Chapter 8

Kelly had spent her morning getting the syllabuses for all her classes. And although the work load seemed challenging. What with the double work of both human and magical classes, she wasn't worried.

When you grow up poor as a church mouse and the only thing you can afford in the way of entertainment is a library card, you end up consequentially well read. Besides the stereo type dumb blonde need not apply to her. She cared about her classes. The more she learned now, the more knowledge she could parley into her millions later on.

There were several magical classes that could be taken at the secret wing of her so-called ordinary High School and they usually had everything to do with your affinity. Her affinity, however, didn't have anything to do with the classes offered, and as it turned out she wasn't the only one.

Not having a specific affinity was similar to being undecided on your major or a minor in university, and if to continue the analogy she would have to say students like herself and Zach, to name a few, would be considered floaters, their course load was undetermined.

Each year they were enlightened, they swapped classes to sort of audit the courses offered. Don't get her wrong there are still some prerequisites, like Sacred Geometry and Iconography, for example, which was about as interesting as watching paint dry. No one could drone on and on better than the dwarf and smithy of their school Ericka Steinman. Everyone had to take Spell-craft as well. The magical world was a perilous place and if a creature didn't know how to recognize spells, hexes or poisons cast against them, he or she -- or it-- was just asking for trouble. Besides the sexy wizard Alejandro Conte the Spanish and Spell-craft teacher was some serious eye candy. Even if his class wasn't mandatory, it would still be full to bursting. Hell even she'd makeup an affinity to attend.

Why not? If you had to be in school . . . you might as well enjoy it.

When she walked into the magic wing and reported to Knight's alchemy lab for her schedule she was pleasantly surprised to find that she had Conte's class first, then Iconography, and then Magical History which was another non-elective class. As Miss Long often said, 'If you want to know where you're going you need to first know where you've been'. Who would want to miss her class anyway? It was like having a substitute everyday that played movies.

Miss Long the ancient Chinese dragon used her affinity to recreate the moments in time in miniature in front of her students and it was oftentimes more entertaining than an episode of Game of Thrones. Ancient magical monarchs weren't messing around either.

When Kelly's eye landed on the next name on the list she nearly cried when she saw Le Fay's 4th dimensional physics class on the sheet. It was bad enough to have her as a mentor. The ancient Welsh druid brought a whole new meaning to being cold as ice, but she guessed it was timely to say the least, if she was going to be dealing with a port slip attached to her room it would probably be a good idea to know as much about it as possible.

She smiled when she saw her next last class was Ritualistic Magic and Healing with Brenna's Grandfather George Tuluque. He was by far everyone's favorite teacher. She had him in her second year and had marveled at the places they had gone to extract the world's herbs for the healing droughts he had taught them to concoct or brew. It had been her favorite class.

The last class on the list of six was divination with Cally, which was short for Calliope. Cally was a beautiful red headed Muse -- one of three at the school. Her two other sisters were called Eutie, which was short for Euterpe and she was the music and siren instructor and Clio who was the Translation of Ancient scrolls instructor as well as their school librarian, and they couldn't look less alike aside from their freckles. A muses trademark is her freckles; they get one for each idea they help a being imagine and then bring to life.

Cally has fiery red hair redder even than Megan's which is saying something, and Eutie has a rich chocolate brown, while Clio is the palest of blondes. Clio had told her last year when she had her for Ancient Translation that there were nine sisters in total none of which looked alike aside from the fact that you could play a rousing game of connect the dots on their body given the astounding number of freckles, and every muse wear's them with pride.

She went on to explain human's that have freckles are given them because they have the special ability to inspire greatness in themselves and others. She watched as several girls in the Library beamed back at the Librarian, like they had suddenly changed their opinions about having them.

Even the fashion world was hot for them these days. It was no longer considered a stigma to have a freckled face. She even had a few around her nose that Clio helped her wear with pride too.

Her last class before training was with George. She walked in to his class and was excited to see the port ruin activated which meant they were in for an excursion on their first day.

When the Inuit Shaman announced," Children we'll be going to the Amazon Basin today to collect rare fungi so please grab some gloves, a small spade, and a basket?"

With that being said everyone rushed excitedly to the shelves.

She couldn't help the smile that broke out across her face at the thought of how wondrous her world truly was. When she looked up from picking the perfect basket she looked right into the eyes of Donnie Alfero. Which made her wonder: what the heck was going on? He was everywhere she went this year. Or was it just that he was there last year and she had just not noticed?

Was Donovan Alfero now on her radar?

He smiled at her and handed her a red pair of gardening gloves and said, "These will match what you wear, no?" He looked at her with a hopeful smile and because of her mood she actually smiled back.

Besides, who could be sour in George's class?

When she stepped on the glyph she portalled through into a bright sunny day in Brazil, oh she just loved this class and her school. Where else could you visit the Amazon River Basin and the largest Rainforest in the world during a 45 minute class?

. . . Nowhere.

George had given them a printed out piece of paper with a list of mushrooms to find and pick-- complete with descriptions, corresponding pictures, and instructions on how to harvest them without damaging the delicate life forms. Each student was to take just one sample and not from the same organism.

So she was surprised when Donnie accompanied her on her rounds.

George had made them all laugh when he said," Do I need to remind you not to eat the samples?"

"Of course not," they all chimed.

One of her classmates a short Pooka Sprite went so far as to snort comically and say, "We're fourth years not kindergartners," which earned him a round of laughs from his fellow students.

Pooka's are a mischievous Fae well known for their sense of humor and trickery, and she'd be keeping a close eye on him that was for darn sure. Last time she had one in her class was during first year and miraculously she ended up with her hands spelled in her hair.

She might have killed the little trickster if Murakami the school's Study of Magical Creature teacher hadn't been there with a means to un-stick her hands, before the school nurse had to cut her hair to get her hands loose. She had a photo shoot that weekend and no amount of magic would have saved her career if she shown up looking like a lawnmower had run over her head.

The boy hadn't known how close he had come to dying that day. Come to think of it, that was the day her reputation for being scary began.

She had to send this little jokester a few hard stares to let him know she wasn't an ideal target or he might try the same thing.

She turned to look at him with an if looks could kill stare until he shuddered and shrugged as if to say what did I do, but she smiled as he walked away knowing the message was received loud and clear -- she just hoped it stayed with him.

The mushrooms on the list were some of the most exotic she had seen. Many of them were edible but a few couldn't even be touched without poisoning you, hence the gloves she guessed. And boy were they gorgeous: each one was more colorful than the last. She marveled at the crazy shapes and colors of them and even the locations that they grew.

There were bright purples and indigo blue ones, ones that looked like caterpillars, and others that looked like ocean coral, ones that looked like a Venus Flytraps, and another that looked like fairy bells. And one they had to collect was aptly named the dead man's finger. It was black and looked like the top of a cat-o-nine-tail plant.

But of course the wisenheimer of her new 4th year class was working on his rep as a class clown; so he had to point out that it looked like a part of the male anatomy, earning him another round of ruckus laughter from the boys in the class, and a snicker or two from the girls, which of course he ate right up.

One of the mushrooms she had to collect grew on the back of a weevil. She had thought at first glance that the fungi had made its home in the dead carcass of the insect, but when she approached it, it started to dart away from her at an alarming rate.

This made her squeal and jerk her hand back in surprise, but Donnie just chuckled and used his extraordinary reflexes and speed to trap the weevil delicately between his cupped hands. This was no small insect it was nearly the size of her palm, but when Donnie held it up she couldn't mistake it's gonzo like face. It had a long nose like the funny Muppet which made her want to laugh.

When he looked up in her direction and said, "After you, "she couldn't help smiling at him again. The guy was turning out to be quite the charmer. He held the creature still gently until both she and he could get a sample of the unnamed type of Ophiocordyceps that looked like tiny orange rose hips growing on its back.

She hoped she had collected the right kind or they would have traumatized the insect and herself for nothing.

She mutter under her breath, "Bugs yuck," and then shuddered.

And when Donnie let out a deep chuckle she realized he'd heard her, and of course he had, she'd probably have to be in a Paraguay for him not to have.

Fae hearing is out of this world and you have to be careful what you say around them.

They were nearing the end of the class and she had one specimen left on her list. The veiled stinkhorn mushroom and according to the instructions it would have a distinctive smell and could be found on the rainforest floor near water.

She thought she heard a babbling brook aways back from the group. She caught Donnie's eye and pointed wordless the way they had come. He turned to follow her. They made their way silently through the rich forest with the sounds of nature serenading them. Insects, birds, and animal sounds filled the dense underbrush creating a symphony which seemed to accompany them on their quest.

While Kelly marvel at the beauty of it all. This was the real fairy tale, the real magic of the world. Not wanting to disturb the tranquility of the forest she pointed wordlessly to the picture of the mushroom that was left on their list and then pointed at her nose.

Donnie made her chuckle quietly when he pointed at his nose dramatically and mimed sniffing like a blood hound and gave her a big goofy thumbs up when he seemed to find something. If she'd learned anything through the years, it was to always trust the extraordinary senses of the fae, and if he thought he smelled it, she was with him. So she shrugged her shoulders and followed.

They broke free of the dense underbrush to find themselves at the mouth of a tiny brook. All around it grew exotic flowers in a riot of colors. It was hard to believe that anyone ---fae or otherwise-- could smell a stinkhorn mushroom among the rich aromas of the diverse flora of the forest, but apparently Donnie had no trouble, because his nose lead them straight to the mushroom in question.

He offered her first dibs while he wandered away to find a specimen of his own when he returned she was sitting by the brook on her hip with her legs tucked to the side and he plunked down beside her with a satisfied smile.

They both sighed in unison and shared a look that said: the magical world can suck at times, but it can also have its perks.

Unfortunately they couldn't stay forever. George would be gathering the class soon under a tree no doubt to discuss the medicinal properties of their finds. So she stood up disturbing the peace of their quiet moment and said," We'd better get back."

He stood up as well, but not before giving a deep sigh and saying, "Mia Cara I never before see such beauty." And the strange thing was, he wasn't looking at the idyllic scene he was looking straight at her.

Kelly sucked in a breath and blushed six ways from Sunday, but hid it well by looking at her watch and saying, "We've got to go."

As they entered the denser part of the forest she fell back and let him take the lead so that she could gnaw over what had just happened, but before her worry wheel could start spinning fast enough to give her whiplash, Donnie passed a rubber tree alive with movement.

Upon closer inspection Kelly noted that it was a covered in a swarm of monarch butterflies. And as if they sensed Donnie otherness the butteries took to flight and exploded from the tree they had been clinging to and flew up to blanket the clearing in a flurry of wings.

All of a sudden Donnie was his Russian Blue self. She had to laugh as she came to the realization that the cat within the teenage boy could not resist the chance to chase the thousands of winged creatures.

When they began to fly all around her she laughed and twirled with her arms out. They descended on her and landed on her hat and arms thinking the bright red was a colorful flower. She watched the Cait Sith dance among the swarm and laughed thinking, he really was the cutest thing.

She heard their teacher then talking to the other students, but the swarm was too thick to see them. They made a wall of wings cutting them off. They were going to be late if she didn't find a way around them, but for once she didn't care if le Fay made their first training session a living hell. She wanted to experience this moment to the fullest.

"Now class, George asked, "Can anyone tell me what the other word for a swarm of butterflies is?" she heard the Inuit Shaman's disembodied voice through the swarm.

When no one replied he supplied the answer, "They are called a kaleidoscope."

And that made her chuckle. She couldn't have thought of a more fitting name herself. She watched as the winged cloud swirled up and up and all around looking like the swirling pattern inside a kaleidoscope. Meanwhile Donnie leaped and danced, in and among the beautiful butterflies, trying to catch one or two or three. He seemed not to be able to decide on his target.

At one point he caught one in his paws gently, but then quickly let it go.

When she heard the unmistakable crashing of people running through the thick bushes she thought for sure it must be the big goof who was gunning for the class clown rep, but as she turned she was horrified to see she couldn't have been more wrong.

Coming straight for them from the other side of the clearing was the squad of Cait Sith from last night and this time there were more than three of them.

With her heart in her throat she realized they were closer to Donnie than her and in his fascination he hadn't seen them. She was fast but, she wouldn't be fast enough.

She took off at a run drawing her blades from there holsters on her upper arms and started to launch them at his would be attackers, but even with deadly accuracy and inhuman speed, it still wouldn't be enough.

So she did the only thing she could think of doing: she yelled at the top of her lungs, "RUN Donnie, RUN!"

Uh oh looks like even Kelly might not be able to save Donnie this time.

How had they found him?

More importantly how is she going to get him out of there?

Tune in tomorrow to find out!