“So this is Nostel, huh, Nine?”

You sound disappointed, Meredith.

The hooded woman tucked her hands into her pockets, letting off a small huff before chewing on her lip. She stood atop a radio tower on the outskirts of the town, giving her a decent view of her new locale. “It’s awful immaculate for what I’ve been made to expect from you.”

Creepy eavesdropper. Your ears are what made you the very, very first to be Borne of Pain, you know. Now I’ve got some privacy.

The dark-toned woman looked down at her left palm, opening it to reveal a deep blue crystal protruding from her palm’s skin, before closing it again. It wasn’t like she could have tuned Nine out anyway, and that alone filled her with a bit of rage. Not that she had grounds to take Nine to godly court, anyway; the creation of the gem on her hand during her weakest moment of cupping her ears to no avail finally quieted most of what she heard on a daily basis. It was, in comparison to Nine’s world of schizophrenia, not schizophrenia; but in World 9, paranoia with a dash of schizophrenia was best to title it. She heard voices; that’s always the first line. But that wasn’t just it. In a world of such magic possibility, even Nine would admit World 9 was a dangerous place, despite full of hope.

That I cannot dispute.

Meredith Remedyos was a young woman of indian descent with short, tossed smooth black hair, and piercing blue eyes. Her lips were often curved down just a bit in a frown, and her eyes were constantly intensely fixed on whatever brought concern to her. Meredith constantly guarded herself, prepared for any sort of fae to ambush her at any moment. She was a slender and tall girl, nineteen years of age. She wore a black hoodie and black leggings, but several necklaces adorned with precious gemstones beneath her fabrics. All of them were charms for something; after all, this world had magic in stronger validity than the one familiar otherwise.

Nine had put enough magic into World 9 to make Fae population a valid concern in security around the world, but by most the challenge was met with a smile and course in school about seelie and unseelie fae, and their cast aside logic collecting dust. Demons, too, existed, but in a bottlenecked population of hit or miss. Moreso there was a collection of Jinn populations to be mindful of, who had the capability of becoming demons. That’s where the hit-or-miss concept came from. There were not necessarily angels in this world; just White Jinn, and the Alexandria Simmat clan of Jinn who had formed around the time humans properly grasped technology. The Simmati were a sort of clan that governed the peace between all possible races in World 9. Nine had no desire to have comrades or constituents in this world; instead they allowed another race to do work without worrying them. All of this, of course, Meredith had pored over all her life, or heard from Nine outright before her ability was hindered.

Hey. Stop calling it World 9. Your people call your planet Enid, anyway.

What did it matter when Meredith had heard Nine call it World 9 so many times in her existence? Honestly, what a joke! Nine spawned the name Enid in her descendants, too, so what did it really, really matter?

Don’t be mean to me. I’ll make lightning strike you.

“Right, and your first PainBorne will go to waste,” Even then, Meredith felt her stomach turn at the very notion of the higher power threatening her, though. She frowned and shook her head clear. “I-I’ve had enough of you today anyway. S-so I have to come to this town, find a school called… Julien’s Academy… An academy? Eurgh…” Something seemed too pompous and open-ended about an academy to her. She looked exhausted already. “... And I have to enroll. Where the blazes am I going to live? This isn’t a free world.”

There was no answer from Nine. Instead, she heard the murmurs of other powerful jinn and fae around her. She shook her head again and groaned. “The day’s young I suppose. I’ll figure it out before sundown.”

She held her left hand high, let off a sigh and channelled her focus. She wanted to travel quickly. Wings would do fine, yeah? She just needed to ensure nobody recognized her later. Reckless, but whatever. She was just following orders from a voice in her head. She dashed her palm in a V form down to her chest and out as far as she could reach her right side with her left arm. The gem coursed with power for a moment that set her nerves briefly ablaze, a pair of blue, prismatic butterfly wing shapes unfurling from a source near her shoulderblades. She tested them momentarily, flapping them a few times, the sound expected from them being replaced with a magic array of jingles and chimes. They were large and strong enough with her vitality to carry her, it seemed. She nodded. “Right then. I’ll land myself somewhere decent.”

Meredith gave a strong front, but her strength was still inadequate to carry her much further than she’d already come without rest. Not to mention, using only a part of her magic without using her whole form was more taxing than fully transforming. So, after only so long, she struggled to flutter to a rooftop somewhere near what looked like the layout of a lavish academy. Or so she assumed, anyway. The wings dissipated in a flurry of sparkling dust, the glitz of it a bit contrary to the dark outfit Meredith had adorned for her trip to this location. She hadn’t brought anything with her -- luggage seemed secondary, maybe even tertiary, to the situation at hand, and she wasn’t about to strain her shoulders carrying bags of any sort over three thousand miles to her destination. The girl took a knee to catch her breath, gripping and relaxing her left hand. She struggled to keep her breathing quiet.

“So, are you a faerie or something?” That wasn't her voice. Meredith internally doubletook the line spoken to her. But when she looked to her side, she caught the silhouette of someone on the rooftop with her. A male voice. Mischievous sounding. Surely soon to be a pain in the ass. “You look a bit too human to be fae in my eyes… But there are tons of mimics, so what do I know?”

Meredith let off a long breath and sat down. He’d seen enough to now be required to be in alliance with her so he didn’t go spouting shit. “You’re asking what I am before you ask my name? A tad rude…” She muttered. She turned her gaze to look at him fully; some cocky looking guy about her age, a full chest, golden eyes and red hair. She had reservations to ask him about his own humanity, really. “Just a witch from another country. Don’t worry about it.” She looked away again to return to her breathing, now trying to relax.

“Y’know… I can only let paying customers sit on the rooftop of Tamanti Cafe.”

Was this guy serious? She gave him a searing glare, digging deep in his little smirk to see if he was actually being serious about this. “I have no money. I’m gonna go in a minute, just let me rest, okay?”

A scuff of his workshoes sounded his move forward, hands sunken into his apron. He meandered to her side and squatted himself to her level. His eyes studied her closely, and Meredith wasn’t keen on meeting with his golden eyes at any point. “I’ll put it on your tab then. Can I have a name, since I messed up a minute ago?”

She pondered giving him a fake name. But if he was local, she was a about to be, and they’d probably meet again. “Meredith. Meredith Remedyos,” she answered. “I’m trying to get to Julien’s Academy so I can enroll.”

“Ah, Julien’s, huh? Who put you up to that?” Funny he asked. She wasn’t going to tell. “I dropped out from there not long ago. It’s not terrible or anything, I just got tired of the academy part. Little kids aren’t really my crowd. And the dress code was stuffy...”

Maybe they could agree on something. Their unity on disdain for academies made her loosen up some. She looked his way again. “So you know how to get there, then?”

“Just down the street, actually, the entrance for it.” So her intuition was correct. “Want a glass of water?”

“I don’t have money.”

“I’ll put it on your tab, alongside your butt being on our property. Sound fair, Meredith?” Huh. He was some kind of softie? Or was this just toying with her?

“Fair. Don’t tell anyone about what you saw, also.”

He nodded. It was a bit improbable for a witch to fly around with such intricate wings, as typically they found using divinity on brooms to be the bread-and-butter of witchy transportation. Something like that was seriously unique. So hearing a want of confidentiality like that from such an odd witch was easy to follow -- he clearly wasn’t about to try his fate. Though, where Meredith though their conversation would take a pause with his leave to get her some water, there was a quick clink of ice in a glass of water suddenly on a table not far from her. She looked up with a twist of confusion on her face. “That’s not human,” she noted, though she still stood up to take a seat with the water.

“Just a simple jinni. Don’t mind me,” he murmured with a cheeky grin, which she could see in her line of sight. “Nobody can usually pick me out in a crowd of humans unless I do something like that. But I decided if I saw something you’re hiding, I’ll be honest too.”

“A jinni and a man of conviction,” Meredith murmured, inspecting the glass that was already beginning to sweat. It seemed fine. A perfectly fine summoned glass of water. She took to it without much held back after that, prefacing her chug of the glass with a quick “Thanks.”

“You can call me Tabby, by the way.”

“Because I have so much put on tab because of you?” She wiped her mouth with her sleeve and set the glass down, only then realizing she’d used her Borne hand. Hopefully this guy wasn’t terribly perceptive.

He let off a laugh. “No, it’s my actual name. Tabattum. I like Tabby more, because it’s convenient and I find tabby cats cute.”

“Noted. Don’t you have customers to tend to other than me?”

“That would be a bit of an obstacle for my goal to chat with a flying foreigner… Thankfully, we’re not open yet.”

“You trickster piece of --”

“You said you’re from another country and have no money. What’re you gonna do about a roof over your head?”

A clever segway, that. She knew where he was trying to take this though. She pushed the emptied glass his way and folded her arms. “None of your business, Tabby.”

He waved his hands in front of his chest in defense. “I’m genuinely asking! You’re pretty and look kinda frail, I don’t want you sleeping in a box somewhere.”

Meredith grit her teeth at ‘looking kinda frail,’ but was defeated by the intents Nine had with this world. Tabby’s conscience was a son of Nine’s desire of kindness and hope. Just like everyone else. “Are you trying to get at something? I’m not a fan of bush-beaters.”

He folded his arms and smiled proudly. “I’m looking for a roommate. It’s hard to pay for a place to live when you’re a part-time human server at a cafe. And I’m not a jinni of riches, so I can’t solve my problems easily.”

Meredith was quiet for a moment. Then, she pushed her chair back from the table, standing and gazing in the direction she was sure the school was in. “So, admission is free, right? To Julien’s.”

“Yes. Perfect for a penniless witch.”

“Yeah.” She paced past him, moving to the rails of the second story, vaulting it after deciding her direction and vanishing from Tabby’s sight briefly. When the jinn looked over the railings, Meredith was walking to the school calmly, showing no signs of any sort of impact at all.

He gave off a grin. “What a pretty gem she had.”

“I-I guess this is what it’s like for rh-rhinos, then? Ahahaha…”

She was still in shock. Juventas sat in her mirror again, poking the four-point star shaped gem protruding from her one last time, feeling it in her bones, before buttoning up her school shirt. Her grin was weak and trembly, eyes nearly misted over by this point in absolute disbelief. She paused, then hastily buttoned it up one more button than usual. Then she adjusted her bow just right to where it would sit just over her new formation. That way, surely, nobody would see then ask questions. Her breasts begged to defy containment, but she ignored their pleas.

Humans weren’t the ones keen to have such odd occurrences happen to them in their lives; they were among the less magically capable in Enid, the most powerful often being jinnis who really felt like it and fae with truly tricksy terms. The best they could do was priesthood and witch practice; both, in truth, barely scraped the surface. The God that could have possibly created this world never spoke to anyone living on Enid, and that was confirmed by the White Jinn of the North long ago. Juventas was a witch herself, but her fascination with magics often distracted her from important things in life. She often found herself with no choice but to put her magic beliefs on the backburner -- though she’d often secretly use her magic for simple things too.

The gem on her chest was teal today, and her heart felt lighter as well. She wasn’t sure why it’d changed colors from that pretty plum it was last night, but there wasn’t going to be a lot about this she understood. She felt a boost of confidence, just like she always did when her painful feelings subsided, but for once it hardly felt like anything lingered. But now wasn’t the time to think too hard about this whole ordeal, she’d decided. She had school to worry about. She puffed herself up with a grin, determined to get through the day without being a freakshow. Nobody would know her secret! Just like always! Just now it was a different secret!

She hefted her school bag carefully and dusted her backside to ensure the blue plaid skirt hem hadn’t caught on the bag and ridden up. She trotted out of her room and hopped the rails to the first floor, landing softly with a nonverbal soft-landing spell she found to always be cool. Magic was for fun in Juventas’ world; and that, even with the crystal on her chest, had not and would not change.

“Janus, I’m out~!” She called to her still-traumatized brother from the door, slipping out and shutting it behind her. Her brother hadn’t responded, or to that she could hear. She was fine with that. He was probably sleeping!

She made her way down the path to her house. She knew how to divinate a broom, but didn’t enjoy how it felt on her thighs. And cars… She didn’t… Trust cars. So came the more fun method of magic transportation -- wind skating! Manipulating the air and space at your feet to propel herself forward was more fun than she could describe, but before she began her commute to school, she had to wait for someone…

Her eyes scanned the road to see if they had made it yet. Sometimes they were hard to spot; other times, they just hadn’t made it on time. She held her hand on her forehead and peered down the street. Over the hill, she finally saw the outline of the person she was waiting for. “Ah!” She grinned, moving to meet her friend halfway.

Juventas didn’t worry much about the jinn race -- but what she did know was the existence of Ghul-Jinns. They didn’t have a easy life in this world, and Juventas had sympathized that it would never be that way for them. The White Jinns of the North had made their existence nearly naught as history books told, but Juventas had befriended quite possibly what she thought was the last ghul on the planet. Ravaged by fear and loneliness, Vera wasn’t the most charismatic personality around. But, Vera did want to be human. They’d ignore their hungers for humans to blend in, and made sure they went to human school. Juventas was unsure often times how they stayed alive, but perhaps sneaking into graveyards did the trick for Vera. Or maybe they ate monkeys instead of human -- like a knockoff brand of their normal food. Juventas probably wouldn’t bat an eye or blame Vera, either, if they wound up being the cause of different specklings of death around the area. Despite all that pondering, one thing for certain was that Vera’s diet made them very, very weak. They’d possibly walked a mile by now, and they were already wheezing. Short blonde hair, weary ruby eyes, and a frail frame all looked like they were going to fade away after that one walk. They wore a girl’s uniform -- so Juventas supposed it was safe to refer to Vera as female. Vera neither affirmed or denied the pronouns, not necessarily wanting to be confirmed as a ghula, but not keen on being considering a male either. She attended classes for middle schoolers, though Juventas was rather certain Vera was at least three times as old as she was. Perhaps it had taken this long to get INTO a non-life-threatening situation that Vera had to start so late. Not that her physical form was terribly telling of a more superior age; she was perhaps barely five feet, and just a few pounds away from being skin-and-bone. One nice thing was that Juventas was the student leader for the middle-school theatre program that Vera attended. Juventas was relieved to be able to ask the little jinni how her day was going.

“Veraaa~! Are you doing okay today?” Juventas chirruped as she slowed to a small pace to the wilted flower. Their blonde hair was wet just a bit, and for a moment Juventas wondered if it was morning dew, or a shower. Vera had no obvious scent either way.

“Just a little hungry…” The ghul replied, their eyes fogged over just a bit. She craned her gaze up to Juventas, a small hopeful smile on her thin lips. “But not as much as before.”

Though it was a grim thing, Juventas let out a jubilated sigh. “I’m so glad! Are you ready?”

Nod.

“Then hop on!” She replied, turning around and taking a knee so the inebriated jinni could climb onto her back. Vera did so like they did every other morning, and rested her head on the back of Juventas’ shoulder, resting while the witch did the heavy work. “Here we go!”

Within seconds the air around them made them weightless. Their skirts and shirt fabrics floated lightly, and their hair floated like they stood above a hot air vent. It felt nice to both of them, really. It took nearly no time to get warmed up for Juventas before she launched herself into a carefree skate along the streets, dodging cars easily and opting for sidewalks at stoplights. It was truly faster and safer than cars and brooms if she kept her wits about her, and it filled her with joy to look after Vera like this.

Vera had just about fallen asleep on Juventas’ back as they travelled, kept awake only by the scent of their friend’s flesh and her own conviction to not act on instinct. Today was a bit different, Vera noted, but she wasn’t sure how. Something smelled… Terralike on her. Almost like the bodies Vera had found in the graves, but more subtle. It was strange. She decided to bring it up, the wind hitting her face enough to put bangs over ther eyes and blind her for the trip.

“Hey, Juju…?"

“What’s up, big cat?”

“You smell different today.”

“I didn’t get to shower this morning. Am I gross?”

“No… You smell like… Kind of like a rock, just a tiny bit. Rocks kinda have this smell when they touch human bodies, and…” Did Juventas just break out into a sweat?

“I, um! Yeah! I’m… I’m wearing a necklace! A secret necklace. You can’t see it.”

“What…?”

“The, uh, the chain for the necklace is so long that the stone on the necklace is in my cleavage. You totally can’t see my boobs, Vera.”

Well… She was damp with sweat and absolutely ten times more tense than before, but Vera didn’t feel well enough to pry. Not that she was the type to, anyway. “... Okay.”

The windskating had gotten wobbly for Juventas, but once Vera accepted Juventas’ plea for no discussion or answers, it seemed to steady out again. “I’ll…” She started, then decided firmly. “I’ll show you later, ‘kay? You are one of my best friends, so…”

“Your boobs…?”

“The necklace.”

“... Ah. That’s better. I can already see your boobs fine through your shirt, so I was about to say it’s really unnecessary -- ”

“Verashuddupholyshit.”

FOOSH. Wind whacked Vera’s bangs out of her eyes as the bleary morning sky was more prominent than the buildings around them. She must have leapt up to avoid a car just then. Juventas was so… Strong, like this. It almost made Vera sad that she couldn’t be the same. Juventas let off a bubbly gasp as they descended over the gate for the school.

“Did you see that girl? She was so edgy wearing all black! I don’t think I could ever wear all black. She looked kind of cute, though...”

Vera turned her head to look behind the two of them, spotting a dark-skinned girl who looked to be following the same path as them into the school. The mystery girl wasn’t aloof to the two of them. In fact, she was looking directly at Vera with eyes that nearly paralyzed her. Quickly whipping her head back around and pressing against the shoulder of her friend, they weakly replied, “She just gave me a scary look.”

The air around them calmed, the wind Juventas summoned dying down to its regular state, uninfluenced by magic. “No way,” Juventas murmured with a grin, kneeling down finally to let Vera off. “I bet they’re not as scary as you think, Vera.”

“M-maybe,” the jinn replied, glancing back only to step back in shock, the dark-toned girl passed by them at the same time she had pivoted to look better. “U-uwa--"

“Excuse me,” the stranger’s voice didn't falter at Vera's quiet yelp. She withdrew her right hand to point beyond them onto the campus. “Is the front office this way?”

Juventas patted a hand on top of Vera’s head and stood proudly. “Yeah! You’re not familiar, are you gonna enroll?”

“Yeah.”

“Yes!” Juventas’ eyes glittered with that response. “Let’s be friends! I’m Juventas!” She stuck out her hand to shake with spring-like demeanor.

The girl paused for a moment, then pocketed her right hand to shake with her left, equal to Juventas’ odd and rare left-handed dominance. Juventas’ expression phazed for a split second, but nobody had noticed as the dark girl filled in the gap with her name. “Meredith Remedyos. I’ll likely be in your class.”

“That’s a nice name…” Vera murmured. She gulped, and looked up to Meredith as well. “I’m Vera Sewick.”

“Let’s get coffee sometime,” Meredith suddenly suggested, unmatchingly pivoting away to make her way to the front office, still talking.

Juventas waved her hand up in the air. “Yeah! What time? Tamanti Cafe’s super close by!” She grinned.

“We’ll figure it out,” the new friend replied blankly, not glancing back as the school bell rang, leaving both Vera and Juventas breaking into a mad dash to get to their classes with no time to think things over.

Juventas did, however, try to catch another glance of that left hand of Meredith’s.