The hands of the clock on the library wall had finally passed twelve and Alexis set down the book she had been trying to read and rubbed at her eyes. On the table before here were stacks of books that she had pulled from all over the library.

All the lights had dimmed hours before and there were only the brass lamps on each of the desks to provide illumination. Enough to read by, but not enough to mean she didn’t have to strain her eyes to see clearly.

Few other people were in the library, which she figured made sense as it was a Sunday night and they were likely enjoying whatever free time they had left before lessons started again in a few hours.

Which was exactly what she should have been doing.

“Fuck,” she whispered, softly, as though afraid to raise her voice and invoke the ire of the librarians.

She ran her fingers across the pages of the book, flipping through them until she stopped at a random page. It was a translation of a French philosophical treatise on reality and it was as dull as anything she had ever read.

An, apparently, engaging and thoughtful inquiry concerning many common, natural topics that are typically taken for granted. It focused on knowledge, experience, understanding, wisdom, peach, truth and so on.

It was terminally dull and had done little to answer the questions that she had been hoping to find in its three hundred pages. With a soft sigh, she closed it and added it to the pile to her left of similarly unhelpful books.

Two students walked past her desk, their heads bowed as they spoke in low voices, arms full of books and what seemed to be a spirited conversation. Despite their attempt to not disturb her, she could tell they were animated, and excited about their debate and for a moment, she felt a familiar twinge of jealousy.

When she was younger, watching TV to escape the harsh realities of her own life, she had longed for the life of those young men and women in the shows. The groups of friends, and parties, the scholarly debate and the chance to learn and explore the subjects that filled them with excitement.

There was a sense of wonder that came from learning and for the past week, she had touched upon that feeling. Weird and terrifying moments aside, the actual learning part of the Academy was something she had enjoyed immensely.

Even then, tired and with muscles stiff from sitting hunched over the desk all day, reading books on subjects that she barely comprehended, she felt a sense of peace. A quiet joy that, no matter how dry the reading, came to her from learning.

It was just a little frustrating that despite two days of non-stop reading, she still barely understood how to begin a search for answers to the questions that Corbin had posed. Let alone how to actually help him.

“Told you she’d be here.”

Alexis glanced up from the stacks of books and managed a weary smile as Duron came towards her desk with Beryl in tow. He held a takeout coffee cup in one hand and a paper-wrapped sandwich in the other. Both of these he placed down on the desk in front of her before pulling up a chair and sitting down.

He picked a book from the nearest pile and glanced at the title, eyebrows rising as he pulled a face. “I do like a girl who is into Quantum Mathematics and Shifting Realities,” he said, reading the books title. “No idea why you are into it, but I applaud your choice.”

“Have you been here all weekend?” Beryl asked, sitting down beside Duron. “I thought we were going shopping.”

Alexis spread her hands in apology. “Sorry, I got distracted. Totally forgot.”

“Not a problem, chick.” Beryl pulled a face at the title of the nearest to her. “What are you doing though?”

That was the big question and one that Alexis wasn’t sure she could answer. How could she tell her friends that she had seen the dark-eyed stranger again and that only she seemed able to see him. Let alone, that he wasn’t dead, but wasn’t alive either and was trapped in some strange reality outside of her own?

Duron, eyes twinkling, shook his head as he pursed his lips, staring at her. “You don’t need to answer,” he said. “I get it. Things have been a bit weird lately and you feel like you’re behind everyone and need to get caught up quick, yeah?”

Alexis nodded, mutely.

“See, it’s fine.” Duron turned to Beryl. “Told you she was just feeling overwhelmed. I do the same thing when it hits me sometimes. I come here and read until things make sense.”

“Yeah,” Beryl said, pouting. “But you’re a total nerd. She’s not.”

Alexis smiled as her friends bickered, Duron mock growling and retorting like a little kid as Beryl stuck her tongue out at him. The corners of her mouth turned down as her humour faded away, her mind drifting back to the problem that she had been going over all weekend.

Moving on autopilot she unwrapped the sandwich and took a bite, chewing slowly as she thought. With a start, she coughed, the half-chewed sandwich tasting like ash in her mouth as she looked at her friends.

“Where did you get this?”

“Dining hall,” Beryl said. “Why? I thought you liked tuna.”

Alexis just stared at her friend as she shifted the bite of the sandwich on her tongue. Duron began to laugh beside her and it was Beryl who looked at him for answers.

“Someone used their new ring,” he said, hand pressed to his mouth to cover his laughter.

Beryl frowned but then her eyes widened and she snorted, turning her head as she joined him in laughing. Alexis could only stare and it was Beryl who waved, forcing down her laughter.

“I’m sorry, I really am.” She coughed into her clenched fist and wiped at her eyes. “Sorry, really. I’d forgotten about it, really.”

“Here,” Duron said, taking the sandwich from her. He tore off a sizeable portion and made a show of putting it into his mouth and chewing. “See, it’s fine.”

“It is!” Beryl agreed. “Really, the foods safe. It’s all hygienic and clean.”

Alexis chewed slowly, forcing herself to go through the motions before swallowing. No matter how much her head was telling her that everything was fine, she couldn’t get the image of the cleaning lady out of her mind and her body reacted with revulsion to the idea of eating anything prepared by a walking corpse.

“I feel sick.”

“Sorry, really,” Beryl said. “I grew up with them and I forget that you didn’t.”

“Yeah, even I had seen them before,” Duron added. “Pretty much anyone who grows up as a witch has.”

“Not me.”

“No, not you.” Beryl smiled. “They wear gloves and the spell keeps them fresh. There’s probably less bacteria on them than there is on you.”

“I don’t want to talk about it.”

Silence fell between them and while Duron exchanged a look with Beryl that resulted in a renewal of their laughter, Alexis rolled her eyes and forced herself to take another bite of the sandwich.

If she tried not to think about how it had been made, she could just about get through it and the grumbling of her stomach was a reminder that she hadn’t eaten since the day before. She took another bite, barely tasting the food.

As she ate, her friends bantered playfully, not really talking about anything in particular, just chattering away to fill the silence and give her the chance to come to terms with the food and how it had been made.

It was a type of behaviour she had not experienced much of in real life. They were acting, for all the world, like friends were supposed to. A strange experience for Alexis, to be sure, but one that she couldn’t help but feel herself enjoying.

She had never had that before. Not back in the public schools, she had attended in her home town, certainly not then. There had been no friends there, just people who ignored her or disliked her, with nothing in between.

Years of watching how others interacted, of overhearing talk of parties and sleepovers, of family dinners and time spent together. Of resenting the kids who complained about their parents wanting to spend time with them in some wholesome pursuit.

Something that she had yearned for and never had. Sitting there with her friends, she felt the first stirrings of hope deep within herself. A hope that something had changed, that she had changed, that she had become worthy of being someone’s friend.

“Hey!”

Alexis blinked at Duron’s voice as it broke through her daze. “Sorry, what?”

“I asked if that was you?”

“What was me?” Alexis looked from Duron to Beryl, confusion showing. “Huh?”

She became aware of a muffled sounds and she clucked as she patted at her pockets. She pulled her phone out and tapped the decline button for the call.

“Sorry,” she said. “Forgot it was on.”

“You not going to answer it?”

“No.” She heard the chill in her voice and forced a smile as Duron’s eyes flicked to meet Beryl’s. “Sorry, spam caller.”

He gave her a look that said he didn’t quite believe her but he didn’t press the issue and she slipped the phone back into her jeans pocket. She glanced up at the clock and let out a sigh.

“Guess we should be headed back to our rooms.”

“Nah, it’s good,” Duron said, regaining his humour quickly. “Not like we have to be up in four hours or so for classes.”

The three of them laughed at that and Alexis ran a hand through hair she had forgotten to brush that morning.

“Sorry, guys. My bad. I didn’t realise it was so late.” She hesitated, that fragile blossom of hope almost too much to risk. “Thanks for coming looking for me.”

“That’s what friends do,” Duron said. “Well, that’s what Beryl does. I just tag along because I’m bored and have had way too much caffeine to be able to sleep.”

Alexis smiled at his good-natured deflection, that hopeful feeling growing in her breast. Despite his joke, it was clear that he had come looking for her to make sure she was okay which was a level of interest that no one had shown her in a long time.

“Well you can make it up to me by helping me put these books away,” she said, and it was Beryl’s turn to laugh at his expression. Her laughter soon faded as Alexis turned to her. “You too, roomie.”

The three friends gathered the books up and carried them across to the librarians station. There they placed them on the returns counter so that they could be reshelved in the morning. A service the librarians provided for many a grateful student who stayed late to study.

Once done, they left the library and walked across the silent grounds. The night air was cool and the sky clear of clouds, revealing a luminous moon high above them.

“I love this,” Beryl said, craning back her head to look up at the moon.

“What?” Duron asked, following her gaze. “Ah, yeah, I get you.”

“Glad you do,” Alexis added. “What is it?”

Beryl stopped walking and turned to her friend. She spread her arms wide and lifted them towards the sky.

“Luna, the Goddess,” she whispered. “Standing beneath her light and feeling her blessing.”

Alexis raised a brow but looked up at the moon. They stood there in silence for a drawn out moment as she tried to feel whatever it was that her friends were feeling. All she felt was a slight chill and the dampness of the dew-wet grass that her canvas trainers couldn’t protect her socks from.

“You don’t feel it, do you?” Beryl asked, smiling with eyes that were lit with an inner light. “It’s okay.”

“Not really into religion.”

Duron and Beryl exchanged looked again and Alexis stamped her foot. “Seriously! You have to stop that. What did I say this time?”

“Sorry,” Beryl said. “It’s so easy to forget how new you are. The Goddess isn’t a religion, or at least not like the ones you know.”

“What do you mean?”

“Luna exists.”

“You mean the moon? I can see that, it’s right there.” She pointed at the moon for emphasis.

“No.” Beryl’s smile hadn’t faded. “She is living entity. Once a year she visits the Academy and those who do worship her can bathe in her radiance. She bestows small blessings and gifts her time and attention to any who wish it.”

Alexis stared at her, not sure if she was the butt of a joke or not, but her friend was deadly serious. For the first time Alexis noticed the small silver half-moon earrings Beryl wore and silver crescent in a golden circle that hung from a silver chain around her neck.

“You believe?”

“Yes.”

“And you’re serious?”

“Very much so.”

“An actual Goddess comes to the school?”

“Yes.”

Duron beside her was nodding gently as he smiled. Alexis shook her head.

“This is fucking weird!” She threw her arms out. “How many more gods are there?”

“All of them,” Duron said. “Well, most of them. Gods don’t die, they just fade away. Even when people forget them, they still exist.”

“Seriously? How can we not know about this! Like, if there are gods just wandering about the world, then how do people not know?”

“This world, this universe even, it isn’t their only responsibility. There are an infinite number of realities and worlds out there. Humans aren’t that special, and even the gods that are born here will move on eventually.”

Alexis scrunched her nose as she pinched the bridge with her fingers. She had truly thought that the previous day’s revelations had been strange enough. But actual gods existing was something she had really not been expecting.

“I’m really starting to hate this place.”

Beryl laughed then and linked her arm with Alexis, pulling her close. “You’ll get used to it.”

They resumed their journey and had gone a dozen steps before Alexis stopped and turned to her friends, realisation hitting her.

“What’s up?” Duron asked.

“You said, ‘infinite realities’ yeah?”

“Sure, why?”

“What do you know about travelling to them?” Alexis asked, excitement rushing through her.