We found the house easily enough and Astral knocked.

"If this goes south, I'm blaming you," he muttered and glanced at me.

"Sure, I'll take the blame. And the praise if it goes well."

"Nah, credit goes to me if this goes well." He smirked at me and then turned his attention back to the door, which opened.

"Hello, I'm the friendly travelling mage. I was told you needed help," Astral said in his friendliest tone. Which just sounded sarcastic. I cringed a little.

"We were told by the server at the inn, you might need some help with your daughter," I said a lot softer, hopefully soothing the woman. She looked like she was ready to slam the door in our faces.

She looked from Astral to me and then stepped back, opening the door fully. "My daughter has been gone for three days now."

"Gone?" I asked and stepped in first, following the woman through a small hallway. Her house was very neat. Very clean and modest in decoration. Flowers on the dinner table that was placed in the kitchen. We had stepped right into the kitchen from the street. All blackened brass with an indoor pump. We hadn't even had an indoor pump back at the college.

This was a nice house.

We stopped by a door and the woman looked back up at me. "You'll see."

She opened the door for me and showed me and Astral into a bedroom. It was nice. Had a lovely view of the garden that had been hiding behind the house.

In the bed was a girl. Her eyes were open and entirely white. She looked like the woman working in the inn. Maybe a couple of years younger than Astral and I.

Astral gently pushed me aside and went to her, pulling the chair next to the bed closer and sitting down. He narrowed his eyes a bit at her, leaning in close. Then he grabbed her wrist, pulling out his pocket watch and looked down at it, his thumb pressing into her skin.

"She has a slow pulse," he murmured.

I pulled out my notebook and wrote it down. "She's obviously having a vision. Her eyes." I pointed my pen at her face.

Astral nodded and looked back up at the older woman. "How long did you say she has been like this?"

"Three days. Before that she'd fall to the floor and shake."

"Seizures," I murmured and noted it down. "Would she be feverish after? Nauseous? Headaches? Be excessively tired?" 

"All of the above."

"How about pain? Would her limbs hurt?"

The woman nodded again.

Astral looked up. "Right, your daughter has The Sight and should be in the college. She's a mage. Which should've been obvious from the colour of her hair." He lifted the scarf around her head and a bundle of tight dark purple braids slipped out. "She isn't cursed or possessed. There's nothing wrong with her." He rose to his feet and shrugged at the woman. "Don't know why we were needed here."

The woman gaped at him and then turned to me. "You need to fix her. She's cursed."

"No, ma'am. I'm cursed. Your daughter is gifted," I said and sighed.

The woman gasped and stepped back from me, as if my curse would jump to her.

Astral rolled his eyes and turned back to the girl. He very gently put his fingers to her forehead and his eyes turned as white as hers. I disregarded the woman and went to Astral, to make sure he wouldn't go into a seizure.

Part of having The Sight was also sharing visions with others who had it too. He was sharing the girl's right now, seeing what she was seeing.

He groaned and threw his head back. I grabbed his shoulders, keeping him upright.

"That's enough, Astral," I whispered in his ear. I wrapped my fingers around his wrist and slowly removed his fingers from the girl's forehead.

He inhaled sharply and looked up at me with his own eyes. Those sparkly brown eyes of his. I smiled softly and then looked at the girl. Her eyes had returned to a light brown colour too and she was looking at Astral.

"You were there," she whispered.

He nodded and smiled tiredly. "Yeah. Welcome back Zeke."

"Thank you Astral." She pulled herself up and looked to her mother. "How long was I out?"

"Three days," the mother said quite coldly.

The girl, Zeke, nodded. "I... I need help."

"I can't help you, little girl."

Astral and I shared a look. He looked about as uncomfortable as I felt.

"We're... Travelling to Heatherhills. If Zeke would like to accompany us to the college there, she's more than welcome to," I said a little awkwardly and glanced at Zeke. She looked on the verge of tears.

"Right. The college." She pushed her blanket aside and nodded.

I wasn't a professional on families, but the way the mother acted toward her own daughter made my skin crawl. Was this how it was supposed to be? She didn't even help Zeke pack a bag. They barely said goodbye when we left the house.

Astral and I didn't say much when we were served dinner by Zeke's cousin. She and Zeke spoke briefly, and the cousin thanked us. And then we were alone with our new travel companion.

"The college is a nice place," I tried.

She briefly looked up from her stew and then looked back down again, shrugging a shoulder in reply.

"Astral and I grew up in the one by the mountain lake. Emerald College. Named after the colour of the lake, not the actual gemstones." I snorted a little, hoping the joke would land. It didn't. Zeke was still poking at her food.

I glanced at Astral for help, but he was poking at his food too, not even paying attention to me.

"The college is a great place. They'll help you with your powers. Cultivate them. Gain control. You might even be able to control your visions someday."

Still no reaction from either with The Sight.

"Listen, I know it's all really hard right now, but I'm on your side. I want to be your friend."

Zeke finally looked up from her bowl and sighed. "You never stop, do you?"

"He doesn't," Astral said before I could reply. "He's like a relentless puppy. It's cute though, so he gets away with it."

I frowned at Astral, but he only flashed me a smile. Having a go at me, the bastard.

It did get Zeke smiling, so I wasn't too mad. I'd have to punish Astral later though for his grave transgression.

"So, this college. What happens there?" she asked but with very little enthusiasm showed.

"Lots and lots of classes. You'll be a bit behind since usually you start there when you're a kid. How old are you?"

"Eighteen."

"Right, you're a couple of years from graduating then. It'll be hard but they'll house you for as long as you need it. Those are the rules for mages."

"And everyone they happen to take a liking to," Astral chimed in and wiggled his eyebrows at me.

"What does he mean?" Zeke asked and pointed at Astral.

"I'm not a mage, is what he means. But I attended the college and will graduate all the same."

"Why would they let a non-mage in?" She arched a brow at me.

"I was cursed with immortality. I don't really fit into the society of non-mages." I shrugged a little. It wasn't that I hated conversations like these, but it was getting tiresome. I knew coming out of the college would mean, I'd have to explain these things but... I was tired of feeling like a freak.

"Is immortality a curse though?" Zeke asked and tipped her head to the side, purple braids bouncing to the side.

"I will see everyone I love die, while I remain," I said coolly. "It's a curse. Life is worth living because there's an end. When there's no end, it becomes hard to see a point to it all."

Astral put his hand on top of mine, giving it a squeeze. "We'll find a way to lift it, Mars. I've promised you that a hundred times now."

"I know," I breathed.

"Can you get hurt?" Zeke asked then.

"I can, but I don't scar like you would." I pulled my sleeve up, showing off some discolouration from an old burn. I had accidentally spilled some boiling water on my skin.

Zeke carefully let her finger run over my skin. She had long graceful fingers, I noticed. She was also very careful and gentle. It rocked me because no one but Astral had ever been this gentle with me. I had to bite down on my lip to not break down sobbing.

She pulled her hand back and nodded. "So, you have no magic at all?"

I shook my head. "Only the immortality. But I've studied herbs and medical remedies. I'm pretty good at potions."

"He's being modest. He was the top of our class in potions. He can brew up anything. He knows what is good for which thing. Like you've got a stomach-ache? Mars can brew you something and it'll be gone in half an hour." Astral smiled very brightly at me, giving my hand another squeeze.

"Is that something I could learn?" Zeke asked. She seemed to have perked up a little.

"I can teach you until we get to the college," I offered.

"I'd love that!"