Changeling: The Daughter of Fire (GxBxNB)

Changeling 20

I went back to school in the afternoon, my first class was English, followed by Art elective. To my surprise, Kieran was there and he waved me over, the seating was free in that class.

"Nice to see you here," He said with a smile.

"Yeah, didn't know traditional art was your thing."

"I'm just a doodler and sketchy kind of guy," he said looking a little embarrassed, "Never had the time or money for the fine arts when I was young."

"Hey, doodles are good."

On the table in front of him was a sketchbook. "Can I take a look?"

"Only if you promise not to tease."

"I promise."

He gave me the sketchbook and I flipped it open, on the first page was a cartoony set of superheroes I didn't recognize, maybe original characters? I flipped around and saw costumes and character designs, attempts at action scenes and some comic panel work.

"Did you create those?"

"Yeah," he shrank a little, "I've always been a fan of superheroes since I read my dad's spiderman trade paperbacks."

"Hey, I'm contractually obligated to see all superhero movies no matter how painful they can get."

My mind went back to Liam, those days binging movies, it'd been a month since we'd last talked...

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah, just thinking of some old memories..."

"Sore spot?"

"A little, I just really miss one of my friends, we haven't seen each other since I became what I am."

"Oof, that seems to happen a lot, a lot of us kind of have to leave friends and family behind, they can't really understand what's happened to us, and we can bring danger to them..."

I looked down, would I have to give up on my family too? What if someone used them to get to me?

Those thoughts lingered all the way through art class, my work was darker, sketchier than usual.

"Want to get a hotdog on the way home?" Kieran asked as the bell rang.

"Sure, but I want to see the Headmaster first."

He nodded and put his stuff in his bag. We left class and went to the Headmaster's office, I told the secretary I needed to see Lucian and took a seat with Kieran. After a few minutes Lucian invited me inside, Kieran stayed behind in the hallway.

The inside of the headmaster's office didn't belong in a school, it was too old fashioned, too classy rather than practical; the walls had wood paneling, there were display cases full of only God knew what. The smell of tobacco filled the room, tickling my nose.

"Nadia, how may I help you?"

"Is that Genie lamp offer still open?"

"Of course, did anything made you change your mind?"

"Clarissa Gervais literally tried to kill me with a wish."

"I see... How did you handle it?"

I paused, taken aback by his reaction.

"I wished it to be of old age rather than fight it."

"Excellent, the good news is that Changelings are very long-lived, but I will caution you that your powers are limited, do not think that because you've set this path in the web of fate that it makes you invincible."