“That… could be possible. I’ll have to speak with Anderson, but I don’t foresee much of an issue.”
“Excellent.”
“I don’t know how much it will help. These students study for years before performing magic like this.”
“True. Better than nothing, I suppose.”
Zoe couldn’t really disagree with that. She just nodded her head instead. “I’ll send you a date and time as soon as I speak with Anderson. However, if you’ll excuse me for now, there are a few people I should meet with before the night officially ends.”
“Of course. I look forward to working with you in the future.”
Turning, Zoe stepped off the wooden platform and started walking towards the main school building. Four steps later, she had a better idea. Zoe reached into her pocket and took hold of her wand. A slight buildup of magic had her sent through the blinding white of Between, teleported across the city.
She immediately collapsed into Wayne’s couch.
And started groaning.
The television was on. Worse,
“Is that what I looked like?”
“What’s wrong? You look fine.”
Zoe narrowed her eyes at Wayne.
He just raised his eyebrows as he took a sip from a cup of coffee.
“The station wanted to do my makeup, something about certain colors standing out better on camera.”
Wayne set his coffee down on the table before leaning back in his armchair. He tilted his head back, facing the ceiling of his home as he closed his eyes. “They did a good job, not that I know anything about makeup,” he grumbled.
“I feel like I could dig my finger three inches into my face before I actually touched skin.” She sighed. The sigh trailed off into a self-depreciating laugh. “So how was it? Terrible?”
“Not as bad as I expected.”
“Knowing you, you expected the world to end halfway through. ‘Not as bad’ could still be a complete disaster.”
“The slow motion shots were nice.”
“They were,” Zoe said. “I wonder if we could get the original footage from them. It might come in handy for class.”
Wayne let out a loud scoff that had Zoe narrowing her eyes again.
“Everyone in the world is going to be jumping at the opportunity to get magic on camera. I’m sure you could find someone willing to set their slow motion cameras up while you cast spells at them for hours on end. They would probably pay you as well.”
“Maybe. But I think I would still like the footage from tonight. The original footage, not just what they’re going to show on repeat for the next several weeks.”
“Well, I doubt they’ll be deleting any of it. I’m sure the military is going to pay good money to get their hands on a copy. Probably several militaries.”
“That’s something other people can deal with,” Zoe said, reaffirming her decision to stay out of larger politicking matters. She was a magical theory professor. If there was a danger to her students, she would jump in to defend them without hesitation.
That the United States armed services might want copies of the footage was not an immediate danger to her students. Or, probably, a long-term danger. Though it wouldn’t surprise her if they came up with a magical branch of the military. Or perhaps just wrapped up certain mages into the Army or Navy or wherever they fit best.
More career paths were always a good thing. Fighting in the military wouldn’t be significantly different from most Guild work. It might even be safer. They would have a team, support, and presumably tactical training. Most mage-knights worked alone or in small groups.
Swinging her legs off the edge of the couch, Zoe started off towards the bathroom. “I’m using your shower.”
— — —
Knowing Brakket Academy, their pizza wouldn’t be any more edible than anything else they served. They would put toppings on it that Eva had never heard of. Probably anchovies as well.
It was enough to make Eva shudder from the thought alone.
In front of her, she didn’t have any fish topped pizza. Close, but not quite.
Eva nudged the… squid with the tip of her finger.
The squid nudged back.
Eva carefully slid the bowl a few inches away from her. She didn’t even know where to begin eating the thing. She could presumably just pick it up and bite down. It wasn’t alive, missing its brain, though that didn’t stop it from squirming.
None of the rest of the dish looked all that edible either. The squid sat atop a mountain of vegetables and little red balls that were probably fish eggs. Of course, they could be Lucy eggs for all Eva knew.
Caviar was supposedly some high-class food. The rest probably was as well. Eva just couldn’t see herself enjoying any of it.
