Marcus stared. His jaw dropped.

"What..." Marcus stammered.

He pointed at the fluffball.

"What even is your main body?" he shouted. "A child? An adult? And now... a cute... fluffy thing?"

The creature looked up at him. It didn't open a mouth, but her voice echoed clearly in the air.

"Spirits can take multiple forms," Ventessa said. Her tone was still cool and detached.

"This is efficient. It conserves mana."

"And trust me," she added. "It is for your own good that I didn't take my real form."

Marcus stared at the cute creature. It was hard to be afraid of something that looked like a marshmallows.

He felt a tug on his pant leg.

He looked down.

The grey teddy bear was standing there. He gestured for Marcus to lean down.

Marcus crouched.

The bear stood on his tiptoes. He cupped a paw around his mouth.

"Don't feel down," the bear whispered loudly.

"I have been with her for a long time. Even I have never seen her real form either."

The bear rolled his button eye.

"She always gives the same excuse," the bear muttered. "'It is for your own good.' 'You would go mad.' Blah blah blah."

Marcus looked at the bear. Then he looked at Ventessa.

He had asked just out of confusion. But now, he was genuinely curious.

What did a "real" wind spirit look like?

Was she a storm? A tornado? A monster?

"Is it really that bad?" Marcus asked the bear.

"Who knows?" the bear shrugged. "Maybe she is just ugly."

Whap.

An invisible force flicked the bear in the back of the head.

He stumbled forward and face-planted in the dirt.

"I heard that," Ventessa said.

The fluffy cloud creature looked at Marcus.

"Are you done staring?" she asked.

"Uh," Marcus said. "I guess."

Ventessa bent her knees. Or what passed for knees in that fluff.

She jumped.

She soared through the air with wind magic, and landed directly on top of Marcus's head.

Marcus stiffened. He felt a soft, warm weight settle into his messy hair.

"Hey!" Marcus said. He reached up. "Why are you on my head?"

"It is high up," Ventessa replied.

She circled once, like a dog making a bed. Then she settled down.

"And it is surprisingly comfortable," she added. "Your hair is like a bird's nest."

"It is not a nest!" Marcus protested. "It is a stylistic choice!"

"It is messy," Ventessa corrected. "But acceptable."

Marcus sighed. He lowered his hand.

He had a powerful spirit sitting on his head like a hat.

He looked at the dragon girl.

She was staring at his head with wide eyes. She looked like she wanted to pet the fluffball.

Marcus looked at the bear, who was pushing himself out of the dirt.

"Well," Marcus said. "This is my life now."

The forest was quiet again. The tension from the battle had finally dissipated.

Marcus stood in the clearing with a spirit on his head and a dragon girl clutching his leg.

He looked at the grey teddy bear.

The toy was dusting off his patchy fur. He looked grumpy.

Marcus studied him.

He moved with fluidity. He spoke with intelligence.

He clearly wasn't just a magical construct. Constructs didn't have sarcasm.

"So," Marcus started. He pointed at the bear. "What exactly is he?"

The bear stopped dusting. He looked up.

"He is definitely not a teddy bear, right?" Marcus asked. "Or are teddy bears living things in this world?"

He remembered the novel again. There were mimics. There were golems.

But plush toys? That was new.

"He is not a living species," Ventessa's voice came from above Marcus's forehead.

She shifted slightly.

"Well..." Ventessa said slowly. "He is a soul."

"A soul?" Marcus repeated.

"A human soul," Ventessa clarified. "Stuck in the bear."

Marcus blinked.

"A human soul?" Marcus asked. "How?"

Marcus looked at the bear with new sympathy.

To be trapped in a doll. To be unable to feel, or eat, or grow.

"That sounds... terrible," Marcus said softly.

"It has its perks," the bear shrugged. "I don't need to sleep. I don't feel pain. And I am adorable."

He struck a pose.

Marcus chuckled. It was a weak sound, but it was genuine.

"And what is he to you?" Marcus asked Ventessa.

He gestured between the spirit and the bear.

"Are you partners? Or did you summon him?"

There was a long pause.

The forest was silent.

Ventessa didn't answer immediately.

The bear looked up at Marcus's head. He looked expectant.

"We are partners, right?" the bear asked. His voice wavered slightly.

Silence stretched.

"Why the long pause?" the bear asked. He sounded hurt. "Ventessa? Why are you quiet?"

Finally, Ventessa spoke.

"He is..." she began.

She seemed to be searching for the right word.

"Emergency rations?" Marcus suggested helpfully.

"No," Ventessa said. "He is made of cotton. No nutritional value."

"Then what?" the bear demanded. "I am your trusty companion! Your shield!"

"He is..." Ventessa tried again.

"Luggage," she decided.

The bear's jaw dropped. Or rather, the stitching stretched.

"Luggage?!" the bear shouted. "I carry your stuff! I scout for you! I fight for you!"

"You run away," Ventessa corrected. "Like you did tonight."

"That was a tactical retreat!" the bear argued. "I was leading them away!"

"You ran," Ventessa said flatly. "And you are small. And you hold my extra items in your spatial pocket."

She paused.

"Therefore," she concluded. "Luggage."

The bear threw his paws up in the air.

"I hate you," the bear grumbled. "I really do."

"Without me," Ventessa said. She sounded bored. "You are just a doll on the ground."

The bear crossed his arms. He turned his back on them. He kicked a rock.

Marcus watched the interaction. A smile tugged at the corner of his lips.

They bickered like siblings. Or an old married couple.

It was comforting. It was normal.

It made the horror of the night feel a little less overwhelming.

Marcus reached up and patted the fluffball on his head.

"You are mean," Marcus said.

"I am honest," Ventessa replied.

Marcus looked down at the dragon girl.

She was still hiding behind his leg, but she was peeking out at the bear.

She reached out a tentative hand. She poked the bear's fuzzy arm.

The bear turned around. He saw the girl.

His grumpy expression melted instantly.

"Hello there," the bear said gently. "Do you think I am luggage?"

The dragon girl shook her head.

"See?" the bear shouted at Ventessa. "She respects me!"

Ventessa yawned. The sound was a soft squeak.

"She is a child," Ventessa said. "She likes toys. It proves my point."

The bear groaned. He sat down in the dirt, defeated.

Marcus took a deep breath.

The adrenaline was completely gone now.

The moon was high in the sky. It was late.

They were in the middle of a forest.

They had two dead guards and a missing noblewoman nearby.

They were alive. They were healed.

But they were far from safe.

Marcus looked at his strange group.

A transmigrator life coach.

A traumatized dragon hatchling.

An ancient wind spirit disguised as a fluffball.

And a human soul trapped in a teddy bear.

"Okay," Marcus said.

He rubbed the back of his neck and looked at the dark path ahead.

"Now what?"

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