After finishing her test, Fae found herself walking a different way home. As she made her way through downtown and into a quiet residential area, it was clear her legs were carrying her somewhere else altogether.

Before long, she entered an apartment building and pressed the button for the elevator. While she waited, she glanced around. For being a place where people lived, it was eerily quiet.

A few moments later, the elevator arrived. Like the lobby, it was completely empty. She stepped inside and pressed the button for the thirteenth floor. The door closed, and the elevator moved up with a lurch.

Usually, she would feel the movement of the elevator in her stomach, but this time, it didn’t feel like much. She reached the 13th floor and proceeded down the walk way. To her right, she could see the neighborhood stretching back farther, and cars on the roads in the distance.

Finally, she reached the door she was looking for. She hesitated, but then brought her hand up, knocking lightly. It swung open almost immediately.

“We don’t want any!” Vi yelled, then lowered her voice when she saw Fae. “Oh, it’s you.”

Out of the three people that could have answered, this was the one she was hoping for the least. After all, it was only yesterday that Vi tried to burn her to a crisp.

“Hello again…” Fae mumbled.

“You need something?”

“I… have questions,” she said. “Is, um, Yune here?”

Vi poked her head out of the door and looked around. “Come on then,” she grabbed Fae by her arm and yanked her into the apartment, slamming the door behind her.

The room was just as spotless as before. Much cleaner than her apartment, and probably much cleaner than most places where humans lived. It made sense. If what Yune had told her was true, she wasn’t dealing with humans.

“Yune’s in the shower,” Vi said, walking into the kitchen. “FYI, she can take pretty long ones. You sure you wanna hang around?”

“Um, yes, that’s fine,” Fae said.

“Well don’t just stand there,” Vi yelled. “Come sit down or something. You’re pissing me off.”

She scuttled out from the doorway and into the living room.

“Oh my, it’s the demon girl,” The woman in the black dress jumped out from behind one of the couches. “I heard the knock at the door and got all scared for nothing.”

“H-Hello… Ms. Minerva,” Fae jumped. “I’m sorry, were you expecting someone?”

“Yes,” Minerva shuttered. “The pizza delivery girl. She gives me the heebie-jeebies.”

“I… see.”

“You dumbass,” Vi sighed. “Stop ordering pizza if it freaks you out so much.”

“It doesn’t make sense,” Minerva cried. “They should have lots of people delivering. Why does it always have to be that same girl?”

“Order from a different place then.”

“….No.”

That’s right. With how nice Yune was, Fae had almost forgotten how insane these other two were.

“Fae!” A voice echoed from the hallway. As if on cue, Yune appeared like a guardian angel to save her from the pizza delivery related argument.

She was scantily covered with a towel, and her skin was light blue and translucent. If that wasn’t enough, her eyes were green and pupil-less. When Yune rescued her from Vi’s attack, Fae thought her eyes were deceiving her when she saw her slime-like appearance. It appeared that she hadn’t be hallucinating.

“Hello,” Fae said, trying not to stare, though she supposed she would just be seeing the television through her. “Thank you again for yesterday. For everything.”

“Of course,” Yune waved her hand. “How are you?”

“Well about that,” Fae took a deep breath. “I… didn’t sleep last night. I don’t even feel tired. I haven’t eaten,” she took off her glasses. “And I… don’t seem to um, need these anymore.”

“Oh well now, this is interesting,” Minerva quickly scuttled up to her, clenching her fingers in front of her like she wanted to grab and squeeze her. “So scrumptious.”

Fae recoiled.

“Ms. Minerva, please,” Yune sighed, pulling up her towel. “Can’t you see that she’s scared? The poor thing.”

Vi glared at her from the kitchen. Fae wasn’t sure why, but it seemed like she hated her. That or she hated everyone.

“I just want to know what’s going on,” Fae said. “Yesterday you said I was… turning into a demon. What exactly does that mean?”

“We told you already,” Vi said. “You’re a familiar, just like me and Yune. You’re someone’s bitch now.”

“Language,” Yune pouted.

“You’d best be a good little bitch when whoever your master is comes around,” Vi ignored her. “You only exist because someone’s letting you. They cut off your mana and you’re gone. Poof.”

“Vi, you don’t know that,” Yune said. “It might not work that way for someone that started off human.”

“Well I’m sure we’ll find out sooner or later.”

It took a moment for Fae to realize what Vi was saying. “I’m going to disappear?”

“Sure are. If your master doesn’t cut you off, they’ll kick the bucket eventually, and you’ll go with them,” Vi moved her thumb in front of her neck like she was cutting it. “Humans don’t live forever. Don’t tell me you’ve already forgotten that.”

Fae stood motionless. “Isn’t there… isn’t there anything you can do? You’re magic, right? Isn’t there some spell you can cast on me to change me back to normal?”

“Fae, sweetheart, I’m sorry to say that isn’t how magic works,” Yune said.

“You said that this has never happened before so maybe it can work that way,” Fae said, starting to panic. “This just happened yesterday. Maybe it’s not finished yet. Maybe it can still be stopped.”

Yune shook her head.

“Please… you have to help me,” Fae was starting to shake.

“Quiet,” Minerva said, looking Fae up and down like she was a lion sizing up its prey. She reached out and grabbed Fae by the shoulders, forcing her to look directly into her eyes.

“Hey, what are you doing?”

“Not yesterday,” her voice was soft, and she sounded much more collected than Fae had heard her before.

“Huh?”

“This is not something that happened yesterday,” Minerva moved just inches away from her face. “Hold still.”

“Hold still?”

The lights in the room flickered. Minerva’s hair snaked in the air like each strand possessed a mind of its own.

“What… What are you doing?” Fae asked.

“Fae, don’t talk!” Yune yelled. “Don’t move a muscle!”

Fae’s muscles locked up. She couldn’t move even if she wanted to, which she desperately did. Minerva was so close, her forehead was pressed up against hers.

Everything started to sway. Fae had never been in an earthquake before, but this must have been what one felt like, if earthquakes happened in your brain that is.

Minerva gripped her shoulders harder, and her dress moved like a gale force wind was hitting her. White energy came from her arms like flames, licking Fae all over her body. It hurt. Everything hurt. She was going to be swallowed by it.

And just like that, it all stopped. Minerva stood in front of her like nothing had happened.

Fae took a labored breath, struggling to keep herself from collapsing. If she still had any doubts about the existence of magic, they were completely crushed.

“Holy shit,” Vi opened a can of beer.

Yune once again adjusted her towel to keep it from slipping. “Are you alright, Ms. Minerva?”

“I’ve touched your mana,” Minerva was almost emotionless. “It’s matured.”

“Matured?”

“This is something that has been stored away for years and years, slowly becoming more potent. A magic aged like fine wine.”

“So she’s been a familiar this whole time?” Vi took a gulp of her drink. “Like she thought she was human but actually wasn’t and all that?”

“No,” Minerva said. ‘This girl was most definitely human up until yesterday.”

“Oh,” Vi sounded disappointed. “That would have been hilarious. Like your whole life would have been a lie and stuff.”

Fae failed to find the humor in the situation. Still, she was relieved to know that she was at least human for most of her life, even with her connection to Jaden.

“In any case, this is becoming clearer and clearer,” Minerva said. “Yes… I see.”

“...I don’t.”

“Whatever they did to you,” Minerva smirked, her eyes wide. “They did it at least ten years ago.”

Ten years? The gravity of the number hit her like a train.

“I think I need to sit down,” Fae said.

“Sit down then, dumbass,” Vi crumpled her beer in her hand.

Fae moved to the leather couch and let her legs give out. What did that even mean? Had she been a ‘demon’ for ten years already? Had whatever magic inside of her only turned her into one the previous day? This was too much.

“Can you remember ever experiencing anything strange when you were a child?” Yune asked. “Any strange feelings? Any unexplained illnesses?”

She felt like her mind had been wiped blank. “I don’t know.”

“Stop being all dramatic,” Vi said. “Just think, dumbass.”

“Vi, enough,” Yune shot her a look. “Fae, you need some time to process this. I’m sure you’ll remember something.”

“Okay…” Fae quivered.

“Yes, all very interesting. Now if you’ll excuse me,” Minerva said, flipping her hair. “I have a pizza to wait for.” With that, she strutted out of the room with a content grin on her face.

“Alright,” Yune said, full of energy. “Let’s go out.”

“I’m sorry, what?”

“Let’s go downtown. We can go shopping or something,” she said. “You need to get your mind off of all this demon business.”

“Oh, that’s alright…”

“Come now, it’ll be fun,” she cut her off. “Just give me a moment to get dressed and we’ll leave.” With that, she hurried off, almost losing her towel in the process.

“She’s really gonna make you go ya know,” Vi said. “If you want out of it, now’s your chance.”

Fae looked to the door. She could go right then, and never come back. As crazy as they were, and as interested as Minerva seemed in her, she doubted they would ever bother her again if she didn’t want them to. Maybe if she just tried to forget about all of it, it would all just go away. There wasn’t even any proof that what they were saying about magical familiars was true in the first place.

No. She couldn’t. She had seen too much to be able to just forget. If she was going to get help, there was no one else to get it from.

“I’ll wait,” she choked out.

Vi shrugged. “Whatevs.”

“Okay, let’s get going,” Yune’s soothing voice echoed from the hallway. “You too, Vi.”

“Alright, I didn’t want to be here alone with the goth princess anyway.”

Yune walked back out into the living room. Her skin was finally back to looking like a human, as were her eyes. Her clothes were like something out of a preppy kid’s dream. Nothing Fae felt like she could pull off, but it looked perfect on Yune, even with her blue hair.

“I, um, like your outfit,” Fae stammered. Giving out compliments wasn’t her strong suit.

“Thanks,” Yune beamed, glancing down to admire herself.

“Give me a break,” Vi groaned. “If we’re going let’s go.”

“Oh you,” Yune giggled. It seemed that the compliment was well appreciated. “Ms. Minerva! We’re all going out. I left money for your pizza on the table.”

“Better leave at least fifty bucks,” Minerva yelled from the other room. “I ordered all the toppings.”

Vi rolled her eyes.

The three of them left the complex and walked toward downtown at a leisurely pace. Walking between the two of them felt strange. She couldn’t remember the last time she had walked around with someone other than her brother.

“So what’s your favorite place to go?” Yune asked.

“Oh, um, I don’t know,” she said. “I don’t really go downtown much. I guess the bookstore?”

“Lame,” Vi sighed. “Word sandwiches. Who needs ‘em?”

“They’re not lame,” Fae snapped, surprising herself.

“If you don’t have anything nice to say,” Yune held up her finger with a confident smile. “Keep thinking because you should really say something nice.”

Fae giggled. “I don’t think that’s how the saying goes.”

“I think that’s the first time I’ve heard you laugh, Fae!”

She was right, and that hadn’t been from Jaden either. This laugh was hers and hers alone.

They were joined by more and more people on the sidewalk as they arrived downtown.

“The bookstore it is,” Yune wrapped herself around Fae’s arm.

“Okay,” Fae said. “I’ll show you my favorite book.”

“You two do that,” Vi said. “I’ll wander around a bit.”

They found the bookshop and went inside. Fae was greeted by the familiar fragrance of printed paper. If the strange apartment was Yune’s world, this was hers. A world of quiet and ‘word sandwiches’.

“So show me your favorite,” Yune gave a thumbs up. “I’d love to read your recommendation.”

“Okay,” Fae said. “Over here.”

They were lucky enough to have the store mostly to themselves. They walked through the aisles, before stopping in front of a section marked ‘mysteries’.

“So it’s a mystery then,” Yune said.

“Yes, but probably not the kind of you're thinking of,” Fae said.

“Do tell.”

“They aren’t fair-play,” Fae said.

It was obvious from Yune’s expression that she had no idea what she was talking about.

“Oh, um, sorry,” Fae blushed. “The main character is always getting help with solving the mystery through her intuition and coincidences. That’s against fair-play rules so…”

“What's wrong with that?”

“Well, um, I guess nothing is wrong with it,” Fae said. “It just makes it hard for the reader to try and solve the mystery along with the characters.”

“Hmm,” Yune put her hand on her chin and looked around the bookshelf. “So which one is it?”

“These ones,” she grabbed the first volume off the shelf. “These are my favorites. The Bookshop of Mysteries.”

“The man on the cover is quite handsome, isn’t he?” Yune sounded giddy.

“Oh, uh, well yes, he is.”

Fae looked down at the book in her hands. This was what having a friend was like. Jaden’s emotions had gotten so out of hand that she stopped dealing with people. She was used to being alone, but spending time with someone wasn’t so bad.

"It’s happening! It’s seriously happening!” someone yelled, shattering the quiet atmosphere of the store.

“No fucking way. Look at those people outside!” someone else said.

People started running for the door to get a look, but Fae stayed put. She could feel something building in the air, like it was getting heavier. What in the world was going on?

“Fae,” Yune put her arm around her shoulder. “We should leave.”

She nodded. They made their way out of the store and into the street. Nearby, a huge mass of people stood, completely blocking the flow of traffic.

“What is this?” Fae asked. The air changed again, making her skin tingle. Her hands ached. When she looked down at her fingernails, she saw that were sharp and gleamed like knives.

“Come on, let’s move away from it,” Yune pulled her in the opposite direction of the crowed. “We need to find Vi.” She pulled out a cellphone and put it to her ear.

“I don’t feel… right,” Fae mumbled.

“It went straight to voicemail,” Yune said. “We’ll have to go without her for now.”

It was getting harder and harder to breathe, but she wasn’t in pain. In fact, it felt amazing. Yune’s hair was the most vibrant color she had ever seen. She could pick out hundreds of smells on the street. It was like all of her senses were cranked up to eleven.

She felt alive. She wanted to tell Yune, but she couldn’t get her mouth to form the words.

Yune was looking at her now. Why wasn’t she smiling? Her eyebrows were knitted as she scrutinized her. Was she worried? Was it about whatever was happening downtown?

No, it wasn’t that. Yune looked like she was worried about her. Why? Fae opened her mouth to speak, but a shriek rang out before she could say anything. To better explain it, she was the one shrieking, and she sounded insane.

Yune threw up her hand to muffle the scream. In an instant, Fae’s mouth was filled with a strange jelly-like substance.

Fae choked, spitting it up all over the sidewalk. The people around recoiled to avoid what they must have assumed as vomit. It was humiliating, but at least she wasn’t screaming anymore.

“Are you okay now?” Yune asked.

“I think so,” Fae said, wiping her mouth.

“We’re going to have to go back to the apartment. Hopefully Vi will do the same.”

Downtown was in a frenzy, with people running, cars stopped in the street, and police sirens everywhere. It took around a half an hour to get back, and for the first time since what happened in the bathroom the previous day, she felt exhausted.

They opened the door. Minerva was on the couch watching TV, an empty pizza box sitting on the table in front of her.

“You’re back,” Minerva said without turning toward them.

“Ms. Minerva,” Yune quickly walked over to her, leaving Fae in the doorway. “Has Vi come back yet?”

“I’m right here,” a voice echoed from the kitchen.

Fae walked into the living room, looking over to see Vi in her usual state of beer drinking.

Yune breathed a sigh of relief.

“Oh stop, I’m fine.”

Fae glanced down at her fingers. As far as she could tell, they were their normal length and sharpness. Had she just imagined it? Why had she reacted so bizarrely?

She looked over to the TV. The news was talking about downtown stopping in time again. She was skeptical when she read about it last night, but after today, she was much more inclined to believe.

She wasn’t sure what was happening in the city, but she had the uncanny feeling that it wasn’t going to stop.

Then it hit her.

She hadn’t felt Jaden’s emotions all day.