Dear Diary,

So apparently the whole 'more book learning in Basic Mana Shaping' is a massive understatement. Also, it's a little weird being in a class with kids who just started at PCHA a couple weeks ago. Still, about the only thing that stuck today were the names of the four 'schools' of magic; Mana Shaping or 'spells', Elementalism, Summoning, and Alchemy. Couldn't tell you exactly where one starts and the next left off today, though, because my morning with Saffron ran through my head all day, eclipsing everything else.

I woke up just in time to see Isnomi finish crawling over my hip and somersault headfirst toward the floor. Between her being smaller than I'd realized, which meant her head hit the mattress before she continued tumbling toward the stone floor, and my adrenaline fueled panic as I grabbed at her, she didn't wind up trying to headbutt the floor, but she let out a yell of pain as her weight came down badly on her arm. As Saffron bolted upright, I scooped Isnomi up and whomped her with a solid Treat Injury. Nothing nearly as powerful as the one I used on Angel and Bill, but even so her eyes, her arm, and the crown of her head glowed bright gold, her eyes retaining the glow for a second before she stopped shrieking with a weirded out look not unlike when she tried to nom spicy food, then very loudly filled her diaper.

"What happened?"

I kept my own voice level as I shifted off the bed and went about changing the crotch goblin. "She climbed over me and lost her balance. I woke up just as she started to fall. Barely managed to catch her, and I think I might have hurt her arm when I did."

Saffron passed one hand through an Assess Health aimed at Isnomi while I had to pin the rug rat's hands when she tried to explore the contents of her used diaper. Once Saffron had a chance to review the information from the Assess Health, the tension drained out of her. "Well, whether she got hurt or not, she's fine now." I assume you got Treat Injury the way you did your other Skills.

"Yeah." I replied to both implicit questions. "Looks like we need to step up our babyproofing game."

Saffron just stared at me a second before saying, "You think in English, don't you?"

I shrugged. "I mean, from my perspective, me and you and everyone else speaks English. Spanish sometimes, but mostly English."

She grinned. "That explains why you just told me we needed to improve our birth control."

I couldn't help it. Holding Isnomi's dirty diaper straight armed toward the ceiling so she couldn't get into it, I collapsed to the floor laughing as the tension I'd woken with drained out of me. Saffron put the new diaper on her and folded it shut while I laughed. "Yeah, no. We need to make the room safe for Isnomi, since she insists on living a life without fear of things like gravity and poison."

Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.

"What do you recommend?"

I closed my eyes and thought about what I remembered from when I'd babysat my little cousins. "Latches on the doors and drawers so she can't get into them. Removing, rounding off, or padding any sharp or pointy edges on the furniture. From what we just went through, some serious padding on the floor for when she inevitably launches herself off the top of the armoire. I'd say child proof caps on any chemicals, but we don't really have any of those, and the non-baby-safe items in the locked drawers ought to be enough."

"So we'll have to completely remodel our living space to accommodate our little adventuress?"

"I mean, yeah. It's what you do when you have a kid."

She went silent, suddenly pensive and serious. "Tabitha?"

"Yeah?"

She quietly asked, "how many babies live to see their thirteenth birthday where you're from?"

"Like, pretty much all of them. Once in a while you hear about some kid born with a congenital defect dying before they leave the hospital, and in places like Camden where assholes will start spraying gunfire arguing over who owns the rights to what corner kids get caught in the crossfire, but... pretty much all of them." I scooched over behind her, one leg to either side of her, one arm going around her to gently pull her to me, still holding the dirty diaper well out of Isnomi's reach. Of course the rugger clambered over to my side and pulled herself up, making grumpy baby noises when she couldn't reach much past my shoulder.

Saffron let out a breath I hadn't realized she'd been holding. In the darkness of the room, I saw a single tear slide down her cheek. "Sengann and Balor steal away half of the children born in Phileo City every year. Fewer than that in Phileo proper, as low as one in four among the wealthy here. More than that in Camden Yards." Her brow furrowed, the rest of her expression hardening. "Significantly more, in some cases." She drew in a deep breath, fury clear in her voice when she let it out. "My baby sister. My older brother. My parents. My grandfather. All stolen away by Sengann and Balor well before their time."

I sat there, silent, as the horror of the death toll hit me. I thought I was used to sudden, violent death living in Camden, but this... Half of the kids, dead. "Why do you say 'Sengann and Balor'?"

She met my gaze, tilting her head. "You don't even remember them?"

I shrugged. "Like I said, the Catholic Church kinda wiped out most of the old religions way before I was born. I know about some of them because I read a lot."

"Sengann is the God of Disease. Balor is Death personified."

Something struck me just then, conspicuous by its absence. "You don't do that little hand gesture I've seen duBois and Angel do when you mention Balor."

She went still, but something told me she'd embraced the stillness of a hunter, not of the prey. "Not any more."

"Why not?"

She turned the same terrifying grin on me that I'd seen when she finally grokked the nature of the crossbow. I swear I heard an echo of that distinctive crackle-hiss of a Mana Blade in her voice when she said, "Let. Them. Come."