Level 29 is a turning point for many Awakened, no matter their Path. Level 30 might not be another wall, might not be harder to achieve than level 20 was, but it is a point at which decisions must be made.

  Few people care about progression speed past level 29. Few people look at your achievements and split between Elite and Non-. The only measure that matters from that point onward is the goal so few ever attempt. Level 50 by age 100.

  50 is a wall, 50 is the barrier that makes 10 seem simple. 30 should be an easy choice, but it is another Path Selection. It is a point of advancement, for better or worse. To reach level 30 is to imply you plan to challenge the next wall, that you feel you can do what most who try fail to.

  Do you push? Or are you who you wish to be.

  ~ * ~

  "No."

  Seb felt Anya tense slightly in surprise as Briana spoke. She didn't raise her voice, she didn't sound as though she was arguing, simply stating a fact in a tone that made sure everyone heard her.

  "You are not doing this," she continued once she had their attention. "You are not turning her birthday celebration into another of your sibling provocation games. There are lines, this is one of them."

  He saw Fay turn towards Briana, already starting to explain, to soothe, to calm. He felt Anya's reaction nearly boil over before vanishing, balancing itself out into nothing.

  "You're right," she said. "Fay, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have threatened to have my little sister run amok planning your birthday."

  "Hey!!"

  "Sandra," she said with a glance. "You were already planning on chaos, we both know you were."

  "No..?"

  Seb turned to look at her, he was fairly certain everyone did. Sandra lasted only a moment before nodding her head slightly.

  "You're right, I did. Mother won't let me plan my twenty-first and I thought."

  "Do you want me to talk to her? To remind her about making decisions for us?" Anya asked.

  Are you sure?

  I need to talk to her at some point. At least this gives a reason other than the obvious.

  "Could you? Then I can have my party and you can come and we can have dancing and I can show everyone I've been busy and…"

  "I'll talk to her," Anya answered even as Sandra was clearly thinking of additional party related plans. "I can't promise she'll listen, or that she'll change her mind."

  "She will," Sandra said. "She's different now. A little at least."

  "Happy?" Anya said as she turned back to face Briana, her tone all but daring her to keep objecting.

  "Yes, thank you."

  How did you..? he sent.

  Not blow up? she answered, her thoughts almost playful. I defied myself. She wasn't challenging me. Well she was, but.

  But it wasn't something to fight. She wasn't wrong in her reaction and you knew that?

  Yes, she sent. Proving someone wrong at breakfast? Safe. Proving you wrong when we train or fight goblins? Mostly safe. Escalating with friends when I went too far? No. I won't be that.

  He smiled, she smiled. Their thoughts drifted, their appreciation for one another and understanding of how they faced the world, faced real and made up challenges, filling the band. He wouldn't say he had it easier, his Affinity didn't provoke responses the way hers did, but he also hadn't made nearly as much progress with it, at least they didn't think he had.

  "Are you two going to stare into each other's eyes all night?" Fay asked. "We're waiting for you to order."

  They blushed as their friends, their extended family, laughed. Anya recovered faster and ordered, making a show of lingering on her choice to give him time to focus. He saw Fay's concern, they hadn't slipped up that badly in public in years. They hadn't even been talking, there was no excuse.

  He shook his head slightly, knowing she'd catch the gesture. There would be time to discuss later, time for her to bring it up with them in private, as a Seer Liaison, as a sister. He could feel Anya agreeing with him, agreeing with the thoughts he hadn't even shared yet.

  Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

  It was a problem for later. Now was the time for food, for family, for celebration. Time for Sandra to drag everyone into silly ideas, for Yshe to remind them all they were all still young. Time for Alex to fully join in on the banter and discussions that had nothing to do with his role or responsibilities.

  Time for good dessert and coffee that Briana suffered through with a smile and only a couple criticisms. Time for his thoughts to circle, to look over how their bond was shifting, to examine the connection, the closeness, the gap that disappeared more and more often. Time where he could feel Anya feeling his Energy shift and flow through the currents of their selves.

  ~ * ~

  Fay gave Briana the quickest of kisses goodnight, promised she wouldn't be later than she had to be, then turned back towards Seb and Anya. She hadn't told them they were going to be talking tonight, that she wasn't going to wait after the event at dinner, they'd known.

  "My office, training hall or the couch?" she asked.

  She saw the flicker of decision between them, the first made this a formal, serious conversation, the last made it no less serious but familial. The second was the one she suspected they were trying to figure out. She never went in there, except to find them. It was what the other two were not, somewhere they were at home and she was looking in.

  "Your choice," Seb said after a moment and she glared. If she had wanted to choose she would have simply chosen.

  They didn't want to commit to either decision either, either they weren't sure what to say and do about this, or they didn't know how she was going to react. Either way it meant there was only one choice that would actually work.

  "Training Hall," she said as she gestured for them to lead the way.

  There were no chairs. There was a bench, but it wouldn't do for extended conversation. Instead they all sat on the mats. It wasn't as though she never sat to meditate, that she wasn't flexible, but she couldn't help but wish she found it as easy as they did to settle to the ground and wait.

  "You said you were being careful."

  "We have been," Seb said. "We haven't pushed as far, we haven't risked reaching our limits."

  "We haven't even pushed as hard sparring other than the once," Anya said before flushing.

  That might explain aspects of it, but it wasn't enough to explain tonight. A one time push, that wasn't even all that recent from the sound of things, wasn't the factor.

  "I had to try to get your attention three times before you reacted. I don't even know what got through to you," she said. "What if this happens while you're in combat?"

  "It won't," Seb said. "We were aware, but we weren't. We were safe."

  She watched him close his eyes and felt him try to establish the band between the three of them.

  "No Seb," she said. "We talk."

  "I'm not trying to distract. We can talk, I just can't explain part of it with words."

  She glanced at Anya who nodded. There was no reason for them to lie, she trusted them and knew they trusted her. They could have just as easily refused to have the conversation if they weren't going to actually discuss things.

  She felt the band form, felt the briefest of flashes of their feelings. For each other, quickly masked, those for her allowed to linger. She could feel their similarity, feel the compounding overlap that almost made them seem as one. She might have even seen them as one if she wasn't used to looking for the smallest of details, if she didn't know them both so well as people. They weren't the same, they were simply close.

  A sensation of Energy flows, a memory of a moment, yet also an analysis?

  "We were still aware, still present despite our lack of attention," Anya said.

  She could feel Seb focusing on parts of the flow, pointing out where she had been, where they all had been, even the waiter who had been waiting. She nodded, they might have been distracted, might have been- She felt a blur of emotions as the Energy flow vanished, replaced with another, flatter, more sterile, but still clearly a memory.

  "Sorry," Seb said. "Trying to share without over sharing."

  "Thank you," she said with a grin. "You're both getting better at that."

  "We aren't merging, it just seems like we are," he said. "The patterns don't support it."

  "How can you be so sure?" she countered. "You've admitted to it happening, more than once."

  Seb didn't answer, not with words. She felt as much as saw the patterns, the memories he was working from. They weren't as sharp as the first, they weren't as precise. They weren't fully filtered but she could tell the attempt was made.

  A lifetime of research and training tracked through his examples, her doubts and concerns leaking through the band silently. Some he found counter-examples for, others it was clear were possible. He wasn't trying to research, trying to reconstruct information and combine it to provide answers. He was using the answers, the mistakes and issues, and letting her see that they understood.

  "We have too many things working both for and against your fears," he said as the deluge slowed. "Our bond is growing, strengthening as we connect. Our Awakening Gifts are helping it. We find a connection, we optimize it, we remember and build."

  "Our Affinities too," Anya added. "I'm not going to lose him. I'm not going to let anything stand between us."

  Fay felt Seb pretend to be shocked and offended, the entire reaction a play, not for her but for themselves.

  "Don't I get a choice?"

  Anya waved her hand, making sure the ring caught all their eyes.

  "His Affinity keeps looking for how this is working, keeps finding where things are going," she continued. "We're together, but we aren't the same."

  Fay took a long moment. She could feel their thoughts, feel their emotions. She pressed the band ever so slightly, intentionally letting more of her own bleed through. She didn't want to lose them, she didn't want them to be hurt, or to become something that wasn't-

  We're still us, Seb sent.

  Even if we did meld, you'd still be our sister, Anya added.

  You think she's going to let you escape? Seb sent.

  Hey! He's right though.

  She didn't answer, she didn't have to. She felt their thoughts drift, not melding but pulling into something that could be mistaken for it. She felt their awareness of her, their knowledge she was there, that they weren't alone. She felt them separate, felt the slight effort it took. It wasn't an effort of resistance, it felt more like a lack of familiarity.

  She rose, letting the band drop as they joined her in a tight hug. She trusted them, they trusted her. She pulled away first, she had somewhere she both wanted and needed to be.

  "I promised Bri-"

  They laughed and gave her the lightest of pushes. They understood.

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