have the usual sensation of being sucked back in. With a pop, the animal's flesh re-inflated, and he was once again in control. Of a rat.

  The violent man nodded. “Good to know the signal still works.”

  Geralkko squeaked in anger. “CAREFREE IMBECILE! Do you only know pain?! Vocally spread knowledge!” He pawed at his face. “Why did you not consume the elixir yourself? When did you deduce my plan?”

  The giants shared a glance, with the woman answering. “From the start? We didn't trust you at all.”

  “Then why make the potion at all!”

  “Because your formula mentioned essence, and we wanted to see what would happen. We need to figure out what essence is.” She explained.

  “Essence?! You do not know what essence is?” Geralkko twisted his head.

  “Well, we learned it was something like an image of us, but in the mana world?”

  “An image! You are ignorant! Unlearned! Essence is your echo! It is what allows living things to bring mana into the physical world! I, Geralkko, am an expert in essence and mana! It is w-”

  “Gerat,” the giant man cut him off.

  “What?”

  “I'm calling you Gerat now.”

  “MY NAME IS GE-”

  “Gerat.”

  “IT IS N-” A giant fist blinked his consciousness out.

  He popped back into existence.

  “YOU WILL CA-”

  He met the fist once more. When he came back, he glared sideways at the man, but remained silent.

  The woman addressed him. “So, Gerat, you were saying about essence?”

  “...I was saying...”

  Although he claimed to be an expert, most of Gerat's knowledge was based on speculations and beliefs. From what Niala could glean, his definition of essence did align with Kevin's, with one small difference.

  The fairy's theory was that essence accumulated impurity, which led to mana corruption. Gerat's version was that essence would be deformed by the building pressure of mana, which led to your mana pathways becoming misaligned, leading to corrupted mana.

  Niala thought Kevin's theory held better under scrutiny, but that was nothing but a supposition. She noted down Gerat's theories either way. She would present them, along with Kevin's, to Leandro and his friend.

  Now, there was one question left to answer...

  She looked at David. “What do we do with Gerat?”

  “Hmm, close the box and leave him in it?” David proposed.

  Gerat squeaked in protest. “I do not consent to living in a box!”

  “It feels a bit evil to just stick him in a box and forget about it...” She said, ignoring the rat-lich.

  David blinked. “Giving potential poison to a rat is fine, but if a megalomaniac lich inhabited the rat's body, leaving it in a box is evil?”

  Niala looked at him. “...yes?”

  “So it's not even the physical rat you have something against. It's the rat's soul.”

  “It's not really a rat anymore.”

  “No, it's a lich in a rat's body.”

  “Yeah!”

  “...I guess he's your pet now,” David said.

  “Okay!” She agreed, looking down at Gerat, before bending down and picking him up, bringing his little rat face in front of her own and staring at it sternly. “Now, Gerat, I'll carry you around, but if you misbehave, I'll store you in my cargo cloth for a time out.”

  The rat-lich struggled fruitlessly. “VINDICTIVE FEMALE! You think you can suppress me, Gera-” He stopped himself, glancing nervously at David, who quirked an eyebrow, before resuming his diatribe. “Gerat!? When you sleep, I will use this body's mana to stitch myself an army! We will walk over your life and belongings! I will not be stopped!”

  “You can't,” Niala told him.

  “You will not stop me!”

  “No, I don't mean you shouldn't, I mean you can't. I gave the rat a Null Poison. It completely destroyed its mana pathways. You have no mana whatsoever.”

  Gerat stopped squirming and blinked. “...I what?”

  “No mana.”

  “No... mana?”

  She shook her head.

  “Nooooooooooooooooooo!!!” He squeaked in despair.

  Niala patted his cute little head. “There there. It's ok, you can still have a fun and fulfilling rat's life even if you're mana-crippled. I'll carry you around, and you can see how I do alchemy! And meet lots of new people! I bet you'll like Linzy! Oh! And I bet you'll have fun with Lychee, my bumblemoss! And...”

  David tilted his head, not fully understanding what was going on.

  From his expression, Gerat didn't seem to understand either.

  everything.