by Amy Mah
“Come in, stand still, and don’t fidget! First, I want a volunteer to remove her uniform and stand here with me so I can point out to the class what is wrong with her. Well?”
Alyce was surprised that she got a volunteer right away, as one of her fellow onlookers moved forward and started to remove her top. Now all ideas of this being anything like Hogwarts vanished from her mind and was replaced by the idea of a reality TV show instead, and probably a very late night one.
“That’s good; if she had not volunteered I would have had you all strip. So second, this course is worth 10 life points to you if you pass, and I will make sure you earn every single one of them! But for volunteering, this one will earn 20 life points if she passes, which by the current look of her is most unlikely.”
The lecturer, who was called Peace and had to have been misnamed, walked around the living lecture tool and pointed out why she was a poor example of Demonhood, but at least she held her tail in a good S stance. Alyce along with everyone else pulled their tails up to look the same, then what Alyce had been dreading happened; the lecturer looked down at her list and then at her and asked a question.
“You, with the bent tail; yes you, Firefly. You will start us off by telling the class what these are for.”
Alyce swallowed as the long stick pointed to the female’s boobies.
“For the feeding of young?”
Now Alyce could feel herself getting hot as the whole class giggled.
“No. No. No. Not unless you breed cannibals, and why are you smoking?”
She now wished the ground would swallow her as she answered, “But I’m not!”
Peace used her stick to lift up the edge of Alyce’s kilt, and as she did a small cloud of smoke wafted out. Peace let the kilt drop back into place and sighed.
“Miss Firefly, the uniform is fireproof, so just stick with it and don’t think of adding accessories if you are going through a hot phase. The next time you try to set fire to my class, I will remove life points. Now, go stand at the back, and try to cool down.”
Peace then turned to Pink.
“You come out here, sparky, and tell the class what you think her chest lumps are for?”
Pink was standing in a perfect modeling stance as she gave her answer.
“The enlargements to the chest area have three main purposes that are all extremely useful.
They are to help give counter balance to one’s tail; the longer one’s tail, the larger they will have to be.
Of course, they hold the forward muscles for possible future wings. The floating bones contained within the mounds will upon reaching adulthood link together to protect muscle and the primary two forward hearts.”
At this point Alyce could see the lecturer had got her first teacher’s pet.
“Perfect! That was very well put. Let’s take a look at you. Good tail position and lovely color coordination! So, can anyone tell me why the color?”
Three people put their hands up, and Peace picked one of them.
“The electric desert storms of S’mess are pink due to the sand color.”
“That is correct; it is unlikely that this spark will ever get past giving off a small sparkly light display for after dinner entertainment, but looking the part is what being a Demon is all about. Now, please go back and stand with the others.”
From then on, the day for Alyce got worse as she found that Poisen taught the next class, Team Development, which they had picked hoping it was something nice like forming a circle and discussing who should be team leader. She and Pink had picked a number of physical, hands-on type courses such as Weapon Training to try and stay away from things like potions and spell casting, which were bound to give them minus points.
The Team Development room looked more like a fight ring, and Alyce for one knew that picking who should make the coffee was not what this course was going to be about.
Poisen stood with her arms folded.
“Good; I see we have some familiar faces, so let us start. If you are lucky to pass this course, you will be awarded 10 life points, and anyone failing to have over 100 points by term’s end will not be alive for the next term. I also warn you now that not all of you will pass this course, as the points are not for attending but for passing, and there will be tests.”
“In this lesson we will sort out partners, which normally will consist of two females who will stay together as partners for other events and team sports, except in the case of Colds, who will work with different individuals from within their Clouds. Partners should normally be of the same power, and we have found that most will pick their same power as it will involve understanding one’s partner’s strengths and weaknesses. However, this is not always the case, so now is the time for you to discuss this. If you cannot decide, then I will choose for you; now, carry on. Pink and Alyce, see me now.”
As Alyce walked towards Poisen she prayed that she was not going to get any more biology questions as she was still getting over the private facts-of-life lesson she had received from Peace at the end of the last class, which had almost made her late for this class.
She was a grown woman, but that did not stop her from getting embarrassed to learn that the lack of a tummy button was not the only difference in her body, and that one day she would develop rows of egg sacs ready for mating. She was glad she was able to get away before Peace went on to explain about how the mating was done, as she already felt so hot with embarrassment she worried that her shorts would burst into flame again.
“I have decided that you two will be a team. Your powers are not the same, but they are similar; as you share a room, you will be able to practice more if you hope to pass this course. Besides, you are both so useless on your own I do not wish to handicap any of the other females by forcing you onto them. For the rest of this class I will have you both fighting some Snowflakes in hand-to-hand combat. The winners will be the ones who can throw their opponents to the ground the most number of times, and if I find it is not about even, then I may remove life points.”
As she lay on the ground, Alyce felt that being thrown was not as bad as then being jumped on, and she now hurt in places that could mean she would never develop egg sacs. She was also all hot and itchy down below when they did get back to their room. Darn it! Pink had been right; her body did not like wearing too many layers. She now no longer worried about getting sweaty but more about having her clothing burst into flame while she was still wearing them! When she did remove them later, her shorts looked like they had been in a fight all on their own, as they now had singe marks and burn holes in them.
Smoking Hot: (10)
A girl called Ember, who was likely a fellow blanket burner as she also had the red streaks in her hair that Alyce now knew the previous owner of her body had not simply added as a fashion statement, had even taken her to one side after the smoking incident and warned her to only sleep on plain stone when going through a hot stage or she could cause a room fire when sleeping.
Alyce could not get out of the habit of thinking in days, so she decided that the time between waking and eating followed by sleeping would be a day for her. She used the magic notebook to record them in that way, as owning a magic notebook that had a single entry saying “bored, bored, bored, bored,” was kind of a waste of its ability. However, the idea of it recording her daily activity as “cleaned my teeth and got ready for class,” followed by “the teachers are being mean again,” was far more sad now than the time she had done it as a human teenager.
Some days now consisted of lectures on how to build up magic, which looked and sounded more like a yoga course as you had to tune into your inner self. The major difference was that the end result was not so much about being in a state of calm and peace but instead for preparing to let loose death and destruction on the Queen’s enemies, whoever they happened to be, as the Queen did change her mind and alliances quite often.
Day: 1
Dear Diary… oh, frigging heck! Forget that, testing… A
re you frigging working or not????
Okay, start… No, check again. Do I have to say the day number? And it should be later, as I have been here more than a day.
Think at the page, it says. Crap! At least it could have a flashing light to say it is recording!
Day: 5
This is just a few minutes later. Yes, it’s the same day but I can’t go back and renumber. Okay, perhaps I can, but I don’t know how, and the menu gets sarcastic if I ask the same question more than once. I’ve been here for four sleeps, so this must be day five not counting the time travelling here.
I’m a Demon, yes. Horns and tail, and I leak and burn bedding when I sleep, so why does this not feel odd? I just feel like me! I don’t feel any different at all to when I was a human. I don’t even think of what my own body is doing, which, of course, is a good idea after her keenness on wanting to go on a lip-sucking spree with any or all guys she meets.
This Academy place is full of DEMONS!!!… Okay, well, they are people just like me, but it sounded good. So what I have learned is that we have different powers like superheroes and we are here to train to join in some stupid war, but no one knows against who… sorry, whom, we will be fighting as it changes a lot.
Forgot to say that I’m really hot: not so much in the heat department but looks, and there’s not a frigging guy for miles to see me!!!! Hehehehehe! Okay, I’d best record in case I forget. I’m a Fire Demon!! Or I will be if I live at the moment. I think I could be classified as a Firefly or maybe a glowworm: both sound naff but are a little better than blanket burner.
Day: 6
Did not pee today nor yesterday; I’ve not even drank anything since I got to this stupid world. Just what sort of creature am I? Yes, of course I know a Demon cannot pee due to the lack of apertures. That fact first came from the way that Pink walks about naked, but it still feels odd. One good thing is I did discover that I can sit as long as the weight is on the left or right cheek. I can thread my tail between my legs to sit normally, but it then goes all tingly and I am forced to wag it about to get life back in it. If that is not bad enough, it hurts my shoulders if I lay on my back.
Day: 7
Nothing much happened today
Day: 8
Stupid magic yoga! Think calm and peaceful thoughts? I’m Fire! Every time I do that it’s like blowing out a match then trying to light a fire with the fast-cooling hot end… Stupid!!!
Yoga! I couldn’t even sit crossed legged on the floor when I did not own a tail.
The fighting classes are much more to my liking; it’s such a pity my brothers couldn’t see how everyone here loves my fighting style, the rules being bring your opponent down in any way you can, which basically are the same rules I have used for years.
Day: 15
Ember got to chatting with me today. I think it’s because I’m the only one here like her. Ha! Little does she know how wrong she is.
Day: 25
Sunglasses! I need some sunglasses; the whole stupid place is too frigging bright! What are we, sun worshippers? Some kind of crystal runs through the walls, floors, and ceilings, flooding every room on every floor in bright, very bright, frigging blinding sunlight!
Day: 28
Today Pink won top prize in Deportment class, and she was awarded a full-size mirror, not a glass one but rolled liquid metal, which we hung up. It curls a bit at the bottom.
I so wish Moa Peace would stop with the private sex education, not that it is ever going to be needed. I already found out from Pink that a normal egg clutch can be between 50 – 100 eggs, which is why it can be years between clutches. In my case, if I have anything to do with it, make that 100s of years before even the first clutch.
So very few female breed, and now that I have I found out about family size, I will never, ever be one of them! Whatever eggs I have will stay just where they are, thank you very much!
Day: 30
If it were possible to pee, then Pink would be constantly standing in a puddle everyday. If only I had a camera, as today she had her head on the floor and her butt in the air howling with laughter over what Dyson did.
It should be a proud day for me to enter in my diary that I was able to create a small blast of fire from my hands, but no things are ever that simple. I was bending over to pick up my shorts, and Dyson thought it was a perfect time to give my tail hole a good, deep clean; an icy cold mini tornado entering one’s butt hole is something a girl has to be mentally prepared for.
To cut the whole story short, I set fire to the shorts I had in my hands and frightened Dyson so much he refused to come down off the top shelf, to which he had fled when I turned on him. In the end I had to catch him a bug and tempt him down with it as a peace offering.
Day: 39
Spent the time after our meal and before sleep taking turns looking in the mirror. I had a close look at my horns, and, well, there’s not much to say; I forgot I had them until we had the mirror. Like fingernails, skin just stops and horns start. As to their color, I think they could be called ivory.
As bodies go, mine’s not bad; it looks and feels just normal. Is that odd? Like, should it not feel that I am in another body? I do not even know what type of creature I am. I’d guess an animal like a human, as I am warm and have a beating heart, or at least two of them. They beat in tandem, so bang goes the idea that Demons are undead.
I so wish they had the internet here so I could look things up. Biology would be handy so I do not pass out when I’m told I can lay eggs! And I still don’t understand how, and I now wish I never saw the movie Alien where things hatch by eating their way out of you.
I must have strong legs now as most of the day is standing and walking about, but I don’t get tired. As for energy, it’s like being on a sugar rush until it’s sleep time, and then it is like pressing an off button.
Day: 45
Don’t we get a day off! I know I am a Demon, but this is like Hell!
Pink was in a mega sulk today as Ember asked me to move in with her. She is on her own and says it would be nice for cousin sisters to room together.
No going home, no days off: just work, work, work. We have just one year to cover all the basic training as when we turn 5 the real stuff begins! I can’t remember much from the last time I was 4, but I am sure it had less fighting and more cake and balloons.
A year is in three terms with each ending with exams and culling (a nice way of saying killing) of those who fail.
Smoking Hot: (11)
It was the smell that awoke Pink, and it was becoming the unpleasantly familiar smell of burning material. With a not so silent curse she got up and went over to her roommate, pulled off her blanket that was slightly smoking, and threw it on the floor.
What was it with this crazy Heat? Some days she acted normal and then others all strange. Pink just wished the normal stuff did not affect her, like thinking of moving in with her cousin sister Ember. True, that was normal; she would want to do the same if another Electric were here, but she had asked first, and, well, now Pink herself was also acting strange. Why should she even care about her wanting to go share with her own kind? Perhaps the oddness was catching, and it did not help that they liked each other, as it was also not normal to think of another race as a sister.
She looked at her companion sleeping face down, which was normal, unlike all the stupid attempts she made at sleeping on her back. Even if she had lost her memory, the shear fact that it was uncomfortable to sleep on one’s wing case should be hint enough not to keep trying. Pink fired a static ionizing charge, and the smell slowly left the air. This task was becoming a sleeping chore she had to do every time her roommate insisted on wearing things to sleep in.
Laying a hand on her roomie, she sent a calming charge; it was the same as she would use when sleeping with her sisters. It aided sleep and relaxed the recipient. The sleeping form sent her tail up to curl around Pink’s hand, which was again a normal reaction; if Alyce stopped thinking about controlling her tail,
it would just act like a normal tail and not like something left over from eating a large lizard.
Pink then wondered if the reason her friend wanted to wear so much was that she was deformed before she hatched. As she was now sleeping so deeply, Pink slowly pulled off the PJ bottoms Alyce insisted on sleeping in and which already had a few small scorch marks on them that added to the strange aroma the room had. She dropped them to the floor onto the blanket.
She lifted up her roomie’s tail and discovered nothing more than a normal tail hole and a smooth surface between the legs, which in breeders would one day split open ready for laying as soon as she developed her egg rows. There was no deformity and absolutely nothing there to hide, meaning she feared to get cold. As a Heat that would never make any sense, as Heats, like Colds, controlled their body temperature from within, and clothing was only ever for show. Could a memory loss be so bad as to not know one’s natural abilities?
The top half of her roommate’s body Pink had seen lots of times, and it was also normal, but she still took off the sleeper top and dropped it on the floor, leaving Alyce naked. Pink shrugged, knowing this was now going to have to be a nightly chore for her if she didn’t want to suffocate from the fumes. With that thought she got back into bed, leaving the sleeping fire hazard to carry on tying to burn the stone she was laying on.
Smoking Hot: (12)
Day: 46
If I have to tell Pink one more time I am not going to swap rooms and move in with Ember, I am so going to show her how I nut people!
I have found out that I get so hot at night I undress in my sleep and even kick the blanket off, so I’ve decided just to wear shorts to sleep in now and forget the pajamas.
I was able to break the ice a little with my sulky roomie by telling her she was the only one that I would let play with my tail. I do worry what the tail fondling is all about and why it then made Pink giggle and start being more her old self.