The red jacket was far more extravagant than anything Kit had owned before, but they had been unable to let it out of their sight from the first moment they saw it and so thought, why not? It fit them like a dream, and it joined their pile of new clothes.

I really look like an anime character now, they thought with a laugh, turning this way and that to admire their reflection in the mirror. They had found a short white cape with red buttons to go with the jacket as well as matching white shorts, and they had even found opaque black hosiery to cover their legs. Jamil had chosen the boots, thick-soled and heavy like his own.

“Trust me, your feet with thank you.” He’d said when they wrinkled their nose in distaste. The boots were comfortable, they had to admit. It felt nice to wear clothes like these, cute and comfy and nothing like their ugly work uniform.

After leaving the tailor’s, Jamil brought Kit to a cozy-looking inn situated in the plaza across from the festival set-up. The innkeeper seemed wary to serve them, constantly side-eyeing Jamil as if he was expecting him to start trashing the place. For a moment Kit thought for sure they would be turned away, but the seduction of coin proved to be enough to convince the innkeeper to allow them a room. Coins were counted and a key was handed over with firm instructions not to break anything. Jamil didn’t say anything, only took the key with mumbled thanks, but Kit could see he was upset when he turned away from the counter.

“What was that about?” They whispered, but he just shook his head.

“It’s nothing.” Was his curt response, and he headed up the creaking stairwell to their room. Kit frowned, knowing good and well it wasn’t nothing, but let it go and followed him up the stairs. The room was small, most of the space dominated by the bed and a wooden wardrobe that was missing a door. Beside the bed was a single chair in place of an end table, and that was about it. Kit felt a sinking in their stomach.

“There’s only one bed.” They said with dismay. Jamil looked confused.

“Yes?”

“I guess I thought there’d be two beds.”

“Why would there be two beds?” Jamil’s voice held the bemused tone of someone who had just heard something outlandish. Kit huffed.

“Hotel rooms on Earth usually have two beds.” There was the culture shock again, reminding them once more that they were a foreigner in a very, very different world. Whether it was another planet or a different dimension, they didn’t know.

The pair settled in their room, then Jamil went downstairs in search of food while Kit stayed behind. Staring out the window from the bed, their thoughts wandered. This was their first real opportunity to sit down and process everything since their arrival in Ava Mara, and it didn’t take long for them to feel overwhelmed and need to lie down.

All things considered, they thought they were handling everything pretty well. They hadn’t cried once since Jamil slapped them, even though they really wanted to. Surprising themself, they actually weren’t all that scared; if anything, they were determined. From the moment they got here they had felt a buzzing deep within them like their soul was vibrating, slowly growing in intensity. At Master Jesper’s tower it had spread throughout their body like sparkling water, and it gained even more intensity whenever they were near Jamil.

It must be magic, they thought, stretching out on the bed and staring up at the ceiling beams. There really was no other explanation, and hadn’t Master Jesper said they were the child of a goddess? It made sense.

Their thoughts went to Jamil, and they frowned slightly. Now there was an enigma. Kit found it quite difficult to get a read on him with how quickly he bounced back and forth between super grouchy and somewhat personable. They felt deeply sympathetic toward him for losing his master, and even more so after seeing how people treated him. Had he gone on a violent rampage while transformed or something? Kit didn’t see how an unsolicited curse would cause someone to be shunned like that. Even with his less than stellar attitude, he wasn’t that bad! Not enough to deserve such treatment, anyway.

Soon Jamil returned with food and Kit’s stomach suddenly and aggressively reminded them of how long it had been since their last meal. The food was simple, some kind of roasted bird and root vegetables, but it smelled absolutely divine and Kit tore into it like a ravenous animal. They demolished their portion in record time and saw that Jamil had done the same; they locked eyes, hands and faces greasy from the meat, and they both broke into peals of laughter. It felt good to laugh like that, like they didn’t have a care in the world.

After finishing their meal and returning the dishes to the kitchen, Kit was very much ready to sleep. They stood awkwardly looking at the bed, wondering what they should do, when Jamil offered to sleep on the floor. Kit blushed nervously.

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“Are you sure?” They asked, glancing at the floor. It didn’t look like there was space enough, but Jamil nodded.

“I don’t mind. I can get some extra blankets, make a pallet.”

“I mean…it’s a pretty big bed…” They didn’t want to make him sleep on the floor!

“Kit, it’s fine, really. Please, take the bed. I insist.” Shaking his head, Jamil turned and slipped out of the room. Suddenly the room felt too big, too empty, so Kit crawled across the bed to huddle in the corner by the wall and wait for Jamil to come back. In the silence of the room, they could hear the hubbub from downstairs, and focused on that rather than how lonely they felt. Exhaustion quickly took over, and they were unconscious by the time Jamil returned with his extra blankets.

*********

Kit couldn’t make heads or tails of all the chaos in their dream. They knew it was a dream, could tell they were dreaming, yet it all felt…detached, as though their body wasn’t their own. The intense roar of wind was a constant background noise while images appeared and vanished, stacking on top of one another like memories playing in fast-forward. No, these weren’t memories, not Kit’s memories, anyway. Who even was that green-haired girl in the garden? For a split second their eyes locked, then the girl vanished and suddenly Kit was underwater. They thrashed and tried to swim but couldn’t move, icy water filling their mouth when they tried to call for help. Where was Jamil? Kit reached toward what they hoped was the surface, but when they saw the hideously deformed claw in place of their hand they screamed in horror, swallowing more water as they continued to sink.

“KIT! Wake up!!” Jamil’s voice suddenly cut through the nightmare and Kit gasped awake, bolting upright in bed. They were back in the room now, light from the moons outside streaming through a gap in the curtains. Jamil stood frozen over the bed, his hands outstretched to shake Kit awake, awash in a strange pink light. Scooting closer to him, Kit slowly reached a hand toward him; for just a second they saw that claw again and their heart skipped a beat. Gasping, they pulled their hand away and stared at it hard, overcome with shock. The pink glow was coming from them, their skin radiating light as though they had been coated in glow-in-the-dark paint.

“Holy shit, I’m glowing.” They whispered in awe, looking up at Jamil to see what he thought. Their expression immediately dropped to one of concern when they realized he had not moved at all, only stood like a statue with his hands out. “Jamil…?”

Sitting up, Kit cautiously poked Jamil’s cheek. He didn’t move, didn’t even react. His eyes were frozen open, fixed on the spot Kit had been sleeping. Panic began to creep in. What was going on?

“Jamil? Can you hear me?” Leaning in closer, they grabbed Jamil’s forearms and shook him, but nothing happened. They shook him harder. Nothing. The panic grew in Kit’s chest and they whined softly in distress; it was beginning to feel like there wasn’t enough air in the room. Balling up their fist, they gave Jamil a good whack on the chest, but he still did not react.

“Jamil, please!!” Kit screamed and hit him again. A tingle danced down their arm to their hand, a rippling shimmer spreading across Jamil’s chest as their glow abruptly went away. Suddenly he shuddered and gasped loudly, his eyes blinking a few times as he looked at Kit in shock.

“Wh-what did you just do?” He panted, and Kit let out a wail as they threw their arms around his neck.

“You’re okay! I-I don’t know what happened, I woke up from a really weird dream and you were just, like, frozen there! It was so scary, it was like everything just…stopped!” They looked at Jamil with teary eyes, and he looked back with clear confusion. “I think time paused? A-and I think I did it.”

Jamil’s eyes widened slightly and he absently plopped a hand on top of Kit’s head. He looked thoughtful and didn’t speak for a moment, then nodded to himself.

“Master Jesper said that once you were here in Ava Mara, your magic would begin to manifest. I think that’s what just happened.” Kit’s mouth fell open in shock and they pulled away from Jamil, searching his face, but his serious expression told them he wasn’t pulling their leg.

“I have magic?” They whispered and Jamil laughed, nodding.

“Kit, you’re literally a soon-to-be god, of course you have magic. Pretty powerful magic, I imagine, your mum being Nona and all.” He stretched his arms back and something in his back popped. “Ah, that’s better.”

“I have magic…” Sure, they had suspected that was the case, but having actual confirmation of it? Kit’s mind was spinning. They looked down at their open hands, palms still tingling from earlier. Okay, their skin definitely looked pinker, like bubblegum. Maybe it was a magic thing?

“Hey, Jamil?”

“Yeah?” Jamil had gone back to his pallet on the floor, hands tucked behind his head while he stretched out. He seemed to be handling what just happened remarkably well, but he was used to magic so maybe it wasn’t that strange to him. Kit sighed and lay back down, as well, though they were far less relaxed.

“Have you ever met her? Nona?”

“No, I haven’t. No one has, I don’t think. No one alive, anyway.”

“Why not?”

“She’s a Divine, Kit. They don’t hang out with us mortals and they’ve never been known for being sociable, especially now with Vendic trying to kill them all. They’re in hiding.” Jamil almost sounded like he was lecturing a little kid but Kit brushed it off. This was all stuff he knew already, stuff probably everyone in Ava Mara knew. It was their world, their mythology, their stuff. Feeling more like an outsider than ever, Kit fumbled in the dark until they found the blanket and rolled up in it like a burrito, faced the wall, and tried to sleep.

They didn’t dream of drowning this time, but they did dream of an intense longing, as though they had lost something incredibly important; it felt so real and raw, Kit woke up with a start, tears still wet on their cheeks.

~