Still a bit stunned, Thenio lifted the little dragon off his shoulder and held him out where he could see him.

Same orange eyes. Same leather harness. Same happily swishing black tail.

Yes, that was definitely Iggy.

"Why are you here?" he asked blankly.

"We came to give you a job and take you home to live with us!" Iggy said excitedly.

"A job? What...?" Thenio stared at the dragon, nonplussed. This meeting was to discuss options for his future stability training program, wasn't it? Why was he suddenly getting a job offer?

Thenio heard a chuckle nearby and looked up to see Grandmaster Sephior approaching.

"That little fellow has been anxious to see you. He was quite literally bouncing off the walls," the elderly doctor said with an amused smile.

Thenio knew Iggy well enough to believe it. "Why is he here, though? And what's this about giving me a job?"

"He's here because his partner is here, of course. Didn't I tell you there were a lot of people interested in you? Ariom Denifor is one of the people we've approved as a potential caretaker for you. And as for the job...well, why don't you sit down first? We'll introduce everyone and let them explain their proposals to you. Since we conveniently have a void mage present, we'll have you sit next to him." Grandmaster Sephior nodded toward the long conference table. Following his gaze, Thenio saw several empty chairs on one side of the table and Ariom sitting next to them. "I'd like to remove your magic suppression for this meeting, to be sure you can consider everything with a clear mind. The rest of us met here early so that I could give everyone instructions on how to avoid triggering your instability. But it will be better to have you stay close to someone who can monitor and control your magic, just in case."

Thenio let Iggy climb back onto his shoulder and then held his hands out so that Grandmaster Sephior could deactivate the suppression bands on his wrists. Getting his suppression removed was always a wonderful feeling. He felt a sudden rush of energy and clarity. Everything seemed brighter and more focused, like the sun coming out after a rainstorm.

Too bad it would only last until the meeting was over.

"Now, try to keep your emotions steady. This discussion might be stressful for you, but remember that we're all here to help you." Grandmaster Sephior patted Thenio's arm. "Ask as many questions as you want. And let me know if you need a break to sort out your thoughts."

Thenio nodded and then followed his parents over to the table.

Or tried to, at least.

He'd been focused on Iggy and hadn't noticed before, but the little black dragon wasn't the only familiar in the room. Thenio found his way blocked by a small brown and white wolf.

"Wow, Iggy's right. He smells really nice!" the wolf said, sniffing furiously at Thenio's legs.

"I want to smell!" A creature that resembled a large green squirrel ran to the edge of the table and stood up on its hind legs, sniffing around in Thenio's direction. "Hey, come over here and let me smell you!"

"Mala, don't be rude!" a young woman with light green hair scolded the squirrel. "If you really have to start smelling him right off the bat, you should ask politely, at the very least."

"Oh." The squirrel sat down, looking subdued. "Um...will you please come over here so I can smell you?"

"Hmph." A bronze-colored male dragon sitting in an elegant pose on the other side of the table looked at the squirrel disapprovingly, but Thenio could see him subtly sniffing the air as well.

"Well, isn't this interesting?" Grandmaster Sephior watched the wolf circle around Thenio with its tail wagging. “Do magic beasts normally react to you like this?”

“I…don’t know. I haven’t met very many.”

It was fairly common for higher-ranking wizards to have familiars, but for most people, meeting a magic beast wasn’t exactly a daily occurrence. Let alone meeting four at once like this….

"Hmm. Now I really want to introduce you to my familiar to see what he thinks,” Grandmaster Sephior said thoughtfully. “But for now–Vielle, would you let him go to his seat, please?"

The wolf obediently moved to one side to let Thenio pass. Then it followed him over to the table and lay down on the floor next to his chair. As Thenio sat down, the green squirrel ran over to him, jumped onto his arm, and started sniffing him.

"Mala...." The green-haired woman put a hand over her face in exasperation. Then she looked at Thenio. "I'm sorry. I only formed a contract with her about a year ago, and she's still a little fuzzy on human etiquette...."

"Ah...no...it's fine." Thenio was rather bewildered by the sudden attention from so many familiars, but he didn't really mind it. He looked over at the bronze dragon, who was still sitting up straight with his tail curled neatly around his paws, trying not to look too interested. "You can come sniff me too, if you want."

The dragon hesitated and looked up at the man sitting beside him.

"Go ahead." The man nodded. He had a faint, polite smile that never seemed to leave his face. "A scent that's attractive to magic beasts? That is quite interesting. I'd like to examine this further."

The dragon stood up and walked gracefully over to take a few sniffs at Thenio's outstretched hand. Then he wrinkled his nose, looking puzzled, and took a step closer to smell the hand more thoroughly.

"I don't think he smells that special?" Mala said, abandoning her sniffing. "But...hmm...he feels comfy." She wrapped herself around Thenio's arm and laid her head on his shoulder with a small, contented sigh.

"It's probably not his scent, exactly," Ariom said. "Iggy talks about magic in terms of smell or color because that's the only way he knows how to describe it, but that's not really how dragons sense magic. Vielle probably does perceive it as a scent, though, since she's a canine."

"I see." The ever-smiling man nodded again. "What do you think, Falco?"

The bronze dragon looked at him. "He's right. It's the magic, not a physical scent." He turned back to Thenio. "But.... Well. It does seem pretty nice...." He sounded rather embarrassed to admit it.

Thenio glanced over at his parents. They both seemed shocked by the enthusiastic greeting he had received from the familiars. They were watching him with incredulous expressions, obviously struggling to understand why their disappointing failure of a son was suddenly so popular with magic beasts.

"I read something about this in the Association's records," an older woman sitting next to the green-haired woman said. "In the research notes about one of the previous chaos morphs that the Association had custody of. It mentioned that all the familiars at the research center liked him a lot. I had assumed that particular boy just had a talent with magic beasts, but maybe it's something innate to chaos magic. Like how some magic beasts are attracted to life mages."

"Right, it's like life magic," Mala agreed. Thenio could feel her nodding vigorously with her head still against his shoulder. "It's not quite the same, but it feels comfy like that."

Both dragons nodded in agreement, although Falco stopped quickly once he realized what he was doing.

"You're just full of surprises, aren't you, boy?" Grandmaster Sephior said, shaking his head. "I guess that's one more thing for the researchers to puzzle over. And speaking of researchers, let's finish introducing everyone to you." He looked around the table. "First of all, I'm sure you're all aware, but this is Thenio Iterune, the subject of our meeting. And his parents, Lunon and Siora."

"Hello, and thank you for coming to meet with us." Thenio's father took the initiative to greet the rest of the group. "We're very grateful that so many people are willing to help our son."

"Well then, you already know who Ariom and Iggy are, since they were the ones who identified Thenio's chaos affinity and made sure we were notified. Next to Ariom is Kymia Larinos, the guild master of the Kamari branch of the Enchanter's Guild." Grandmaster Sephior nodded toward a woman with a thick mane of red curls, who was sitting on the other side of Ariom. It seemed to be her natural hair color, rather than a stigma, since she had a splash of freckles across her face to match.

"Hiiii!" the red-haired woman called out, giving Thenio a friendly wave. "I'm here because it seemed like Ariom was doing something fun, and I decided to come check it out."

Ariom let out an irritated sigh. "She's here because I'm planning to offer you a work contract, which has to be done under the supervision of the Enchanter's Guild because you're still a minor," he clarified. "And the guild master herself came as a representative because she loves to annoy me whenever she gets a chance."

"Like I said, it seemed fun!" Kymia grinned at Thenio. "Vielle is my familiar, by the way. She seems to like you a lot, so I don't mind lending her to you for a while. But I'll need her back eventually, all right? We have a performance tonight."

"Um...all right...." Thenio glanced down at the wolf, who was now leaning against his leg. It wasn't like he'd asked for this....

"Next, we have Araela Valin, from the Wizard Association Research Institute, and her apprentice, Sholi Nidom," Grandmaster Sephior went on.

"Plus Mala, my familiar. Who has apparently decided to become your new shoulder accessory." Sholi gave a resigned sigh. "Tell me if she annoys you, all right? I'll throw her in her carry bag."

"No! I don't want to go in the bag!" Mala clung more tightly to Thenio's arm. "I'm just sitting here. I'm being good!"

"It's okay," Thenio reassured them with a wry smile. "She can sit there if she wants. She's not bothering me."

Grandmaster Sephior patiently waited for them to finish before he continued. "And lastly, we have Saklo Renquis, a coordinator for the Merioc Research Alliance, and his assistant, Alashan Iffea."

"And my familiar, Falco," Saklo added, gesturing toward the bronze-colored dragon, who had settled down on the table in front of Thenio but seemed to be busily not looking at him.

"So, that's it for the introductions. Let's get to the main purpose of this meeting." Grandmaster Sephior's usual friendly expression grew more serious. "For the past few weeks, Thenio has been undergoing treatment for magic circuit damage, but he's now recovered enough to move on to a long-term stability training program. Unfortunately, his magic affinity is so rare that there aren't any established training methods for it, which is why we've been reaching out to various experts for opinions on how to proceed. The Kafron Magic Stability Center is ultimately responsible for him, but as a military-run facility, we mainly deal with high-powered magic users and aren't particularly well equipped to meet Thenio's specific needs. So we've decided to give him and his parents some other options. We've carefully vetted everyone who expressed an interest in taking custody of Thenio, to be sure they had the ability to give him a safe environment and adequately oversee his control training. Everyone present–or the organizations they represent–has successfully passed our application process. So now we'll give each of you a chance to explain what facilities you have available and the general approach you intend to take for Thenio's training." He turned to look at the still-smiling Saklo Renquis. "Shall we start with the Merioc Alliance?"

"My pleasure." Saklo's smile widened briefly. "Well, as you may know, the Merioc Research Alliance is a cooperation between a number of commercial organizations, including Kafron's Alchemist and Merchant Guilds, for the purpose of researching and developing new magic resources. Our headquarters is located in the city of Merioc, and our facilities there include...."

Thenio was extremely grateful that Grandmaster Sephior had decided to remove his magic suppression before the meeting started. There was no way he would have stayed awake otherwise. It wasn't that the discussion was boring, especially since he was aware that his life depended on it. But it was tiring. There was a lot of information to process, since the representatives from the Merioc Alliance and the Wizard Association both did a thorough job of explaining their organizations and detailing the research and training programs that they had planned. They also answered all of the many questions Thenio's parents asked.

Thenio himself simply listened without saying much. During the lengthy course of the meeting, both of the familiars clinging to his shoulders got tired and jumped down. Iggy was now sitting on the table next to Falco. This made him look even smaller than usual, since Falco was more than twice his size. Mala had claimed Thenio's lap and fallen asleep there, curled up inside her own fluffy tail. Thenio absently stroked her soft green fur as he listened to the conversation going on around him.

His parents seemed to have differing opinions about which option was best. His mother favored the Wizard Association, but his father seemed more inclined toward the Merioc Alliance. Thenio wasn't really sure what the difference between the two was. It sounded to him like both of them meant leaving home and getting shut up inside a research facility that he might or might not ever be able to leave again, depending on whether the training and research produced good results or not. The Stability Center seemed like it would be almost the same, although at least it was closer to home. Maybe Kleyo and Eteon would be able to come visit him once in a while.

The only option that really seemed different from the rest was....

"A magic assistant?" Saklo Renquis' smile faltered for the first time. He stared at Ariom with a look of disbelief. "Wasn't he just a first-year magic student? And he can't even use magic right now. I don't mean any disrespect, to either you or Thenio, but why did it even occur to you to hire him as a magic assistant?"

"Because I was already considering hiring an assistant when I met him," Ariom replied evenly. "And I think he would be fine for the job. I don't particularly need an assistant who can use magic. Enchanting involves a lot of menial tasks that just about anyone can do, as long as they're conscientious and have a decent knowledge of magic theory. And half of the job would just be helping me take care of Iggy." He gave a meaningful glance at Thenio, who was currently surrounded by familiars. "He looks pretty qualified as a dragonsitter, doesn't he? Iggy was the one who suggested hiring him in the first place."

"Iggy was...." Saklo's smile finally faded entirely. "You're doing all of this...because your familiar suggested it?"

"What's wrong with that?" Ariom asked quietly. "Don't you listen to your familiar when he makes a suggestion?"

There was an awkward pause. Saklo looked uncomfortable. Falco was maintaining a graceful pose and determinedly staring at the table as though he hadn't heard anything, though Thenio could see the tip of his tail twitching slightly.

"I don't think this is really the time and place to discuss familiar-wizard relationships," Kymia interjected, smiling pleasantly. "Iggy wants Thenio to come live with them, and Ariom's willing to make it happen. Thenio aside, our opinions on that don't really matter, do they?"

"Fair point." Saklo pasted his usual polite smile back on. "We can save that discussion for another time."

"Well then, does anyone have any other questions?" Grandmaster Sephior asked, clearly trying to refocus the conversation.

Thenio's parents looked at each other and both shook their heads.

"I don't think so. Everyone has explained things very well." His mother gave a grateful smile. "What about you, Thenio?"

Thenio shook his head as well. He still had a lot of questions, actually, but they were mostly things that no one here knew the answers to, so asking them wouldn't help. And the meeting had already lasted several hours at this point. Thenio was exhausted. He just wanted his parents to hurry up and make a decision already so he could go home and sleep.

Unfortunately, his parents had other plans.

"The two of us don't quite seem to agree on what the best option is," Thenio's father said wryly. "But I think they're all good options, honestly. I was very impressed by everyone's presentations." He exchanged another look with his wife and then turned to Thenio. "And it's not our opinion that matters the most, anyway. We'll leave it up to you, Thenio. It's only fair that you should be able to choose whatever you feel most comfortable with."

Thenio frowned. They made it sound like they were considering his wishes, but he suspected that they were really just passing off the responsibility for making a decision to him. They probably didn't care that much where he went, as long as he went somewhere so they could stop worrying about him blowing up the house at any time.

He looked over at Grandmaster Sephior. "Which one do you think is the best?"

"There isn't really a best choice," the old doctor told him gently. "As I said, we made sure that everyone here was up to the task of looking after you. At this point, there aren't any bad options. It's just a matter of what your priorities are."

"My priorities?" Thenio echoed, frustrated at hearing another ambivalent response. "What exactly am I even supposed to be prioritizing?"

"He won't be able to give you a good answer, kid," Kymia said. "He's not in a position where he's able to pick sides. Politics and all that. So let me spell it out for you, from the perspective of an interested bystander." She leaned across the table, giving Thenio a playful smirk. "If your highest priority is to stay alive, whatever it takes, then pick the Merioc Alliance. If they invest money in you, they're going to want to make sure that investment pays off, so they'll do everything they can to keep you alive long enough for you and your magic to become useful. And being a commercial group, they're under less public scrutiny than the Wizard Association and Kafron military are. They'll be able to utilize connections and resources that the others can't. Or won't." She winked at the Merioc representatives. "Stuff that's a bit less savory, if you get my meaning."

Saklo cleared his throat, looking a bit annoyed in spite of his smile. But he didn't contradict the guild master's words.

"Just remember that your relationship with Merioc is solely a business one," Kymia went on, turning back to Thenio. "I'm sure they'll treat you well enough, but they see you as a commodity, not as a friend. Which means that if they decide it's impossible to make any profit from you, they won't hesitate to cut their losses and dump you, since they know the military is obligated to take you back in if they do."

Grandmaster Sephior nodded at this, apparently trying to reassure Thenio that he wouldn't be completely abandoned.

"Now, if you'd prefer to maintain a little more human dignity, then choose either the Association or the Stability Center, depending on how far away from your family you're willing to go. The Association has slightly better resources to draw from, but both organizations are going to help you out regardless of who takes custody of you, so it won't make a huge difference which one you pick. And finally, we have our dark horse candidate." She hooked her thumb in Ariom's direction. "This one's a gamble. On paper, he's definitely your worst option, since a single wizard can muster far fewer resources than any of these large organizations. But on the other hand, this guy's a quad-certified wizard and the youngest grandmaster in Kafron. I've known him since he was an apprentice, and it honestly wouldn't surprise me if he manages to find some kind of brilliant, off-the-wall solution to your problem that no one else could possibly come up with. It's not a guarantee, though. So the main advantage to picking Ariom is that it would allow you to live a somewhat normal life instead of being treated like a patient or a research subject." She looked at Grandmaster Sephior. "Does that about cover it?"

"That was...a little more blunt that I would have preferred," he said with a small sigh. "But a good summary, nonetheless. It wouldn't hurt you to listen to her advice, boy."

Thenio also sighed. "Fine." He'd apparently gotten all the help he was going to get on this decision.

He sat quietly for a few minutes, trying to think through all the information that had been dumped onto him today.

The familiars all watched him. Thenio wasn't sure how much of the discussion they'd understood, but they at least seemed to realize it was a difficult moment for him. Mala woke up and lifted her head out of her tail fluff, and Falco stopped pretending to ignore him.

Iggy looked particularly anxious. He whined softly and rubbed his face on Thenio's arm. Thenio scratched his ears gently to soothe him. He felt Vielle lick his other hand at the same time.

Finally, Thenio took a deep breath. "All right," he said slowly. "I choose...."