“Time!”

Isak nodded to Citlali as he closed his sketchbook. From her side of the bench, she handed over her wood scrap to him. The day’s breeze blew away some bits of char as he inspected the scrap in his hands. On it were burned several geometric shapes.

“Today? Shapes!” The lizardlass proclaimed. “With enough time? I have seen that even portraits are possible, and nothing shall prevent me from getting there!”

“I’ll be expecting it!” Isak’s smile immediately flipped over. He shook his head and held up a hand. “That was a figure of speech. You do not actually have to do that.”

Citlali laughed a bit too forcefully. “I knew that!” She said as she avoided his scowl. Somewhere out of sight, her tail flicked away. “But even if it’s not an obligation, I’ll do it!”

Isak grimaced and looked down to Coztic curled up at the girl’s feet. He pointed to the tiny raptor and instructed “You hold her to that.”

The appropriately named raptor made a noise back at him which Isak took as an affirmation. Isak swore he saw passing students letting their gaze linger on him a bit too long as they passed by their place in the park. It wasn’t happening as much, but…

“Still not used to it?”

The human looked over to Citlali offering a sympathetic smile and leaned back against the bench. “No.”

Citlali’s smile remained but there was a glimpse of strain in there. “With that many eyes on you, people expect interesting things to keep happening. Things good and not good. Without anything interesting happening they’ll focus on something else.”

Isak craned his neck around to look at the rock man at his side. A gust drew the slightest mist from the streams of water coursing around his rocks to provide a slight drop in temperature for the human. “Even if they forget about that uh…little incident a few weeks ago, our marbled man of mystery here is of constant interest.”

He left out the part about how Citlali was also a constant accompanying reminder of that incident a few weeks back. While there was no need to make her self-conscious, it was still true that this was a whole cultural thing that had people expecting big things from him. Which was fine.

Completely fine.

He just had to de-emphasize his past while building an even greater future than he had planned for. Now instead of just fulfilling his own dreams, he had to live up to those of others. And solve a mystery. And discern the identity of an invisible stalker. And then catch them.

Completely and totally fine.

Citlali hummed for a moment, then nodded to herself. “It’s decided then. I shall aid you in being the greatest, most fierce yet merciful leader in our generation! If everyone shall constantly bother us with their attention, we shall bother them with our accomplishments!”

Isak laughed and shook his head. “Sure, and then we’ll–...okay we actually are working on solving a mystery the likes of which The Empire has never seen.“ He said as he glanced over to Vidal again. “What if they expect more?”

The lizardlass flicked her hand. “Beat up some more trouble makers and convince the most beautiful girl from their number to join you. Again.”

“How many times do you think I’m going to do that?!?”

“I was the second time.” Citlali held up two fingers. “Or did I hear wrong about you throwing Jearx and his basilisk into the sea to befriend Xoco?”

Isak was about to speak before he leaned closer. “That was a trick! I tricked him and his basilisk into the sea…and I was already talking to Xoco before that!....wait, are you trying to trick me into self-esteem?”

It was her turn to lean in, with a tilted head. “Are you not going to deny that both Xoco and myself were the most beautiful girls in our respective groups?” 

“I–” The human’s voice caught in his throat and he felt his face heat up. “She wasn’t in a– I mean you–”

Citlali handed him his sketchbook with a giggle. “Too distracted again!”

Isak reached down to feel around beside him. He had set down that book on his other side, away from Citlali. How did she? Her tail wasn’t that long? Was it her hand that somehow got over there? He let out a groan and took the book from her.

“No fair.” He mumbled. “You’re getting better at this while I’m still catching up!”

In addition to Zyn’s ‘detection training’, Citlali was offering the group her very own training in not being pickpocketed. If the lizardlass was this good at it while being fully visible, there was no telling what someone invisible would be able to take from them or plant on them.

Isak looked over to Vidal, who was also aware of this training with instructions not to interfere. “Did you see it?”

“Yes, Master Isak.” He stated, not turning his head as he stared out ahead at the park and all passersby. “As Citlali was tricking you into having a more positive self-image about yourself and your capabilities, she was able to take advantage of your distraction and acquire your sketchbook.”

Citlali’s eyes turned into tiny slits. “You saw that from peripheral vision?!? I guess I’m not getting better fast enough…”

Vidal turned towards the pair sitting on the bench. “As I am now aware of the trials that Master Isak must face in his self-improvement, I have attuned my observational capabilities to fit these trials. Citlali, as I endeavor to always be aware of your sleight of hand, please take this as an opportunity to test your skills against me and find your own self-improvement.”

The human and the lizardlass had already taken out their Vidal notebooks and were scribbling away.

“Um, thanks buddy!”

“Thank you, Mister Vidal!”

They finished their notes and stowed them away. Isak turned in his seat towards the lizardlass and got a more serious look on his face. “Ready Citlali?”

She nodded and angled herself towards the large flowering tropical plant behind Isak. It was well out of his sight and enough time and distraction had passed between his sketching and their present trial. “Ready!”

Isak cast an illusion spell on her and a short ways away from the plant now appeared an illusory copy of it. It resembled a small tree with a woody base and branches reaching up into a multicolored top. A mass of long green leaves were dotted with white and yellow flowers. Citlali looked between the two copies.

She narrowed her eyes as she started looking for the differences. The illusion actually had the color pattern of the flowers inverted. Yellow with white highlights. The woody branches twisted and turned in slightly different ways that one might easily miss at first. She narrated her observations aloud while counting them off on clawed fingers.

Citlali’s tail flicked back and forth as she kept looking for differences. “I should probably be timed on this…” Wind rustled the fabric of her blouse and skirt. The blue fabric had been tailored to better fit her form, while still being loose enough for the tropical climate. Though even with a long skirt the winds still–...worked in her favor this time. “Ah! You’re having the plant sway in the breeze! But there is a delay. It’s moving too late after the wind blows.”

“....that one’s unintentional. It’s kinda hard to keep up with the weather and keep up my concentration on the spell...” Isak complained, which just made concentration even more of a chore. “But thanks. I’ll work on it.”

Unmoving images were the easiest. 

“Notice any other differences?”

Metallic green eyes narrowed, pupils adjusting as she scanned for other differences.

“Oh.” She saw a bit of impossibility in the brightly colored petals before the illusion faded away. “Most clever.”

The same geometric shapes she had burnt into her scrap wood were tucked away into the now vanished flowers. Not too obvious as to be immediately seen. But still there for anyone paying close attention.

Isak handed her the scrap wood back and she accepted it with a nod.

“Now, do it again but explain what you’re doing!”

Even if Isak was expecting that as part of the exercise, it did little to make it easier. He inhaled deeply before he started to explain the process.  “The simplest forms of illusions are those without any alterations. You hold up a metaphorical mirror to the image in your head and let the mirror reflect the thought. The Black Sun sees all, and can see what you’re going for. But to make alterations–”

The human cast the spell once again on his friend looking just past him towards the flowering plant. 

“You must alter the mirror. Like a shiny piece of metal that you flex to make a reflection wider or taller. Except way more complicated and filled with metaphor. Broad alterations are easy!” Isak said as he focused on having Citlali see the entire plant colored red. “That’s basically just a bend in the mirror.”

“How do you bend an obsidian mirror?” Citlali asked, wincing a bit in sympathy as Isak grit his teeth in concentration before speaking again.

Isak groaned and did his best to answer while still holding focus. A one and done spell was easy. Actually maintaining a spell was much harder. And further distractions only increased that difficulty. “It’s a metaphor. It’s a magic metaphor mirror, so we don’t understand all of it. Yet.”

“Good!” Citlali exclaimed, satisfied with the explanation that rang true for so much magical understanding. “Continue?”

The illusory image vanished from view as Isak prepared another. “Broad changes are easy. Kinda. But making a lot of changes is difficult–”

He kept narrating in between casting another Illusion. The same as the one he had originally shown Citlali. Explaining as he went placed additional mental strain on him. His head felt heavy and tense. Like his mother was again guilting him for never having dated and grandchildren were some far off dream that he was keeping from her.

“Uuuugh, all the little things just pile up.” Isak tried to explain as he rubbed at his temple. “You’re bending a mirror or smudging it in places and you’re trying to do all of that but it’s a magical metaphor mirror but you only have two hands but in metaphor….uh, brain you can have more than one hand…wait more than two hands buthandsalsohavefingersand–”

The last words were rushed out just as the image vanished from Citlali’s vision. The human slumped back in his seat and ran a hand through his black locks. His eyelids pressed closed as he remembered the mental exercises he was taught in class to quickly recover from such things. As he laid back he muttered out the remnants of an explanation.

“Making alterations to an illusion is tougher. The more you know something, the easier it is. Hence, the sketchbook to get me better at observing and knowing things…which isn’t working yet.”

When he finally opened his eyes a small piece of chocolate was being held in front of his face by familiar scaly hands. As tempting as it was, Isak waved it off. “I’m fine.”

Citlali kept waving it in front of his face. “Chocolate is good for calming the nerves. I am simply offering you some medicine.”

“I said I’m fi–”

“As your most loyal follower and friend, I must insist that you take the chocolate.” The lizardlass kept trying to feed him the chocolate as she maintained a solemn look. “Unless my loyalty is being questioned?”

“That is not what I–”

While he was distracted Citlali shoved the chocolate into his mouth to silence his protests. “Thank you for allowing me to re-establish my loyalty. If I had allowed you to refuse medical services, literally all of your friends would beat me with cactuses before Vidal tore me limb from limb. Starting with my tail.”

“Would you jus–” In the process of trying to protest again, Isak accidentally bit into the chocolate. Flavor exploded on his tongue the likes of which he had never even dreamed of. Ages ago he had tried some chocolate that his father bought from traveling traders. At the time, it had been the most delicious thing that he had ever tasted. Much more recently, he had found an unopened chocolate bar forgotten on a secluded bench in one of the less traveled balconies on campus. After endeavoring to find the owner he had taken a bite. And subsequently devoured it.

As much as he appreciated his father’s gift, it paled in comparison to this simple confection that was apparently common enough to be forgotten without incident. But what he was slowly savoring now? What was changing his life and rewriting all of his taste buds to forever remember this? 

To forever ruin all other foods that may as well have been dirt? The subtle bitter notes mixed with enough sweetness to highlight all flavors like high quality coffee with just a touch of sugar? The tiny little bits of cocoa mixed in to give the occasional crunch and burst of pure cocoa? And…what was that…a hint of something else? The subtle hints of some fruity flavor that perfectly melded with the chocolate by The Lord and The Lady themselves to create something that threatened to escape beyond his simple mortal reasoning?

“Isak are you alright?” Citlali asked with clear concern. “You’re…crying?”

The human fell back down to earth and wiped away his simple upbringing betraying him through his tear ducts. “No it was um…it was really good chocolate. Even if it was unnecessary…thank you. Hey we should get going.”

“Of course! To both statements!” Citlali said as she started packing away her things. “Were you aware that that plant you practiced your illusions with apparently comes from the Aztlan province?” She tucked the scrap away in her book bag. “Nearby regions as well. But it spread with The Empire into tropical regions. I never saw it in person until my family went on a tropical vacation.”

Isak began packing up the last of his own things. “What part of The Empire are you from again?”

“Quiyahuicuauhtlaco province! I know I know, my accent probably gave it away.”

“Uhh…” Isak could hear the different accents of Clear Speech. He had no idea where they were actually from. And now that he thought about it he couldn’t be sure they weren’t just individual differences in speech. “I uhhh can’t be one to judge with my own accent!”

Coztic trilled at Isak while Citlali waved off his concerns. “Your lordship’s manner is as clear as his glorious orders in battle.” 

The human just rolled his eyes as he got up from the bench, his lizardfriend following suit then gave a quick curtsey. Isak exhaled harder than normal through his nose as he led the pair and their familiars towards the dorms. After about a minute of leading her into a false sense of security, it was time for revenge.

“You still have that scrap piece of wood?” He asked her as they walked.

Citlali dug around in her book bag before handing the wood to Isak. He shook his head with a smile. 

“It’s your turn to practice.” He corrected her. “Practice your shapes again.”

She nodded and slowed to a halt as she held the tip of her claw to the wood. Isak did not slow down, and placed a hand on her shoulder to keep her walking. Realization hit her as her pupils grew to large circles.

“And explain to me what you’re doing.”

“Th-that’s even more complicated than what you were doing for your practice!” She complained, Coztic hissing alongside her at her ankles.

“First of all, call it payback for getting me hooked on whatever type of chocolate that was. Which I’m going to need you to tell more about later.” Isak’s grin told her that this was a very light form of payback. “Second of all, if you’re going to keep calling me things like ‘commander’ or ‘lord’ then it’s my responsibility to encourage you to be the best that I know you can be. Third of all, Vidal stand on the other side of her and be ready to catch her if she trips your way.”

“Understood, Master Isak.” The rock man said before taking his place on the other side of the lizardlass. Though imposing to most, and though they had met under harsh circumstances, in this instance she felt comforted by the presence of the stone man. And the flesh and blood man on her other side.

She turned to that man with a determined look and nodded. “I won’t let you down!”

Citlali only tripped a few times in the course of her practice. Once onto Vidal, twice onto Isak. And though the lines of her burned shapes were more crooked this time, there were exactly zero accidental ignitions of the surrounding area. 

Despite one close call that was really only close due to the day’s wind threatening to scatter embers like any other bits of detritus that migrated with each gust. The ongoing narration and conversation that followed afterward also kept others at bay. Other students were less likely to interrupt someone locked in conversation. And the past few weeks had involved a few too many fellow students convinced that they could easily slip into their good graces with only a superficial attempt at effort. 

It was…a confusing situation for Isak.

Isak had a reputation now. And from what he had heard it was mostly wrong. Or exaggerations at best. Which left him in the horrifying position of having his true past completely ignored in favor of a past that changed depending on the storyteller, and a present that was just as malleable. 

The glances in his direction every time he was out and about on campus had faded slightly since that incident a few weeks back. Only slightly. Rumors still ran wild. He was still the same Isak who had an official friend group. Who had technically official rivals. Who had a familiar that no one had ever seen before.

A mysterious invisible stalker was at least something to focus on. As well as the mystery of Vidal. The unknown could be easily chased and was full of promise. Rather than rivals and rumors that both openly stared him down. Unfortunately, it still left the human with too many things to focus on at once.

After finally reaching Isak and Zyn’s room, and allowing themselves to get pulled into a few quick conversations for the sake of politeness, the human unlocked the doorway into privacy at last. 

“Is it rude to say that I’m finally noticing you ‘growing out of your green’ as you call it?” Isak asked Citlali while he looked under the two beds with the help of Coztic.

Citlali herself was busy flicking her tongue out around the doorknob. “There’s rude ways to say it, and that’s not one of them. So thank you!”

Her tongue flicked out faster and her eyes narrowed, Isak froze in his tracks on the way to the window as he saw this. From his sentinel stance next to the door Vidal readied his right hand into a form ready to blast someone with water. After flicking her tongue out a few more times the lizardlass gave a quick shake of her head. Isak breathed a very quiet sigh of relief and continued while Vidal lowered his hand to his side once more.

“About how long does that take?” Isak asked as he checked the window for any tampering. After finding nothing he walked to trade places with the lizardlass. “I never saw any lizardfolk go through that first hand.”

“Really? None at all?” Citlali asked as she flicked her tongue out around the edges of the window. The human smiled through a shrug and pressed his ear against the door. “I suppose I’ve only ever known a few humans…but I should have the color of a proper lady within a month.”

Isak, hearing nothing suspicious outside the door signaled an all clear to Citlali. Finding nothing suspicious about the smells and tastes around the window, Citlali signaled back in agreement.

“I just wanted to be clear, that wasn’t just a decoy conversation.” The human said while holding up his hands in defense. “I did notice and while it’s unfamiliar, I think it’s pretty cool!”

Citlali was at the age where lizardfolk started losing the green scales of adolescence and started shifting into the colors they would then bear for the next few hundred years. The black bands remained, but in Citlali’s case her dark green was shifting into some yet unknown shade of red.

“It’s a pain to pick out uniform colors before you know what color you are going to be spending the rest of your life as.” Citlali looked down to her blue ensemble. “Still, I think blue works with both green and red so–”

The agreed upon secret knock at the door and subsequent sound of Zyn’s voice on the other side interrupted them. He slipped in a moment later without waiting, a smile barely held back from fully forming on his lips.

Isak gave an all clear as his own curiosity started to build. The drow strode over to the two of them, no longer hiding a smug grin that Ozzy managed to somehow share in despite his having a beak located underneath a mass of tentacles.

“I saw it!” Zyn exclaimed as Isak and Citlali’s eyes shot open. “A petal in the wind! Fluttering about before coming to an abrupt halt against someone who wasn’t there! A someone who was watching you two on the bench. Well away from me, plenty close to you, and I remembered to record the time!”

“Yes!” Isak cheered and threw a fist into the air, immediately following up with a high five. Halfway through high fiving an also cheering Citlali and a fit of joyous laughter, his smile inverted. “Wait why am I cheering for the fact that someone’s maybe stalking me…”

Ozzy held up a tentacle for a high tentacle, which Isak gingerly returned with a finger to not be rude. Zyn planted a hand on the human’s shoulder and raised a silvery white eyebrow. “Really? It’s not Citlali. This weirdo has been after you since before she joined us. And if I was the target then they wouldn’t have been standing so close to you.”

“I mean…” The human wasn’t ready to accept it yet as he glanced away, finding only Vidal standing next to the doorway for support. Even Citlali at his side didn’t seem to buy it. “It could be that the real target is someone else and I’m just being observed for uh…completeness! Don’t just know your stalking target, know their friends!”

“Buddy...brother…I’ve seen your perfectly visible stalkers.”

“My what–”

“Those girls don’t follow any of the rest of us but you.” Zyn patted the incredulous human on the shoulder. “Someone who’s serious enough about stalking you to go to these lengths? They’re not bothering with anyone else but their target!”

Isak’s eyes were still trying to jump out of his head…maybe he needed to instruct Vidal to be on eye catching duty in case that became less figurative? “I–...alright let’s save that one for later.” He took a deep breath to compose himself, rested his hands on the shoulders of his friends and regained a smile. “This is still good! Really good! If I’m the target–”

“Which your lordship is.” Citlali added with a smile that spoke of gentle encouragement.

“Right well that means we can plan around that. And also that Zyn is awesome for seeing this person.”

“It was allll skill…in getting really lucky.” The drow snorted to hold back a laugh behind a faux smug grin.

Citlali scoffed. “Turning random chance to your favor sounds like a very important skill to have.”

The secret knock drew their attention to the door. After exchanging looks, Citlali was the one to get the door. She looked to Vidal, who readied his water cannon hand and gave her a curt nod before she opened the door.

Tonauac and Xoco both spilled in and quickly shut the door behind them. Both of them were all smiles as Tonauac happily exclaimed “We saw them! Okay, we didn’t see them but we did see sand collecting around the feet of an invisible person!...why do you guys look sad to hear this?”

The previously cheering three had gained distant looks in their eyes. Citlali and Isak looked to Zyn, who reached into his book bag to pull out a notepad. “This was at the beach, right?”

Xoco looked down to Tonauac in mutual confusion before answering. “...yes? The distant part where we tested Vidal’s capabilities.”

“What time?”

The jungle troll raised an eyebrow. She was wearing her training uniform, and she reached into one of the pockets to withdraw a small notepad of her own. Checking it over she answered “It would have been at around 15:44…why?”

Zyn pinched the bridge of his nose. He didn’t bother to sigh. “15:38. The part of the main park that’s furthest from the beach. Hey Xoco you’re pretty athletic. Is there any way you could sprint across campus in that amount of time?”

Xoco joined the rest of her friends in having the same completely empty look in her eyes. “...no.”