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"So, we just have to stay one more night?" Chiboom looked over at Nate as she checked over her new set of armor one more time. Apparently, the boy wanted to make sure the bracelet was working correctly, and if it wasn't, would still be at the college to fix the problem.

"Yes. My medicine works in 24 hour cycles, so if anything goes wrong it would be safest to still be here where we can finetune it." Nate couldn't help but toy with the bracelet, telling himself that it was his imagination if he felt like it was making his arm tingle. But was it? He had no idea how this magic worked, except that it was supposed to replace his medicine, based on science that had been explained to them only hours before they made it. So he was understandably nervous as he waited for any sign that the bracelet wasn't doing its job and the symptoms were on the rise. He turned to Zericho, realizing that he had been a bit presumptuous in assuming that they would already have lodgings.

"...We do have a place we can stay, right?" He kind of hoped that it wouldn't be Zinoe's treehouse again, because as nice as it had been, he wanted to be closer to the college in case the charm failed.

Zericho snorted, "Kid, in case you haven't noticed, I'm kind of a big deal around here, I already got us in at a hotel right down the block. I mean sure, they had to kick out one or two reservations to do it, but hey, royal business comes first." He stretched as he got up, "I don't know what you're so worried for, us imps are some of the best magic users in the land, and this is where they all gather; if anyone can cure your crazy, it's my people." He seemed very proud of that fact, even though technically he hadn't accomplished anything.

Nate slowly narrowed his eyes at him. "My 'crazy'?" He asked in a warning tone.

Zericho chuckled nervously, it wasn't that he meant to offend, which apparently he had, it was just that he had never dealt with someone with any mental problems before, although he realized dimly that using the word 'crazy', probably wasn't the greatest idea, "Um, sorry? What would you like it to be called?"

Chiboom sighed, the prince really was absolutely clueless the majority of the time.

"Mental. Health. Issue." Nate stated firmly, his eyes never leaving Zericho's own. "Got it?"

Zericho nodded, wearing his best smile, "Crystal, buddy!" He looked around for a moment, seemingly bored, "So, uh... you wanna head off or what? It's getting kind of late, and after a long day like today, I wouldn't mind a little nap."

Nate nodded, as there seemed to be nothing else that required him to stay, but he paused when he passed by the headmaster's desk. One of the books stood out among the rest, as it seemed a vibrant blue and green to the more reddish tomes. Most of the Imps in the room had cleared out, already eager to begin new experiments and expand on what they had learned today, but Zathoom was still in the room, talking in serious tones with a pair of younger looking Imps who were mostly nodding in response. Nate caught his eye and indicated the book, to which Zathoom nodded and waved him off irritably. Nate mouthed his thanks and took the book off of the desk, curious about the contents. It was beautifully illustrated, and though he couldn't read the words within, the pictures showed noble looking Imps posing over and around people who looked sick or injured, and the progression on the page showed the stricken person recovering. He looked up to see that Chiboom and Zericho were already leaving, and hurried to catch up. "Zericho? What is this book about?"

"Hm?" Zericho looked up to see Nate holding the tome in front of him, and quickly inspected the page it was open too, "Huh, that's the old tongue, must be a pretty old book. I was never crazy about learning the stuff, but my father made me; looks like it's about healing spells, this page is about um... something about legs."

Nate's heart beat a little faster as Zericho confirmed what he'd hoped. Serenium was a magical world, assuming he wasn't just hallucinating it all, and that heavily clothed Imp back at Zinoe's treehouse had mentioned that he had 'learned' the laundry spell. So if magic could be learned, and he had a spell book...

"So... Could it teach me how to do spells like this?" He tried to sound nonchalant as they resumed progress towards the hotel that Zericho had found, but he couldn't hide the hope in his eyes.

Zericho was a little surprised by the look in Nate's eyes, although when he thought about it, it did make sense, the kid probably would've already been heading down this path if he had been born in this world. "Well, yeah, I mean, not everyone's cut out for it though, ya know? Nonmagical races such as yours need something to channel the magic through. A wand, or a staff, something like that. I'd also mention that people who are, well, I'll be blunt, too stupid, have trouble with magic, but you seem smart enough." He smirked as he eyed Nate, "I mean, I did grab something at the market that might actually be just the thing to help you start."

He motioned to Chiboom, who rolled her eyes as she dug into her pack and brought out what looked to be a very small knife, almost like a scalpel. Zericho grabbed it, and showed it to Nate, "Apparently, this was crafted by a guy who was experimenting with enchantments, he screwed up big time, so instead of increasing the damage, this is a knife that heals."

Nate stared at Zericho dubiously. "...Are you messing with me? This is seriously a healing shiv? You got me a healing shiv that I can use to stab someone for negative damage? 'Cause that is both seriously awesome, and ridiculously stupid, and I am gonna be really mad if you're just kidding."

Zericho scowled. "I'm not joking! It really heals people!" He decided to prove his point, and held the knife at arm's length before plunging it into his own stomach with a grunt. Nate gasped, reflexively reaching for him, hoping to keep the knife in so he wouldn't bleed out until they could stitch the wound and assess the damage... only for Zericho to chuckle and pull the knife out, leaving behind a vibrant green glow that bloomed like a plant made of light and showed no injury.

"Believe me now?" He teased, as Nate angrily snatched the knife away and stomped after Chiboom, determined to ignore Zericho's laughter as he fluttered after them.

In their room, Nate had made himself comfortable on his own bed and was examining the knife and the book. He knew he'd need a translation sooner or later, but for now he just wanted to familiarize himself with both his new acquisitions. The knife was slender, more like a tougher-looking scalpel, and he practiced swishing it back and forth, and pointing it like a wand. He couldn't suppress the swell of childish excitement as he came to grips with the fact that this could actually become his own magic wand, the kind that would allow him to cast real magical spells. It was like falling into a Harry Potter novel, except with more dicks. This made him pause and sigh a little as it reminded him again of the possibility that this was a hallucination. He flipped through the pages of the book, trying to learn as much as he could from the illustrations alone. It seemed like the Imps were always standing straight, with their hands extended over the patient, almost like they were blessing them. Which, of course, they were in a way. He tried to copy the pose by sitting with his back straight and extending his knife to arm's length, willing some spark of energy to appear.

After a few attempts and nothing happening, he realized it probably wouldn't be quite so easy. He'd have to go to Zericho or someone else who could read the book, and have them translate it, maybe even teach him some of the language written down. For now, maybe he should merely experiment with the knife? As he looked it over, it seemed to be just that, a simple knife, there was nothing special about it, unless he held it a certain way; then the light would reflect off the knife in a very strange manner. Nate supposed that was the sign that it was enchanted. He wasn't about to stab himself in the gut with the knife: he wasn't quite as confident in its abilities (not to mention the renewed fear that this was still a hallucination, and he was in fact holding a real knife right now, one that wouldn't heal the wound it left behind). Instead, he tried something simple, and not quite as dangerous, he gently pricked himself, flinching at the pain. However, instead of the wound healing instantly like it did with Zericho, blood began to seep from the small cut. "Shit!"

Zericho walked into the room at that moment, having decided it was best to make sure the bracelet was working on Nate as intended, "Hey kid, I... what are you doing?"

Nate, having wiped the blood off, was applying a bandage from the supplies he'd requested before they had left the brothel. He glared sullenly at Zericho. "What does it look like? I tried to use the knife like you did, but it didn't work." He would have accused Zericho of tricking him, but stabbing yourself in the stomach seemed to be too far to go just for a joke.

Zericho hissed, and grabbed the knife off the table, "Damn, maybe its enchantment was already wearing off when I bought it, if so that merchant..." As he inspected the knife, he was surprised, "Um... it's still fine, the enchantment is still in place." He looked back up at Nate with concern, "You sure you used the knife for that, right?" However, to his alarm, Nate not only didn't respond, he stood there with a blank look on his face. "Um... kid? You okay?" He asked nervously.

Nate didn't respond. He didn't move, he didn't flinch, he simply stared at nothing with a blank expression on his face, as though he was deep in thought. When Zericho demanded his attention again, and then again after that, he blinked and looked at him. "Hm? What? Sorry, I must have..." He was going to say that he'd zoned out, but he had been taught to recognize his symptoms, and looked at his charm in distress. "Zericho, I don't think it's working!"

"Wait, what, what do you mean?" Zericho was worried that what he had just seen meant something bad. But he had expected the mage's solution to work at least a little bit! He looked over the bracelet and saw that it had already been drained of it's enchantment, "Damn, come on, you and I are heading back to the college."

After Nate quickly swallowed a small handful of pills, Zericho fetched Chiboom, and the three made it down the street to the college in a manner of minutes.

Zericho quickly slammed through the doors, with Chiboom and a nervous Nate, ducking to enter. "Hey, Zathoom, you dried up windbag! Get down here!"

"Are you serious?!" Zathoom took several minutes to appear this time, and he hadn't even bothered to put his clothes back on. Nate focused very hard on a far wall, concentrating on his problem and not the fact that Imps appeared to age very gracefully. "I give all day to you paladins and then when I'm finally getting some stress relief from my students, you barge in here and yell!? Out! Whatever it is, it can wait until I've finished grading at least three oral exams!"

Nate could take no more, and thrust his wrist in the direction of the naked Imp. "It stopped working! It stopped working just a few minutes ago!"

"What?" Zathoom's anger evaporated as scholarly curiosity took its place. He flew over to Nate and studied the Charm, sniffing it carefully, and then licking the underside of his arm without warning. "Hmmm.." Ignoring Nate's outraged yelp, he rubbed his chin, putting his formidable mind to the task at hand.

"It makes no sense. If it didn't work, that would be one thing, but for the spell itself to fade already? Something is wrong. Your own body tastes very odd, too. Physically, you're just an ordinary human, but the background magic..." He paused, and glanced at Nate once more. "I wonder... Hold still, young human." He pointed at Nate and his fingertip flared with purple light, a shower of violet sparkles flying from his finger to impact on Nate, though the human instinctively covered his head. His whole body began to break out in blue dots, only for them to fade away almost as quickly.

"The fuck was that!?" Nate exclaimed.

"Ah-ha!" Zathoom puffed up with pride. "I have solved it! He comes from a world without magic, which we thought meant he merely did not have exposure to it. But it is clear that there is some subtle form of anti-magic at work in his world, which he has been exposed to his entire life! My guess is that he still carries trace elements of the anti-magic in his body, which quickly negates the effects of any spell that is cast on him! The weaker the spell, the faster it is broken, which was why my Dot spell lasted seconds, and the powerful Charm lasted for hours! Expounding on this, the simple solution is to recast the Charm and keep it charged with a continuous supply of magic! I will have an assistant recast it immediately. Now... if there are no further interruptions, either one of you put your face underneath my tail or I'm heading back to my students! No takers? Then I wish you a good night!" With that, and a furious flap of his wings, he took off into the air, and it was Nate's misfortune to open his eyes right when Zathoom was at the perfect height to make him regret doing so.

"Oh god it burns!" Nate was still cowering and complaining when a smaller pink Imp and a heavily bejeweled light orange one timidly approached, informing them that the Headmaster had shoved a spell into their hands and ordered them to cast it on a Charm. Nate reluctantly relinquished the hand that wore the jewel and devoted the other one to try and scrub the image from his eyes. The pink Imp's eyes glowed a deep blue while he wrote the symbols for the spell in the air, which were then sucked into the Charm, and the light orange Imp muttered softly as he read off the incantation and waved his hands to create clouds of glittering light that were likewise absorbed by the gem.

"How long is this going to take?" Nate asked, after several minutes had passed. If it worked correctly, he would no longer be in danger of a resurgence of the symptoms, but how was he going to keep it charged? It wasn't as though there were magically outlet he could just plug it into as they went. He tried to do a mental system's check to see if it was working, but as before, he knew he would only notice the presence of the Charm if it wasn't doing its job. Not to mention he had just downed his pills, so he would theoretically have to wait another 24 hours.

Zericho looked from where the elderly imp had flown off, to Nate. "So... that was interesting, huh kid?" He smiled at Nate who merely stared back for a few moments, still recovering from the ordeal.

When the two Imps shyly informed them that the spell was complete, Nate stared at the jewel and felt a stab of disappointment. He had really allowed himself to think, for a moment, that there really was some magical cure for his condition, and that some strange wizard could wave a magic wand and make him better, but this was really just another form of pill. His shoulders slumped and he mumbled his thanks to the two small Imps, turning to Zericho and Chiboom.

"Let's go back. It's going to work at least until tomorrow, and I took my pills to be certain. So there's nothing else we can do tonight but sleep." He didn't bother to hide the unhappiness in his voice as he shuffled past the two of them back to the hotel.

Zericho walked over to one of the imps that had just cast the spell to ask them how long this enchantment would last, after telling them how long the original had lasted, they informed him that this one would need to be charged again within 5 days. He sighed as he went over this in his head, "Well, thanks, it's better than nothing I guess."

He quickly caught up with Chiboom, who herself was walking closely behind Nate. "Don't worry so much kid, it's bad for you. I know things are looking down, but um..." Zericho tried to think of something inspirational to say to the boy, but came up short, instead settling for, "At least now you won't run out before we get you home, right?"

Nate only sighed. "Zericho..." He began, then lost his momentum. "...It's not that, exactly." He began to toy with the bracelet. He was going to just go to bed, but if Zericho was actually going to make an effort, then he felt he could meet him halfway.

"Assuming I am sane, and this is all real, I managed to come to a magical world of endless possibility, and it still turns out that one of the biggest problems in my life can't be permanently solved. Not even with magic. It's just... I had really thought I'd finally found the answer I'd been looking for, and now all I get is another stopgap." They had reached their room, and Nate walked over to his bed to set the book on the small table next to it before he simply flopped down on his mattress.

"I'm sorry, I should be happy that I won't have to go through that while I'm here. I just need some sleep. Good night, guys."

Chiboom looked down at Zericho and sighed, "Well, I guess I'll head in for the night too. Later, you two."

Zericho stared at Nate, then looked at Chiboom as if he would find the solution to his confusion with her. The orc warrior ignored him in favor of readying herself for bed, and Zericho was left alone to frown at the human and try to give a name to the disquiet that he felt. It was strange to see Nate like this; even in the short time that Zericho had known him, he had seemed uncompromising and confusing, and seeing him act so vulnerable and sad... It gave the Imp a strange feeling, similar to when he saw one of his concubines upset about something. He felt a compulsion to offer Nate something nice, like gold or an expensive whore to try and cheer him up, and his unhappiness seemed to somehow cause Zericho to be unhappy as well. But neither the prince's vast wealth, nor power, or magical prowess could solve Nate's problem, so Zericho was left to ponder in silence, long after he'd laid down in his soft bed and tried to sleep. He couldn't help Nate, he knew that, but it occurred to him before he finally felt ready to sleep that he might be able to help Nate help himself.

---

When Nate awoke the next morning, after doing as much of his morning routine as he could; fortunately the bathroom provided was actually quite luxurious, so he didn't have to settle for the most part, even having a quick bath that made him feel much better, physically at the very least.

As he exited the bathroom, only partially dressed and his hair still damp, he saw Zericho standing in his room, seemingly waiting for him. "Oh... Hey... sorry about last night." He looked away, ashamed.

Zericho was dressed up more than usual, wearing some kind of decorative anklets and bracers, and his expression was oddly serious. "Don't worry about that. I was thinking about it, and you're right: Cause of your weird magical resistance, we probably can't cast a spell on you that can... cure you. But I was wondering if maybe we can't make it so you can cure yourself. I think I can help, but you gotta do two things: Sit down on the bed, and don't freak out when I touch you. Trust me, I'm not after your family jewels this time."

Nate frowned, slightly confused "What? Why do you have to touch me?"

"To test you. Look, it's a safe bet you have a soul." Zericho saw the look Nate was giving him and quickly followed up with: "And if you have a soul, then you can do magic! Your body may be resistant for now at least, but that might still change, and if you can cast spells on your own, you can change the... stuff in your brain so you don't do the... erm... stuff. And I need to touch you to check your soul and see if you can do magic."

Nate seemed to think this over for a few seconds with skepticism, "You know, back in my world, if you had approached me, saying this kind of stuff, I'd say you were insane." He snorted, "I mean, magic is one thing; but there's not even any proof of souls existing as more than an idea back there. But... if you think there's a chance, I'm willing to take it. Can... you just answer a question first?"

Zericho folded his arms and looked uncertain. "Sure...?"

"...why are you doing this?" Nate glanced to the side, "I mean..." He trailed off, not really able to finish the sentence.

The small Imp's ears flicked up indignantly, and he seemed to ready and angry retort, and then his expression softened. "Kid..." He took a deep breath. "...Nate. I'm a selfish, spoiled, arrogant, lustful guy whose major contribution to the world will be, if I'm lucky, to pump out an heir who isn't a complete disappointment. And I'm not ashamed of any of that, by the way." He puffed out his chest and spread his wings, to prove his words. "...What I would be ashamed of is just sitting back and ignoring that somebody who hasn't got anyone else is miserable when I could just take an hour or two a day to help them. All right?" He neglected to mention that the idea of Nate in particular being miserable made him feel sad, because he didn't understand it himself, and had no idea how to explain it. Anyway, what he'd said was the truth, so that would suffice, right?

Nate smiled sadly, it was rare that someone was so honest with him, especially after he let them know about his condition, "Um... thank you, you aren't really obligated to do this, you know. Hell, I doubt it's going to work." He sat down on the bed and sighed, "But... I'd like to try."

"Great!" Zericho grinned at him and flew up to the bed, landing next to Nate and holding up his hands. "Putting them behind my back, see?" He folded his hands behind his back, and approached the human before leaning forward until his nose was just above Nate's chest and sniffing him carefully.

Nate blushed, this was way closer than just about anyone aside from his parents ever got to him, "Uh, what are you doing?"

Zericho ignored him for the moment, leaning back and then sniffing Nate's back, walking around him and inhaling the scent he got from the other side of Nate's chest before stepping back, considering. "Okay... the good news is: you have a soul! I can smell it in your heart's blood. So now we gotta find out if you can do magic." So saying he walked behind Nate and then leaned against him, pressing his ear to the human's back and listening carefully, his eyes flicking this way and that as his other ear twitched.

Nate wasn't sure what was going on, this seemed more like a strange physical than a way to check for magic, "So... should I start to take deep breaths, or anything like that?"

The Imp didn't say anything, too busy trying to gauge the emanations he was hearing from the sound of Nate's heartbeat. It wasn't quite like what he had heard before when he was listening to magic, but it sounded about right. He stepped back, frowning and then looked at Nate. "Alright. The good news is that you can probably do magic. The bad news is that I might suck at teaching you."

"Uh, okay? Mind explaining?" Nate asked, eyebrow raised in confusion. There wasn't much about what Zericho had just said that was self explanatory.

Zericho had been taught by the best tutors the Impire could provide when it came to utilizing his royal potential for magic. Unfortunately, they had neglected to teach him how to explain things to neophytes, so Zericho was left struggling to find the words Nate would understand. "It's like... you can make magic happen, but it's gonna be hard for you to do it like I do. 'Cause your magic doesn't sound like mine does."

Nate continued to look skeptical, that explanation wasn't much better, "Okay so... ignoring all the parts of that I don't understand, you think maybe someone back at the college might be able to help? Because, I thought about some things last night, and I wanted to go back there for a little something, well a big something I guess."

"Sure. But let's find out what we're working with, first." He flapped over to the bedside table and picked up Nate's book and knife, and set them on the bed next to the human. Then he flew to the window and darted outside, returning shortly with a handful of leaves. "These will work. Now, watch me." He set the leaves down except for the largest he could find, which he ripped in half, setting said halves down on the bed. He picked up Nate's knife, and then opened the book, flipping through it until he found a picture of an Imp gesturing grandly to a flourishing tree. "Here we go..." He pointed the knife at the ripped leaf and made a noise. Not a word, exactly, just a deep noise that made Nate's skin tingle as green energy shot from the tip of the knife to the leaf. The energy flowed between the two halves until they had sealed themselves back together, leaving the leaf looking like it had never been torn. "Nice, huh? You could put it right back on the tree if you wanted to. Alright, now you try, and I'll help you with the pronunciation."

Nate slowly picked up the knife, and then tore one of the leaves in half, just like Zericho had, "Like this right?" Zericho simply nodded, and Nate continued. He looked down at the leaf, then at the book, and tried to pose himself in the same way as that in the book, "Okay... now what should I do?"

"Just try to relax, and focus on..." Zericho hesitated, as the traditional Imp icons of meditation: "A nice dick, a ready hole" probably would not suit Nate. "...On healing stuff. Think about healing stuff, and just let it out." He stepped behind Nate and placed his palm against the human's back, and focused on the symbol in the book, helping Nate to make the same noise. Nate felt his heart beat speeding up, as a kind of electricity surged through him. A noise escaped his mouth, and a shock traveled through the arm holding the knife, resulting in... Nothing. No light, no visible change.

Nate couldn't help but chuckle, "Well... that went about as well as I thought it would." He looked back at Zericho with a sigh, "Sorry, guess this was kind of a waste of time, huh?" Still, he had to admit, the strange feeling he had gotten in his arm, maybe there was something going on with him in the magical sense after all.

Annoyed, Zericho grabbed the ripped leaf and inspected it carefully. "But I felt you cast a spell! It doesn't make sense that it didn't- AH!" He flung the two halves away in shock, as something had begun moving on them. The leaves hit the post on the bed, and the moving parts revealed themselves to be root-like tendrils, which dug deep into the wood. Nate and Zericho felt the frame of the bed tremble as the magic took hold, and saw branches and leaves begin to sprout all over the wooden bed. "...Like I said, your magic has a weird sound..."

"What the fuck." Nate said, it wasn't a question, it was most definitely a statement. "...I did that?" He asked, still not quite believing what had just occurred, looking over the still growing tendrils that were emerging from the bed post, some of them even sprouting small flowers. "That wasn't you, right? Playing some kind of prank?"

Zericho looked annoyed. "Kid, are you joking? I can do some pretty amazing stuff, but this? You made the bed come back to life! This is like... I don't know, something out of a fairy tale! That spell was just to mend plantlife, and you... I have no idea how you did this. Yeah, we sure as Hells are going back to the college to find out more!"

---

After quickly making their way down the block, and getting in another disucssion with Zathoom, who was not getting interrupted mid-meeting, and so thankfully dressed this time, they sat down and began to explain to him what had just happened, recounting the outcome of Zericho's little experiment. Sure enough, just as Zericho figured would happen, the old imp was more than slightly intrigued with what they had to say.

"Interesting. Very interesting! You say that it triggered some kind of sympathetic reaction with the wood of the bed? But there was no visible effect of the spell itself? No light aura, nothing? Just the physical sensations and the sound of his magic? It could be many things." Zathoom began to pace, having left two very well-screwed students in his bed, he was in an excellent mood and more than willing to tackle this mystery. "It could be many things. It was an ancient arboreal repair spell combined with a healing tool, cast by someone who might have an affinity for healing magic. It could be these factors multiplied the spell's effects. Or it might have been that the Prince's considerable power boosted your own, resulting in an unexpected synergy. Or possibly your own magic immunity leads to direct transfer of magic without any wasted energy on visual phenomenon, which would account for the dramatic results!" He looked excited, ears perked up high and a gleam in his eye. "This calls for many more tests! We must make certain of this! You must be certain to repeat this spell-"

"On the road." Zericho reminded him firmly, his arms folded.

Zathoom's ears fell and his expression turned to a scowl. "Yes yes, on the road. But this is wonderful, Nate! If you can learn to overcome your own magical immunity, I am certain that you could manage to correct your chemical imbalances permanently if you are demonstrating this level of power!"

Nate nodded, it seemed like a ridiculously long long shot, but... if there was a chance, it was worth trying. And besides, even if it didn't work, he was still going to be learning magic along the way, which was pretty awesome. There was one other thing he had to take care of though, "So, Zathoom, what are the chances you could lend me some more of those books, you know, to help with the learning process on the road. After all, I lent you mine, and by lend I mean very generously gave away."

Zathoom's look of brief panic and sudden impression of an Imp being forced to swallow a frog were very telling. "Ah... While I am more than happy to supply you with those books, Nate, I was meaning to talk to you about your own books." He coughed into his fist, folded his wings, and adopted his Very Official Tone, useful in getting more funding from alumni and students alike. "It is important that you first understand that our university trades more in invaluable knowledge than in petty trinkets like gold. We enhance the magical understanding of magic users throughout the Impire, and at times we must take something of a monetary loss for the sake of enriching the lives of our students. So it is during such trying times when we must ask that others be patient as we try to build up the funds to-"

"Spit. It. Out!" Zericho demanded.

Zathoom threw up his hands. "We can't pay you for the information in the books right now! We haven't got enough money! Alright? There was FAR more in there than we realized, and the only thing more breath-taking than what we've learned is the debt we've calculated! We simply cannot afford to pay you right now!" The headmaster turned away, folding his wings around himself in a pout.

Nate shrugged, "Okay, I can deal with that, assuming everything goes to plan, I don't need the money." He turned to Zericho, "You've got enough for our trip right? I mean you're royalty, you've got to have a bunch stored away."

Zathoom turned around slowly, not sure if he heard that correctly. "What? Do you not understand? You sold us information worth a mountain of gold! You could buy this town! And you're just... dismissing it? You don't want it?"

Nate chuckled, "Um... I'm trying to go home remember? I mean, yeah I wouldn't mind some gold, but that's my main goal. My family's pretty financially secure all told, and... look, by giving you guys this information, I've saved, how many lives? I don't know but it's probably a shit load; that's why I wanted to go into pharmacology in the first place. Like I said, if you have some gold to spare, I wouldn't mind taking it, but I'm more interested in any books you could lend me. Plus I can learn stuff unknown in my world just as you are doing from my books, so it kinda balances out? I mean, if there's a chance of taking this stuff back to my home universe, it could change things, and I mean big time." He, of course, didn't mention that if he did, in fact, manage to bring magic back home, actual magic, he'd get plenty rich off that.

"Are you a saint?!" Zathoom exclaimed, completely aghast. It wasn't as though Imps didn't understand altruism, but shrugging off that much wealth and being content with saving lives seemed almost unbelievable. When it became clear that Nate wasn't joking, Zathoom dazedly waved his hand. "Yes. Fine. You can have them. With bells on, no less." With one more bewildered look at Nate, he rose into the air and flapped away to retrieve the books and the protection spells to ensure they would be safe for the journey.

Nate smiled as they packed up the tomes. He was glad to see that some of them were actually written in English; it had struck him as strange a bit ago that this other universe happened to speak English, out of all languages, but he supposed at least he had been lucky in that regard. That said, the one back at the hotel, and a few of the new ones he had received were still in that old language Zericho had talked about, "Hey, you guys wouldn't happen to have any dictionaries would you? To help me translate this old language of yours, I can't read it."

Zathoom nodded absently, still reeling from the shock of not having to empty out the college's vaults to pay for what they had gained. "Hmm? Oh no no, we can do better than that." He rummaged through the drawers on his desk, trying to calculate how much this equaled in profit and finding he couldn't imagine numbers that high. He found the drawer he was looking for, and pulled out several pairs of glasses, idly tossing them over his shoulder until he found a pair that seemed about Nate's size. He held them out in front of him, pointed at the human, and pictured them on him, then tossed them aside as well. "No. Nope. No. No... No. Ah!" He triumphantly rose into the air, and tapped the tip of his claw three times on each lens, causing a flash of blue light as symbols appeared on the glass. "Here we are. These will translate the book, and most other languages you read." Not coincidentally, they looked pretty good on him.

"Really? Awesome." Nate slid the glasses on, finding that they actually fit his face quite well, to his surprise, and they did not distort his vision as prescription glasses would have. He looked over at Zericho, "How do I look? I've never worn glasses."

The prince looked at him, and though he managed to keep his face composed, his tail slowly rose into the air. "Not bad, I guess."

Nate nodded, and adjusted them, trying to get as comfortable as possible, "Okay, cool. I've got a buttload of magical books, a pair of magical glasses, and the ability to actually cast magical spells. Today's looking a lot better than it started out." He looked over at the two imps with a smirk, "So... now what? I mean is there anything else we need to sort out?"

"We have an Impire to retake! We're stocked up and ready to go. As soon as we eat, we're hitting the trail to the next kingdom. That freak Xelto better have his rock-hard ass in gear, because his Prince is coming and I had better be impressed when I get there." Zericho declared, flapping up until he was roughly at eye-level with the other two. "Any objections? Well it doesn't matter cause I'm the Prince and I say we're going."

Chiboom and Nate looked at each other and rolled their eyes. As they made their way out, Nate realized something, "Wait... I don't think we ever said goodbye to Zinoe."

Chiboom shrugged, not really feeling obligated in such a way towards the imp, "Well, don't look at me kid, I don't know where he is."

"He's probably having sex." Zericho warned Nate. The boy couldn't deny that was a fairly accurate guess, and blushed.

"Oh... well maybe we could leave him a note or something?"

"Actually, that won't be necessary." As if on cue, the glowing imp walked around the corner. "It is as I say, little brother, the path of life guides us where we are needed."

"How long were you standing out there, waiting for your chance?" Zericho demanded.

Zinoe laughed lightly, "Not very long, I was stopping by the college to oversee some of the mages being transferred to the good fight against our invaders." He turned to Nate, "I suppose this is goodbye then, little brother. I wish you the best upon your journey, and to remember that it is that, and not the destination that is truly important."

Nate smirked, "Well, can't say I haven't heard that before, but thank you. You were... really nice." He knelt down with a blush, and gave the imp a short hug.

Zinoe was startled by the gesture, not having expected Nate to go as far as to touch him, but it only took him a second to wrap his arms around the human in reply and gently touch his head against Nate's own, releasing him when the he started to pull away. "It's was a pleasure to walk beside you, little brother. Whatever turns our paths take us on, I promise we'll meet again. In this lifetime or another, I wouldn't miss the chance to walk next to you again." He reached for Nate's hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze before stepping back.

Nate's blush grew a little, but he smiled back, "Thanks Zinoe, like I said, though not quite so eloquently, it was nice. Good luck out there."

Zinoe gave him a thumbs up, and then turned to Zericho, who seemed to be glaring at the glowing imp. "...My prince. One day you may embrace the righteous path, and I will be happy to welcome you. Till then, I can only humbly suggest you heed the voice of your soul when it urges you at the forks in your path." Bowing deeply to the prince, he turned to Chiboom. "Big sister? Try to be patient."

Chiboom rolled her eyes, not truly appreciating advice she had received dozens of times before, but admiring the effort at least,"Much easier said than done, but thanks anyway."

Zinoe shrugged at her with a smile. With those two as her temporary younger brothers, she was going to need all the patience she could muster.

Nate waved as the three walked off, "Like you said Zinoe, I'll see you again!"

Zericho looked up at him, somewhat confused as to why the whole display-of-affect thing had made him feel so uncomfortable with.

Zinoe smiled and waved back, "You too, little brother."With that, he rose into the air and flew out, as there would be much more to do in order to rally this kingdom for war. But the fire had been lit, and the Impire was on the move. The demons would soon face greater proof that this collection of "mere Imps" and their thralls would prove a far more difficult prize than they had imagined.