Daisy Pragnya: You left two reviews on the same chapter. I didn't even know that you could do that. XD I'm so happy you're liking Katalina with Elias. I am, however, a little confused by the "Katalina Night Adventure" question. Katalina is, out of all of my OCs, the most similar to the original MC from the actual game. And yes, Professor Merkulova will be involved, just like in the game...only, Luca won't be. I won't say anything more, because those are secrets that will be revealed in later chapters.

TheFallenHer0: I'm glad you like Katalina. She is a sweetheart, and she turns Elias from a stiff, stuffy scholar to a lovesick boy. It makes me giggle.

PetVet1023: Thanks! I'm happy that you're enjoying them. And I would post more for Philyra's story if it weren't for the fact that every chapter pretty much directly corresponds with a chapter of Elemental, meaning I need to post them at the same time. And happy belated 15th birthday!


Note: When words are like (this) they're the translation of piglet-speak. ;)


Chapter 7—First Kiss?

The rest of the weekend was peaceful. I told Yukiya what had happened (although I left out my suspicions that I may or may not be starting to crush on Katalina, though, knowing him and his freaky discernment abilities, he might have already guessed) so I think the two of us are on better terms now—that tension between the two of us was gone, so, if anything, that's a good thing.

I got in a lot of studying on Sunday, and did all the prefect duties for the next week. As it turned out, prefects don't have tons to do unless there's an event or something going on at the school. Klaus, who was always bogged down with work, was merely overachieving—again—and doing far more than he needed to. But then again, a lot of it was stuff he'd have to do next year as a professor—he'd actually gotten the job. I didn't know this until the headmaster had told me it when I met with him Sunday morning. I knew he wanted to be one, but I wonder why he didn't tell me. And how did he actually manage to get the position? I'll have to ask him when he gets back.

Because he will be back. He said he would, so he will. Klaus keeps his promises.

…. …. ….

When I saw Katalina on Monday, the first thing I saw was the carbuncle running around on the top of her head, mussing her hair and making noises. It clearly tickled, because she was giggling. She noticed me as I approached, "Oh, good morning, Elias."

"Good morning." I glanced at the pink thing, "It didn't leave, I see."

"Nope. I ended up just getting permission to have it in the dorms and my classes." she explained.

"I see. You thought of making it your familiar, then?" I reached out to pet it, and it snuggled up to my hand, making happy noises. Even I'd admit—though not out loud—that it was kind of cute. I couldn't not smile.

"Do you have a familiar?" she asked me.

"Technically, yes."

"And that's supposed to mean…"

"She's registered as my familiar, but it's more of a pet. I don't use her as a familiar." I explained.

"What is it?"

"Yukiya brought a little white kitten back to our room last winter, and since he couldn't have more than one familiar, I registered it as mine so we didn't have to leave it out in the cold. Her name's Snow. She mostly stays in our dorm room, or wanders around campus on the days we leave the window open. Yukiya and I rotate taking care of her, though she's pretty low maintenance."

"Aw, I'd love to meet her." Katalina beamed.

"Perhaps one day. She's not good with strangers—she won't even go near Selene. It's the funniest thing, because Selene'll get all pouty about it and say she 'likes canines better, anyway'." I chuckled, then remembered something, "Oh, by the way…"

"Yes?" she said.

"Like I said yesterday, I plan to train you in magic every day after school."

"Yes! I'm ready to go!" she said, overly-enthusiastic.

"At least you've got spirit." I sighed.

"Teach me well!"

I gave a mildly sardonic laugh, "That's what I'll do. Don't start complaining, now—it could always be my brother the Emperor tutoring you, after all."

"I'll do my best! I really, really want to get admitted after all." she nodded.

"That's a good attitude to have." We had walked to the way where the hall with the classroom and the hall to lead towards the prefect's office split ways. "Alright. I'll be going."

"Huh? The classroom's that way." she looked a bit bemused.

"I've got something to take care of." I had to grab a few things I'd left behind in my brother's office. And there were a few papers I needed to give to the headmaster sometime today.

"Oh, okay. See you later, then."

…. …. ….

She made it through classes alright today, so afterwards I led her to one of the open fields by the North Forest. I remember Klaus telling me about how Selene pretty much wrecked his office with her first attempt at a wind spell.

They had training outside after that.

"All right," I said, finding a good spot, "let's start."

"Got it!" she said cheerfully.

I held out a grimoire I checked out from the library. It was one Selene had used a while back—while it had an attitude, she said, it was very helpful. "Oh, before we start, here. Take this."

"Is this...?"

"A grimoire. Since I was in the library during lunch, I borrowed it for you."

"Thanks." She smiled up at me, and it gave me this funny feeling in my stomach. "So what kind of book is it?" When she attempted to open it, it spoke.

"Ouch! Treat me with care!" It scolded.

She nearly dropped it in surprise, "Huh? What?" She looked around, clearly trying to find the source of the voice. Has she never seen a talking book before? They're pretty common place in magical communities...but then again, wasn't she the only one with magic in her town? So I guess it'd make sense if she's never seen one. "Was that you?" she asked, looking at me.

"Of course not, I don't sound that hoarse." I sighed. She was a bit thick sometimes, wasn't she?

"Right. That's true." she blinked in surprise because the carbuncle started hissing at the book.

"Here!" the grimoire cried, "Look down! Here!"

"Woah! This book can talk?" And she did drop it this time out of shock, causing it to cry out. Oh gosh, that's a library book, remember? Be more careful! "Ah! I'm sorry!"

"What're you doing?" it griped, "I'm old already! What if my spine broke?" I'd fix it with magic, duh. Since I'm her tutor, I'm technically responsible for her actions.

"Forgive me…"

I withheld a smile. She was cute, sometimes. "I figured you would be able to use that talking grimoire."

"Hurry and pick me up! Good grief…" the book whined. She did as it ordered.

"Okay," I began, "Now we'll start." She nodded, so I continued. "First, let's see...try to make this twig grow longer with magic." I picked up the twig at me feet and handed it to her.

She put it at her feet and readied her wand, then looked at me, "So what's the spell?"

"Ahem!" the grimoire cut in, "You need to say the name of the object and the command for making it grow. The spell activated by the object name, followed by the word 'Tender'. For this branch, use the word 'Rahmuls'."

"Okay, now try to make that into a spell." I encouraged.

"I command thee, make this twig grow! 'Tender Rahmuls'!" She waved her wand and a puff of smoke came up from the twig. Then there was a hissing sound, and the twig started slithering towards her. Wha…? Katalina shrieked, "It's a snake!" as the carbuncle tried to scare it off.

"Calm down, idiot!" I snapped, "It's a twig, right?"

"B-but it moves like a snake!"

I sighed, "Then use a spell to turn it back to normal."

"Back to normal? Oh, hmm…"

"You can't even do something so simple?" the grimoire complained, making Katalina apologize. "The spell to restore an object is 'I command thee to return to thine true form! Supesman Mundi!"

She nodded and brandished her wand, repeating the incantation, causing another puff of smoke. "Did it work?"

Nope. Instead, it just grew wings and was now fluttering around. This magic of hers makes absolutely no sense. Now I do wish Klaus was here—he'd probably have a much better idea of how to help her. No! I have to figure this out! I can't keep depending on him to help me. The carbuncle started chasing the flying snake twig around, squeeing happily.

"Why?!" Katalina groans.

"Idiot!" I scolded, "Why did you give it wings?"

"I'm sorry!"

"Fine." I waved my wand, "Supesman Mundi!" The twig poofed back to normal and fell to the ground. "You're really…" I wasn't quite sure how to finish it without being mean.

"I'm so sorry…"

Nevermind that. "Have you ever successfully used your magic before?"

"Um, the magic I use on animals usually works." She says, a bit hesitantly.

"On animals, huh?" I said thoughtfully, "Well, it does seem like your awful magic turns objects into living things." I folded my arms, thinking of how to help her. "Okay. Let's try it this way. Instead of objects or plants, let's use something more organic."

"Organic?"

"For starters, let's try some magic on me."

"What?! On you?"

Don't make me regret this. "Come on. Use that growth spell to make me taller." Normally it's harder to work magic on people and animals, but her magic seems to be reversed a bit.

"Impossible! I can't do that!" she cried, "Look at what happened to that twig. What if I hurt you?"

"Do you realize where you are? This is a magic academy. Apart from the teachers, even the students here were selected from the best wizards. With a few exceptions, of course. If something happens, and I can't do anything about it myself, there are excellent wizards who can help." I assured her, "In the first place, as long as I have a wand and can enchant my spells, I'll be fine."

"That might be true, but…" She said nervously. Oh great. Now she's making me nervous.

"Don't back down now. Go ahead, give it a try." I encouraged her, "On living beings your spells work, right? A human is a living being, too."

She nodded, still looking unsure. She rolled up her sleeves, taking a deep breath, and spoke, "H-here I go."

"Please hurry up." Nothing is worse than waiting in uncertainty.

"Are we really doing this?" Gosh dang it stop giving me puppy eyes you're not getting out of it! No matter how cute you are!

"Just do it!" I snapped.

"O-okay." She took a deep breath, "I command the, make this person grow, Elias Rahmuls!"

My eyes widened, "Hey!" Crap crap crap crap…

"Watch out!" the grimoire said, too late to count, "For this spell you must use the word for 'human', not the person's name."

"What?"

"Hmph. Too late."

No duh.

I heard her cry out for the spell to stop, but it was too late and I was enveloped by a light. I squeezed my eyes shut—this is not going to end well. "Wa-!" I cried in vain. A puff of smoke—why is it always smoke with her?—surrounded us.

I felt myself sitting on the ground. I must have fallen over. I felt a bit dizzy… "Pgee!" (What's this?) Wait...that wasn't a human voice! I saw carbuncle approach, and it wasn't that much smaller than I was. I looked down at myself. I was definitely not human.

"Huh? C-cute!" Katalina gasped.

"Pgeeee!" (Is this really the time to talk about how cute I am?) I squealed at her. Oh gosh...please say she understands me...please…

"It seems pretty angry?" She seemed confused. Did she not know it was me?!

"Pgee! Pgee!" (It's me! Elias!)

She blinked, "What? Elias? Are you Elias?" Did you not just hear me?!

"Pgee!" (That's right!)

"N-no way…" she moaned, "What now? I turned Elias into a wild boar piglet!"

"Pgee! Pgee!" (Well hurry up and change me back!) "Pgee! Pgee!" (Like this, I can't cast a spell on myself!)

"Uhm, uhm, the spell for restoring something was...uh…'I command thee…"

"One moment." The grimoire cut in, "You can't use that spell on a human that was transformed completely."

"Really? I didn't know." Well no duh!

"Besides," it added, "you ended up with a piglet because you tried your spell on a human! It would have been better if you had used it on yourself!"

"H-hey! Couldn't you have told me sooner that my spell was wrong?" she defended.

"Don't blame me for your lack of skill." it retorted, causing her to slump.

"Pgee! Pgee pgee!" (Could you two stop arguing?)

She stood up straight again, "Oh, you're right. Sorry. Grimoire, do you know something that could help?"

"Well, there might be a few things, but with your level of skill and power most of them are completely beyond you." it stated. I was hoping he wouldn't say that. "I have to warn you, undoing a human transformation is very difficult."

"No way…" she sighed, sounding completely hopeless.

"Well, there is an option even you can manage."

Oh no. Oh please no. Not that. Not that. Please.

"Really?" she said, "Tell me!"

It shifted a bit towards me, "Should I tell her, Mr. Honour Student?"

I choked on my answer, "P-pgee…" (That's...well…). I opened and closed my mouth but couldn't seem to get any sense out. Oh gosh this is so embarrassing…

"What is it? Please tell me! I want to turn him back to normal." she begged the book.

"Pgee!" (Hey! Grimoire!) "Pgee!" (Just...just say it...)

"Um, Mr. Grimoire? Elias said it's okay to say it." More like get it over with before I die of embarrassment.

"Can't he tell you himself? What an amature." And you're a talking book. Just remember how easy it would be to burn you into total nonexistence. It's pages started turning, "Here it is, this part." And you can't just tell her?

"Where?"

The book sighed, then read itself. Wow. That's a weird statement. "The easiest method to undo a complete transformation is as follows: when the magical power of the one who cast the spell is temporarily transferred to the victim, that spell will be negated. Note that this can also be used for a curse, in which case…"

"Okay, that's enough!" Katalina cut him off, "So how does that work? How can I transfer magical energy?"

"The method is easy. You can transfer by connecting your lips and breathing your magic into the other person. In short, a kiss. That's it." Was it just me, or did that stupid book sound smug?

And that revelation caused Katalina to start panicking. "A k-kiss? Kiss, as in, an actual kiss?"

"Pgeee!" (Don't be so loud! Stop saying it!)

"B-but a kiss...I've never kissed anyone before!" What, and you think I have? Is anyone else about to have a panic attack?

"P-pgeh! Pgee pgee!" (Why are you even confessing that?) "Pgee pgeee!" (And let me tell you, it's not like I want to either!) I had an idea. "Pgeh pgee!" (Okay. All right! In that case, maybe I'll just stay this way forever!) Yes! That's it! "Pgeepgeepgee!" (I'll live in the woods and eat leaves and bugs if I have to!) I tensed, preparing to bolt into the woods.

"No! Wait! Don't rush things, Elias!" she cried, and scooped me into her hands before I could escape.

"Pgee! Pgee!" (What are you doing? Let me go!) Oh sun just kill me now. I could feel my heartbeat begin to palpitate.

"No! Do you really want to live as a wild boar piglet? Nature can be cruel, you know!"

I felt myself losing my fight, "Pgee...pgee…" (What the...is that how you want to persuade me?)

"But it's about survival of the fittest out there! And you would rank pretty low on the food hierarchy!"

"Pgee...pgeh. Pgee pgee." (Wha...what's that supposed to mean?) Even thought I knew exactly what she meant. (By the way, how did an idiot like you come up with the word 'hierarchy' anyway?)

She ignored that last bit, "In any case, you can't go and stay like this forever. Besides, I'm the one who cast the spell. It means I'm the only one who can fix it, right?"

"Pgee…" (That's true, but…) Is this really happening? Is she beating me in a battle of logic? Hell seems to have frozen over.

Pigs can now fly.

"Just hold on for a second. I'll do what I can. Please, Elias?" I didn't answer her. "You can't stay like this forever. And what about Selene, and Yukiya? Think about how upset they'll both be if you just vanished into the woods."

I inwardly squirmed from discomfort, "Pgee…pgeh." (Don't make such a sad face. I get it already.)

"Elias…"

"Pgee pgee." (I guess there's no choice.)

"True…" She carefully sat down and began to lean towards me. "T-then, I'm gonna do it…"

"Pgeh…" (Yeah…)

Somehow we ended looking in each other's eyes, and she bit her lip, mumbling, "Cute…"

"Pgee! Pgee! Pgee!" (Hey! What was that look for? I'm not a pet!) I swear, if I was human I can't even explain how red I'd be at the moment.

"Sorry." Stop saying sorry just do it! But she seemed to have frozen and I felt extremely uncomfortable.

"Pgeh! Pgee!" (Hurry up and get this over with!) I squeezed my eyes shut.

"Uh, okay…" a few seconds later I felt a firm press against my snout. A few seconds later.

"Nothing...happened…"

Oh gosh could this get any worse? "Pgee! Pgeh! Pgeee! Pgee!" (Your magical power is way too weak! You novice! Concentrate more!). And stop laughing, Authoress! It's not that funny!

Authoress: Oh, oh yes it is...hahaha XD...this is probably my favorite part of your story! Redo time! Hehehe…

"Sorry…" she took a few deep breaths, "H-here I go…"

"Pgee…" (Yeah…)

She pressed her lips to me again, and a few seconds later, smoke poofed again. I felt myself go back into human form. I opened my eyes to find myself looking up into Katalina's eyes, only a few inches away. I felt my face go red to my ears. I've never been this close to a girl. Ever. And Selene randomly attacking me with a hug or jumping on my back doesn't count. She's like a sister. Oh gosh oh gosh oh gosh...what do I do? What does one do in this situation?

Neither of us moved, or said anything. It was like both of us were frozen under some sort of enchantment. My thoughts rushed far too fast for me to even begin to actually hear them. I felt the warmth of her hand on my shoulder, and one of mine was on her other elbow, my other hand pressed in the grass. It was as if the wind and time themselves had stopped. We were so close to one another I could feel our breath mingling. How is it that I never noticed how pure brown her eyes were? They were the same shade as my favorite brand of chocolate...beautiful…

"E-Elias...?" she breathed.

I snapped out of my daze in an instant, "Whaaa! Ah, er...!" I jerked back, standing up "S-shut up! Don't say a word! W-what's with you anyway? Didn't you say you wouldn't fail on a living being?"

She looked like she was about to cry, "I-I'm sorry!"

"L-let's end it here today! T-the training is over!" I couldn't even bring myself to meet her eyes. I whirled around and started walking away as fast as I could, face crimson and heart pounding.

"Forgive me…" I heard her say softly as I continued my running away. It startled me so much I nearly bumped into a tree. What was I doing? I don't know. I don't have a clue. I wasn't sure what the heck I was supposed to do.

"We'll try again tomorrow!" I called, not even looking at her.

"Y-yes!"

I made my way to the lake. I sat beneath a weeping willow someone had planted near it a number of years ago. Leaning against the trunk, I tried to organize my thoughts. I hated this confusion, this uncertainty.

And realized I was acting quite a bit like Klaus was a handful of months ago.

Oh crap.

I was in love.


Fun Fact 8: I have to admit that this chapter was my favorite in the original series. Piglet Elias was just so adorable! The picture was priceless, too—did you see Eli's face? XD The awesome irony is that according to , my patronus is a wild boar. Irony at it's finest, no?