Suggested Listening

Lemia spent just long enough holding Mister Squishybones to start to feel uncomfortable with her younger friend standing there. She handed the surprisingly well-made stuffed toy back to Ell, then asked the first question that came to mind. "What happens, now?"

"I don't know," Elruin said. "Other than boosting magic, what does it do?"

"A lot of things," Lemia said. "But the literature is vague on the specifics. It seems to take everything into account, from the aspects to Revelation, to the strength of the participants and their shared resonance. The obvious part is that I should be more resistant to your magic, which is good since you sort of, well, there's a reason that people avoid you."

"But I thought this shard was supposed to hide that." Elruin held up the shadow sarite that had been her near-constant companion.

"Can I see that?" Lemia took the crystal from Elruin. "Entek!" She handed it back. "I knew you were strong, but I thought you were at our teachers' level. You make most of the nobility look weak."

"But Lady Juna and Lord Garit are stronger."

Lemia held her breath for a moment, at mention of the future Duke and High General. "I guess it's no surprise they'd be interested in you. I bet they saw right through that crystal." She knelt down in front of her young, terrifying, friend. "They're scions of some of the strongest blood in the empire, and they've been training their skills since before you were born, probably before I was born."

"Oh," Elruin stopped to consider the gap between them and almost everyone she'd seen thus far. "And they have a perfect resonance with one another, I bet that makes them stronger."

Lemia felt uncomfortable, considering some of the rumors about the twins. "I guess when you train together for two decades, you learn to work well together."

"Will we be able to do that, some day?"

Lemia doubted it, given that her field didn't see much opportunity for combat practice, and Elruin didn't seem suited for alchemy. Although now she saw the logic behind the girl learning here; she had power to spare, what she lacked was knowledge. "Maybe some day, but for now I think all we do make it easier for the other to use magic."

"I don't feel any difference." Elruin hadn't noticed at all. She hadn't noticed much from Scratch, either.

"I can. It almost doubles the power I can call on." Lemia wasn't fond of being reminded of the humbling gap between them. "I think you can, too, but it's minor compared to your natural strength. I'm no more than a leaf in your tree."

That made sense, now that Lemia said it. "Thank you for helping. Do you think this will help you use magic better?" Elruin handed off one of her old sarite, the one that bolstered air magic.

Lemia held it for a moment. "Hmm, ah, I think I know what you're trying, but it won't work. This shard boosts the strength of the magic itself, which won't help me much. Maybe I could get some use from seeing in the dark, but I'm not strong enough to use it and this recovery shard. Thank you for the offer, though."

"As I walk." Elruin looked over at her table. "Can we play later? I need to do my chores."

"Come by the lab whenever you want to see me, because I'm going to live there until the quarter has finished." As great a relief as the extra hours she could devote to her work, was not having to put up with her roommate's constant attempts to find some alone time with her boyfriend of the week. Being stuck in a room with some lesser noble's spoiled daughter was annoying enough without the strangers who ranged from rude to creepy.

Perhaps she'd ask about rooming with Elruin. She was confident nobody would object. The administrators never liked having a student alone to a room, and now that they had some shared resonance, the constant unnerving aura wasn't so bad. She felt confident the girl wouldn't turn their room into a makeshift brothel, which was more than she could say for most of the students here.

Something for her to worry about later, now that she was going to be so much more productive. She felt a moment of guilt, cheating this way, only to remind herself that everyone in the school cheated. It was the nature of the beast that everyone cheated, except those lacking the wherewithal to acquire some magic which helped them cheat.

Meanwhile, Elruin remained ignorant of her friend's thoughts as she returned to writing her apology letters. She read them twice over, then decided they were all complete so she went to deliver them.

First, the police station was closest, so she went there. The new sarite was fun, letting her move with amazing bursts of speed. She almost giggled when she ran across the park as a blur of black hair and light clothes. This new shard may not have the ability to zap people with lightning or guide her aim, but the speed was amazing. She walked faster with the shard than she could run without it.

She slowed when she got close to the station, since they seemed like the sort who'd be upset by using magic around them. She approached one of the lady guards. "Hello? Can you help me?"

"Are you lost?" In this part of the city, with a child who didn't appear to be abused or hungry, it was the best guess.

"No, I wanted to give a letter to the sergeant," Elruin said. She held the letter out for the woman. "I'm Lady Elruin. I caused trouble yesterday, and wanted to apologize to everyone."

The woman nodded; she'd heard about that situation, and all the speculation the secrets surrounding it. How could she not, when General Juna herself was involved? "You are a very polite young lady," she said while accepting the letter. "I promise I'll deliver this straight to the sergeant."

"Thank you, ma'am," Elruin clasped her hands and bowed, before heading off to her next stop. The mansion Lady Juna and Lord Garit lived in wasn't close, but it was along the path that would take her to Cali's home. Juna wasn't home, so she was forced to leave that letter for later delivery as well. She hoped it wouldn't annoy them that she couldn't deliver it in person.

Last, not least, she stopped by Cali's home. Lyra wasn't around, which meant Rena must be gone as well, so Elruin let herself in. She found the older girl laying in her living plant bed. "Are you better?"

Cali gave a weak smile. "More dead than alive, I think." Elruin felt weird about Cali not running her mouth. "But I'll get better soon. It's Crela I'm worried about, they're reviving her now, but the process is... it might be better to stay dead. Then I tell her that Lanine was beyond saving before someone else does."

Elruin nodded; she hadn't considered they might try to resurrect the dead scouts. "What can I do to help?"

Cali remained still, but her smile faded. "I don't think they want your sort of help, Ell."

"I meant how can I help you?" She looked around. "Do you need me to do chores? A hug? Anything?"

Cali opened her mouth, then closed it. "I was about to say you wouldn't understand, but that's not fair. You've lost loved ones, too."

Elruin sat down next to Cali's bed, unsure of what to say.

"So have I." Cali stared up at the ceiling. "It never gets easier, but I've learned to compartmentalize. This is different, this is losing a member of my team." She choked the last word out. "It should have been me. I was the front-liner, the one who went face to face with the enemy. They stayed back, relied on me to take the blows so they wouldn't have to, and I failed."

She huffed, would have punched the wall if she could get her arms to move for more than useless flailing. All she could do now, physically or mentally, seemed to be useless flailing. "I couldn't save them. I couldn't even save myself. You're the reason I'm alive."

"But Scratch-"

"Wanted you!" Cali failed to sit up. "He saved me, to meet you. Now you're helping that thing, and it's my fault. I should have told him to crawl back into the pit, accepted my fate. It would have been better for everyone."

Elruin leaned forward, to lay her head next to Cali and put her arm around the older girl. "Then I never would have gotten Mister Squishybones."

Cali remained still a full minute, then nudged her arm around Elruin. "Is that what you're calling it?"

"Uh-huh. He gives the best hugs. I'll bring him next time, then you'll feel better."

Cali smiled despite herself. "Promise he won't start moving around on his own."

Elruin thought about what it would take to animate a stuffed animal, but she'd destroy it if she tried. "I promise."