Three days after their return to the capital, the party gathered in Celestial Peak's briefing room. Sunlight streamed through the observatory's old dome, catching dust motes in slow spirals.
The room smelled of old paper and the faint ozone of warding magic. Valerie Mayfeather sat at the head of the table, her TUFF GRANNY mug steaming beside a stack of mission dossiers. Boris the Yeti snored in his small form near the window, utterly indifferent to the proceedings.
Nathan sat across from her, his party arrayed around him. Mirko was in bunny form on his shoulder, fully recovered, her green fur bright and her pink eyes alert. She'd been insufferably pleased about her return, composing a short song to her Own Resilience that Nathan had refused to let her perform aloud. Kuro sat on the table near his elbow, a small black shape with white mask-markings, her dark eyes tracking every movement in the room.
