Atzi stared at the charred corpse. "C-Cory...?"

  Madam Terra walked over, then leaned down and picked up her book.

  "Oh no... no no no no..." Atzi gripped her own head.

  Alana screamed. Her muscles bulged. She ripped herself from the ground and rushed straight at Terra.

  Terra chanted something. She was interrupted by the impact of Alana's fist. The strike sent the mage flying across the street. She smashed against a wall, and slumped against the ground.

  Atzi felt no sympathy for the mage, not after she killed Cory. Still, she rushed over towards Terra. I need to know what the damn inscription says. This can't be for nothing!

  Alana seethed over Cory's corpse.

  Bits of stone fell around Terra. She was bleeding, but still conscious. "Stand back," she said as she stood up.

  Atzi ran to the side, terrified to be caught between them.

  Terra began chanting again as Alana sped forward to finish her.

  As Alana's fist headed for Terra's head, the mage held up a single finger, tinted with a purple glow.

  The fist met the finger, and turned to dust. The effect traveled all the way up Alana's arm and over her entire body before she could react.

  Nothing was left of her but her clothes, covered in ash.

  Terra sighed. "This has been tiring."

  Atzi wanted to scream. Tears flowed down her face. She rushed over to Terra and grabbed her by the shoulder. "I don't care how tiring it is! You... you... you're going to help me with this, with everything I need, alright?!" Atzi blubbered. "And then... then next time, she'll... she'll be okay again and..."

  "Of course, that was the deal," Terra said impassively.

  "You didn't have to kill her! You could have... knocked her out or something!" Atzi wanted to shake the mage.

  "Ah, this makes sense," a familiar voice said.

  Atzi turned around.

  V stood there, flanked by two guards.

  "No! No, no no no! Don't ruin this!" Atzi screamed.

  "It is already ruined. Look what you did to my plans," V said.

  "Don't you get it? This doesn't matter! None of it matters!" Atzi stomped a clawed foot. "The city's gonna blow up and it doesn't matter what your plans are, or who knows your secrets, none of it matters!"

  Terra looked at V, tilting her head. "You were the one who stole my book, correct?"

  "Yes. And I have rather important matters to attend to rather than go to jail over this. I am offering you a bribe."

  Terra tapped her chin. "How big a bribe?"

  "One hundred pounds of gold. And we never speak of this matter again."

  Atzi's eyes widened. "How do you even have that much?"

  V looked towards Atzi. "You do not get a bribe."

  "I don't want one. I want" - Atzi whined - "I want my old life back, I want to focus on the heist, I want to sit in a nice mansion too." Atzi laughed. "Maybe if you start running now, V, you might find somewhere safe. If anywhere is." She rubbed her own scales.

  "Would you be against me killing this mad lizard?" V asked Terra.

  Atzi gave Terra a panicked glance.

  "I owe her for getting back my book. But I'll accept your bribe."

  V nodded. "Then this matter is settled. I'll have the money deposited at the academy tonight." They turned and confidently walked away. Their two bodyguards followed.

  Atzi glanced at Cory's charred body before squeezing her eyes shut and looking away. She reminded herself repeatedly that Cory would be okay next time she died.

  "We'll need to explain this to the guards before I can go back. Annoying." Terra sighed.

  Atzi clenched her claws into a fist. "Tell me what the inscription says." She gritted her teeth. "You said... that's how you'd know to trust me next time." Her tail coiled. "Anything could still go wrong. Tell me what it says. For next time."

  Terra flipped her book around. She opened the gem-encrusted cover to the inside, lifting it so Atzi could easily read it.

  "To Terra,

  I know you'll be the best mage ever!

  Love,

  Mom"

  Atzi silently regarded it. The inscription was unexpectedly sweet. It didn't undo the fact she just killed two people right in front of Atzi.

  Or that Terra didn't seem one bit upset by it, either.

  "She knew the city was gonna blow up... do you believe me about that, too, now?" Atzi spat.

  Terra lifted a finger. "If I remember correctly, you told her destroyed. Not blown up. They could be related, but also might not be."

  "In four days time. I said in four days' time." Atzi shook her head. "Maybe it'll be fine... maybe it won't even hurt, then... then next time, she'll be okay and..."

  "We're always okay. Our souls are in a constant cycle of death and rebirth," Terra supplied.

  Lunatic! Maybe mine is!

  "When we get back, I'll need to get some healing. I will get you healed as well," Terra said. "When the guards ask, those two stole it on their own."

  Atzi tried to not pay too much attention to the bolt sticking out of her shoulder. "You might need to cover for me. There's a wanted poster with my name on it, from a few years back. The captain might remember it."

  "I will."

  The guards arrived at the scene a few moments later, and began questioning the pair.

  Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

  -

  Atzi went back to the magical academy with Terra afterwards. Terra directed her into a student room. She asked Atzi some questions about her god, then left.

  The small square room was pretty tastefully decorated, with some landscape paintings on the wall, a comfy looking bed, a potted plant next to it, and a bookshelf. A single window sat over the plant. A wardrobe stood next to the entrance. A small desk and stool were propped up next to a second door, which opened to a bathroom with only a toilet.

  Atzi laid down on the bed and did her best to sleep through the pain.

  ===

  She woke up to someone entering the room. She cracked open her eyes, looking over at the visitor.

  Atzi's eyes widened in recognition. It was the head priestess of the Saintess's temple, Shanon. Atzi had met her in one of her previous times, when Hemm had taken her to the temple. "Oh. You're the priestess Terra got to heal me up." Atzi groaned a little in bed, feeling her shoulder.

  "Correct. Please, relax. This will only take a moment." Shanon took the stool and sat down next to the bed.

  Atzi leaned back. Shanon waved her hand over Atzi's body.

  After a few moments, a blue glow emanated from Atzi. She looked in amazement as the bolt pushed out of her scales, not even in pain as it did so. The cuts on her arms from the glass healed, too. Then her scales regrew, as though she was never injured in the first place.

  The glowing stopped. Atzi exhaled, feeling better.

  "Normally, I work on more serious and long term injuries, which take longer to heal, but yours was fresh and easy," Shanon said. "You should be just fine so long as you don't get in any more fights."

  "I don't intend to." Atzi looked up at Shanon. "...thanks."

  "Saintess be with you." Shanon got up, bowed, and left.

  Just so long as it's not her prophet being with me. Atzi stretched her now healed shoulder. It felt even better than before she was injured, somehow.

  That's a trick I wish I could do. Atzi headed out of her room to try and find Terra. She owes me answers.

  Atzi stepped out of her room and looked to see several students walking by. She decided to stop and ask two of them for directions, a man and woman walking together. They wore light green robes, but Atzi didn't know what that meant.

  "Hey, do you two know Madam Terra?"

  The guy sneered. "Who are you to ask for Madam Terra?"

  "Her guest? Where is she?"

  He snorted. "Her guest?"

  Atzi blinked. "Are you stupid or something?"

  The guy blustered. "Why, I've never!"

  Atzi sighed. "Useless."

  "I'm not stupid! Or useless!"

  "Her office says she's busy in the vault archive," the girl said.

  "Thanks. You're gonna turn out a way better mage than that guy." Atzi would have flirted with her if Cory wasn't still lingering on her mind. "Where's the archives?"

  "You wouldn't be able to access that. Even important people like Madam Terra need special permission."

  "I could wait outside though, right? Or get someone to head in and let her know I'm around. I mean, someone must take care of it, right?"

  The girl hummed. "I suppose you could see if Councilor Justina would pass something along. Her office is on the top floor."

  "I'll try that. Thanks." The guy mumbled something, but Atzi ignored him. Instead, she headed for the stairs to go look for Justina.

  -

  Atzi headed all the way up to the sixth floor, eventually finding a door labeled 'Justina, Head Councilor'. She knocked on the door.

  "Enter with haste," a deep feminine voice replied.

  Atzi walked in, with haste. She looked around the office. It was a lot less magical looking than Terra's, mostly consisting of several book cases, portraits hung on the wall, and a long desk in the center. The woman sitting at it wore a regal mage outfit, red and brown, decorated with carvings of metal and wood. "You are not one of the students or faculty. What is your purpose?"

  Atzi realized this was a big shot. "I'm... Terra's guest. I woke up and heard she's in the archives, but I can't go in there myself, I heard you were the one to ask about that."

  Justina hummed. "I see. Yes, Terra did register a guest. Unfortunately, she asked to not be disturbed for anything for the next day. I'm afraid you'll simply need to wait for her to complete her time there."

  She'd better be researching the stuff I need. "If I'm her guest, can I come and go from the academy?"

  "You may. Please hand me your guest token."

  Atzi figured she was talking about the silver disc - she got one from the front desk when she came back with Terra. She pulled it out of one of her tail bags and handed it over to Justina.

  In Justina's hand, the disc briefly glowed red, before returning to normal. She handed it back to Atzi.

  Atzi rubbed her eyes. Magic nonsense. I could have definitely learned it, if I'd gotten a real chance to. She stowed away the disc.

  "Do you have any other matters?" Justina asked.

  "Oh. Uh, no, that's it."

  Justina folded her hands over her desk. "Then I must ask you to leave, as I have other matters which require my attention."

  Atzi turned around and headed out quickly. This person really doesn't seem like someone to annoy.

  As soon as she left, she thought, …Wait, if I go out into the town, there's no way V doesn't just kill me. I need that information. How am I meant to waste time in this stupid place? Atzi considered sneaking into a lesson, but realized all the students were wearing robes, and she'd stick out just like she had earlier.

  So she started looking around to see what kind of room she could find. Anywhere with a spare set she could 'borrow'.

  After a bit of wandering, she came to a profound realization. She was lost and didn't know where anything was. Also, she felt hungry.

  Wait, maybe that room I'm staying in had something in the wardrobe. Atzi tried to find her room. Despite being lost, it only took Atzi a small walk to travel her way back to it.

  Opening up the wardrobe, she saw a pristine set of dark red robes. She got dressed. She stepped back out of her room and flagged down a passing student. He approached with curiosity.

  "Where do we eat around here?" she asked him.

  "Are you a mid-year transfer?" he asked in reply.

  "Oh. Yeah. Just got here."

  "Right, it's easy to get lost in this place. Intentionally. If you don't know where something is you can't find it, unless you're following someone. Magic ward."

  Atzi's eyes widened in realization. "That explains a lot," she said. But then how did I find the councilor's office?

  "So follow me and I'll show you."

  "Cool."

  Atzi followed the man downstairs and across a hall into a larger hallway, and then turned right to find a large cafeteria filled with robed students, sitting eating a verifiable feast of food. A set of professional looking chefs stood on one end of the cafeteria, behind polished counters. The man who led her there explained they made anything that the students asked for.

  Atzi's jaw almost dropped from surprise. Mages get it this good? She felt even more mad that her mom didn't train her. I could have come here!

  She immediately darted over to get some food.

  "Hey, watch it!" Someone shouted as she accidentally hit him with her tail on the way.

  "Sorry!" Atzi called out. She was not sorry at all.

  She reached the counter and wondered what to order. She clacked her claws. "Something with lots of meat in it."

  The chef she was facing sighed. "You will need to be more specific."

  "A stew, then."

  "Very well."

  She drooled as she watched her food be prepared. She looked down, worried, but the floor was completely clean. She let a little of her poison drip intentionally. As soon as it hit the polished stone floor, it sank in, vanishing. So she looked back up and didn't hold herself back from drooling over the delicious smells assaulting her.

  Twenty minutes later she had a big bowl of piping hot stew filled with so much meat that it was stacked out of the bowl in a tower. These mages! And this is just the students too! She took the bowl and sat down. She didn't even grab silverware as she started digging in with her claws.

  Other students gave her a wide berth. She could hear them whispering about her.

  Bah, who cares? They'll be dead in a few days anyway, Atzi thought as she tossed another piece of beef in her mouth.

  Then she stopped for a moment, slowly chewing the beef as she considered this being a casual thought.

  Skeletons appeared in her mind's eye. As did her father.

  She looked down at the beef in her bowl, and noticed that the appearance of cooked beef and lightning-charred human flesh was eerily similar.

  Atzi stopped, clamping a hand over her mouth before she could be sick. That's... that's enough for now, I'm not hungry anymore.

  Atzi got up and ran out, leaving her food behind.