The evening after Kate’s transformation was supposed to be a celebration of her improved human body. Apollyon had taken to the kitchen in the library and had promised to surprise Kate with a dish from Hell. Meanwhile Kate decided to useful and took a look at the newly arrived textbooks.

That endeavour was cut short by the arrival of Oliver and Arthur.

“Hey guys.”

“Evening.” Oliver was chipper enough.

Arthur wasn’t. “Hi. Haven’t talked in a while.”

“Sorry, I’ve been a bit busy after taking my time recovering. I thought I’d see you tomorrow at lunch anyway, so I didn’t really bother texting.”

“Yea. We actually need to talk, badly.”

Oliver seemed uncomfortable. “That’s between you two, I will not get roped into that. I’ll be over here.” He stepped away, quickly finding Nirrti between the nearby shelves to talk to.

“Okay, what’s wrong?”

“You said Henry spiked your drink. Then, you go missing for almost a week, as does Henry. When you both come back, you’re here looking like you got the makeover of a lifetime, all while Henry is fucked up as hell.”

“Stop. Just go back. I didn’t know you knew Henry?”

“We’re friends, you nut.”

Out of all the things Arthur could have said here, that was the worst.

“Why did you never tell me.”

“I thought you knew! Fuck.”

“How could I? I only knew that he had heard of you. He never talked about you, you never talked about him, and I don’t know all the people you hang out with.”

“Right, sure, whatever. I just need you to tell me what the fuck happened. I am not buying that drugging story when the last people saw of you both was you beating him to a pulp right before your librarians took you both away. Next time I meet Henry, he is a mess and when I ask what happened, he just says he can’t speak about it. That’s it. You did something to him and you have to tell me what!”

“So, you don’t believe me.”

“Of course I fucking don’t.”

“You idiot. I trusted you, you know that?”

“Apparently not enough to tell me why Dorian went all weird after talking to you or to tell me the truth about Henry.”

“What happened with Dorian is between the two of us. I can at least tell you that we parted amicably. Henry though. He’s a piece of shit and I didn’t expect you to be one either. Does Oliver know you don’t believe me?”

“Obviously he does, because I don’t keep secrets from my friends. He believes you though. No clue why.”

“Okay, how about this? I had my revenge with Henry. I took my sweet arse time doing nothing while he rotted alone in a fancy room. He broke. I did fuck all. I dressed up nicely, made sure he knows what people I belong to, and then told him to go and stay away from me. Happy?”

“And what people do you belong to now? You changed, and fuck knows not for the better.”

Not for the better? That went too far. Kate had never felt better in her life and she was not about to let a shitty former friend tear her down again.

“I am a librarian. This is my domain and I am frankly tired of you right now. Henry got what was coming to him for fucking with me. Dorian got the truth though. He wasn’t happy, but he understood. That’s something you apparently are too stupid for. Understanding. Empathy. Yes, I changed. I fucking transformed into something far better than the dork arse Kate you got to know years ago. But this isn’t new, I am more me now than ever. I just have the fucking confidence to not hide myself anymore. And if that means losing you, then so be it. What you said today makes you unworthy of my friendship anyway. Go away. You are no longer welcome here.”

Arthus scoffed and began shouting. “What the fuck? Who do you think you are? You were nothing without us! Scared little-…little…what…why the fuck can I not say your name?!”

Kate was confused. I took her a moment to realize that she was wearing her badge and it actually had its intended effect. “Because you are not allowed to.”

“What does that even mean?! Doesn’t fucking matter anyway, just proves that you still are a fucking weirdo with no friends. Can’t believe we took pity on you back then! Fuck me for thinking you’d be anyone worthwhile.” He slammed his hand onto the reception desk. “I am not going anywhere. Not until you get of your high horse and on your knees and thank me for being at your side for the last years!”

Kate swung, not with a fist but her sword, stopping as it grazed Arthur’s neck. The urge to make him pay for his words was strong, but the carpet was too beautiful to stain with his blood. “I will do nothing of the sort. I will simply suggest you leave. Otherwise, the rules of this place dictate that you are mine do with as I please. You don’t want to find out what that means.”

Arthur whimpered, just like Henry did. Pathetic. Kate simply held her blade in place as Nirrti and Oliver came closer. The demon spoke.

“Whatever it is you did, Mister Divot, I recommend you keep it to yourself and leave. You will remain silent about your transgressions and their consequences. Now, leave this place.”

Arthur stepped back carefully to get out of reach of Kate’s sword before running out of the library. Oliver turned to Kate.

“What happened?”

“He decided that not believing me was a good idea, he sided with Henry. That was a mistake.”

“Okay. I will side with you. I overheard what he said at the end and all that was bullshit. I knew you from when you were in my brother’s class and I knew you weren’t that broken lonely girl he made you out to be. I didn’t take pity, I genuinely liked you, I still do. As a friend, obviously. I hate that I have clarify that. I don’t know what to make of all this, everything that happened with Arthur and Dorian and the library, but it helped you grow. None of the librarians seem like bad people, they might be weird but they’re nice. I don’t get it.”

Nirrti put on a reassuring expression. “He is telling the truth. Mister Turner… Oliver is not hiding anything either.”

“See? I think you trust her judgement, right? More than my words at least. After what happened there, I wouldn’t trust me anyway. I’m sorry.”

Kate shook her head. “Don’t be. I decided to walk this path and that’s what drove us all apart. I am glad you are still with me and I am sorry. About Dorian, about Arthur and about not dealing more permanently with Henry.”

“Hm… I hope I’ll still see you tomorrow at lunch?”

“Yea. Maybe Adelina will join us, I’ll ask her. I’ll be fine with just you if you don’t want her to come.”

“No, she can join us. Maybe I can befriend her properly. Close friends have been running out at an embarrassing pace recently.”

“She desperately needs friends too. At least she planned to make some.”

“You have a strange taste in people, but not a bad one. I need to go anyway. Got stuff to think about and… yea. See you tomorrow.”

Kate forced a smile. “See you tomorrow. And thank you for sticking with me.”

“Hey, no problem.”

 

Kate told Apollyon everything that had just transpired. The demon grimaced as she thought of what to tell her defeated looking human friend.

“I tire of your joy being ruined by humans. The driver, Mister Clayton, Mister Divot, all of them obstacles. There is so much potential in a human life, but it is seldom allowed to flourish. I want you to travel your human path to its next big milestone, but the recent events are tempting me to reconsider. You still have your improved human body to enjoy for now and I don’t want to cut that experience short.”

Kate cut off another piece from her hell fish filet. “I don’t want to rush things either. Even just the anticipation feels great honestly.”

“That sounds like you are not letting the events of this evening ruin your other experiences.”

“It’s hard. But to be honest, I expected to have to break my human connections off eventually. If anything, this has saved me the hassle of explaining why I stopped aging in my twenties among other things. Quick, still painful, but a lot better than drawing this out. I only really regret that I don’t get to make a last few good memories with them, like finishing our degrees together.”

“Oliver remains a friend. And you have made new ones as well. Evelyn and Adelina are both human. Even Dorian may return to your side eventually.”

Kate raised an eyebrow as she swallowed her bite. “You aren’t calling them by their surnames?”

“Dorian has earned my respect and I am optimistic enough regarding Oliver. I am ashamed that I could not guide you in handling the situations that arose with your human friends, former and current, better. Dorian’s reaction alone should have been enough for me to take precautions.”

“Oh, Polly… It’s the sweetest thing when you worry like that, but there is nothing you could have done. I deeply appreciate what you do for me. I don’t want you to beat yourself up over this, okay?”

“I will try not to.”

“Feels weird to be the one with the encouraging words. That’s supposed to be your job!” Kate chuckled.

“Take it as a sign of your growth, as I will take it as a reminder that I still need to grow as well.”