It''s been done.


    With all the fric hectess of thest couple of minutes, it justpletely sailed away right past frantic eyes… or I guess maybe I was the one that actually went sidestepping out of the way.


    Either way, I missed it… and either way, I realized it eventually, or if you really wanna align it close to the actual happenings - Irene realized it for me. Right then, I was totally too absorbed with starring the role ofp-pillow for an unconscious Elf to be realizing any profound revtions.


    Priorities, man.


    But yeah, I actually did it. Got the nod of approval, the smile of sess… from the stone-cold teacher herself. All of her lessons done and over with. Perfect As, too.


    Freaking top of my ss in a ssroom of one, so you know this is the real deal here. Teacher''s pet, student body president, star athlete, ss clown - I am basically the entire yearbook.


    There''ll be a picture of me on every page, and underneath all those pictures would be the same quote over and over again, written in that ssic fancy cursive italics.


    "<em>Fucking never again</em>" - Me. (Full name here).


    Cause really, after thatst one… how the hell could anything top having to dominate wills and break hearts while simultaneously emptying yours like some kind of goddamn sociopath with no remorse?


    Oh, I shouldn''t have asked that. Yeah, go ahead and jinx yourselfst-minute cause why not? How''re the cosmic karmic forces of the universe gonna one-up you this time?


    Actually, I don''t think I wanna know. Keep your secrets, I''m good.


    Teacher Irene continued to loom over me, and like all proud tutors watching their tutees leave the nest and take flight, there she was offering her words of wisdom again for onest time.


    For the sake of brevity, I took it upon myself to trim it down at face value, and what she essentially told me was to not let any of this get to my head, that just because I could do what I did, it didn''t mean that I can do everything now.


    Magic was a whole lot more than just three quickst-minute lessons.


    I was only able to make Ria disappear because the cks and the whites did most of the heavy lifting for me, if it weren''t for that… then I''d still be in that room, and I won''t ever be leaving it for a long timeing.


    Ash only sumbed because all she was doing was resisting, not defending. If ever at one point she was given the chance to deter, if she was actually able to go about defending herself… then I''d be just a red smear painted on the floor before I even manage to reach the point of making her eyebrows furrow.


    In short, I''ve barely nicked the iceberg that was the vastness of magical abilities and nuance. If magic was a totem pole, then Mom and Dad were at the tippity-top, meanwhile, I''d be one of those little loose specks of dirt sitting at the bottom - I didn''t even have a ce on said pole.


    Strange analogy… hers, not mine. But nevertheless, it got the point right across. I was, and still am, just a speck of dirt.


    "But you can be more," She said, finishing it with, "There''s no doubt that you will be."


    Putting me down, just to go picking me back up again. Her methodology is seriously confusing… but hey, can''t say it didn''t have the desired effects.


    Tough love is still love at the end of the day.


    And with that, a surprising amount of leniency was granted in the wake of my sess. All of a sudden, we weren''t in much of a hurry to do what needed to be done no more.


    In her own words, "Summoning can wait a few hours."


    It wasn''t like her to be sox with schedule, especially when that schedule was also hers. I was about to ask where the hell this sudden influx of never-before-seen generosity wasing from, then I watched her eyes, and I saw them drift slowly away from mine, sinking down to the sight of a slumbering Ash… her sleeping face basked in the glitter-glow of sunlight.


    Look at that, seems I ain''t the only one wanting to honor this devoted knight''s request. Looks like even the subus had a ce in her heart for some kindness, even if it was for a lowly elf… I couldn''t tell you one bit just how gratifying it was to see that happen before my eyes.


    Though the cheeky dastardly devil inside of me wanted so bad to make that stare of hers one of envy and to do as one would with that - egg her on, tease her… her flustered face was always a feast for the eyes, yet s, that fiendish creature inside would ultimately end up going unappeased.


    I stayed the good boy there and kept the teasing to the imagination, opting instead to just go ahead and just reconfirm with her statement, "Are you sure that''s okay?"


    Only to be answered by her bluntness yet again.


    "You would have refused anyway," She replied, nudging her head to the scene before her. "I mean, why would you ever want to pass this up, right? Lucky you."


    That actual jealousy I''m hearing there? Heh, who would have thought?


    "And in the meantime?" I asked.


    "Well seeing as you aren''t going anywhere anytime soon," Irene began to walk again. "I''ll go check on the summoning circle. Amanda''s a no-show, perhaps she botched the circle somehow. Just meet us there when you''re done with… whatever this is, I guess."


    My eyes followed her march out the doorway, and really, hearing her tone so green with envy, and hearing her try to hide it, I mean how was I ever to resist?


    Simple answer - I couldn''t.


    "Come now, Irene," I said, smirking, calling out to her just as she spun around the corner from view. "Sharing''s caring, right?"


    Sounding along with her fading footsteps, a voice, as loud as it was aggravated. "I am sharing!"


    Didn''t even try to deny it. Nice.


    Ash started shifting about, tossing and turning lightly, her ears twitching… must be dreaming. Mr. ck must be rubbing off on her cause I might as well have a cat curling on myp, got the pointed ears and adorable demeanor and everything… only thing missing here was a tail, but hey… can''t improve upon perfection, I suppose.


    Speaking of Mr. ck, he also appeared to have worn himself out quite extensively, here he wasing towards us now, the tennis ball proving itself victorious in the trial of endurance.


    He squeaked a puzzled meow upon realizing Ash had taken residence atop his favorite spot… but unlike Irene, Mr. ck was a selfless one, he didn''t mind it one bit and just simply plop himself down by my side.


    With Ria and Amelia also sleeping off to the wayside - this entire room had basically be just one big slumber fiesta… and apparently, I was assigned as the designated driver for all these resting folks.


    Ah man… their soft peaceful breathing was like the sounds of temptation lulling me to sleep too. It''s been days since I felt the warmth of a bed. At this point, the hard ground felt just as soft and weing too… I really want to sleep.


    But I can''t. Not yet.


    One more, I just need to do one more thing… the home stretch is here, can practically see the finish line right there so close, so very close to reaching it. This summoning was the final gauntlet, the trial to end all trials, I do this and I get my rest, I get my reprieve.


    And everything will finally be back to normal.


    Normal…


    It''s been so long since I used that word. I missed that word. What is normal, anyway? I''m pretty sure my definition of normal was already skewed beyond recognition.


    Even still, I wouldn''t trade that version of normal for anything else… and this little moment right here - sitting in the quiet, overlooking the view of a silent goo-infested cityscape, stroking the hair of a slumbering Elf?


    Pretty normal too by my standards.


    I heard footsteps again… gradually approaching from the empty doorway. Irene''s back, guess there wasn''t much to help Amanda out with it, after all.


    "How''s the circle looking?" I asked, not tearing my eyes away from the view. "Does it actually look like a circle?"


    Footsteps still… but no one answer.


    Didn''t hear me maybe…


    "Irene?" A little louder. "How did Amanda…?"


    This time I looked, this time I stared… the doorway was no longer empty, someone was standing there, staying there… someone that definitely didn''t belong.


    Someone tall, someonenky.


    I remembered seeing that checkered uniform, I remembered looking at those ck pants… and I certainly remember the shimmer of those thick-rimmed sses, how those eyes beyond it stared at me with such anger, such bitterness.


    Oh, how they stared so bitter.


    "Like a Kronocian Magus themself drew it out," He responded, his tone of voice so light and friendly. "Amanda always was a good artist."


    I remembered being taken in by that lightness once, that friendliness. I remembered liking his name… how it sounded. Just as light, just as friendly.


    But it never was.


    "Jay…"