Trans Witch: College of Secrets Read online

  "No, wait. What do you mean, 'not anymore'?" said Lily.

  "Well, I shouldn't say," said Rene, looking around in a way that Professor Hartman would have said drew focus to him, rather than away.

  "Okay, Rene, you can't just leave that hanging," said Hannah.

  Rene grinned. "I'll leave that where you left it. But yeah. You got me thinking when you mentioned Professor Shelley. In one of her last lectures before—uh, sorry—she said that divination used to be taught as a subject, maybe a hundred years ago? Back before the Facets were established."

  "Did she say why they stopped teaching it?" asked Lily.

  Rene shrugged. "I wasn't paying close attention to what she said. But she said it was a new thing, something she'd just found out. I guess it doesn't fit into any of the Facets, as a focus, you know? Like Basilisk has alchemy, and Drake has phantasms, and Wyvern has enchantments?"

  "Among other things," added Hannah. "Wouldn't you think it might go with Wyvern, though?"

  Rene shrugged again. "Professor Shelley didn't think so. She seemed excited about what she called 'fringe magic', things that didn't fit with any of the Facets we have nowadays."

  "What happens," said Lily, choosing her words with care, "if someone turns out to be good at divination?"

  Rene shook his head. "I dunno, I've never heard of anyone who knew how to do divination. I guess since it's discouraged, maybe they just don't talk about it? Like being gay used to be, in the olden days."

  Lily sat up and looked at Rene. "I mean, outside of Moraine, Hannah and I could still get yelled at even still for holding hands in public. Especially out in the country."

  Rene waved that away. "Sure. Some people are still dicks about that. But you two could get married now if you wanted to, right? My dad says his uncle would have been locked up if he'd told anyone about his husband back in the day. I figure it's like that with divination; no one talks about it because they're afraid."

  "Afraid of what?" asked Lily.

  Rene looked around the room and lowered his voice to a stage whisper. "The Administration. People have a way of being escorted out of SOAM with part of their brain missing if they go against the rules. Some rules more than ever. I figure that's why you don't meet anyone who talks about being able to do divination. Or morphology. It's just not talked about."

  Hannah said, "You're just being dramatic,"

  "No, I think he's on to something," said Lily. "I remember when, uh, when my aunt told me about having to keep her partner secret too, to keep her job. Maybe it's like that. Remember, the first thing that happens when you get here is, you're given a choice, and one of the options, the one where you don't agree to the rules, is having your memory of SOAM erased, and your magic stripped from you somehow. And you said it yourself, Penny—that is, Professor Shelley, disappeared after looking into divination and other 'fringe magic'."

  Rene, Hannah, and Lily looked back and forth between one another in grim silence.

  Chapter Thirteen

  "Yeah, okay, let's talk about something else," said Rene. "Like how you're gonna thank me for clueing me in on your aunt's indiscretion."

  "Indiscretion!" cried Lily. "She was just curious!"

  "You know what they say about curiosity and cats," he said.

  "Get out!" snapped Hannah.

  "Hey!" said Rene, holding up his hands in protest. "I'm just tryin' to help!"

  "Li—Claudia just lost her aunt, and she's trying to find out what happened to her and you're suggesting she could be—"

  "Stop!" said Lily. "Thank you, Rene. I appreciate it. I owe you. Just maybe not in the way you'd like."

  Rene winked at her. "It's cool. I'm just messin' around. If I hear anything more about your aunt, I'll let you know."

  "Let me know," said Hannah. "I'll be easier to find."

  "Yup, I know where you live, just two doors down!" Rene shot Hannah with finger guns.

  "Don't remind me," said Hannah, making shooing motions with her fingertips.

  After Rene departed, Lily said, "Is he for real?"

  Hannah shook her head. "It's a huge front. He's as insecure as they come. Of course, that doesn't excuse his behavior. I hope he does hit on Aiden."

  "What? Why?"

  Hannah's gaze focused far away as she spoke. "Aiden will put him through the wringer for bad behavior. He might seem like an adorable little teddy bear, but he's fierce once you cross him. At the same time, he's got deep empathy. It's why he's in Wyvern despite being so good at Alchemy."

  "So, wait. Maybe I mixed things up. This, Basilisk, is the Facet of Alchemy, right?"

  Hannah looked at Lily and nodded. "Yup. And while I'm best at Enchantments, I'm here instead of Wyvern. I always joke with Aiden that we were switched at birth. We're always helping each other out with projects. He's a great guy."

  Lily frowned. "So why wouldn't you go into a Facet that matches your strong suits?"

  Hannah waved a hand of dismissal. "Eh, some go where they'll excel most academically, but lots of us go where our heart takes us. Where we feel we fit in best. For me, it's here in down-to-earth Basilisk. For Aiden, it's nerdy Wyvern. Drake is perfect for Cam though. They're an artist, and I've seen them sculpt the most amazing phantasms. You're wearing one of them. They're close to graduation."

  "Sometimes I think Cam doesn't like me," admitted Lily.

  Hannah touched Lily on the arm with her fingertips. "Don't think that. Cam's just got a gruff exterior. They're super-sensitive, so they put up walls. You can't see them as I see them, at least not yet. But I can tell they're already letting down defenses around you, and that says a lot about you."

  Lily smiled. "I'm so glad to have you all on my side."

  Hannah smiled and stood up, offering Lily a hand. "Speaking of Cam, we're due to meet up with them soon. Let's go."

  Though she allowed herself to be pulled up by Hannah, Lily glanced around her. "I feel like I should have done more snooping around. But I don't even know what to look for."

  Hannah led her to the door and out into the steam tunnels. "I think you're doing fine. You're putting out feelers among people who live here, like Rene and me. They'll do the snooping for you, and faster."

  "I guess you're right," she said, following along. "Whew! Do you ever get used to the heat on the way to class?"

  Hannah laughed. "Secret: We have a special direct portal in and out of Basilisk, that's how we mostly go, but only residents can use it. This is the 'guest entrance'. Even Wheeler herself has to come in that way!"

  Lily sighed relief once they'd re-entered the main halls of SOAM. "Seems like you wouldn't get a lot of visitors from other Facets."

  "That's kind of the idea. We're friendly, but we Basilisks like to have a place to retreat from the world. It's comforting."

  Hannah led Lily through a couple of portals and into an outdoor area. The sun seemed higher in the sky than it ought to be, and the air far warmer than it should be for fall. Lily frowned and stopped and looked around her. "Something's wrong."

  "What? Oh! You haven't been here before. This is the Commons. It's like the center of a Quad, except it's not really."

  "Is it an illusion?"

  "Yes, it's a persistent phantasm. It was some long-ago grad student's masterwork. Since most SOAM spaces are hidden underground or in disused parts of Moraine buildings, it's nice to have an outdoor feel."

  Students lounged on park benches or lay on spread blankets in the "grass" of the area. Paths wound through the Commons, and a fountain containing three dragons bubbled in the center. Various buildings seemed to enclose the Commons, with paths that led to doors in and out.

  "You look like a pair of noobs," said Cameron, appearing in their path. "I don't know why we bothered with the disguise; anyone can tell you're new here."

  "Thanks for the vote of confidence, Cam," said Lily.

  Cameron smirked. "No problem, it's a free service I offer. Just trying to help out."


  "Don't listen to them, Lily. You're doing fine! Also, Professor Hartman would tell you that attitude gets you further than any illusion." Hannah turned to Cameron. "As for you, knock off the sour attitude, or you'll give her away. Now, gimme somethin'."

  Cameron looked back and forth. "Come on. Out here in public?"

  Hannah nodded and bit her lip, eyes twinkling at Cameron.

  "Talk about drawing attention," said Cameron.

  "I mean, it diverts attention away from our Claudia," said Hannah, taking a step closer to them.

  "Fine," said Cameron, putting their arms around Hannah. "Here's something for you."

  Cameron kissed Hannah long enough to make Lily avert her eyes to give them a little privacy. She had no idea what made those two a couple, but whatever they had between them seemed sweet. She'd ached somewhere inside ever since Penny failed to come home that one night, and now that ache grew more pointed.

  Staring off into the illusory sky, Lily's mind wandered into memory, picturing Penny sitting crisscross on the floor at home, paging through a large book. Monty, their cat, trotted into the scene and sat down upon the open book, butting his head against Penny. Then, the memory or vision took an odd turn. Rather than Penny shooing the cat away, she and Monty both looked at Lily at the same time.

  "Hey, are you okay?" asked Hannah.

  Lily turned back around. She found herself holding a hand over her breastbone, where the now-warmer coin pendant lay. "What? Oh, yes, I'm just missing Penny."

  "We're working on it," said Cameron, taking a step away from Hannah. "Speaking of, it's just about time for Phantasms."

  Hannah brushed Lily's upper arm with her fingertips, eyes lingering on her for a long silent moment. "Well, if you're okay, I've got to leave you in Cameron's care for now."

  Lily smiled. "Sure, I'll be fine, as long as Cam remembers to look both ways before leading me across streets and doesn't let me have too much candy before dinner."

  Cameron snorted. "Yeah, yeah, we get it. But you're still a noob, and you need us to guide you, okay?"

  "Does that mean I can have too much candy before dinner?"

  Cameron rolled their eyes. "Not if you want dessert, young lady."

  Hannah kissed Cameron on the cheek. "Bye. Be good."

  "Whatever."

  "Fine, be bad, see if I care," said Hannah, with a wave to them both as she turned and left.

  "So okay," said Cameron, as they led Lily down one of the paths toward the entrance to a four-story limestone building. "This class is a lab, and since you're not one of the regular students, you're gonna stick out. How are we gonna deal with that when it comes up?"

  Lily grinned at Cameron. "I could be your fake girlfriend, too!"

  Cameron's expression soured and they shook their head. "Not gonna happen."

  "Aw."

  "No one would believe it. They hardly believe Hannah's seeing me."

  "Aren't you seeing Aiden, too?"

  "Yeah, but he's not very demonstrative in public, so I don't think anyone's figured that out. At least no one who doesn't know me very well. And hardly anyone outside of the Quartet knows me at all."

  Lily frowned. "That sounds kinda sad."

  Cameron shrugged. "I'm okay with things the way they are. Anyway, here's Phantasms Hall, what's our story?"

  Lily sighed. "Guess we can play it straight. If anyone asks, I'm new here, and I'm getting a feel for the place. Hannah and I told people I'm Penny's niece, to maybe draw people out, if they know anything."

  "Okay, I guess that works; I'm doing Hannah a favor. Here, we're in the second room on the right. Yeah, this door."

  Lily followed Cameron into a tiered room, a pair of sturdy lab benches on each stair-step level. Cameron chose one of the benches at the very back and top of the room and motioned for Lily to sit. As she sat, she noticed that she and Cameron each had a ring of six tiny bowls of glitter in front of them. Each of the six bowls held a different color.

  Lily reached for one of the bowls and said, "Hey, glitter!"

  Cameron grabbed her hand and stopped her before she touched the bowl. "No. It's for class, not playing."

  "Does this mean no candy?"

  Cameron sighed and didn't answer her.

  "Hannah's a lot more fun than you," said Lily, smiling at them.

  "This isn't supposed to be fun. We're looking for clues, right?"

  "Yeah, yeah. It's hard not to be a little excited. I've never been to wizard college before."

  Cameron turned and fixed her with a glare. "Do you want to find Penny, or don't you?"

  Lily held up her hands. "Look. This is how I deal with it. It's this or burst into tears. What do you think is more useful?"

  "Tears are okay. If you need to cry, go ahead and do it. I just think we should focus more." Despite their words, Cameron's expression softened as they spoke.

  A rising buzzing sound pulled Lily's attention toward the front of the room. She watched as a column of light shot up from the floor, or down from the ceiling, filled with bright glittery sparks. As the sparks grew brighter, the buzzing rose in pitch. The motes in the beam clustered together to form the general outline of a human. A man. A man of average height, wearing a cloak and a top hat.

  The beam cut off, and the man stroked his goatee. He paused for effect, then exclaimed, "Are there signs of intelligent life here? Welcome to the Advanced Phantasms Lab! Today's topic is 'working with available materials'. I hope you read the chapters from the syllabus because I'm not going to read to you out of the book. I don't have to, because the course has 'Advanced' in the title."

  Some of the students in the first few benches clapped. The professor took a bow.

  "I forgot to warn you what a ham Murdock can be," murmured Cameron.

  Lily giggled. "I guess it goes with the territory."

  "Meh. You don't see me showboating like that."

  Murdock continued. "As you should have read, but probably didn't, utilizing materials at hand can lend credibility and substance to your illusions. Today, your materials at hand are the bowls of glitter in front of you. Do not spill the glitter. It gets everywhere, I don't care how good your cleaning spells might be, you won't get it all."

  This elicited isolated titters and giggles around the classroom.

  He continued, "But never mind the glitter. The first thing I want you to do is to clear your mind. Don't picture your happy place. Don't think of a purple cow. Just think of nothing. A blank page. An empty desktop. Zilch. Zippo. Nada. It's harder than you think, so I'll give you a minute or two to get the hang of it."

  Lily watched as Cameron stared at the center of the circle of glitter bowls. Their face seemed to soften, like someone falling asleep. Their eyes remained open, however, and their gaze never faltered.

  "Stop watching me," said Cameron.

  "What am I supposed to do, then?"

  "Try doing the assignment."

  "What?" said Lily. "I haven't even figured out how to do magic yet, and this is an advanced class—"

  "—Shh!" interrupted Cameron. "If you're not going to do the assignment, you could at least let me do it."

  Lily sighed. She didn't suppose it would hurt to give it a try. She mimicked Cameron by focusing on the center of the six bowls in front of her. She pushed thoughts out of her head. She closed her eyes, took in a deep breath, held it, then let it out slowly, opening her eyes again as she did. The image of a purple cow came to her mind. It sparkled, sitting there in the middle of the bowls. She pushed against the image. She fancied that it moo'ed and kicked at her. She tried to ignore the purple cow, willing it out of existence, but it just chewed its imaginary cud and farted, letting out a plume of purple glitter.

  "Very good!" came Murdock's voice, from only a few feet away.

  The purple cow fell to the workbench in a pile of purple glitter.

  Lily gasped. "I did that?"

  "Yes, you're very clever, young lady!" beamed M
urdock. Then his face clouded. "But you're working ahead! Stop it. I said, 'clear your mind'. I even specifically asked you not to think of purple cows, and yet you fell for that."

  "But I've never—"

  "Yes, I know, you're new here. Lovely for you. Now let's get back to the lesson, shall we?" Professor Murdock made his quiet way back down the stair steps, to the front again.

  "Cam! Did you see that?" hissed Lily.

  Cameron nodded. "You're a natural. Way to not draw attention to yourself, miss smarty pants."

  "Oh, come on. You didn't get excited the first time you did something like this?"

  "Yeah, okay, you got me there," said Cameron. "That's why I'm majoring in Phantasms. It is pretty cool to see something from my mind take form in the real world."

  Murdock led them all through a series of mental exercises, each involving a single color and a single shape. A red sphere. A blue pyramid. A green cube. Then all three at once. Then changing the shape of each color to a new one.

  Lily only managed a single color before giving up, while Cameron seemed a bit bored by the pace of the exercises. As she looked around the room, she saw she wasn't the only one not keeping up.

  After much of the class period had passed, Murdock said, "Okay, now we go freeform. Use the glitter to make anything you want, but it has to use at least three colors."

  Lily returned to the purple cow, to which she managed to add a green grassy circle for the construct to graze upon. She noticed motion out of the corner of her eye and turned to see Cameron's glitter illusion taking shape.

  At first, she saw a golden egg, as big as the space inside the bowls. Then the shell of the egg dispersed to leave a hemisphere, transparent as a soap bubble. Inside, a flower grew. The green stem rose and a pink flower burst forth. But the flower gained substance and filled out into the form of a person. A girl. A woman, with pink hair.

  A tiny, sparkly Hannah stood on the table and blew kisses at Lily.

  "Wow, you're good," breathed Lily.

  Cameron snorted. "This is a toy compared to what you're wearing."

  "So why are you even in this class if it's so easy for you?"