As Eva started skipping up the staircase, Juliana considered just taking the elevator. Stairs were another of those things that were easier without armor on. For as long as Juliana had known Eva, she had never once known the girl to take an elevator. Juliana always followed Eva up the staircase, so it wasn’t like she didn’t have the practice.
The climb wasn’t as bad as she had feared from the bottom floor. Though she had skipped up the first few steps, Eva slowed down after that, keeping pace with Juliana.
“So,” Eva said somewhere around the second floor, “taking any electives next year?”
“I guess so,” Juliana said after a moment. She really hadn’t thought about school much. Even though she was coming back to a school, class just felt like such a low priority compared to everything else. “We have to take at least two, right?”
Eva spun around, climbing the stairs backwards. “I think I’m going to take golemancy and warding. Maybe I’ll be able to apply what I learn towards some improvements to my blood wards. I’d consider adding on enchanting for its relation to warding. Unfortunately, I tend to find myself busy,” she said with a wave of her hand in the direction of the upstairs floors. “Maybe in my spare time.”
Mulling it over for a few minutes, Juliana tossed back and forth a few ideas. She wished that she had a list of all the electives, but it wasn’t like whatever she said to Eva was a binding agreement or anything. “Golemancy,” she said after a moment. “That sounds good. I think my parents were already planning on teaching me how to make the miniature creature golems one day. A background in golemancy can’t hurt.”
“My thoughts exactly. Minus the parents teaching me part. Given how useful Basila was, learning to make more would be handy.”
“Useful?”
“Oh, right. I haven’t talked to you since then,” Eva said, trailing off with a somewhat somber look crossing her features. That look disappeared after just a moment, replaced by a wide smile. “I kind of turned Basila into a monster. She was quite helpful in getting Shalise and Prax separated.”
“You… turned her into a monster?”
“Using blood magic and a growth potion that Wayne got for me.” Eva stretched her arms out as wide as they could go. “She got pretty big. But it is a bit of a long story,” she said as she dropped her arms to her sides. Her smile once again vanished. “Longer than this staircase anyway.”
“Right. I’ll hold you to telling me later then.”
“Can do.”
Eva passed right by the third floor. Zoe and Ylva must still be on the fourth.
“I think that I might take more of Professor Twillie’s classes. A few extra years of magical creatures might make my dad happy.”
Though, that was a big might. Juliana doubted that much of anything would make him happy at the moment. Nothing save for a sudden and inexplicable demise of Zagan and Eva combined with Juliana agreeing to ship off to Scotland.
Eva just hummed at Juliana’s choice in electives. There might have been a slight disapproval in the tone, but nothing too serious. Eva wasn’t the biggest fan of the magical creatures class.
At least it wasn’t history.
Though, that was a required class anyway through the fourth year.
As they climbed up to the next floor, Juliana heard shouting. She tensed before sprinting up the few steps to reach Eva–who was looking significantly less concerned than Juliana felt.
But she didn’t protest as they both sprinted up the final flight of stairs to the floor that had previously held Lucy.
Zoe stood in the hallway. Upon seeing her, the tension in Juliana’s muscles immediately drained away. She was just standing. Not fighting. She didn’t even have her dagger out.
She didn’t look particularly happy.
Juliana wouldn’t be either if there was a man half her height sticking a finger in her face while shouting at the top of his lungs.
Standing there, Juliana found herself stunned. Zoe never struck her as the type to just sit around while being verbally assaulted. Perhaps not the type to retaliate with lightning bolts—that would be more in the style of Juliana’s mother—but somewhere in between.
It took a moment to actually clue into the words that the man was saying. Judging by his repeated gestures towards the room and loud complaints about getting ‘black muck’ everywhere, he was the landlord. If the complaints weren’t enough, the threats about suing Zoe and the school for all they were worth sealed the deal.
Zoe just watched him with a blank expression. Perhaps she had already tried to interrupt or to calm him down. The only time she moved was to wipe a bit of spittle off her cheek.
That movement did bring her eyes off the landlord. She locked gazes with Juliana for just a moment, giving a rueful smile as she did so.
“You think this is funny?” the landlord shouted. An open palm swung out towards Zoe.
It struck skin with a loud smack.
But it didn’t hit Zoe’s cheek.
