“Very well.” Zoe pulled out two of her business cards and handed them to the girls. “If you have an emergency, you know how to use these. Otherwise I will see you at the seminar.”
The two children walked off down a hallway that was almost the shortest route to the kitchen. She didn’t correct them. They would learn in time.
The moment they were out of sight. Zoe withdrew a thin silver dagger and flicked it across her chest. The walls of Rickenbacker hall trembled and tipped backwards into the ground. The pure white space of between rushed to fill their vacancy. Another flick and reality reconstructed itself in the form of the staff meeting room.
She walked from between into the room and took her usual seat. A plate of roast and mashed potatoes materialized in front of her and she ate while waiting.
Soon enough other instructors began entering the room. They tended to use far more normal methods, such as the door. They would move to their chairs and sit down. Some would eat the meals that appeared while others chatted about their new students.
Wayne appeared directly in his seat. He ignored the food and turned to Zoe. “Did you get a look at her spider?” he grunted.
“I saw its cage. I didn’t ask.”
His face split into a feral grin. “My boys were talking about it. Big as her face, they said, and it climbed all over her head. She didn’t even bat an eye when its deadly fangs rested on her forehead.”
Zoe glared at him, looking for any sign of a lie. She didn’t find one. “An exaggeration, surely,” she paused, looking at him again, “or a poor jest trying to frighten me.” She wasn’t about to tell him it was working. “I did my research after she mentioned having her pet. They didn’t look near as bad as I first imagined.”
Sure many might be poisonous and have poisonous bristles sticking out of them. But domesticated tarantulas were supposedly calm and didn’t attack unless they felt threatened.
Wayne grunted. “Don’t come cryin’ to me when you want someone to hold your hand during inspections next week.”
Zoe paled at that. She had yet to find someone to take over that responsibility and she doubted she would be able to.
“Did you ask her about the museum?”
“Must have slipped my mind.”
“The Elysium Sisters reported a dangerous object was stolen with the aid of runes, a system hardly anyone uses these days, the same day your girl used the same runes in your presence. She also met with a mysterious mentor later that night. And you don’t question her?”
“Very long-winded of you Wayne.” Zoe glared at the man.
“I’m just sayin’ if the dorms explode in a ball of black magic, don’t come cryin’ to me.”
The dean popped into the room at the head of the table alongside her secretary. Conversation died out as she cleared her throat.
Zoe started tuning the woman out before the first word bumbled out of her mouth. The woman was the cause of half the academy’s problems and this meeting was a waste of time.
But, Zoe didn’t want to be fired. And she had a job to do. So she smiled and nodded along with whatever the dean was talking about.
— — —
Eva awoke at her usual time. At least, she thought it was her usual time. The black sky outside her window suggested otherwise.
Stretching and yawning, Eva sat up in her bed. A heavy lump fell off her chest and into her lap.
She poked Arachne tentatively. The spider twitched and sprung to her feet. Her frantic glancing around gave Eva a spur of giggles. The spider leapt and half tackled her back to the bed. Arachne clasped her legs around her and just sat.
Eva just sat back with Arachne on her chest. She half wondered if Arachne had a nightmare. After five minutes she patted the spider’s back.
“Going to take a shower now,” Eva said.
Arachne’s grip not loosen in the slightest. Eva shrugged and walked straight to the bathroom.
With the hot shower water poring over the two, Eva patted Arachne’s back once again.
“Hey, you alright?”
One of her legs finally unclasped and lightly tapped Eva’s right shoulder.
“We’ll spend some time this week finding a place where we can be ourselves a bit more. In fact,” Eva said, “if you want to run around today while I’m shopping, that would be perfect. Well, perfect as long as you stay out of sight and don’t attack anyone.”
There was a bit of hesitation before Arachne tapped her right shoulder again.
“Alright. Good. For the record, I liked the hospital much better than master’s place. If we could find something like it, that would be best.”
Eva shut off the shower. It wasn’t half as good as her old shower. The runes she carved into the metal shower heads were the perfect temperature. Or maybe she just got used to the temperature. Eva made a note to look into recreating it.
After towelling off, Eva stepped out of the bathroom and froze.
Juliana had sat up in her bed. Her eyes locked with Eva’s. A moment later they flicked downwards, staring at Arachne, then downwards again before snapping back up to Eva’s eyes.
“I’m not used to other people around,” Eva said slowly.
