As I arrived home, I was suddenly startled as a large lizard, taking up a tenth of the room, hissed at me. Its skin was leathery, taut, and copper red, and its eyes were like black, glistening beads of charcoal. It stood low to the ground on four short legs, as its lanky tail dragged across the floor. "Uh Zoe. . ." I said, perturbed. "Can you please, for the love the Gods, tell me why there is a Dragron in the middle of the apartment?!" I really wanted to know how she even managed to get it in here in the first place, it appeared wider than the door even, and as long as the sofa.

     I looked over to see Zoe resting her head on the counter as she exhaled in frustration. Her hair was frazzled and unkempt, nothing like it usually was, as though she'd been literally pulling her hair out. Her eyes were glossy and weary. She was pouting; I could tell. "She won't go back to the Flow!" she sighed. I could tell she was both exhausted and frustrated, so I guessed she'd been at this for a couple of hours. Maybe more.

     "Are you sure you've imprinted her?" I asked her, pretty sure that was how it worked. I could have sworn you had to imprint a Mystimon before being able to dismiss it back to the Flow, which was a vein of Mystia that coursed between all the planes like a river.

     Imprinting was the process in which a sorcerer or wizard could capture a Mystimon and make it their own minion, after which they could summon it any time they wished. Some saw both the good and the bad in this. There were some in the world who felt that this was unnatural, and I could see where they were coming from. But others saw Mystimon as an integral part of life.

     But when a Mystia Caster dismisses one of their Mystimon, it is supposed to return to a form of energy and live in the Flow until they are called upon by their master again. At least, that is how it is supposed to work. It would appear that Zoe had half of that down, and was still working on the other half. This would account for the giant lizard in the middle of our living area.

     She glared at me. "Yes, Kairine, ever so helpful. . ." she groaned as she stood and rounded the counter. "I'm pretty certain I've imprinted her. . . She was given to me by my Mystimon Handling professor, and I learned all about imprinting and dismissing Mystimon in class today. . . And then Fleur helped me some more. . ." She stood and glared at the Dragron as it glared right back at her. Yep. I could see this relationship was getting off to a swimming start! "I dismissed her once. . . But haven't been able to since. It's like she won't even listen to me!" 

     That was right, Fleur said she was tutoring her in Mystimon Handling. . . So I can see she was a great tutor. Either that, or Zoe's just not a good student. At least judging by the giant lizard in the middle of the apartment. . . I was glad at least it was still a Dragron, and hadn't evo'ed yet! The image of a giant red dragon crashing through the roof of the apartment flashed through my brain. . . Yeah, let's not have that, please.

     Dragron lumbered closer to me and sniffed my hand. I was a little confused, yet also shaken by the sudden attention from a giant lizard. At least it wasn't a snake. . . Shivers ran down my spine at the very thought of that. Suddenly, the beast leaned into my hand and petted me. I was startled as I looked up at Zoe, whose frown had suddenly evolved into a scowl, with her jaw clenched and her eyes glaring right back at me. I felt as though she would blast me with a fireball at any moment.

     "Since she seems to like you so much more, why don't you imprint her instead?" snarled Zoe in a tone that told me she really wanted to rip my hair out. And I quite liked my hair. Like, I really liked my hair. Was that weird? I often washed my hair multiple times a week, while my sister spent little time on hers. And I felt that was weird. But then again, she and I were very different people.

     "Well. . . Fortunately, pretty sure it doesn't work that way. . . ." I said, trying to remember all that I had read in books. "I'm relatively certain that an imprinted Mystimon can't be imprinted by someone else. . . Also, psions can't imprint at all," my voice trailed off as I said the last part. That part always disheartened me. And it was part of why I considered it more of a curse than a gift. While my sister could imprint Mystimon and enjoy nature and all, I could not. I loved Mystimon immensely. I loved all of nature. But it broke my heart that I could never have that connection with them.

     Zoe rolled her eyes. "Well, she seems to hate me. . ." she whipped around and marched back to the kitchen, leaning back against the cold box and crossing her arms. Her jaw was clenched so hard, I felt as though she'd crack a tooth at any moment.

     "Have you tried asking it nicely?" I knew I wasn't helping, but I was having fun with this one.

     She glared daggers at me. I knew by this point I had gotten under her skin. I sighed, smirking. "At any rate, you had better figure out where to keep her soon, before Seth gets home. . ." I said, stepping past the lizard toward my room. ". . . I'm not entirely sure, but I don't think he'll appreciate a Dragron in the middle of the apartment. Think of the damage costs if it burns the kitchen down!"

     And then I ducked out just as she flung a ball of fire at me, and it splashed against the glass. Luckily, she didn't shatter the window this time! The last time it wasn't pretty! She shattered the glass, and Seth was angry with her for weeks. I was surprised he didn't throw her out at that point. I wondered what he would think this time with a Dragron in the middle of the apartment.

     And whether the Dragron would be sleeping on the couch like it was a pile of gold.

     "She hasn't been able to dismiss it. . . Are you being serious, Kairine?!" asked Fleur, with a wave of enthusiasm. She was clearly amused by the situation. . . As I was, if I were being honest. "I went over it with her over a dozen times! I thought she had it down!" 

     Apparently not, as even now I could hear her screaming at it from the other room. This entire situation was immensely amusing, and I was having fun with it. It was at least better than what we had been dealing with over the last couple of days. My expression darkened at the thought of that — and the thought that I had a date to get ready for now. What was I going to do? How was I going to let him down without ruining our friendship? I just didn't know.

     "Is there something else?" asked Fleur, as she appeared to notice I had something on my mind.

     I lay back on the bed as I exhaled. ". . . I kind of. . . Asked David out," I said, unsure of myself. Unsure of everything.

     She beamed at the news. "That's wonderful!" she replied. "Why don't you seem happy about it?"

     "Because I have no idea what even happened. . . One minute he was telling me about something with the case. . . The next, I just blurted it out. . . And he said yes," I sighed. "Fleur, I'm not ready for a relationship! I am not even sure I want one at all. I don't even know how to be in one. . . I don't know."

     Fleur pondered it for a moment before replying, "Your head may be telling you that you aren't ready. . . But your heart is ready. . ." as her mouth curled into a smile. "I think in that moment, your heart just took over. . . The heart wants what it wants. In this case, it clearly wants him. . . You've just got to go with it, hun."

     I rolled my eyes. "Oh, shush. . ." I replied, but I knew deep down that she was right. For a while, I had liked him, and I was in denial the whole time. I told myself I wasn't ready for a relationship, but the fact was that I was.

     Then my mind drifted to Dad. I thought that perhaps some of my reluctance had to do with him. A part of me wondered what Dad would think of David. Or even of Fleur, for that matter. . . I couldn't deny that I liked her too, but she was already claimed by my sister, and I had to accept that.

     I let out a sigh and a groan. "It seems you are right. . ." To the sound of her chuckling, I said. "I just. . . I don't know." I wanted to say I needed a way to let him down. . . But I knew exactly what she would say. She would say that I should just give it a chance, and I suppose she would be right again. I owed him that much at least, as much as I didn't want to believe it.

     "Good luck!" said Fleur happily. "I really do wish you the best. . . Now for me to call my girlfriend. . . Really, now. How many times do I have to go over it with her?"

     I smirked. "At least a hundred. . . And even then she probably won't get it," I responded as I burst out laughing. "To be honest with you, the problem is her. She's so stubborn and dead set in her own way, I wouldn't be surprised if she's trying to truncate the entire process."

     She looked at me, confused. "You mean that she could be trying to take a shortcut?" She asked, her last word trailing off as she was deep in thought all of a sudden. "There actually is a way. . . But it's probably not the way she's doing it. . . I don't really use it myself, but it's often employed in Olympus. If she really wants, I could see if I could teach her that method. . . The Gelvaran have invented a million different methods for just about everything to do with Mystia Casting and Mystimon Handling. You see, the road is already paved by those who have found other ways to do something. There's quick casting and quick summoning, there's also silent cast and summon. . . These are advanced methods, though, so another reason I taught her how I did was that I was grounding it in the basics."

     That made sense to me. The Fey were a long-lived people, so they probably had centuries of practice over anyone else in the world. I wouldn't know myself, being a psion, but I could understand that being the case. "Why don't you use these methods yourself?" I asked her, curious.

     "Well because. . . As in anything, if you take too many shortcuts, there is a danger that you could lose control or that something could happen that you didn't intend for," she replied thoughtfully. "Mystia Casting and Mystimon Handing are an exact science, and they're not at the same time. There are still a lot of things we don't understand fully ourselves about both."

     I had to admit, all of this was very interesting as she explained it. It also made me wish I could employ such things myself. . . But being a psion, I couldn't. Sadness washed over me like morning rain at the thought of that.

     "What's wrong?"

     I shook my head. "It's just. . ." I started, then stopped myself, unsure what to say. As I finally found the words, I continued, "As a psion, I can't do either of these things at all. Mystia Casting or even imprinting Mystimon. . . I love Mystimon so much, and I desperately wish I could have one, even as just a pet."

     "Awe. . ." she said sadly. "Maybe there's something I can do to help you with that."

     "How?"

     "I have my ways. . ." she said with a wink as she clicked off the comm stone. I sat there in silence, pondering her last words. What could she possibly mean? I looked over at the clock, realising the time as I leaped off the bed and moved to my closet. As much as I wanted to puzzle over what Fleur said, I didn't have the time. Unfortunately, I had a date to get ready for. A date I was nowhere near emotionally ready for, but I had to go with it, as Fleur said.

     Throwing open my closest, I scanned through all of my clothes, which were arranged neatly and in a specific order. Skirts were on the bottom rack, while my tops were on the top rack. Along the right-hand side were all my dresses. I groaned in frustration as I imagined myself in each of them, depressed by all the options before me. I wondered why I felt the need to dress up for this, anyway. Why was I even doing this? Too many choices, and too little time. . . I checked the clock again. I only had about thirty minutes before he'd be coming by — I chuckled as I pictured his reaction to the Dragron in our living area. Maybe he'll be too fixated on that to notice what I'm wearing? A girl can hope.

     Finally, after what felt like an eternity, I just made a decision, picking out a light blue dress at random. I hoped he'd be too busy fighting with my sister to notice. Please, for the love of the gods, let him not notice. I was no more sure of this choice of dress than I was of why I even asked him out in the first place. The heart wants what the heart wants, echoed Fleur's voice in my head. I sighed. Damn it, I can't even get her out of my head when I'm getting ready for a date with David.

     What have I gotten myself into?