“Something about?” I raised an eyebrow, “Yeah sounds like a real science.”

“Can I spend the night with you?” Blaise asked, that cheerful smile making me want to vomit.

“Um, no, I can take you to a cheap hotel,” no way was I sneaking a giant into my dorm.

Blaise pulled a piece of paper out of the bag with her clothes, “Do you know how to get money out of this piece of paper?”

My eyes almost jumped out of my head—a cashier’s check for $20,000.

“Where did you get this?” I snatched it from her.

“The ruby,” again that nonchalant shrug.

“How?”

“You can have it…if you let me stay with you and get me to a place called Central Park by dawn.” Now the stupid bird woman had a smug smirk on her face.

Twenty thousand dollars though! How can I pass that up?

“Fine,” I snarled, “Come with me, we’ll take a cab since you can’t do subways.”

Blaise seemed hesitant to step inside the cab but once it got going she was surprisingly excited.

“Not too fast for you?” I mean if all she was used to was a horse or carriage this should have been unbelievable.

“Fast?” Blaise laughed, “I’m a phoenix, we fly faster than an eye can see—still though, humans are amazing. Without magic and with so few advantages anyone would think your species would have been extinct ages ago. Instead not only do you thrive but you strive to unlock the secrets of your universe and create machines as good as any magic.”

“Um, I guess,” I didn’t get this woman, was she a genius who acted like an idiot?

I had the cab pull over by a Walgreens I had electronically sent the pictures to to be printed.

“How did they know what to make for us?” Blaise asked when the clerk handed me an envelope.

I contemplated how long it would take to explain, from scratch, about phone apps and the internet. Shaking my head, I said, “Don’t worry about it, it’s technology.”

I watched Blaise fawn over the pictures, “so lifelike”, “so real”, “amazing”. I rolled my eyes.

“Okay, that’s enough, let’s go,” I said pushing Blaise out the door. The dorm was only a block away.

I swiped my ID card at the door and we walked into the pristine lobby. No one sat behind the front desk. I sighed in relief and dragged Blaise into the elevator. Her face showed childlike excitement at the slow rise of the elevator and the bright buttons.

“You were just in an elevator at the Empire State Building.” I had to slap her hands twice to keep her from pressing all the buttons.

“But there were so many people, I didn’t get to enjoy it.”

Another swipe of my ID to get into the room. My roommates were already there. A worm of nervousness crept into my throat, wiggling it’s body until I had to clear my throat twice before I could say, “Hey guys, this is Blaise, she’s gonna spend the night.” I said in one breath and pushed Blaise to my bed. The tiny bedroom fit three twin size beds with a tiny desk for each and just enough floor space to get where one needed to go.

Neither my roommates nor I made a habit of hanging out in the room so within an hour both girls found somewhere to be.

With them gone it got easier to breathe.

“That was awkward,” Blaise rocked on the bed, making yet another stupid face.

Blaise

Mari was giving me yet another annoyed expression. This girl really had a singular mind. “Well, how about we go to the roof, high places always have the best view.”

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“The roof?” Mari gave me an incredulous stare, “I don’t even know if we’re allowed up there.”

I laughed, “Do you only ever do what you’re allowed to do?”

Mari frowned and turned red, “No.”

“Then let’s go.” I got up and pulled her out of the door.

The door to the roof was indeed locked. I stared at my hand. While if was true that there was no magic in this world, I had magic from my world; I needed it to get back but opening a lock would only take—I snapped my fingers, sparks flew and the lock came undone.

“You have magic?” Mari whispered excited for the first time since I met her.

The door gave way with a pop. Wind blew us back, I stepped out onto a flat, gray roof. “Yeah, how else am I gonna get home?” Only to find my voice drowned out by cars and horns and my eyes blinded by lights. “What is this? Does no one sleep here?” It made me nostalgic for the quiet peace of nighttime at home. True, even at home, going out onto the balcony the darkness was dissipated by lightbulbs flashing in every window but it wasn’t like this.

“Well, New York is known as the city that never sleeps—so I guess…no?” Mari said proudly.

A railing wrapped around the roof—apparently fear of falling off afflicted all humans. I walked to the edge and leaned over. How different a world looked from above.

I saw Mari kept herself far enough back not to see over the railing. “Are you afraid?”

“Well, maybe if you fall down you’d turn into a bird and fly away, but if I fall, I will go splat on the pavement with my guts splayed out for a mile,” Mari snapped.

I laughed at her. What would it be like to don my phoenix skin here in this world?

“I can’t turn into a bird, not without my other skin. I fall here, I’m as human as you.”

Mari smirked, “That’s the most normal thing you’ve said all day and I don’t believe you.”

I smiled at her self-assurance. Knowing nothing about me or my world, she is still so cocky in her knowledge. “You know there is a legend—myth—whichever—in my world that says there used to be humans there.”

“What happened to them?” No actual interest permeated Mari’s voice.

“Don’t know, disappeared,” I replied, “but legend says that humans were the ones to teach us animals to shape-shift. Before we could take this form none of the animals could understand each other and there was constant war. Imagine dragons at war with krakens and phoenixes fighting unicorns—destruction everywhere.” To me the idea send shivers down my spine but confusion and boredom came over Mari.

I laughed, “Your face is so easy to read. Anyway—humans had very little magic and what they had they used to protect their clan—apparently it was very small unlike yours.” I swept my arm at the scene below me. “It’s said that a little human girl befriended a fox, a prince of the fox clan. And though they couldn’t communicate they came to understand each other.

“That’s how the human mage found them playing one day. It struck him that if the animals had a common tongue the wars might end. So he searched but could not find a way to teach them while still in their animal skins. After years of searching he found a way to take off their animal skins and don human flesh instead; allowing everyone to look and sound the same.”

“Sounds stupid,” Mari interrupted, “Let’s make everyone the same—lacks understanding and appreciation for each other’s differences.”

I laughed, “Quite the opposite, we couldn’t appreciate our differences without first understanding how we were similar.”

I waited for understanding to light up Mari’s face, receiving skepticism instead so continued my story, “The mage decided to try the magic with the fox prince—“

“Child abuse!” Mari yelled, “Forcing a child to undergo magic against his will.”

“Um—no—it was a slow process and took many days but he didn’t hold the fox captive. The boy stayed of his own accord and after a week he was able to step out of his fox skin as a human.”

“But just because he looked human doesn’t mean he could talk,” Mari interjected again.

For the first time I could feel my own irritation rising, “No he could not, it took many more months for him to learn the basics yet it still proved that it could be done. The boy and the girl were very happy.”I could see Mari getting ready to speak again, “Anyway they presented their new magic to each clan one by one—convinced them to learn the shape-shift magic and the human tongue and once everyone could understand each other they lived happily ever after.”

“So the human tongue was English, was it?” Mari raised a sardonic eyebrow.

“I don’t know what English is,” I replied.

“That’s what you’re speaking,” Mari snapped.

“Oh, language, no that’s just a spell—I came up with it myself,” I smiled. I was quite proud of myself for that. But Mari only returned my smile with a cruel grin. I sighed, there was a saying about first impressions being irreversible.

I leaned over the rail watching the moving lights of the cars below. The silence stretched.

“So once you leave, you won’t come back?” Mari asked. She still wouldn’t step closer to the rail, opting for leaning against the wall of the building.

“I don’t know why I would—unless they want proof,” I whispered the last part; she didn’t need to know that.

“Hmm, just visiting a whole other world for a day,” Mari sounded wistful and snide at the same time, “must be nice.”

I took a deep breath, unable to stop myself any longer, “Why are you so miserable?” I looked back at her to watch her jaw drop.

“I’m not miserable!” She exclaimed bursting off the wall. Dozens of emotions fleeted across her face; surprisingly settling on defeat.

“Maybe I am—I don’t even know how I feel most of the time.”

The idea hit me like a lightning bolt—energizing every molecule in my body, “Then come with me, visit another world for a day.”

“Huh?” the moment of humility passed in a flash replaced by annoyed surprise. I laughed, “You truly are incredible—just think leave at dawn and be back in the afternoon the following day, no one will even know you went anywhere.”

Mari seemed frozen mid-argument, “—I don’t have work tomorrow…and I can skip a day of classes… maybe I can take a trip…it’s only for one day,” suddenly Mari glared at me, “You swear it will only be one day, right?”

“I swear on whatever god you believe in,” I promised. This is even better than telling people I saw humans—I will bring one back with me!