Chapter 67.1

Thin, wispy clouds hung low in the sky over Aurelius University, drifting lazily as they cast large pools of shade on the campus below. The students trekking from building to building took their time as they traveled, and many of them opted to relax outside rather than heading indoors. Midwest winters were always harsh and unpredictable, so after a long stretch of below-freezing temperatures and periodic snow, it was a blessing to finally have a nice day.Several small groups sat underneath trees in the Quad, wearing only light jackets as they studied or conversed with friends. In the center of the large field, a crowd of athletes tossed a frisbee back and forth, occasionally cheering at particularly dramatic plays. Musicians with varied instruments headed south toward the Arts Campus, more studious types lugged their heavy backpacks to the library northeast of the Quad, and many more people lingered outside as they slowly meandered towards the cafeteria. As they drew close, they encountered a small group of volunteers camped outside the main dining hall. They forced awkward small talk about policy reform and handed out informational pamphlets, most of which ended up in nearby trash cans.

A world apart from all these students, nearly a hundred feet up in the sky, a single girl lazily soared across campus. She was unseen and unheard, completely untethered by the forces of reality that bound everyone else.

Chloé Belmont was a girl scattered between planes. Suspended between Earth and Purgatory—a world of spirits and entropy—she had the unique ability to manifest on either plane whenever she wanted. This unusual arrangement was both a blessing and a curse. On the one hand, it gave her incredible powers; flight, invisibility, intangibility, and even the ability to generate planar tremors. On the other hand, shifting herself entirely into one plane caused her considerable stress. Going to classes, spending time with friends, playing video games; everything she did drained her strength bit by bit.

In the several months since her existence had been rent between worlds, she’d found many ways to make her daily life slightly more tolerable. Manifesting on Earth, for example, wasn’t all or nothing. If she wanted, she could manifest visually but not physically, or vice versa. Even gravity itself was optional; she liked to think of it as a muscle she could choose to flex or relax.

Despite all her efforts, all the tricks she’d learned to make her life just a little bit easier, it never seemed like enough. Most of her free time was spent recovering, fading into her natural state and hoping to recuperate in time for her next activity. Her computer and video game consoles had gone woefully under-utilized ever since her accident, and her backlog of games grew longer with each passing day.

Today, as she flew across campus, she allowed herself a tiny moment of indulgence. A stiff breeze kicked up, rustling the many trees scattered in between the sidewalks, and she manifested just enough to feel its gentle caress. The crisp air danced across her face, her loose ponytail fluttered in the breeze, and she hummed with quiet contentment. As the wind slowed down, she stretched her arms behind herself and spun around, delighting in the simple joy of flight while she still had the energy.

Once the breeze vanished entirely, she relaxed and refocused on her destination: Amara’s apartment. Gone were the days where she feared that her friends secretly didn’t like her; following her near-death experience, they’d been incredibly outspoken about their enjoyment of her company, and she’d never felt more appreciated. She wasn’t even sure what their plans were today, but she was excited to see everyone.

Chloé’s thoughts bounced between dozens of different topics as she closed in on her friend’s place. By the time she phased through the outer wall, she was in the middle of thinking about lunch. Knowing her friends, there would inevitably be a lengthy conversation in which they tried to pick a place to eat, and she wanted to be prepared. The last time she failed to think about food, her nerves had failed her, and she’d been trapped eating at a restaurant she wasn’t particularly fond of.

A bit of laughter broke her conversation and she shook her head to refocus her thoughts. She looked around Amara’s living room and was pleased to see everyone had already arrived. Tessa was lounging on the loveseat, her legs resting in Nick’s lap. Amara and Vee were holding hands as they sat side-by-side on the couch, and Amara’s tail was wrapped snugly around Vee’s leg. Beside them was Imani, another member of Tessa’s coven that had just started school at Aurelius this semester. Chloé briefly considered floating behind Tessa and scaring her, but she decided to have pity today. Instead, she quietly announced herself from a respectable distance.

“Hey guys!” she said happily. “Sorry I’m a bit late.” With a bit of focus, she manifested visually to feel like a part of the group.

“Chloé! There you are!” Tessa said with a smile. “What have you been up to this weekend?”

“You know, the usual. Lots of rest, a bit of gaming when I’ve got the energy for it.”

“Right, you’re playing… Shoot, what was it called? That Cyberpunk game?” Amara asked. “The one you showed me the other day.”

“Cyberpunk 2077! It’s taking me forever to get through it, though at least it’s not entirely my fault this time. It’s still pretty buggy, which is really weird given the track record of the company, but I can’t complain. It’s still such a pretty game, and I’m having a ton of fun with it.” Chloé stopped herself from going on a nervous rant about video games before looking at Amara and Nick. “How was your practice session yesterday?”

“Uh…” Amara stammered as she looked at Nick.

“It was good,” Nick admitted. “No one can dish out tough love like Amara, and she pushed me into transforming again. I’m still getting used to, y’know, being a werewolf, but it’s starting to make a bit more sense.”

“You should show them the thing! Chloé, you’re gonna love this!” Tessa said, excitedly sitting up.

“Aw, come on, now?” Nick blushed as he scratched the back of his neck.

“Tess, cut it out,” Vee chided with the tone of a stern parent. “Nick, you don’t have to show us anything if you don’t want to. We understand that your relationship with your powers is different than all of ours.”

Despite Vee’s kind words, Tessa’s enthusiasm won out. Nick sighed and playfully prodded the witch’s side before leaning forward. “It’s nothing crazy, just something I was messing around with last night. Even though the moon is smaller, its energy still riles me up, and I was trying to find a way to burn off some energy.”

Everyone else leaned forward in anticipation, and Chloé floated closer to the floor. Nick’s eyebrows furrowed as he closed his eyes, focusing hard on whatever goal he had in mind. His nose twitched, he shook his head in annoyance, and then Chloé saw his ears shudder. A series of soft, hollow cracks like the popping of joints filled the room, and Nick’s ears slowly elongated. They drifted higher on his head before growing a small coat of fur, and soon they perfectly resembled a pair of soft, fluffy brown wolf ears.

Chloé clasped her hands in front of her as she tried to hold back an excited gasp. Seconds later, Nick huffed in frustration and opened his eyes. He looked around at the group and smiled awkwardly, then said, “So, yeah. It’s not perfect, and it takes a lot of focus, but it’s more control than I had yesterday. That being said, I think that it’s harder to do stuff like this during the day, or when the moon is smaller. I’m still messing around with the basics.”

“Awww you’re such a goo—” Tessa tried to reach for Nick’s ears, but he quickly interrupted her.

“Tess, we’ve talked about this,” Nick said, firmly holding her wrist.

“C’mon, Amara gets away with it, but I don’t?”

“I’m strong enough to hold my own against a furious werewolf, thank you very much,” Amara bragged. “Plus, I was purposely trying to piss him off, because I know he hates it.”

Grumbling to herself about killjoys, Tessa pulled her wrist free and crossed her arms. Nick turned his focus inward and quickly reverted the change to his ears before speaking up again. “Apart from Tessa, who’s determined to be an ass, I really appreciate everyone’s support. Given what today is, I just… I don’t know. I’m trying to be more honest about who I am, even if it’s not my ideal self.”

“Wait, what’s today?” Chloé asked, looking around at everyone else.

“Well, I suppose we’re not going to get a better introduction than that,” Imani said as she jumped to her feet. She wore a loose-fitting shirt with long, flowing sleeves that bounced as she moved, perfectly accentuating her dark skin. A playful glint appeared in her eyes, made all the more obvious by her usual, immaculate white eyeliner. “Cards on the table, Chloé: we had a bit of an ulterior motive for calling you over today.”

Unsure what Imani meant, Chloé hesitated. “Um… is that good or bad?”

Tessa stood up next, joining Imani in heading towards the connecting hallway. They both grabbed something and pulled it into the living room, but Chloé didn’t bother paying attention to what they had. She was too worried that she’d accidentally done something wrong, or maybe said something rude without realizing it.

“Before we explain, I think you might want to take a seat,” Tessa said. She gestured to the item she and Imani had just dragged in here. It was a chair of some kind, and Chloé absentmindedly floated closer without looking at it, her attention instead trained on her friends.

“A seat? You know it’s more relaxing for me to float, right?”

Every single one of her friends nodded, yet stayed silent. They all shared the same look, one of suspense and excitement, as if they were all preparing for a surprise birthday party. Incredibly confused, but somewhat curious what all the fuss was about, Chloé floated next to Tessa and floated just above the seat.

After engaging her sense of gravity, she settled into the chair. “Okay, what’s going on? I feel like you all know a secret I don’t.”

“How do you feel?” Amara asked, her tail darting back and forth across the floor.

“Uh… fine?” Chloé said. When Amara refused to elaborate, she looked at Vee, then Tessa, then everyone else. “It feels like I’m sitting in a chair, I don’t understand what—”

Confused by the strange shift in color, Chloé continued looking around. There was a candle burning on the breakfast counter, and she had no problem picking apart the different aspects of the scent. She heard the rumble of the building’s shoddy heating system, and the buzz of someone showering next door. Dozens of tiny little sensations sprang to the forefront of her thoughts, experiences that normally required extra concentration to indulge in, yet she didn’t feel exhausted in the slightest.

In fact, it felt exactly like standing in the magic circle under Lysander Hall; the one place on campus that allowed her to manifest without additional strain.

“Hold on, is this…?”

Curiosity took hold and Chloé flew into the air. Her usual level of strain immediately returned, and the vibrancy of the surrounding world faded as she opted not to fully exert herself. The pieces slowly clicked together, and she turned around to look at the chair beneath her.

It was, in fact, a wheelchair.