Chapter 56.2

Her form scattered, returning to its natural state as she retreated from the world around her. The relief caused her to shudder, and for a brief moment, she wondered what that might even look like for someone like her. That thought disappeared as quickly as gravity’s hold on her, and she instead decided to start heading towards her next engagement. When she phased out of the bathroom, however, she saw Sam nervously sitting on a bench just outside.Watching him wait, it became increasingly obvious that he was there for her, and a mix of adoration and apprehension washed over her.

Knowing it was going to be difficult, Chloé returned to the bathroom and prepared for another few seconds of manifestation. She glanced at herself in the mirror, noticed a small lock of white hair, and made sure to focus on it before walking out into the hallway.

“Chloé! Hey, are you… feeling any better? I got a little worried, I’ve never seen you bolt like that before,” Sam said.

“That’s so sweet, Sam,” Chloé said with a soft smile, “but I promise I’m okay.”

“Is there anything I can do to help?” he asked. “I can carry your backpack or something. Heck, if it would make things easier, I’d totally carry you if you wanted me to!”

As he laughed, a wonderfully cute thing that dared to give Chloé hope that maybe he liked her the way she liked him, she knew she had to turn him down. She shook her head slowly, fighting back another small spasm as she spoke. “No, that’s… that wouldn’t really do anything. Look, I’ve got to check a few more things, I think you should head out without me, okay?”

Sam smiled, and Chloé had a feeling he was forcing his way through a small bout of dejection. “Oh… okay, yeah, that’s fine. You’d let me know if there was something I could do, right?” he asked.

Chloé nodded. “Promise.” They shared one last look before she returned to the bathroom. Once inside, she demanifested again, though this time the action was paired with an immense sense of guilt as she pictured Sam walking away, unsure if Chloé even wanted his help or not.

The whole time she flew towards Lysander Hall, she painstakingly picked apart everything Sam had said the last two hours. Did he mean anything with his offer? Would he have tried to help anybody in that situation, or was there something special about her? How would he even carry her when gravity meant nothing? Thoughts of being wrapped up in his arms overwhelmed her other conflicting emotions, and before she knew it, she’d arrived in the basement of the building.

Here, hidden behind an illusory wall, there was a magic circle connected to Purgatory. Tessa had previously altered it to serve as a bridge between planes, and because of that, it was the one place on campus in which Chloé was able to manifest without undue burden on herself.

Phasing through the surrounding walls, she moved into the circle and grumbled as she tossed her backpack down. Gravity found her once again, as did the rest of her senses, and she huffed in frustration as she allowed herself to collapse on the ground, using her backpack as a pillow while she bemoaned her situation.

“Rough morning?” Amara asked, looking up from the back corner of the room.

“It’s so stupid!” Chloé moaned. “Sam was being so nice today, and he even offered to carry me, and I had to say no!”

Before she realized what was happening, Chloé felt Amara’s tail wrap around her shoulder and pull her closer. Soon Chloé’s head was resting in Amara’s lap, and her demonic friend was gently brushing the hair from her eyes. “Is this a powers thing? Did he notice you were struggling?”

“…Yeah…” Chloé grumbled, turning sideways to avoid looking up at Amara. “I know I shouldn’t be complaining, that it’s a miracle I’m still alive after what happened to me, but I’m sick and tired of feeling like I can’t just… live my life, y’know? I can’t play video games at night because I need the strength to make it through classes without drawing suspicion. I can’t make friends with anyone that’s not in the AV Club because how am I supposed to explain my condition?”

“You’re not alone in this, Chloé,” Amara said. “We’re right here with you, and we’re always happy to help however we can. I get how sucky it is to feel like some innate part of you is holding you back.”

Chloé sniffed, holding back tears as she took a deep breath. “Ugh, I know. You’re all wonderful, and I’m so happy at how much time I’ve been able to spend with you guys, but that doesn’t make the rest of my day any easier. I mean, look at us now,” she said, gesturing to the room around them. For all intents and purposes, it looked like they were trapped in the small room, which had no doors, windows, or openings of any kind. “You’re going out of your way to hang out with me here, because it’s the only place I can do homework without completely exhausting myself, but that still kinda sucks, right? That the only place I can be normal is a tiny room 99% of the campus doesn’t know exists?”

Amara went quiet for a few moments, rubbing Chloé’s shoulders with her tail before speaking up. “Have you tried talking to Tessa about this? It’s a magical problem, so maybe she could help figure out a magical solution? Heck, she’s been spending a bunch of time with Imani, too, and I hear she’s also pretty smart at all that witchy rune stuff.”

“And what, take away precious time that she needs to try and piece together the gate? She’s still trying to figure out a way to get that wolf back to The Wilds! I can’t just ask the only witches I know for help every single time I encounter a problem.”

“Chloé, they’re your friends. You seriously think they don’t want to help you?” Amara asked, playfully slapping the side of Chloé’s cheek with her tail. “Fuck, if there were something I could do to help, I’d drop everything to get it done as fast as I could. Sadly, this isn’t a problem I can fix with punching, fire, or sex.”

Amara’s last words brought a small laugh to Chloé’s lips. “It’d be pretty cool if it were, though. I’d love to see that.”

“Which part?” Amara said, her tone somewhat playfully suggestive.

“Obviously the part that wouldn’t get me in trouble with your girlfriend,” Chloé said, giggling somewhat as she mentioned Vee. It had already been a month since Amara and Vee had started dating, and she was still getting used to seeing them together. On several occasions, she’d been tempted to call it a match made in Heaven, but with full knowledge that Heaven would heavily disapprove of their union, she avoided saying it in hopes of not drawing their attention.

With a bit of weight off her chest, Chloé pulled herself up until she was sitting opposite Amara. “Oh, did you bring that thing you were talking about last time? The game thing?” Amara asked.

“Oh, shit, that’s right!” Chloé reached for her backpack and pulled it open, digging through its pockets until she found her 3DS. It was a special edition, one that was completely gold and decorated with masks from one of her favorite video games. When she’d last met Amara here, she’d suggested that she should bring a portable game system to test if she might be able to at least game in this circle, if not at home. It had taken ages to find her old charger, but now that it was fully charged, she was excited to see if it worked down here.

For reasons no one completely understood, the magic circles scattered around Aurelius University heavily interfered with electronics. Phones routinely lost their battery at increased rates, lost all service, and sometimes experienced other random errors. Chloé’s hope was that, as an older device, her 3DS might be immune to whatever magical effects prevented phones from working.

She clicked the power button, then held her breath as the familiar start-up sequence began. First, a simple black screen, then a few seconds of waiting, then the main menu appeared. At first, the small collection of game icons seemed unaffected by the circle, but as she attempted to scroll through the programs, the telltale signs of magical interference appeared. Strange lines appeared on the screen, the images began to smear and blur together, and pixels occasionally vanished, as if they’d only just died. Attempting to boot up her game yielded only more errors, and eventually she gave up, powering down the 3DS entirely.

Chloé’s shoulders sagged as she sighed. “I should’ve expected that… Nothing else works around these stupid circles.”

“Aw, fuck,” Amara muttered. “I was really hoping that would work.”

“It’s okay, it’s not your fault…” Chloé reluctantly turned off the 3DS before pushing it into her backpack again. Instead, she pulled out her planner and some folders, hoping to distract herself by working on her homework.

As she scattered papers and notebooks around her, happy that she at least had a space where she could pretend to be somewhat normal, she tried to look on the bright side. She remembered saving Tessa’s life last month, helping to take down the two mad witches previously in charge of the coven, and how she’d stopped that wolf from hurting Vee the other week. Yes, things were difficult, but it wasn’t all bad.

Plus, it was finally time for the first AV Club meeting later today, and the Dean was planning on attending. If all went well, they’d soon have access to official school resources in some capacity, and she was excited to share the news with everyone else. There, at least, she could be among people that understood what was going on with her.