Of course she wouldn't be able to keep her monsters at the school. She wasn't even able to keep them in a normal darn hotel! Why in the world would she be able to keep them in a school dorm?!
In the end, while all of the other students chose their rooms in the school Alix was the only one that had to leave the campus and go all the way back to the Pirate's Worst Nightmare.
"So you came all the way back here because that big school won't let you keep those monsters on campus?" Alix shook her head.
"Not on campus, just the dorm. Monsters are disallowed from entering the dorms and I can not leave Mo and Trouler out on their own. What if something happened to them? I wouldn't know what to do with myself!" Hedgie shook her head.
"What a pretentious bunch of idiots not understanding your circumstances."
"Right!" Hedgie gently rested her hand and Alix's shoulder. "Don't worry baby. You can always stay here. The only other forever resident I have is a dirty street rat that doesn't even go to school! At least you're doin' somethin' with your life!" Alix bowed appreciatively.
"Thank you, Hedgie. I will repay you for this someday in the future."
"You don't have to worry about it. I'm happy to have you." After eating the dinner that Hedgie prepared, Alix returned to the room that she thought she wouldn't see for a while. Mo quickly moved his entire bowl to the desk while Trouler leapt onto the bed and nestled into the blankets.
"Feels good to be back." Alix agreed with the fish's sentiment. "This place is very...comfortable. As comfortable as a tavern in a den of pirates can be, at least." Mo floated as straight as he could.
"If it's a den of pirates then we'll fit right in captain!" He saluted his fin at Alix.
"If I am a pirate then you are a bird under water." Mo's face became grim. "Never make that comparison again, Lexi. I can't stand those barbaric cretins!" Mo shivered in disgust.
Alix ignored his usual bird-hating antics and instead let her mind wander to the threads coming from her chest. She now had seven silver strings coming out of her chest. Mo and Trouler accounted for two. The council of rats in Nogreni were another four. Then there was the final one...
Alix gingerly grabbed the still faint string, Nuka's string. She hadn't had much time to think about the bird while she was getting settled but now she couldn't help but wonder if her old friend was okay.
'The only message I received from her was that she needed help but that was weeks ago now. Is she still in trouble? Did the situation change? Maybe, she really is just a figment of my imagination and I just relapsed from the mental illness that plagued my younger self?'
'It'll be okay, Lexi." Mo's voice rang in Alix's racing mind. It was at that moment that she realized that her hand was tightly gripping Nuka's string. She took slow deep breaths to calm herself eventually releasing the string.
Right. At least she had the string.
She still didn't know much about this strange ability but she felt in her heart that if the string still existed it meant that Nuka was okay for the time being.
That was enough for the time being.
"I will find you Nuka. I promise that much." Now that she was feeling more at ease, Alix decided that she'd best take a bath. It was the best way to calm her nerves. She reached in her bag for a change of clothes and ran across her catalysts.
She only had two catalysts left in her bag with no more prepared spells. 'Looks like I'll need to go shopping at some point during the week. I also need to convince the school to allow me to change from the Martial path to the Spellcaster path.'
Alix fell onto her bed and began to stroke Trouler's back absent-mindedly. Trouler squealed in happiness and started to nuzzle into Alix's hand. She smirked feeling the little red's snout rub against her hand.
"You know how to tug at my heartstrings, Trouler." Alix's eyes slowly widened in enlightenment.
"Heartstrings. These thread come from my chest but more specifically seem to be related to my metaphysical heart. The color of the lines seem to shift the closer to the monster I am and Omnia Nexus accelerates or empowers the process."
"Uhh, what?" Mo questioned the girl's sudden revelation. Alix grabbed the line that connected her and Mo.
"These strings! They are some sort of Social Affinity Trackers. They represent my relationships with people and monsters. I assume that people that I merely have an interest in, for whatever reason, I gain the ability to attach one to them.
Once the bond goes from mutual interest to a genuine connection it becomes silver. I become able to communicate and feel them from grand distances without even trying. Hell, I can even use innate traits which would explain why I can use your Abyssal Sea!"
Mo began to nod his head as he too thought deeper about the idea. "Then, do you think that these 'Heartstrings' can replicate mortal innate traits as well?" Alix agreed without missing a beat.
"I can definitely see that being a possibility. I would need to get closer to more mortals to truly test that theory, though." Alix was mentally celebrating. She had somehow stumbled upon one of the biggest breakthroughs of her life.
You know, besides finally completing the spell that had stumped her for around two years. This was more of a close second achievement now that she thought about it.
Alix jumped off of the bed fully invigorated. She ended the day on the highest note by taking a nice, warm bath. She had a feeling that bathing was going to become a frequent activity for her now that she was here.
Though, now that she had calmed down a bit she did realize that she needed a way to earn money. 'I should ask Hedgie before school tomorrow. She may know something that I could do.' Alix left Mo and Trouler in the room and immediately went to take a bath.
All the while, a certain boy stood in the hallway perplexed. "What the hell is she doing here?" He placed a hand over the black eye that he had received last night.
"I gotta stop sleepin' so late."