After cleaning up around the kitchen and dining room, Cedar, Sinclair, Orion and Absidae all retreated to the library. "Man, Paris is going to be gone for a whole month? He's never left us alone that long before," Sinclair mused, relaxing in one of the four chairs in the library. Jitterbug slithered up onto his lap, and curled up comfortably. "I can't believe he thinks we're all almost ready for our final tests!"
"I doubt he meant to include me in that," Absidae sighed, pulling her knees up to her chest. "I've only been training for four months, you all have been here for years." She looked around at her fellow apprentices, the people she had come to consider friends. "I wish I had been able to be here from the beginning with all of you," she whispered, almost sadly.
Orion chuckled. "Compared to how long Sinclair and Cedar have known each other, I'm just as new to all of this as you are. They grew up together," he explained, rolling his eyes. "They've always been friends, ever since they were young. They went to the same school until they came up here, Sinclair just six months after Cedar."
"Yeah, we haven't really spent a day apart except for those six months before I came," Sinclair explained. "Our dads both worked together in the construction industry in Orilan. Our moms would always bring us together for play dates, and we were always in the same class in school. When Cedar's mom sent her here, I finally told my mom about my own ability. She had suspected for a while, but I had never told her outright, because I was afraid she would reject me as her son. No one had shown magical ability in my family for generations, and Cedar had sort of helped me accept myself. When she left, I felt even more isolated and alone. That's when I found Jitterbug," he patted her head lovingly. "After that, I realized my own fear of rejection had changed my ability; I can't talk to furry, traditionally loveable animals. My ability mutated because of my own self-doubt. I can now only talk to snakes, bugs, lizards, frogs, and turtles. It's still useful, but back before I was terrified about what anyone else would think, I was able to talk to anything that could be classified as an 'animal'," Sinclair looked over at Cedar. "She's the reason I even had the bravery to tell my mom."
Cedar rolled her eyes. "Oh, don't go getting all sappy, lizard boy. Your mom always knew, she just didn't want to confront you too soon and scare you into not talking about it," she turned to Sid. "I convinced Uncle Paris to let Sinclair come here; he's been upstaging me ever since! He can do pretty much anything better than me. A few years after we came here, there was a really back beetle infestation in the garden. Sinclair sat down with this…delegation of beetles, and convinced them to go elsewhere. It was epic!" Cedar laughed as Sinclair blushed and muttered something about it not being that great. "Haven't you ever had any friends, Sid?"
Absidae chewed her bottom lip, thinking hard about it. "In Oitsa, Ayden and I were really the only kids. There were a few others Ayden's age, but that was about it. Since the massacre, I've been pretty much alone until now. You guys are the closest things I've ever had to friends," She admitted shyly.
"Who's Ayden?" The other three apprentices chorused in unison.
"Oh," Sid murmured. "He is…was…my big brother. Mom and Dad told him to protect me, and when he tried…well the vampires didn't even leave his body. There must not have been anything to leave behind. His sacrifice kept me alive, and I'm thankful for that every day. If it wasn't for him, I wouldn't even be here." She looked up at the other three, whose faces were all contorted in sympathy and sorrow. 'Oh, please don't feel bad for me!" Sid pleaded, looking at each of them in turn. "Ayden would be proud of me, I know he would. I also know he would love all of you, especially because I never really had friends back home. Like I said, there were a few kids who were Ayden's age, but I was pretty much alone. My mom and dad never expected to have a second child, that's why there was so much of an age difference between Ayden and I," Absidae shrugged. "At least I have you guys now, right?"
Cedar beamed, nodding furiously, looking at Sinclair and Orion. "Of course you have us," Orion murmured, smirking coyly. Cedar and Sinclair exchanged a look, the former rolling his eyes before nodding also. Sid sighed in relief before diving into her book, chewing on the back of her pen, contemplating the work Tristan had assigned her.
As her mind drifted to her shamrock haired teacher, she found concentrating harder and harder. There was something so captivating about him; she loved everything he could teach her, and every time Tristan spoke, she found herself captivated. There was a gentility about him, which Absidae was unused to in men. Sinclair treated her like any other person, which she appreciated greatly and loved how open and direct he was with her. Orion…he was flirtatious, without a doubt. The werebears direct approach sometimes made Absidae uncomfortable, but there was also a strange attraction between them. Something about Orion drew Sid to him. However, there was also something undeniable between Absidae and Tristan; the two were so comfortable together, it was as if they had known each other for their whole lives. Sid shook her head gently, clearing the handsome, green haired warlock from her mind. I have work to do, she reminded herself rather sternly. I cannot be distracted.