"I suspect my brain may postpone its eeeee-ing until we are actually in France," says her seatmate.

"Well, you've got time then," Alli snorts with a smile. "The flight's what, seven hours?"

"Bit more. Pity it's so hard to sleep on planes."

Alli nods. "We could play cards or something? If you want? I mean, I brought a couple books, but- eight hours."

"Yeah, I'm going to run out of books in that time, too, and I want to have some on the way back. If you brought cards I'm game."

"Hah, wasn't actually what I meant. I can't just read for eight hours straight. Though I guess it's one way to try and fall asleep...? You could borrow mine on the way back, if you want, no idea if they're your thing or not." Alli occupies herself trying to extract the deck of cards from her bag. It's not the easiest logistically, but she eventually gets them out and starts shuffling them on her tray table. "Game preferences?"

"Mm, not enough people for euchre or Popcorn or Uno. I know Go Fish and Egyptian Ratscrew and War."

"Egyptian Ratscrew!" Alli says immediately. "Best name." She starts to deal them in. "So, did you bring your chair? Or can you rent them in France or something?"

"It's checked. I used an airport chair on the way up the jetway but I might do without on the other end until we get our stuff, just to avoid having to be pushed by somebody who doesn't speak English. I'm not that good at French."

"Huh. You don't need it all the time? I think I missed that. I'll help with the French if you want, though. My sister lives in Québec, I get lots of practice." Seeing a Queen go down, Alli flips two cards from her hand, hissing at the results when they turn up a 7 and a 5 and fail to win her the hand. "Ah, merde. All yours."

"It's not so much 'I don't need it all the time' as 'I need it a medium amount such that sometimes I elect not to bother'. Need is constant - if I'm going to be moving around, anyway -" She takes the cards. "- hassle varies."

"Are there non-chair things that would help I could ask for? Crutches, or something?"

"Nah - I'm not in pain or weak or anything, I'm clumsy, and anything I have to actually haul around and coordinate, like a cane or crutches or even a walker, winds up going flying and knocking out somebody's teeth likely as not. Chair or putting up with falling without any accessories is it."

"Hah. Yeah, never mind then, I prefer my teeth to remain attached." Next pile to Alli; she scoops it up, though tragically it is slightly smaller than the first pile she lost. "I guess yay that it's just clumsiness and not, like, a face melting disease or something like that?"

"Oh, yes, it could easily be worse. If I lived farther south I might do without the chair at all, but ice is a disaster."

"In your defense, ice is also a disaster for us normal-clumsy people."

"Yes, but you can sometimes traverse it, I've seen it done."

"Hah, sure. Within reason, though. I mean- have you seen that freshman girl? The really tiny blonde one who's been wearing hooker heels all year? How is she not dead?! Merde. Ice is bad enough in sneakers."

"Oh yeah. I don't even go for heels when I expect to be in my chair all day, I still have to get up for a second here and there to go to the bathroom or whatever - I imagine there's a way to do it without having to be able to stand at all but I don't know what it is."

"Get someone to help you, probably," Alli says idly as she places a card. "Oooh! Better yet, someone hot and shirtless."

"I think paraplegics can use handicapped-accessible bathrooms alone," says May. "If I were going to interact with someone hot and shirtless I think I'd rather it be in a different context, anyway."

"Meh, fair." She grins. "Any ideas on the lucky guy? I'm all for Ed Norton, personally."

"Nothing that specific."

"What, nothing? Merde. And here I was being all tactful by not even asking about people we know." She wrinkles her nose. "Probably because of the spectacular lack of options at school."

"I mean, I can name cute actors, but I cannot name cute actors who are so cute that I would like to have them shirtless and nearby solely on this basis, and I don't pay enough attention to unscripted interviews to know which ones are decent conversationalists when paid writers aren't feeding them lines."

"Hah. Man, I so would not care what Ed Norton was saying if he was hanging around shirtless." She pauses to think about this, smiling dreamily, then the smile starts to fade abruptly. "-Well. Unless he goes all American History X. Then, nope, get out."

"I haven't seen that one."

"I mean. It's a good movie. And he does do the whole 'I am a changed man' thing eventually. But he starts as a crazed neo Nazi, and swastika tattoos make even Ed Norton's otherwise flawless chest horrible."

"Ew."

"Yup. This is why Fight Club exists. To be rewatched a lot."

"I don't think I've actually seen that one. I've read the book."

"I am beginning to think you read a lot."

"What, who, me, no, Fight Club is the only book I have ever read, I otherwise absorb media via cosmic ray."

"And now you're in a plane eleven kilometers high. Are there extra rays now? You're closer to space and everything! Double the cosmic rays!"

"Yes. I am getting a wave of miscellaneous eighties pop bounced back off the asteroid belt."

"Ugh, you poor thing. Eighties pop. I'll take my non-cosmic music."

"The quality variance is a major problem when you have my media consumption habits."

"Please tell me there are cosmic ear plugs."

"Nnnnope."

"You are doomed to terrible pop for all time. A moment of silence for your sanity."

"I'm holding up pretty well, I think."

"For noooooow. Dun dun dun."

"Any minute now the cosmic rays will marathon Teletubbies. I'll be doomed."

Alli regards the pile of cards in her hand. Pile is a strong word; there aren't very many of them. "Hey, at least then I'd have a shot at winning."

"I feel like I might be able to kick your ass at Egyptian Ratscrew regardless."

"Our one game says you're probably right. Meh. Not like it's a game of skill, I'll live."

"We can play something else if you rather."

"I'm good for a few more rounds of this and then I'll require variety."

"We can swap life stories. Do you want to know more about that May girl first or would you rather go?"

"Merde, I don't care. I will say you just so we don't do the but no really I don't care dance for the next six hours."

"So, fun fact, May is actually short for Mabel and I spell it like the month, it's not as Asian as it sounds. Though I know how to write 'Mei Mariko insert-Japanese-translation-of-swan-here' in kanji of my choice. I don't speak Japanese, let alone really read it, but I've picked up bits because every now and then my mother manages to be nearly as embarrassing about investigating her own cultural heritage as a white person who watches a lot of anime and eats sushi and I collect information by osmosis. Dad is more consistently assimilated and a few generations more native and is why I have the English last name. They got divorced when I was really little, too little to remember, and Mom moved with me to Toronto from an eensy little town in B.C., but I visit Dad summers, they get along okay and everything. I got my first chair when I was, I want to say six, but I could be off by a year either direction. It was an autumn, nobody wanted me to try to toddle around on the ice another winter. And I have had a fairly conventional schooling history except that my mother teaches kindergarten so I kept calling my first grade teacher Mom out of habit even though he was a man. There is not a lot of exciting narrative structure to my life to plump up this story, I do a lot of reading mostly."

"Hah, what do you know, we're the single moms party. Though who knows where my dad's gotten to, we haven't seen or heard from him since I was little. My sister also peaced, actually, but she's in Québec and her I still see sometimes. Fun fact, Alli is short for absolutely nothing, though a hilarious number of people still try to call me Alexandra. I have no 'cultural heritage' to speak of; I'm some weird mix of Polish, Greek and French, but we've been in Canada since forever so noooobody cares. And I'm otherwise deeply boring. Born and raised in Toronto, I don't even have the B.C. thing going for me."

"I like Toronto. The eensy B.C. town is - nice, I guess, very scenic, but there's nothing there."

"Yeah, at least when I visit Jess there's stuff to do. But I've lived in the same spot in Roncesvalles my entire life. Related: why I am so excited for France. New places!"

"French places. Mom made me promise to try awesome cheese."

"I wonder if we can get away with trying French wine?"

"Even in France the drinking age is eighteen. I am not eighteen yet. I also don't especially want to, but even if I did..."

"I mean. You don't have to. But hey, worst that happens someone has to push you, right?"

"Are you attempting to turn into a cautionary tale from a badly scripted anti-underage-drinking campaign on me, Alli?"

"Merde! You have seen through my evil plot!"

"I'm very insightful."

"Sure." May shuffles.

Alli is too brain dead to be paying much attention to anything, but she's been attempting to amuse herself by reading the placards in both French and English and looking for differences. She's heading towards May to read the placard next to her when she notices May start. She yawns and walks over. "You okay? Still have all your teeth?"

"Yeah. If I fall over on the grass I should be okay, if grassy. And if I sit down in my chair now I'm just going to pass out and the teacher will have to push me, so." She pockets the necklace.

"Don't we all wish we could do that." Alli yawns again. "Merde I'm tired."

Mr. Hayden looks at her rather sternly. "Mme. Lyon, you know you cannot just go wandering off without supervision. Particularly with Mme. Swan's special needs."

Alli growls with frustration and casts for an excuse. "It's- an emergency. A girl emergency. We'll be right back, I promise!"

Mr. Hayden turns about seven shades of red simultaneously. "Don't take too long, Mme. Lyon," he manages to squeak.

May allows the dragging. "Extinct? Excuse me? If I don't have a head injury what in the hell am I? Oh my god your feet."

"You're a dragon. Congratulations. If I wasn't halfway to a panic attack this would be really insanely cool, but that gets to wait till later. Okay, first things first. Well, half a thing first." Her feet fade back to their original sneakers. "Looking human. Looking human is very much step one. Do you have a necklace with you? Somewhere, anywhere? Please tell me you have a necklace. If you do not have a medallion we are in so much trouble."

"I - I found one. I put it in my pocket, which I no longer have, oh god I'm naked what the fuck Alli -"

"Thank everything. Okay. First, you are a dragon, dragons are not naked, you'll have clothes when you're human. Just- focus on that, okay? Focus on being human really really hard. And whatever you do, don't ever damage that necklace."

"Ooookay. Thirty second version. Mythological creatures are real, but we hide as humans. If you have a medallion, like that-" she points at the necklace May's holding, "then you can turn critter to human and back. Kids of critters are born human and stay that way unless they get their own medallion. So... I guess you had an ancestor somewhere who was a dragon? But then you- found a medallion. And poof, instant dragon."

"Now that I've turned back am I still screwed if I lose it? Somebody must have dropped it, it was on the ground."

"Yes. Yes, you are very screwed, you will be a dragon. Do not be a dragon again, please. One haul-the-dragon dodge-the-mundanes hide and seek was enough, thanks. Even with Nemean strength you're heavy." She eyes the medallion. "And don't worry about anyone else. If that belonged to someone, it couldn't have turned you. One to a person and all that. Whoever used to own that, they are very dead."

"...ugh. Yeah. Yeah it totally is. When you're new, I mean. I used to sneeze and grow a tail a lot when I was a kid. Maaaybe we tell M. Hayden you're sick and hide you in your room and I'll be a helpful roommate?"

Alli follows her, keeping an eye on her as she walks. Alli cares less about the stumbling then about the possibility that a fall would surprise May into forgetting her shape. "I can push if you want," she offers. "Less risk of being seen, that way. And if we split a room- oh, merde, it's three to a room, isn't it? Two beds and a cot? I'll take a look on the bus, there's got to be another critter we can room with."

"You're going to, what, quiz everyone about their jewelry?" asks May, collapsing into her chair. "Push away."

"Ooookay, what should I claim to be instead, a - what, a phoenix, should I say I'm a unicorn, what is my cover story? How do you find out about the other critters, is there some kind of critter support group that you can only find out about if you can read the secret critter language in the decorative borders on the beginning-of-year fliers, what the hell?"

"If you manage not to throw wings you could probably claim to be a nixie or a mermaid. Their bottom halves are serpenty? Ish? Or if you do throw wings- ugh, what else is there, this is like trying to remember the names of obscure countries. I'll think of something. And hah, no, that's way too fancy. We just have neighborhoods for critters. Little Italy but Little Critter instead? They're called Avalons. Maman and I shop in the Toronto one."

"And these are hidden via government conspiracy, magic, willful not-looking of non-critters...? I don't think I'm especially serpenty, I have, like, legs. Claiming to be something serpenty would only cover for the tail and nothing else, aren't there any lizard-type critters?"

"Is there a book you could look this up in? I mean, maybe not on you, but for after we're back home."

"Oh sure, lots. Avalon has a bookstore and everything. I can take you when we're back. We could look here too, if you want to go sooner, but I don't think you'd have much luck in English."

"Yeah, I'm guessing that French critters speak French."

"I mean, I'm sure some speak English. It's the books you'll have issues with. Point taken, though."

"If the book had pictures you might recognize something, smack yourself in the forehead, and go, 'oh, yeah, you should tell people you're a this thing'."

"If that's the goal, I can try to find a French Avalon. No promises, though, since that does in fact involve staring awkwardly at necklaces. For the books- I don't need pictures, je peux lire en Français. If you want to read or buy things, though, that should wait for Toronto."

"Okay, skip the French Avalon, I guess. See any candidate critter roomates?"

Now that they're closer, Alli skims the crowd. "Two I'm sure of," she reports, "but one's a boy. How well do you know Jenny?"

"About as well as I knew you before we were next to each other on the plane. I know who you're talking about and she seems okay."

"Meh. Good enough. Here goes." And off towards Jenny they go.

Jenny is chatting to a few of the other girls. She waves with a smile when she sees them headed over.

Jenny just sort of blinks at her in confusion. "I don't have a room yet, no. Isn't it sorta early for that? We're not even at the hotel yet."

"Better than scrambling for random strangers at the last minute when everybody else has clumped up," says May, trying to sound cheerful.

"Sure, why not," Jenny shrugs. "...nail painting party?"

"Cool, nail-painting," says May. "It'll be a blast."

"Yeah."

"Brand new," Alli contributes. "Found a medallion in the woods."

"Oooooh! Ooooh that's so exciting! Hi! Welcome! Did Alli give you the whole speech yet? I can totally give you the whole speech!"

"I have received the thirty-second version."

"Thaaaaaat is actually probably about the length of the speech. But I'll repeat it if you want anyway."

"Another perspective couldn't hurt."

"Cool! Speech at the hotel it is." Jenny bounces slightly in place. "It will probably go horribly because I am so tired but eeeeee this is exciting!"

"I'm tired too," yawns May. "How long until we go to the hotel...?"

"Seventeen minutes," Jenny says immediately.

"Counting much?"

"Naps are important!"

"I want a full eight hours," snorts May. "Maybe eighteen."

"See? May's sensible!"

"I want to nap too," Alli defends herself. "I was just a little distracted."

"It's entirely possible that I am asleep right now and when I wake up certain things will have been a dream."

"Oh man, you say that now, I cannot wait till we get you in an Avalon."

"I look forward to it, I assure you, I just can't totally credit this all right away. While really really sleep-deprived."

And with that May does actually nod off in her chair. Slump. Zzz.

"Awwww," Jenny whispers to Alli.

"Mmmmmunch," mumbles May; she wound up napping with her jaw pressed on her chest and couldn't talk in her sleep but upon being nudged she stirs. "Food?"

"Food!" Jenny confirms, offering what looks like a cold cuts sandwich in shrink wrap. "Eat up, it's good for you."

May nibbles her way through the sandwich. "Thanks."

"No problem!" Jenny says brightly. "I mean. They were free. I carried it all the way here?"

Alli has a mouthful of sandwich, but she rolls her eyes at Jenny speakingly.

Jenny just sticks her tongue out in response. "We can't all be as strong as you!"

"Thanks for waking me up instead of letting me sleep through food," clarifies May.

"Oh. Yeah, of course. That was sorta Alli, actually. I'll take the credit, though!"

"Featherbrain," Alli says, sounding amused. "No problem. You have a good nap, May?"

"It was okay. I could use more sleep. Speaking of the obvious basics - do I need to eat more?"

"I eat more than I should, I think. And more meat, too, but that I just blame on being a girl."

"I'm pretty normal but I'm a vegetarian," Jenny contributes.

"So like - the mass conversion is handled by magic or something."

Alli eyes their surroundings. Nobody's close to them at the moment, but other students are starting to gather around the bus (sandwiches!); given their proximity to same, someone will be close enough to hear them eventually. "Pretty much," she agrees. "But... questions back at the hotel, maybe?"

"Nail painting is compatible with getting me up to speed, yes? Uh, I can't tiptoe through bags without breaking something, can one of you find my suitcase, it's blue and the luggage tag looks like a giant red flower because Ren is so tasteful with birthday presents?"

"I can - it can go on my chair," says May.

Alli winks at her. She likes using her Nemean strength; she's just giving Jenny grief for the sake of it.

"As you like." May does put the bag on her chair to haul it into the room. "So what color are my nails going to be?" And when the door is closed behind her: "And will this carry over to my, apparently, claws?"

Jenny grins and holds out a hand. It folds into a hoof with rather faded nail polish flowers decorating it.

May laughs. "Okay, let's see what colors you've got and hear your version of the summary."

"Eh, I like that blue, there, I'll let you do my nails if you want. You probably don't want me to return the favor, I'd drop the brush. How many Avalons are there? How many kinds of critters? In what way does it run in families? How do I get the hang of midforms?"

Alli snorts. "You get the hang of human, first. Till then, 'midform' is just 'merde I dropped out of human again'."

Jenny beams, and drags the desk chair over next to May's chair so she can start on her nails. "There's lots of Avalons! Most big cities have them. Smaller places just collect in critter-only towns. Like, I think there's some islands in Greece full of harpies? That sorta thing." May hand: retrieved. "I don't know how many kinds there are. Looooots? I mean, how many mythical creatures are there, anyway? Different kinds in different places, too. Asia has a totally different set than we do." May nails: slowly becoming blue. "The family thing's easy. Critters have critter babies. Medallion critter kids (or grandkids or whatever) all look human, though, up until the kid picks up a medallion."

"So at least one of my parents is also a secret critter."

"They could not know! It could be your great great great great grandpa married a human and didn't tell so no one's gotten a medallion before you," Jenny hastens to reassure her. "But... yeah. At least one's a critter. And one is definitely- whatever you are? Did you say?"

"I found about this literally today and there were no mirrors and I'm more of a Shakespeare and occasionally Victor Hugo person than I am a - a Tolkien person," says May, which isn't quite I don't know but also isn't a lie. "I will want books. Lots of them."

Jenny looks at Alli questioningly.

"Don't look at me. I've never seen one of her before," Alli says with perfect honesty.

"I'm exotic. I do know I'm blue," says May. "I don't want to change in here, though, I will not fit in my chair and I'd certainly knock everything over, possibly including the wall, flailing around."

Jenny giggles. "Oooooh yes, I know the feeling. You saw how big just my wings are! These rooms are not built for pegasi. You can show me later if you want, maybe I'll know what you are."

"She has to practice staying in human form," Alli points out reasonably.

"Well, it doesn't have to be soon! But don't you want to know what you are?" she asks May.

"I will learn what I am from books," says May. "For all I know there are racial politics more complicated than being Asian involved. ...And now that I've said that I'm certain there are."

"Meh. It's not usually that complicated. Humans are way more intricate about it. Critters still mostly stick with the 'who can beat up who' approach."

"Oh, so I know I'm at the bottom of the pecking order, then," snorts May.

"It's okay. I can beat them up for you," Alli says. She just barely manages to say this with a straight face.

"So your kind of thing is a scary thing?"

"Depends how you mean? We don't go around being scary at people or anything. We have a whole code devoted to not doing that. If you break it, you are in trouble, we take your medallion, and so on so on. But we are still scary for existing, probably, we're large carnivores with super strength and invulnerable hides? We are the human equivalent of being really really tall and jacked."

"Invulnerable? Is it very rude of me to wonder about the details?"

"You're a newbie, you can get away with a lot. In general it's- not rude, but also still weird? It's just not the sort of thing people get asked much, so they would be confused." She hums thoughtfully for a second. "The short answer is that the only thing that can break through my hide are the claws of a Nemean Lion."

"What's it like when something fails, though? If someone tries to stab you with a fork."

"The same as when people stab me with things that wouldn't hurt a human? I mean, picture yourself being stabbed with, I dunno, a hockey puck. Something that is hilariously unlikely to break your skin for any reason. Like that."

"But a hockey puck hitting me in the face at high speed could do damage. So you're only invulnerable to sharp, or is something more complicated going on?"

"Hmm. More complicated. Or maybe less complicated? I just- don't get damaged. So me getting hit by a hockey puck at really high speed is still equivalent to someone poking you with one."

"Huh. Does that apply when you're being human too?"

"Hah. No. That would be wicked, I wish it did, but no. Humans are not invulnerable, medallion makes me a human, so human-me's not invulnerable." She sighs. "Probably for the best, though. It would be so obvious if anything happened."

"Yeah, I imagine so. 'There was one survivor, mysteriously unharmed. Paramedics suspect witchcraft.'"

"Bet you they just take credit for some 'new experimental safety feature', trot me out as a success story and claim to install it in everything."

"That sounds like a lot of willful disbelief to me. Have I missed a lot of stuff that is in fact explainable via magic and/or critters? How much magic is there beyond critterhood, anyway?"

"I want to learn magic."

"Er. Just- be careful? There's all these horror stories about, like, 'I tried to use magic and gave myself horns in human form and could never leave Avalon again'. That's why Mike just reads about it."

"I'll be careful, but I want to at least learn about it and probably learn to do it."

"Figure out how to make new medallions," Alli suggests facetiously. "Be a hero to critters everywhere."

"You laugh."

"You've been a critter for maybe three hours and we're not even old enough to drink yet. I am allowed to laugh until you have at least encountered a spell book."

"What? It's a good idea! Don't be so dismissive. We need more medallions, why can't she be the one to make them?" Jenny huffs.

"It's a very good idea! And it is also the magical equivalent of proclaiming you'll win the Stanley Cup before ever going ice skating. I am fully in support of medallion-y goals, and all that. I'm just- laughing at the lack of in between steps."

"There is an important difference between magic and ice skating, namely I strongly expect that ice skating involves a lot more standing up - I suspect this because if magic involved a lot of standing up instead of laughing you would have gently explained to me that I am probably unable for obvious reasons."

"...do you still have problems if you're standing still?" Alli wonders, diverted. "Is wheelchair-level clumsy a thing that applies while motionless? Ah, merde, not the point. No idea, I know nothing about magic to speak of, but I haven't heard of anything like that."

"'Wheelchair-level clumsy'?" Jenny repeats, looking rather mystified.

"No, I can actually stand, as long as it's on both feet, not on ice, not on a boat, etcetera, it's walking that gets me into trouble," admits May. "Jenny, my legs work, it's my balance that doesn't. I can walk if I'm willing to trip a whole lot, but I'm not, so I don't."

"Oh! Okay," Jenny says, content with her newfound enlightenment. "I've seen you out of the chair, I think, I just didn't know details. And it seemed reeeeally random and weird to ask, so."

"I don't mind, but some people get touchy about it, so good instinct. And in spite of not usually being touchy about it sometimes I get asked six times in a day, which will make anybody irritable."

Jenny laughs. "I know how that feels! Well, not the wheelchair part, but it's like every time I babysit for my cousins some random lady in the grocery store is yelling at me about 'irresponsible teen moms'."

"Oh dear, that's got to be awkward. And people have some excuse to want to know what's up with me, but have no excuse for forgetting that other forms of relative exist."

"What, random strangers like grocery store ladies? They have an excuse? I, of course, totally had an excuse. I was not a random stranger. Besides. Airports and speaking French and whatever!"

"I mean, ignorance is sort of an excuse? If I tell somebody 'yeah, it's possible to be that clumsy' they may have just learned something. If Jenny tells somebody 'have you heard of cousins' they probably haven't learned anything they didn't already at least sort of know."

"I suppose. People should just not be stupid, though!"

"Wouldn't that be nice. Anyway, do you two know anything else, even in vague terms, about magic?"

May starts waving her hands around to dry the polish. "I might want to meet Mikey, then. As a first step before I address total unconnected strangers."

Jenny snorts. "Sure, stop by sometime. You may be swarmed by tiny pegasi, though. Just so you know."

"That does not sound like a problem."

"It's a pretty cute problem!"

"You got your medallion young or something?"

"We all did! Big family, lots of medallions. And my sister only got hers a few months ago, so she's still big into the 'ditch human form the minute she gets home' thing."

"Human form isn't an exciting adventure?" says May dryly. "It's more like uncomfortable shoes?"

"Human form is an adventured adventure. Pegasus form is new and shiny and comes with wings."

"Are there places to fly?"

"Noooooot really. She can fly in Avalon, she's small enough, but adult critters who want to fly- or run-"

"Super powered lion running!"

Jenny snerks, and continues. "-usually go outside the city. There's some forests north of the city that are popular, I think."

"And that's private enough, or are there also invisibility bracelets on top of the shapeshifting necklaces, or what?"

"Soooo here's the thing. When people say 'magic' they mean pretty specifically this thing you can do that's unreliable and generally sorta unsafe and has mostly been lost. But species-specific magic is a lot more common? Like, I dunno, nixies can manipulate water, angels can banish demons, that sorta thing. So invisibility bracelets aren't really a thing. That's a 'lost magic' type thing."

"Meanwhile, to actually answer the question: meh, private enough. We're also turning into animals with sharper senses and magical powers; even if humans show up, it's easy to get away."

"Some of the species have probably named their own. But there's no general word for it that I've heard."

"Huh. So I know Nemean lions are strong and invulnerable, do pegasi have anything?"

"We can flyyyyy!" Jenny sighs happily. "Buuut other than that, nope."

"What's the approximate percentage of critters who have crittery-magic versus critters who do not?"

"One in four?" Alli hazards. "Merde, I don't know. Not a lot, whatever it is."

"The dragons and sphinxes were the magical-est!" Jenny contributes. "Until they died in the war, I mean."

"Is this like the critter equivalent of World War Two or something?"

Alli has no faith in her ability to keep her face blank if she starts talking about this. Mouth shut it is.

"Wow."

Alli squirms uncomfortably and changes the subject. "So! Do you want to play sick for a few days...? I know it's France and all, but just in case?"

"I seem to be doing okay so far. We'll see if I wake up and the bedsheets have had an unfortunate encounter with my claws or something? Is there a trick to this?"

"If you go to sleep in human form the medallion'll keep it for you. It's surprises that tend to knock you out of it, usually?"

"We could have a pillow fight!" Jenny suggests with a giggle. "Form practice and hilarity."

"...what? No. How is that not obviously no?"

"We don't have to move around! You can have a pillow fight standing in place! And then if you are startled by an unexpected pillow- practice."

"Butbutbut clumsy is still- merde. Can we just not?"

"Sorry!" Jenny says defensively. "I was just trying to help."

"Thanks, but no thanks. And no surprising me with pillows outside an established pillow fight either, thanks."

"I wouldn't now that you've said," Jenny mumbles.

"No offense. Just covering my bases."

"S'okay." She makes for her suitcase, somewhat strewn all over the floor in search of her nail polish, and starts sorting things into piles. "I should clean up, unpack some. Anything else I can tell you while I refold things?"

"I mean - I'm sure there's a million things that I don't know and should know that you do know, but I don't know what they are. And it sounds like they're not obvious."

"I mean, there's all sortsa random stuff to know. I know about seven different ways to try to get feathers off things! But that means it also sorta depends what type you are?"

"I don't have feathers that I saw."

"Then I will spare you the lectures on duct tape and dog brushes!"

"Whaaat? Merde, and I thought the cat fur was bad."

"Do you guys spent a lot of time shopping for accessories marketed to pet owners?"

"Does making my mother do it count?"

"Technically, no..."

"Then nope!"

"Lucky! I've got to go to two, the good horse stuff isn't at the regular pet store."

"What sorts of horse stuff do you even need? Surely not - tack. Hoof picks?"

"We have a couple? But mostly grooming stuff- brushes, hair ribbons for Anne, that sorta thing. And shampoo! Soooooo much shampoo. Horse shampoo is great, we even use it as humans now too."

May giggles. "The hair isn't unrecognizably different or anything?"

"If it is, it has been really sneaky about it!"

May giggles again. "I think I'm pretty scaly. Do I need to, I don't know, polish myself, I wonder."

"Find a pet store with a reptile section and ask? 'Help, I have to babysit this pet, what do I do' or something?"

"Ha. When I've looked through some kind of book of lizards and picked one to pretend I 'have' I may just do that."

"Good plan!"

Jenny is duly excited about May's success!

"Hello?"

"Hi! It's your very favorite lioness. How's the critter life treating you?"

"All right so far. I have not yet had an opportunity to try to breathe fire in a safe environment. Do you know if I can breathe fire?"

"Hah, your guess is as good as mine. I know critter stuff, but up till France I thought dragons were as mythical as you did."

"Yes, but I know that in myths sometimes dragons can breathe fire!"

"Well, I was gonna say we should go to Avalon this weekend. But if you wanna try to set things on fire we could go north to the forest instead?"

"Avalon first. I don't urgently need to set anything on fire."

"As your highly flammable friend, I approve this plan. Sooo! Saturday at one work for you?"

"Saturday at one works for me. How far am I traveling? Do I need to borrow Mom's car?"

"I do not actually know where you live, but it's downtown. Not far from the church on Church Street, if that helps?"

"I will just go ahead and borrow the car, it's simpler. Can I get an actual address?"

Alli provides it. "See ya Saturday!"

Alli's hanging out as promised, chatting with a couple guys whom she shoos once she spots May. "Hey, you made it. Adventure time?"

"Adventure time. Is it accessible or am I wobbling in?"

"I mean, if you wanna bond with the harpies, tough luck. Most of it should be fine? If I forgot any stairs, I can just lift you over." She grins. "Super strength!"

"I mean, I might be able to bond with harpies, too," May points out, and she touches the side of the car for balance and goes around to get her chair out of the back. Out it comes. In it she goes. "Me and the chair should probably take separate trips if you have to haul us."

"Is this more like belonging to an obscure religion or living in a small town that happens to hide in Toronto?"

"Meh. If you live in Avalon, that thing, otherwise the religion one?"

"Fun stuff. Give me the grand tour?"

"Are you buying? I don't want to make any extraneous purchases until I've had a thorough look through the books."

Alli attempts to calculate in her head, but promptly gives up and pulls out her wallet. "Can do," she reports. "So, croissants?"

"Croissants!"

Alli promptly heads towards the shop in question. Croissant time!

There's a familiar face on the patio, sitting at a table across from a centaur girl. Jenny waves. "Alli! May! Hiiii," she calls over. "What're you guys doing here?"

"I'm checking the place out. I belong to this obscure crittery religion now, got to know what it's about."

Jenny giggles. "I belong to a perfectly normal non-crittery religion, thank you very much!"

"Normal?" the centaur asks dryly.

"Yessss, thank you! And not even a little obscure," Jenny replies airily. Then she refocuses. "Oh! Sorry. Emma, this is Alli and May, they go to school with me. Alli, May, this is my friend Emma."

"Hi, Emma," says May. "I was referring to asking Alli earlier if being a critter is more like, I forget what else, or belonging to an obscure religion. No offense meant."

Alli just waves hello.

"Oh it's totally fine, don't worry! I didn't think you meant actually," Jenny reassures her. "Whatcha think of Avalon so far?"

"It's - pleasantly surreal?"

"Oh! Jenny, is this-"

"The new critter girl from France? Yep!"

"Ohhh. Um, sorry, May. I thought you were just, uh- visiting Toronto, or something, at first. Welcome?"

"No, I live in town," May says. "Nice to meet you."

"You too," Emma responds, not dishonestly but still somewhat automatically. "Oh, um, sorry, should've asked- are you two eating here? Did you want to sit? I can move." Her horse half is taking up a fair bit of space, but it's readily movable to the far side of the table to make space if necessary.

"But I don't have a croissant yet!" Alli says, feigning piteousness.

"I could use some room to roll up," May says. "Thanks."

"You okay to stay here if I go grab us croissants?"

"Sure. Thanks."

"Wicked. Back in a sec!" And Alli heads in the direction of pastries.

Emma scoots around the table until she's taking up the spaces behind the table rather than the spots to the side of her. "Better? Can you fit okay?"

"Yep. Non-biped-high-five." May holds up her hand.

Emma is slightly startled by this, but May can have a shy high five anyway. "You're, um. Adjusting okay, then...?" she asks tentatively.

"I mean, it's a shock? Especially since Alli's never seen one of me before and I haven't looked through the library yet. But I'm rolling. So to speak."

"I read kinda a lot; if you want to change I might recognize you?" Emma offers.

"Soooo very a lot," Jenny laughs.

"Oh. Um... sorry."

Alli wanders back, two croissants in hand. She places one on the table in front of May and steals the remaining empty chair for herself. The metal frame makes a creaking, scraping sort of sound as she shoots it closer to the table. "There you go, May. Merde, that sound's annoying." She glares at her chair momentarily before refocusing on her food. "So! What'd I miss?"

May picks up her croissant. "Thanks! I have invented the non-biped-high-five and explained that going fullform doesn't cooperate well with my chair."

"Lions aren't bipeds, do I get to join in this high five business?"

"You are sometimes a biped," says May loftily. "If you really want I will let you."

"You are sometimes also a biped! But you can keep the high fives for when I am actually a lion if you want."

"I am seldom a biped. I avoid it much of the time. I am typically a wheeled vehicle."

"How do two legs even work?" Emma asks curiously. "Isn't balancing hard? Don't you... tip, or something?"

"I do! Hence the chair. They don't, ask them how it works."

"Medallion magic?" Alli suggests facetiously.

"Ah, merde. Sorry!"

"Alliiii," Jenny complains.

"I'm sorry! I said I was sorry! I forgot!"

"S'okay," Emma mumbles. "I'm used to it. Well, um, mostly."

"You don't get a medallion for... reasons?"

"There aren't any, for centaurs. Or if there were, they're lost."

"And nobody has filled the demand?"

"No one knows how. It's one of the lost magics."

Jenny cracks up. "Awww, you have a list? What else is on the list?"

"See if I can find what I am, learn magic in general and apply it to all the problems of the world and incidentally become a billionaire," says May.

"Man, you don't think small, do you?"

"Nope."

Croissant om nom. "Yes please."

Alli stands up, wincing at the resulting chair noise, and waves goodbye to the equines. "Thanks for letting us crash your table, guys! See you around?"

Jenny laughs. "Well yeah, see you Monday!"

"Bye, nice t'meet you," Emma murmurs.

"Likewise!" says May, and she rolls after Alli.

Alli fails to spot anyone else interesting on their way in search of books. The store's just across the square, and they arrive relatively quickly.

Alli squirms. "Hi, Miss Viv," she mumbles into her shoulder. "I have school, and stuff."

"Well, that's hardly an excuse," Miss Viv retorts. "Books are good for the soul, you know." Her eyes light on May. "A new face! Hello there. I'm Miss Viv, it's lovely to meet you."

"Hello, Miss Viv. I'm May."

"Welcome, welcome. Can I help you find anything? Forgive me for supposing you're the one shopping, but this one-" she looks at Alli in amused exasperation- "is probably not the reason you're here."