Making friends was hard.
Papa made it look easy. Even the elf who he’d been cursing about before they arrived was warming up to her Papa. She could tell.
Every time Bevel met someone she enjoyed spending time with…
Well, she was pretty sure the expression 'new friends are the bomb' wasn’t supposed to be so literal. Why did it happen every time?
Bevel sighed. That wasn’t fair.
It didn’t happen every time.
Twice did seem like a bit too often though.
Three times and she’d have to talk to Papa and find out if it was her.
At least no one had found out about the first one. She’d figured that one out on her own. The refugee who’d given it to him hadn’t even made it very good. Bevel had figured out a dozen ways to make it better by the time she’d taken it apart. Unfortunately, that friend had moved to Southport with their mom after Bevel had their Papa arrested. Bevel understood why they didn’t want to talk to her. Still hurt. She almost hadn’t reported it, but his Papa had given her friend a bomb. Sometimes people had to be protected from their parents. She’d known that for a long time now.
Bevel didn’t regret it.
Other than not being able to keep her friend, of course.
All that crossed through her head while escorting her hopefully new friends to Tender’s Hall. She was trying to explain that her Papa was going to fix them.
It… wasn’t going well.
“What do you mean he’s going to stab our souls?” her new friend Sezzie demanded as they climbed over the roots, moving towards the back of the hall. She was normally the calmest of the three apprentices who Bevel was trying to be friends with. Calm wasn’t a word Bevel would use to describe her at the moment. Not with how much she was swinging her head back and forth, grabbing at her hair.
“Not stab-stab…” Bevel said, waving her hands over her head. Something that felt weird, but she was walking on the floor instead of swinging from the wall, since that seemed to upset her new friends for some reason. “And I didn’t say he would. Just that he might need to.”
“W-Why would the Magus Protectus need to stab our souls? Why w-would he need to do anything to us? Why c-can’t we just go home?” Dathin asked. Apparently the stutter was a new thing. A side effect of being raised from unawakened to Pegasus in three month. Before they found out about the bombs, Bevel was going to ask her Papa if putting him inside the stone boxes might help fix it. That seemed like a bad idea if they might blow up the boxes. Probably better if her Papa fixed the bomb first.
“If it were that easy, great-grandfather wouldn’t have attacked the High Djinn, Dethin,” the third apprentice, Bolly said while pulling his fellow apprentice into a side-hug and directing him to sit along one side of the chamber. “We can’t leave, but we’re safe for the moment. Isn’t that right, Bevel?”
The last was said with a smile directed her way. One that made her feel a bit like she was falling off the nets without a rope in reach. But in a nice way.
“Yep. Papa and auntie Nexxa are making sure your bad grandaunty can’t make you go boom,” Bevel agreed, nodding seriously as she started unpacking some food from her spatial storage ring Papa had made her. Dinner had been cut short before the good part, afterall.
“She promised we’d be able to contribute to Fores’thall’s legacy,” Sezzie said, suddenly seeming to run out of energy as she flopped down next to Bevel, laying her head on her shoulder. Bevel froze, surprised at the sudden contact. “What do we even do now? Sit here and just… what?”
Bevel wasn’t sure how to respond. People didn’t come to her for advice. If Papa were here, he’d know what to say. Last time she’d tried to give advice… well, Papa had been proud of her. Maybe she could try that again?
Would that be stupid?
Eh. It was alright to be stupid.
“I was thinking dinner first. If you wanna, you can always walk the paths. You can only do it once per day, but they’re big, and you can stay in as long as you want. Or talk to Tender. She might look scary but she’s really nice,” Bevel said, gesturing at the nearby doorways and the vine covered devil. Tender raised a hand, giving a small wave back. “And I’m sure Papa will figure out a way to get you out of here really fast.”
“F-Fores’thall’s legacy… I knew it was a lie… I j-just wanted to be a mage,” Dethin barely got the words out before turning and sobbing into Bolly’s shoulder.
The other apprentice patted his cousin’s shoulder before looking towards Bevel again. “How long do you think it’ll take your Papa to help us?”
Bevel wanted to shrug, but Sezzie’s head was still on her shoulder, so she held her hands open instead. “Uh… soon. Probably. He’s good at stuff like this, though he might need my help.”
“Your h-help?” Dethin asked, wiping his snot-covered face with the back of his hand instead of just using magic as he turned to squint at her. “But you’re so y-young.”
Bevel puffed up her chest. “Yep. But I’m super smart. I helped Papa fix the Ways Between.”
“What’re the Ways Between?” Sezzie asked, her voice regaining some of the curiosity it’d carried when they met earlier. She even reached for some of the crispy roots they’d had at dinner.
Thankful for such an easy topic, Bevel started explaining about the portals around Aeternia worked. She might’ve gotten a little carried away, going into details that clearly left Dethin and Bolly confused at times. But Sezzie kept asking questions, so Bevel kept answering.
Eventually they did run out. And not just of questions. The others had picked away at the food she’d brought too.
“T-that sounds so cool. Do you t-think we’ll be able to try the Ways Between?” Dethin was looking at the distant doorway as he asked, rubbing his still red nose.
“Yep. Soon as Papa fixes you, I’ll show you all of them!” Bevel declared. After all, Papa had said they were hers, even if she let everyone else use them. That meant it was okay for her to show her friends around. Though she’d make sure to only show them the cool stuff. No need to take them to stupid Southport.
Bolly dropped the core from a fruit Tender had given them. Bevel barely thought about it as she caught it with a gust of wind, propelling it over to the forest-devil.
“You know so many spells. I only have t-two,” Dethin said, eyes wide in awe as the fruit core bobbed through the air.
“Papa says I’m a natural, but I barely have any spells. Papa has a really cool grimoire with soooo many spells in it,” Bevel declared proudly, puffing out her chest even as she dropped the core into the devil’s waiting hand. “Like, hundreds!”
“That’s… a lot,” Bolly said, glancing at Sezzie. “I don’t suppose you could borrow it? Just so we can see?”
“Sure!” Bevel said. That was a great idea. If they were learning new spells, it would make it less boring. Plus then she’d have more people to talk about spells with.
“How are you going to sneak it away from your Papa?” Bolly asked, leaning forward, rubbing his hands together. Maybe he still had some fruit juice on them?
“Sneak? Why would I need to sneak it? I’ll just get Papa to show it to you.” Bevel looked between them, trying to figure out why all three of them looked so surprised.
“You think he’d… just show it to us?” Sezzie asked, her voice wavering. “Even… even after we came in with bombs?”
“Uh… that… hmm,” Bevel tapped her chin. That was a good point. Papa’s grimoire was super important. He wouldn’t want it blown up. “Nope.”
“Oh,” Sezzie’s enthusiasm seeped right out of her, getting heavy against Bevel’s side again. “Should’ve known.”
Bevel didn’t register her new friend’s words, still tapping her chin. Then she nodded. “But I bet he’d help make one for you guys!”
For some reason, this caused Sezzie’s head to jerk upwards, her jaw dropping open.
That was a good sign, right?
Maybe making friends wasn’t so hard after all.