Grian woke up to the sound of birds chirping. It took him a second to realize that it had been him chirping in his sleep. He chuckled to himself and sat up, stretching out his wings. He checked his arms for new feathers.

Strangely, none had grown.

"Huh." Grian said out loud as he stood up.

The bird changed out of his sleep sweats and into a normal pair of trousers, finding that his feathers made the trousers a tight fit. He sighed and switched out the pair he had put on for a pair that he had already accidentally ripped on the knees. Still tight, but at least a bit more comfortable than the previous pair.

"Maybe Iskall was right. A backless dress would be better." He joked to no one as he looped a belt through to keep the trousers up.

He looked down at his shoes that sat next to the bed and grabbed a pair of mismatched socks before putting on the high tops. He whistled a familiar tune that was stuck in his head as he tied the laces. He stood and made his way towards the bathroom.

Grian flicked on the light switch and gave himself a good look in the mirror. His chest was getting pretty feathery, and there were quite a few on his face, even a few in his hair. It didn't bother him anymore.

"Five stages of grief." He noted. "I guess I'm at acceptance."

"You kind of did those stages out of order." A voice tweeted.

Grian blinked and turned to look back through the doorway into his bedroom. Sitting on the windowsill of his open window was his parrot, Professor Beak. He was less of Grian's pet and more of a wild bird who occasionally came to Grian for food. Grian hadn't seen the bird much since he himself started turning into one. Or maybe, Grian had been too focused on himself to notice.

"Well, 'ello to you too, Professor Beak." Grian smiled and fixed his messy hair.

The parrot flew through the doorway and landed on Grian's shoulder.

"You've got something on your face." The blue bird tweeted and bent towards Grian's cheek, pulling at one of the biggest feathers on his face.

"Ow! Hey! That's part of my face!" Grian moved his head away.

"Whoops. Sorry." Beak tittered.

"No, you're not." Grian said jokingly as he fixed the feather his bird pulled on.

"Forgot you could understand me and my sarcasm now." The parrot squawked and shook out his feathers. 

"Yeah, I never knew how much you hated seeds." Grian tried not to smile.

"Hey! I never said that!" Professor Beak flapped his wings in protest.

"I'm kidding." Grian laughed and took the bird off of his shoulder. The parrot, now perched on his hand, gave the almost-bird a very annoyed look. Grian grinned and kissed the bird on the head.

"Don't kiss me!" The parrot tried to fly away.

"Oh, c'mon, Professor Beak! I'm a bird! I can adopt you as my bird son!" Grian couldn't stop himself from laughing.

"I liked you better when you couldn't understand me." The parrot replied.

"You love me, kiddo." Grian ruffled the bird's feathers.

"Don't call me kiddo! I'm not your son!" Professor Beak flew up and into the bedroom.

"Aw, why not? If Mumbo gets to build robot kids, why can't I adopt bird kids?" Grian followed the parrot.

Professor Beak flew towards the open window. "If I say yes to being your quote-unquote bird son, can I go?"

"Hm. Yes." Grian grinned and grabbed the bird before he could fly out.

"HEY! YOU SAID I COULD GO!" Beak struggled in Grian's hands.

"Let me kiss my son goodbye first." Grian chuckled and gave the bird another kiss on the head.

Professor Beak sighed and gave Grian a peck on the cheek, resulting in the hermit letting the parrot go.

"Bye-bye birdie!" Grian waved to his parrot before walking back into the bathroom to fix his hair again.

Once it looked messy but on purpose, Grian put on the goggles he had gotten from False. He wanted to look nice just in case Mumbo had fixed the lift yet.

He looked at his reflection as he willed himself into his hero form. He was very thankful that his clothes changed sizes with him. If they hadn't, it would have made for some very awkward moments. He crouched down a tad to look at his face better.

He liked the rugged look of this form. He looked big and scary, but had become quite the opposite. He smiled as he thought about how he had been when he first started developing his powers. He had hated hugs, but now he loved them. He called that growth.

"I look like a superhero." He mumbled to himself, his smile wavering. His mind went to Poultry Man. He winced and shook the thought away.

He hated who he had become while parading around as that egotistical masked man. Grian's mind was brought to Jrum, the reason why he had become a superhero in the first place. He knew he had let his son down, and hoped he would have time to make it up to him.

Grian sighed and shrunk down to his hummingbird size. He flew up to the mirror and smiled. He couldn't help but laugh at himself when he was this small.

He zipped out of the room, flicking off the light switch on his way out. He flitted through the open window and into the sky above his mansion.

Today felt like a good day. He had a feeling that the lift was fixed.

"I should head over there." He told himself. The bird flew through the jungle tops, passing parrots on his way.

"Look how pretty his feathers are." He heard a parrot tell another. Grian stopped flying and waved to the one who complimented him.

"Aw thanks!"

The two parrots stared at him with wide eyes until he flew off.

"That wasn't a bird, Ava." The second parrot noted.

"You think I don't realize that now, Bell?" The first parrot squawked.

Grian grinned as he zipped through the sky. It was still overcast, but bright outside. He heard dogs bark as he flew by Joe, 12 leads in hand. Pulling the bespectacled Tennessean along were 12 dogs of varying shape and size. Joe seemed to have a handle on them though.

Grian smiled, flying past them and towards the shopping district. He spotted Scar observing a patch of mycelium in the district. Grian zipped to him.

"Heya Nascar!" Grian chirped, his voice high. Scar looked up at the bird-sized hermit.

"Psh, hey Grian." Scar chuckled at the name.

"Whatcha doin'?" Grian asked, looked over at where Scar had been looking a moment before.

"Making plans to fix the terrain of the shopping district. Gotta get rid of the mycelium." Scar answered.

"But look how pretty it is! It matches your suit and my wings!" Grian joked.

"Yeah, but it makes my allergies act up." Scar said in a semi-serious tone. "What are you up to?"

"I'm gonna check on the lift real quick." Grian replied. "See if Mumbo's fixed it yet."

Scar smiled. "Well, I'll let you go do that. I'm just waiting for Cub to show up."

Grian gave his friend a thumbs up and flew towards the TVGrumbot, still powered down and broken. He fluttered up to the dark screen and gave it a kiss before landing in front of the console. He grew to his normal size, entered the passcode, and pressed the button.

Grian danced in place, humming a dumb song he had once sung. He waited for a minute and then paused.

No answer.

He pressed the button again.

Was the lift still broken? If it was, then that was okay. Grian was sure that Mumbo would fix it soon.

Grian waited for two more minutes.

Those two minutes quickly melted into four, and then six, until he had waited for almost ten whole minutes.

He had stopped humming around minute mark two.

Worry started to fill his mind.

Mumbo was okay, right? Grian was sure that Mumbo would have fixed the lift by now.

Grian's heart hurt with disappointment and fear that he wouldn't get to say goodbye.

He felt his eyes sting with tears and his shoulders dropped sadly.

"Grian?" Scar's voice spoke from behind him. Grian looked up and wiped his eyes quickly before turning around.

"H-hey Scar! Weren't you waiting for Cub?"

"I was, and then he showed up. He's off doing his job now." Scar answered. "Hey, is everything alright?"

Grian quickly nodded, sniffing. He hoped he could hide his teary eyes. "Yeah, everything's fine. Lift's still broken." Grian chuckled, his nose stuffed.

Scar saw right through his facade. "Grian, it's okay to be sad about it. You don't have to hide it."

Grian looked away. "I've been doing so well! I haven't cried about this for at least a few days!" He tried to joke as he felt his heart rate quicken.

"Grian-" Scar stepped towards his feathered friend.

"I'm fine, Scar! You don't gotta worry about me!" Grian said as he began to hyperventilate. Why was he so hung up on this? He thought he had accepted his fate. Why was he worried about it now?

"Grian, take a deep breath." Scar spoke softly.

The bird didn't obey. Everything began to hurt the more his heart raced.

Scar watched in surprise as he saw a few feathers quickly appear on Grian's arms. The more his friend hyperventilated, the more feathered grew.

"Grian! Open your eyes!" Scar took the bird by the shoulders.

The hermit did as he was told. He saw the new feathers on his arms and yelped in shock.

"I don't understand! I thought I was okay with it!" The panic in Grian's voice had not gone away.

"You need to calm down. Slow your breathing." Scar instructed. Grian nodded and tried to do so. Scar remembered it might help to pet his wings, and so he did. Grian's breathing slowed and he felt his heartbeat return to semi-normal.

"Thank you, Scar." Grian stepped forwards, still looking down, and hugged his friend tightly. "I was doing so well..."

"G, sometimes we realize that we aren't as okay as we think. It's okay to be sad."

"Well, not just that! I hadn't grown any feathers since a couple of days ago!" Grian replied.

"I think I have a theory." Scar told his friend. "You haven't been anxious or felt a ton of negative emotions in the past couple days, right?"

Grian nodded.

"And you haven't grown any feathers in the past couple days, right?"

Grian nodded again.

"And just now, while you were hyperventilating, you grew more feathers."

Grian nodded once more.

"So, I'm thinking that it's connected to your emotions." Scar concluded.

"R-really?" Grian looked at his fluffy arms.

"I can't be completely sure, but I'm sure Aleighnya would have an answer. If you're not doing anything, we could give her a visit." Scar replied.

Grian looked up at the broken TVGrumbot, slowly looking down until his eyes met the button. With a sigh, he turned to look at Scar again.

"That would be great." Grian nodded for a final time. "Don't you have mayoral duties though?"

Scar smiled. "Cub can take care of it. I need a day off anyways."

"When are we going?"

"Right now. Once you tie your shoe, of course." Scar joked.

Grian looked down at his shoes, seeing one of them untied. The bird bent down to tie it, and he felt the fabric around his left knee rip, creating a bigger tear than the one on his right knee. He tied his shoe quickly.

"Great." Grian stood up, the fabric now falling further down his leg. "You wouldn't happen to have any magic trousers?"

"No, but I think Iskall has a backless dress you could borrow." Scar chuckled.

"Oh man, not this again." Grian rolled his eyes jokingly.

"Maybe you should wear, like, athletic shorts or something. Why do you insist on jeans?" Scar asked.

"Do you know how ridiculous I would look, shirtless, covered in feathers, and wearing nothing but a pair of shorts?" Grian answered.

"Well, it wouldn't be any more ridiculous than you look now, shirtless, covered in feathers, and wearing nothing but a pair of gray jeans that are obviously too tight now because of said feathers, and are torn in various places?" Scar replied.

"...good point. Let's stop by my mansion before we get going. I don't want these trousers to rip anywhere else." Grian felt better and wiped his eyes again.

Grian opened the door of his mansion to let him and his friend inside. Scar entered, the bird following behind him. He shut the door.

"I'm gonna run up to my room." Grian told Scar.

"I'll go with you." Scar decided.

"That works too." Grian hopped up the stairs. Scar followed him to his bedroom. The window was still open, and Professor Beak was once again on the window sill. The parrot squawked when he saw Grian.

"Oh c'mon! I thought you had left for the day!" The parrot complained. Grian stepped to the bird.

"Is that any way to talk to your father?" Grian teased, giving his bird another kiss on the head.

Beak flapped his wings and pushed Grian away. "Stop!"

Scar chuckled and stepped over to the window. "You adopted Professor Beak as your son?"

"NO! NO HE DIDN'T!" The parrot squawked in English so that Scar could understand him as well.

"He'll come around." Grian shrugged and pulled out some seeds. Professor Beak quickly ate them up.

"Yes. Yes he did." The parrot said in English.

"See?" Grian laughed and pet the parrot before stepping over to his dresser. He opened it and pulled out a pair of athletic shorts.

"At least I won't look as ridiculous as you did when you were dressed as a wizard, but in a pair of heart boxers." Grian stood up.

"Or Mumbo, when he wore literally only a pair of heart boxers." Scar added.

Grian laughed loudly and went into the bathroom to change. A minute or so later, he exited the room.

Scar stared at his friend's feathered legs. "I see now why you insisted on pants."

"Maybe Aleighnya can make me some magic jeans." Grian sighed. "And if that doesn't work, I'll ask Iskall about the dress."

Scar chuckled. "I'm glad you still have a sense of humour."

"Oh, you and me both bud." Grian smiled. He looked over at the window sill and pulled out another thing of seeds. "Hey kiddo, wanna come along?"

Professor Beak looked up and flapped over to Grian's shoulder. "Yes." He chirped, pecking up the seeds from his owner's palm.

"Should we tell him that Aleighnya is a big cat?" Scar muttered to Grian.

"It's fine." Grian chuckled as he closed the window.

Grian and Scar entered the mayor's magic village. Professor Beak kept quiet so long as Grian kept feeding him seeds.

Grian saw a few people he recognized from last time. The elf woman and the human man came up to Scar as he walked into the little town.

"Hey Scar! Taako made some macarons for you as a thank you for not being mad at him." The elf said with a gap-tooth smile. Her eyes were pink, her hair was blond and in a long braid, and her face was covered in freckles. The man next to her wore a plaid button-down shirt with the sleeves rolled up and a pair of blue jeans.

"Aw, thanks Lup! Tell him I say thanks!" Scar took the box of macarons and put them in his inventory.

"Is this your bird friend, Grian?" Lup asked. Scar nodded.

"Grian, these are my friends Lup and Barry Bluejeans. Lup, Barry, this is my friend Grian and his parrot, Professor Beak." Scar introduced them.

"Correction, this is my son." Grian said in a dead-serious tone.

"Not the weirdest thing I've seen." Barry laughed, and shook Grian's hand.

"We'll let you two get going." Lup smiled and took Barry's hand. "It was nice to meet you, Grian!"

"Nice to meet you guys too!" Grian waved.

"Thanks again!" Scar waved and led Grian to where the portal closet was located.

"Do you have more seeds?" Professor Beak asked.

"You don't need any more." Grian told the bird.

"I'm not your son anymore." PB shot back.

"Fiiiiine." Grian pulled out more seeds, but pulled his hand away before the parrot could get any. "I'm going to carry you." Grian said.

"I'm already on your shoulder." The parrot said impatiently. Grian smiled, set the seeds away, and picked the parrot up off of his shoulder. He set the bird down in the crook of his left arm, cradling him like a baby. He pulled out the seeds and held the parrot in a way that would allow him to eat. The bird ate the seeds quickly and laid back, realizing this was much more comfy than sitting on a shoulder.

Grian cooed happily and scratched PB's feathers as the parrot lay on his back. Scar looked back at his friend.

"You miss your kids a lot, don't you?" Scar stopped walking once they got to the door the portal would be behind. Grian looked up at Scar.

"Yeah..."  Grian looked back down at Professor Beak, who seemed content now.

"You want a hug?" Scar asked.

Grian nodded, his eyes filling with tears again. He stepped into Scar's open arms and wrapped his wings around the mayor, still holding his parrot in his arms. Scar hugged Grian tightly.

"You'll get to see them again." Scar said in a reassuring way.

"Thanks." Grian laughed sadly and let go of the hug. He used his finger to pet PB. The parrot purred softly.

Grian looked up. "Do-...Do birds purr?" He asked Scar as his friend pulled out the enchantment book to activate the portal on the other side of the door.

"I think so. I recall reading something like that once...You're the one turning into a bird, you should really read up on them." Scar put the book away once the glowing light appeared. He opened the door and stepped through the portal, Grian followed quickly behind.

"I really should." Grian agreed.

He took Scar's hand so he wouldn't lose his friend in the crowd.

There were so many different types of people. He saw someone who was apparently an anthropomorphic bird man wearing an adventurer's getup. Grian found comfort in that. Scar dodged a pair of kids, who couldn't be more different. The girl was short and colorful with bright orange hair while the boy was tall and grayscale with void black hair. They had backpacks on and were rushing towards a portal, where more kids were headed.

"Summer school." Scar told Grian as he pulled the bird to the correct door. Grian looked at the kids. They reminded him of his friends when he was a kid.

Scar opened the purple door and brought Grian through. The cottage was warm and welcoming.

"Aleighnya!" Scar called out.

The wooden door that led to the rest of the home opened up and the tabaxi-tiefling stepped out. Her face lit up when she saw them.

"Nascarlos! Dreamslayer! 'Ello!" She hurried to them and gave them both a big hug. Professor Beak woke up and squawked as he got smothered between feathers and fur.

Aleighnya stepped back and looked at the parrot. "Oi, I'm mighty sorry, dearie!" She apologized to the bird, who looked shaken at the sight of a giant cat. "I didn't know you had a baby." Aleighnya joked and pet PB, winning him over with some seeds from her inventory.

"He's adopted." Grian laughed.

"Yeah! Just this morning ." Professor Beak chirped out after gobbling down the seeds. "More please." He looked up at Aleighnya.

"Sorry, birdie, I don't have anymore at the moment." The cat answered.

"...You can understand me?" The parrot looked at the cat, then at Scar and Grian.

"I know birdspeak." Aleighnya nodded.

"I don't." Scar shrugged. "Though I should probably learn it."

"Fools, I am a bird." Grian chuckled and walked towards the wooden door.

"He's got us beat." Scar sighed jokingly.

Aleighnya hurried over to the door and opened it. "What brings you two to my humble abode?"

"We've got some questions about my birdiness." Grian answered.

"Let me get ya some lunch, and then we can talk." The tabaxi led them to the table. "I'll fix ya something real quick." She motioned for them to sit, which Grian did. She went into the kitchen, but Scar followed her, telling Grian that he'll be back in a moment.

Grian looked down at Professor Beak, who had gone back to sleeping in Grian's arms. He sighed.

"Sorry for insisting you're my kid." He told the bird.

PB opened his eyes. "It's fine."

"No, you obviously don't want to be."

"Well, you obviously are a sob story of a dad who misses his kids." The parrot replied.

"I can't argue with that." Grian nodded.

"I can't blame you for needing someone to baby." PB sat up. "I'm a dad too, y'know."

"You are?" Grian couldn't tell if the parrot was serious or not.

"Yeah, I mean, what did you think I was doing with all that time I spent not at your mansion." The parrot preened himself under his wing.

"Really?" Grian still couldn't tell.

"Yes. Really." PB looked up at him. "I've got a girl and a nest."

"Aww that's actually really sweet." Grian smiled.

"Her name's Carmen. She's one of those pretty red parrots. We've got 3 chicks." PB looked proud.

"What are their names?" Grian asked.

"William and Bonnie are our two purple ones. The white feathered one's name is The Supreme Lord of Omegadeath." Professor Beak said, completely serious.

"I-.."

"We call her Slo, for short." The parrot added.

"I see." Grian nodded.

"So I can relate to your love of your kids." Beak looked up at Grian.

Grian looked down at the bird and nodded again.

He pulled out another little thing of seeds and let the parrot eat. "Sorry again."

PB pecked the seeds up. "It's okay... Dad ." He said the last bit with some hesitance.

"Does this make me a grandfather now?" Grian said with a smile.

"Technically, I guess." PB finished up the seeds and cuddled up in Grian's arm, preening the feathers on the thunderbird's chest.

Scar came back in the room, carrying two bowls of soup. Aleighnya followed behind him, holding a small bowl of bird food in one hand and a bowl of soup in the other. She sat down at one end of the small table, Scar on the other. Grian was seated on one of the long sides, his seat in between Scar and Aleighnya.

Scar set one of the bowls down in front of Grian before sitting down with his own. Aleighnya set the bowl of bird seeds next to Grian's soup.

Grian nudged PB and picked him up gently. He set the birdie down in front of the bird food. He began eating away happily.

"Thank you." Grian gave Aleighnya a smile.

"Of course, Dream!" The cat smiled. Grian looked at the bird food and picked up a piece of it, inspecting it before popping it in his mouth.

"I-...huh." Scar watched his friend.

"That's pretty good." Grian decided. "I'd rather have the soup though." He chuckled before putting a spoonful of soup into his mouth.

"Hey, before I forget, do you have magic trousers I could use?" Grian asked.

Scar had to try not to spit out his soup as he laughed. "You were serious?"

"Well, yeah!" Grian looked over at Scar.

Aleighnya smiled. "I don't think you need magic trousers. I just think ya need a bigger pair."

Grian looked down at his soup. "Man, aren't I a dummy? That's a smart idea." He looked back at Aleighnya. "Do you have bigger trousers I could use then?"

"Let me check my costume boxes. Follow me." The tabaxi stood up and went into the original room. Grian followed her quickly, letting his new son eat. Scar stayed seated and continued eating.

Aleighnya pulled out a chest and opened it. She took out a stack of neatly folded pants of various materials. She handed the stack to Grian.

"Go ahead and try these on and see if any of them fit comfortably."

"Thanks!" Grian smiled.

"I'll pop out the room to give ya some privacy." Aleighnya went back through the wooden door, leaving Grian alone.

He tried on the pairs of pants, each weirder than the last. Out of the seven pairs, only one really fit. It was a pair of ninja-like pants. He folded up the other pairs and set them back in the costume chest. He put his shorts into his inventory.

Grian went back into the dining room. PB was chatting it up with Aleighnya, much to the confusion of Scar who couldn't understand what they were saying.

"I found a pair." Grian stood in front of the table. Aleighnya smiled.

"They look nice on you!" The tabaxi noted, and Scar nodded.

"Do I owe you anything?" Grian asked.

"Oh, no no. They're yours." Aleighnya grinned. "Now, come eat your soup. It's getting cold."

After the four of them finished up their lunch and took their empty dishes to the sink, they sat down at the table to talk.

"So, what's the matter with your 'birdiness?'" Aleighnya asked.

"Okay so, Scar thinks it's connected to my emotions because when I wasn't anxious the last couple of days, I didn't really grow any feathers. Earlier this morning, I had a sort of panic attack, and boom . More feathers." Grian explained.

"Hm." Aleighnya stood up and studied Grian's wings.

Grian continued. "And, according to Mumbo, I've actually turned into a bird for a moment before, when he jumped off of his base to try and snap me out of a trance or something. I don't remember most of that night, and I surely don't remember being a bird..."

"You needing to save him was probably really emotional, and it possibly is what triggered the instant transformation. You obviously ended up changing back, but you're slowly becomin' one fully." Aleighnya theorized.

"So, basically, I can't stop myself from becoming one, but anxiety and negative emotions just makes the process go faster?" Grian tried to summarize for himself.

"Seems like it." The tabaxi nodded.

"Well alrighty then." Grian looked down at Professor Beak, who was asleep on his arm again.

"You don't have that long left, by the looks of it." Scar noted.

Grian nodded silently.

"I'm fine with being a bird, I keep telling myself. And, for the most part, it's true. But when I think about the people I'm leaving behind, it hurts. I just want to be able to say goodbye to my kids, and deliver on the promise I made to them. I don't want their last impression of me to be a bad one..." Grian put his head down on the table and the tabaxi began rubbing his shoulders.

"How about we do something to get your mind off of it?" Aleighnya suggested. Grian gave a thumbs-up, his head still down.

Aleighnya stepped over to a stack of spell books near the table and grabbed one of them. She sat down next to Grian and set the book in front of him.

Grian looked up and scooted his chair in. "What's this?"

"It's a student spell book. I have an excess of them since I was asked to be a teacher at the Realms school this coming year." She explained.

"Ooo, do I get to watch Grian try to do magic?" Scar joked.

"As a matter of fact, yes. We'll do an easy spell, a simple cantrip." The tabaxi flipped to a page near the front. At the top of the page was a header in big letters that read "Prestidigitation" with a subtitle informing the reader that it was a transmutation cantrip.

"Now, prestidigitation is a simple spell that is typically used for practice." Aleighnya had assumed the role of teacher. "There's a number of effects that the caster can create with this spell. They're listed here." She pointed to a list on the page. "Go ahead and pick one ya want to try."

Grian read the list to himself. The possible effects were all minimal and only lasted for up to an hour.

"I like the last one." Grian decided. "'You create a nonmagical trinket or an illusory image that can fit in your hand and lasts for up to an hour.'" He read out loud.

"Good choice! Scar, why don't you demonstrate?" Aleighnya motioned to the empty space behind where they sat.

"Oh, why me? You know I'm not good at transmutation." Scar stood reluctantly and went to where Aleighnya wanted him.

"It's a simple cantrip. I've seen you do it before." The tabaxi replied.

Scar sighed. "Fine. What should I make?"

"A locket?" Aleighnya suggested. Scar nodded. He closed his eyes and held out his hand. He mumbled something and a small flash of light appeared just over his palm. He flicked his wrist around. As he did so, a necklace chain with a heart shaped locker came into existence in the light. It landed in his hand.

"Ta da!" He did jazz hands and handed the locket to Grian. When the bird opened it, he found a small picture of Jellie inside.

"Cool!" Grian felt his mood improving.

"Was that so bad, Scar?" Aleighnya laughed and ruffled her friend's neat hair. He laughed too.

"So, what do I do?" Grian asked, handing the locket back to Scar and setting his bird son on his shoulder.

"Firstly, stand." Aleighnya stood, and Grian did also. Scar sat back down in his seat.

"Now hold on your hand like this." She took Grian's hand and positioned it.

"Okay." Grian nodded.

"Let's make a locket, like Scar did." Aleighnya suggested. "Envision the locket in your mind. Focus on the idea of it. Now repeat after me. Linguini Tortellini ."

Grian looked at her.

"Yes, I know those are pasta dishes. They work the same as the typical magic words for this spell since it's not about what you say. The textbook will tell you that 'The words themselves aren't the source of the spell's power; rather, the particular combination of sounds, with specific pitch and resonance, sets the threads of magic in motion.'" Aleighnya clarified.

"Oh, so as long as the words hit the same, it doesn't matter what they are?" Grian asked.

Aleighnya nodded. "I find using pasta dishes as the words to be much more fun and easier to remember." She grinned. "Now say the words while focusing on the trinket in your mind."

Grian closed his eyes again and held his hand out. "Okay...Linguini Tortellini."

He opened his eyes a bit to see if anything happened, but nothing had.

"You won't get it on your first try." Scar said as he saw the disappointment on the hermit's face.

"I assumed so." Grian chuckled.

"It takes practice! You'll get it soon!" Aleighnya gave him encouragement. Grian nodded.

Grian spent the next hour practicing what Aleighnya told him. Each time he attempted the spell, nothing happened. He had gone into Aleighnya's store room a half-hour earlier to practice on his own. He was about to give up, but decided to try one last time.

He held his hand out and focused on creating a locket. He spoke the magical pasta names. He peeked, expecting nothing like the last hundred times, but he was caught off guard as a small light hung just over his palm. His concentration broke as he opened his eyes in excitement. He ran out of the room and to the table where Scar and Aleighnya were sitting with PB.

"I DID SOMETHING!" Grian chirped and stood in front of the table. He closed his eyes, concentrated, and spoke the magic words. He opened his eyes to see the light right before it disappeared.

Aleighnya was grinning. "Look at you! Great job!"

"What's the next part?" Grian asked.

"Okay. Once you speak the words, you need to flick your wrist around, like this." The tabaxi demonstrated, making a motion that a stage magician might do to make a card appear in his hand.

"Okay." Grian nodded. "Like this?" He did what she had shown him to make sure he knew what to do. She nodded.

"Exactly. Now try it with the rest of the spell."

Grian closed his eyes again and focused. He spoke the words and flicked his wrist around. A moment later, he felt something small and metal in the palm of his hand. He opened up his eyes and held out the object with excitement.

"I did it!" His eyes lit up. Aleighnya and Scar clapped.

"I told you you could do it!" The tabaxi looked proud.

"You got it faster than I did when I was first learning that spell." Scar laughed.

Grian grinned and looked at the locket he had just created. He opened it up and blinked at the picture inside. It was a tiny version of the framed photo of him and Taurtis that was in his bedroom. He was silent for a moment as he stared at the picture. He nodded and closed the locket.

"I did it." He smiled and looked back up.

"Here." Aleighnya handed him the spell book that was on the table.

"Huh?" Grian held the book.

"Take it! You can practice cantrips to get your mind off of things." She smiled.

"Oh! Thank you!" Grian put the book in his inventory and hopped over to Aleighnya. He gave her a hug, which she gladly returned.

"Anytime, Mr. Dreamslayer."

Grian sat in his room that night. He was flipping through the pages of the spellbook and reading about different spells and the like. It was interesting to him, and reminded him a bit of the books that Taurtis and him would look at on their adventures. He wondered if that was why that picture was the one in the locket. He remembered the feeling of the locket disappearing from his hand once the hour was up. Just like the locket, Taurtis had been there one moment, gone the next. Unlike the locket, Grian couldn't just cast a spell to bring his friend back for one hour more.

Professor Beak sat on his shoulder, giving commentary on the spells.

As Grian flipped by the Fly spell, the parrot noted, "You don't need that one. Or Lightning Arrow. You've got that already."

Grian chuckled. "True." He yawned and closed the book. He set it beside his bed and turned off his lamp.

"Hey, what are you doing?" PB flew up off of Grian's shoulder.

"...Sleeping?" Grian laid down and looked up at the bird above him.

"Could you open the window so I can leave first?" PB flapped by the closed window.

"You don't wanna stay here?" Grian said with more sadness in his voice than he intended.

Professor Beak looked out the window, then back at Grian. The guy was lonely and liked having company. It wouldn't kill PB to stay.

"...alright." Beak flew back over to the bed. "Where am I gonna sleep though?"

Grian sat up as an idea came to him. He got out of bed and took the blankets and sheets off of the mattress. He took them to the open area of the room and began to arrange them into a nest shape. He grabbed a few extra blankets out of his closet to finish it up, and set the pillows from his bed in the makeshift blanket nest.

"Here!" He motioned to it proudly before stepping in it and huddling in it like a bird. He raised one of his wings. "You comin'?" Grian asked.

PB flew to the nest in the middle of the floor. He took his place next to Grian and under the thunderbird's raised wing. Once PB was settled in, Grian lowered his wing back down and made sure the parrot was comfortable.

The hermit had to admit that the nest was comfier than a normal bed. His wings didn't feel in the way.

"Goodnight, Professor Beak." Grian bent his head down and kissed the parrot on the head.

"Night, uh, Dad."

"I love you very much." Grian said as he felt himself grow sleepy.

"You know what? I love you too." Professor Beak sounded genuine and happy, just the way Grian felt.