The Awakening of Ren Crown (55 page)

But I was too busy to worry about normal.

I accidentally forked my hand at lunch one day.

Mike stared at me frankly. “You look terrible.”

“Gee, thanks.”

Delia raised a brow. “You do look terrible.”

“I haven't been sleeping much. I'll catch up this weekend.” There was no way that would be true, though. I had a full schedule planned for Saturday and Sunday.

“Ren, Ren, Ren. Sleep is for rejuvenation. The life force of all good mages.”

Olivia stabbed at a leaf in her salad. It was her version of a verbal sneer. I'd had to coax her to lunch today, and with Delia here, I had a feeling Olivia was regretting it.

“Will and Olivia barely sleep.” I felt it necessary to point out.

“As I said, the life force of all
good
mages,” Delia said.

Mike snickered, then jumped up, swearing.

Will innocently took another bite of his sandwich.

“Where's Nephyths?” Mike asked, rubbing his side as he sat back down.

“Practice.” I tried not to fork myself again as I attempted another stab at a tortellini.

“That's too bad. She'd help you.”

“You can transfer sleep to someone else?” I asked, interested.

Mike looked at me as if I were an idiot. “She's a Muse.”

I stared at him. “Oh.” That explained...a lot...and nothing at the same time. “She helps people feel restful? I do always feel great after being near her.”

Mike and Delia were looking at me like I was a moron. Olivia gave a large sigh.

Will smiled, and didn't hide the fondness in his eyes, which made me return his smile. “You didn't know?”

“I think I still don't. But you should probably explain it to me tomorrow.” I put my head down on my arms feeling slightly better, as I always did when I thought of my friends.

“
Dream of good things,”
Christian's voice soothed.

I took a tiny nap, hearing them arguing over me in my dreams, Delia demanding that someone tell me something and Will telling her to shut up.

Olivia nudged me awake and I looked up to see that we were the only two left. I contemplated my lack of sleep and whether I truly needed more as we left the cafeteria. The bright sunlight hurt. But I was fine. Just a few more weeks, then I could catch up.

Olivia stiffened next to me. I followed her gaze to a girl approaching us on the grass.

“Well, it if isn't little Miss Perfect Defender.” The girl sneered at Olivia.

It was really strange. The tablet was in my hand, and I was zapping the girl before I even realized it.

I promptly turned into a toad. I tried to swear, but only a croak emerged.

Olivia heaved another great sigh and stepped over me, shielding me. I could barely hear anything with my toad hearing, but I got the gist from Olivia's suddenly giant body movements that she was arguing vehemently on my behalf.

Or perhaps she was agreeing with the other girl, as to how stupid I was, but whichever it was, she was doing it vehemently. I was very proud.

The girl turned, nose in the air, and stomped off.

I turned my toad nose toward my roommate again. She looked at me, then at the tablet. She was considering what to do, I could see it on her face even from the great distance now between us. I gave a croak. She squatted down and nudged the tablet with her finger, then nudged me. I tried to look affronted, but all I managed was another croak and a sideways hop-slide. Being a toad made one entirely uncoordinated.

Olivia's brows furrowed. “Karmically based?”

I nodded my toad head. God, I was going to get it from Wellingham. Would he expel me for this? I gave a mournful croak.

Olivia sighed. “I can't believe to what levels I have sunk.” She touched the tablet with one finger and touched my toad head with another.

“Ren promises to clean the entrance hall of Dorm Twenty-Five.” She looked at me darkly. “Don't you Ren?”

I fervently nodded my little toad head beneath her finger. The magic swirled out of the tablet and around Olivia and into me.

Olivia gracefully rose and stepped back, as I transformed back into a girl.

“Ugh.” I frantically wiped my mouth. “Being a toad is awful.”

“Well, you shouldn't have done that.” Although, Olivia didn't look as irritated as I would have expected. The other girl was obviously not on her favorite person list.

“Yes, yes. But thanks. How did you know what to do?” I brushed my hands against my legs. I still felt vaguely toadish.

“Many things are karmically based in Old Magic households. One learns how to use the spells.”

“Well, thanks. The spell bound you to it too, didn't it?”

“Yes. But you will complete the task.” Or I will end you, was left unsaid. “Next time, hop on and make your own deal.”

I considered the tablet. “Hey, that's a great idea.”

If I was caught alone...as long as I was willing to pay the price... I gave a dark laugh and rubbed my hands together.

Olivia didn't seem to have any trouble interpreting the gesture. “Do it, and I won't take your case, if you get in trouble.”

“Olivia!” I put my hand to my heart. “Why would you say such a thing?”

She rolled her eyes and started walking back to the dorm. I hurried to follow.

“But what if I'm outnumbered?”

“In defense of yourself, the tablet likely won't penalize you.”

“Psshhh. Like it knows.” Of course, I well knew that the freaky thing did know.

She gave me an “I-can't-believe-I-put-up-with-you” look. “Did you intend to defend yourself?”

“Er...defend your honor?”

She shook her head.

“Defend my good name for being your roommate?”

“Ren.”

“Defend my future children's good names?”

“Your future toadlets or tadpoles, you mean?”

I stopped, my mouth hanging open. “Did you just make a joke?”

“No. And you look ridiculous. Close your mouth and come along.”

I hurried to catch up, smiling. “I think you did.” I poked her. “You made a joke. Good job, Olivia.”

“I will make a nice simmer hex under your toes too, if you poke me again.”

“Just let me bask in the wonder for a few more moments.” I tilted my head back toward the sun. “Oh, yeah. Yeah. Yeah, awesome.”

She rolled her eyes, but her expression wasn't as tight as usual as we ascended the stairs.

“
She's kind of hot when she loosens up,”
Christian mused.

“
Out, outitty, out, out! I need that soul to suck,”
his insane voice said.

I decided I didn't need sleep at all that night.

~*~

I hobbled painfully all the way to Nephthys's room the following day, after a few harried hours of botched experiments. She opened the door, took one look at me, and waved me inside.

Neph didn't say anything, as she patched me up. Again. Like everything about her from her waterfall of hair to her soft brown eyes, her magic was soothing as it dipped and delved and prodded the magic in my body to focus on regrowing my toe.

“You are really good at this.” And that was fortunate for me, because I couldn’t go to Dr. Greyskull. He would totally add two plus two and figure out what I was doing.

My black magic experiments kept demanding more from me.

“My mother is a healer and midwife. I've been helping her with this type of thing for a long time. And it is easy with you.”

I blinked at that. “Does she want you to be a healer too?”

“She is concerned that I will make little money in the arts. Dancing can be a poor field.”

“Yeah. My mom is a chemist. It is pretty obvious she wants me to be an architect rather than a painter.”

Nephthys waved her hand in a graceful arc over my foot, her magic pulling delicately on mine, and the toe stub began to push out slowly. “What do you want?”

“I don't know,” I said quietly. I wanted to raise Christian. I wanted to survive mostly intact. I wanted to be normal. “I really like engineering. Architecture is a good field for me, truly, but it feels a little like giving in to parental pressure.”

She made a little noise, between a sigh and a laugh. “Don't let someone else dictate your life path—by pressuring you or causing you to rebel. It is your choice how you react.”

“Thanks, Confucius.” There was a light pinch on my forming toe. “Hey, hey, hey, sorry, sorry!”

The pressure instantly stopped and she continued the gentle ministrations.

“So, where is your roommate?” I had never met her and Nephthys never said anything about her.

“She has a boyfriend. When we first arrived, we had to sleep here every night for four weeks in order to set the balancing magic. Now that that has passed, she rarely spends time here.”

“Doesn't that mess up the balancing magic?”

“No. As long as she sleeps here once a week, the magic renews.”

That reminded me of something I had been wanting to know. “Do you know how roommates get chosen?”

She nodded. “There is a lottery ball that identifies sympathetic magics between mages. It is available any time for students who want to use it. During the first season, roommates are chosen very specifically based on magic sympathy from the magic that goes into the system. For transfers, it is more based on available slots. It was the same at Sakkara.”

She sounded sad suddenly. I wondered if she felt the loss of her roommate from her original school. I felt a trickle of magic slide through my cuff toward her.

She smiled at me, then gracefully extended her fingers again and pulled my toe stub a bit longer. “If you feel discord in your magic when you first meet your roommate, you can request a change. A settling feeling, like a shield net, indicates at least an adequate level of sympathy.”

Oh. Maybe that was why Olivia hadn't killed me that first day or kicked me out. Based on that first meeting, we were in sympathy.

“Olivia and I are sympathetic then. But she didn't speak to me for weeks.” I'd really had to pull it out of her, being friends.

Neph shook her head. “Your magic can be sympathetic with enemies and incompatible with friends. All it means is that performing magic together is easier and stronger. The dorm rooms and sympathies facilitate a more restful rejuvenation for each mage. That is why we have to live here on campus until our magic is fully matured—to keep everything balanced. I'm sure you've noticed how prone to accident mages can be.”

To her credit she didn't point at my toe, which was actually starting to look like one. Toenail and all.

“Like how the cafeteria works?”

She nodded. “The magic balancing enchantment siphons off too-high energy and soothes too-low energy, tumbling over us as we eat. A small magical recharge shared and balanced over thousands. They like that explanation rather than the one where they are able to keep track of and calm us for a period of the day.”

I blinked.

“There.” She touched my toe and gave me a penetrating look. “Are you planning on losing any more digits?”

“No?”

I was really hoping I wouldn't lose a finger next. I needed those to paint. I was just happy things like this could be regenerated. At least so far.

I looked down, wiggling my toe. Milestone red was tomorrow. The serious rituals were about to begin. I had a gnawing feeling I wasn't going to be able to regrow the backlash from those.

But it would be too late to raise Christian even using black magic if I didn't gain some progress soon.

I straightened my shoulders and gave her a bright smile. “Thanks.”

Neph didn't say anything for a moment, then looked at me with an inscrutable expression. “Will told me that you talked about me being a muse.”

“Yes, though I still am not quite sure what that means. You inspire people?”

“That is part of it.” She tilted her head. “Muses are generally encouraged to join troupes. To inspire on a mass level. It’s a symbiotic relationship that helps the muses too.”

She carefully arranged a few veils—veils were draped over most of the surfaces on her side of the room. “Once we reach maturity, around sixteen or so, we gain access to our inspirational powers, and they can be great. But they come with cost. Anyone who knew you before, will still be able to look upon you. But if you are cast out of your group after sixteen...” She looked down. “It is very hard to be seen. Muses are like wraiths, silently helping those we come across, but not as people in our own right. Muses are very clan-oriented for this reason.”

I looked at the vying expressions on her face. “You left Sakkara.”

“I was no longer welcome at Sakkara,” she corrected. I waited, letting her decide whether to say more. “I have unfortunate family ties that impacted my enrollment and friendships there, and even here within the Muse community.”

That seemed decidedly unfair. “So, being...cast out?...it makes it hard to make friends?”

“Very. The community here had to take me—I'm too valuable—but accepting me isn't the same as embracing me.” She didn't look at me for a moment. “But you noticed me.”

“Well, you did say something to me that night in the library. You helped me.” I was the taker in this relationship. That thought made me anxious. “I'm not forcing you be friends with me, am I?”

“No. It doesn't work like that. I'm not a Jinn.” She smiled. “And back to your comment, a muse exists almost on the subconscious level. I say things to a lot of people, but they don't actively notice.”

I knew what it was like not to be noticed, or to be noticed...poorly. “It took some effort to see you,” I said, apologetically.

She smiled. “Of course it did, but you made the effort. That is what counts.”

“Can't people take, I don't know, Muse Appearance Pills?”

She laughed, and even that was soft and flowing. “Our energy automatically makes people want to look past us, to absorb our energy as their own. Compounding that, it is considered better to have access to many muses. Once you embrace one and force others to see her or him, other muses can't influence you.”

I blinked. “Ok.”

She looked a little uncertain. “It would have been lovely just being friends with you, but once you made the others see me...I'm your only muse now. You can...revoke seeing me, in order to regain mass access.”