“Time to get up, Petra,” Ella said.

Instinctively I mumbled, “I don't wanna die!”

I heard my roommate sigh, then she pulled my soft, warm, safe blanket off of me. “You're not going to die. It's the weekend, time for homework and relaxing.”

“Something is always trying to kill me. There are probably killer clowns who want to trap me in cotton candy and suck out my blood. Or cute little critters that turn out to have big sharp teeth, shoot poison spines and are always hungry, will eat me. Or scaly green monsters with bat ears will play horrible pranks that end in my death. Or an evil turkey demon will kill me in a really stupid way while making bad puns. Or a snowman that's a reincarnated murderer with really stupid jokes, will make me wish he'd kill me quicker. Or-”

Ella hit me with a pillow. “You've put far too much time into these weird ideas. Now have a shower, brush your teeth, get dressed in something comfy, and lets get some breakfast.”

Falling out of bed, I went to get my towel, annoyed and grumbling my displeasure. “They'll just give me a rat again.”

“We're not going to the canteen.”

My brain was a little slow and it took a moment for her words to make sense. “There's somewhere else to eat?”

“Yeah, the student shopping area. Our guide mentioned it, but freshmen can only go there on the weekend. When we're sophomores we'll be able to go there after class whenever we want.”

“Oh yeah, I remember that now. Why aren't we allowed to go there in the evening?”

“Because we need time to study, and it's not considered really safe to let freshmen spend too much time around the older students. Most freshmen don't even learn about it for a few weeks. So hurry up, there's a nice restaurant I want to try out, then we can go to the spa and really relax.”

I'd heard about spas, my mother went to one regularly. But I didn't actually know what happened in them, it was a mysterious place where women went and came back from really relaxed and smiling. Sighing, I knew that something bad was going to happen. Going to the shower I prepared myself for a horrible day.

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Getting to the shopping area took a bit of time. We met our friends in the common area, before heading down a dark, cobwebbed filled hallway that was tucked away in a little alcove. Then we got turned around while walking through tunnels that looked like they used to be sewers. Fortunately by leaving a trail of chalk marks, we never got totally lost and eventually found our way to an enormous room with several levels, and a glass ceiling that showed a beautiful, sunny day.

There were a few students wandering around. I recognized the Elf twins Master Grieve's combat class, and ducked behind Ivy when they looked at me and burst out laughing. The rest of the students seemed to be ignoring us, although my cat ears did catch a few scraps of conversation that proved we were making waves. A lot of it related to Princess Ella and how she was potentially useful or a threat. The rest were focused on me, mostly about my misadventures.

Once again I was very thankful no one could see me blush.

We made our way across the obsidian floor, taking time to look at the many stores. There were a number of clothing stores, most of which offered specially tailored outfits. One offered the most luxurious and exotic materials and cutting edge fashion. Another specialized in enchanted clothing. A third was all about armoured clothes, both obvious and hidden. The last was for dressing up minions and servants.

There were only two stores that focused on magic. The first was selling magical items, like magic cauldrons, wands, one use items, familiars and more. The second was for magical and alchemical ingredients. There was an open space in between the two stores, it was a swirling mass of smoke, with faint screams and wails coming from it. An occasional face could be seen forming in the smoke only to disappear again.

“What happened there?” Clarice asked.

“I heard that it was a store that tried to sell enchanted items and ingredients,” Ella said. “A student tried to be clever and used a staff of wonder the store was selling to steal some god blood by putting it into a pocket dimension. The spell went wrong, and interacted with the security enchantments, causing a cascading affect through the other items, pulling the entire store and everyone in it into something weird and probably painful. The school decided to make two new stores instead of one after they contained the problem.”

We all hurried a little to get past the area.

We came to a fancy looking restaurant and were ushered inside by a well dressed doorman. A server in a pitch black uniform led us to a table, and handed out menus, before discretely disappearing.

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Opening the menu, my jaw dropped. The prices were insane. A cup of tea cost as much as a fancy night out for my parents and I. “I can't afford this!” I said.

“Neither can I,” Naomi hissed. “The Giant's breakfast costs as much as my parents monthly rent.”

Ella smiled benevolently. “Don't worry, I'll pay for it.”

“Are you sure?” Calci asked.

“Of course. You're all my friends, and good friends are more important than money. Order whatever you'd like.”

“How do most students afford this?” Clarice asked.

“Doom Valley uses student projects to help pay for their education and upkeep of the school. When we become sophomores we'll get a small percentage of the profits. Poor students, stay poor. Smart students can become rich.”

The way she said it, made it clear Ella planned on becoming quite wealthy. I had to admit that was good incentive to stick with her. From the look in the other girls eyes, they seemed to be thinking the same thing.

Of course, my mind had to bring me back to reality. Surviving to enjoy the riches was going to be a very serious problem. Especially if my first week of school was anything to go by. But then again sticking with Ella was probably the best way to survive.

The server came back to take our orders. Calci asked for the Underworld Breakfast, which seemed to have a lot of mushrooms, fungus, bugs and lizard eggs. Naomi got a Southern Brunch of spiced dire pork, a bowl of golden apple sauce, and scrambled cockatrice eggs with hot sauce. Clarice ordered Heavenly porridge, made from specially bred oats and fruit that were full of holy flavour. Ivy didn't bother speaking, just pointed at the Werewolf Delight, which was a slab of meat in a blood sauce. Ella chose the bread and jam breakfast, which was several types of bread from around the world and the most expensive kinds of jams, some of which were only sold by demons or gods.

Then it was my turn. Since becoming a cat girl, I hadn't really felt like eating plants. Just the thought of having porridge made my stomach turn. So I went with the Orc's Breakfast, which had ten types of meat, including dragon, leviathan, dire rabbit, and chupacabra, with over twenty different spices.

“After this, we're going to the spa right?” Naomi asked.

“Yes,” Ella said. “I thought we deserved a few hours of relaxation and pampering after our week. We're getting the deluxe package. A dip in the hot spring, then a body scrub for us and grooming for Petra, followed by massages, facials, manicure and pedicure. We'll feel like gold by the time we're done. And I was thinking we could get our hair done afterwards.”

The girls looked like they'd just won the lottery. I was left wondering what exactly half of those things were. Facials, manicure and pedicure? They sounded like something a doctor would do. Despite my confusion, I'd said I would go along with things, so I smiled along with the rest of them.

Our food arrived, stopping all conversation as we dug in. The food was delicious. My giant plate of meat practically melted in my mouth, and trying all the different spices was an adventure. The demon pepper made my mouth burn for a second and then became a pleasant tingle. The ice salt, cooled my tongue and had me shivering all the way down my tail. Music erupted in my head as I tried the heavenly spice.

We shared bits of our food, and even the fried beetles that Calci had, were an interesting, if crunchy experience. Only Ivy didn't talk or share, not that anyone wanted her raw meat. I did offer her a bit of dragon to be nice, which she took with a tiny smile. It wasn't much, but I marked it down as a win.

“Ella! How are you?”

We all looked up as a platinum-blonde girl with skin almost as pale as mine had been, came over. She was wearing a dark black outfit that hugged her body, in ways that made me feel weak in the knees. There were odd feelings from down below as well as a weird dampness, that reminded me all too much of the other day with Rocky. Squeezing my legs together, I tried to make the feeling stop.

“Nyla,” Ella said,” what a pleasure. I didn't think I'd see you today.”

“How could I stay away when I heard my little sister was here? Especially when you've made so many waves. Rumours say your queen of the freshmen already.”

Laughing, my roommate waved her hand as if brushing away the compliment. “I wouldn't go that far. I've just made a few good friends.”

“You always were modest, and clever. Who are your friends?”

Ella introduced us, not giving away any information other than our names. With my improved hearing, I could catch an unusual tremble in her voice. It was very faint, and if I'd had human ears, I never would have heard it. She sounded scared.

Suddenly Nyla had her hands on my shoulders, her breasts pressing into my back. “Oh yes. I've heard quite a lot about Petra. You've had so many things happen to you, you're the talk of the school.”

Her voice tickled my ears and her leg brushed my tail. Lightning bolts ran straight up my spine and into my brain. The dampness down below became a literal flood, and I squeezed my legs even more tightly together as it felt like I was peeing myself.

“Really?” I squeaked.

“Oh yes,” she said, her lips touching my ear. “You tricked the star freshman of the hero school, and got him severely punished. You've seen Lady Plague and Master Grieve in the same week and walked out on your own two feet. You easily survived a detention that has maimed and even killed older students. No one can seem to decide if you're a fool who is extremely lucky, or a genius pretending to be an idiot.”

“I-” I stopped talking. My brain shut down as I breathed in her perfume, and my entire body started to shake. A moment later, I slumped down in my chair, feeling tired, content and wondering the heck had just happened to me.

Nyla started to laugh. “You have such an interesting friend Ella. I didn't think you were into that kind of thing. You were always so uncomfortable when it comes to physical activity. You're just full of surprises. Well it's been fun but I must be going. It was a pleasure to meet all of you, ta-ta.”

Everyone was looking at me and they seemed really embarrassed. Hunching down, looked at my lap, trying to turn invisible.

Ella came to the rescue, pulling a bottle of pills from her bag. She poured the tablets into her hand and held them out. “Everyone take one of these, right now.”

“Why?” Naomi asked.

“Because Nyla probably poisoned us. It's her idea of fun.”

We all took one, and swallowed them down.

Clarice looked a little green. “Was she trying to kill us?”

“Probably not. But projectile diarrhea and vomiting, being paralyzed for 24-hours, an hour long waking night terror, itching so badly you tear your skin, acidic sweat to melt your clothes, making you smell like a dung golem for a week, all of those are on the table. She likes to keep people on their toes.”

“But she's your sister!”

Ella nodded. “Yes, and I'm lucky she is. She actually likes me, so she doesn't try to kill me. Now let's get Petra some clean clothes, and we'll go to the spa.”