Blink.
“Excuse , what?” I asked, like I’d heard her wrong. There was no way Lady Twilight told her to sneak around the Cat.
“I agreed,” ca a voice from behind the back of the couch. The Cat leaped up and landed on the back, his green eyes glowing. “She needs to practice her magic against soone prepared for it.”
“There’s no way she can hide from my magic, though,” I replied. The words escaped before I really thought about it. The Cat knew I could feel them around , but I wasn’t sure Indigo did.
“I can try!” her eyes widened with the challenge, then she dove to the nearest shadow, completely ignoring the laptop. Her form rippled and vanished from sight as she sohow beca one with the shadow. Then, she hustled unseen to the shadow behind the laptop.
I always said I wouldn’t lie to Indigo, so I didn’t. “You’re behind the laptop.”
Indigo popped out from the shadow with a frown.
I locked down those senses again. I didn’t like feeling them all the ti.
“No fair,” she said with a frown.
“My magic is strange. I don’t use it all the ti. The Cat is a much better choice.” I hoped he took the offering.
Instead, he stared at like Lady Twilight had earlier. His eyes pulsed bright green, then he turned to Indigo. “You did better hiding within the shadow, but you didn’t beco a shadow, like you beca a cat.”
Playing hide and seek with Indigo, while fun, wasn’t sothing I wanted to do nonstop. Not when I’d already lost most of the day in a book and forgot to place the inventory order.
I left the two of them behind, as I headed back to the register. I had actual work stuff to do, and wanted to get that done before anything else.
It was almost lunchti, so I’d figure out food, then we could get back to actual work.
Instead of ordering food, which had been my first instinct, I went with basic sandwiches. Indigo wasn’t hungry and opted to work on her science stuff. The Cat ate his sandwich quickly, then headed to the front counter.
I followed, then made myself an ice tea with boba. Sothing a little different. Usually, I liked boba in the sumr because of the hot weather.
But, sothing sweet but not milky fit the bill this afternoon.
“So, what’s the plan this afternoon?” I asked the Cat.
The shop answered, but not with words. Most of the bookshelves vanished, sinking into the floor and only leaving the ones on the back wall. The genres changed to topics surrounding art, with things like workbooks, history tos and blank sketch books. The main table in the center of the room beca a place for brushes in various, cups along with sets of colored pencils.
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That sll of walking into the art classroom flashed through .
Various canvases propped themselves up on the right side of the room, while in the front window, baskets full of yarn and fiber arts appeared.
“I am going shopping after this,” I said clearly, to both the Cat and the shop. Indigo’s art class had a long list of supplies needed. I’d pull together a basket for her that she could pull from to do the lessons.
The doorbell rang before the Cat could respond.
In walked a short humanoid person with an extra set of arms. Long brown hair cascaded down her back, and everything about her was brown. Brown eyes, brown skin, even her clothing was brown. Yet, none of that mattered as she gazed around in awe.
“I finally found it,” she whispered.
“Welco to the shop, let know if I can help you with anything,” I said, trying to not scare her.
Her eyes went even wider as she took in my appearance. “You have color!”
“Huh?” For once I didn’t know what to say.
She rushed to the counter and motioned at my hair, which currently was a bright purple color that didn’t really fade, though I tried to not think about that.
“You have color! Your hair, eyes, clothes, everywhere!” She spun about like she was feasting with her eyes. Everywhere she looked, her gaze focused on sothing not brown. The set of colored pencils, the tubes of paints on the right wall, the colorful yarn.
“I want it all,” she said, before she frowned. “Though, I don’t know what it costs.”
I imdiately used my magic, as a blast of gold washed over the room. Lines pointed out in all directions, but this didn’t feel the sa as normal. I focused on the lines, trying to see which were more important. It wasn’t like she could buy the entire shop.
The biggest connections were to the bookshelves, and specifically several of the tos.
Others went all over the place, but drifted as she kept glancing around.
It ca to .
She had to make a choice on what to focus on, but she had options.
“If you can’t have everything, what is most important?” I asked, trying to figure out what books she needed from the shelves no matter what.
“I… I… I want to beco a wizard.”
My jaw dropped, but she couldn’t see since she’d approached the fiber supplies by the window.
I nudged the Cat as he stared at her and mouthed the word wizard.
He shook his head.
“Wizard?”
“Yes, one who creates color. We haven’t had one in so long. The Elders rember, but the younger folks believe they are a myth.” She picked up a puff of yarn with awe on her face.
“Did they create color everywhere?”
“Oh, no, each had a speciality. Like the one that made the robes that the librarian wears.” Her eyes lit us as she dashed to the colored pencils. “Or the one that created the wall art in the clinic. Though, those colors fade a bit each year.”
That made more sense.
“But, I don’t know what type of wizard I want to be,” she said. Her eyebrows drew together as she frowned. “I know I need to pick. I don’t know how.”
“What if you could learn how to teach others to beco wizards?”
Her eyes brightened. “Is that possible?”
“Sable,” the Cat whispered. “She needs the books.”
“There are books on the bookshelf that teach the different arts of wizardry.” I pointed to the back wall, and specifically toward the left section. The golden lines had stretched the strongest in that direction.
She rushed over to the bookshelf, almost tripping, but the shop smoothed out the floor so she easily caught herself before crashing into the shelves. She pulled the first book off the shelf, then slid it back, going one by one until reaching one she flipped through.
That book she needed.
On each page, she paused before flipping to the next. From here, I couldn’t see the topic, but it practically made her glow without using my magic.
“I need this.” She held the book up, snapping it shut. “How much?”
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