A Boy, a Dog Girl and Honey's Revelation: Part Two

The week passed by quicker than expected. Zack and Honey were shuffled into new classes fit for their career tracks. They shared the basics, but after lunch Zack leaned more into physical classes like gym, health and basic relic knowledge while Honey and Chista took classes based in magic.

Honey was a disaster at first.

The first day she was expected to cast a spell, she held her hand out uselessly. “Let your emotions flow through you, dear! Visualize a glowing ball and manifest it!” the woman with the flowing silver hair said  Try as she might, though, she couldn’t cause anything to happen.

“It’s okay. Your situation is unique after all,” Chista said.

“Yeah, like the daughter of a hero being useless,” Baltz snickered.

Honey saw the flicker in Chista’s eyes. The sadness. She remembered the words Chistos and Zack said. She had all the power Chista wished she had.

This made Honey mad.

Her hand rose and a book flew from a desk and smacked into Baltz’s back. He stumbled slightly, then turned, his eyebrow raised and a quirky smile gracing his lips.

“So you can sling spells.”

“A good start! Unconventional, but good! You can use your magic! Now, what was the trigger? What emotion pulled the spell from deep in your bones?” the teacher asked.

“I was sad…then mad,” Honey said. “I don’t think I like magic.”

The week crept forward, their talents progressing and beginning to flourish, until the weekend arrived. The first day off with no class was met with a sigh of relief from Zack.

“No offense to any of you, but I need some alone time! I’m gonna bother the short goat guy for a few hours, learn more about runeball. Honey, you okay with me…”

“Of course, sweetheart! I was thinking of going off by myself too! I should learn how to be more independent.”

“Cool. Where to?”

Honey simply shrugged.

“Are you sure it’s wise to let Honey wander the city by herself?” Chista asked.

“Why? She’s a big girl. She knows not to wander too far, right?” Zack gave her a knowing, trusting look. Honey nodded enthusiastically. “Good! So, see you all after dark.’

“Such a strange way of pronouncing BEFORE dark…” Chistos said from his chair, face buried in an orb scroll.

“Exactly what I said. Before dark. Don’t know why you heard different,” Zack said as he and Honey left.

This was how Honey found herself wandering through the university campus, one foot mechanically going in front of the other, thinking about her life as it was.

She loved Zack. This thought was without question to Honey. Even as a dog she had been utterly devoted to her boy, comforting him after the man hit and yelled and the woman cried. Now she was human. Things were complicated. She loved him in a new way. She wanted to be with him forever, to kiss him and hold him and have children with him one day in a perfect happy little house.

Her feet stopped moving.

“But I’m a dumb dog. A freak. Dangerous. I even hurt people without wanting to…”

Chista’s wounded face entered her mind. The story Chistos told Zack. Honey had the one thing Chista always wanted, yet all it did was make her feel further away from her sweetheart.

“Why don’t I know what to do…”

“DOG GIRL! HELLO!”

The shrill, familiar voice rang out from a sports court nearby. Honey turned to see Vessria and Isadora standing outside a cage, watching Hellman and Cortz hit a ball between each other on a pentagon shaped court divided into five sections divided by nets while Luca moved at hyper speed between the three empty sections.

“What are you doing?” Honey asked, looking at the boys.

“Gratham has a speed potion he wanted to try out. Luca volunteered to help by playing all three strike positions in pentagrams,” Vessria said with a dramatic wave of her hand.

“Poor boy is going to need an entire trough of water to drink after this,” Isadora said, watching Luca zip across the courtyard, jumping over nets to receive serves and defend sections of the court. Suddenly he froze, going stiff before falling forward face first.

“Time?” Luca asked.

“Five minutes, eighteen seconds. Boys! Get him some water, would you loves?” Vessria said. Her sons dragged the exhausted younger boy off the court.

“Is he okay?” Honey asked.

“He’ll be fine, his parents experiment on him often. It’s fun for all! But what about you? It looks like you have a million thoughts running through your formerly canine mind,” Vessria said.

“Mostly one. I suppose you heard about my magic?”

“Yes. Chistos was so proud of having the opportunity to mentor an S rank magic user,” Isadora said. She stood straighter, stroking her chin. “Why, the girl might become as skilled as I am one day, should she listen to my lessons.”

Honey giggled at the impression. Vessria smiled back.

“There she is. So, tell me why you being a little power house has you so down?”

“I don’t…it reminds me of how different I am…I’m not sure you’d understand…”

“Yes, nobody here has any clue what being different feels like,” Isadora said, crossing her manly arms across her chest, her emerald dress straining against her muscles.

“I don’t mean to say…gosh, I don’t know what I’m trying to say!” Honey sat on a nearby bench, running her hands through her hair. “All I do is cause trouble for Zack, he’ll never look at me as someone he can love the way I want him to no matter how many times I call him sweetheart, and my magic makes Chista sad! It’s like everything I am makes the people I care about worse and…”

“Why are you only talking about other people?”

Honey looked up. Vessria was in her face, leaning over, smiling.

“What you need is confidence! Isadora, clear the calendar! We’re having a girl’s day out!”