Fela stood on the veranda, watching the strider shrink into the distance before it turned a corner and completely disappeared from sight. Getting up she rushed the yard, her movements suddenly infused with industriousness.

Silva had pointed out that, with all that had happened yesterday, she never had the chance to patch up the luxury strider after its trip through the woods. Luckily, since the owner had never arrived to claim it, she still had time to do a repair job before returning to Viktor's estate. Chalking it up to a lucky break, she wasted no time in collecting the necessary tools.

It wasn't until Fela stood in front of the strider did she allow her flame to run loose.

She could feel as the halo of warmth that always settled around her skull began to shift and flex, pulses of heat traveling down into her arms. With the power flexing just below the surface of her skin, Fela placed her hands on a sizable dent jutting out of the strider's left flank. She continued to release more of her mental limiters, and the flames clawed at the sky, the fire atop her head rising to almost a foot in height. The warm feeling increased in its intensity to become a comfortably hot sensation, and she began to notice a light, breezy hiss, emanating from where her body made contact with the strider.

Although Fela had an innate sense of her body's temperature, the others learned to read the signs of her body to determine when she was ready to work. One such tell occurred just a few beats later, when her skin began to glow, alight with white-orange rays that dazzled across her arms. Still, Fela waited for a few minutes, letting the heat of her hands flow into the strider, making the metal soft and pliable. Soon, it was almost the same white-hot color as her own body.

WIth slow, practiced movements, Fela shaped the metal with her bare hands, kneading it until the kinks in the surface were all smoothed out. She was careful not to get too close to the bolts- melting them meant she'd have to weld the vehicle all over again, and re-welding the plates together would be a time- and energy- consuming process.

Fela would split her time between untreated sections of the strider and parts she had already addressed. Once they had cooled enough, she applied the tools: a mallet to help bang out the finishing touches, and a paintbrush and can, to repaint the facade after her hands had left visible prints.

A rag and some hard scrubbing came next, washing away any spots of dirt or grime she had missed earlier.

Wiping her brow, Fela debated her options as she gazed at her finished work. Should she wait for the merchant to show, or convene with Viktor? As she weighed the decision, she kept herself busy, drawing up a bucket of potencia. She carefully inspected the liquid in the bright sunlight. Nothing seemed off, she noted with relief, no contamination of any kind.

Satisfied with its condition, Fela lowered her head and took a long drink. The sensation of the potencia flowing down her throat was almost electrical: there was a not-unpleasant feeling that fizzed and tingled in the pit of her stomach.

She anticipated the vague coolness that spread throughout her body next, whisking away the soreness she'd earned from her morning toil. Her body felt loose again, fresh. That slow, creeping heat that had overtaken her body after using her ability all morning was diminishing too, dwindling down to nothing.

By midday, Fela gave a metaphorical shrug and locked up the Lodestone. The merchant was still a no-show, still unaccounted for more than a day later. She chose to risk it and settled on leaving, making her way to Viktor's by foot. The patron would just have to wait until tomorrow, she reasoned.

Walking to Spirit Town would take much longer, but Fela didn't feel as conspicuous this time. Strolling through the streets, she felt none of the wary states that spirits had given them the day before. As she crossed the border into Spirit Town proper, Fela tried to spot some major, significant difference that set this part of the city apart.

But aside from the occasional feature or two, it felt just like every other neighborhood in Valle, if only a bit greener. Not for the first time, she wondered what exactly formed the strange, intangible difference between humanity and spiritkind.