After the Lesson

When Felicity had arrived and registered her skills with the academy, it hadn't been long before she was used as both an illusion and English tutor, most likely to gauge her actual ability in both. She was of course very good at English, but teaching her magic was a little different.. she definitely knew how to do it herself, but teaching another person or.. not person, how to do it the same way she did was tough. She didn't go by some of the normal standards for this sort of witchcraft. She didn't think, at least, that she was contacting any demons when she was using her magic, though that seemed to have greater implications than she wanted to admit. Therefore, she let it slide and just assumed she was naturally good at it.

This other girl, though, was not so good at it. She was definitely progressing if some meagre amount of magic could be considered that, but not at any pace Felicity herself had when she was young. And with her appearance; the girl seemed to be some sort of demon, or something, Felicity had assumed it would come more naturally to her. Guess she was wrong. With more work and more mastery over her connection to.. demon-y things, Felicity thought, perhaps she could do this and whatever else she wanted in the future.

At the end of this particular lesson (she was not a fan of Michael Jackson; she preferred Bach, though supposed she was often partial to the Rolling Stones) she smiled and nodded her head as rehearsed a thousand times.

"Good progress. I don't expect you to be able to put on a stage play with magic, but this is a lot better than you were at the beginning." Chloe asked her the question and she nodded, closing the book in front of her; Veneficia Illusio, an 8th century volume by witches in Frankish europe, though her latin was not up to snub so she only had a very limited understanding of what was in it. She crossed one leg over another, crossed her arms over her chest, and settled into her chair.

"Of course, Chloe. What's up?"

Felicity listened intently. She had, of course, had to take child psychology as part of her teaching degree, and had several years of it. But this was a much stranger case than anything she had dealt with or was taught how to deal with. She had learned about Chloe's unique situation, but she was still unfamiliar with how all of this worked, and it just seemed odd. Maybe the girl was just mistaken this whole time? As far as Felicity knew, there were no alternate worlds like that, though she obviously didn't know that much in the scheme of things. She clearly had a lot to learn about the supernatural.

Even so, she thought it over shortly. She tried to boil it down to the most basic essence of the issue. The girl was estranged from her family and now someone was claiming to be her birth father, and there's some tangible connection that can be made (aura, dna? whatever, she thought) though he apparently doesn't sound like much of a father figure. She put herself in the most fantasy mindset she could. What would make sense?

"So, he's some sort of demon. If he won't tell you his name, then I bet he's a Faustian one. Faust was a hero of German folklore and his story of making a pact with the devil lived on in lots of literature all the way up to modern times. It's not necessarily a literal pact, and can simply mean that one is trading dignity for power or wealth. Something similar is The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck where.. uhm, nevermind, that's kind of beside the point. But from what I've seen on these islands in the past while, I can bet that maybe that deal Faust made wasn't just a myth, and actually happened." Felicity began to explain, trying to make things up as she went. Even if she was totally not sure about anything, conveying that in her voice would just make the girl even more depressed about her situation. She thanked whatever power above that she was a lit and English major and was so well read about these sorts of fantasy things, that didn't seem so fantasy anymore.

"Faustian demons are typified by feeding on souls, and their main weakness is knowledge of their name. In some witchcraft, when you summon demons, you summon them by name, because that gives you power over them. They don't necessarily like that, but they can't really help it. That's why he won't tell you his name. Now, before I go any further, it's important to know that it's not really important who your birth parents are. Anyone can be your parents as long as you love them. Blood isn't a requirement for paternal care. It's perfectly fine to see your father in the other universe as your real father, regardless of whatever proof anyone brings forward. It doesn't really make any difference in the end."

She thought on the next few words for a moment. It was kind of far-fetched, especially for her, but it was the only thing she could think of.

"There's a possibility.. if all those things are true and real, pacts with the devil and all that, that maybe one of your family in the other universe made a pact with that demon who says you're his daughter. And, well, when you make a pact like that.. it tends to seep off and ruin things about the rest of your life. I'm being pretty frank when I say this, and I'm by no means an expert or even potentially knowledgeable about any of these things, but you may be collateral of some mistake, dear."

It wasn't necessarily something Felicity thought was true, but she figured such an elaborate story would require a sufficiently elaborate explanation. It was a guess, and a baseless one at that, but she liked it. It would make a good novel for sure. She did worry about the reaction she would get from Chloe from such a claim, but hopefully she would understand. Felicity found that skirting around things as sensitive as this only fucked up kids further in life. Much like herself.

"What is this demon like? He's around here, I assume? Maybe I can meet and talk to him from a different perspective? I've come to quite adore you and I'd like to help as best I can."

"Well, I guess I cant really say much about demonic biology." Felicity began, thinking it over. She knew literally nothing about that. Her wager was that the father had tried to make another pact but had lost his soul for whatever reason, and had wagered the soul of one of his children instead. She didn't know if it could actually work that way, though, or if she was just fabricating something. If he wasn't aware of her existence beforehand, then perhaps she was right.

She pondered on what Chloe told her about him. A rich playboy? She had met many people who could fit that description. And stolen from many, too. She wasn't really keen on interacting with them; they tended to be old money, and she despised naturally rich people. She had one rule when it came to her business: she never used her gender to draw any advantage. If they wanted to do it themselves, so be it, but she had never used herself in any way to convince someone to do something. She was proud of that, at least.

"He may just.. not be used to it. It can be especially hard for fathers to grow into their job, especially if they're already older. It's sort of like responsibility being thrust on you. Men like that especially hardly have any practice with having children. If he's trying at all, that's not a bad first effort. I don't know about threats but maybe he just can't help being combative."

If he really had no idea what to do, then he would probably treat her like a friend rather than offspring. Which.. didn't work.

But then, the other side of her brain started acting up.

Rich?

"He may just need to acclimate to his new position as a father. I could still speak to him. I've dealt with men like him before.. though, perhaps an actual demon would be a bit more intimidating in person. I'd like to see."

"Well, I can't say that I'm the best dad," she begins half jokingly, trying to think of the words. "but I've had some schooling in psychology as part of my teaching degree, and I think I can give some advice. I'm sure there are complexities I don't know about in regards to what he is, but anything might be an improvement. If all else fails, I can at least give him someone to speak to that knows you well enough, should he have any questions that he might feel embarrassed to directly talk to you about. He may be rich, or a noble, or a demon, or whatever, but there are some things he just won't be able to get no matter how hard he tries. If you were just a regular girl before, too, then he'll have an even harder time understanding why you're not automatically adjusting to being what you are now. I can't say I had the most ordinary childhood, but I am certainly not Faust."

Her explanation was honest, though it had a hidden motive. Felicity really did want to help Chloe, and being able to talk adult to adult (relatively) may help the fact and could perhaps bring some concerns of the demon's out into the open. She was still assuming he wasn't some horror, but if she seemed relatively complacent about the ordeal, he can't be that bad. On the opposite perspective, however, she wondered what it must be like to be rich in such an environment. Surely money was mostly irrelevant here. Most of these people could use their powers to easily take as much as they want, or create it, or any other possibility. True wealth in such a place.. where did that come from? She had to know.

"I can understand if you'd rather me not, but at least know that you can refer him to me anytime you want and I'll have an open door."

Regardless of her answer, she would be checking up on him. For multiple reasons.