Kazuma "Kaz" Wilson was confused. All his life, which had been spent growing up and going to school in Upstate New York, he'd never heard his dad get so annoyed at just being in the same room as someone. He knew this wasn't easy for his father, but he didn't know the whole picture.

Even Kaz's father didn't know the whole picture. A widower to the late Makishi Shimizu for over 10 years, he'd done his best to cut all ties to her family. But there was a pain every single parent felt, and the presence of his son beside him made it much worse. Try as he might, he hadn't been able to keep food on the table and save enough to send Kaz to college.

The situation was made far worse because, across from him, Yukako Shimizu sat with her checkbook before her and dressed in the strangest clothes Bradly Wilson had ever seen. She wore a traditional kimono that was adorned with flowers, but that wasn't what worried him. "I don't want Kaz indoctrinated into all that malarkey."

"I assure you, the college at Stratfield is perfectly ordinary. Kazuma may study whatever he wishes there without the influence of myself or any other of Makishi's family will be involved there." It was calculated half-truth. Yukako had been chosen as the least outwardly strange of the family, and Stratfield had been chosen because it was both far away from Japan and had two colleges that were delightfully easy to conflate. "I have already arranged tuition, and am here only to offer a stipend to Kazuma for his time spent there."

The normalcy of Yukako reassured Bradly. He almost sighed when the woman wrote a very ordinary check and slid it across to Kaz. "It—It's been hard. Work isn't easy to get these days, but I—"

"If you please, Mr. Wilson, I would like to tender you my personal thanks and admiration. Life hasn't been easy, yet you've raised a fine son who now has paths opening that he may choose with the wisdom you've imparted. Many would have failed in this, but you provided Kazuma a—"

"Kaz," Kaz said. "Please, just call me Kaz."

Bradly smiled a bit at that. "All the same, ma'am, it's a relief that you're doing this for him." It stung his pride in a way he couldn't even comprehend, but the steadfast father in him was adamant that for Kaz's sake, he would let Makishi's family pay for college.

Looking at the check, Kaz shivered at the zeros on it. It was more money than his father earned in a year. "I can't take all this. I just—This is too much." Sliding the check back across the table, Kaz couldn't even fully describe how he felt.

"No, Kaz." Putting his hand on his son's, Bradly smiled. "I know it's a lot of money, but think of it as a gift from your mom."

"But, Dad, it's—"

Bradly made sure to slide Kaz's hand back toward him—along with the check. "Damn it, Kaz. I can't do this for you. I can't give you the education you deserve. Take Miss Shimizu's money and use it. You told me you wanted to go to college—so go."

Looking down at the check again, Kaz closed his eyes and nodded. "Thanks, Dad."

Putting an arm around Kaz's shoulder, Bradly nodded to Yukako. "Thank Miss Shimizu too."

For just the slightest moment Kaz thought he could see a different face looking at him—a feline face. It was just an instant, however, and he found himself forgetting it seconds after it happened. "Thank you, uh, Yukako Shimizu."

"Such a well-mannered young man. I can't wait to see what college makes of you." Yukako was free with her wide smile. After all, it was completely genuine.

----------------------------------------

Moving into the sharehouse had been simple enough. When Kaz arrived there was no one else there, so he found an empty room and started moving his stuff in.

His stuff consisted of a bed, a new laptop computer, a desk, some bookshelves, and a few books to read. All of it was brand new, and he felt more than a little embarrassed by that. When all his stuff was safely in his room, he used the key that'd been in the door to lock it and went to the living room.

The house had room for eight students with common areas for them to relax when not studying. Stretching out on the couch, he relaxed and tried to stop his thoughts from racing around his head. It worked about as well as trying to divert a river with semaphore.

Orientation week was coming up in just four days—after the weekend—and that meant that Kaz had a little free time on his hands. Of course, less than thirty seconds later he heard the front door open.

"I guess since the key worked, this must be the right place." Looking into the dorm house, Caelyn felt disappointment fill her—because Kaz didn't own a car and he was out of view, she thought she was alone. "Okay, guys, might as well bring it all in. No one else is h—"

"Uh, hello?" Kaz poked his head around the corner and saw Caelyn in the entryway. She wasn't even five and a half feet tall, but given she was blonde and had piercing blue eyes, he felt himself startled a little.

"Oh! Hi! I'm Caelyn. Nice to meet you." Thrusting out a hand, Caelyn shook with Kaz when he did the same. "Is it okay if I bring my stuff in now? What room do I have? I didn't know there'd be guys living here…"

"No clue, honestly. I just got here myself. I'm Kaz, by the way." Stepping back a bit as he saw two big guys hefting a bed toward the door from outside, Kaz made enough room for them. "The keys are in the doors. I guess you get second pick."

Looking around, Caelyn could see four doors, three of which had keys in them. "There's more or is this it?"

Kaz nodded to the two guys carrying Caelyn's bed in. "There's another lounge room down that hall. There's two kitchens attached, and—"

"I'll take this one. I can see a bathroom just down there, and I want to be able to beat everyone to it in the morning." Striding over to the room she'd picked, letting her hips sway a little in her tight jeans, Caelyn used the key to unlock and open the door. "Oh my gawd, this is huge!"

Caelyn's room was directly opposite Kaz's, and he couldn't figure out if that was good, bad, or just luck. "Yeah. I couldn't believe this. Back home, me and my dad lived in a tiny two bedroom apartment. The rooms were about a third that size."

"You too? Ugh. Mom and Dad decided they wanted a big family, but forgot the need lots of bedrooms bit. I shared a room half this size with two sisters." Walking up to her brothers after they put the bed down, Caelyn directed them where she wanted it and then sent them back out for her mattress.

"You need a hand with anything?" Kaz asked.

"Not when I have my little brothers to do all the lifting." Turning toward her siblings, Caelyn batted her eyelashes at them and delighted in their groans.

"Sis, if we weren't getting' rid of you, we wouldn't be doing this."

"Yeah, Cae, don't push it or we'll dump the rest of your stuff on the lawn and go."

Kaz spent some time just people-watching as Caelyn and her brothers brought her things in. They seemed like a fairly ordinary family, which was odd to Kaz only because he and his father weren't. Nothing made him more aware of how tight they'd been living than all the stuff Caelyn and her brothers brought in.

When her computer was carried in—and had a bigger screen than any TV Kaz's father had ever owned—and was followed by her own mini-fridge, he got up and walked to his room. He had a laptop as his most expensive purchase, followed by his bed. He looked at both and felt a little ill.

Caelyn knocked on Kaz's open door while waving goodbye to her brothers as they left the house. "You okay, Kaz? Sorry if my brothers got to you, they can be a bit mean sometimes."

"It's not that I—" The worst part for Kaz was how nice she was. She didn't mean to make him feel down about being poor. "Just homesick I guess." It was an easy lie to make because it was partly true. Living with his father had been easy. Getting an apprenticeship wouldn't have been, though, and Kaz was sure he'd have ended up working a McJob. "What's that?"

Holding up the letters, Caelyn passed two to Kaz. "It was sitting on the bench in the kitchen. I guess someone brought the mail in for us."

"Huh?" Taking the letters, Kaz saw windowed envelopes that proudly displayed only his nickname and his address. "These have to be from college. I haven't told anyone else but my dad my new address."

"It's probably some kind of welcome pack or—" Caelyn froze. She didn't just pause talking and stand still, she literally didn't move, breathe, and her heart ceased action.

Kaz hadn't noticed Caelyn's situation. He'd just opened the first of the letters and pulled out the papers inside. Flicking through them, he saw they were from The Stratfield School of Applied and Theoretical Magic. "The hell? This has got to be a joke."

There was a bunch of the usual college paperwork—he had a student union to sign up to, an off-campus accommodation club, and even a small slip he had to fill out his details on to get a car park permit—but there was also that cover letter that was written in amazing calligraphy.

It wasn't a trick or some kind of social engineering that had him paying close attention to the cover letter—it was magic.

> Dear Mr. Kaz,

>

> It is with great personal pleasure that I can welcome you to The Stratfield School of Applied and Theoretical Magic. Your family's illustrious career in the magical arts is a beacon that all magic users can only hope to aspire to. Your aunt, Miss Yu, has spoken so highly of you I fear that if you don't ride into the college on the back of a dragon, I may find myself disappointed. Please understand that's a little joke.

>

> Your orientation week starts this coming Monday, and I'm to understand that all your companions in the domicile you have chosen are not magic users. I scarcely need to remind you that you are not permitted to reveal magic to them, but just in case it had slipped your mind; don't do that.

>

> Opening this letter placed a protective enchantment at your location. It will prevent anyone interrupting you whenever magic is involved. It's just a precaution, you understand. Please don't let it get in the way of your daily fraternizing with ordinary humans.

>

> The included information will include a map to show you where you are to attend your orientation and how to reach the college. Please don't be late.

>

> Mal

> President of Campus

Kaz read the letter two more times before he cracked up laughing. "This is, without a single doubt, the best hazing I've ever seen. Caelyn, did someone put you up to—to this…" As he spoke, he looked up at Caelyn and realized she hadn't said a word and wasn't moving. "Caelyn?"

At first she just looked like she was standing still, but over the course of five minutes—and being unable to see her breathe—Kaz felt a cold sweat run down his spine. He lifted the letter again and reread the part about protective enchantment. "This is crazy. Magic isn't real. I—" As he spoke, Kaz unconsciously folded up the letter and put it (and the rest of the paperwork) back in the fat envelope it'd come in.

"—something. If there's one thing my big brothers taught me about college, it was that they love giving out paperwork to people who aren't prepared for it. Exams, forms, surveys… you name it." Caelyn hadn't noticed so much as a second passing since Kaz opened the letter.

A shiver ran down Kaz's spine. "This can't be real. It's some kind of joke."

"Huh?"

Opening his mouth, Kaz was about to describe what he'd just seen when the note came back to mind. Slowly, he slipped the letter open again and watched as Caelyn once more froze in place. "Okay, this is so messed up. Either you're in on this or—" Kaz couldn't finish that statement because it was silly.

Standing up, he walked around Caelyn. "Are you even—" That's when he got an idea and rummaged through his things to find his shaving mirror. Holding it up in front of Caelyn's mouth, he couldn't see any condensation appear.

Kaz stumbled backwards and sat down on his bed. Staring past Caelyn, he tried to wrap his head around what he was seeing. "This can't be real because magic isn't real, unless it's not magic in which case what the fuck is it?!"

He just sat there for several minutes, his mind chasing around the twin ideas of only magic could do this and magic isn't real. Finally, without any other option, Kaz stood up and walked stiffly to his chair. He sat down and picked up the envelope and the papers that should have been inside—and slipped them in again.

Caelyn started tapping her foot when, to her, Kaz didn't reply. "Well?" she asked eventually.

Staring at the letter in his hands, Kaz shook his head. "I can't get my head around it. It's real, but how can it be?"

Pausing a moment, Caelyn shook her head. "Look, Kaz, I know it's kinda hard to believe. I have three older brothers who didn't want to go to college, and that made everyone kinda freaked out that I did—me most of all. But, that doesn't change things. We're at college now. We have to do our best."

The misunderstanding of his situation was enough to jolt Kaz out of the mind-lock he'd been experiencing. He pulled the letter back out of the envelope again (freezing Caelyn in the process) and reread it.

This time his brain picked up more details, not the least of which being the stationary had a logo and information at the top. Reaching into his pocket, Kaz pulled out his phone and paused. There was a phone number there, but the wording of the letter implied he knew that magic was real in advance of this.

"What will they do if I reveal I didn't?"

Kaz's eyes drifted back down to the line about not being permitted to reveal anything to "not magic users". Kaz was, as far as he knew, a not magic user.

"Think, Kaz, what angle can I use to justify a call to get information?" He started looking through the paperwork and found it annoyingly comprehensive—even including a map to get to the school.

The school of magic.

Shaking his head to break the fixation, Kaz took a deep breath. He had to be smart about this if he wanted to not—not what? He'd seen Harry Potter, so he knew the kind of secret society stuff magicians could do.

"But, in harry potter there are muggle-born. They don't just assume everyone who can do magic knows magic." Another revelation moment appeared and Kaz didn't shy away from it. "Can I do magic?"

The worst part for Kaz was he felt alone. All his life his dad was at most a few hours away, but now he was in another state.

"Alright, let's look at this from the start. Aunt Yukako paid for this. If she'd paid for me to go to the normal college, I wouldn't have gotten all this. That means she's in on it. The letter…" He picked up the offending piece of paper and reread it. "Right, they talk about my family as if we're famous. Dad wasn't so that means Mom—"

Kaz'd only seen pictures of his mother. She'd been a beautiful Japanese woman who'd given up everything—his father had told him—to come to America. "Was she part of this?"

He looked down at his phone and started to type in the numbers from the letterhead—then stopped and deleted them. "No. It'd be better if I called somewhere lower down so I could figure things out without giving a name."

So Kaz went through the rest of the paperwork until he found something from a group calling themselves The Greater Student Body.

A moment of dialing later and the phone was answered. "Hi! This is The Greater Student Body. What can I help you with?" The voice was female and sounded about ten times more perky than any living creature ever should.

Kaz tried to sound like he hadn't just rehearsed the conversation in his head—and given his nerves that was easy. "Yeah, uh, I'm starting there next week, an—"

"Congrats on getting in!"

"Thanks. Right, I just wondered what I'd have to bring? I know classes aren't starting yet, but I figure you'll want me to bring something along."

"Oh! Just bring yourself, a notebook, pens, and a great attitude!"

Feeling his teeth rotting at the sweetness of the girl on the phone, Kaz started to feel bad about the whole call and trying to fool her. What silenced the voice in his head telling him that he was being mean was that he intended to go anyway. "Okay then. Tha—Oh! Wait a moment. My dad's not in the know. I can't bring him, right?"

The gasp on the other end of the line sounded genuine to Kaz. "Gosh no. The school grounds are strictly magic-aware only. Please try to work out an excuse for why he can't come."

"Figured, I just hate lying to him is all. Thanks, I guess I'll see you Monday?"

"Sure will! I'll be wearing a blue outfit with purple hair. You'll know what I mean when you see me!"

"Catch you then."

"Bye!"

Left looking at his phone, Kaz tried to play over the conversation in his head and what he could learn from it.

There was no fixed equipment needed for orientation week—that was a relief for him.

The school grounds were strictly for people who are magic-aware. It was curious to him how different people had different names for it.

And that's when he became aware that Caelyn was still frozen in place… by magic. Gathering up all the papers, Kaz stuffed them back in the envelope and tried to remember where he was at with their conversation. "Uh, yeah. I guess all this has happened so fast I can barely keep track of it. Then to have all this college stuff starting I just—It's easy to freak out."

"Tell me about it. I'm used to a half dozen gearheads stomping around, firing guns, starting engines with no mufflers—sometimes doing all three at the same time. It's so quiet here I don't know if I'll be able to sleep." Caelyn poked her head out my door into the hallway. "Hey, I think someone else is moving in."

----------------------------------------

Over the weekend the house filled up with noise and students.

There was Caelyn who was studying law.

Darrell, a pale redhead who was studying computer science.

Noreen, a short young woman who was studying nursing.

Abigail, who was chasing a mathematics degree.

Richard and Ying who, like Caelyn, were going into law.

And Debra, a tall young woman who was pursuing civil engineering.

Kaz, of course, had intended to study physics, but with how things had gone he was getting ready first thing on Monday for something entirely different. Having checked the letter again—this time in private—he made sure he was leaving home half an hour early.

A little cramped in his old Mini, Kaz started and let the engine warm up before he pulled out. The drive through the city was much like home, but the sense of excitement as he approached the magic school was palpable.

In the end he almost missed the turn. It had been like the opposite of popping ears. One moment he'd been driving along with the sensation that everything was fine, then this huge pressure hit him and he was aware that he was driving alongside a castle wall.

"Fuck!" Though he swerved a little in his car, the Mini wasn't exactly fast enough to lose traction easily. All thoughts of the map were gone from his head. Kaz drove another half a block before pulling over.

For a few minutes Kaz just stared at the castle. Moments before the illusion had dropped, it had looked like just another nine foot brick fence. Now? A wall forty feet tall loomed over the sidewalk around it and the road. "Fuuuuuck."

It hit Kaz that this wasn't a gimmick and couldn't be explained away. That really was magic making the castle invisible, and Kaz was stuck with these new facts clouding his understanding of the world. After five minutes had passed and the castle hadn't turned back into a normal fence, he put the car back into gear and pulled out into traffic again.

Another five minutes passed while he found a spot to park in at the school's lot. It wasn't inside the castle, for which Kaz was thankful, but was just the same as any other car lot in the city.

Not that the castle didn't loom over the lot—it turned out castles were really good at looming over everything. Getting out of his small car, Kaz grabbed his notebook, a few spare pens he'd brought with him, and of course his phone.

Over the weekend he'd spent time researching not just the school but also a way to make his phone automatically upload any images he shot to the internet. The pictures wouldn't be made public, but so long as he could get to them later if his phone was taken, he'd be happy with it.

"Alright. Deep breath, Kaz, you're about to go to Hogwarts without any preparation or training." Looking at his map again, he realized he would now have to go within the castle walls.

Walking across the street, he followed the wall around a corner and saw the entrance to the castle. The gatehouse sat back from the road nearly fifty feet with a pair of huge towers forward of it that had covered bridges leading back to the wall.

Kaz didn't need to be a fan of medieval castle architecture to know that the towers would have great line of sight on the front gate. Walking toward it, he spotted two people there handing out leaflets.

One was a guy with the most anime-like hair Kaz had ever seen—it was bright orange and spiky all over and looked like flames. He had reasonably pale skin and was wearing a shirt and shorts despite it only being forty degrees out.

The other was a girl that Kaz knew the name of already. She was literally bouncing on the balls of her feet constantly and had purple hair that looked like it had been attacked by a curling wand—and lost. She had a blue shirt and jacket on and a blue skirt that came down to her ankles. It was the girl he'd spoken to on the phone.

They'd seen Kaz looking at them, so he knew he had no chance of just walking away. Delaying nothing, he made his way to the huge gates and the two gatekeepers. "Hi."

"Hey there!" Rushing over to Kaz, the young woman paused moments before she got too far into his personal space. She admired his casual Japanese-American look, jeans and a button-up flannel shirt looked so normal to her that she figured there was something more to Kaz. "I'm—"

Holding up a hand, the guy froze time for a moment—just for him and Kaz. "She's going to tell you her name is Flo, but you totally have to call her Irish instead, okay?"

Kaz could feel the wrongness of time itself around him. It wasn't like the times he'd frozen Caelyn. "Sure. Uh, I'm Kaz."

Holding out one scarred fist, the guy waited for Kaz to bump it. "I'm Sev. Hold on, I'll let time start again."

Time was stopped. This was not something Kaz had prepared for, but now he was in the middle of it, it seemed very useful. And just as he was getting kinda used to it, Sev let it go and he was faced with…

"… Flo!" Flo said, not noticing time stopping and starting around her.

Looking briefly to Sev, Kaz got a nod and a big grin from the guy. "I'm Kaz. It's nice to meet you—Irish."

Flo's jaw dropped open and, when she heard Sev laughing, she spun around and pointed an accusing finger at him. "How do you keep doing that?" She turned around to me and I felt the air grow a little colder. "How did he do that?"

"Would you believe me if I told you?" Kaz asked. He'd expected to feel scared or nervous, but Sev and Flo both seemed like ordinary folks—with extraordinary powers.

"Probably not. Sev's a bit over the top in his study of time magic. I imagine it was something like going back in time to yesterday and meeting you—or something like that. Anyway! We have shirts and a bracelet-guide for you. You just have to give it a little nudge with some magic and tell it where you want to go and it'll lead you there." Flo thrust her hands out to Kaz, one held a shirt and the other one of the enchanted bracelets.

The shirt was easy to deal with, so far as Kaz was concerned, since it was just a shirt. The bracelet, being an obvious magical artifact was more worrying. He only had Flo's word for what it was, after all. "Thanks."

"You want some help putting it on?" Flo asked.

"Err—" Kaz didn't get any further. When Flo reached up and wiggled her nose with one finger, the shirt he was wearing was in his arms and the one she'd just given him was on his person. It was literally done in an instant and had Kaz confused since he'd thought she'd meant the bracelet. "Th-Thanks."

"If you head in, just ask the bracelet to take you to orientation." Sev was already turning as he saw more new students approaching.

Kaz looked at Flo again briefly before saying goodbye and heading into the castle. It wasn't actually a castle, however, as the wall seemed to separate the city from the entire school campus. There was the huge gatehouse and towers, but inside was dozens of buildings—and not a single signpost to show him the way.

"Guess I need to work out how to use this thing." Slipping the bracelet on his wrist, Kaz looked at it and tried to remember what Flo had said about it. "Oh, sure, a little nudge with magic. And how do I do that?"

"The first thing is probably to put it on your wrist," someone said, walking up beside Kaz. "Then you need to activate it with some magic. Like this."

Trying not to stare, Kaz couldn't decide if the newcomer was the most effeminate male he'd ever seen or the most masculine female, but what shocked him the most was their slightly pointed ears that poked free of their long green hair on each side of their head. "Uh, of course." He quickly slid the bracelet over his wrist and was surprised when it shrank a little to fit.

"I'm Jaybird, by the way." Reaching to their wrist, Jaybird tapped the bracelet and gave it a slight jolt of magic. "Take us to orientation."

Kaz could see the bracelet seem to pulse with green energy, and a rope of the stuff seemed to trail off in front of them. While that happened, however, he felt another tickle against his skin that he was starting to associate with magic. "K-Kaz. My name that is. Uh…" Focusing on what the magic had felt like, Kaz tapped at his own bracelet and tried to push that feeling out.

The rush of magic that poured from Kaz startled Jaybird for a moment. Eyes widening, they looked around at what it did to the world. Everything seemed to be weird and in flux. The air itself shimmered and the ground—instead of the hard flagstones it was meant to be—felt like soft grass. "You, uh, might want to rein it in just a little there."

But the magic didn't want to stop. Kaz flailed and tried to pull it back inside, but it was free now and had a life of its own.

"Yeah, you need to stop this."

Freezing in place, Kaz looked at the catgirl in front of him. She stood way shorter than him, he judged around five feet even, and had a cascade of black hair that seemed to reach past the kimono she wore to her ankles. "Wha—?"

Rolling her slit, green eyes, the catgirl stepped closer to Kaz and pressed her hand to his chest. The physical touch let her connect with his magic and, with a slight push, shoved it back into him. "The cat's back in the bag now, Son of Makishi."

Blinking away his shock, Kaz looked down to his chest where the catgirl had poked. "Did you see that?"

"Well, yeah, but half the school probably saw that. You should try to keep control of your magic, Kaz, given how much you have." Adjusting their hoodie to lie flat against their back again, Jaybird looked around again to take stock of the situation. "I've only ever seen the fey work that much magic on such a wide scale. What was your—? Oh, right, nicknames only."

Kaz's mind was racing. There was so much new information for him to take in that he needed to list it out in his head so he wouldn't forget. He is, apparently, powerful with magic; the catgirl had helped him and knew his mother's name; Jaybird hadn't seen her; and he might get in some kind of trouble for too many people seeing what he'd done. He tacked a little more on the end to get to the bottom of the nicknames thing that Jaybird had said. "Right. Sorry about that, I—err—am still getting used to it. I didn't know about my magic for so long, but then my mom's sister came and—You know how it is."

"Ah, that'd explain your lack of control and why you keep staring at my ears." The prodding got exactly the response Jaybird wanted. Holding out a hand as Kaz spluttered in denial, they stuck out their tongue at him. "It's okay, I get it. Just remember that my eyes are here."

Snorting, the gag was enough to derail Kaz's apology attempt. He was riding a wave of luck, and so far he'd been rolling natural twenties. "Oh, right. Take us to orientation," he said to his bracelet.

Another thin rope of magic trailed off, flickering and dancing alongside Jaybird's.

"It's stupid how we can't talk about who we are and stuff. I mean, it's pretty obvious what I have going on, right?" Looking at Kaz, Jaybird set off to follow the trail. "So what, discounting anything that would give away your name, are you into?"

"Like, music, hobbies?"

"Yeah!" Jaybird couldn't help themselves. They liked Kaz because despite the him apparently not know what their heritage was, he just accepted them. "What gets your brain ticking?"

"Music. I like listening to almost anything, so long as it's harmonious. I kinda take after my dad a bit and like working with mechanical things—fixing my own car, that kinda stuff." Among the buildings they passed, Kaz recognized not just school buildings but also houses and businesses. "What about you?"

"Oh, music too, because who doesn't like music? But I don't go in for mechanical things, I stick to growing stuff instead. You know how it is with my kind—we find a talent and all our magic seems to warp around it." It was a little test to see if Kaz actually knew what Jaybird was.

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"Uh, I hope you don't mind me asking—"

"I don't."

The interruption caused Kaz to pause a moment. "Right. I don't know how better to ask, but what—?"

"Half Fey. Not immediately half and half, though, it was way back in my family tree, but I guess I just got a bigger piece of the Fey pie than normal." This was the moment that always made or broke friendships for Jaybird. When Kaz didn't immediately reply, they went on. "So? Thoughts?"

Kaz looked at Jaybird and shrugged his shoulders. "I mean, I've never heard of Fey before." He really focused on Jaybird and studied them. "I take it your ears and eyes are because of that?"

"And my teeth." Jaybird flashed a toothy grin that revealed their elongated canine teeth. "Pale skin, too, and a penchant for—well—a specific look."

The revelation that humans weren't the only intelligent creature in the world was a bit new, but hardly debilitating to Kaz's mind. That's when he remembered the catgirl. "Hey, when my magic got out, did you see a—uh—catgirl?"

Looking a touch confused, Jaybird shook their head. "Can't say I did." What surprised them was how little Kaz seemed to be focused on that Fey aspect. "So you're just fine with it?"

"Fine with what?" Kaz was still a little distracted by seeing what he now thought of as a ghost.

"Me being part Fey. Some people freak right out and think I'm going to steal their souls or something."

That got Kaz's attention. "I mean, do you want to steal my soul? Do you have to? What even is a soul?" Realizing he may have revealed too much of his lack of knowledge, Kaz felt his nerves kicking in.

"Not really." Jaybird again got a sense of newness from Kaz. They were starting to wonder how recent Kaz'd discovered the magic world. "I mean, where would I put it? I'd need to get a phylactery, and to balance my room I'd need a pair of them—and that'd just be asking for trouble."

For a fraction of a second Kaz managed to keep his laughter in check, then he started to giggle without control. After a few moments, Jaybird joined him.

Still laughing together, they reached the building their bracelets were leading them to. The building was huge with a domed roof that resembled some kind of telescope observatory. It was made of large stone blocks, and the architecture looked like a blend of middle ages and something far older. At the front door (which was over fifteen feet high and almost half that wide) a small sandwich board sat with writing on it:

> New Students Please Be Welcome Within!

"Odd wording," Kaz said.

"Yeah, but that's just how some people get, you know? If you live long enough, language changes around you."

"You've probably picked up on me being kinda new to this." It was a gamble, and Kaz felt a dozen warning sirens going off in his head—but he liked Jaybird. Lying to them felt wrong to him. "Think really new to this."

Jaybird froze. Turning and looking at Kaz, they reached out and with just one hand on his shoulder pulled him to the side of the entryway. "How new?"

The question asked, so softly, made Kaz shiver. He looked around them to ensure there was no one too close before saying, "Well, I got my letter on Friday saying I was coming to this college and not the n-normal one. That was my first experience with—"

"Don't finish that. Finishing that would imply a big screw-up somewhere and you walking into a literal minefield with only quick thinking as your guide. Quick thinking won't save you from some of the craziness that could happen." Their mind racing Jaybird tried to think of all the ways Kaz could have screwed up already. "You haven't told anyone your full name, have you?"

"No. I picked that up pretty early on. The letter said my full name had been covered up somehow." As he said it, Kaz watched Jaybird seem to relax somewhat. "It's that bad?"

Jaybird stared at Kaz with their mouth open. "Basically, a young magic user lacks a lot of the defenses to prevent possession and control, to say nothing of good old fashioned pain—via knowing someone's full name. It's like—like leaving the keys to your house nailed to your front door."

"Okay, bad. But can't they just—I dunno—check my housing records or something?"

"That's the thing. When your name is expunged magically, it's gone. Only the person who did the expunging and you know it—and the school prides itself on not leaking that kind of information." And it was about then Jaybird realized what they had. "So, you know next to nothing about—about the thing. That's pretty wild."

"Thanks, but hearing you talk and—and using magic myself…" Kaz shook his head. "I'm out of my depth. I need help." Looking into Jaybird's eyes, Kaz sighed. "Help?"

Tilting their hip and giving Kaz a stare that said they were doing this on protest, Jaybird rolled their eyes at last. "Okay, but you have to be really careful. I'm not even joking. So, first of all, how does someone with as much raw magic as you showed back there get to magic college without—you know."

"Mom and Dad. Mom…" It didn't so much hurt that Kaz never knew his mother, but now that he knew what he knew, he was a little sad about it all over again. "Mom must have been the one I got this from. She died when—She died. Dad's always had it in for Mom's family. I didn't hear what set it off initially, but now I can kind of get what he meant.

"Anyway, I kinda wanted to go to college, but Dad didn't have the money to pay. Aunt Y—" Kaz was cut short by Jaybird's hand over his mouth.

"No family names either. You could have just given away half your name. Okay, so your aunt…?" Jaybird removed their hand from Kaz's mouth.

"My aunt got me into this. All of this. She said she'd arrange for me to go to college, even cut me a check to get me started. I guess when she signed me up, she didn't tell the school I wasn't in the—you know." Kaz tried to kick the idea around some more when he noticed a whole bunch of students approaching, all holding out their wrists. "Let's go inside and talk."

Heading inside, Kaz and Jaybird found themselves in a huge auditorium. There was a stage in the middle that was a half circle with a huge wall spreading out to the sides and above. It seemed almost like there was another auditorium on the other side of that wall with an equal number of desk-seats to sit at. "Wow, this is pretty huge."

"C'mon, let's head down the front row. I hate having to look over everyone's heads—mostly because a lot of them are taller than me." Leading the way down the aisle, Jaybird turned at the end of the seats and only then noticed that there was a little bag on each seat. Picking a spot, they grabbed up their bag and looked inside.

"What's in the—" Kaz sat down and looked in his own bag. It was empty. "Is this some kind of prank?"

"There's a lot of glamour in the bag. I don't know exactly what is in there, but it's probably some kind of fancy trigger." Squinting a little, Jaybird tried to look past the spells with their inherited mastery of glamour, but there was too much care and power stopping them. "Ugh, I hate puzzles."

"Puzzles?" Kaz asked.

"This bag. At least I think it's a puzzle. It might just be something to stop anyone unraveling it until the right time."

Kaz just shrugged and put the little bag on his lap while the room started filling up. And that's when Kaz's heart almost stopped. Up until now, everyone was fairly normal looking (even Jaybird) and magic was fairly mundane, but when Mal, the President of the Castle Campus of the Stratfield School of Applied and Theoretical Magic strode out onto the stage, all bets were off.

Mal was tall and thin. She wore a black cloak with the cowl down at the back making it almost look like an ancient version of a hoodie. Her face looked severe and sharp—all angles and bones defined on paper-thin skin. With one silvery eye she looked toward the students assembling while the other was a black orb of nothingness. On top of her head a huge mane of black hair seemed to launch itself about her as if it had no care for physics or style, while a huge green gem hung around her neck on a chain.

In one hand—her left—she carried a heavy book that was about five times bigger than the biggest book Kaz had ever seen, and in her right hand she held an apple. Her whole right arm, however, was literally just a skeleton with green mist burning around the bones.

"She's a lich," Jaybird whispered. "Holy shit, I'd heard rumors, but she's the real deal."

"What's a lich?" Kaz hadn't paid enough attention to fantasy novels or RPGs to pick up the concept of lich, but by the way he felt a chill in his chest every time he looked at her, Mal was definitely not what would normally be called a nice magic user.

Jaybird had played Dungeons and Dragons far more than any Fey before them, and as such not only knew the fantasy version but also the real-life one. Unfortunately, they were practically the same. "They blur the lines between living, dead, and undead. Master of necromancy, they sacrifice their own lifeforce bit by bit for more power and the ability to cheat any kind of true death. They—they're almost always evil."

"Ahem." Mal was straining—hard. It was so easy for a lich to relax and let their dark, life-staining forces leak into warm bodies, kill them, and remake them as the perfect, undead organism. She was powerful enough, however, to keep all that deadly and deathly energy bound within her body while she dealt with the new students. "My name is Mal, and I'm the president of the Castle Campus of The Stratfield School of Applied and Theoretical Magic. You are all so full of questions. Some of you, I see, are less human than others. Let me make it absolutely clear that there will be no hazing, no discrimination, and no unsanctioned magicking or killing while you are a student here. Failure to abide by this rule will result in termination."

Termination was an abrupt word, and Kaz wasn't sure if she meant to say death or expulsion. He immediately decided not to find out.

"Nearly a third of you will drop out by the end of your first year—this is expected. Part of the learning process for your first year here is to discover what your specialty is. For many that will lie outside of the school and for others still what the school offers will not suit them. Upon reaching your second year here, you will decide which specialty you wish to pursue and dedicate yourself to that department with a curse should you lack the fortitude to finish your undergraduate study.

"Should you survive to graduation, all will be invited to continue their studies, though the vast majority of you will not. Your training here will give you the strongest grounding in advanced magical study of any school in any world, and I can assure those who graduate that you will be capable of great things.

"During your orientation week, you will tour the college departments and learn the cosmic powers you must master. You will also, immediately following this, be introduced to a medium with whom you will explore your choices to obtain a familiar. Your familiar will be your guide, your guard, and a potent catalyst for your magic. You may find yourself imprinting upon a black cat"—everyone in the audience had the absolute displeasure to watch Mal smile, her grin resembling a very happy skull—", a taipan, or even a ghost. Do not fear what you find calling your name, for it will gain as much from the association as you do.

"And that brings us to names. Don't share your full name with anybody here. I have personally arranged the magic required to obfuscate your names from all sources until such time as you depart this school or graduate. Bringing regular humans to the college is, again, a transgression that will result in termination. If you believe such a human is following you, do not use magic to escape them, simply call the school on its emergency number and explain the problem. We're here to help.

"And, this carries on from the rule on using magic on or harming another student—all blood feuds and grievances are on hold until you are no longer a student. We've encountered difficulties in the past with certain students thinking they are above this rule and seeking to make the school lives of others a nightmare. Please, do not, or I will grow displeased with you. An amendment to this is no morality fighting. I don't care if you're the child of the most pious angel and your lab partner is one of Damien's own siblings—you are students here and nothing more. Devils, Outsiders, and even Animal Kin are all welcome to learn and grow.

"Finally, I trust you will all have a good day. Follow the rules, learn to master your powers, and do attend each of the orientation days until the end of the week. You will be getting your timetables then." Mal lifted the huge book to the side and set it down on the floor. This was one thing she disliked, but it was a required part of the rules to allow each and every student who transgressed a second chance. Unlocking the bindings on her tome, she flicked magic to force the five students trapped within to be reconstituted on the stage. "Go. Attempt to pass first year again. If you fail to follow the rules, I'll let Tibbles play with you—or you'll be expelled."

The shock that Kaz saw on the faces of the five that just appeared out of the book quickly turned to fear. They all bowed their heads to Mal and quickly rushed off the stage and to seats in the crowd. "That explains what termination is. Uh, Jaybird?"

Frozen in shock at what they'd just witnessed, Jaybird didn't respond to Kaz until he actually shook their shoulder. "That spell should be impossible. I don't—This school is insane."

"Welcome to my world."

Jaybird turned to look at Kaz for a moment, then smirked. "Okay, I'll give you that one. Still, this is crazy-powerful magic that is meant to take whole cabals of magic users to cast. She just—just…" Waving their hands at the lich, Jaybird tried to put all their shock and surprise into nonverbal communication. "Okay. So what's the most shocking thing you've seen here so far if not that?"

"Honestly? The guy at the door greeting everyone stopped time to have a chat with me and set up a prank. I thought that was pretty crazy."

"Huh." Jaybird flopped back in their seat. "That could be impressive if I didn't know a few shortcuts he could have taken. He could have simply sped the two of you up massively, or… Okay, I'm drawing a blank, but the point is magical effects have shortcuts, but what she just did doesn't have one."

Kaz deployed his best sarcastic look, which for a guy who just turned eighteen, was fairly over-the-top.

"What?"

"You said it yourself. Sev—the guy at the gate—could have used a method you don't know about to do his time-stop trick. She probably just used some trick you don't know about." It felt intuitive to Kaz, but he found himself wondering if he should assume all magic is some kind of trick.

Biting their lower lip, Jaybird closed their eyes and let out a deep sigh. "You're better at magic than me, Kaz."

"What?" It was Kaz's turn to be surprised.

"You grasped all that so damn quick. Here I was thinking I'd be your mentor in all things magical—and you just showed me how narrow I was thinking." Jaybird reached back and pulled their hood up and over their head, hiding their ears and casting their face in shadow.

It was a holdover from their fey side. Emotions like quicksilver that could swing rapidly. When an arm reached over their shoulders, however, Jaybird jerked their head around to look at Kaz. "What are—?"

Kaz had seen depression before—he'd felt its bite himself. Always, around his birthday, his dad would start to withdraw and become quieter. Jaybird might have been a lot faster to shut down, but Kaz recognized it for what it was. "I think we're better off working together to survive this school, don't you think?"

What startled Kaz was how Jaybird leaned over and into the hug and put their head on his shoulder. He'd mostly meant it for support, but now he found himself wondering if Jaybird was a guy or girl all over again. "Uh, Jaybird?"

Another carryover of their fey blood was a kind of telempathic reception. Jaybird could feel emotions by touching people—and being so close to Kaz had them burning with the same curiosity and excitement that Kaz felt from being in a magic school. "Hrmm?" It was almost like a drug when they found someone with such positive feelings.

"I don't mean to—I mean I don't mean any disrespect—but I haven't known enough fey to know—that is I—"

Holding up their wrist, Jaybird made a pantomime of checking a watch that wasn't there. "You've got the record now, Kaz. What was that, nearly an hour? The point is I don't really know what I feel like. I've got girl-bits, but I just—It's not easy to explain."

"I didn't mean to ask because—Wait, record? People just blurt that out when they first meet you?" Kaz asked.

"Mmhmm. People can be all kinds of odd about it. It means even more that you gave me a hug I really needed without knowing. If you want to let go, I won't hold it against you."

Kaz snorted. "My dad gets—Ugh, I shouldn't say much about my past, but I'll say I've seen depression, and the way you just huddled up and left the conversation reminded me of it."

"Thanks, Kaz." Jaybird allowed themselves one more little head rub on Kaz's shoulder before straightening up and letting the hood fall back from their head. "You have my full permission to give hugs, by the way. You're good at them."

Though Kaz managed a laugh as he stood up (since everyone else was standing up), he was still left questioning one thing—did he suspect Jaybird was a girl when he hugged her? For that matter he had no idea how to talk to her. He knew a bit about pronouns from some stuff in high school, but had no clue if he should ask. "I don't know if this is lame to do, or even appropriate, but do you have a preferred pronoun?"

"They or them is fine. If you slip and use he or she, I don't mind—but I'd prefer they. And it's fine to ask. I'd rather you ask, actually." Jaybird's short bout of depression was gone like literal magic. Kaz's reaction to their sex and gender had been more positive than most they'd experienced. "So I guess we go meet this medium?" Standing up, Jaybird couldn't resist brushing their shoulder against Kaz. A thrill of excitement, anticipation, and even joy rushed through the brief connection.

"Sure. Are mediums the same as in real—I almost said in real life. Is there a name for non-magic stuff?" Kaz had definitely noticed the touch, given Jaybird had plenty of room. Was it flirting? Was he interested? He had more questions stacking up every minute he was in the castle, and wasn't getting nearly enough answers.

"Mundane. Mundy for short. There's other, nastier words, but mundy is probably the most common short one. As for mediums, they're the real deal. They can communicate with anything on a neutral term. They will as happily discuss how many lives a demon wants to eat as talk to an air elemental about the quality of a breeze." It was at this point that Jaybird realized they could open the bag. "Oh crap."

Seeing Jaybird looking inside their bag, Kaz opened his and looked in it. There was just two things—one was a card with a smiling, happy caricature of Mal, the other was a chocolate toffee that looked almost as large as a golf ball. "Are you supposed to accept sweets from a lich?" When Kaz looked up at Jaybird, however, he saw then already eating theirs, only it wasn't chocolate. "What was yours?"

"Mmff." Jaybird was chewing away at the caramel, showing every evidence of absolute delight. "Marfamel."

Shrugging, Kaz bit into the chocolate and almost died—figuratively of course. The rich, sumptuous chocolate covered a center that was a mix of ganache and hazelnuts. It was, without exception, his favorite candy in the world and he had only one idea for how Mal had known—magic. It was, however, kind of endearing to him that she bothered.

An endearing undead abomination was the head of the school. It made as much sense to Kaz as anything else he'd encountered.

Together, they walked down along their row and up the aisle. Both were far too focused on not tripping over while eating their treats to notice the single glowing eye following them from the edge of the stage. Mal recognized Kaz's spirit and she was intrigued with the company he'd taken up with. Drawing out a small rectangular box, she held it in her skeletal hand while tapping the front with her still-flesh one.

The phone opened the note-taking app and awaited input.

"Assign Kaz and—Jaybird to Livina. Save. Send to Flo." She might be older than the stones of the castle, she might be more undead than alive, and Mal might listen to her darker desires a little more often than what some would call good, but she wasn't one to be left behind by technology. Tapping a few more times with one of the few parts of her that still had true life in them, she swapped to the music player and hit play.

The soothing tones of k-pop fed through the wireless earbuds, allowing her a moment to relax amid the horror that was modern life for a lich. Horror though it might be, there were ways to make it a little more comfortable.

Outside, Kaz and Jaybird finished their treats and seemed to each come out of a daze. Flo was watching for them and rushed over—slipping her phone back into her pocket. "Hey there! Are you guys ready to meet your medium? Neither of you have familiars yet, do you?"

Shaking his head more to clear the cobwebs the spellbindingly delicious candy had caused, Kaz realized that Flo took it for a no.

"Me either," Jaybird said. "Why? Aren't we supposed to—?"

"Sillies. Follow me. I'll take you to the best medium. You'll see!" Flo was far too curious in the pair now that she'd gotten a private message from Mal to guide them to the most active medium in the school. She'd liked Kaz already at the front gate, but for the life of her she couldn't remember seeing Jaybird. "This way!"

Walking along behind Flo, Jaybird felt eyes swinging their way. The witch was like a magnet for attention, but while she waved back to people and seemed invigorated by it, Jaybird could just feel the judging eyes linger on them—trying to discern why they were with her.

Then a hand touched Jaybird's. Jerking their head up at the instant chill that seemed to fill them, Jaybird looked at Kaz. "How did you—?" Know. Jaybird couldn't finish the question.

"Figured something was up. You kept touching me, and when you did you kinda opened up more. What is it, some kind of soul-eating?" Kaz asked.

"I told you I don't do that." The dark shadows that had been creeping in on Jaybird's vision were gone and the world seemed lighter. "P-People are going to start talking if we keep holding hands."

Kaz had a lot of theories for what Jaybird got out of the touch, but the evidence was obvious to him—Jaybird felt better when they touched him. At least for now it was enough. "You can let go any time you want."

"Telempathy. Or at least receiving only." Flo turned and started taking bouncy, backward steps so she could keep an eye on the pair. "Or can you send as well?"

Gripping a little tighter, Jaybird shook their head. "Just receive." It was amazing to have someone so confident touching them like this. They could look people in the eyes and actually speak normally. It made Jaybird's choice in approaching Kaz seem that much more like it was fate taking a hand in things.

Nodding her head, Flo turned forward again and aimed them toward a small building. "Well, there you go. Just sampling your emotions. It won't harm you and your friend doesn't get crushed by introversion, or did I miss my mark?"

"No. You nailed it." With their emotions overflowing, Jaybird turned to look at Kaz and felt their heart skip a beat. Is this what love is? I mean, I'm not attracted to him like that, Jaybird thought, but he keeps doing nice things instinctively. He's like a superhero.

"Right. It's good you two got together then. Anyway, in here is Professor Livina. She'll take my head apart if I bug her again, so you should probably go in without me." It was an understatement and Flo knew it. Her own familiar was—putting it mildly—so far above her own station that it was ridiculous, but when the daughter of Cana Cludhmor (herself a goddess) had told Livina that she wouldn't let any other be Flo's familiar, the old medium had told them both to get out of her office—but with a lot more swearing. "I'll wait out here for when you're done."

Looking down at where his hand still held Jaybird's, Kaz felt it a good trade to have their knowledge on magical stuff. "Come on, then. Let's head in." With his free hand, Kaz reached out to the doorknob of the nondescript looking cottage and pushed it in.

Following Kaz in, mostly because going into a strange house-like building without holding his hand would have been a personal nightmare for them, Jaybird felt an oppressive weight gathering around them. It wasn't just the environment, not even just the residual magic in the air—there were spirits gathered in the room that took up space. "You feel that?"

As he entered the room, Kaz looked around at what seemed to be a literal living room. There was a couch, some cabinets with photos and china plates, as well as an old spinning wheel in the corner. It would have been utterly believable that a grandmother had decorated it. "Yeah." Rubbing his arm, Kaz kept his grip on Jaybird's hand. "What is it?"

Jaybird could feel a little concern through the telempathic link, but it was still outweighed by confidence. "A little magic, but there's something else. I don't—"

"Spirits, ghosts, otherworldly beings." The medium Livina had pushed aside the bead-curtain to her living room and held it aside for the two freshmen. "That ol' hag Mal have another interesting case, or did Flo just direct you here on a lark?"

The voice startled Kaz. He looked at the little old lady, in all the usual trappings, and tried to sort out his next words. "Uh, I don't know, ma'am." Kaz took a step forward, breaking a trail for Jaybird to follow along in. "Flo led us here and said you were the best medium."

"In here then. It's good to know that empty-headed little idiot has started to learn a thing or two." Turning, Livina entered the bedroom she'd converted to hold meetings between those of different species/corporality. "Drink?"

Jaybird felt intimidated. The woman's tone was course enough that it caused discordant feelings that even Kaz's emotional stability couldn't completely crowd out. Walking beside Kaz was not going to be easy, and talking was way out.

"I think we're fine. Uh, so what are we meant to do here?" Kaz asked.

The feeling inside the smaller room was akin to the living room dialed up to 11. Kaz felt barely able to move it was so oppressive, and had to pull on Jaybird's hand to get them to advance and find a seat at the little table that was central to the room.

"Well, you need to get a familiar." There were many things Livina had given up on in her long life, and chief among them small talk. "Magic takes two things to do with any degree of competence—a steady mind and someone who has your back no matter what. Some familiars are a loyal pet or animal, while others are more exotic things; ghosts, spirits, even what some would call a monster."

Raising her hand, Livina pointed to Jaybird. "You. Do you have a preference?"

Feeling Jaybird's hand clutch his in a vice-like grip, Kaz took a deep breath, gathering his strength to speak up for his friend—but was caught out before he could by their hand squeezing back.

The rush of confidence freed Jaybird's mind from the clamps of social anxiety. "I would rather an animal. Something with confidence and—and that's pretty."

Narrowing her eyes for a moment, Livina studied Jaybird and took their measure. "That is either the most vacuous reply—or the wisest—I have ever heard. Your name is taken from a literal bird—some of the most vain and proud creatures to never walk the Earth. But it needs to be more than that. It needs to represent all of you—not just half."

Jaybird's eyes widened when they realized the old woman knew their name without being told. "I—I just thought I—"

"Shhh. There's a spirit here that tells me it knows another that would be suitable. This is not uncommon. Ah, the daughter of the wind had a child." Livina kept turning her head to follow the voice only she could hear. The sound was high-pitched and would—if anyone else could hear it—have sounded like birdsong. To one of her abilities, who could understand all words and all voices, it was clear in its meaning.

A tap at the window was the first sign that Livina hadn't been bluffing. Jaybird felt a pull to that window and, without realizing it, stood up, let go of Kaz's hand, and walked over to open it.

Lifting a hand to the window, Jaybird's eyes widened when they opened it and a bird flew in. It was a jay, naturally, but it was split down the middle in coloration. "What—?"

Zooming around Jaybird, Puff let loose with their song before letting go of their compact shape.

When Puff landed on the floor and grew, Jaybird was shocked to find themselves looking into heterochromatic eyes. The bird had turned into what Jaybird would have called a harpy, but with a stranger body still. Arms that were bird wings, legs that were those of a bird, Puff was covered only slightly here and there in patches of feathers—each group colored for a female or male blue jay.

Opening her beak, Puff lifted a wing and booped Jaybird on the nose with one extended flight feather. "Hi, I'm Puff!"

Kaz didn't know what to do. He wanted to watch over Jaybird, but Puff's mostly uncovered form left little to the imagination between her legs, and on her chest was one perfectly formed breast with a perky nipple betraying the coolness of the room. The most disturbing thing for Kaz was that Puff seemed a mix of both sexes. In the end loyalty won and Kaz fixed his gaze on Puff's face as a compromise he could live with.

The touch had told Jaybird everything and nothing about Puff. Excitement and joy had poured through the brief link, but so too had nervousness and a little bit of worry. The annoying thing was that none of the emotions came with reasons why Puff was feeling them. "Uh, hi. I'm Jayd—Jaybird."

Puff giggled, which sounded distinctly like birdsong."I know your name, Jaybird. Anything spoken to the air is known to wind spirits, but I won't tell anyone. I promise." She held up her single booping-feather and pressed it to her beak in a promise of silence.

"Down to brass tacks." Livina reached under the table and drew out a sheet of old, yellowed paper. On it was written down the terms of a contract between two beings. "Jaybird, Puff, you both need to read this and agree to it."

Reaching out a hand to Puff's wing, Jaybird waited for her to put some of her feathers in their grip. Now it was almost all excitement and wonder, both of the emotions proving to be perfect for Jaybird to shove back the oppression of the room.

Following Jaybird's lead, Puff took a seat beside Kaz and turned to look at him for a moment before her attention turned to the paperwork.

> This contract is binding until one or the other of the signatories no longer exists as a thinking entity. Each will be bound to the other, a familiar to a magic user, with the following stipulations:

>

> Neither must knowingly do harm to the other without their permission.

>

> A familiar will support their magic user in all things, through all deeds.

>

> A magic user will provide for all their familiar's needs and ensure they want for little.

>

> A magic user will share their power with their familiar.

>

> A familiar will share their knowledge with their magic user.

>

> So mote it be: __________ ___________

There was a lot of room between the last clause and the signature lines at the bottom. Jaybird made sure to read over it all several times to make sure they understood it. "This doesn't say who is the magic user and who is the familiar."

Giggling/tweeting at the statement, Puff fluffed up the feathers around her head in a fashion display. "Clearly I'm the magic user." With her feathers touching Jaybird's hand, she knew that they'd feel her mirth.

"Oh powerful witch of the skies, how should this lowly familiar serve?" Jaybird joined Puff in laughing.

"Go ahead, mock this ritual as old as time. I swear, children these days…" Livina drew her ritual dagger and set it on the table. "Mark it with your blood and the deal is made."

Taking a deep breath, Jaybird reached for the dagger and drew it a little closer. It was an old blade, an athame, but it was the terms of the agreement that Jaybird was most intrigued with. "This is for our whole lives."

"Yeah. It's kinda big, isn't it? Not many words, but says a lot." Waiting only a short moment longer, Puff reached her right wing out and—careful to not cut her feathers—used the point to slice a little bit of her flesh. Blood wicked its way along her light blue feather. The magic of the ritual blade caused the blood to have a life of its own and stain the feather ruby-red.

Puff stared at her red feather a moment before reaching out and touching it to the page. She looked to Jaybird just as they were cutting their thumb with the blade. The moment Jaybird's thumb touched the paper, Puff felt a rush of sensation. Her body, always before an extension of her spirit, was now more firmly grounded in the world. A shiver ran from her toes to her wingtips—magic.

Taking a deep breath, Puff turned and wrapped both wings around Jaybird. The emotional bond—strengthened by the familial agreement—let her feel back what Jaybird felt. "Oh! I think I got some of your telempathy."

Jaybird didn't need Puff to say it, they could feel their own emotions returned to them through it. "Yeah! This is strange, but in a good way. What about you, Kaz? What sort of familiar do you want?"

Livina tried to ignore that her prerogative was being usurped and turned her attention on Kaz. "Ahem. Do you have a pref—" A shiver ran through her as a spirit practically thundered to get her attention. Trying to focus on Kaz, she was nonetheless unable to resist the powerful spirit's desire to become manifest.

With no option, Livina let her own magic flow out into the room and allowed the spirit to become manifest.

Kaz's eyes opened wide and he almost fell backwards with his chair as the cat girl from earlier sat crouched on the table. Far from being naked like Puff, she wore a kimono that had exquisite calligraphy covering it down one side. "W-W-What—?"

"You're welcome for earlier." Reaching out her hand, Miaow cupped Kaz's cheek. "My name is unpronounceable by you, but you can call me Miaow."

Trying to look past the catgirl, Kaz got a look at Livina. The medium was slumped back in her chair, eyes wide and mouth working but making no sound. "Is she okay?"

"I'm just using her magic for a bit. We need to have a discussion, Son of Makishi. I was bound to serve your mother—not as a familiar, I'll add. She'd given me power and a single task—to protect her son." Miaow sighed and sat down on the table, then examined her hand-paw. "Even when she withdrew her power, I still watched over you. Of course, I had no power to act, but there was still little things I could do to bring you luck."

"Luck? Wait, you knew my mom?" Kaz's eyes narrowed to points.

"Well, of course I did. I owed her a favor, and she called it in to watch over you until you were in possession of your powers. That ended…" Holding up a wrist that had no watch on it, Miaow tapped it with a fine claw. "… when you unleashed your magic earlier. Thank you, by the way, that meal sustained me until now. What I want is back in. I want access to your magic. If you give me that, well, you get everything I know."

Kaz gulped a little. It was a lot to take in. "Why did you owe Mom?"

Miaow's snout split wide with a smile. "Clever. I won't lie to you—I stole her sister. I wanted a body and your aunt looked like my best chance, so I kidnapped her. Makishi was something else. All my tricks and talents counted for naught. I threw everything I had at her, and she turned it all back on me. She wound up locking me in a perfume bottle for fifteen years.

"Then she let me out and told me I could keep being free so long as you survived until you came into your power. The bottle is pulling at me, Kaz, it wants me back."

It was a warning siren in Kaz's head. He only had Miaow's word that any of this was correct, but why would she be lying with such a stupid gambit like that? Or so he thought. "So you want to be my familiar? That will stop the bottle from getting you?"

"I want more than that. You could have any familiar, Kaz. You have so much potential it's blinding from the spirit world. You probably would have been ensnared by another bad spirit by now if I hadn't guarded you."

Kaz smirked. "You're a bad spirit?"

"Terrible. No one in their right mind would grant me power." Smiling now that Kaz seemed to be understanding her situation, Miaow was honestly enjoying herself. "It's all stuff you could figure out anyway, and if the old one wakes from the trance I put her in, she'll scream at you not to accept my deal."

"You're honest," Kaz said, "you protected me my whole life, you did what my mom asked, but the reason I'm going to pick you is that you seem like fun." Straightening up from where he'd been crouched over his fallen chair, Kaz walked around the table and reached into the little shelf that held the contracts.

"One more thing. We each add an extra clause to the contract, but the other doesn't get to see it until they're both revealed." Miaow's eyes danced, and she saw Kaz's own flicker with fire that called to her.

"You already have yours chosen, don't you?" Kaz asked. That's when Kaz realized that Jaybird was also staring blindly into space. Even Puff seemed frozen. "You used some of my magic for this?"

"Yes. They'll all be fine. I wouldn't hurt any living creature that didn't try to do harm to you." Miaow slid off the table and righted Kaz's chair to sit on. "But, yes, I do know what I want. I'm dying of curiosity to see what you chose."

Reaching into his pocket, Kaz pulled out one of the pens he'd brought with him. "Well, if you know what you want, I'll just write what I want." The bluster he showed was the easy bit, trying to work out what to write was harder. As he lowered the pent tip to the page, however, something clicked. "You have magic of your own."

"Yesss." Miaow picked up the athame and juggled it in one paw.

> Every clause of this contract will hold true for its reverse.

Miaow froze at reading the addition. It took her mind nearly ten seconds to catch up to the enormity of this. "You're crazy! This is crazy!" She tipped her head back and laughed aloud, her voice flicking between laughter and feline yowling. Recovering, she held her paw out for the pen. "I love it. Okay, if nothing else, this lifetime will be the most interesting I've ever lived."

Handing over the pen, Kaz wasn't sure if he should be worried or amused that Miaow was so exciting. "What's yours?"

"You. I want you. Every day. I need a body to live, Kaz, and yours is the only one we have to work with—unless you want to capture me someone?" Miaow started writing, but paused to see if Kaz would take the easier step. "No? Drat, that would have made this more fun. Okay, let's go for a standard one. All the time you would sleep, I get your body. You lay down, close your eyes, and I open them. I will ensure you are back to your bed in the morning if at all possible."

"How are you going to word that?" In the back of Kaz's head a voice screamed that he should be paying way more attention here than he was. Not being a complete idiot, he looked down at the paper as Miaow started writing.

> During the time Kaz is sleeping, control of his body will revert to Miaow. She will attempt, to the best of her abilities, to leave it in the same condition and position as where she found it.

Kaz failed holding back a giggle. "Are you allowed to put jokes on the contract?"

"Don't know why not. Besides, that's exactly how it needs to be. If I want to go out and have some drinks, I will try to undo the effects of the alcohol and make it back to your bed. Probably even shower if I can. Will that work for you?"

"Uh, the minimum drinking age here is 21. Also, uh, I guess that works." Holding out his hand for the dagger, Kaz instead felt a prick from one of Miaow's claws. It lasted just a moment, but a red blob appeared on his thumb and spread out to cover the whole print on that digit.

One more time Kaz read the paper, then the additions. His own made him smile, but Miaow's made him bite his lower lip. Pressing down with his thumb, he made a bloody print on the page.

"Okay, for this bit I kinda need to borrow you." Miaow walked around behind Kaz, only for him to turn to face her. "No, I need you to look the other way."

"Why?"

"Because I'm still just a manifestation of will filled with magic. I can't bleed."

This confused Kaz. "Will it count if you use my blood?"

"Yeah. It will count because I will be the one doing it. I'll need to use your other hand, though. You bloodied yourself and put your own power into this one. I could no more sign on your behalf than you could mine." Miaow reached out and, holding Kaz's shoulders, turned him to face away. "I promise this will not hurt and I'll be right back out."

The press of her chest and hips against Kaz's back came with it a sense of internal pressure. Something about the situation felt like he could make it into a fight if he wanted, or he could just—

᱿Relax. There you go. Just be calm, Kazuma. I won't ever hurt you,᱿ a feline voice said in Kaz's head.

The thought was invasive in a way, but Kaz could recognize the intent behind it. Unlike Jaybird's ability, Kaz could see all the motives and plots that came with Miaow's thought. She wanted this and needed this. She really wouldn't hurt him, she really wanted to be good for him, so he would let her keep being his familiar.

᱿Just think words at me and I'll hear them,᱿ Miaow thought at him again.

Focusing his mind, all Kaz could manage was an, Okay. Feline laughter echoed around him, and he watched through his own eyes as his arms moved and lifted up the athame, ready to prick his unpricked thumb.

"What are you doing to him?!" Livina had finally managed to brute-force her way out of the stupor that Miaow had put her in. With the bakeneko constrained to Kaz's body, her spell had worn off and freed Livina. And, that's when Livina noticed the contract before Kaz and noticed extra writing on it. "Wait!"

"No," Miaow said with Kaz's voice. She pressed the tip of the blade to Kaz's left thumb and pressed the print to the paper quickly.

The sound of rushing wind followed by a pop was all Kaz could sense of the contract binding them. Then the effects of that hit him full force. Power and knowledge seemed to slam into him. Concepts of magic and the supernatural that completely bypassed his thinking mind poured into his brain while new senses started feeding him information that, in just three seconds, was too much for him to take.

Kazuma Wilson passed out completely in his own head, though he was lucky saved by a nasty fall by Miaow.

"We both agreed to this. We are bound now, and you can't do anything ab—Hey!" Miaow had to grab the contract from the table before Livina could reach it. "I'm not going away this time! No more bottle for me!"

"You are not a spirit aligned with—" Livina froze. She looked closer at Miaow and then tilted her head to the side. "Get out. Get out and don't ever come back. Mark my words, bakeneko, he will have the better of this contract."

Jaybird watched as Miaow carefully rolled up the contract and then snapped her digits. It vanished into nothingness. "W-What happened to Kaz?"

Spinning around to look at Jaybird, Miaow's face brightened. "An elf! We're going to have so much fun. Do you like parties? We're going to have all the parties now I have a body again."

Puff stepped between Jaybird and Miaow, jabbing one wing at Miaow (well, Kaz's) chest. "Wait just a minute. You said you have to leave Kaz in the same place and condition as when he went to sleep. He's asleep now, isn't he?"

Miaow stopped in her tracks and groaned. "But I wanna—You're right. Okay, Kaz, wakey wakey!"