Though the rain, thunder, and lightning had all faded into memory, the clouds that had brought them to begin with were still there the next afternoon, after their morning classes. The walk home was more leisurely, without the threat of an empty, open sky to hurry Cacopheny along. It was the way it had started out the day before, when rain was just a hint of moisture rather than a flood-- and this time, nothing interrupted it, not rain, thunder, or suicidal shadows. In fact, though Akija had given her permission for them to talk to her, it seemed none of them were taking her up on it. At the moment, anyway.

Permission breeds reluctance, Genner muttered sagely.

More like makes it less fun.

That's what I said.

They weren't even being particularly talkative, to their host, who most certainly didn't mind the quiet on the inside, since Akija was comfortably chattering away with thoughts from the morning and anticipation for the afternoon. She'd missed her daily magic lesson with her father Deiv the day before, given the rain, and today she fully expected to make up for it and more. Cacopheny had yet to leave the house with her for those lessons: being outside was simply too stressful for prolonged periods, and he really didn't want to interrupt or distract either one. Some of the magics they practiced were, after all, dangerous, if Akija was to be believed-- and there was no reason not to believe her.

Another reason not to go out there....

Come on now, she'd never hurt us.

No one would "never hurt us"... we're very hurtable.

Today, though, with all the clouds obscuring that endless sky, Cacopheny's curiosity overcame his discomfort-- and the relative quiet in his mind made him want to find something else to listen to. Magic would be interesting to listen to, perhaps, and he wouldn't be alone, or with just Chaith to assign him chores when she came in from repairing her garden after the previous day's rain.

So, when Akija bullied and begged her father out onto the road beyond their house for that day's practice and he set up their shield, Cacopheny drifted out after them to watch, ignoring the wet grass underfoot. It was a brightly whistling shield, one that Cacopheny squinted at even though he couldn't-- quite-- see it. The sound alone made his eyes water, as if his senses were somehow connected. The caster, Deiv, didn't seem to notice him, shadow murmuring incomprehensibly with the magic it was wielding.

Akija, though, she noticed. She even grinned and waved a little at him, to make sure he noticed that she noticed, before turning back to Deiv, whose shield gave one final, chiming ripple before settling into a deep, constant tone, like a very large bell almost too low to hear. It was easy to tune out, with Akija to focus on, at least.

"All right," Deiv said, then. "Charge up, and we'll get started."

Cacopheny had heard that phrase before, once or twice: charge up. It meant that Akija would draw power into herself, to use. She never drew very much, not for the small artifacts she worked with inside, and she never kept it for more than a second or two, just long enough to twist it into place. It hardly made a sound that he could discern, much less a voice, and he wasn't sure whether he was glad or disappointed by that. He'd seen her working that sort of magic, many times, because those lessons were always held indoors, though Cacopheny wondered sometimes if that was for his benefit, given how much Akija liked being outside.

Maybe we should work on that... hmm.

At the suggestion, he cast a slightly nervous glance at the sky, but it was still thickly clouded, still "safe". No one inside his head said anything more, and Akija was thinking about magic-- he could always tell, because the air got a little more focused, as if she'd directed it to find the power for her. In a place like the dragon city, there was power everywhere; Cacopheny could even smell it, sometimes, the way Akija claimed to, or taste it, because it infested the air, water, and ground so thoroughly. Some days it drove him nearly mad, but on others he liked it. He wasn't very good at telling the different types apart; they all seemed to merge together, to him, and he only knew there were different types from that magic theory class he only half paid attention to. The very fact that he knew where magic was, was an improvement over most of his life, so trying to label the different parts of it was another step he wasn't interested in taking, not now. Perhaps not ever; he didn't think it mattered much. It wasn't as if he'd ever use it, not like the daemons did. Not like Akija did.

Mmm, Akija, yes.

Hush, you.

Yes, mommy.

Akija was, as instructed, "charging up", drawing at everything around her like she was pulling in a deep, long breath. Cacopheny watched idly, hearing the power like a trickle, like a rustle, like a rumble or a crackle, or like nothing at all, expecting her to stop and hold it any second. Instead, she just kept pulling, far, far more than he'd ever seen her pull before. Fascinated, he stared harder, trying to figure out just where all that magic went. She didn't seem big enough for it all.

Just a little bit more....

Cacopheny jumped, looking around in surprise. "Akizja?" he muttered, confused. He'd been watching her; he knew she hadn't spoken!

If that bitch ever comes back, I will so be ready for her.

Hardly noticing the words, too confused by the vague source of what his mind told him was Akija's voice, he looked back at her. Deiv hadn't reacted to the comment, hadn't even acted like he'd heard it. Come to think of it, that didn't really sound a lot like her, anyway-- she didn't mumble like that; when she spoke, you heard her, not wondered if you heard her. And besides, she...

... didn't sound like...

...... a shadow?

Well, well, well. How interesting....

The in-breath of magic stopped, all the sounds of different magic-pieces flowing or flying or rolling past him slowed, stilled, stopped as well. But Akija's shadow didn't: it was buzzing with largely-incomprehensible thoughts that tumbled around each other and into each other before Cacopheny could even make out the words. It was a contented jumble, at least, as she savored the power she now held as if it was a fine plate of food or a satisfying touch. Now that he knew what he was hearing, he didn't know how he could have confused it with anything else. He'd never heard her shadow speak, or anything at all, and somehow he hadn't expected it to sound so... well, so much like a shadow!

What did you expect it to sound like?

Something not a shadow?

But... it was Akija, not some stranger whose shadow muttered at him passing by, or even a wary sort of friend like Chario or an earnest child-teacher like Sentio. It was....

Wanted to hear her, didn't want to hear her, imagined hearing her, and now are hearing her, and you aren't satisfied? 'Blood, boy, you're hard to please!

No, no, that's not it, that's not....

"Water."

Cacopheny shook his head rapidly, blinking at the unexpected command from Deiv. It was followed immediately by the sound of rain pattering with an unnatural, musical pattern of notes, focused in and around the shadow-murmurings-- and water rained from Akija's outstretched palm.

"Freeze it."

A cracking rhythm infused the scale, froze it into a sizzling hum, and now Akija's hand rained... was that ice?

"Fire."

The hum vanished into a roar, and Cacopheny twitched significantly, torn between leaping forward and flinching back, as flames danced over her palm and twined around her fingers. When they obviously weren't burning her, he made himself relax again.

Well, this is one way to learn how to tell elemental magic apart, Tiger said dryly.

Hush, I am trying to pay attention!

Aaah, shove it, Genner, you're always trying to pay attention.

It kept going, Deiv giving commands and Akija responding to them with a little bit of magic: creating, dispelling, affecting, melding, separating, sometimes stumbling but usually succeeding.... Cacopheny was starting to get confused, himself, trying to keep track of all the little spells she was weaving; he couldn't possible see how she was keeping track of them all! Besides, all the magic was starting to give him a headache, listening to it all; but then, when the tang of a colorful breeze left a ringing in his ears, the sounds muted just enough for comfort's sake, and suddenly he could smell the air-light magic as crisp and pure.

Handy... some system for overload, or just mental exhaustion? Genner mused before Cacopheny shushed him again--

--just enough for a clear thought:

I'm getting better!

Akija's shadow was cackling with delight.

I may get caught in my PJs again, but no more only having my claws and teeth to fight with!

"What?" Cacopheny muttered, confused. Claws and teeth?

Rao, of course!

.... oh.

"Good, you can stop," Deiv said right then, a thankful distraction. The magic dissipated, much to Cacopheny's relief: nothing more to hear-- or smell-- no spells with humming or spinning or flickering magic.

Bah, you're impossible....

At least until Deiv started weaving himself another set of shields, but with the low-level hum of his first set, Cacopheny could largely ignore them. Thankfully, his shadow was still as opaque and intelligible as ever, though Akija's still buzzed with the power she held. With a start, he realized she was looking at him again, and she grinned when their eyes caught.

I'm doin' this for you, buddy. Bitch'll have t'go through me t'get t'you if she shows her snout 'round here again.

Now that he knew what her shadow was talking about, it made quite a bit more sense-- not necessarily sense that he liked, but at least sense. With a wordless little whine, he settled back into the comparative darkness of her house's silent shadow, while she turned back to her father and his completed shield.

It's not as if She's coming back, anyway, so what are you worried about?

But what if She did?

I think you've made it perfectly clear where your loyalties lie.

Stupid mutt....

Smart mutt.

But I didn't do anything-- you did.

And do you really think She knows about us?

As far as She's concerned, that was you.

A really fucking strange you, but still you.

So if She comes back...

... it won't be for that.

If anything, She'll be coming back to beat us into submission.

And erase Akija and the whelp from the universe.

Probably in as painful a manner as She could think of.

Well, he didn't want that... but the rest was still a thought he couldn't quite wrap his mind around, so he didn't bother. Deiv was talking again; he listened to that.

"Until I say so, hit it with all you can grab," he said, stepping outside his visible, shimmering, thrumming sheild-bubble.

Oh, 'claws, this is going to be bad....

Cover your ears, pup.

He did so, a little wide-eyed, though that didn't block out shadow-voices, whether his own or another's. 

That's what I thought, Akija's shadow said smugly, while she herself smirked, nodded, and gathered magic that smelled like crackling, smoke, and, to his mild surprise, Chario. Since Akija's shadow was mumbling about Chario and fire, Cacopheny surmised that she'd "borrowed" some from him, or from magic he'd left lying around, or... something.

Then her Fire-- the magic could only be of the element fire, after all, if Chario had anything to do with it-- ignited along her hand, roared swiftly into a massive conflagration, and suddenly smashed into the shield, and Cacopheny decided he didn't care where the power came from, he didn't like it!