The song for this chapter is "Hey Brother" by Avicii. I love this song! How have I not heard before one of you suggested Avicii. Ila_di_Angelo , I'm looking at you. <.< This was just perfect for the wizards. :) Awesomesundragon , Thank you for the horse name suggestions. :3 I'll have to go back and edit Martha's chapters and last chapter to add her in at Martha's house in Katsir.

*Waglington's POV*

I laughed as I caught the apple flying through the air with my magic before it could hit Matt in the back of the head where he sat across from me. Instead of returning it to the rebellious student who'd thrown it—I was pretty sure it was Echo or her air elemental friend—I levitated it closer to Matt's head and set it to turn as if it were on a spit. The apprentices snickered wildly as I roasted the apple. Matt didn't even know it was there until he turned to look at Echo when she snorted. He had been talking to Phil next to him, and when he turned around he hit the apple with his forehead, causing me to drop it. He caught the steaming apple in his hand as I and no small number of students at the far end of the table doubled over laughing. He wore a blank expression for a moment before shrugging and taking a bite out of it, humming approvingly. "Not bad, Wag. You didn't cook the ends very evenly though."

I laughed even harder before getting myself back under control. Goodness, I had missed this. I wiped a bit of excess moisture from my eye and stuffed a bite of shepherd's pie in my mouth to prevent my laughing further. I needed to eat something besides. It still felt like I was catching up from the day and a half I'd missed out on eating real food. Sure, Martha had spooned some soup into me while I was out, but that's not going to stick with a strapping, young wizard such as myself for very long, especially when I was still building my magic back up.

Memento scoffed at me mentally, knowing that being well fed didn't directly correlate with replenishing magic. It certainly didn't hurt though. Having fun, are we? He asked. He was lounging under my chair, sleeping off his meal. He'd gorged on fish shortly before our meal had finished cooking. Given his enthusiasm, I suspected he hadn't eaten very well while I was out either. Worry did tend to turn the stomach. I felt him move his head to rest on my foot under the table to reassure me that he was fine.

Most definitely. I leaned down to rub the side of his face, and he purred in response. I could feel his contentment radiating across our new bond, like stepping into a warm patch of sunlight. Donella had tried to make our new bond as close an approximation of the old as possible. She had done a pretty good job; the only difference I'd noted was our being more aware of each other's emotions than before. That really wasn't a big difference given that Memento was prone to let me know how he felt anyways. Oh, and Memento could properly use some of my athar magic now, not just my ars magicka spells. We'd discovered that last night when I accidentally rolled over on him. He shoved me out of the bed with a burst of magic. Memento had been just as surprised as me and twice as scared.

I massaged my forehead thinking about the fact that I'd now have to teach him how to use my powers without accidentally killing one of us. It was like an untrained apprentice suddenly getting their full adult strength all at once. Well, at least things won't be boring from here on in.

When were they ever? Memento asked sleepily before drifting off.

I grinned and went back to my meal, occasionally joining in on the conversation between Phil and Matt across from me or the one between Tom and Winter beside me. The rest of lunch passed without incident. As people started to file out with their dishes and the leftovers, Matt caught my attention. "Hey, Wag! There's someone at the stable who wants to see you. I don't think she's worked up the nerve to come find you yet. You should probably go talk to her before Phil sees her," He added in a whisper.

I had a feeling I knew who he meant. He must have seen her with his "wizard vision" as he dubbed it. The gift that kept him aware of his surroundings for a few miles had a proper name, but no one could convince him to use it. It had been impossible to beat him at a game of hide-and-seek ever since we were little. If Matt weren't so easily distracted, he might actually be harder to sneak up on than Tom (Syndicate). "Thanks, Matt. I'll head over there."

Matt grinned mischievously at me before spotting someone else he wanted to talk to. "Oh Idris, there you are! We should go practice your aim while the weather holds." The two disappeared into one of the hallways, chatting. Matt had taken Idris under his wing after the apprentices had returned. He'd started showing signs of developing the same "wizard vision" that Matt had, though he was a young wizard yet.

I cast a sideways glance at Memento where he still slept under my abandoned chair. By the feel of his mind, he would be soundly asleep for a few more hours at least. I had learned from my time with Memento that felines spent literally half of each day—sometimes more—sleeping, though most of it was pretty light. This would be a rare time to talk to Martha without him grumbling about it.

Having made my decision, I headed outside and flew over the moat. (The bridge had collapsed in one of the recent quakes.) The sky had turned overcast and threatening—mirroring Mianite's mood wherever he was—about the time I had ended my call with Tucker, Sonja, and Tom (Syndicate). It had remained so through lunch and didn't show any signs of letting up. On the upside, it hadn't broken into a storm either. So I wasn't one to complain. As I walked into the stable, I knew my brothers' horses did not share my opinion. They resented being stabled early due to the fractious weather, and were stamping and snorting their disapproval. Well, Dovabutt was throwing a right fit. Platypi, while still unhappy, was standing relatively still while Martha scratched his forehead and talked softly to him.

"Yes, I think you'd like Neighbelline. You can smell her, can't you?" She asked as Platypi nuzzled her free hand. (Come on. Of course the horse would have a punny name if Ianite and Spark had given it to her. :)) She paused when she sensed me watching and turned to offer me a slightly strained grin. "Hello, Wag," She carefully avoided using my pet name.

"Hello, Martha," I replied before letting the stable slip into an uncomfortable silence broken only by the occasional whiney or kick against Dovabutt's stall. I joined her at the door to Platypi's stall and raked my fingers through the thick, winter coat of the dapple grey's neck. That was one of his favorite spots according to Tom. I would have gone to appease the jealous Dovabutt, but I had learned quickly that he nipped when he was unhappy. It suddenly occurred to me to wonder if Martha had had to find that out the hard way. I frowned at the thought. "Dovabutt didn't bite you, did he?" I asked. The question came more naturally then my greeting had.

Martha's grin relaxed ever so slightly. She chuckled. "He tried it once, and I scolded him. Now he has to sit over there by his lonesome and know he's missing out on all the attention."

I hummed. "A fitting punishment."

We lapsed back into silence, though it wasn't quite so awkward this time. I could almost pretend this was one of those days we'd spent together in my library. She worked out how to properly cast spells I'd gone over with her earlier, and I conducted research of my own. If she had a question or I sensed her getting frustrated, I would go over and help her with the part giving her trouble. Usually, I let her review at her own pace. She valued her independence, and seeing her face light up when she successfully managed a spell on her own was a great reward. Truthfully, I spent nearly as much time studying her as the scrolls and books I intended to read. I sighed. I miss those days.

Martha appeared to be thinking along the same lines, or perhaps she picked up on my mood. "Wag..." She waited for me to meet her eyes before continuing, "I am sorry for leading you on. It was never my intention to hurt you. Do you think we can ever go back to being friends?"

I saw the regret and grief in her midnight blue eyes. Her voice held remorse and smallest hint of hope. Yes, it still hurt, and yes, I was still peeved that one of my best friends had treated me that way. But honestly, how can I stay mad at her when she gives me that look? I'm just as bad with how I treated her. I sighed and offered her a weak, reassuring smile. I decided being straightforward would prove the best policy given that Martha was my goddess. She would know if I held anything back. That would only eat at her more.

"I-I forgive you, Martha," Where in the realms did that stutter come from? I cleared my throat before continuing, "And I hope you can forgive me for losing my temper and shoving you out of my mind. Even friends fight on occasion, but that's no excuse for how I acted." I let my eyes fall to the straw-dusted floor in shame for a moment before capturing her eyes again. "None of that negates my still caring about you, and it doesn't mean the pain is gone...yet," I quickly added when I saw guilt flash in Martha's eyes. I looked away from her to stare out one of the stable windows. "I accept your decision, and of course I'm still your friend. What kind of wizard do you take me for?" I asked with wounded pride, trying to lighten the mood. My voice cracking in the middle of my question somewhat ruined the effect, but Martha still chuckled. It was a genuine chuckle, not a wry one.

"One of a kind; that's for sure," Martha said before bumping me with her shoulder. I grinned and shook my head. "Wag, I already forgave you, and as for damaging our mental link..." She trailed off. She surprised me when she flicked my forehead.

"Ow! Rude!" I rubbed the spot and glared at Martha. She smirked for a moment before we both laughed. I deserved that.

We wandered out of the stable and walked around the ruined town together, chatting as if nothing had ever happened between us. I had a lot to catch her up on, as she did me. I told her of my travels as a cat and while looking for Steve and some of the drama with my powers and Memento. Then she told me about her troubles with meditating and how plans for Dianite's revival were completed. I got the feeling she was hiding something from me somewhere in her tale, but decided to let it slide. It was probably something to do with Steve anyways.

A few hours later we had looped the whole town and had made it back to the stable. I hadn't even noticed the passage of time. Talking with Martha like this had been great, but in the back of my mind, I knew it wasn't the same. A dull pang of longing and sorrow distracted me from Martha's lovely voice, and I tried to squash the feeling before Martha could pick up on it. Luckily she missed it, and my hood hid my smile as it faded. I found it difficult to focus back on our conversation afterwards. Martha finally noticed when she asked me a question I didn't catch. "Wag, are you okay?" she asked, concerned. She rested a hand on my shoulder.

I didn't quite know how to explain my distractedness and apologized for spacing out. Martha cautiously accepted it and repeated her question, "I was asking how your packing was going. We're planning to head out at first light."

"Wait, what?! Where are we going?" I asked, alarmed that I had missed something so important.

Martha looked annoyed and asked, "Did Dianite not tell you? I asked him to give you a heads up after you were awake." My blank expression was answer enough. "We're traveling to Thel Olihm for Dianite's revival. That's where his body is. Mot got back to Dagrun today, and he's agreed to guide us." Martha let out a relieved sigh. "I was worried I would have to act as guide. It's been at least twenty years since I've made the trip to my Uncle's home. I definitely would have gotten us lost."

I laughed at the face of horror she made. "Oh come on. Surely your sense of direction isn't that bad. We could have always asked Mianite to teleport us, besides."

Martha shook her head. "He'll never admit it, but he's under a lot of strain right now. He's managing an almost global evacuation as well as trying to quell all the doubt and fear threatening what order remains. (Remember what WH said about gods losing their followers' faith?) Teleporting that many people who aren't his followers would take a lot out of him." Odd, I'd never thought about the gods having limitations when it came to those that belonged to a different god.

I pondered the implications of that until I heard footsteps approaching us. I filed the matter away for later and turned to see Kay walking up to us with Aduladi perched on her padded shoulder. "Hello, Kay," I said brightly. "Have you been introduced to Martha yet?"

Kay smiled and gave a slight bow to Martha—careful not to disturb Adu—before answering. "She's the goddess you've decided to serve while in this realm," She said, looking between us for confirmation.

While in this realm... I keep forgetting we have to go home one day. I nodded approvingly to Kay and clarified, "I'm her champion." Kay seemed suitably impressed, and Adu ruffled his feathers and turned his head to stare at me.

Kay had come to let me know dinner would be ready shortly. Matt and Tom had been inclined to not tell me, hoping to keep all of the brisket to themselves. I stiffened as she told me. I loved brisket. I will not stand for this! I glanced over at Martha, wondering how to politely excuse myself without it looking like I was ditching her for a piece of meat—deliciously tender and juicy meat that falls apart without the need for a knife. I started salivating just imagining it. Oh dear.

Martha laughed and shoved me good naturedly. "Go eat your dinner. I'll see you tomorrow. We're leaving from Mianite's house an hour after sunrise.

Uhg. I despised getting up early, but I would manage. "Goodnight, Martha!" I called over my shoulder as I walked more quickly than necessary towards the Tower.