A Boy, a Dog Girl and Bell's South: Part Three

The ball bounced off the sidewalk, onto the side of the brick building and up into the air. Honey leapt high, snatching the ball with her teeth, landing gracefully, doing a happy little dance.

“Good catch! Try not to with your teeth, though. Remember…”

“Human! Right! Human now!”

Honey spit the ball out and threw it to Zack, who caught it effortlessly.

“Okay! Long one! Best start running Honey!”

He hurled the ball as far as he could, and Honey sprinted as hard as she could. Chista let out a slight giggle watching them. Chistos raised an eyebrow.

“I’m simply glad they’re enjoying themselves. I was afraid their dying and being trapped in our world would hold them down,” Chista said.

“I don’t think they’re the type to stay down. In the war, I only knew of two types who would jump in front of bullets to protect innocents. The incredibly arrogant or the profoundly hurt.”

“And they don’t seem arrogant.”

The father and daughter gazed upon their two new companions as Zack tried to pull the ball from Honey’s mouth.

“I said no mouth!”

“Master, I love you, but take your hands off my ball!”

“I’m not dealing with this simply because you’re pretty!”

Chistos sighed, shaking his head.

“No, I do not detect arrogance in those two.”

“Hey! Wandering simpletons! Our dorm is over there!” Chista pointed at the building coming up on their right, a three story triangular building with large apartments on each floor.

“What’d she call us?” Honey asked, letting Zack take the ball.

“Nothing. I’ll insult her later to make up for it.”

“You should say a swear! Call her poop!” Honey suggested, a wicked grin crossing her face.

“So innocent,” Zack said, ruffling her hair. “Alright, home sweet home. I guess you’re going to get us settled in, figure out when we start with the magic classes…”

“You two are not taking magic classes,” Chistos said as he took the lead, heading towards the large double doors of the apartment building. “You will go to Madam VanVeer’s Academy with Chista to learn your basics. Letters, math, world history, of which you to know nothing, might I add.”

“Oh. Great. I live in a fantasy world with magic and monsters and I’m learning math. Yay,” Zack said, his mood instantly crashing.

“Oh calm down. It’s not like you won’t be around any magic. If you have a spark of talent, father will teach you. Plus, living on campus with a professor has its perks,” Chista said.

“Such as…” Zack leaned in closer.

“Such as free access to the gym and pool, free tickets to runeball games, opportunities to see advanced magic users blow themselves up…”

“Okay, my mood is improving.”

Chistos walked up the short flight of steps and rapped once on the door. A lock clicked inside and the door swung open. “Chista, remind me later to program the door to recognize Zack and Honey.”

“No problem. Follow me, guys.”

The four entered a small lobby with semi-ornate furniture, a mail area with three storage boxes and a large sheet of paper nailed to the wall which read “Complaints.”

“Why is the only thing written there ‘Vessria’s singing?’” Zack asked.

“Wait until she gets a few drinks in her…” Chistos sighed. He then pointed to the door before them. “This is Gratham. He lives here with his wife and son, a year younger than you two. He teaches potions here. Vessria is the second floor. She teaches magical artifact identification and procurement.”

“Sounds like magic pawn shopping,” Zack said with a smirk.

“You’re not far off,” Chistos said, leading them up the stairs. “She lives here with her sister, Helanna, and her twin sons, both in school at the college.”

“And here we are at the good ol’ third floor, where the real magic happens!” Chista said, confidently knocking on the door.

It didn’t open.

“Ummm…”

She tried knocking three more times.

“Chista, remind me later to SET THIS STUBBORN DOOR ON FIRE,” Chistos said, slamming his fist onto the door. It quickly swung open.

“I think I miss my doggie door,” Honey whispered to Zack.

“I think I miss thinking wizards are fictional,” Zack whispered back.

They walked into the spacious apartment, the lights flickering to life upon entry. There was a wide living room with old, ornate furniture and a large three sided couch surrounding a central table with a dark orb sitting on it. To the right was a kitchen, packed with shelves and cupboards and appliances which seemed similar to ones Zack remembered from home. He slowly approached, taking inventory of everything.

“Good to know wizards have dirty dishes too,” he said, motioning to their sink.

“Funny. Our new roommate is a funny man,” Chista said.

“Hang on, let me guess what’s going on here. Fridge, stove, um…coffee maker?” Zack went through the appliances he saw.

“Oh, this lad does far more than coffee. All it takes is component parts and a little magic. Would you and Honey like to…”

Chistos turned to see Honey near vibrating in excitement. She ran to the couch, eagerly pointing at the orb.

“What’s this?!”

“Our viewing orb. We use it to…”

“Wow, you can see a lot from your window!”

“Yes, we have a good…”

“Is this table wood?! I chewed a leg on one once!”

“Please don’t…”

“What’s this?!”

“The orb again…”

“Oh! Right! Do you have a bathtub? Those are fun!”

Chista grabbed Honey’s hand. “Let’s show you the guest room!”

“Sorry. She gets the zoomies,” Zack sighed.

“She isn’t a dog,” Chistos said.

“Huh?”

“A dog. It is important you understand this. In a way, your dog died. The girl with you is human. She has all the love and loyalty your dog tied to you, with zero idea how to deal with it. Can you? Can you teach her what being human means?”

Zack looked down the hall. He honestly did not know the answer to Chistos’ question.