When you give a goddess a chocolate...

Part 12: Petal Dance

Ms. Anya glances up at the clock; just two more hours left in the week. Then, she could go out for drinks with some friends and give them the latest update on the cults in her classroom. Of the children, 90% are still in a mixture of green and gold. The rest would either simply wear gold or some form of pink and red with gold. Of course.

This class really loves Kit. Ms. Anya smiles sadly, feeling a sense of pride in being able to teach these little nutty students. It almost saddens her to think they would no longer be her students in two weeks.

But, no need to feel that yet. For now, this is Ms. Anya's class of weirdos. And they are all diligently coloring in today's letter, P, as asked. A few have already moved on to drawing words that start with "puh." She tries not to laugh when some draw big piles of "poop" on the page. It begins with "puh," and she has told them everyone does it. So, no problems with a bit of poop on the page.

Ms. Anya walks towards the back of the room. Her eyes move independently when she catches a sparkle in her peripheral vision near Lucilla. Ms. Anya watches the girl look up at nothing. The girl appears engrossed by the air for a long moment. Her mouth falls open, and she drops her brown crayon.

Ms. Anya moves closer and places a hand on her shoulder. "Luci, are you okay?" The teacher watches as tears soak the outline of poop Lucilla had started on her page.

Lucilla's glittering brown eyes turn to her teacher. She swallows and smiles sadly, "Kit is with Persephone now."

Ms. Anya's eyebrows furrow together as a gasp sounds in the room. She can feel the tension rise as the children sniffle around her. Then, the crying starts. Not whining. Or fake cries. Real, gut-wrenching tears are breaking Ms. Anya's core because there are no words she can find. Who is she to say that Kit is really okay? What if the weird leader of the Green Ones is right?

Gold and green sparkles catch the corner of the teacher's eye. She turns to see the outline of a woman with hair cascading down the side of her body, smiling at her.

"Is this what hallucinating is like?" Ms. Anya whispers.

Her skin pales as her armpits moisten.

Ms. Anya clears her throat while averting her eyes away from the sparkly hallucination. "Children," she croaks out. "Children, let's just practice our breathing. It's okay to be sad and miss our friend."

The students look past their teacher to the glittering woman in the classroom. Ms. Anya examines each face, hoping the children will show some form of fear. But they remain calm. Their tears now silently flowing with hope brimming in some eyes.

Ms. Anya turns to see the woman extend a hand upward. So, Ms. Anya does what seems logical and screams, falling between a set of tables.

"Ge-get down, children!" She screams, trying to remember her training for emergency situations.

Sparkles fall around the teacher, who is huddling in the fetal position on the floor. She tries to make a movement to bring a few children close to her, but they refuse. Instead, children's laughter twinkles with the falling stars.

Lucilla turns to see Ms. Anya on the floor and sighs. She walks over a few steps to squat beside her.

"It's okay," she whispers. "Psyche is just trying to help us feel better."

Ms. Anya looks up at Lucilla in shock. "Psyche is real?"

Giggling, Lucilla nods while offering her hand. Ms. Anya hesitantly takes it.

"See," Lucilla holds open her palm to let a spark fall on it. "These won't hurt you."

Ms. Anya nods, holding open one of her palms. "Luci, I just need you to be honest with me right now. And know that I won't be angry with you no matter what you say. But did you put something in my drink during snack time today?"