It was Sunday now, Kat and Lily were sitting in Nira’s office getting another routine check-up. Lily left the scanning equipment and bounded over to Kat before transforming back into her human form and leaning into Kat. "Well, everything seems to be in order once again," said Nira while looking at a holographic screen that contained the results of the scan. "I am a little concerned with how developed the link seems to be. We might need to keep that in mind for other sentient mind linkages. It’s not meant to be quite so… broadly useful I suppose. The fact you can see through each other’s eyes already is a surprise, and while it should eventually be possible, we’re talking years down the line normally,"

"Is it something to be concerned about?" asked Kat.

"No… not as far as I can see," said Nira with another glance at the charts. "There isn’t any personality bleed, which is good. Despite how closely connected you two seem to be, the fact there is no personality bleed is great news. The data seems to suggest it won’t ever be an issue for either of you, which is good, and certainly an interesting data point. Considering how close it has brought your minds, the fact that there is NO personality bleed at all? Very interesting,"

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"So… what should there be personality bleed?" asked Kat.

"Eh…" Nira made a ’so-so’ gesture, "It’s not an intended feature of the link but it is an extremely common side effect. It’s part of what makes animals that we connect to smarter, and it sometimes gives the sentient on the other end a few animal traits. Mental bonds between sentients, though perhaps not the specific one we’ve used with you both, also have personality bleed issues. It’s only occasionally a worry, but it is more pronounced,"

"Are you sure? I feel like Lily and I have both picked up a few of each other’s habits," said Kat.

Nira shrugged, "According to the data none of that is personality bleed. At least, not the medical definition anyway. You are still in each other’s heads all the time. That means that you’re constantly spending time with one another. Adopting certain traits from each other is just how that sort of thing goes, mental link or no mental link,"

*I suppose that makes sense.*

[I’m not sure why you asked at all, I felt it was pretty obvious why it was happening. Sure we were friends before but now we’re dating and live in each other’s head. I know what you’re thinking and feeling almost all the time. The idea we wouldn’t start to pick up things from each other is silly.]

*Well yeah when you put it like that…*

After seeing no response Nira asked, "So, with that, your link is officially stable and I don’t anticipate the need for regular check-ups anymore. I would still like to see you in a professional capacity at least once a year, but that is something I recommend all my patients. Of course, unlike the rest of my patients, you’re friends with my daughter so I CAN bug you about it if you decide to skip. Do you have any final questions for me?"

"Um… yes actually," said Lily as she turned to face Nira properly, still sitting on Kat’s lap of course. "I’ve found that since my shadow magic affinity has kicked in I feel the constant need to pump mana into it and I’m not sure why, I mean, I could guess, but I’m not sure why,"

Nira nodded, "Welp back into the machine I guess. I’m no expert in shadow magic but I do know a good deal about Shadow biology from my work here at the hospital. I wonder if the instinct comes from your Memphis side or if it’s purely a shadow magic affinity thing?" pondered Nira.

"I’m not sure," said Lily as she stepped into the scanner, "I had the same thoughts when it first came up. I know at least some of it has to be related to how different magically saturated shadows act,"

Nira waited for the results to come in before speaking, "Yes… I can see why that would be the case. As for what I have here? It seems like… your mana is trying to help establish additional mana pathways in your shadow. The best way I can explain it, would be to say that your mana is reaching out to your shadow and trying to make it a real part of your metaphysical body instead of just a shadow," _{Please visit 𝗳𝚛𝐞𝘦wℯ𝚋𝓷o𝚟el. 𝐜𝘰𝒎}

"Is that a good thing?" asked Lily.

"It will have upsides and downsides," said Nira. "Once your shadow fully integrates into your magic system your control over it will be phenomenal, you’ll be able to control it like any other part of your body, or separate it and use it as a second one. The problem is that it will likely come with the associated weaknesses as well. Bright magically empowered light will hurt you. You will find yourself more at home in deeper shadows. If someone attacks your shadow you can take real damage,"

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"That doesn’t sound good… can I… I dunno avoid all that somehow?" asked Lily.

"Not without crippling your shadow affinity. From what your results are telling me, it’s a partially subconscious process. You would need to constantly fight yourself for centuries before breaking the habit, and never use shadow magic in all that time. I would say it just isn’t worth attempting. And yes, that is my medical opinion as your doctor," said Nira.

"Well… what does it mean to be a metaphysical organ?" asked Lily.

"Metaphysical organs are organs normally attached to your magic or soul. They are not part of your soul, but they are usually attached to it instead of your body. Giving it a more direct link to your centre of being. It’s how most things produce higher energy. Your shadow, right now, is just a shadow, the absence of light.

"However, once it becomes part of your magic, and an offshoot of your soul it will become more real in a sense. It will not just be a shadow, it will be a shadow body. If you leave it in its most natural state, acting only as your shadow, it will be quite resistant to damage, but the more actively you’re manipulating it, the further you open it up to retaliation so be careful in the future," said Nira.

"I thought you said you weren’t a shadow magic expert," said Lily.

"I’m not, but I also said I’m a doctor who can work on Shadows. They have similar rules. The closer they stick to a surface, and the less they interact with what we’d consider the ’real’ world the less they can be effected by in turn. Of course, as they are completely shadow, they need to maintain a certain level of ’existence’ to keep functioning. In fact, one of the deadliest diseases for Shadows is called ’The Fade’.

"It’s quite rare now, the Shadow doctors were brutal in their attempts to eradicate it from their species, and they were mostly successful. Of course, I’ve been around quite a while and I’ve still seen the cases a few times. Think of it like… leprosy for shadows," explained Nira.

Lily flinched back at the idea, "Um… I don’t have to worry about something like that right?"

Nira shrugged and said, "I imagine not, because you have your own body as an anchor. Your shadow can’t suddenly stop existing either in full or in part so you should be fine… but that doesn’t mean you are completely free from Shadow specific diseases so if you start to have issues please come in to see me and I can get you looked at,"

"You know… I’m starting to think that shadow magic might not be worth the cost," mumbled Lily as she slid back into Kat’s lap and hugged her tightly.

"Oh just about every affinity opens you up to some affinity specific disease," said Nira casually as if she wasn’t dropping a massive bomb on Lily. "They just aren’t that common, and honestly the fact you have a body is a big boon for resisting shadow diseases. Your paper affinity comes with a weakness to certain magical bugs that try to eat your mana core from the inside out and space affinity increase your risk of sheering space and sending you into the void or letting horrors from beyond mortal ken escape into the real world,"

"Um… really?" asked Lily shakily.

Nira shrugged again, "The space sheering thing is a real worry but monstrous horrors of the void aren’t. Those have all been exterminated. They are a pest that happens to be deadly for demons below Rank 5. The stronger members of our species ensured all of the non-sentient ones died, and the sentient ones won’t attack randomly, we have treaties and everything. Though, sometimes things evolve back into void dwellers and we need to conduct a minor pest control movement again,"

[Hey Kat remember when magic was all sunshine and rainbows? I do. The real world is scary.]

*Hey, Nira said these things are all very rare. Please don’t worry too much about them.*

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