There was a brief moment of silence while Shalise’s brain caught up to everything. Her eyes grew wide. “D-D-Demon?” Shalise drew back, horrified.
Then she paused. And thought. Eventually she said, “is that bad? I-I mean church says they are bad, but I don’t know… Goblins are always bad in stories, but Professor Baxter talks about them like regular people.”
Shalise gave a glance to a shrugging Juliana. It seemed that she’d get no answers from that corner.
“Depends on who you ask,” Eva said. “A demonologist I know would say, ‘of course they are ya damn dimwit, why do you think we call the damn things demons.’ Everyone else would just say yes.”
Eva held up her hands–or rather, claws–before Shalise could say anything. “I would say it depends on the demon. Arachne has always been very nice to me, even if I am mad at her right now for,” she waved a hand to one side, “reasons.”
“And she gave you her hands? Just like that?”
“Don’t feel sorry for her, she’s already regrown them.”
Shalise shut her eyes and took a deep breath. “So,” she said, “are there tentacles or something under those gloves?”
“Worse.”
“W-worse?” Shalise tried to keep her voice from peaking as she glanced at Juliana. The girl was grinning off to the side.
Maybe she should have switched rooms like Sister Cross said.
No. Eva saved her life. She owed her at least the benefit of the doubt.
Eva already had her gloves off before Shalise could say anything. Long fingers uncurled and spread out, flexing lightly. They were thin and had lots of joints. Her hands were at least twice the size of regular hands.
Shalise looked down at her own hands. Maybe not twice the size. Close though.
For the most part.
“I think,” Shalise said as she stared at them, “have I seen these hands somewhere?”
“Arachne is Rach, the pet spider Eva had.” Juliana sported a wide grin. “Remember that?”
Shalise looked down at the claws again. There was some similarity. Eva was nodding a confirmation when she looked up.
“Oh.”
“Anyway,” Eva said, “now that we have that out of the way, we should go about catching you up in school work. I actually expected you to show up sooner than the day before second semester started, but I guess this is what they call cramming.”
“Me too. I think Sister Cross really wanted me to not stay in your room. For a while, I thought she was going to stop me from coming altogether.”
“That wouldn’t surprise me in the slightest.”
“The good news is that Sister Cross has been forwarding me most of the classwork. The only things I wasn’t able to practice on my own were our ecology classes and alchemy.”
Eva’s face turned to a frown as she spoke.
“Eva’s been all but banned from alchemy,” Juliana said. “Professor Lurcher thinks her hands and eyes are a safety issue–” Eva shrugged, but did not object. “I’ll be happy to help with that.”
“We should still go over all the magic we’ve learned, just to make sure.”
“That would be good,” Shalise agreed, “I was having trouble with water manipulation. It takes so much effort to pull a single drop out of a glass.”
“Well,” Eva said as she placed her claws on her hips, “I can’t do any water magic, but I can watch you and give pointers with Juliana.”
Shalise gave Eva a wide grin. “That sounds great. Let me get unpacked first and we can go over some things.”
There hadn’t been much to bring; Shalise didn’t have loads of belongings at home and most of it fit into a single suitcase. Books and clothes made up the bulk. She spent the next ten minutes putting away her clothes, arranging her books and stationary at her desk, and trying not to stare at Eva’s claws.
It was a lot to take in. Shalise put on a smile for Eva. As much as she wished it wasn’t, her smile was forced.
Juliana didn’t seem to mind the claws; if she did mind, she was hiding it well. They had several weeks together since November so she probably got used to it.
Sister Cross apparently knew about it. Maybe talking with her would be a good idea.
As Shalise sorted her belongings, she noticed something. Her bottom drawer had something in it.
Shalise reached in and pulled out a small box. It had to weigh at least a few pounds.
Juliana had a grin on her face while Eva just had a nice smile.
Inside of the box, Shalise found a pen and a copper plate. Etched into the copper plate was a picture of her. Her wavy hair was much longer in the picture, but she had cut it down to her shoulders while she was gone. Still, it managed a good likeness.
The pen was thick and silver. Too thick for her liking, if she was truly honest. Still, it seemed like an expensive thing. It looked a lot like the one Eva used on occasion, except hers was black.
“Merry Christmas, even if it is a week late,” Eva said.
“I-I don’t know what to say. I didn’t get either of you anything.”
“Say thanks and don’t worry about it,” Juliana said, “we’re just glad you’re back and in one piece.”
“Thanks. But–”
“No buts.”
“Now,” Eva said, “on to your schooling.”
Shalise sighed. She’d find a way to pay them back.
Juliana set a glass of water on her desk just as Shalise pulled out her wand.
“So, what part are you having trouble with?” Eva pulled up her own chair to Shalise’s desk.
Shalise took a breath. “Okay,” she said. She concentrated, envisioning the water as a sphere. With a flick of her wand, she felt a burst of magic escape and mold the water into a sphere.
“I get it this far,” Shalise said. “Then–” She slowly drew her wand across the air, willing a single drop to escape the mass. It already had a spark of her will inside it, so it should be easy to manipulate.
That’s what the textbook said, in any case.
A small droplet laced out, just as Shalise intended. For a moment, it looked like it was working.
The sphere of water bubbled and collapsed. Water moving in the glass knocked it to the floor.
“I’ll grab a towel,” Eva said as she walked to the bathroom.
Shalise sighed. The sleeves of her shirt soaked up most of it. “Then that happens.”
Air was a much friendlier element. It wanted to dance and play. When she messed up, it didn’t soak her. Water seemed grumpy to Shalise. It fought her every time she tried to move it. Just getting the water into a sphere took hours and hours of practice.
If water was grumpy, she was glad she didn’t have to deal with earth.
“When I try manipulating water,” Juliana said as Eva returned with a towel, “it ends up the same way. Yuria said that water can’t be ordered around the same way as earth. Earth needs a firm hand and clear direction. Water flows. It needs an open mind.”
Shalise tried prodding the water out of her shirt with her wand. It didn’t seem to help much. She sighed and said, “what does that even mean?”
A slumping Juliana answered her, “like I said, it turns out the same way when I try.”
“I wouldn’t worry about it right now,” Eva said as she laid a comforting hand on Shalise’s shoulder.
A comforting claw.
Shalise flinched back before she could stop herself.
Eva pulled her claw back quickly.
“Sorry,” Shalise mumbled. A nasty feeling cropped up in her stomach.
“Don’t be,” Eva said with a small smile. “And don’t stress about water magic. We’re only being tested in our own element this year. Apparently we pick a second element next year to work on. If you can do this,” she started to gesture towards the glass with her claw, but pulled it behind her back, “I’m sure you’re ahead of the curve next year.”
Hiding her claws behind her back twisted the wrench further into Shalise’s stomach.
“How are you doing with air?”
Shalise smiled. “Better, I think.”
“Why don’t we take a look at that then.”