[center]48[/center]
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After the first night, everything else paled in comparison when it came to excitement. Calixta walked around as if emotionally drained, and though it felt awkward to be around Aegar, she found that she was finally starting to complete the process of letting Acheron go... not her love for him, but the pain and sadness that she had bottled up inside. The week seemed to go by slowly; days were filled with physical and magical training that seemed to be even harder than what she learned on Nymphe. But, all of it kept her mind busy and off the emotional turmoil within her. 

The easiest magic to cover was, of course, water. She excelled in the advanced spells of water healing, surpassing most of the students who took the course. Then again, few students took focus in water magic as it was naturally wielded by the hands of the nymphs, and there were no others of her race to compete with. Seeing that she excelled in the most advanced aspects of water, the professor transfered her to a different class, which covered Ice manipulation. She found it difficult at first to change the state of water, but once she got the hang of it, she was surprised by everything that she could do. She found that, not only did she excel at healing, but she also excelled in defensive magic as well. One of her favorite ice spells involved creating an exoskeleton of almost any animal she could think of. It was pretty much the only offensive magic she knew, but she felt that was all she needed. It also seemed the more fun and made her feel more at home, which made things a bit better for her at the University.

It seemed the biggest thing that set her apart from the all the students, including the other Sages, was the fact she was a nymph. The gossip that had started about her wasn't because she excelled in water and ice magic, it wasn't because she almost flooded a room out of fear of trying fire magic, and it wasn't even the fact that she was seen yelling at her peacock Garon. It was simply that she was beautiful. Wherever she walked, she attracted attenion from the other students-- male, female, elf, demon, human... It seemed like [i]everyone[/i] tried to interact with her. Of course, each interaction was different and it often ended in her expressing annoyance at whoever was subject to her emotions that day. So it was that she often kept to herself within the gardens, reading or just relaxing in her free time. 

But try as she might to lie low, there was no escaping the unwanted dirty attention that was lavished upon her, especially by the demons. The second week at the University, during a meal break in the dining hall with Summer, she was rudely interrupted by a male demon. 

"Hey Calixta," he started, wearing a boyish grin on his face. It was one she didn't appreciate. "I noticed you don't eat meat. Would you say you like eating muffins?" 

"...Yes, I guess so," the nymph replied with a shrug, looking up with a smile on her face. "Why do you ask?" 

"Well, I wanted to know: are your muffins buttered?"

"Hmm?"

"Would you like me to butter your muffin?" A snicker rang out in the long table to the demon's left side. 

Summer looked at the demon and glared at him, "Why don't you take a spiked mace and shove it up your ass you degenerate freak."

The demon's smile was quickly wiped off his face. "No one asked you, slave girl. Shut it, you're only half a shifter. Not even a real one." 

Summer's eyes flash the silver of her fox and she jumps to her feet, "That's all I need," she snarled as she changed into her Fox form, towering over the demon, [i]"Its enough to deal with scum like you. Now leave my Friend alone!"[/i]

"Easy, Summer," Calixta murmerd, putting a hand on the fox's back. She giggled. "Look, he's already afraid of you." 

It was true. His skin visibly paled and his eyes went wide as he took in Summer's fox form, and he stammered some incoherent response about "joking around."

Summer snorted, her hot breath causing the demon's hair to move slightly as she placed her face close to his. [i]"If you, or any of you Demon friends come anywhere near Calixta again, I will tear you apart and feed you to the wolves, am I understood?"[/i] The Demon simply nodded his head and the rancid smell of urine hit her nostrils, [i["You should go clean up now... before everyone else notices you urinated yourself at the site of a [/i]slave girl.[i] It wouldn't seem very... manly."[/i]

Calixta covered her mouth and let out a dainty giggle before it blossomed to an outright guffaw, and she threw her head back as she watched the demon skitter off. "I told you to take it easy, Summer! You didn't have to make him [i]piss himself[/i]. Now the whole school may think we're completely insane! ... It does make for a rather funny story though, wouldn't you say? I just hate the no one will leave me alone sometimes. It's infuriating!" 

Summer let out a small growl like chuckle, [i]"Well at least you have me now to put them in check, maybe if I scare enough of the ones wno treat you like a piece of meat, the rest will get the hint."[/i] She playfully nudged Calla with her muzzle.

"And let's not forget about the girls who like to talk! You know, they talk about the both of us. It's maddening really. If you ask me, it's just because we're more beautiful than they are." The nymph winked at the fox beside her and stroked the soft fur. "And not to mention that we get to regularly spend time with the men who are put on a pedestal, and not just for their magical ability-- for their looks, too!" 

Calla heard Summer's soft laughter in her head as she leaned into the Nymph's soft touch, [i]"Let them talk, it won't get them anywhere... the men we are lucky to call our allies and friends aren't so shallow... though Aegar seems like he would have a go with anything on two legs... maybe four... I haven't tested out that theory yet."[/i]

"Summer, please don't test that with yourself... He may eat you or something!" Calixta whispered the last part, but still laughed at Summer's words. Satsifed with her meal, the nymph stood and offered to walk with her new friend back to the towers.