by Jay Boyce
“You look...more human.” He was still considering her, unperturbed that she’d slapped his hand away.
“You still sound like a jerk.” She grumbled and started shoving pancake in again. She quickly finished the plate and scanned the surroundings, hoping to find the source of the deliciousness so she could get more. Not seeing any, she zeroed in on Raphael’s mostly untouched plate. He noticed too late, and she had already nabbed it and pulled it over to her, sticking the first bite of his pancake into her mouth as quickly as possible as she tried to speak at the same time. “Esh mon noa.” It came out completely garbled, but he seemed to get the hint.
With a sigh, he called out to Kaylee, “Can I get another plate? And get her something to drink so she doesn’t choke herself.”
“Fanksh!” She called out in muffled gratitude.
“Don’t talk. Just eat. Also, next time you should try to put clothes on before you come down here.” He was glowering at her disapprovingly again.
She glanced down, realizing that all she was wearing was underwear and an oversized tunic that came down to her skinny mid-thigh. She swallowed and enunciated, “What? It’s not like I’m naked.” Sure, she might not be the prettiest thing to look at, but what did he care?
“Do you not have any shame? You’re a woman exposing yourself in public.”
She stared at him, baffled. She was covered, okay!? So she was showing a little leg, what was the big deal? At least she didn’t have someone sponging her to get her clean! She shuddered inwardly. No more sponge baths, ever! Besides, she felt like hundreds of people had seen her skinny naked body at the hospital, and this shirt covered way more than a hospital gown did. She wasn’t flashing her butt at anyone, so what was the problem?
“Forget it. Just get dressed before you come down in the future.” He sounded utterly exasperated, but she was just confused. She’d do it, but she still didn’t get what the big deal was, so she just nodded, hoping to mollify him while she shoved food down her throat.
“Where is she putting it all? She’s nothing but skin and bones.” In a random lull in the room, one of the guy’s comments at the nearby table caught her attention, and she realized that at least half the people in the room were staring at her in a sort of horrified fascination.
Making eye contact, she grinned creepily and quipped into the now silent room, “Oh, this is nothing compared to when I drink the blood of my enemies.” The guy blanched and someone let out a muffled shriek until Raphael cuffed her lightly on the back of her head, ruining the moment. “What was that for?” She asked indignantly. He just gave her a look that spoke volumes, like ‘really?’ Shrugging, she went back to eating pancakes. She’d establish dominance another time.
She had just finished off her second plate when Kaylee brought out a new plate for Raphael and a full mug of what looked like orange juice for her. She glanced at it suspiciously, asking quietly, “It’s just juice this time, right?” At Raphael’s nod, she glared at him, then turned sweetly to Kaylee. “He’s going to need another plate.”
Raphael waved her off. “No, I should be good with this, ignore her.”
Jade shrugged. “Your loss.” Before he realized what she meant, she had grabbed the plate and stacked it on top of the others, already starting to gobble down the food. Raphael and Kaylee stared at her blankly, as did most of the other people who were now watching their table surreptitiously.
“I’ll just go get you another plate…” Kaylee murmured and walked away.
“Is your stomach a black hole? Seriously?”
She paused long enough to take a swig of orange juice before she responded nonchalantly, “Nope, it’s my soul, not my stomach.” He just stared at her somewhat helplessly, which was rather funny. She had reduced a grown man to speechlessness.
Also, apparently they knew about black holes here. Weird.
Chapter Ten – Magic
Seeing as he, as well as most of the rest of the room, were completely shut up and silent right now, she took the opportunity to study her stats. After all, all that eating and passing out and pain had to have done something, right? It was obvious enough that even Raphael had noticed a difference. She’d have to look in the mirror when she got back upstairs and see if she could tell what all had changed. For now, she mentally clicked on her profile and skills screens, bringing them up in front of her.
Name: Jade Winward
Age: 18
Strength: 8.80
Dexterity: 9.03
Constitution: 8.52
Intelligence: 16.09
Magic: 11.72
Charisma: 9.68
Luck: 14.07
Special Abilities: Siphon
Skills: Acrobatics, Appraisal, Archery, Athletics, Blood Magic, Bluff, Deception, Diplomacy, Dodge, Eating, Haggle, Healing Magic, Information Gathering, Insight, Intimidate, Light Armor, Light Magic, Mathematics, Navigation, Perception, Running, Sense Motive, Sleight of Hand, Small Blades, Stealth, Unarmed Combat, Walking, Wind Magic
Acrobatics
Beginner 2
80%
Appraisal
Beginner 2
35%
Archery
Beginner 2
5%
Athletics
Beginner 4
38%
Blood Magic
Beginner 2
90%
Bluff
Beginner 3
26%
Deception
Beginner 1
80%
Diplomacy
Beginner 4
35%
Dodge
Beginner 1
80%
Eating
Beginner 4
48%
Haggle
Beginner 1
20%
Healing Magic
Beginner 9
72%
Information Gathering
Beginner 5
12%
Insight
Beginner 4
20%
Intimidate
Beginner 2
60%
Light Armor
Beginner 1
80%
Light Magic
Beginner 2
25%
Mathematics
Beginner 4
10%
Navigation
Beginner 2
80%
Perception
Beginner 4
33%
Running
Beginner 3
0%
Sense Motive
Beginner 3
16%
Sleight of Hand
Beginner 3
50%
Small Blades
Beginner 2
5%
Stealth
Beginner 3
0%
Unarmed Combat
Beginner 2
5%
Walking
Beginner 3
85%
Wind Magic
Beginner 2
82%
Okay, she might have been a little overzealous in trying to grab new skills. Her page was slightly overwhelmingly ridiculous now. She had tried to grab a few of the skills she figured she would need eventually though. She needed to be able to defend herself and maybe use a weapon without hurting herself, so she’d given herself a few options.
At the same time, woot! She was getting closer to being a real girl! Er…a normal human, that is. Raphael was probably onto something when he said she looked more human. She was slowly, or actually rather quickly, stepping her way from living skeleton to zombie to human. She kinda had to laugh that she’d gotten eating as a skill though.
She wondered what the deal was with overlap. When was she bluffing versus deceiving someone? Was she doing both at the same time? If they were practically the same thing, what was the point of having them as separate categories? She mentally shrugged. Oh, the whims of the capricious god who made this system. They could h
ave made it nice and easy, but no…No wonder DnD limits character sheets to the basics.
“Are you done eating?” Raphael finally seemed to notice that she’d been spacing out after having cleaned her third plate. She shrugged and nodded, feeling a little lethargic now that she’d stopped moving. “Then why don’t you go get dressed and I’ll take you to the examinations.”
Jade pushed aside her plates, sticking her elbow on the table as she rested her chin on her fist, “Tell me about the examinations.”
He sighed. “Can I explain on the way?”
“No, but you can explain now. I’m not going anywhere until I know what I’m getting into.” She stubbornly dug her heels in. She watched him run his hands through his hair and wondered if this was what it was like to cause hair loss from stress.
“It’s simple. They’ll ask you about your profile, then have you demonstrate your physical abilities and any skills you’ve claimed.”
She pondered for a moment, then narrowed her eyes. “Are they expecting me?” He nodded warily. It seemed like he had realized that if he said the wrong thing she was going to throw a hissy fit. “What exactly did you tell them about me?”
He sighed. “Not much. They had already heard about the zombie healer and asked all staff to try and find her. I sent a message saying I’d found her and would bring her by today. And that you were a dual magic user.”
She was surveying him with unconcealed hostility at this point. “Did you mention what the other magic was?” Her voice had softened to a chill whisper.
“No, I didn’t. Why?” His wariness level had gone on red alert, and he responded quietly in kind. But at his response, she just smiled and shrugged.
“That’s fine then. You’re to keep what you saw last night to yourself.”
He shook his head. “But I already told them you’re a dual wielder…”
“Don’t you worry about that. I’ll handle it, as long as you didn’t say what it was. Pass it on to Jessica and Kaylee. I don’t want it being spread.”
He looked baffled. “But why?”
She growled, “Because I don’t want to be associated with being a zombie. So that should be the last time you mention that as well. Capiche?” He looked a little rattled as if he hadn’t considered that before. She leaned over the table, staring him down from about a foot away. “Are we crystal clear?”
“Fine. I’ll talk to them.” Oh good, she could reason with the man.
“Cool. I’ll be down when I’m done. Also, if you can get me a spare pocket watch, that’d be cool. I’m sick of not knowing what time it is.” Plus she wanted to tinker with it, but hey, that could wait. Standing up, she walked confidently back up to the stairs, ignoring the whispered conversations and gazes that followed her.
She made it back to her room and considered just changing into fresh clothes, then changed her mind. He could wait! Grabbing a change of clothes, she headed back to the bathroom. She had decided it was time for another first, a bath all by herself!
Filling up the tub and stripping down, she luxuriated in the feeling of being submerged in water. She scrubbed herself with a bar of soap she’d found in her desk, frowning at its roughness. Soap really needed to be first on her list of inventions. How did people get by here!?
She was supremely happy to note that her ribcage was no longer fully visible at rest. It was as she was staring at the phenomenon of not having her ribs stick out like a sore thumb that she noticed… Oh my gosh, I have boobs! Granted, they were tiny little mosquito bites, but there was a tiny bump where it had been totally flat before. Laughing happily, she did a little happy dance in the tub and promptly sent a ton of water splashing over the side. “Oops.” Having finished washing, she stood up and realized that not only had she already gotten water all over the floor… She had also forgotten to bring a towel. She hadn’t even seen one in her room.
Shivering in the air, she considered using her dirty tunic to wipe off, but she also didn’t want to leave water all over the floor, and it would take a lot of mopping up before her tunic would cut it. Grumbling, she stepped out of the tub, since the floor was already super wet anyway, pulling the plug on the tub so it would start draining. Apparently she needed to invent bathroom mats too.
Seeing her reflection in the mirror, she had an epiphany. She focused on the water, thinking, It’s just one of the components of blood. If I can control blood, how hard could water be? It’s like going down a step. Slowly, she felt that warm tingly sensation in her hands as the water started to collect into a ball. It was suuuuper slow though. Exasperated, she started collecting the water from her body with her right hand, then used her left to fluff her hair.
Ugh, I would kill for a blowdryer right now…but I can’t invent that. Stupid things needing electricity. And then it was like a light bulb smashed her over the head. Splitting her attention, she focused on the currents of the air. If she could coat her hand with wind like Raphael had coated his sword… The warm tinglies let her know she was on the right track, so she started fluffing her hair with her very own hand wind-dryer.
When she was finally dry, she’d siphoned all the water off the floor and back into the tub where she’d unceremoniously deposited it. She quickly got dressed, feeling refreshed. She wiggled happily out of the bathroom and towards her room, singing softly, “Do you believe in magic, magic, maaaaaaaaaaagic.” Thinking about it, she was a little bummed that she no longer had access to awesome bands at the click of a finger. A world without music was going to suck. Not as much as being trapped in a hospital bed, so she didn’t really want to go back. Still, she was going to miss music.
Dressed in her snazzy new clothes once more, she wondered if whoever had given them to her made them big on purpose. If they had been as close-fitting as the shirt she woke up in, she would have outgrown them pretty quickly.
Making her way down the stairs slightly more gracefully than when she was in zombie mode before breakfast, she entered the common room again. There were more people now, and she looked around for Raph, seeing him talking to several of the student people at one of the tables. Smiling, she walked over and announced, “Let’s do this thang!” When one of the students backed up, startled by her outburst, and promptly bumped into her, she sat down heavily and muttered, “You threw off my groove.”
“Sorry, what was that?” The kid was peering guiltily at her while she rubbed her shin.
She shook her head, waving him off. “Don’t worry about it…” You wouldn’t understand even if I tried to tell you. My pop culture references are completely lost on you people. Raphael had stood up by this point, straightening his clothes.
“You’re finally ready?”
“No, I just announced I was as a joke.” She bit back sarcastically. He raised a brow and she sighed in exasperation. “Fine, let’s go already.” He considered her quizzically, and she couldn’t help but retort, “Just let it go.” It was getting increasingly harder for her to not burst into Disney songs. When she learned ice magic, she was going to have fun trying to recreate it. Maybe she’d be an actress?
She had absently followed Raphael outside, smiling when he held the door open for her. Who said chivalry was dead? She did stop for a moment when she got outside to squint at the sparkling sunshine again. When was she going to get used to the light? Light? Was she forgetting something? “Hey, wait up!” She realized Raphael had already started off and she hurried to catch up, stilting quickly over behind him.
“Still not used to walking?”
She glared. “Still? It’s only day freaking two. I bet it took you at least two years to learn to walk! I’m miles ahead of you.”
He appeared confused at something she’d said, but she wasn’t sure what and he didn’t seem to be in the mood to elaborate. “Whatever. Can we just go? They were expecting us an hour ago.” She raised her brow and deliberately slowed down. He had started walking and only glanced back when he realized she wasn’t behind him anymore. “For heaven’s sake, can you just w
ork with me here?” He muttered as he stomped back to her grumpily.
She crossed her arms and stopped altogether. “First off, you never gave me a time. Secondly, until you give me a watch, I’ll have no idea what time it is. Third, I’m not your subordinate, so stop trying to order me around. Fourth, I didn’t even want to do this today, so don’t get all snippy on me just because I’m not pumped to follow your little plan. I’m not a puppet to dance on your strings. If this is going to be an issue, then we can call the whole thing off right now and I’ll find somewhere else to stay. I’m sure a bunch of people would be happy to have a healer live with them.”
She was ranting, but he appeared dumbfounded. Running a hand through his hair, he defended himself quietly, trying not to draw any more attention than they were already. “Look. My job is to keep the students at The Green Dragon in line so they don’t get in trouble. I’ve been treating you like I treat any one of them.”
She glowered, but it made a little bit of sense. Still, she retorted, “Well I’m waiting until tomorrow to do this exam thing. I don’t even know that I want to join your little academy.”
He contemplated the sky as if he was silently asking for patience. “Please don’t call it a little academy in front of the examiners. Also, if you pass the examinations, you’ll get a pass to the library.” He had now resorted to bribery...and she admitted it was actually pretty tempting. She really wanted to rub her pass in that guy Lucas’ face. Though how he knew she wanted to visit the library was a mystery, until she reflected on it some more and realized he was the boss of The Green Dragon. The real question was, how much of their conversations were Jessica and Kaylee reporting to him? Either way, she supposed she did want that library pass sooner than later.
“Fine.” She grudgingly gave in, and he nodded gratefully, turning to walk again, glancing back every few seconds to make sure she was still tottering behind him. Surprise, surprise, he led her to the huge government building in Priom Square. Going inside, he greeted the dude at the desk and led her to the left. The dude was appraising her curiously, and she nodded politely to him.
