“Ok, what’s this, again? It’s getting a bit boring,” I tell Ariostus after staring for three minutes into some kind of registration document.

“Can’t you see?” Ariostus takes back the document and looks at it himself with a frown. “It’s right here, can’t you see?”

“See what, Jesus?! I can barely read that thing! What the hell am I even looking at?!”

“It’s the form that certificates we have an employee who takes care of these situations!”

“And why didn’t you say so?!”

“Why are we screaming?!”

“I don’t know!”

…

So, as it turns out, the academy basically has a counselor. Sure, there’s no such thing as a [Counselor] class—that I know of, at least. But there’s someone in charge of the people with some problems. Ariostus’s office is in the main building of the Nine Towers Academy building, the one staying in the center, in the middle of all the towers, connected with them with the famed Light Bridges. He’s, as you would imagine, in the upper floors, almost close to the top of the huge cathedral-like building. The counselor, or whatever Ariostus said he’s called, is in the lowermost floors.

As I’m running down the stairs, a few students who are on site even off school, stare at me. What? Haven’t you ever seen a reputable professor running down the stairs? What? Are you telling me you don’t run when you have to climb or go down some stairs? Listen, I know there are many different breeds of degenerates in this world, but if you see stairs, you run. I don’t know why. It’s like a primal instinct. The day you are walking normally on the stairs, you have given up on life, on being a Human; you basically have renounced to anything that is sacred to life.

Coming to a nondescript door, almost hidden, without any tag, I just knock.

“Hello!” The door suddenly opens up with a swing.

“Jesus Christ!” I clutch my chest and jump back.

“Hello, there! I’m—“

“Are you nuts?! What’s your problem?!”

“Hello! Hello! Please, come into my office!”

As I can finally take a good look at the man, I realize he’s no Elf. Also, no Human. He has two flulike red animal ears on his head and he’s stocky. He had a mix of fur and skin all over his body, with a reddish-turning-to-gray fur and wrinkles on the skin parts of his features.

“I’m Liogi, welcome! Welcome! Do you need assistance with some problem?”

I inhale deeply and take a moment to consider what to do. I’m not sure this guy is going to help as much as create more problems. See, I personally think that this situation is better if handled discreetly, without intruding too much into Amelia’s life. On the other hand, who knows, this guy might actually know his stuff even though he sounds a bit nuts. Whatever.

“Hi, Liogi,” I smile at the middle-aged Foxman, “how you doin’?”

“Oh, I’m doing fantastic! You are Joey Luciani, aren’t you! The new first year’s [Professor] and [Student]! Aha! Amazing, amazing! If you only knew how few people come to see me! Also, you wouldn’t imagine how many don’t even know that I exist! Haha!”

The laugh at the end sounds like someone is ready to off himself, doesn’t it?

“But please, please, enter!” he ushers me in a small and cramped office, almost in the dark.

I cast a series of enchanted [Lights] on the ceiling, capable of lasting for a few hours at the very least.

“Oh, that’s just lovely. Beautiful. Beautiful. But tell me, Joey, how come you are here? I imagine your life must be full of stress. Would you like to chat about that?”

I look at Liogi, the pudgy Foxman, and I try to get a read on the man. As soon as he switched to talking about my problems, his voice has taken on a deceptively calm tone, still playful, but in a soothing manner. His eyes have sharpened and he seems completely in his element.

Even though it’s just for a second, my eyes wander to the wall to my right, where a portrait is hanging. It’s Liogi with two small children, presumably his daughters, playing. He has the same playful expression he welcomed me with, but also a paternal love that’s quite hard to come by.

“It’s not for me,” I explain. “I have a friend, a student-friend, with a problem. She is… well. Take a look yourself.”

I take out the report on Amelia from my bag of holding and hand it over to him. In silence, Liogi takes the report and starts reading. When he reaches the subject of concern, his foxy ears move slightly and the creases in his face deepen.

“Did Ariostus send you to me?” Liogi asks after he’s finished reading.

“He did,” I nod and take back the report he’s handing over.

“He remembers of my existence only when something like this happens. I told him that this academy would flourish if we took care of its students. But that’s a discussion for another time. Your friend, Amelia, is stuck.”

Liogi opens a drawer and takes out bowl full of nuts, he offers me some and I politely refuse. As he starts chomping, his gaze wanders all over the room.

“We think that everyone is different and special, that everyone lives through tragic events in their own way. On a level, that is correct. On another level, however, it’s completely wrong. As my class and research allowed me to understand it better, a loss creates similar symptoms in every person. The main difference is how long those symptoms last. It’s a cycle, really. How long each phase lasts is what makes us different. Amelia? I’m afraid she is still at the beginning. She’s refusing reality. In a way, it’s different from what happens normally. See…”

Liogi gets up and starts pacing around the room, moving his furry hands frenetically.

“See, if your parents die, you might be in this dazed state, not actually crying, grieving, or anything. You are just stunned. You cannot react. But, Joey Luciani,” he says while gazing deeply into my eyes, “we move on. We get angry, sad, and a full range of emotions that differ from Elf to Elf, Foxman to Foxman, Human to Human. Your friend built a fantasy to avoid facing her loss. I knew people who tried to help someone like that, but it didn’t work.”

“What do you mean it didn’t work? What did they try?”

“It was a father and daughter case. The father went mad. He—I’ll just spare you the details. Suffice to know that they forced him to recognize reality and he simply killed himself as soon as they left him alone.”

“So, what can we do?”

Liogi smiles at me with sad eyes.

“Nothing. I am not the greatest expert of the mind, but I can assure you that nothing can be done forcefully at this point. She either makes it or she doesn’t. And she will get through that on her own. If she can overcome the fantasy and face reality… she will be okay. If she can’t, it will make it impossible to live among others—the report mentioned she got fired as a [Caretaker]. It’s nothing short of a miracle that she got in the Nine Towers Academy.”

“Can’t I help her somehow?”

Liogi scrunches his face in a frown and starts walking funnily toward a couple of cupboards in his office, opening and closing them, looking for something. He takes out more nuts and refills his little bowl.

“You?” he slowly chews the nuts, wrinkling his foxy nose from time to time while I wait for a further explanation.

“Your best bet is staying close to her. Help her how you can without intruding in her process of grief. Let her be. Something will naturally emerge from being among loved ones. She might never overcome the explanation she gave to her reality. She might simply live like this from now on. But as long as her life is meaningful, full of loved ones, and people who care about her? Let her be delusional. The more you intrude, the bigger the damage. This is not the kind of situation you can just confront.”

“So, I just do nothing?”

“Not nothing. Help her study. Help her find a job if she needs one. But don’t tip her off too much. If possible, don’t share the details of her condition. If you have a group of friends, they should make an effort to be nice, but not a fake effort. Just be kind to each other. The narrative she made up might be superseded by great life experiences. Passing the midterms, for one. I bet you she does not expect to pass them, at all. She’s probably just enjoying her time here until it lasts.”

I drum my fingers on the armrest of the chair while thinking about Liogi’s words. It does make sense, sadly. The fact that I can’t do much, though… it stinks. It really stinks.

“Well, Liogi,” I say while getting up, “this was useful. You know your stuff. I have to go now, gotta take a nap that I have been postponing.”

I go to shake his furry hand when, mid-shake, he slightly pulls me toward himself.

“Joey, whenever you want to talk about you, do not hesitate,” he says with a wink, before releasing me and going back to his bowl of nuts.