“Do you hate me that much?” I heard Lucy ask from the other side of the glass door that led to the terrace. She was standing in front of Alex, who had an indifferent expression towards her. Allison, Anna and Rex were sitting at the usual spot, watching them in silence. Whatever those two were arguing about, they didn’t seem concerned.

The vampire shrugged. “I don’t remember ever saying I hated you. How can I? I don’t even know you. And that is the same reason for which I refused.”

“Is something wrong?” I asked, pushing the door open.

“Nora!” Lucy smiled when she saw me. “Please, help me convince him to let me go with you. I want to see your training.”

Alex smirked, knowing what my reply would be. “Yes, by all means, do tell her what you think.”

I glared at him and sighed. As much as I didn’t mind, I couldn’t break the promise I made to Belaury. “I’m sorry. I can’t do that. I can show you tomorrow if you want, though.” That way, we could tell my teacher not to show up then.

“You too?” Lucy’s shoulders slumped. “I don’t get it. What’s the difference between now and tomorrow?”

My mouth opened and closed a couple of times without producing a sound. I wasn’t ready for such a question. There was no way I could tell her it was because we were seeing someone she couldn’t meet. I needed an excuse, but nothing came. Nothing that I found believable, at least. Everything I had were things to justify our outing at night, not to prevent someone from keeping us company. There was no need for that, after all. Common staff members were clearly not interested in going out so late. While some of them had asked for a small demonstration, the scientists were the only ones among them that would’ve asked to see the training. Even then, they would have scheduled a date, not decided to go in the heat of the moment. Any other person had been transformed by the virus. Metahumans, however, hadn’t been considered. That was the fault in our plan. Someone who didn’t fit in either side completely.

“I don’t mean to sound rude but, why do you care?” Alex replied, drawing her attention back to him. “Like Nora said, if you want to join us, you’re more than welcome to do so tomorrow. Today, we simply want some privacy.”

Lucy crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow. “Do you realise how suspicious that sounds?”

“What are you implying, that I’ll do something to her?” The vampire asked, giving her a toothy grin. “That I want to suck her blood?” He covered his mouth with one hand in fake indignation. “Oh, you’re not implying I’ll molest her, are you?”

Rex faked a cough to hide his chuckling. Scratch that, he was actually coughing because of it.

“You know very well what I meant.” Lucy blushed slightly, though she kept her stance and smiled. “Though, now that you mention it, you have to admit that a grown man taking a girl to the forest at night alone does give way for some weird conclusions.”

Alex laughed in response. “Yeah, the girl you speak of could freeze my hands off if I even thought of attempting something.”

“Oh, I would freeze something worse if you did,” I added with a toothy grin.

Alex blocked the area and yelled, “Woah, that’s overkill!” He laughed again and continued. “But there you have it, Lucy. She’s safe. And that is considering we were truly alone. Sylvia always comes with us, so it’s not like we’re left unsupervised. By the way, I don’t see her here. I take it she’s staying in her room?” He asked, turning to look at me.

I nodded.

“I see. Guess it really is just the two of us then. Oh well. Shall we leave?”

“Wait! You haven’t given me the reason I can’t go with you.” Lucy finally said as we started walking into the forest. “I’m sorry, I’m just really curious about it.”

“We are nocturnal,” Alex said, casually looking at her once more. “The darkness of the forest lets us relax and concentrate. It’s helpful whenever we want to try new things. Because of that, we aren’t bringing any lights with us. If you came, you wouldn’t be able to see anything, anyway. Tomorrow we’ll do a practice session, so it doesn’t need full concentration.”

Lucy didn’t look convinced. She looked to the floor briefly, most likely trying to make sense of the explanation. “Why didn’t you say that from the start?”

“You didn’t give me time to do so. You accused me of denying you out of a hate that doesn’t exist.”

Lucy lowered her head once more. “Sorry… I guess my curiosity brought out the worst in me.”

“All good,” Alex replied. “Tomorrow then?”

“Thanks, I really appreciate it.”

Alex shrugged, and we moved on. Once we were far enough, the vampire whispered, “Keep an eye out just in case.”

“What?” I asked, looking back at the little light that shone through the leaves.

“I don’t think she bought it. We really had no good reason to refuse her. I believe her curiosity will be quenched tomorrow, but it wouldn’t hurt to be more alert in case she decides to follow us in secret one night.”

“Okay.”

Belaury was waiting for us at the same spot as always. Once we were close enough, she greeted me and asked about Sylvia’s absence. Surprisingly though, she did show concern for her. Most of it seemed to come from the fact that elves rarely experienced morning sickness, and one that was capable of incapacitating the mother was even rarer. Despite this fact, apparently Viken could brew something for her. It was still important that she rested, but the potion would greatly lessen the symptoms. That said, they needed us to get the ingredients, so she would let us know what we needed the next day.

The class began shortly after. The first half of it was a summary of what I had learned so far. During that, my teacher made sure to drain me out of mana until I started to feel the exhaustion.

I could already tell my capacity was improving. It was hard to put any numbers to it without a clear reference, but it was obvious.

“I’m amazed by your growth, Nora,” Belaury said, taking a seat at the usual table. “For a child, the progress you’re making in mere days is way above average, even for elves. You should be proud.”

And I was. However, I couldn’t help thinking it was more because of the spirit’s blessing than myself. That reminded me of the previous night, and the conversation I had with whatever entity that was. My concern must have been painted on my face, considering her next words.

“Is something troubling you?”

“Remember when you told me that, sometimes, the blessed could hear voices?”

“I do,” Belaury replied, raising an eyebrow. “Have you heard the voice of your benefactor?”

I bit my lip. “I… I think I did.”

She smiled and patted my head. “That’s great news for you. It’s said that those who can hear them can bring out the true potential of their blessing.”

“How can we be sure?” I asked, worried that, perhaps, the voice in my head was not a spirit, but something else or nothing at all.

“It’s a good question. The short answer is that we can’t. Historically, their word is the only way we got to know of their existence, and I have faith that it’s the truth. What reason would these beings have to lie? And what would they gain by doing it? Spirits or not, they never brought harm to the person they chose. Some spoke, and some didn’t. You got the former, and the only reason I can think of is that it formed a strong link with you.”

“Not that much, I guess,” I said, looking down. “It doesn’t seem to be able to speak more than a few words.”

“A bit is better than nothing, don’t you think?”

If it really is a spirit…

The conversation soon led to a deeper explanation regarding my teacher’s religion, Geilrilk, named after the realm the gods and spirits claimed to inhabit. I saw it as an equivalent to Heaven, from the Erelian Faith.

Belaury explained that there are three different entities you can find in there. The first, and most important, are the gods. They act as overseers of our world, each one in charge of one aspect of life. This isn’t limited to sentient species, but all life on our planet. I found it hard to see how animals were involved with trade, art or justice. Her response to my doubt was that some of said aspects were created with the arrival of sentience, which ended up with some gods having more than one domain. She used the god, Oring, as an example. Originally in charge of order or balance, he adopted justice with the arrival of the races. My teacher also explained that, while trading may seem like something only people do, it’s actually present all over nature. Symbiosis being the clearest example of it.

Spirits are, to put it simply, the gods’ subordinates. Using the Erelian Faith as reference once more, they would be the equivalent to angels. It is them that do most of the work, leaving only the most important tasks to their superiors. They observe, more than anything, and that is what occasionally leads them to take a liking to someone and bless them.

The lowest rank present in Geilrilk belongs to the mortal souls. Unlike the gods or spirits, souls are not active in this realm. They reside in what Belaury described as a filter space until they are properly judged based on how they lived before dying. After this, they are separated in three different ways: Souls that led exemplary lives get the chance to become spirits. Those that were the opposite cease to exist completely.

Hearing this sent a chill down my spine, although I doubted I’d ever end up like that. Finally, souls that had what could be considered an average lifestyle are immediately sent back to the cycle of reincarnation. Animal souls, not being aligned to good or evil, are also sent to the cycle automatically. Alex was curious to know if people could reincarnate into animals. After I asked the question, Belaury explained that souls of sentient beings differ from the rest. An animal soul can reincarnate into a person, but not the other way around.

At the end of the lesson, Alex and I informed Belaury of what happened with Lucy. Not even she had considered the possibility of a human capable of using magic when we told her about the virus, so it came up as a huge surprise for her. It actually took some time for her to accept the fact, to the point where she even considered metahumans another race with human appearance. We tried using that as a way to convince her to let Lucy meet her. The assumption was technically correct, after all. But she told us she would meditate on it.

Before leaving, Alex proposed that I could make a habit of bringing my fessy to every class. If something similar happened again, I could play it on the way to tell my teacher not to show up. This time, she actually praised him for his idea. I wondered if she just hated him during class, or maybe it was because his suggestion helped her stay hidden. Either way, she didn’t call him names, so it was a huge event. Worthy of being written down in history.

Not much happened after that. I wanted to visit Sylvia to tell her about the good news regarding the potion, but she was still in session with Lucy by the time dinner was over. It gave me time to think things through, and I ended up choosing to wait until we knew the ingredients were in our reach. No point in giving her hopes otherwise. I simply wished them both a good night when they were done and headed to my room. There I spent most of the time on my tablet, giving my daily reports to Mom and Mary and playing a couple games at first. Once I grew bored, I started searching for new stories and articles of interest.

Vampire sightings had finally started to decrease. The same went with most monster hunting and other similar threads. The reason behind it was that people’s focus was now overlapped by something more tangible. The virus. It felt odd being on the other side, seeing the amount of misinformation that was spreading. The daily number of ‘deaths’ was on the rise, and some people were already locking themselves at home. The government had stated that such measures weren’t needed. People who were exposed to the spores were quickly taken care of, so the only source was restricted to the multiple animal carriers. If anything, officials recommended not going into the wild, where most of these species lived. This brought benefits to us, too. The fewer humans heading out, the safer we were.

Cat and dog owners were still nervous that their pets could turn on them at any point, though. There were strict instructions to keep them at home as much as possible, but there were cases where the poor animals became carriers despite all the precautions. Fortunately, it was really uncommon. In a sense, I was glad that the secret would be uncovered soon. Most citizens didn’t deserve to live in fear of a lethal threat that didn’t actually exist. While I was still scared for our safety, I was no longer the defenceless girl from a few weeks ago.

The night was still young when I ran out of things to do. Young for me, at least. I pushed the curtains and looked through the glass. The vast dark forest was inviting to me. It didn’t matter to me how late it was, or the fact that I had just returned from there. Before I realised, my hands had already opened the window, and one of my feet rested on top of the frame.

Jump!

I shook my head to snap myself out of the thought. As much as I trusted my wings to keep me safe, it was one thing to fly above the lake, and another to do so over land. I refused to listen to that command. I needed more practice. For a moment, I assumed it had been the spirit’s suggestion again, but this voice was different. It didn’t feel foreign. That said, it didn’t hurt to confirm it. Lying down on my bed, I relaxed and stared at the roof.

Spirit? Are you there?

“Yes.”

I gulped in response. There was a clear difference between the two. A part of me wanted to end it there. I had what I wanted already. There was no need to continue. In the end, my curious nature won the fight. Belaury mentioned no harm came to those who heard those voices, but that didn’t mean it was a good thing either. The “spirit” patiently waited. No words spoken. I took a deep breath and closed my eyes. It helped me concentrate.

How can I know you’re really a spirit?

“Time.”

How long? Months? Years?

Silence. The spirit said nothing. It was still present, though. I could tell. It felt similar to being watched. Was there something that prevented it from answering properly? It seemed willing to speak, so that must have been it. Asking it directly was the best choice.

Is there a reason you can’t give me full answers?

“There is,” It replied, almost instantly.

Was it saying what I wanted to hear, or was it telling the truth? I wished I knew which.

Can I help?

“Yes. Train more... Need more mana.”

There it was. An actual sentence again. Well, almost. Regardless of the length, it had given me an actual reason. It needed mana. It probably fed on it, just like ghosts needed energy. Though Belaury did mention they never asked for anything in return for a blessing, so why did they suddenly need mana?

“Must go,” It said, interrupting my thought process. The next moment, I could no longer feel its presence. It was really gone.

Another detail almost escaped my mind. Unlike other times, the voice felt more real. It could have been my imagination, but I could swear it sounded female.

With a sudden yawn, I checked the time on my tablet. It was already late. Or early, depending on the point of view. It didn’t take me long to fall asleep.

---<>----------<>----------<>---

I woke up with a faint growl coming out of my throat. There was shouting going on somewhere in the building. Looking out the window, I noticed it was still early for me to rise. The sun was barely up. I felt tempted to get up and deal with whoever was making all that noise, but I was too sleepy to keep my eyes open. The sound of shattering glass was enough to do so for me. I sat up in fear. It sounded like a fight.

Did they find us!?

I needed a way to find out. Opening the door wasn’t appealing for me. Too risky. I looked at my nightstand and grabbed my phone. I called Anna, hoping it wasn’t too late. If I didn’t get an answer, I would actually jump from that window and find Bel and Viken.

<Nora? What are you doing up?> Anna asked after picking up the call.

“What do you mean!? I can hear fighting somewhere down the hall!”

<Again!?> Her tone was not what I expected. <Don’t worry about it. You can go back to sleep.>

I blinked rapidly. “Do you think I can? I just heard glass breaking. What’s going on?”

<That was Connor,> she said with a sigh. <Let’s just say he’s not very happy with the change. Lucy and Alex are probably trying to calm him down as we speak. Do you want me to open a room upstairs so you can rest?>

“Hold on.” Making a small pause, I pulled the phone away and focused on hearing. It was as I thought. Everything was silent once more. Those two were most likely successful. Placing the phone back to my ear I said, “Thanks, but I think it’s good now.”

<Your call. Sleep well.>

“Thanks.”

Unfortunately for me, I made the wrong choice. I was woken up another two more times after that. Both ended just as suddenly as they started, but I was already in a foul mood when I went downstairs to eat. As always, everyone else was already there, eating. I grabbed my plate with food and took it to the table, sitting down with a small growl. Allison was the first one to notice and asked if I was all right. I explained myself and told her not to worry, knowing I’d be back to normal in a few minutes.

Anna and Lucy then explained that Connor was having real trouble accepting his new self. I hadn’t seen him since we got the news of the attack on Kelpont, so I didn’t have a clear picture of him, but they had told me that he looked just like the werewolves from horror movies and video games. A bipedal wolf with long arms, claws, and an intimidating visage.

They also told me it was a rather uncommon, yet normal behaviour for some of those who woke up. Demons, fairies, lizard people, werewolves and even wildlings suffered such extreme changes while unconscious that their minds sometimes failed to register that they were no longer human by the time they woke up. It caused a lot of conflict for them during the first weeks of their awakening. In the case of demons, wildlings and fairies, we at least kept our face and mostly human appearance, but the other two races weren’t as lucky. They were more like sentient bipedal animals. Even the bipedal part was in question as both races could also run on all fours due to their longer upper limbs.

“Perhaps Nora could help us,” Lucy suggested, snapping me out of my thoughts.

“Huh?”

“It’s worth a shot. He rejected me because he believes I could never understand him, given how little I’ve changed. As a demon, you have a chance.”

I smiled at her and replied, “No way. I had enough of that already.”

“I agree with her,” Anna and Alex said in unison, which caused them to look at each other.

“I can’t say I’m innocent. I’ve used her in a similar way,” Anna continued. “But this time, it’s too dangerous.”

“He’s way too violent,” Alex added. “Did you forget I had to take a hit twice for you? The back of my head is still throbbing from the last one.”

“I know, I know. Trust me, I thought of that. They don’t have to meet in person for it to work, though. We can set up a video call for them to talk while keeping her safe. The worst that could happen is him throwing something at the telly. It’s either that or we keep him sedated until his mind can catch up. We can’t risk him killing himself before it happens.”

Everyone went silent with those last words.

“W-what?” I asked.

“The cases like this need therapy right away is because of how common suicide is for them during the catch up process,” Lucy answered. “The shock from waking up in a foreign body is often too strong.”

“And you think I could help him with that?”

“Like I said, it’s worth a shot. His mind won’t change just from talking with you, but you may help him open up to us.”

I hated being used this way. It was as if my own mental health didn’t matter. There was a limit to how many times I could endure rejection of my appearance. More importantly, I had no idea what to say to him. I wasn’t the best with words. It was proven last time, when Sylvia had just arrived. That said, the person was in a similar situation this time. I wanted to help; it was my nature.

I took a deep breath before giving my answer. “Okay. I’ll do it.”