Author's Note: Lots of fun stuff in this chapter, including a reference to Cateracta's cavern, a callback I particularly enjoyed, another Regulus cameo, and more. So let's get to it.

Chapter Eighteen: Further Changes

Hector fidgeted as he looked past the edge of the dock. The sounds of the water were soothing, but he was still restless.

It wasn't just because Elena was gone (but that was part of it). The school year had started up again. They were several weeks into classes now, and things were…harder. Last year had gone well enough, so Hector figured this year would, too.

He was wrong. His teachers and schoolwork were good, but—the typical comments were so much worse—

"Hector?"

He blinked and glanced over at Elizabeth. She and Michael had taken Marcus and Melanie out to play on the beach north of Conning Creek. The twins were eight and a half and had a tendency of getting into everything. Elizabeth's parents wanted some peace and quiet, so they'd said it was okay for her to watch them if Michael went too.

Then she'd come around to collect Hector. Papa said he could go play as long as he didn't stay out too late, and Hector didn't want to worry him by moping around the house anyway. Besides, Marcus and Melanie had never been scared of him. They were so little when they'd met him that Hector just seemed normal to them.

"She didn't really mean that, you know," Elizabeth said as she plopped down next to him.

"Yes, she did," he replied dully. "Besides, it doesn't matter. I am fish-eyed."

A girl in their history class had "corrected" the usual frog jokes that morning by saying that Hector was obviously a fish instead. Frogs had their eyes on top of their heads. It had been followed up with the statement that Hector should live in the ocean. Then no one else would have to look at him.

Elizabeth paused, and then said decisively, "Some fish are really cool, though. If you were a fish, you'd get to look at them all the time." Then she added abruptly, "I want to be a fisherman when we grow up. Or a fisherwoman, I guess. Wouldn't that be great? We'd get to spend all day on the boats, and you'd have to be really strong to pull the nets in and stuff."

Hector smiled tentatively. He knew Elizabeth was trying to cheer him up, and she was probably serious about the fishing ramble. She still liked to read, but she spent even more time playing outside now. Something like that would probably suit her.

"I guess it would be okay," he acknowledged. "But fishing's kind of boring, really. You don't even get to wrestle octopi."

"…What?"

He laughed sheepishly. "My grandpa used to be a fisherman. He said he never pulled up an octopus by himself, but my dad probably could."

"Oh. Well, I bet he could," Elizabeth replied thoughtfully. "Well then, I'm just gonna have to get really strong. Then I can catch all the octopi I want."

Well, there was a job for Elizabeth: solo octopus hunting. She'd do well at it. Of course, they were only twelve. Who knew if she'd still want to once they were older?

Hector was distracted from his thoughts when Melanie darted up to them. She was covered in sand, and she held up a pair of seashells. Hector looked over her shoulder and saw that Michael was crouched down near Marcus, whose tongue poked slightly out of his mouth as he focused very hard on the tower of rocks he was building.

"One for both of you," Melanie announced as she handed them over.

"Hector gets the better one," Elizabeth complained as she examined hers, but her tone made it clear she was mostly joking. "This one's pretty nice, though."

"Well, I belong in the ocean. I should have the nicer shell," Hector replied matter-of-factly.

"Are you…trying to cheer yourself up?" Elizabeth said in bewilderment. "I mean, that's good, but—"

"Listen!" Melanie interrupted. "Do you hear that?"

Hector cocked his head to the side. There was a faint sound in the distance, one he heard occasionally when Papa let him come out here. It was an echoing, windy kind of noise, and he nodded as Elizabeth squinted.

"Oh, yeah, Papa told me there's a cave over there." Hector waved vaguely in its direction. "I don't think we can go look, but there used to be a sea serpent living in it."

The fishing boats had long since left for the day and wouldn't be back until later. Sometimes there was a spare raft or two at the edge of the docks, but not today. Besides, Hector didn't want to go off exploring without having said anything.

"Too bad," Elizabeth said as she glanced aside. "I bet it would be fun if we could get over there."

Hector hummed in thought. He doubted he could make it quite far enough, but…he set the shell down beside him. Then, he raised his hand over the water, feeling a satisfying rush as ice erupted from his fingertips. Elizabeth and Melanie both looked impressed as they examined the small, slightly-rough platform Hector had created.

"Ooh, Lizzie, can I step on that?" Melanie asked eagerly.

"I guess so, just be careful!"

Elizabeth stood up and held onto Melanie's hand. She watched carefully as her sister stepped down onto the chunk of ice. It held Melanie's weight, prompting her to grin and spin around in Hector's direction.

"Do it again! I bet we could get all the way over there if you did."

Hector grinned and shook his head. "I probably shouldn't. Your mom wouldn't want you to get hurt. And I should get home, anyway."

"Aww, if you say so…"

Melanie pouted as Elizabeth helped her back up onto the dock. At least he'd provided her with some amusement, Hector thought as he picked up the shell. Elizabeth gave him a questioning look once Melanie was safely in place.

"I'm fine," he assured her. "I just…need to go think."

She nodded and waved at him as he turned and walked away. Hector paused to wave at Michael and Marcus, and they absently waved back. It didn't take long to get back to the main part of town, and soon Hector arrived at home.

He paused to wipe the last bits of sand off his bare feet once he got inside. Hector glanced around as he walked to his room. Papa must've been in his study, he thought as he put the shell on his shelf. He hadn't been in the kitchen or living room.

Hector nodded and went downstairs. Sure enough, Papa was hunched over the desk in the middle of the room. His quill slowed to a halt, and he grumbled as he scratched at his beard. Then, he glanced up with a start, finally realizing that Hector had entered the room.

He smiled briefly and half-extended an arm. "Feeling better?"

Hector went over to him and accepted the hug. He loosely slipped an arm around Papa in turn, nodding into the top of his head. It was impossible to hide anything from Papa; he knew Hector hadn't been in the best mood upon getting home from school. In some ways, Papa being able to guess at everything from a single glance was both good and bad.

"Yeah," he mumbled. "Elizabeth cheered me up. And I did some ice while we were out."

Papa raised an eyebrow, obviously wanting him to go on. Hector added, "You know, in the water. To make a thing for Melanie to step on, kind of like a bridge. And it worked. It's like those things you always show me, using magic for other stuff."

"Good; I'm glad you're thinking of things like that." Papa hesitated, and then asked, "Are you sure everything's going well at school?"

"Well…" Hector shrugged. "Kind of."

When he was met with more silence, he added, "I mean, most people are fine. I like my teachers, and learning things, and talking to my friends. But sometimes…"

Hector sighed in frustration, and Papa did too. He didn't want to stop going to school just because of a few bad days… And, he thought guiltily, he didn't want Papa to interrupt his studies to take care of him during the day. Hector knew Papa would never see it that way, and he'd be genuinely hurt that Hector thought he was a burden. It was hard to shake old habits, though, even after all this time.

"If you say so," Papa said reluctantly. "But if it gets worse, please tell me."

Hector nodded tentatively. Then Papa suggested, "Would you like to go out to the tavern for dinner? We can get octopus if you'd like. I'll see if Clarissa can come along."

Hector nodded again, smiling lightly. Papa knew how to cheer him up, and when to change the topic. As they went upstairs to wash up, Hector thought he'd be fine. He only wished Elena could've joined them, but he was sure she was having a good time with her studies, too.

Elena's first semester in Montwise was going far better than she'd expected.

Oh, she'd been looking forward to it, of course. Papa had taught her a lot, but she knew there was so much more she'd learn when she had easy access to the library. There were so many tomes she'd never even seen before! And her professors were excellent, and there were so many extra lectures she could go to. Elena found herself buried in stacks of books later and later each night, absorbing all of the information she could get her hands on.

(Her only real complaint, if she could call it that, was that Elena often took a roundabout route to her classes each day. She hated using the street that passed by Harvey's old home. It was silly, she told herself. That was eight years ago, and Harvey obviously didn't live there anymore. But still…)

At any rate, one day about a month after she'd arrived, Elena hummed as she wound through the shelves on the eastern side of the library. She'd picked up a tome on advanced fire theory for one of her magic courses, and she wanted to get a book on dancing while she was here. Elena was considering signing up for a Solistian dance history class next semester, and…well. She also had fond memories of Mama talking about dancing all the time.

"What was it you were looking for?"

Elena glanced over at Conrad. He was Ms. Lyla's son; Conrad had her dark brown hair and bright blue eyes, but he was a little shorter than she was. He was studying to be an apothecary, and, much like Elena, he'd gotten so much tutoring from his mother that he'd probably finish his "official" studies early.

Elena had met him a handful of times, but he'd been a year ahead of her at school, so they'd rarely had the opportunity to talk much. Still, their chances increased significantly now that they were off studying in the same place. That afternoon, they'd run into each other while looking for extra material for their respective courses.

"Oh, I thought something on eastern dancing styles might be nice," she mused. "It's a lot easier to find books on western dance history, since the Guild's in Wellgrove and they publish so much information. But New Delsta has that nice theater and all, so…"

Conrad nodded, absently glancing at a few shelves. They passed a few before he turned between two and started scanning the books. Then, after Elena ducked in after him, he pointed up at one on the top shelf.

"There; Old Delstasch Dance Compendium looks promising, doesn't it?"

Elena curiously reached up to pluck it off the shelf. She grinned as she flipped a few pages, deciding she'd go with this one. Maybe she'd browse some more later, but it was always satisfying to find something good right away.

"I'll check this one out." She slipped it on top of her fire tome and gave him a sideways grin. "You know, I didn't expect you to find something so quickly."

Conrad coughed awkwardly. "Well, I…it's just something I like to read in my free time. It's nothing serious. I just…"

Elena couldn't help laughing as they walked back out into the main aisle. Conrad was generally serious; it was cute to watch him get so flustered. She vaguely recalled Mama having teased Papa about being "endearing," and she was starting to understand what Mama had meant.

(Elena wasn't sure what to do with this revelation. She was far too busy to think about dating. But she tucked it into the back of her mind just in case it came in handy.)

"Well, it might come in useful if there are any special events at the academy," Elena mused. "I'm sure there are, if you ever wanted to go."

Conrad reddened further and glanced aside. All right, that was definitely adorable. Elena had never considered herself a tease, but—

She squinted slowed to a halt. There was a large heap in front of the doorway nearby. Conrad had clearly noticed it, too. His blush had mostly receded, and he was squinting at the lump. Elena set her books on a table nearby, and she crouched down to get a better look.

The lump was definitely a person. Elena could see a head of dark hair, and the fabric was clearly a robe attached to a body. The man mumbled something indistinct, but Elena heard the word "food" at one point.

She scrunched her face up in confusion as she dug through her purse. Thankfully, Elena had bought a spare pastry from a vendor stall earlier, and she'd wrapped it up in a napkin. It was slightly squished, but it was still edible.

Elena held it out and said, "Um, are you hungry?"

The man slowly raised his face and shakily lifted a hand. "Oh, what good fortune… My first meal in two days, sixteen hours, and nine minutes!"

She blinked as the man devoured the pastry in record time. Elena wasn't sure if she should be relieved, or even more confused, or…what, exactly. Before she had time to think about it, the man grasped both of her hands, and he was staring up at her reverently.

"Truly, you are an angel sent by—Rita?"

"You knew Mama?" she blurted out.

Both of them stared at each other for a few seconds. Then, the man grinned sheepishly and let go of her. They both straightened up, and he shook his head as he got a better look at her.

"Ah, you're taller than she was, aren't you? Though she was really only short next to Osvald," he mused. "But the resemblance is uncanny! I regret to admit I only met her a handful of times, but she was a lovely person."

Something dawned on Elena then. "Oh, you must be Papa's friend Regulus. He said you had a study here…and that you always forget to eat."

Regulus laughed awkwardly. "Other things, I wish I was better known for, but that does sound like something Osvald would say. Speaking of which…" He winked at Conrad. "I'll kindly forget to tell him about your current company."

Conrad had watched the whole exchange with his usual neutral silence, but he made a slightly choked noise as Elena sputtered, "What? Conrad and I are just—"

Regulus waved a hand dismissively at them. "Of course, of course. Thank you again for the food, but we should all get back to our research, yes?"

With that, he turned and went back into his study. Conrad and Elena both watched him leave before blinking awkwardly at each other.

"…You don't really think he'll tell your father, will he?"

"Oh, no, Papa did say he's a bit of a scatterbrain. And besides, you don't have to worry too much. Papa would just start crying about how he's getting old, honestly."

Conrad stared at her in disbelief before saying, "I'll believe that when I see it."

Elena laughed as they headed to the counter to check out. Oh, she was certain Papa would have to ensure anyone she dated was a good person, but he wouldn't be too protective after that. Besides, that would be a long ways off yet.

…That said, Elena certainly wouldn't mind dating if she got the chance. She eyed Conrad, caught him staring at her, and giggled again when he blushed. Oh, dear; had she secured herself an admirer already?

Well, she wanted to focus on her studies, but she would see where her social life went from here, too.

Osvald wished he could say the rest of Hector's year went as well as Elena's did.

She didn't quite write daily, but she sent plenty of letters. Her studies were going well, she'd made some new friends, and her magic was improving rapidly. She'd also met Regulus a few times, and Osvald was extremely unsurprised to learn that Regulus still couldn't make himself eat regularly.

But Hector…well, his grades were as good as ever. It was easy to tell that his social life wasn't nearly as good as Elena's, though. He had his small group of friends, but he came home in frustrated tears more often than not.

"It's bad enough that I look like a frog," he mumbled one afternoon, shortly after he turned thirteen. "I wish I didn't sound like one, too."

Osvald sighed and automatically slipped an arm around Hector. His voice had started to deepen early, and it sounded…well, unfortunately croaky when it cracked. He'd also gone through a large growth spurt. Hector was almost as tall as Elena now, and just a few inches shorter than Osvald. His limbs were as long as ever, and he towered over everyone in his class.

It was clear what the last few days' teasing had been about, and Osvald had no idea what to do. Hector kept his head down and stayed out of trouble; he remembered being punished for defending himself. The problem was that no one else got punished for it, either.

"I could…speak with your headmaster tomorrow," Osvald finally said. "I'll tell him that you—"

"No!" Hector protested, a little too vehemently. He blushed and buried his face into Osvald's shoulder before adding, "I don't want to leave. Don't take me out of school."

"You're miserable, Hector. I can see that." Osvald sighed again. "But I suppose there's not much time left in the year. It wouldn't make much of a difference if I pulled you out now."

They were silent for several long minutes. Hector chewed his lip and dug his toes into the floor. Osvald absently tightened his grip on him. There had to be something he could do. Anything to make his son feel better…

Finally, he settled on, "I'll tell him you're staying home tomorrow. We can go through some things in the lab I need to organize, and you'll have plenty of time to look after the garden."

Hector nodded slowly. He'd started taking care of Elena's flowers while she was gone, and he was quite good at it. He liked watching Osvald work, too, even when they weren't practicing magic together. This would hopefully be the distraction Hector needed.

"…All right. Thank you, Papa."

He leaned down and squeezed Osvald tightly, and Osvald silently hugged him back. There wasn't much else either of them could do, besides hope the school year ended without incident. But it worried Osvald that the more he wished Hector could have a "normal" life, the harder things seemed to get, and he wondered what would happen next.

That year's vacation to Toto'haha was appreciated more than ever.

Hector finished the school year, but he was relieved it was over. Elena came home, aglow with pride as she presented her final course records to Papa. Then, they packed their belongings and headed off to the ferry.

The Beastlings were always nice to him. Maybe it was selfish to be happy about that. Hector liked them anyway, of course. But none of them cared what he looked like; they never had. Here, Hector could relax and pretend like he was a normal kid.

A few days after their arrival, Hector found himself playing with Petra after the other Beastlings their age had gone home. He perched on the edge of a wall, shifting into a crouch. Hector sat there for a few seconds. He still liked heights, and there was something relaxing about the cool air and the chirping of island birds in the distance.

Then, he grinned and jumped down. Petra shrieked in laughter as Hector tackled her, and they spent several seconds tumbling around. There was some small part of Hector that said he was "too old" to find that fun. But the spring of his legs and the rush of air were more satisfying than they should've been, and he gasped for breath as they rolled one over top the other and came to a halt.

Petra grinned as she plopped herself onto his stomach. "I am being glad you are still liking to play, Hector. No one else is as good at jumping like you are."

"Well, I don't get to jump off walls very much at home," he pointed out. "That makes it more fun when I do it here."

Which was true, really. Hector liked reading and learning, but he still liked being outdoors as much as possible. And, he admitted, this was one of the first things he'd done during playtime. That made it extra special.

"Then you must be doing it every time you are here," Petra decided. "But you are getting grass in your hair."

Hector blinked and watched her hand as she reached up to brush at his hair. A few blades of grass fell away, and Petra nodded as she worked. Hector bit his lip when she started to pull back and accidentally bumped her fingers into the tip of his frill. She cocked her head to the side, and then she slowly and deliberately ran her fingertip down the largest, top-most ridge.

Hector blushed and bit his lip harder. Soon, he was failing to hold back his laughter, and Petra grinned as she watched him. Her small fingers trailed over each segment of his frill, and Hector squeezed his eyes shut. Why couldn't he stop laughing? But somehow, he didn't mind—

"You are being adorable," Petra whispered when she finally pulled her hand away. "I am liking your laugh. It is…cute to know you are ticklish there."

Hector opened his eyes and grinned stupidly up at her. Papa had sounded amused when he'd first noticed that Hector's frills were ticklish, and he'd called Hector cute in general plenty of times. But this felt different, somehow.

He'd disliked his frills even more lately; they stood out too much and were bigger and more awkward than ever. But Petra said he was cute because of them. There was also something about the sensation of her touching them that he liked but couldn't quite explain.

So instead, Hector just blurted out, "You're cute."

Petra giggled as Hector's blush deepened. It was true, though. Petra was tiny, like most Beastlings were: she was two years older than him but barely passed his waist. And he was noticing things about her now, with her face being so close to his. She had two pale marks under her eyes, like Ochette did, but hers were thicker and more triangular. Her ponytail was slightly off to one side, and her ears twitched as she laughed.

And, Hector observed with even more embarrassment, her eyes were a nice shade of brown. They were lighter and warmer than Elizabeth's were, almost reddish in the current light. They were…pretty, very pretty.

Hector stared at her for a few seconds, swallowing nervously. Petra was still grinning, and her tail swished lightly back against Hector's legs. She leaned down, moved her hand, and—

Before she could touch his frill again, Hector rolled over suddenly. Petra gasped and then laughed as her back hit the ground, and Hector kneeled over her. He had to shift quite a bit to look at her face, and she pouted unconvincingly.

"This is not being fair, Hector!"

"Oh, really? That's not logical," he replied, trying his best to sound like Papa. "You have to let both sides be equal."

With that, he reached down and curiously scratched behind her left ear. Petra's eyes widened, and then she glanced aside with an awkward smile. Hector stroked the back of her ear, feeling the texture of the short hair covering it. It wasn't quite like most animals' fur, but it was slightly thicker than the rest of her hair.

Petra giggled as Hector scratched her ear. She squeezed her eyes shut and covered her mouth, trembling in laughter. And she'd said he was cute.

"That's adorable," Hector announced when he pulled his hand back.

She just grinned up at him. Hector stared down at her, at the deep flush of her cheeks and her large, round eyes—

Why was he leaning down? What was he doing?

"Hey, Hector!"

He jumped and sprang away from Petra. Ochette was walking towards them, waving with one hand. Her other was grasped by a male Beastling Hector had met when he'd arrived in the village. He was a head taller than Ochette and quite stocky, making Ochette look even smaller than she already was.

"Pops was looking for you, so Mordecai and I came to find you," she went on. "I figured you'd be here, but you look kinda busy."

Ochette winked, Hector blushed, and Petra laughed again as she sat up. He moved into an awkward crouch and scratched his cheek. Honestly, Hector didn't know what had come over him…

"W-what did he want?"

"Just wanted to know where you were, I think." Ochette shrugged. "Elena's with him, too. They were probably going to do some more of that cool magic stuff they're always up to, if you wanna go look."

Hector nodded. "Okay, I will."

He stood up and automatically offered his hand to Petra. She reached up, grabbed it, and used Hector's arm as leverage to pull herself up. Petra didn't let go, and Hector blushed faintly as they all started walking.

"Aww, aren't they cute?" Ochette said in amusement.

Mahina was fluttering around nearby, and she sighed. "You shouldn't tease too, too much!"

Petra giggled again as Mordecai fairly pointed out, "Playing together very much."

"You do like to watch the kids play, don't you?" Ochette leaned against his arm. "But you know what I meant."

Mordecai hummed in acknowledgement. Hector glanced over at him and saw Mordecai nod. In response, Petra squeezed his hand and swung his arm lightly. Hector thought he knew what Ochette was implying, and Petra must have, too.

…Did he have a crush on Petra? Did she like him back? Well, Hector knew Petra liked him in general—but did she actually 'like' him? He hadn't been brave enough to admit to two or three other crushes he'd gotten at school, all due to one stupid incident that had happened several years ago. But maybe here, it would be okay.

Hector shook his head. It didn't matter. He'd go back to Conning Creek in a few weeks, and Petra probably had a bunch of other Beastlings who liked her. She was pretty and playful and the best at using a bow of all of them. He couldn't tell her.

And it didn't matter at the moment, either. They'd finally found Papa and Elena. The two of them were sitting near the western hill with a few magic tomes spread out between them. They glanced up when everyone arrived; both smiled, though Papa's was barely visible beneath his moustache.

"Ah, you found him," he mused. "Hector, we were just going through some advanced ice spells. Would you like to try?"

Hector nodded, and he paused to glance at the three Beastlings. Petra grinned and waved at him before shouting "I will be seeing you tomorrow!" and scampering away. Ochette and Mordecai nodded and turned around, and they walked off as well, still holding hands.

"…They're together," Papa stated matter-of-factly.

"Well, he did come over for dinner last night," Elena mused. "I figured Ochette would've made a bigger deal about it if they were official, though."

"She's busy, and he's subtle." Papa shrugged, then glanced down at the tome sitting open on his lap. "Anyway…look here, Hector. This is the one we were working on."

Hector leaned over as Papa pointed to the spell in question. He squinted as he observed the diagrams on the page, nodding before looking back up. Papa set the book down, and then stood up to demonstrate. Elena watched raptly, and Hector listened closely as well.

Still…he glanced over his shoulder, wondering where Petra had run off to. If anyone could like him, maybe it would be someone here in Beasting Village.

Hector was more excited about this trip than ever, hoping pointlessly that neither Papa nor Elena noticed his blush as they got to work.