{Ithelyn}

Walking back together I couldn’t help but wonder. What if Alice had caught onto my lie? If she had figured out what was wrong with me, would she keep it to herself or would she... ‘No. I shouldn’t think like that. Alice has only shown me kindness till now... even despite my many flaws. If she had figured it she would want to talk about it. I doubt she would just sell me out... at least I hope so.’ A glance over to her, I only saw a happy girl making silly faces to the back of the teacher.

While I certainly didn’t mind having to do penalty work together with Alice, in truth it had mostly been a way of distracting her. Because even now I could feel the teachers magic waft of her like the smell of freshly baked bread. A quick, probing lick over my canines told me all I needed to know.

Considering what had happened earlier this morning and now with the small fangs I had grown, I was almost sure that I had gotten infected with a sanguine variant of the virus. What I didn’t understand was why my medicine had stopped working. Sure, I had started feeling weirdly ever since I had brewed the newest batch but the recipe itself was solid.

After all I had paid decent amounts of money just for the information of a possible cure alone. The Witch itself, a certain Lena Dutrar hadn’t even wanted money. Instead she had asked for some of my blood and a lock of hair... ‘Wait a fricking minute... Dutrar... Didn’t Alice just give that exact last name to the teacher!?’ I could barely hold in my surprise now that I had realized the connection. No wonder that I had thought for Alice's aura to remind me of a demon’s. It was probably stained just like her relative’s had been.

And yet with hers it was so much more pronounced. The way it fluctuated and sparked, I would have thought for my new found hunger to be attracted to her. But despite her power her essence felt almost stale, unripe, as if there was but a sliver of a soul. My eyes grew wide in shock not because of what this said about her but what it said about me.

It had already begun... If it was Essence that I was hungering for then that meant my soul was already breaking down. Gods be damned, if I didn’t find a cure I would be forced to change just so that I could survive!

“Shit!”

“Ithelyn? Everything alright?” Alice looked at me with a quite spooked expression.

“Sure! Yeah! Why wouldn’t it be?” In less than a split second my smile was back.

“Okay... so if you dent walls when everything is going fine... then what do you do when angry?”

“Huh, what do you mean?”

Instead of answering me Alice just pointed to the wooden panelling right next to me. A rough chuckle escaped me when I noticed the severe dent in one of the boards. I had barely realised that I had lashed out in my frustration. And just as one would expect just now that I was actually looking at it the pain set in. My hand hurt as if I had grabbed right into a cactus, which wasn’t surprising considering the half a dozen or so splinters in it.

A sharp inhale of air accompanied another, this time much louder: “Shit!”

“Lyn!”

“I'm fine... I’m fine. Gosh! Damn this hurts! Alice... I... I’m not good with blood.” I hadn’t been able to stomach the sight ever since I had almost bleed out in a dusty, old Mediterranean dig site. “Could you tell me how bad it is? Please?”

“Lyn.” The mirth in her voice was barely hidden. “Could you please hold that expression for a bit?”

Before I could stop her, a sudden flash already startled me. ‘Fudge! Ah, tits! This hurts even worse than my hand!’ I was still reeling from the sudden blindness, not understanding what had happened, when I felt two soft hands gently touch my face. She held me protectively and gave me a soft kiss on the forehead.

“I knew it... Lyn, you are seriously hurting aren’t you?” Slowly my vision returned and could see Alice's concerned expression. “You can feel your skin itch under the sun, no? Bright lights pains your eyes and your hearing seems more sensitive than normal. I saw your teeth... how far along are you? Discoloration of gums? Black spots on your nails?”

“How do you...” I held in for a moment. “How do you know all that? How did you even figure it out? Nobody ever noticed...”

“I... I didn’t know but I suspected something when I heard your name. My mother, she had told me about a client of hers. Weird looks, weird name and an even weirder problem. That was you wasn’t it? Ithelyn Dawnstar, that is certainly not a common name.”

“No, no... I bet it isn’t.” The pain in both my eyes and my hand had finally numbed enough for me to think straight. Looking into her eyes I saw no fear within Alice; no hatred or contempt either. In fact she seemed genuinely concerned about me.

“So... what will you do now? Are you... going to tell anyone about my... condition?” My fingers clenched tightly in frustration, despite the pain.

“No.”

“No?” I couldn’t believe my own ears. “Are you serious!?”

“Yes. Yes, I am. Why wouldn’t I be?” Alice’s mouth twitched into a smirk. “Well, there is one condition...”

“A condition?”

“Of course! After all this means that I am letting a potentially dangerous infected run around without telling anybody about it.”

“ Okay... I get it.” ‘I should have expected to be blackmailed with this. Just not from her, she seemed so nice.’

“Go on, tell me your price, Alice.” I wasn’t even upset about it I was just... sad.

“Hmmmm... well first of all I want you to pay for all my ice cream from now on.” She put her fingers on her chin as if thinking really hard about it.

“Excuse me?”

“I also demand at least four hugs every day. And a good morning kiss!”

“Uhm...”

“Right! Obviously cuddles and the generous sharing of blankets. I also want pillows, like all the pillows, enough to build a nest or fortress!”

“Huh...” By now I was entirely lost, what was going on here?

“In other words, I wish for... how do posh people say it again? Right, I wish for you to court me!”

“You...” I blinked a few times in surprise. “You want a relationship... with me!?”

“Of course, you silly!”

“That... uhm... woah... holy... ahhhhh!” Overwhelmed by my feelings I just rushed straight at her and embraced her in a big hug. I couldn’t believe my own luck. I had been having a crush on this girl before I even knew her name! And she just... she literally just asked me out! ‘By all the hells and all the gods. I no longer care for being sick, just the idea of having an actually real relationship... I could almost cry! I have been waiting for this day for years! Oh my, oh my, oh my! She... she is really okay with me!? Wait! What do I do with all my BDSM equipment... what if she isn’t into that? What if she thinks I am weird!? And my sickness... I could infect her, no? Was this really a good idea? What if she dislikes the scar? What if...’

“...lyn. Ithelyn! Air! I need air to breathe you know?”

“Oh Gods! I am so sorry!” I immediately put Alice back down and checked her over. Except for her messed up clothes and the shoulder she seemed fine. “I didn’t hurt you, did I? I am so sorry! I mean, I did notice myself inexplicably growing stronger the last few weeks but I really don’t want to cause you any harm!”

“Lyn. I’m fine. If I was actually hurt I would tell you. And besides, I’m the kinda gal that can casually walk of broken bones. You need a bit more than a little squeeze to injure me.” Upon saying this, Alice threw a playful jab towards my midriff. “So if you ever wanna spar, I’m your girl! Gotta freshen up on my skills anyway. Might as well do it with some who can actually dish out a good punch.”

“Wait.” I was taken aback by this. “Are you telling me you did martial arts!?”

“Yup. For a good five years a so. Got really in to kickboxing.” She certainly hadn’t struck me as a fighter. But looking at her now I could see the outlines if well defined muscles beneath her pale skin. Sure they weren’t as pronounced as my own, but I also had an edge on most people... with the whole MAV thing going on. While I was still imagining her in tight fitting sport gear she went on.

“But yeah, I had to stop when I dangerously injured a fellow trainee. Volatile magic is apparently no good in fair matches. I got a permanent ban out of it too. Oh, hey look at that our cabin is still open!”

“Huh?” I sheepishly looked at my new friend. “Sorry, I was a bit lost in thoughts.”

“Mhm... I can imagine; the way you were staring at my ass I bet that they were some nice thoughts.”

“He- Hey! How dare you; you damned tease!”

Before I could punish her for the insolence, she had already disappeared into the cabin with an impish smile.

. . . . .

{Alice}

“So! Now that we’re all together, I guess we could start with introducing each other. If my dear Lyn would finally fix the door that is. How is it going?”

“Shush! I almost got it... Patty would you? Yeah, that way... just need to. Ah!!!” A sudden crash and surprised scream later, the sliding door was finally back where it belonged.

Though I had to admit the new bump on Lyn’s forehead looked rather entertaining. Though despite all of it I couldn’t help but feel as if her Spirit hat been constantly watching me. Less of a Raven and of a hawk that one. Sure, Hugin was surprisingly cordial for a spirit but I had to wonder what was on his mind, to not immediately freak upon seeing me. After all the other two spirits were still glowering at me as if I had insulted their parents... not that I really knew if spirits had parents.

“Okay, so imma begin!” Clapping on my thighs I got up and went down into a totally unnecessary curtsey. “The name as the three of you have already noticed is Alice Dutrar. And I am enrolled for the basic and advanced magical education classes. I am twenty-one years old and have never held a job for more than a few months! Oh! I’m also a greater animagus from birth.”

“I guess I’ll go next.” Patty said with a shrug, though I could see that something was still eating at her. “I’m Patty Ria Tanner. Am twenty-three and I’m a mechanic by trade; I was studying engineering before I bloomed into my powers. I guess that is all...ah, right, just like Alice I am also here for basic and advanced magics.”

She looked at Lyn for a while but that one was busy staring out of the window. Apparently unsure as to how to talk to her, Patty turned her gaze to the other student with us. The slip of a girl hadn’t said anything ever since the two of us had come back. Instead she had only stared at Lyn and me as if she was looking at ghosts. When she finally did speak up her voice was calm and quite, it almost reminded me of an icy lake.

“I am called Freya. There is little to nothing interesting about me... yet you...” This time she directly addressed me. “You smell of carrion and foul magic. You attract trouble.” With this she went back to the book she had been reading, not even bothering to look at any of us.

“Ooooo...kay. That was... ominous.” Despite the entirely ruined atmosphere I leaned over to Ithelyn. “Wanna tell us about yourself?”

“Huh?” When she looked towards me I could have sworn to see a little blood trickle down her lower lip. “Sorry Alice. I was a bit absent minded. But yeah, I can talk about myself.”

Wiping away the suspiciously red drool, Ithelyn sat up straight and gave us a perfectly lovely and absolutely faked smile.

“I, as you have probably already figured out, am Ithelyn. My interests are deeply rooted in witchcraft, summoning and general occultisms. As an avid student of the field I am written in for the advanced courses as well as the archaeology courses. My dream is to step into my father’s footsteps and research ancient rites and forgotten magic. And I think... yeah, that’s all about me! I truly hope that we will get along!”

My frown deepened when I saw her entire frame fall in on itself as soon as she stopped talking. I didn’t doubt the honesty of her words, but it was clear to me that she had other things on her mind. In fact her entire body language was extremely defensive. So much so, that I wondered how long she had been suppressing her sickness.

Some who got infected with MAV never showed any signs of the affliction and in others in only broke out long after their youth. In those above thirty it usually manifested like so many other STDs. A treatable disease that had the mild side effect of attacking their Essence. Only in those still young were the consequences truly damaging. Not only did it aggressively destroy their Essence but it also twisted them into often bloodthirsty hunters out for prey, be it solely to feed or to restore their lost Essence by ripping it from other beings.

There were many different expressions of the disease with the most common being the so called “Ghoul-strain”. Afflicted usually ended up turning into flesh devouring, crazed beasts in less than a month. The changes always affected mind and body. In the end there was often nothing else to do but put them out of their misery.

But what my mother had told me about an afflicted girl looking to suppress her symptoms, her description was spot on. The only problem being that this had been almost two years ago. If this was truly what Lyn had gone through... then her soul was in shambles. It was no wonder she had been acting strange.

No soul wished to degenerate... by stopping the transformation that accompanied her infection, she was actively killing herself. ‘And... I do not wish for her to die... I... I must fallen for her. Otherwise I can not explain just why I desire to save her. Maybe there is such a thing as fate? No matter. I already know what I must do.’

In this moment on the train we both rode to our future I made a decision that, unbeknownst to me, would interfere with things that had been set in motion millennia ago. I didn’t know back than how much I would change... but I would get the first hints soon enough.