Gilder Vs. Hare Girl (And Friends)

The three looked around with wide eyes wonder. Their only real experience with books had been old almanacs thrown out by local farmers and the occasional tome lost or abandoned by someone traveling through their woods. They didn't know that so many books could exist, much less be gathered in one place. After several minutes of stunned silence Amy finally spoke. "Is there a story to that window." She asked in an awestruck whisper, gesturing vaguely towards the boarded up window.

"There was an, uh, incident with a thief." Gilder explained with a cough. "I just never got around to fixing it up properly."

Amy and Jennifer wanderer around the library for a bit, occasionally laying a hand on one of the books or bookshelves as if to reassure themselves that the they were in fact real before returning to the group, ready to continue.

"Now we come to the Arcanium." Gilder said as he led the girls upstairs.

There were several tables scattered about covered with gems and trinkets that hummed with unnatural power. A large crystal hung from the ceiling and illuminated the whole room in a soft white light. Red lines covered the walls, floor and ceiling in an intricate pattern.

"This is where I study magical artifacts. As well as enchant items of my own. The wards in here offer protection in case of any accidents." To show his point, Gilder fired a spell at one of the tables. The red lines hummed and glowed as his attack was stopped by a barrier that quickly formed and then fade just as fast after the danger of his attack was gone.

Jennifer and Amy watched his little display. Impressed but also a bit lost in the face of all the esoteric arcana before them. Hanna paid his little demonstration no mind, instead taking a moment to sniff the air. "Quite the set up you got here. Very thorough." She said.

"Thank you, but I can't take any credit for it." Gilder told her. "The Arcanium was already in place even before I started living here."

"I'm not surprised. It's arranged very differently from the garden." Hanna said cryptically as she eyed red lines that formed the Arcanium's anti-accident system.

"Like I said previously, my teacher is still leagues above me in magical skill." Gilder noted. "Does anything in particular catch your eye?"

Hanna took a moment to smell the air again. "It's not only complicated, it's obfuscated. Your teacher must have wanted this to be impossible to tamper with for anyone who didn't already know exactly how it worked. I could never do the little trick I did in the garden here."

"That's probably for the best." Gilder said with a nod. "If tampering led to it failing, then any accident could potentially set off a chain reaction that could destroy the whole tower."

"Yes, definitely for the best." Hanna agreed as she looked up at the elaborate patterns on the ceiling. The other two watched in surprise, having never seen this side of their friend before.

"Well, is there anything else here you'd like to see, or should we head to the last stop of the tour?" Gilder asked.

"We can move on. We don't want to keep Amy waiting any longer do we." Hanna teased as at the mention of "last stop" Amy began to radiate excitement once again.

Gilder led them to the top of the tower. Inside was a large telescope as well as several intricate and odd looking devices. Sitting on one such device was Serena, who was cheering as it spun her around like she was on a carnival ride.

"Get down from there!" Gilder called out as he rushed to get the excited familiar off of his equipment.

Amy immediately hopped over to the telescope. Examining it closely before looking down at some of the notes and star charts nearby. "Can you teach me how to read these?" She asked as Gilder continued to try and get his free spirited familiar down from atop his equipment.

"Certainly." Gilder answered.

He reached for Serena only for her to give him a playful zap. "Come down, Serena. Please. These aren't toys." the mage urged, and his familiar finally hopped off of the device.

She landed behind Amy and gave the girl a playful slap on her butt.

Amy jumped up with a yelp, caught completely off guard by Serena's arrival. "Yeah, Serena, be careful with those. We're going to need them." She said as she turned to face the mischievous spirit.

Serena just giggled and pulled Amy into a kiss.

"Hopefully, putting her in her own room will keep her out of trouble." Gilder said with a sigh. Now that he was starting to see the altered spirits as more than simple familiars, he was hesitant to just banish them into the ether. "Oh, that reminds. The other's have picked out where they want their rooms. Do you have a preference, Asena?"

"Garden." the wild woman answered gruffly. "It's the most nature like place in here."

"What about Fire and Earth?" Ophelia asked.

"They haven't changed like you have. They're still... simple minded and unable to talk or express opinions." Gilder answered.

"I'm going to have to keep a close eye on you aren't I." Amy said with a smile on her face after Serena's kiss ended, seemingly unopposed to the idea. "Just promise me you won't damage any if the observatory equipment, we'll have plenty of time to fool around in our own room." Amy added as she took Serena's hand.

"Good to hear you'll be staying next to the gardens. I could use some help maintaining them." Hanna said to Asena, well aware that the wolf spirit would be opposed to the idea.

"It's probably only a matter of time before your other familiars change as well unless we find a way to stop you from accumulating love magic. What do you plan on doing once that happenes." Hanna asked Gilder.

Serena nodded before she pulled Amy into a hug.

"I'm not certain." Gilder admitted. "I'm currently trying to take things one step at a time."

Once again Amy returned Serena's attentions. It seemed that Serena's playfulness had found an effective foil in the excitable hare girl.

"Fair enough. It's not exactly a simple issue" Said Hanna
With the tour finished it seemed that the only thing left to do was set everyone up with their own rooms and then Gilder's new housemates could get fully settled in.

"Please stand back, everyone." Gilder said. Once he had some space, he closed his eyes and concentrated. His staff began to glow and he pointed it at the wall. A beam launched forth and created a door.

Gilder began to breath heavily as Serena opened the door an poked her head inside. It was a simple room with two beds.

Gilder than made his way down the tower and repeated the process on each of the requested floors. By the time he was finished, he was sweating from exertion.

The hare girls and familiars followed Golder from floor to floor, watching as he altered the towers floor plan to meet their needs.

As Gilder finished the final room Jennifer wrapped a arm around his shoulder. "I think it's time for you to get some rest. It's been a long day." She said, noting his exhaustion. She also had an ulterior motive for getting him into bed but that went without saying. The other hare girls nodded in agreement. They already knew the layout of the tower, and had new rooms and duties to get settled into, now was the perfect time for Gilder to get some sleep.

"It has, hasn't it?" Gilder said as he cast a quick spell to clean him of his sweat. He then allowed Jennifer to guide him to bed without any fuss or resistance.

Jennifer joined him in bed but, true to her word, she allowed him to sleep unperturbed. What would happen when he woke up was another matter.

From that day fourth Gilder's lonely tower would never be quite so lonely again. Now with the three hare girls and familiars serving as permeant residents. Each would come to have their own role and routine. With Jennifer serving as a sort of research assistant, as well as tending to Gilder's... other needs. Amy, while not a fast learner, worked with a dogged persistent to learn how to observe the stars and note celestial fluctuations of magical importance until she was almost as capable as Gilder himself. She also had the important job of keeping Serena out of trouble. Hanna spent much of her time in the garden and kitchen introducing and tending to many strange new plants and fungi as well as cooking them into delicious meals for the towers other inhabitants, what time she didn't spend there she spent with Ophelia who she developed a very close relationship with.

All in all it was an outcome Gilder definitely could not have predicted when Jennifer first approached him what now seemed like a lifetime ago, but it was certainly a pleasant surprise.