Nosderag tried to tune out of the conversation, she really did. 

 

But sitting a table away from an incredibly loud person made it rather difficult to focus on reading her spellbook. Not that Nosderag could ever use the spells anyway.

 

Sosoka was talking about herself. Of course she was. Her name literally meant ‘mine’, so was it really any surprise? 

 

Her monologuing was interrupted by the sight of a familiar girl passing by them. Dalzonf kept her head down, inadvertently showing off her frizzy black hair. Her skin was dark, even for an Astrabolerian. She was tall and lanky. Her broken glasses just barely kept their grip on her tiny nose. She wore the uniform poorly, a long black skirt and an ill-fitting blood-red sweater over a plain white button-up shirt.

 

‘Hey, don’t get too close to me!’ Sosoka ordered with a mocking tone. ‘Wouldn’t want to fall in love with you.’

 

Dalzonf opened her mouth to respond but decided it was as useful an endeavour as climbing a snowy mountain in a bikini. She put her head back down.

 

The visual of a girl as defenceless as this almost got Nosderag to take her side but, just like Dalzonf, she kept her mouth shut.

 

Sosoka didn’t like the silence. Much too uncomfortable. ‘So how many people have you manipulated into bed? How many girls?’ Dalzonf gritted her teeth and glared at her. ‘What? Everyone knows what you are. You’re a tired woman. Well, a tired girl sounds more accurate, but whatever.’

 

That last accusation was enough to finally open Nosderag’s mouth. ‘She’s not married, Sosoka.’

 

Sosoka scoffed. ‘You know what I mean. That’s why I said tired girl. I bet she’ll become a tired woman to some poor guy and lead him along until he finds out the truth.’

 

She put on a high pitched voice and place the back of her hand on her forehead like she was about to faint. ‘Oh no, honey! I can’t sleep with you tonight! I’m too tired!’ 

 

Her voice went deep and gravelly. ‘Oh, but sweety, you say that every night! Why don’t you use a love spell on yourself for once?’

 

Her voice returned to normal as she leaned forward in her seat, smirking at Dalzonf. ‘Can lesbians use a love spell on a normal girl? Do you need a different spell or is it the same if a female love tolxer uses it on a man?’

 

Dalzonf looked around her, seeing everyone staring her. It took a couple of tears to convince herself that the best course of action was to run out of the cafeteria.

 

‘Wow, rude,’ Sosoka said. ‘I was only asking a question.’ She turned to Nosderag. ‘No need to butt in on private conversations, omler!’

 

Omler. The thorns of that word pierced Nosderag’s eardrums. She shut her mouth, trying to act like no one had turned their attention from the love tolxer to her, the omler. 

 

She knew she didn’t belong at this school. She was alright at the theory side of things but as soon as she tried to make something come out of her hands or use a wand or do anything magical herself, she couldn’t do it.

 

It wasn’t fair. Her mother wasn’t omlerous but her father was. Her older brother was a powerful fire tolxer like his mother, but Nosderag? She lost the genetic lottery. No magic powers for her.

 

She often comforted herself by saying that she was lucky not to be a fire tolxer. At least she wasn’t feared by most people. She didn’t have to wear special handcuffs when going to sleep to prevent herself from sleep-setting the bed on fire. No one ran away from her any time she got the slightest bit angry.

 

And hey, at least she wasn’t a love tolxer and rumoured lesbian at an all-girls school. 

 

At the end of the day, Nosderag shuffled home with a hunched back, made worse by all the books in her backpack. She dropped her backpack by the couch in the living room and collapsed onto it.

 

‘Hey mum, can we talk-’

 

‘Oh, yes, we have something very important to tell you.’

 

That wasn’t her mother’s voice. It was her father’s.

 

‘We?’ Nosderag asked.

 

Her mother left the kitchen to join the two. She still wore her apron, tied tight around her portly figure. Her round, dark face looked much younger than she was. Magic can do that to a person.

 

Nosderag’s father, on the other hand, had wrinkles just about every place someone could have wrinkles. His remaining hair surrounded his head like a ring. Time can do that to an omlerous man.

 

He turned to his wife. ‘Is Gosin coming home soon?’

 

She shook her head. ‘The station gave him more paperwork. Apparently he got too angry during an interrogation and has to write a formal apology to the suspect.’

 

He rubbed the bridge of his nose. ‘I see.’ He put his focus back on Nosderag. ‘Anyway, how does spending a bit of time in the dorms sound? Just a few months.’

 

Nosderag’s eyes grew. ‘Wait, what? Why?’

 

Her mother sat by her, placing a gentle hand on her shoulder. ‘Your father and I have to work in Madagascar for a bit and we can’t afford to take you with us. And besides, we want to keep you in school.’

 

‘What the hell’s going on in Madagascar?’

 

‘Nothing, really, just a small… insurgency. We’re just helping our ally.’

 

‘So you’re burning superpowered terrorists alive?’ Her mother paused, then nodded. ‘Can’t I live here with Gosin? I can’t be sharing a dorm with people there.’

 

‘Your brother’s got a lot on his plate right now,’ Nosderag’s father said. ‘And why can’t you share a dorm with others?’

 

Nosderag looked at the fists on her lap. ‘No one there would want to sleep in the same room as an omler.’

 

Her mother chuckled. ‘It’s not like your lack of magic will rub off on them.’ 

 

‘You tell them that. And besides, didn’t you tell me to learn more about the world? Kinda hard to do that in Astraboleria. Take me with you.’

 

Her father narrowed his eyes. ‘Don’t give me that. You have books. You don’t need to go somewhere to learn about it.’

 

‘All I’ve learnt here is how many people think I’m useless and how I’d be better off living in the normal world with omlerous people.’

 

‘Trust me, people in the omlerous world are just as prejudiced as the ones in the crilerous world. At least you get to see amazing magic. You wouldn’t be here if your mother didn’t show me her fire tricks and introduce me to this world.’

 

‘Amazing magic that I can’t use,’ Nosderag spat, pouting like a child as she crossed her arms. ‘I’m not going into those dorms.’

 

Her mother wrapped her arms around her and pulled her close. ‘Look, we’ll make sure you’re put together with a girl who won’t judge you.’

 

‘You mean an omler? No way. I don’t want to wallow in shared misery with someone.’

 

Her mother stroked her hair. ‘We’ll figure something out. Come on, sweetie. I don’t want to do this either but we have no choice. Please be reasonable.’ Nosderag sighed in defeat. ‘There’s my little dragon.’

 

Her name meant ‘great dragon’ in Astran. After the birth of their first son, her parents had expected another powerful fire tolxer. Now the name stung whenever she heard it.

 

A week later, Nosderag faced the 113-story building in front of her. The wheels on her suitcase squeaked as she entered the building and headed to the supervisor’s office. 

 

‘Um, Nosderag Zotmin, student id NZ487856. I’m new to the dorms.’

 

The supervisor checked the list for her id and ticked a box next to it. ‘You’ll be in room 112-B,’ he said, handing her a keycard. Nosderag was on the verge of tears when she looked up the spiralling staircase. ‘You can use the elevator.’

 

She pulled her suitcase to the elevator with newfound hope, which was immediately crushed when she saw no buttons.

 

‘It’s powered by your magic,’ the supervisor explained.

 

Nosderag groaned before beginning her trek up the long, long staircase. By floor three her breaths became laboured, by floor 12 her legs felt like they were about to fall out of their sockets.

 

She tried to distract from the soreness with thoughts about who would be her dormmate. That barely worked since it added a layer of worry on top of the agony.

 

At level 20 she decided to take a five-minute break. She planned in her head how many breaks she could take without spending all week walking up these damn stairs.

 

By level 40 she considered dropping dead. After all, she would have to walk up and down these stairs every day.

 

‘This fucking school,’ she muttered. She took to counting each step, which made her more aware of how hopeless she was in this situation. There was no way she could walk up 112 stories. At least the counting did numb the aching in her calves a little.

 

‘Level 70 step one, two, three, ugh… four.’ 

 

When she reached the 80th story, the pain in her body converted to murder in her eyes. Once she made it to her dorm, she was going to kill her dormmate and go to jail and never have to climb these stairs every again.

 

She reminded herself that her roommate would probably be a tolxer and therefore have the upper hand in a fight. She eventually managed to calm herself down by listening to the loud thud of her suitcase as it hit each step behind her.

 

‘Level 100,’ she said with a borderline insane grin and deep laughter to match. ‘Hah, take that, internal doubt! Now for the almost unlucky twelve.’

 

Once she made it to the magical level 112, she sat on the final step and panted for a good ten minutes. Then she stood up and swayed as she shambled to her room.

 

It took all of her remaining energy to raise her fist and knock on the door, which was opened by a familiar face.

 

Dalzonf, a girl whose arms could barely hold Nosderag as she collapsed into them.

 

Nosderag woke up in a bed she had never been in before, in a room she had never seen before. Her breaths sped up as she tried to figure out where she was. They slowed down upon seeing Dalzonf reading a book on her own bed. 

 

It was not a spellbook but a children’s book, the first in the Black Helmet, Grey Heart series.

 

‘Man, I haven’t read that series in years. I didn’t know people over the age of twelve still read it.’ Dalzonf glowered at her without even looking away from the page. ‘Sorry. I didn’t expect a tolxer to read an omler’s book.’

 

‘Dinla Horas comes from the omlerous version of Astraboleria. Of course she’s an omler.’ Dalzonf’s voice was light and airy, as soft as a pillow and high in pitch as the chirp of a chick.

 

‘Still, reading a book from that world…’

 

‘I don’t see the issue. So long as she doesn’t fall into people’s arms and then insult their taste in books, I’m fine with an omler.’

 

Nosderag laughed awkwardly as she sat up. She watched Dalzonf read silently. She took note of her warm honey eyes and plump lips. She wore a low-cut black crop top that somehow didn’t reveal much body fat, shorts also in black and a small blue denim jacket with one side slipping down her shoulder.

 

Dalzonf turned her head upon hearing the smack of Nosderag’s head against the wall. She couldn’t quite see it against her dark skin, but Nosderag was blushing. Hard.

 

‘How did you do that?’ Nosderag asked in an accusatory voice, pointing at her suspect.

 

‘Do what?’

 

‘Do a spell without using your hands. Can you tolx with your eyes?’

 

The book in Dalzonf’s hands thumped as she shut it. ‘What are you talking about? I didn’t use my powers on anyone. There’s no one else here.’

 

‘But…’

 

Dalzonf’s warm eyes went cold, matching her suddenly calculating smirk. Her voice deepened. ‘Oh, I see.’ Any shred of shyness the other girl was used to seeing from her was scrapped. ‘We wouldn’t want that getting out now, would we?’

 

‘Huh?’

 

‘How sweet. My dormmate’s already got a crush.’

 

‘What? No, no way. You put a spell on me. I know you did.’

 

Dalzonf stroked her finger up Nosderag’s neck, causing the other girl to gulp. ‘And why would I do that?’

 

‘Maybe what everyone said is right. You’re a tired girl.’

 

‘Oh, please. You’re not my type.’

 

‘So you are-’

 

‘I never said my type included women.’

 

Nosderag grinned. ‘But you never said it didn’t.’

 

Silence, followed by a slow clap from Dalzonf. ‘Well played. Except for, you know, suddenly becoming attracted to me. You were so close to winning this conversation. If only I didn’t have dirt on you. I guess it makes sense for you to fall asleep in my arms. You must have been so... tired.’

 

Burning cheeks turned into blazing fury as Nosderag leapt out of bed. ‘I’m changing dorms!’ she yelled as she stormed to the door. ‘Why should I have to go through all this effort just to see your ugly face at the top of the steps every day?’

 

Dalzonf blocked the door with her body. A body that Nosderag definitely didn’t like looking at. No siree.

 

‘I guess your type must be ugly girls, then.’

 

Nosderag’s cheeks got so hot that their redness was finally visible. ‘I’m not… I’m not one of you! I’m never defending you against bullies again! Why do you even need people to defend you anyway? You can clearly throw words back in people’s faces.’

 

‘I guess you’re just too easy.’

 

That last insult dropped onto Nosderag’s already fatigued shoulders like the roof of a crumbling temple. She huffed as she lied back on her bed and closed her eyes. It was as if she thought she would wake up again to a world where her dormmate wasn’t such a prick.

 

Her eyes still closed, Nosderag asked, ‘So, since you’re apparently blackmailing me now, what do you want me to do?’

 

The sound of a page turning reached Nosderag’s ears. Dalzonf chuckled. ‘I’ll think about it.’ 

2: Chapter 2: Curious Girl

The two roommates ignored each other the next day, aside from giving each other their numbers in case of emergency. Nosderag read in the library after classes. It had a very old-school design, as in it looked like a tribal village in the middle of the Terio region. 

 

Everything was made of plants, from the vine-covered walls to the wooden bookshelves to the giant flowers used as chairs. The building carried the sweet smells of native flowers and the appearance of a tribal leader’s hut up in the trees.

 

Nosderag came across a book about magical creatures native to Astraboleria. That book had a piece of paper between two middle pages with a message messily written in black ink.

 

If you want to see these for real, go to the storage shed behind the armoury. 

 

Naturally, Nosderag was not one to follow an order from a bookmark of all things, but the more she read through the book, the more intrigued she was.

 

Her family never had a pet (too at risk of getting accidentally burned) and she had not seen many magical creatures up close. Outside of the occasional banshee hornbills which screamed in her face and stole her lunch in the park, of course.

 

Curiosity and basic common sense fought. Curiosity won.

 

Nosderag slammed the book closed and tossed it into the basket beside the nearest bookshelf. A vine descended from the roof and picked up the book, taking it to the appropriate shelf.

 

She strolled out of the librarian like an ordinary, non-mischievous person. She kept her steps light and her mouth shut. 

 

The armoury wasn’t far from the library, only a few hundred metres away. Yes, that may seem like a fair bit, but nothing could compare to that dormitory’s damn stairs. Nosderag could walk any distance now.

 

The armoury was the second biggest building aside from the dormitory, a tacky purple behemoth with gold trimming. Whereas the other top-secret buildings had an invisible shield surrounding them, the protective magic around the armoury was glaringly visible, in that the entire bubble looked like what you see when you try to watch television in bright sunlight.

 

Behind the armoury was a rundown shed emitting various animal calls. A creature that sounded like a kookaburra if it had been dragged into the ocean seemed to be competing for attention with what sounded like a metallic lion on helium. Underneath those sounds were clicks and the fluttering of small wings. The dark windows of the shed lit up every so often as a creature made a lightning bolt or breathed fire. Luckily, the walls were fireproof as every building in the school was.

 

Nosderag pondered the situation. There was sure to be a forcefield, right? How could she get in there? She considered asking Administration for a permission slip, a bureaucratic process that would take a few weeks at least. Still, was she really going to risk expulsion just to sate her curiosity?

 

Before she could turn around and walk away, she heard what at first sounded like a celery stick being cracked. The pain-stenched scream told a different story. A bone must have broken.

 

Nosderag instinctively ran up to the shed. She felt a sharp sting throughout her body upon breaking through the forcefield, but she managed to make it inside. She contemplated her hands to figure out how that happened, but then the screeching returned and she raced into the shed through its open door.

 

Why was it opened? A man’s voice inadvertently answered that question. ‘Get back in your bloody cage, you bloody mongrel!’ His broad Australian accent was quite a shock to Nosderag, who was unfamiliar with it. ‘If you don’t get back in here, I’m quitting and you can get someone harsher to discipline you! How does that sound, huh?’

 

The ‘mongrel’ was a tiny black bat-winged creature with a red beak and legs similar to a human's, aside from the talons at the end. Her forearms were the colour of gold and she had black hair with a golden streak in it. She was a dead ringer for Arayonda, the goddess of the sky, albeit naked rather than wearing a traditional white tunic. She flew haphazardly around the shed, chirping like a blackbird. One of her legs was clearly broken, dangling around.

 

The man’s beer gut appeared to be making it difficult to chase the ara fairy around. He wore a sneer and grabbed at the air with his sausage fingers, hoping at least one handful of air would also contain the fairy.

 

He finally managed to get his grasp on the creature and began strangling its neck. The chirps got thinner and thinner until-

 

Nosderag tackled him like an American footballer. Her arms weren’t strong but the shock was enough to make the man step back and let go of the fairy.

 

‘What are you doing?’ he shouted at Nosderag, his face red and his nostrils flaring like he himself was about to breathe fire. She flinched, expecting to be burned. She sighed in relief when no fire came out from him.

 

‘You can’t kill it! It’s just little!’

 

‘It’s a little pain in the behind. These things won’t listen to human words. All they need is a good beating to start behaving.’

 

The fairy perched herself on Nosderag, surprising both humans. She rubbed her beak against Nosderag’s neck and purred like a parrot, wobbling on one leg. Nosderag simply had to cross her arms and smirk at the man.

 

But it was not enough to dissuade the man, who leapt towards Nosderag to take the fairy. The creature flapped out the door. The man went out to chase her, leaving Nosderag to take a good look at the other animals.

 

The underwater kookaburra-sounding one was a scaled but winged creature, a sleek vision in turquoise.  Its call took on a deeper, angrier tone when it flapped its small but sturdy wings against its tank at the helium lion-sounding creature beneath it. The other creature was a green eight-legged furry monster about the size of a warthog, and with tusks on its face to match. It began hissing at the scaly bird and its hisses sounded like running water. It put its legs between the bars of its cage but couldn’t slip out. 

 

At the other end of the shed were four little dragons, all of different types. A Chinese lung rapidly changed the colour of its scales as it spit out little signs of the weather such as rain clouds, snow and a miniature version of the sun. The black-scaled Russian alicha kept trying to eat the little sun whenever it appeared. A bida from Mali, a long serpent with golden scales, seemed very cramped in its cage. It kept crying gold coins that disappeared as soon as they hit the ground.

 

The final one fascinated her, as it was a rare Sumerian kur with grey and white scales that made it look like a mountain. It seemed happy to see Nosderag, judging by the way it flapped its feathered wings at her.

 

Nosderag reached out to pet it, but then she heard a noise outside and decided to leave the armoury and return to her dorm.

 

While walking, she heard a familiar fluttering and stopped. She turned her head to the side and saw the ara fairy from before. She nuzzled her beak against her cheek, panting as she collapsed on her shoulder. Nosderag turned behind her towards the shed for a moment before leading the fairy to her dorm.

 

Upon reaching the dormitory, she took out her phone and called Dalzonf. ‘Hey, can you power the elevator? I am not walking up those damn steps again. And you better, because I have a surprise for you.’

 

Dalzonf hung up. 

 

Nosderag began her pilgrimage up the stairs when she heard the whisk of the elevator as it descended. The fairy hid inside her coat. 

 

Dalzonf yawned, surrounded by pink mist. ‘By the way, you’ll get a bigger crush on me between this floor and when we get off the elevator. Just a warning. Don’t try to pull anything.’

 

Nosderag scoffed as she made her way to the elevator. ‘I’m never going to live it down, am I?’

 

‘Not for as long as I’m blackmailing you.’

 

‘Oh yeah, thanks for reminding me how much of a shithead you are. I almost forgot. You’re... like an oasis in the deserts of Cenaschramm.’

 

Nosderag’s cheeks burned as her heart leapt. Everything but Dalzonf became blurry like her eyes were movie cameras putting the other girl in focus.

 

A laugh escaped Dalzonf’s pursed lips. ‘Well, that’s a new one.’

 

‘Your eyes are like perfectly cut andalusites,’ Nosderag said, leaning in closer.

 

‘Alright, that’s enough-’

 

‘You are the reincarnation of Marosos.’

 

Dalzonf pushed her away and kicked a wall of the elevator. ‘This damn relic. Needs so much damn power.’

 

The effects of her love tolxing did not disappear as soon as the elevator reached its destination. They stayed in Nosderag’s system for a few minutes. Apparently the symptoms of this magic included making the affected person follow their target of affection like a duckling and then agreeing to her demands to sit in the corner.

 

Nosderag’s cheeks slowly started to cool down. She blinked quickly as she got her bearings again.

 

‘So, what is your surprise?’ Dalzonf asked.

 

‘Oh, yeah, say hi to… I don’t have a name for her yet.’ She opened her coat and revealed the ara fairy.

 

‘What.’

 

Exasperation dropped down onto Dalzonf’s face like a waterfall.

 

‘She was getting hurt by the groundskeeper,’ Nosderag explained as she brushed her finger against the fairy’s little cheek. She gave the other girl hopeful eyes.

3: Chapter 3: Caring Girl

Dalzonf shook her head. ‘Your little crush on me must have driven you insane.’

 

‘I just want to keep her safe!’ Nosderag argued. ‘Her leg is injured.’

 

‘What does she even eat?’

 

Nosderag pouted. ‘I don’t know.’ Her hopeful face returned. ‘But we can look it up.’

 

‘We?’

 

‘Fine, I can look it up. And feed her. And take care of her. You just keep it a secret.’

 

‘Yeah, no. I’m giving you my first order as your blackmailer. Put her back.’

 

‘Can we at least wait until tomorrow? It’s getting dark out.’

 

‘Fine. But tomorrow she’s going back.’ Dalzonf chuckled. ‘I don’t exactly want the enemy of my people staying too long.’

 

It took a while for Nosderag to get the joke and when she did she rolled her eyes. ‘Boo. Booooooooo.’ She held the fairy up to Dalzonf. ‘I bet even Marosos wouldn’t hate this Arayonda.’

 

‘That’s because she’s an easier to deal with version of her. Wait, you’re not going to name her Arayonda, are you?’

 

‘Nah. She deserves her own identity. Hmm…. Daliki?’

 

Dalzonf crossed her arms. ‘One sky? Wow, a real imaginative name for an ara fairy.’ 

 

‘I think it’s cute! And the pun is great.’

 

‘I don’t think putting two words together is automatically a pun.’

 

‘You must be great at parties.’

 

Dalzonf went into the bathroom and came back with a first aid kit. Nosderag started tending to the bird’s broken leg as best she could, applying the last drop of a healing potion to the broken leg and carefully wrapping a bandage around it.

 

‘On second thought, maybe we shouldn’t be naming her,’ Dalzonf said. ‘Since, you, know, we’re giving her back tomorrow.’

 

‘A name is useful if one of us loses her.’ 

 

Dalzonf moved her lips to the side in thought. ‘Alright. Daliki it is.’ Nosderag hugged her. Dalzonf lightly patted her on the back, arching her back as far away from the other girl as possible. After five seconds, she said. ‘Okay, that’s enough.’

 

Nosderag giggled. ‘Oh, by the way, I have dirt on you too. Your innocent crying girl schtick is just that. And people are more likely to believe me than some love tolxer. How would people react if they knew their suspicions that you’re manipulative and two-faced were right?’

 

Dalzonf grabbed Nosderag’s cheeks and stretched them outwards. ‘How can you call me those things with a smile?’

 

‘I learned bitchiness from the best.’

 

It was Dalzonf’s time to roll her eyes. She patted Nosderag on the head before yawning and getting into her pyjamas, checking every few seconds that the other girl wasn’t watching. She wasn’t, instead focusing on looking up ways to feed the fairy in an encyclopaedia. 

 

‘Turns out these fairies feed on magic.’ Dalzonf groaned. ‘Oh, but if you feed them the same type of magic for a long time, the magic starts affecting whoever touches them.’

 

‘Well, we’re sending her home tomorrow, so it doesn’t matter.’

 

The next day, Dalzonf had to suffer through Nosderag serenading her for the time span of an elevator ride. She had to wait a little until Nosderag was back to normal before leaving the elevator. Before having breakfast, they headed outside and saw the armoury. Which suddenly had guards outside.

 

Deep purple metal armour covered the entirety of the guards’ bodies. One guard had wings that were also covered with metal. They carried no weapons. Not that they needed any.

 

A crowd of students gathered to see what was going on. No matter how many times teachers shooed them away, they kept coming back.

 

One of the teachers gave up on keeping the secret. ‘Some magical creatures have been stolen from our campus. Police will be here any minute to begin their investigation, so we need you all to make way for them. Go have breakfast!’

 

Nosderag and Dalzonf turned to each other, collectively shitting themselves.

4: Chapter 4: Anxious Girl

Nosderag slowly and oh-so-casually walked back inside, Dalzonf following close behind. They went straight to the elevator and made sure to be the only ones there. No one was to see the effects of love magic on Nosderag.

 

This time the effects included Nosderag twirling one of her dreadlocks and gazing at Dalzonf with an innocent lip bite. Her uniform skirt swirled around as she swayed back and forth.

 

While Dalzonf waited for the effects to wear off, Nosderag tried to look around the room. Just like before, everything but Dalzonf was out of focus. However, she noticed something.

 

On Dalzonf’s bedside table was a miniature idol that was wearing green. ‘Is that Terio?’ Nosderag asked, squinting her eyes in the hopes that it would come into focus. Dalzonf hummed and nodded. ‘So, like, why? Shouldn’t you have a Marosos statue? Since she's, you know, the goddess of… love?’ Nosderag batted her eyelids at that last word. Dalzonf rolled her eyes at the gesture of affection.

 

‘My parents are from Terio city, so we worship her mostly.’

 

Nosderag giggled. ‘Huh, why do they name places after gods anyway? Isn’t that confusing? It doesn’t make any sense. And why-’

 

‘Alright, that’s enough out of you.’ Dalzonf chuckled. ‘You are so drunk.’

 

‘I am not! I haven’t had any alcohol.’

 

‘You’re drunk on… you know what? You’re going to get back to normal soon enough. I don’t know why I’m trying to reason with you when you’re like this.’

 

As if on cue, Nosderag snapped out of her daze. Dalzonf asked, ‘So what are we going to do about this fairy?’

 

Nosderag opened her already slightly open backpack further, letting out Daliki. ‘She must be so hungry. Will you feed her?’

 

Dalzonf held out a hand but curled her fingers in hesitation. Eventually she touched Daliki’s head and closed her eyes. A thin stream of pink mist surrounded the fairy and then entered her mouth. She gulped the magic down and then flew to Dalzonf’s side, rapidly nuzzling her.

 

Dalzonf tried to move away from Daliki but she continued showing affection. ‘Be grateful you don’t have magic,’ she said to Nosderag, who frowned when Dalzonf pushed Daliki away. ‘Anyway, we need to get her back to that enclosure.’

 

‘Should we just tell them what happened and clear up the misunderstanding?’

 

‘Yeah, no. I’m not risking running into the police.’

 

‘But you haven’t done anything wrong.’

 

‘I don’t have to,’ Dalzonf retorted, creating a small ball of pink mist in the palm of her hand. Nosderag nodded in understanding.

 

‘So are we going to sneak in? What about the guards? And the magic shield… wait, how did I make it into that shed? It had a shield around it. I felt it but I made it through.’

 

‘Huh. Maybe you have powers after all. Is there such a thing as a power to break magic shields? Either that or their shields suck. That’s a distinct possibility. Whatever the case, we can use that to our advantage.’

 

The two were about to start planning when Nosderag’s stomach grumbled. After descending to the ground floor, Dalzonf led a lovesick Nosderag to the dining hall in the dormitory. She tried to ignore the stares from other students as Nosderag kept attempting to grab her hand.

 

The dining hall was about the size of a professional soccer field. Tall torches in the shapes of dragons stood at the perimeter, several metres apart from each other. Orange force fields surrounded the flames to prevent them from getting out of control. The tables were made of black wood designed to seem like charcoal. On top of each table were bowls of various brightly coloured fruits. A cart with a long line of students stood against a wall. In addition to granite plates and bowls, the cart contained sikoka beans for making hot sikoka, smelly dried blue kie kriz fish and a ridiculous amount of rice. 

 

Hanging over everyone’s head was a medieval European-style chandelier with, you guessed it, fire at the ends. At the end of the hall was a low platform with a giant unused cauldron atop it. Students loved to write inane and often offensive messages on the outside of the cauldron in pen. Knowing how many times this happened, the teachers never bothered to clean it.

 

Nosderag, still affected by love magic and seeing that she was in a public setting, tried singing another serenade. Dalzonf’s shoulders jumped up. Everyone was staring in silence. As soon as she could, she covered the other girl’s hand with her mouth. It was too late.

 

‘I guess she was getting desperate,’ Sosoka whispered to a friend, who cackled a little too loud.

 

Dalzonf lowered her head, turning back into the vulnerable girl Nosderag defended a week ago. She shuffled to the food cart line, Nosderag following closely behind.

 

When Nosderag returned to her senses and looked around the hall in confusion, Sosoka and her friend laughed at the sight. The other students joined in. The girls in line stepped away from Dalzonf while still keeping their spots in the line.

 

‘Why don’t you just tell them about the elevator?’ Nosderag whispered in her ear, absentmindedly grabbing her arm. Dalzonf tore her arm away and turned towards her with a fire in her eyes to rival all the torches in the room combined.

 

She ignored her for the entirety of breakfast and left for class without saying a word. The two didn’t share their first class of the day.

 

Instead, Nosderag had Potions Sapphire Class. As one of the few omlers on campus, she had a more limited curriculum but had to make up for it by taking more advanced classes and excelling in academics. While everyone else her age was in Potions Topaz, she was a year ahead.

 

A fact that brought a scowl to her teacher Dr Lomaschramm’s lips.

 

‘Try not to make anything explode this time, Ms Zotmin.’ The teacher’s voice went up and down like a children’s show character. Or a poor person’s impersonation of a rich person. Take your pick. Nosderag tried to laugh the comment off as she took her seat.

 

The air of the classroom was chilly thanks to the refrigerated potion pantries in the back. The teachers claimed that this was not the case as the fridges were closed. The non-refrigerated potions were kept in a wide, locked cabinet against a wall. A fat lot of good that lock did when students kept punching the unshielded glass and taking out potions to pull pranks on each other.

 

The class was small, with only half of the ten benches being used. Nosderag turned to her designated lab partner for the term but the other girl ignored her. Someone whispered behind her but stopped when she turned around.

 

‘I hope you’re paying attention in class, Ms Zotmin.’

 

Dr Lomaschramm towered over Nosderag. Her hooked, pointy nose made her cat-eye glasses slip down it as she looked down on her. She smelled of hand sanitizer and, when she opened her mouth, minty toothpaste.

 

‘Now, what do we never mix Aja’s Vine with?’

 

‘Himalayan healing water.’

 

Dr Lomaschramm pursed her lips. After a moment of thought, she grinned, showing off her eerily perfect white teeth. 

 

‘And why is that?’ Nosderag didn’t answer. The teacher turned her back on the class and returned to the whiteboard. She picked up a marker and began writing the first sentence of her answer. ‘We… do… not… mix... healing... potions... together. They’re like those newfangled interwebz security softwares. They compete against each other and are unable to work. Unlike the softwares, two healing potions will create an explosion.’

 

As she continued her lecture, Nosderag slumped in her seat, trying not to fall asleep. Slumping in her seat soon turned into slumping onto her bench. She closed her eyes.

 

A second later, she heard a zap and felt a sting on her neck, making her sit up in attention. She didn’t have to turn her head. The sound of snickering students allowed her to fill in the blanks.

 

‘Save your tolxing for the classes that require it,’ Dr Lomaschramm said.

 

The laughing quietened but was still audible. 

 

Nosderag’s other classes were similar. Strict and seemingly sadistic teachers, students high on schadenfreude and lessons that could put an insomniac to sleep.

 

There was one exception: cryptozoology. No, not the omler version in which wackjobs search for Bigfoot for the millionth time. It was a class dedicated to real magical creatures. The teacher Mr Fot was a portly soft-spoken old man with a clear passion for the field but little confidence in controlling a classroom of bored students. However, he always greeted Nosderag with a smile and gave her high marks. She listened to his classes with rapt attention, in stark contrast with the other students.

 

The classroom for this subject was cramped between two similarly plain rooms. The only interesting thing about this room was the globe on Mr Fot’s desk, which was decorated with pictures of magical creatures on the countries they originated from. The man brought it into the classroom every day in the hopes that it would inspire intellectual curiosity in his students.

 

Most of the students were too busy making jokes about his name, which meant ‘flow’.

 

‘Hey, sir, do you want some tampons?’ one girl asked in between fits of laughter.

 

When Mr Fot sincerely replied, ‘Oh, no thank you, I don’t need them,’ Nosderag’s heart broke on his behalf.

 

When Nosderag returned to her dorm, she kept interrupting her fairy-saving plan meeting with Dalzonf to rant about her day. Dalzonf eventually gave up on planning and listened to the other girl’s ramblings.

 

She even found herself smiling at Nosderag’s wild array of facial expressions.

5: Chapter 5: Sweet Girl

After Nosderag finished replacing Daliki’s bandages, Dalzonf watched the fairy slowly fall asleep in their dorm room. ‘You must be so tired, aren’t you, girl?’ she cooed, brushing her finger against her wing. Nosderag laughed and Dalzonf whipped her head towards her with hot cheeks. ‘I didn’t mean it that way.’ She put on a smirk. ‘Someone’s obsessed with lesbianism.’

 

Nosderag groaned. ‘Can’t you just let me live that down?’

 

‘Now why would I do that?’

 

‘I’m totally normal, okay? I was just a little confused, is all. And besides, it’s not like you can blackmail me anymore, so you may as well drop it.’

 

‘Whatever helps you sleep at night.’

 

Dalzonf responded to Nosderag’s glare by ignoring her. The two hopped into their beds and turned off the light. For a moment the room was silent outside of the fairy’s dainty little snores.

 

‘Hey, Dalzonf?’

 

‘What.’

 

‘Why do you act differently to me than the other girls at school? You seem kind of shy towards them.’

 

Dalzonf pretended that she had already fallen asleep.

 

The next morning’s daily trip down the elevator resulted in a proposal with orange peel used as a makeshift ring. Right in front of all the other students in the dining hall.

 

Two options appeared before Dalzonf: go shy mode and run away or go bitch mode and slap the orange peel ring out of Nosderag’s hand.

 

‘Should we call the police?’ Sosoka asked her group of friends. ‘She’s probably raping her too.’ When Dalzonf heard that and gave her a dirty look, Sosoka stared her down. ‘What? Come on, can we really be shocked when a love tolxer’s acting a little rapey? Poor Nosderag’s got no powers. She’s utterly defenceless and you’re clearly taking advantage of her by trying to turn her into your girlfriend with your gross powers. And every morning! I can only imagine what you make her do to you every morning-’

 

Sosoka shrieked as Dalzonf pushed her to the ground. Her love powers were of little use in a fight, so her nails would have to do. She scratched at Sosoka’s face.

 

Unfortunately for her, Sosoka’s powers were useful in a fight.

 

Vines rapidly grew from the floorboards and began wrapping themselves around Dalzonf’s neck, pulling her away from Sosoka. When she tried to yell at her to let her go, Sosoka simply created a miniature version of a rafflesia and stuck it in Dalzonf’s mouth.

 

The smell of rotting carcasses assaulted Dalzonf’s nostrils, making the already difficult task of breathing with something in her mouth even harder.

 

Sosoka came up with an even better punishment. She pulled the vines towards her until Dalzonf was lying on top of her. She yelped in feigned shock as she removed the vines.

 

‘Help, someone get a teacher! She’s trying to…’ Her voice faltered for effect as she sniffled.

 

A teacher finally entered the dining hall and pulled Dalzonf away. ‘What’s happening this time?’

 

‘She was… she was trying to… I think Dalzonf was about to use her love powers on me!’

 

‘Dalzonf, the principal’s office. Now.’ 

 

Nosderag blinked and saw Dalzonf follow the teacher. 

 

‘What’s going on?’

 

She snuck behind Dalzonf. ‘What happened? Are you in trouble?’

 

‘Quit it,’ the other girl spat under her breath. 

 

Nosderag listened in on the meeting between Dalzonf and the principal, an elven maiden who did not look a day over 500 and sounded like a cross between a rich French heiress and a light breeze. 

 

‘The police are on their way to have a chat.’

 

‘With all due respect, Mrs Pelletier, I’m sure they have more pressing matters than a school brawl.’

 

‘Not when sexual assault allegations have been made.’

 

Nosderag expected a verbal takedown of this lady from Dalzonf. Would she bring up the facts of the situation, inadvertently telling Nosderag everything she missed? Perhaps she would threaten to sue for discrimination. Or maybe she would point out the school’s bullying problem.

 

‘I see…’

 

That was it.

 

Those two words pierced Nosderag’s soul and caused empathy to bleed out of her. She knocked on the door.

 

‘Mrs Pelletier, May I defend Dalzonf?’

 

‘Who is speaking?’ 

 

‘Her roommate and frequent receiver of love magic.’

 

Mrs Pelletier almost choked on her shock. ‘Very well. Come in.’

 

Nosderag took a while to collect her thoughts. The sun coming from the window behind the principal made her seem like she was surrounded by light, aided by her tight blonde braids that reached the floor. Her dark skin glowed in the light of the candle in front of her. The pastel room had the appearance inside of a fairytale princess’s bedroom, with flowers decorating every piece of furniture and the seat she was in being lined with pink velvet.

 

‘You see, miss…’ Nosderag began. She explained Dalzonf’s use of her abilities to power the lift and how she had never used her powers to take advantage of someone. 

 

‘Thank you for telling me this. However, these accusations are quite serious so they warrant an investigation.’ Mrs Pelletier returned her attention to Dalzonf. ‘I also received an anonymous tip this morning accusing you of being involved in the theft of animals from our enclosure. Until the investigation is complete, I’m afraid you will be suspended from all classes and facilities.’

 

Nosderag clenched her fists. ‘But what about-’

 

‘Your friend can deliver food to your dormitory if need be,’ Mrs Pelletier said to Dalzonf.

 

Dalzonf nodded and stood up, brushing past Nosderag as she left the room. She tried to pay no attention to her as the girl followed her back to the dormitory. 

 

On the way, they passed Mr Fot, who was surrounded by snickering teenagers. One of the teachers chuckled herself. Mr Fot breathed heavily through his mouth as he tried to get rid of the self-made icicles he had accidentally gotten stuck in his nostrils.

 

‘You are not going up the elevator with me, got it?’ Dalzonf told Nosderag once the two were inside the dormitory.

 

‘But the stairs are…’

 

Nosderag didn’t get to finish her sentence before Dalzonf went into the elevator and brought herself up. 

 

A few students passed Nosderag with sympathetic faces. A teacher came up to her and told her she could always see the school counsellor if she needed to. 

 

‘But I didn’t get… she didn’t…’ 

 

The teacher interrupted her with words of misplaced encouragement before leaving.

 

Instead of heading to class, Nosderag ran as fast as she could up the stairs, ignoring the heaviness of her backpack.

 

After taking multiple breaks and feeling like she was about to die, she made it to the top.

 

Dalzonf said goodbye to the two police officers who had just questioned her. They opened the door and Nosderag fell through the doorway to the floor.

 

Before Dalzonf or the officers could help her up, Nosderag heaved her body up herself. She took a few deep breaths with her hands on her thighs.

 

‘I’m okay.’

 

‘What are you doing here?’ Dalzonf asked, her harsh but quiet voice making her sound both annoyed and a little touched.

 

‘I had to make sure you were alright. It’s not fair what happened to you.’ Nosderag took opened her bag and released Daliki. ‘Plus, you forgot to feed her.’

 

Dalzonf created a small ball of pink mist but immediately squashed it. ‘Come on,’ Nosderag pleaded. ‘For her.’ Dalzonf continued to look at her hands like they had blood on them.

 

Daliki flew over to Dalzonf’s shoulder. Dalzonf petted her but still refused to tolx.

 

Nosderag placed her hand on Dalzonf’s other shoulder and smiled at her. The warmth of her hand spread throughout Dalzonf’s body until she eventually sighed and fed Daliki.

 

‘Thanks,’ Dalzonf murmured. 

 

‘For what?’

 

‘What do you mean, ‘for what’? For defending me!’ Dalzonf covered her face with one hand. 

 

A light blush reached Nosderag’s cheeks. She felt like someone was squeezing her heart. She wanted to tear her eyes away but she couldn’t.

 

‘No… no problem,’ she whispered as she sat down on her bed.

 

The two went quiet for a while until Dalzonf asked Nosderag a question.

 

‘Why are you still here? You’ve still got classes.’

 

‘After climbing all those stairs, you want me to go back down?’

 

Both girls laughed. Dalzonf returned to her book and Nosderag played with Daliki. The two sat in silence, enjoying each other’s company.

6: Chapter 6: Organised Girl

As the elevator doors opened, Dalzonf waved goodbye to Nosderag and waited inside the elevator, ignoring the students complaining about her hogging the elevator. Nosderag rushed to the dining hall to grab as much food as she could before handing said food to Dalzonf.

 

While Dalzonf ascended to her dorm room, Nosderag went back to the dining room to get herself some food before heading to class.

 

Mathematics Sapphire Class was boring enough to get Dalzonf to formulate a plan in her head to get Daliki back to the enclosure. Her ideas were half-baked but she had a general concept of what she needed to do.

 

‘No,’ Dalzonf said when she got back and explained one of the plans.

 

‘What else can we do?’

 

‘I’ve gotten into enough trouble. I’m not going to be your decoy.’

 

Nosderag crossed her arms. ‘What ideas do you have, then?’

 

Dalzonf took a pen and an exercise book from her backpack by her bed. She made her way over to the small table in the middle of the room and began drawing a plan. She smirked at Nosderag, who huffed and whipped her head to the side with pursed lips.

 

Over the next few days, whispered rumours diffused around campus, starting off realistic but fading into ridiculousness over time. Apparently it wasn’t just an ara fairy that was taken from the enclosure. Apparently.

 

Apparently Dalzonf tolxed a girl into liking her and the other girl changed schools in shame. Apparently.

 

Apparently there was an underground cult run by love tolxers and Dalzonf was trying to recruit Nosderag. Apparently.

 

To block out the hushed voices of other students, Nosderag borrowed a book from the library and read it in her dorm room in her spare time. The leather-bound encyclopedia was over a thousand pages long and yet it made no mention of an innate ability to break magic shields, only that there were spells and potions that could be used on weak shields.

 

Occasionally Nosderag would sneak a glance at Dalzonf, who also spent her time reading in silence. The sight was a picture of tranquillity, a still life in reality.

 

It didn’t take long for a light warmth to spread throughout Nosderag’s chest.

 

The following day, Nosderag went to her cryptozoology class. As always, the students were rowdy and only Nosderag listened.

 

‘Dragon scales are rumoured to have many healing benefits,’ Mr Fot said. ‘Most of the claims aren’t true, but that doesn’t stop many of them from being sold on the black market. Now, does anyone remember from last year’s classes how to calm an agitated dragon?’ Nosderag raised her hand. She was the only one to do so. ‘Nosderag.’

 

‘It depends on the dragon, but kneeling before them like you’re praying can make you seem like a worshipper rather than a threat. Carrying a nice-smelling herb like lemongrass can also calm them.’

 

‘Well done.’ 

 

Mr Fot moved on to talking about the differences between chimeras and manticores.

 

When classes finished up for the day, Nosderag begged another student to power the dormitory elevator for her. The other student was a water tolxer and Nosderag half-expected the elevator to flood. The elevator only became a little more humid.

 

Upon arriving at her dorm room, Nosderag saw that Dalzonf was still sitting and reading a book, only a different one this time. Several books lay on top of Dalzonf’s bed, mostly fiction.

 

Nosderag held up a paper bag. ‘Sorry for the late lunch,’ she said as she passed it to Dalzonf, who was holding out her hand without moving her eyes from her novel.

 

‘How was school?’

 

That question took Nosderag aback. ‘Fine. Cryptozoology was interesting. Am I the only one who likes Mr Fot?’

 

‘He’s alright. Had him for Magical Laws and Ethics last year. Kind of boring, but nice enough.’

 

‘At least he’s not Dr Lomaschramm.’

 

Dalzonf chortled with a closed mouth and nodded. The still silence that followed felt like how warm watercolours look.

7: Chapter 7: Mischievous Girl

The air froze Nosderag’s eyebags. Between shivers, she managed to lumber towards the enclosure. She could barely see the guards in the dark. Her hand shook as it held a small pet store-bought cage. Inside the cage? Daliki.

 

At first, the fairy kicked around in an attempt to escape the cage but she eventually got used to her temporary home. Nosderag made sure to pet her every so often to keep her calm.

 

In shadows she stayed, sneaking past the armoury’s guards. She saw her target, a spot underneath the door to the enclosure. There she was to leave the cage for a staff member to pick up and return to Daliki home.

 

Well, at least that was the plan.

 

A guard stood in front of the door, flanked by two more guards a few metres away each. They were chatting to each other but kept their eyes forward.

 

As Nosderag hid behind a large trash can, she heard the cage in her hand shake. Her heart rose up her throat like bile. She eventually saw that Daliki was shivering too. She placed her hand underneath the cage to lessen the shaking.

 

She lowered it to the ground. Someone else could find it in the morning and bring it to the enclosure, right?

 

She snuck away from the scene. As she headed to the dormitory, she envisioned the staircase that awaited her. For some reason, this vision included a human-sized Daliki in a large cage rolling down the stairs, her pained squawks loud enough to shake the building. As if matching the shaking of the building, this imagined Daliki trembled. The freezing wind made sure that Nosderag trembled too.

 

With one huff of breath that created a little cloud in the air, she turned around and walked back to the trash can and picked up the cage. She went back to the dormitory.

 

The doors were open but the light was off. At least, at first. Just as she was beginning to trek the stairs, feeling around for the handrail, someone flicked the light switch.

 

Both Nosderag and her cage were bathed in almost blinding light, made worse by the contrast it made with the darkness outside. Dr Lomaschramm tapped her foot. She wasn't wearing her glasses but she was wearing a floral nightgown that made her look older than she was. 

 

‘Care to explain?’ Nosderag laughed but couldn’t muster the courage to reply. The teacher clicked her tongue and shook her head. ‘Plan on making a career in the black market or something? What’s with the fairy?’ She gave a little laugh that sounded like a cross between a closed-mouth chortle and a cackle.

 

‘Oh, um, this isn't a real fairy. It’s illusion magic.’ When Dr Lomaschramm reached to touch Daliki, Nosderag pulled the cage back. ‘The magic’s a little weak at the moment and it took a long time for the girl who made it to cast the spell, so I don’t want anyone to touch it and make it disappear.’

 

‘Why do you have it, if I may ask, Ms Zotmin?’

 

‘I’m giving it to the student so she can recharge the magic and make it stronger.’

 

‘And why were you out so late?’

 

Nosderag’s already fast heartbeat sped up. ‘Well, the student left this in a classroom and asked me to get it for her while she worked on the recharging spell. I cleared it up with one of the teachers. Would you like me to go get him?’

 

Dr Lomachramm covered her face with one hand and waved the other hand about. ‘No, no, that’s quite alright. Go back to your room and get some sleep.’

 

When Nosderag stepped onto the staircase, the teacher headed to the elevator and powered it for her. Inside the elevator Nosderag’s hair rose and goosebumps dotted her body as an electric current ran through her body. Fortunately, the stinging didn’t last too long as soon she was back in her dorm room.

 

She turned on the light, waking up Dalzonf. ‘Did you put her near…’ Dalzonf rubbed her eyes and saw the cage still in Nosderag’s hand. ‘What happened?’ she asked her like a parent interrogating a child next to a broken vase.

 

A nervous laugh from Nosderag. ‘Yeah, about that…’ she explained what happened.

 

‘You should have just left her there!’ Someone next door banged the wall. Dalzonf repeated her statement quietly.

 

‘And let her get cold?’ Nosderag whispered.

 

Dalzonf slapped her palm onto her face and sighed, bringing in her fingers to rub the bridge of her nose. After a deep breath, she raised her hands in defeat, refusing to say a word. She lied back down and waited for Nosderag to turn off the light.

 

Nosderag fumbled around the room for her pyjamas, finally finding then underneath her bed. After brushing her teeth, she settled into her bed.

 

‘We’re going to properly discuss this tomorrow, right?’ Dalzonf asked in a way that sounded more like an order.

 

Nosderag hummed in the affirmative before falling asleep.

 

Meanwhile, Dalzonf lied awake. Her eyes were on the ceiling but her ears were on the cute little snores coming from Nosderag.

 

Upon thinking the word ‘cute’, she gulped as she scrambled over her bed towards the bathroom. No amount of cold water could cool her face, no matter how many times she washed it.

 

She couldn’t see herself in the mirror, given the darkness of the room, but she had a feeling she was looking at herself like how she usually looked at Nosderag whenever that girl made a rash decision.

 

How long did it take for Dalzonf, on the journey back to her bed, to stub her toe against something in the dark and scream bloody murder at 4 o’clock in the morning?

 

Five seconds.

 

As loud as she was, it was only a matter of time before a few of her nosier dorm neighbours rushed to the door to find out what happened. Some of them asked her if she was okay, though a few people whispered their own theories. For example:

 

‘Maybe she tried to pull something on Nosderag and she fought back.’

 

Dalzonf swung the door open and turned on the light, revealing a still-sleeping, still-snoring Nosderag. The hypothesis club bowed their heads.

 

However, the truth didn’t stop them from spreading rumours. Nosderag wanted to pull her own hair out every time she had to defend Dalzonf over a supposed incident she knew nothing about.

 

The whispers eventually swam away from Dalzonf and towards Nosderag.

 

‘Poor thing. She’s already weak as it is. I bet Dalzonf made her defend her.’

 

Oh, Sosoka. Never change.

 

She continued because of course she did. ‘If she treats her like that, imagine how she must treat the animals she stole!’

 

She gave Nosderag a knowing smirk, which Nosderag returned with a glare. 

 

By the end of the day, Nosderag’s brain was fried. She managed to get a music tolxer to power the elevator for her. A music tolxer with enough of a sense of humour to play generic elevator music. At this point, Nosderag was not amused.

 

After entering her room, she slammed her door. She handed Dalzonf some pieces of paper with the assigned homework tasks written on them. 

 

‘Um… have you got…’ Dalzonf began before averting her gaze. ‘Never mind.’ Her grumbling stomach continued her question.

 

‘Shit, sorry, I forgot,’ Nosderag answered, sitting on her bed next to Dalzonf. ‘Do you want me to go down and get some?’

 

Dalzonf shook her head. ‘I’ll wait for dinner. It’s only a few hours away-’

 

‘Who do you think stole the other animals?’

 

It took a few blinks for Dalzonf to process the question. ‘I… don’t know. Why?’

 

Nosderag repeated Sosoka’s words, creating a pitch-perfect, easily recognisable impression. Dalzonf couldn’t contain her laughter, patting Nosderag on the back. She tried to do her own impression but was way worse, eliciting even louder laughter from Nosderag.

 

‘Looks like someone’s going to be the next Mel Blanc,’ Nosderag said sarcastically. 

 

‘Who?’

 

Nosderag released a high-pitched squeak-gasp in feigned horror and disgust. She hit Dalzonf with a pillow. Dalzonf didn’t return a hit but she did rest her head against the pillow and gazed blissfully at the other girl.

 

After a few moments of silent staring, Nosderag dropped her pillow and turned away. ‘So, um, good luck with the homework.’

 

Dalzonf nodded and scratched her bottom lip. Doing so didn’t stop it from continuing to itch. Itch for what, she didn’t know.

 

She took out her phone and began searching the internet for information on Mel Blanc. She swore at the slow internet on campus. Not that it was much better in the outside world. Most people in the crilerous world had no need for fast wifi or any other fancy omler technology, not when anyone could ask a neighbour to heat up their food with fire tolxing or entertain them with an in-home musical fountain.

 

Nosderag took a nap while waiting for dinner time, but not before getting one last glance of amusement at the frustrated Dalzonf.

8: Chapter 8: Underestimated Girl

No, Nosderag did not need help carrying her backpack from class to class. But thank you, kind girl.

 

No, Nosderag did not need self-defence classes. But the offer was appreciated, other kind girl.

 

No, Nosderag did not need-

 

‘I’m fine!’ she shouted. ‘I’m an omler, not a toothpick!’

 

The girl flinched before getting out of her hair. Nosderag grimaced as guilt picked at her brain but she didn’t get enough time to apologise.

 

Once in her dorm room, she lied on her front and groaned into her pillow. Dalzonf patted her head while keeping her eyes on the book.

 

‘There, there.’

 

Nosderag swatted her hand away. ‘Not you too.’

 

‘Huh?’

 

‘Don’t worry about it,’ Nosderag spat. After a few sighs, she sat up. ‘Maybe we should make a new plan for getting Daliki back home.’

 

‘Are you actually going to try and follow the plan this time?’

 

Nosderag nodded. ‘I was thinking we could use your powers.’

 

‘What? Why the hell would I use my-’

 

‘To distract the guards.’

 

Dalzonf raised an eyebrow. ‘So, seduce them?’ She chuckled. ‘I’m glad you still find me hot, little dragon,’ she whispered as she leaned closer and mockingly ran her finger up Nosderag’s throat.

 

A miniature heatwave swept onto Nosderag’s cheeks. ‘You could be the ugliest person alive and you’d still be able to tolx someone into being attracted to you. Looks have nothing to do with it.’

 

‘True, true. But I’m not going to use my powers like that.’

 

‘Why not?’ Nosderag whined, grabbing her pillow and hugging it while sitting cross-legged. Dalzonf covered her lower face and looked away from the adorable sight. Underneath her hand, she was grinning like a cat owner when their feline friend purrs into their shoulder.

 

Following a cough and a forced frown, she replied, ‘I’m not that kind of person. I won’t manipulate people like that.’

 

‘You’re only going to keep them occupied. It’s not like you have to sleep with them. And besides, what good are your powers if you don’t use them? They might disappear if you stop tolxing.’

 

Dalzonf gave her a deadpan stare. ‘Yes, because that’s definitely how it works.’

 

‘Whatever. Anyway, you have to use them.’ Nosderag walked over to the table and picked up the cage. ‘For her.’

 

The combination of a cute girl and a cute animal shot an arrow through Dalzonf’s heart. She coughed again.

 

‘This plan better work.’

 

This night was noticeably warmer, including the wind. No shivers from Nosderag this time. Well, at least no shivers from the temperature.

 

Dalzonf put a comforting hand on Nosderag’s shoulder as the two crept towards the enclosure. The two stood close enough for Dalzonf to hear Nosderag’s rapid heartbeat.

 

Unfortunately, Dalzonf had to abandon her for a moment. She gave her one light squeeze on the shoulder before walking into the light of a nearby lamp on campus.

 

She shrouded her own face with pink mist to cover her identity before sending tendrils of the mist towards each guard. When the mist cleared, two of the guards grinned at her. The other held up his hands preparing to fight her.

 

Dalzonf swore under her breath. ‘There always has to be one not attracted to women, doesn’t there?’ she lamented as she conjured up a brighter pink mist. By the time she was able to use it on the third guard, she felt almost ready to collapse.

 

The guards all started walking to her while spouting romantic clichés.

 

Out the corner of her eye, she could see Nosderag sneak towards the enclosure. The sound of her stepping on and accidentally breaking a twig on the ground should have been quiet enough not to be noticeable. However, in the quiet of the night, the sound was deafening.

 

To make matters worse, Nosderag swore out of instinct. She covered her mouth and continued walking. The lovestruck guards didn’t seem to notice the sounds, yet a cold sweat ran down Dalzonf’s neck.

 

‘What are you doing?’ she yelled. As her little remaining energy got focused on shouting at Nosderag, her spell on the guards weakened. They turned around to hear what was going on.

 

Dalzonf released one last spurt of mist towards the guards’ heads before running to Nosderag, grabbing her hand and hightailing it out of there.

 

Nosderag, still holding the cage, hissed, ‘I was almost there! I could have done it!’

 

‘You stuffed up and almost got us caught.’

 

‘You stuffed up! You didn’t have to yell at me.’

 

Dalzonf let go of her hand and slowed down her walk. She said nothing but looked down at the ground and crossed her arms.

 

Nosderag scoffed a laugh but also said nothing. She returned her sight to the guards behind her, who were all wincing in pain with their hand on their chest. Her own chest twinged with guilt.

 

When she saw the ever-familiar elevator in the dormitory, she was overcome with dread. No way was she going to fall in love with Dalzonf again, even if that love only lasted a few minutes.

 

She began trekking up the stairs, leaving behind a confused Dalzonf. Her blood was too hot and her thoughts were too jumbled to care about how hard it was to walk up all these stairs. She hiked quickly enough to start accidentally swinging the cage. 

 

Partway through, she heard a squawk from Daliki and decreased her speed. She held up the cage and gave Daliki some light pets. She smiled at this small creature who relied on her.

 

Once she was at her level, the sore tension in Nosderag’s legs surfaced. Still, she kept walking to her dorm room. As if mocking her with the status quo, like nothing had just happened, Dalzonf was sitting on her bed reading a book.

 

‘You’re here. Good. Now I can go to sleep.’

 

Nosderag’s harsh glare softened. ‘You were waiting for me?’

 

Dalzonf gulped and looked away. ‘Get ready for bed so I can sleep.’

 

After placing Daliki on the table, Nosderag did as she was told. Once the light was turned off, all she could hear was Dalzonf’s breaths.

9: Chapter 9: Honest Girl

It seemed Sosoka got a kick out of mentioning animals around Nosderag. In between babbling to her friends about how well she was doing in her magic classes, of course.

 

Naturally, Nosderag relayed this information to Dalzonf, who groaned.

 

Dalzonf stroked her chin. ‘I think I have a plan.’

 

‘Another one?’ Nosderag asked with a laugh. A laugh that continued rolling around Dalzonf’s mind long after Nosderag stopped.

 

Dalzonf didn’t explain her plan, instead deciding to spend her time smiling at Nosderag. The two fell into that familiar comfortable silence. Eventually, Dalzonf returned to her book, though she kept sneaking glances at Nosderag as she did her homework.

 

During Potions the next day, Nosderag barely paid attention to what Dr Lomaschramm said, preferring to watch her body language and ponder the times she mentioned the black market.

 

‘Ms Zotmin, care to tell the class?’ Nosderag raised her head and hummed in confusion. Dr Lomaschramm sighed. ‘Please pay attention if you wish to pass this subject,’ she said with a sneer, her voice nasal with mockery.

 

Nosderag hung her head in shame.

 

As the sun slowly dug into the horizon, Dalzonf headed down to the 50th floor. She knocked on a door that had two names on it.

 

Sosoka opened the door and immediately felt the air leave her throat as Dalzonf’s hand curled around it.

 

‘You stole those animals so you could get me in trouble, didn’t you?’ Dalzonf interrogated her as she pushed her further into the room by her neck. ‘Didn’t you? Answer me!’

 

Sosoka rapidly tapped the hand around her throat. ‘I can’t…’

 

Dalzonf let go and stared at her own hand. Sosoka took multiple heaving breaths before she could finally talk.

 

‘I thought you stole them,’ she croaked.

 

‘No, obviously you stole them so you could make me into a scapegoat. It wasn’t good enough for you to accuse me of sexual assault, no! You had to accuse me of theft too!’

 

‘Well, someone had to accuse you of sexual assault since clearly your girl toy Nosderag won’t! I don’t care how you get brought to justice, only that you do.’

 

‘You don’t care about Nosderag.’

 

Sosoka inspected her sore neck in the mirror from her bedside table. ‘I don’t have to like someone to worry about their safety.’ She smirked at Dalzonf. ‘Plus, I was not going to lose that fight. Might as well kill two birds with one stone, right?’

 

‘Yes. Birds. Now, speaking of which, where are the animals?’

 

Sosoka shrugged, still checking her mirror. ‘I only heard about the animals getting stolen when everyone else did. I assumed you did it but it’s not like I told on you. I had way less evidence of that than I do of you manipulating Nosderag.’

 

‘What do you care about evidence?’

 

Sosoka put down the mirror back down on the bedside table, next to a photo of her as a child in the arms of a policewoman with a similar appearance to her.

 

Dalzonf noticed the photo. ‘So you don’t know who did it?’

 

Sosoka shook her head. Her eyes shined with sincerity.

 

Dalzonf murmured an apology before shuffling out of the room. She passed by Sosoka’s roommate as said roommate entered the room at the same time.

 

Once Dalzonf was in her own room, she collapsed face-first onto her bed and did her signature groan.

 

Nosderag patted her on the head. ‘There, there.’ She couldn’t contain her grin at being able to do this.

 

Dalzonf turned until she was facing her dormmate. ‘Is it nice having no powers?’ Nosderag raised an eyebrow. ‘Sorry, that was… I just… wonder if I’d have been better off.’

 

Nosderag returned the apology with a smile. ‘Well, I wouldn’t mind having tolxing abilities if they were as strong as yours.’

 

Dalzonf sat up and became fixated with her own hands. She curled them into fists.

 

Nosderag placed a gentle hand on her fists. When Dalzonf lifted her head in surprise, Nosderag pulled her hand back.

 

Between awkward laughter, Nosderag said, ‘So, yeah, people suck.’ Dalzonf nodded. ‘I mean, you used to suck, Miss Blackmailer Extraordinaire.’

 

Dalzonf nudged her. ‘Failed Blackmailer Extraordinaire.’

 

‘So why did you treat me so different from the other girls? You know, before the Sosoka fight.’ After asking that question, Nosderag pulled Dalzonf’s pillow out from behind her and flopped it onto her lap. She did the same thing with her own pillow on her own lap, tapping all her fingers on the pillow like she was playing the piano. Her eyes on Dalzonf were expected.

 

Dalzonf tried to stop herself from smiling. Even looking away couldn’t hide it. She tapped her pillow with her entire hand.

 

‘You said it earlier. People suck.’ A giggle left Nosderag’s lips. Dalzonf’s smile quickly dropped. ‘You want to know when I first heard the word ‘rapist’?’

 

Nosderag stopped giggling. She winced, unsure whether to nod out of curiosity or shake her head out of respect.

 

Nevertheless, Dalzonf continued. ‘I was 7.’ Nosderag covered her mouth to hold back a gasp. ‘Some kid in my class randomly called me that word one day. I didn’t even know what that word meant.’ She paused to remember something. ‘The worst thing I’d ever done by that point was say that a boy in my class had big ears.’

 

‘How did that kid know that word?’

 

Dalzonf shrugged. ‘Probably his mother. Parents tended to keep their eyes on me when picking up their kids.’

 

‘Astra…’ Nosderag cursed. Astra, the creator god and Astraboleria’s chief deity, was a popular method of cursing.

 

Dalzonf leaned closer. ‘I’ll follow up your question with my own. Why did you defend me on that day?’

 

‘I don’t know. It was the right thing to do.’

 

‘And you didn't think it’d be a little weird to defend a love tolxer?’

 

Nosderag chuckled. ‘You saying I’m weird?’

 

The two leaned in even closer.

 

‘Yep,’ Dalzonf said. ‘The weirdest. Wow, look at Nosderag. She’s the quirkiest girl I know.’

 

Nosderag raised her pillow. ‘Don’t make me hit you.’

 

‘Oh, please. Like it’d be a competition. Even a person with love powers could beat an Omler.’

 

For the first time, Nosderag enjoyed the sadistic smirk coming from Dalzonf’s face. She took up Dalzonf’s challenge and initiated a fierce pillow battle.

 

She won by default as Dalzonf laughed too much to focus on hits. Soon enough, Nosderag the victor was sitting on top of the loser Dalzonf.  Nosderag’s hands were on her pillow on Dalzonf’s chest. Their faces were close. Dangerously close.

 

Nosderag gulped and returned to her own bed. Dalzonf limply handed Nosderag her pillow back. The two both lied on their bed, staring silently at the ceiling. Unlike many silences between them, this quiet turned them into a couple of fidgeting messes.

10: Chapter 10: Guilty Girl

Pink mist swirled around Dalzonf’s finger and into Daliki’s mouth. Nosderag patted the little creature on the head. As soon as she did so, she began glancing at Dalzonf and twirling one of her dreadlocks.

 

Dalzonf’s heart sped up and cold sweat ran down her skin. So it began.

 

As the other girl inched closer, she stepped back. She continued walking back until she was in the bathroom. She shut the door.

 

Looking at her hands in the mirror, she reminded herself of all the ridiculously unrealistic, cliché lines that Nosderag spouted. The key word here was ‘unrealistic’.

 

She reminded herself of the source of these unrealistic lines, the power that had resided in her since birth. The power that has been passed down generation upon generation, discovered in her when she was only five years old and managed to get a girl who hated her to hold her hand. An ability she had refused to misuse from that day forward.

 

Finally, she reminded herself of all the ways the world had punished her for getting close to other girls. The girl who held her hand soon woke up from the weak spell and pushed her into the sandcastle. After that Dalzonf’s mother gave Dalzonf a lecture on when to not use her newly found powers.

 

Of course, there were the rumours spread throughout high school, but the one memory that stuck in her head was Nosderag being utterly convinced that she had used magic on her on their first day as roommates.

 

A tear slid down Dalzonf’s face.

 

‘Hey, are you okay? You’ve been in there for half an hour.’

 

Dalzonf’s eyes stretched out to the size of apples. She hurriedly opened the door. Nosderag, whose own eyes portrayed concern, was no longer under the influence of love tolxing. Dalzonf was tempted to ask her why she seemed so worried about her but said nothing.

 

The following day, she kept Daliki away from Nosderag whenever she fed the fairy, who seemed to get greedier for magic every time. When night came, Nosderag pouted and crossed her arms.

 

‘So you don’t think I trust you? I’ve had a hard day, let me pet Daliki.’

 

Dalzonf kept quiet as she fed Daliki. Nosderag stormed up to the fairy and patted her head. She smiled softly. Hot pink mist slowly entered her mouth.

 

The curses under Dalzonf’s breaths couldn’t stop Nosderag from grabbing her hands. The lovestruck girl swayed back and forth.

 

‘Dally-boo, we should get married.’

 

Dalzonf tried to escape Nosderag’s grip. She stepped back and flinched. She examined the room for a way to distract Nosderag, whose face moved closer and closer. Giving up on distraction, Dalzonf decided to play along until the spell wore off.

 

‘Dally-boo? Really? Now, why would I want to marry someone who calls me that?’

 

‘Oh, come on, let’s marry!’ Nosderag whined. ‘We both know you want to. Let’s both stop pretending.’

 

Before Dalzonf could protest, Nosderag leaned in for a kiss. She smelled faintly of vanilla and her warm lips swiftly stole the air from Dalzonf’s throat.

 

A horrible decision was made that day- Dalzonf kissed back. She placed her hand underneath the other girl’s chin and pulled it up, losing herself in the kiss.

 

Nosderag’s mind was in a daze, only vaguely feeling the sensations that come with a kiss. It was like she was stuck in a dream and was on the verge of lucidity but not quite there yet. She still smiled at what little sensation she felt, the blurry tastes and the foggy touches that surrounded her.

 

Upon coming to her senses, Dalzonf tore herself from Nosderag. Her breaths were quick and her heart rate was like that of a person with anxiety receiving a failing grade. 

 

She pushed Nosderag onto the floor. She visualised a sandpit surrounding the girl, an image that sent shivers down her arms. After a single glance at her own hands, she ran out of the room, leaving behind a dumbfounded Nosderag.

 

As Nosderag began to come to her own senses, she tried to piece together why she was on the floor. She lied in bed that night, waiting for Dalzonf to return until her drooping eyelids gave in.

 

Dalzonf, meanwhile, snuck outside and slept in the cold. There was no way she was going to ask the teachers to sleep in their quarters.

 

In the morning she only came into her dorm room to put on a casual outfit, never uttering a word to her roommate despite said roommate’s incessant questions.

 

Nosderag’s heart felt like it was bashing itself into a brick wall with each unanswered question. Dalzonf’s silence as she did homework on the table was dark, murky and thick like an oil painting of a bog.

 

The long run down the stairs gave Nosderag little time for breakfast. Despite guzzling down her food, she was late for class.

 

After school, Nosderag called Dalzonf but the other girl hung up. She scoped the floor for another girl to power the elevator but everyone was already gone. Everyone, that is, except for Sosoka.

 

With a low-pitched sigh, she asked her. Sosoka laughed.

 

‘I guess your owner got bored of you.’ Her face softened. ‘Sure. I’ll help. It’s the least I could do. I’m heading up anyway.’

 

While waiting in the elevator, Sosoka talked about how annoying some of her teachers were, nary interacting with Nosderag. That is, until she got to her level and had to power the elevator just a little bit to get Nosderag to her destination.

 

‘Hey, you know you can change dorms if you want, right? You don’t need to stay with someone who takes advantage of you.’

 

The elevator doors closed before Nosderag could respond. 

 

Once in her room, she saw Dalzonf with her arms crossed and her hands on their opposite shoulders. She was kneeling in front of her little statue of Terio, eyes closed.

 

Not wanting to interrupt, Nosderag rummaged through her own belongings for an idol of Cenaschramm. The statue was of a bulky man with lava for skin. She kneeled next to Dalzonf and prayed just like her.

 

She prayed for Dalzonf to start explaining what the hell was going on. A minute followed and she opened her eyes. Dalzonf was still praying.

 

Nosderag stood back up and took a seat on her bed. She absentmindedly tapped her knees like bongos, waiting. 

 

Waiting.

 

Waiting. 

 

When Dalzonf finally got up, she held her hand out. Nosderag instinctively took it. Dalzonf raised an eyebrow and let go of her hand.

 

‘Homework.’

 

Cue a blush from Nosderag. ‘Oh, yeah. Here.’

 

She handed her the homework. Dalzonf nodded her thanks and got working on it.

 

Nosderag peered over her shoulder as she worked. She stopped when the other girl glared at her.

 

The night soon got darker and she tried to have a chat as they hopped into bed. Dalzonf’s mouth was completely shut. Her eyes looked hollow, like she had just witnessed a murder and was trying to process it.

 

The next school day was full of Nosderag paying less attention to the teachers and more to her plans for getting Daliki back home. There was one small problem.

 

Despite devoting much of her thinking time to it, she could not formulate a workable plan. Every time she thought of how she could involve Dalzonf in her scheme, she pictured the girl silently glaring at her.

 

By the end of the day, the only things playing in her mind were the times someone would ask if they could carry her backpack for her or be surprised that she was doing well in school. Kind smiles morphed into condescending smirks.

 

The uncomfortable silence between the roommates continued until nighttime. Dalzonf had just finished praying and was now reading a book. Blood drenched in frustration reached boiling point in Nosderag’s veins. 

 

She stood up in between their beds. ‘Okay, you’re going to tell me what’s going on and I’m going to listen. Did I do something wrong?’ Dalzonf tucked her lips into her mouth and shook her head, continuing to read her book as always. ‘Then what makes you think ignoring me’s a good thing to do? Do I deserve to be treated like I’m nothing? Huh? Do I deserve-’

 

‘Astra, you sound like Sosoka,’ Dalzonf muttered as she rubbed her face up and down like someone rudely awakened in the morning. 

 

‘How?’

 

‘Chattering about yourself. Woe is you.’

 

Nosderag grabbed Dalzonf’s arm with a suffocating grip. ‘Oh, because you’re clearly not feeling sorry for yourself about something. At least I have the decency to be honest about it. What’s gotten you so shaken up?’ As if matching her words, Nosderag shook Dalzonf’s arm. Dalzonf responded by tearing her arm away and scowling at her.

 

‘You know what? You did do something wrong. You just had to be a stubborn idiot and pet Daliki when you could have just waited until after she was fed. Why are you so… childish?’

 

‘I’m childish? I’m not the one ignoring someone rather than, oh, I don’t know, communicating with them!’

 

‘It’s not just this thing. Now, who was it who decided to steal an ara fairy and make me look after it while I have to save your behind from getting expelled?’

 

‘I didn’t steal her!’

 

Dalzonf stood. ‘Who was it who fucked up when trying to take her back to the shed?’

 

‘You were the one who fu-’

 

Soon their faces were inches apart. ‘And who is the one who keeps getting drunk on my tolxing and embarrassing me in front of everyone?’ Nosderag shut her mouth, bringing her eyes to the ground. ‘Yeah, thought so. And I’m always having to make sure you don’t…’ Dalzonf glanced at Nosderag’s lips and immediately turned her head away. ‘...do something dangerous when under the influence. I don’t even know why I bother trying to protect you since you’re a disaster even when you’re normal. I’m sick of babysitting you.’

 

Nosderag stood on her tippy toes to make herself taller than the other girl. It didn’t work.

 

‘I am perfectly fine when I’m normal. I’m not a child so stop treating me like one!’

 

‘Really?’ Dalzonf asked while looking down at Nosderag’s feet.

 

‘Really!’ Nosderag yelled as she lowered her body and looked up to match Dalzonf’s line of sight.

 

Dalzonf scoffed and stormed to Daliki’s cage. ‘Would an adult…’ She pointed at the cage. ‘Let this happen? Or pet her even when I said not to for your own safety?’

 

‘N-No!’

 

‘Oh, I’m sorry. Maybe I should just keep on feeding this little thing until my magic spreads throughout the whole room! It’s totally safe for you to constantly be love tolxed.’ Daliki squawked and flapped her wings about. ‘Look, Daliki’s hungry! Better feed her!’

 

A sharp tendril of red mist shot into Daliki’s mouth. Her squawks turned into whimpers as her heartbeat sped up. She struggled to breathe and collapsed to the floor of the cage.

 

Nosderag ran to her and unlocked the cage, picking up the fairy. ‘What did you do?’

 

‘I don’t know!’ Dalzonf answered, staring at her own hands in horror.

 

Nosderag shouted, ‘Watch over her!’ while running out the door.

11: Chapter 11: Clever Girl

Cold wind slapped Nosderag’s skin as she raced towards the potions lab. There was but one problem.

 

Dr Lomaschramm was locking up the lab for the night.

 

Nosderag tried to think up a lie on the spot, but the teacher turned around and her nose reminded her of Daliki’s beak. Nosderag closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

 

‘So I saved an ara fairy who was being harmed in the animal storage shed and it followed me to my dorm and I’ve been trying to bring it back a bunch of times but there are now guards and my roommate has been blamed for a bunch of animals getting stolen and now she’s mad at me for some reason she won’t tell me and she got angry and fed the fairy too much love magic and now the fairy’s short of breath and is clearly in pain and I need a healing potion or twenty.’

 

Dr Lomaschramm placed her hands on Nosderag’s shoulders. ‘Okay, breathe, breathe.’ Nosderag followed her suggestion but observed her warily, her rigid shoulders up to the sky. ‘Can you describe the fairy’s symptoms?’ the teacher asked. Once Nosderag did, the teacher unlocked the lab and led her inside. She pulled out five potions one at a time and handed them to the student.

 

‘If one doesn’t work, wait at least five minutes before trying another. These are for magical animals specifically, so they’re your best bet.’

 

‘Um, thank you,’ Nosderag murmured, looking between the potions in her arms and the suddenly soft-faced teacher.

 

‘Now, tomorrow, bring the fairy to the principal and explain what happened. I’m sure she’ll understand.’ Dr Lomaschramm searched the room for a crate to put the potions in. ‘I need to finish closing up. You go ahead.’

 

Nosderag thanked the teacher before heading back towards the dormitory. On the way, she saw a familiar face under a lamp.

 

Mr Fot walked up to her. ‘What are you doing out this late?’

 

‘I have to heal an Ara fairy.’

 

Mr Fot stroked his chin. ‘I see. Mind showing me the fairy?’

 

‘She’s in my room and tomorrow I’m taking her to the Principal. Maybe see if you can visit the enclosure.’

 

‘Ah, yes, of course. How about I take her back to the enclosure myself? You don’t need to worry the Principal. I’d love to see such a rare specimen before the poor thing is trapped in that dusty old shed.’

 

Nosderag surveyed the man, at the mischievous twinkle in his eyes. The clenched hands by his side that opened and shut as if preparing to grab something at any moment. The perfect pearly smile with no lines outside his eyes.

 

Nosderag’s own eyes widened. ‘Um, just out of curiosity, how much do you think an ara fairy would make on the black market?’

 

The perfect smile turned into a scowl, then a smirk. ‘Clever Girl.’

 

Mr Fot swirled his hands about, creating a blue field around Nosderag. ‘Too clever. No wonder you respected me. You’re the only one who did in this stinking school. I’m sorry it has to end like this.’ His eyes made him look unhinged but they contained an ounce of genuine guilt. The field slowly shrunk.

 

When Nosderag touched the field, a painful chill ran up her arm. However, her pointer finger managed to make it outside. She grabbed her crate and slowly pushed herself out of the field. The pain was agonising and she felt like her limbs were going to freeze off, but she persevered. She shivered once she was out and began to run.

 

Inside the dorm room, Dalzonf looked at her watch and stroked Daliki’s head, cooing words of comfort. The chair she sat on shook as her knees bounced up and down.

 

Back on campus, Mr Fot’s eyes grew in realisation. ‘Of course. Damn omlers.’ Ice grew on his nails until they began to resemble claws. He lunged onto Nosderag from behind and dug his icy nails into her skin. 

 

Before he could tear the skin off her back, Nosderag kicked behind her. Her foot reached his gut but she fell frontwards in the process. She teetered on her feet, praying not to drop the potions.

 

Ah, yes, the potions.

 

But first, she needed a distraction.

 

Meanwhile, Dalzonf stood up and walked to the door but when her eyes went down to her hands she took a step back. Her lips hurt from biting them so much and her eyes were shiny with blocked tears.

 

As she uncorked one of the potions, shielding them from view, Nosderag asked Mr Fot, ‘Are you the one who framed Dalzonf?’

 

She could hear laughter from behind. ‘Oh, so you know about that. What a shame. I always liked you as a student. She wasn’t too bad either.’

 

She uncorked a second potion. ‘But why her? What did she do to deserve this?’

 

‘Nothing, really. Exist, maybe. Once I’m done with you I’ll have to thank her for making such a lovely scapegoat.’

 

A pang of coldness stabbed Nosderag’s back. She made sure to dodge Mr Fot’s next attacks. She threw the bottles in her hand to the ground and ran away.

 

An explosion roared through the air. Green flames descended into deep purple as they ascended to the sky. The heightened pressure of the air pushed Nosderag forward until she fell to the ground. Her knees and elbows scraped against the cement. Behind her was a screeching man, followed by the cracking sound of ice. She turned her head, saw that the remaining flames had been cooled and began hurriedly crawling towards the dormitory.

 

A pained whisper came from Nosderag. ‘Dalzonf…’

 

The rumbling that came after the explosion could be heard all the way to Nosderag’s desired destination. Various students gasped and chatted loudly about what they guessed happened. Dalzonf didn’t know the details, just like everyone else, but she knew enough to run out of the dorm room and put all her power into making the elevator drop down to the ground level within seconds.

 

Spending that much magic made her movements sluggish, but she continued walking out of the building. She tried to speed up but felt trapped by her own weakness. 

 

Eventually, she saw a crawling Nosderag being repeatedly punctured by icicles. The blood in Dalzonf’s skin went painfully hot. Adrenaline gave her enough energy to run towards Mr Fot and force-feed him with red mist. She kept pouring magic into his mouth until he clutched his heart and collapsed.

 

Dr Lomaschramm entered the scene with a first aid kit. She administered Mr Fot a healing potion before tending to Nosderag. 

 

‘Are you okay?’ She asked Dalzonf, who was scrutinising her own trembling hands. Despite the horrified expression on her face, she nodded. ‘The police should be here any moment.’

 

Dr Lomaschramm glared at the guards as they ran towards the scene. She stood up and gave them the details of the situation with a clipped voice.

 

Nosderag sat on a bench outside as fire tolxers melted away the ice from her back. She pointed to the crate, which still contained several potions. Dalzonf picked up the crate and brought it to her. Nosderag pulled out a potion.

 

‘Try this on Daliki,’ she ordered Dalzonf, who at this point was reduced to tears.

 

‘But what about-’

 

Nosderag’s laughter was wobbly as she continued to shiver. ‘I’ll be fine. She’s in greater danger right now.’

 

As Dalzonf ran back inside, several students slowly carried Nosderag into the dormitory. A fire tolxer powered the elevator for extra warmth. The last thing she heard before the elevator doors closed was a whispered question from a student.’

 

‘Astra, did that love tolxer really just save her?’

 

Nosderag had to smile at that.

12: Chapter 12: Awakened Girl

It took Nosderag a full day of rest and multiple potions to properly heal. Dalzonf wanted to stay with her but Mrs Pelletier insisted that her suspension end. After taking a healthy Daliki from her, the principal profusely apologised for the false accusations but sternly warned her that any less school time would potentially jeopardise her grades. Plus, Nosderag claimed to be doing fine.

 

That night, Dalzonf silently fed Nosderag a potion while the latter lay in bed.  The love tolxer’s eyes were downcast. 

 

‘Are you okay?’ Nosderag asked, her heart cracking as she watched Dalzonf mentally beat herself up. Upon that moment, Nosderag’s feelings became clear to her.

 

Dalzonf rubbed her eyes as tears began to seep out. ‘Shouldn’t I be asking you that?’

 

‘I told you I’m fine.’

 

Dalzonf crossed her eyes and raised an eyebrow. ‘You almost died.’

 

‘But I didn’t.’

 

‘But you almost did.’

 

‘But you rescued me.’

 

‘But I- Whatever.’ Dalzonf’s cheeks were set aflame as she turned her head. Nosderag giggled. Dalzonf’s downcast eyes returned. She dropped her arms to her side. ‘I’m not much of a hero when I’m the one responsible for you needing to be saved in the first place.’

 

‘I was annoying,’ Nosderag retorted with a chuckle.

 

‘I was an asshole.’

 

Nosderag paused, then nodded in agreement. ‘Why were you acting like that anyway? We were getting along super well when suddenly you pushed me on the ground. At least, I think that’s what happened.’

 

Dalzonf sat on her own bed and pulled out her pillow, hugging it tightly. ‘You kissed me.’

 

Nosderag blinked three times, then sat up straight. ‘Seriously?’

 

‘And… and I got scared and… mostly angry at myself since you were under the influence of love tolxing and yet I kissed you back.’ Dalzonf rested her palm on her face. ‘Stupid me somehow wound up victim-blaming you. It wasn’t your fault. It was the magic.’ She pulled her knees up until they were up to her chest, only her pillow between them. ‘My magic. If you want to change roommates, I understand.’

 

‘After what we’ve been through together? I can handle a kiss. I mean, don’t make a habit of kissing me when I’m under your spell, but it was one time and getting stabbed by icicles has given me a bit of perspective.’ Nosderag smiled and lowered her eyelids. ‘You could try kissing me when there’s no magic in my system if you want.’ 

 

Both girls gulped at the same time. Nosderag chuckled again. ‘Not right now, of course, but, you know, after we hang out some more. Maybe after coffee or something, I don’t know.’

 

‘Are you asking…’

 

‘Yes. I am.’

 

Dropping her pillow in the process, Dalzonf stared at her hands. ‘Are you sure? How can you trust a love tolxer, much less one who can give people heart attacks?’

 

‘By getting to know her. Like I said, coffee. Well, I don’t actually like the taste of coffee. Way too bitter. You can get coffee and I’ll get a hot chocolate with the little marshmallows.’

 

Soft, melodic laughter came from Dalzonf’s throat. ‘Marshmallows. Why am I not surprised?’ She scanned Nosderag’s body in search of the effects of love magic. ‘Are you sure you want to date me?’

 

Nosderag laid her back against the headboard behind her and let her head dangle close to Dalzonf’s.

 

‘You were who I thought of when I was on the verge of death. That has to count for something, right? I mean, Astra, you made me into a tired girl and now you’re not going to take responsibility?’

 

Dalzonf took a moment to think. ‘One date.’

 

Nosderag moved an inch closer. ‘Four.’

 

Dalzonf moved forward another inch. ‘Two.’

 

‘Three.’ When Nosderag moved, the duo had a pair of lips’ worth of distance between them.

 

Dalzonf ended the battle of proximity-based wits by pulling herself back. ‘Sure, if the first date goes well.’

 

The two engaged in a rather platonic handshake. A platonic handshake with hands sweaty from unquenched desire.

 

The school began installing security cameras bought from the omlerous world. New technology was added to the classrooms to work together with magic.

 

Nosderag began a campaign for better accessibility for omlers. She started in her own school but had no luck. The school claimed that electric elevators would cost too much. She knew she had to affect the other schools surrounding it to convince her own to make changes.

 

Every so often she would be taken out of the classroom and into another school to deliver speeches. Dalzonf stood behind her every time.

 

After several months of protests, the school gave in.

 

Nosderag held Dalzonf’s hand as she stood in front of the shiny new elevator. She pecked the love tolxer on the lips and led her inside it.

 

A giggle left Nosderag’s mouth as she pressed the button for her floor. Nosderag squeezed Dalzonf’s hand while the doors shut.

 

In their room, they read books in warm watercolour silence.