January was an odd month. The winds of change were blowing steadily through B.I.D.'s campus, chilling everybody to the bone, even as the piles of December snow melted all around them. Though the sun was shining, it was still cold enough to see your breath outside, as well as most of the corridors. With just a few days left of the holidays, Cobalt decided that his free time would be best put to use doing something that he should have done weeks ago.

Hands clasped behind his back, the Incubus stared out of the Language classroom window, watching as students trudged through the receding slush. Taking a deep breath, he turned around to face the room's other occupant.

"I don't geddit..." droned Lottie Deyeyr, leaning back in her seat with a pair of pencils sticking from her nostrils.

With a defeated sigh, her teacher stepped over to the Golem and sat down in the desk beside her. Extricating the stationary from her nose, he wiped them off a handkerchief and placed them next to her textbook.

"Okay, let's go over this again. Menidutitrof is the word for strength. When appended with ihim ad, what does it become...? he explained, pointing to the words written on the page in front of her.

Lottie raised an eyebrow for a second, before she squinted hard, her pupils almost crossing behind her glasses.

"Menydooteetroff... iheem dah...?" she murmured, butchering her Tongues pronunciation in ways Cobalt didn't realise was possible.

"Ad, Lottie, not dah."

With a groan, the Golem laid her face down on the desk.

"I don't geddit at all..." she moaned.

With a sigh, Cobalt patted her shoulder sympathetically. Having spent years studying to teach Language, he had forgotten just how difficult it was for young adults to get a handle on the basics, especially those suffering from dyslexia or other such impediments.

"Let's try something easier, then. What's the word for earth?" he asked.

"Um... Arrit?"

"Arret. Close. What about sleep?"

"Um... soom... soonmus?"

"It's just your pronunciation. It's sunmos."

"Oh, oh! My mummy and daddy are suhnmoss monks!" she piped excitedly, jiggling up and down in her seat.

Cobalt nodded slowly and rubbed his eyes.

"Yes, yes, your parents told me all about it when they came to see me," he explained tapping his pen against the table.

Lottie was eager to learn; so few of his students were, so he really admired that about her. The thing was, problems only arose once it came to matters of retention. The girl had a poor memory, and she was so easily distracted that one-on-one lessons wound up as uphill battles.

"Let's take a little break. I think we've done enough for now," Cobalt said, stepping back over to the teacher's desk.

"Yay!" cried the Golem, sweeping her books out of the way as she dove into her schoolbag.

Producing a garish pink lunchbox, she popped the lid off and pulled out a sandwich stuffed with lettuce, as well as a small carton of chocolate milk. Taking out his own lunch, Cobalt began to pick at his salad, but he found his thoughts impeding him.

Because of the demands of her order, Lottie didn't receive a lot of the early schooling she required, meaning that she missed out on a lot of the fundamentals. From what he looked up about the Sunmos Sects, Lottie's position as Rotainmos meant that she served as something of a spiritual guide to her fellow monks. Most of her time would have been spent meditating in an unconscious trance, where she would channel the voice of the Sandlady from beyond the great shared dreamscape. It sounded fascinating, of course, but with her head full of dreams, she didn't have much room for academics. Coupled with her learning disabilities...

Cobalt set his fork down and faced his student. She was blowing bubbles in her milk.

"Lottie?" he asked, leaning on the desk.

"Hah?"

"I've been thinking... Would it be alright if I tried something?"

Taking the straw out of her mouth, the Golem cocked her head.

"Try what?"

He pulled his chair over to her desk and sat opposite her.

"You know when you lived at the monastery? Did you remember anything from the dreams you had?" he queried, clasping his hands.

She took a thoughtful bite of her sandwich.

"Uh... sometimes? It's kinda fuzzy, but I remember people asking me to ask Sandy things, and then I do and she tells me things that I tell them. It's fun!"

"Sandy?"

"Yah! The Sandlady! She's really really nice!"

He took a moment to think. He didn't know much about the Sandlady herself, but then again, he didn't need to. If Lottie could remember what was asked of her when she slept, perhaps she was more likely to retain the things she learns that way too?

"Would it be alright if I ask you do to that for me?"

She cocked her head the other way, causing her cowlick to wiggle.

"You wanna talk to Sandy, Mr. Traya?"

"No need to bother her for my sake. No, I just need you to get to that state of unconsciousness. Do you know what I mean?"

Lottie nodded vigorously.

"Oh okay! It kinda takes a while though. It's not like normal sleeping; I have to do special sleeping!"

Cobalt checked his watch. He had to ask special permission to use the classroom outside of normal school hours; he only had it for the hour.

"Here, I may be able to help."

Moving his chair back, the Incubus cleared his throat and stretched out his arm. Pressing his fingers together, he began to chant.

"Ereuqes mecov maem..."

Blue vapour fell from his mouth with every syllable. It coiled around his arm and coalesced into a ball of light that hovered just above the tips of his fingers. As soon as he started speaking, Lottie's jaw slackened.

"Ediv mecul..." he continued as he slowly moved the light from left to right.

With her mouth hanging open, the Golem stared at the ball of magic, entranced.

"Cnun... imrod!"

As quick as a flash, he wrapped his fingers around the orb of light and crushed it, causing a burst of magic to pulse from his closed fist. Almost immediately, Lottie's eyes slipped shut and her head slumped forward, her nostrils dilating as she snored softly.

He sighed. Hypnosis had its uses, but it only worked on someone with a regular, steady heartbeat, so it couldn't be used to calm down say... a furious Oni or a maddened Fallen.

"Lottie...?" he asked quietly, unsure of what to expect.

Usually it took an entire marching band to wake her, and even then she was likely to just fall back to sleep once his back was turned.

"... mah...?" burbled the Golem, stirring in her sleep.

"Can you hear me?"

"Mm..."

Clearing his throat, Cobalt nodded and turned the page of her textbook. He couldn't help but feel a little excited. This might just work...!

"Okay, I'm going to start reciting some Tongues. Do you understand?" asked the Incubus, keeping his voice low.

"Mmhm..." Lottie hummed, shifting back and forth in her chair.

Taking a deep breath, he ran his fingers across the phrases written in front of him and settled on what he hoped was the simplest one.

"Alright, here we go. The Armament Incantation. Ocov et-" he began, speaking clearly and slowly.

The Golem suddenly sat bolt-upright.

"Ocov et, amra ilobaid," she stated, raising her hand.

A brown miasma of dust and dirt began to swirl around her forearm, forming into a cluster of rocks that clumped together tightly, only to fall away, revealing a large pointed shield, made from granite.

Cobalt's eyes widened. This time, her pronunciation was absolutely perfect.

"W- Well, that's certainly an improvement. How about-?"

"Siuq se?"

He furrowed his brow and looked her up and down. Where did she learn...?

"Sorry?" he asked, slowly shutting the book.

Her eyes slid open, but they were still heavily glazed.

"Siuq se? Iduaxe em. Cnun."

Why was she asking who he was? What was going on?

"Lottie, it's me. Are you alright?"

She clucked her tongue.

"Erebah mae maiv martsev...!"

All of a sudden, Lottie got out of her seat and flipped her desk over, forcing Cobalt to scuttle back to avoid being hit. As he tried to get out of his chair, however, the Golem rushed forward and grabbed him by the throat.

"L- Lottie, hold on...!" choked the Incubus.

She raised her shield, causing sharp clusters of diamond-like crystals to form around its edges. He had never seen a Golem do anything like that before.

"Ed aitneitap oexe. Cnun ednopser oitseauq," she breathed, her voice quiet yet intimidating.

Just what the Hell was going on?! Since when could Lottie speak fluent Tongues, and why was she threatening him?!

"M- Muem nemon tse Cobalt Trayer!" he guttered, more out of desperation than anything else.

Lottie's eyes widened a little.

"Cobalt, eh? Oge ividua ed et. Ut retsigam se, xov?" she asked, cocking her head.

The way she was speaking... it was as though she was talking to Cobalt for the first time. It couldn't be...?

"E- Es... Sandy?" he asked, struggling to breathe.

Her eyes flashed as she dropped the Incubus, only to suddenly incant the words of a spell.

"Tucis sivlup tetanrepus."

Dust began to circulate the Golem's horns as an unseen force suddenly took hold of Cobalt's entire body, lifting him into the air and holding him in place. Lottie - though he wasn't sure if it was her anymore - sighed and slowly began to circle the room, hands clasped assertively behind her back. Plucking a dropped pen off the floor, she squinted at it, unfamiliar with how it worked.

"Ilon eracov em coh enimon. Mutnat Lottie tsetop em Sandy," she explained, glancing over at the Incubus.

He frowned, unable to move while in his telekinetic bonds.

Her mastery of Tongues was undisputed; she spoke with the dialect of a true Hell native, like she had been speaking it from birth. Her use of telekinesis was surprising as well, considering that most Golems could only access their telekinetic magic whilst asleep.

Cobalt swallowed hard. He wasn't talking to Lottie anymore.

"A- Aem sumetineap, Rotainmos," apologized the Incubus, his nerves growing frayed.

He thought that the Sandlady was simply someone that Lottie contacted through her dreams. He never imagined that this deified individual from ancient Golem history would actually speak to him through his hapless student.

"Di roilimis tse. Cnun, diuq siv?" she asked, folding her arms.

That was an excellent question; what did he want? As soon as she started speaking in Tongues better than the Incubus himself, any notions of what he wanted to do went straight out the window.

"Um... Oge sutsui rutanoc da muilixua Lottie. T- Tetineap em douq mudommocni," apologised Cobalt, explaining that he was simply trying to help the Golem.

She sighed and rolled her eyes.

"Silibisneherpmoc," she sighed, planting her hands on her hips.

There was a knock at the classroom door, startling the Incubus.

"Euqniler sibon!" snapped the Sandlady, irritated by the interruption

"Eh? Wazzat? I just came to check on Lottie!" responded a familiar voice.

The door swung open, revealing Quinn Redtile. The Imp glanced from the Golem, to her suspended teacher, then back to her best friend.

"Oh. Not interrupting, am I?" she asked, quirking an eyebrow.

The Sandlady clucked her tongue.

"Siverb te sivaus."

Confused, Quinn pointed a finger at her.

"What did she just call me?"

"U- Um... N- Nothing, nothing..." Cobalt stammered, avoiding her gaze.

"Right... so let me guess; Lottie's been sleepcasting spells again?"

The Incubus nodded.

"Does this happen often?" he asked.

Quinn shrugged as she began rooting around her bag.

"More than I'd like. Keeps happening when she stays over; starts levitating my chairs in the middle of the night. It's a right bother."

Cobalt furrowed his brow, though he was unable to fold his arms, restrained as he was.

"Students aren't supposed to share their rooms like that," he chided.

"So sue me."

The Sandlady cleared her throat.

"Enised em erarongi!," she scoffed, frantically gesturing to the Imp, "Rutiga diuq?!"

"She's never acted like this though. Her sleeptalking is usually just a load of nonsense, but not quite like this," Quinn commented casually, narrowing her eyes as she dug deep into her bag of tricks.

Cobalt frowned. So she didn't know about Lottie's role as Rotainmos.

Clucking her tongue, the Imp triumphantly produced a small glass bottle, filled with grains of some whitish substance.

"Here we go; this usually does the trick!"

She skittered over to the Sandlady, uncorking the bottle as she did so. The Golem raised her shield defensively, but Quinn simply ducked beneath her arm and raised the bottle to her nose.

"Diuq sitagi-?!"

As soon as she caught a whiff of the smelling salts, she sharply inhaled, rocking her head back as her entire body shuddered. Stumbling back onto a nearby desk, her eyelids fluttered as she hacked and coughed.

"Ah... ew... stinky..." Lottie choked, wincing as she held her nose.

With her conscious once more, the spell holding Cobalt aloft was broken. He abruptly dropped to the floor with a clatter, banging his forehead off the linoleum.

"Minging, I know. But it's the only thing that gets you up," Quinn laughed, stoppering the smelling salts as she went to help the Golem.

Rubbing his head, the Incubus groaned and clambered to his feet.

"Y- You've certainly acclimated yourself well to Lottie's peculiarities," he commented absentmindedly, a little rattled by the sudden impact.

The Imp shrugged as she slipped the bottle back into her bag.

"It's the Redtile creed, innit? 'Always be prepared.'"

Nodding, Cobalt sat back down in the teacher's chair, exhausted by the whole ordeal. As he made a mental note to avoid contacting the Sandlady again, he made a vague gesture to Lottie, who was busy embracing Quinn from behind.

"Could I ask you to help her with her studies, then? I feel like you might be the better tutor," he asked, wiping his brow.

"I'm not a teacher, though."

"Just go over your homework and study assignments together. She looks up to you; she'll probably have an easier time retaining the information."

Lottie raised a confused eyebrow and looked down at Quinn.

"What's an immolation?" she asked obliviously.

"It's that thing Izzy does when she get's pissed," responded the Imp, without missing a beat.

"Oh! When she goes all like 'fwoosh!'" laughed the Golem, imitating fire bursting from her body.

Cobalt chuckled despite himself.

"Do you see what I mean?"

Quinn folded her arms and tried to look stern, which didn't really work with Lottie clinging to her back.

"I'm not gonna do your job for you," she sighed, shaking her head.

"I understand, but please Quinn; it would really help both of us out."

"I dunno..."

"I'll pay you ten brands."

"Done."

Reaching into his pocket, Cobalt produced his wallet and tossed the Imp a banknote from within. Normally he wouldn't consider doing such a thing, but he truly was at the end of his tether when it came to tutoring Lottie. Quinn was a much better fit for the job, and besides, he knew for a fact that she was genuine person.

If a little opportunistic.

Holding the banknote up to the light, Quinn grinned and gave him a wave, displaying the scar on the palm of her hand.

"Pleasure doing business with you, blood brother. C'mon Lottie; we got work to do!"

With the Golem still embracing her from behind, the two demons awkwardly shuffled out the door, leaving Cobalt alone in the empty classroom. Sighing, he gazed up at the ceiling and silently wished Quinn luck.

What a strange pair.