"I swear that

I'll be around for you.

I'll do whatever it takes.

I'll make a million mistakes.

I'll make the world safe and sound for you,"

~ Lin-Manuel Miranda

Chapter 13—(72)

Philyra was sitting in a train compartment. She wore nice, warm clothes, and sturdy boots. Around her neck was the lapis lazuli amulet and a pretty necklace Selene had given her for Midwinter—it was a pretty silver heart locket with the word "Sister" engraved into the front. Or so Selene had told her. The pretty, swirling squiggles didn't mean much to Philyra. She'd barely started learning the Myulan alphabet, and the English alphabet meant nothing to her. There were papers for practicing her letters in the bag one of Selene's brothers had given her. She'd gotten so many Midwinter presents, it was almost too much. There was no way she'd ever be able to repay the March family and Selene for their kindness. And spirits know that all of them didn't expect her too—they'd all told her as much.

Regis was curled up in the seat by the window, to her immediate right. It was warm inside the train, despite the snow outside. Selene was relaxing across from Philyra, unwinding her scarf and taking off her incredibly thick coat. Philyra didn't mind the cold that much. She was used to it.

Philyra focused on petting Regis while the train began moving. She vaguely listened to Selene and Klaus' conversation, but it was inconsequential to her. From what she heard, Selene had a lot of work to do, and tests to take, and a few of Selene's classes were getting changed. Philyra had been told that she'd have all her classes with Selene, despite their age gap, so she was perfectly content.

'You're so dependant on that mean half-elemental.' Regis sniffed, shifting his position into a more comfortable one, his two tails flicking as Philyra scratched a particularly nice spot.

Don't be rude, she thought back. She's my sister. And she'll be the only one I know. And new people…they're scary…

'Toughen up! I can't have a wimp for a master!' Regis whined.

A look from his aforementioned master quieted him.

"Well, whatever." Selene yawned. "I'm going to try and take a nap. I didn't sleep much last night. Philyra, hun, do you have your letters practice?"

The small, quiet girl nodded, pulling some of the papers out of her bag. Selene had been teaching her to read and write over the past week. It wasn't incredibly hard to learn to read, but the writing was a lot harder. Her hand simply wasn't used to making the symbols.

"Good." Selene nodded, satisfied. "Someone wake me when we're almost there." And with that she pulled her legs up on the seat and leaned on Klaus, who pulled out a book and started reading.

Philyra had a decent impression of the man. He was a little scary if you didn't know him (mostly because he was so tall and his resting face was one made him look mildly irritated), but very kind to people he seemed to like. He was always very nice to Philyra, and he treated Selene like she was a queen, despite the fact that the two loved to bicker. He was good for Philyra's sister. Selene seemed less…jittery with him around. She was happier when he was near. It was visible in her entire person. It brought back a little color into her cheeks.

And if Selene was happy, so was Philyra.

Philyra's brow furrowed as she mouthed the sounds to a word. She had decided to switch from writing practice to reading. Selene had given her a couple of children's books for practicing. They were very colorful, and the words were all fairly simple, but she still struggled with several of them. This particular one was odd, and she couldn't tell exactly how it would be pronounced.

"Would you like some help?"

Philyra looked up to see Klaus watching her. His sudden offer startled her a bit, but she nodded. She'd never be able to ask for help, but she was glad he offered it.

He shifted Selene off his lap, and carefully slipped her coat under her head. He moved to sit next to Philyra. "Which word are you stuck on?"

No offense to Selene, but Klaus was a much better teacher. Selene tried, but she wasn't all that helpful in comparison to her boyfriend. He actually knew how to teach.

Selene seemed to realize it, too, as she had woken up a couple minutes ago. She hadn't sat up, but just layed down, watching them. Philyra noticed her right away, because Regis made an annoyed noise, but Klaus hadn't. He was in full teaching mode. Philyra went back to paying attention to him and the lesson.

A few minutes later, Selene spoke up, startling Klaus. "Nice to know that you can teach nicely, dearest. Skies know you never do for me."

Klaus rolled his eyes. "You need the tough love."

"Maybe," she admitted. "But it would be nice if you lightened up about it once in a while. I'm actually a little scared to see how you'll be tomorrow when I start making up school work."

"Well, as long as you work well I won't scold you."

"I will work well if I am allowed the proper amount of breaks."

Philyra didn't mind that her lesson was forgotten as she watched her sister and Klaus bicker.

They were walking to this cafe Selene had sung praises of when someone said her name. She turned and grinned upon seeing the person.

It was a handsome black-haired boy (though it seemed to have hints of blue) with an eyepatch, standing with a girl just a little taller than Philyra. She was pretty, not like Selene, but in a younger, more sweet sort of way. She had kind brown eyes and long brunette hair tied up into twin tails. She was a little taller than Philyra, but definitely shorter than Selene.

And there was a wolf that stood next to the boy, grey in color. His stare unnerved Philyra, and Regis hissed a light warning towards it before curling tighter around Philyra's shoulders.

The boy—Yukiya, from Selene's reply—walked right up and gave Selene a hug.

"You're back," he said to Selene.

"I am," she replied, pulling back. "How've you been? And who's this cutie?"

"I'm Katalina," the girl said, smiling. "I'm Elias' buddy. I've heard a lot about you, so it's nice to actually meet you!"

Selene paused, then whirled to face Klaus. "Elias has a buddy."

"He does." Klaus looked at her. And the two proceeded to bicker.

It was fun to watch, Philyra thought. Katalina seemed confused by the exchanges, but Yukiya, though his face was blank, had an amused sparkle in his eye.

"That's it." Selene declared. "We're done. I get the children. Bye!" She linked arms with Philyra and Katalina and started to walk away. "Now, children, how do you feel about getting some of the best donuts ever?"

Philyra decided that she liked Katalina. The girl was very bubbly, very cheerful, and very kind. She very quickly, however, was pulled into a conversation with a curious Selene.

"I've never seen a nekomata in person."

Philyra nearly jumped out of her seat, making Regis whine in irritation. She looked up, and saw it was Yukiya who'd spoken.

"What's it's name?" Yukiya asked.

Philyra glanced at Regis, unsure of what to do, but he just yawned and flicked his tail once. How incredibly helpful.

She inhaled. "Regis."

"Boy, then?"

"Yes."

"Did you get him recently?"

"Yes."

"Does he have any magical abilities?"

Philyra shrugged.

'I do. But I'm not going to tell you.' Regis snarked.

Philyra gave him a look, silently telling him to be nice.

Yukiya's eye went wide for a moment and then he returned to normal with a shrug. "A talking cat isn't the weirdest thing to happen lately."

Philyra tilted her head. She'd seen odd things lately, too.

Communicating with Yukiya was so incredibly easy. Other than with Selene, Philyra had never felt so comfortable in a conversation, but unlike Selene, she didn't have to say much, and neither did he. They had a mutual understanding of what the other said without saying a word most of the time. It was wonderful. Other than the occasional interruption from Regis, the conversation went smoothly.

They didn't talk much of themselves, but instead of others. From him, she learned about the classes he was in, his roommate (Klaus' younger brother), and the buddy system. She, in return, told him a bit about what she'd learned about Selene's family, and bits of what had happened from the time she met Selene. She shared a lot about Selene.

Philyra hadn't noticed just how long the conversation went on until Selene spoke, having already piled up all the things left on the table. "Yukiya, would you mind if Lyra went with you and Katalina? I've got some things to sort out with the headmaster, and there's no need for Lyra to meet him yet. She'd be bored."

Philyra's eyes widened. She had not been expecting that. Selene was going to leave her with new people? She liked Yukiya and Katalina thus far but she wasn't sure she was ready to be around them without Selene.

But at the inquiry from Selene, Yukiya nodded, and Katalina beamed, turning to Philyra.

"We'll have so much fun, Philyra!" she exclaimed. "It's my first time in the town, too, other than when I arrived, but I didn't get to look around then. Yukiya is showing me around, but it would be lots of fun to have you join!"

"Do you want to come?" Yukiya asked, turning to Philyra. "It is up to you."

"That's right, Lyra," Selene smiled. "It's up to you. But it's not going to be interesting. And I promise you'd be safe with these two. If anything, I'm sure Sir Regis could fight anyone who you find you don't like."

'That's right!' Regis sat up, looking the picture of a smug kitten. Philyra resisted the urge to shake her head at him.

"He said, 'That's right!' by the way," Katalina said, looking at Selene..

"I know," the short haired girl replied. "He's actually a creature I can hear. Something about my blood."

Philyra was glad for the tangent, however small. She wasn't sure if she wanted to go with the new people, no matter how nice they seemed. But Selene seemed to trust them, and if anything, maybe it means that Selene and Klaus would get a little alone time once their meeting was over—they hadn't gotten much of that back at Selene's house.

"So how about it, Lyra? You want to go with them?"

Philyra nodded, rubbing Regis' ear. At least he'd be with her the entire time.

TheFallenHer0: Yeah, I needed a character who would be talented in breaking awkward silences when I didn't have a clue how to proceed. Regis is fun, and very useful. And yes. There are lots of halflings coming up in the (fairly near) future. And I'm glad you think Philyra is sweet. She's a smol adorable who needs to be protected from all harm. She's the type of person I'd mother the heck out of.