Moonveil Academy: Trapped With The Five Kings

Chapter 19: The Familiar

Elara:

For several long moments, I simply stared at the fluffy white menace sitting on the balcony floor as though speaking cats were the most ordinary thing in existence.

If someone had told me three days ago that I’d be arguing with my own cat in another world after discovering I was supposedly a princess with sealed magic, I would have recommended they see a psychiatrist. Yet here I was, trying very hard not to lose what little sanity I still possessed.

I pinched the bridge of my nose and took a slow, deep breath.

"No." I shook my head firmly. "I can’t deal with... whatever this is right now."

The cat raised an eyebrow.

"You have eyebrows?" I asked before I could stop myself.

"They are imaginary." He answered without missing a beat. "They are there for dramatic effect."

I closed my eyes.

Ignore him. Just... Ignore him.

Arguing with a cat was not how I wanted to spend my evening. When I finally looked at him again, my expression had become serious. "Fine." I folded my arms. "For the sake of this conversation, I’m going to assume you really are my Crazy. And I’m going to assume that you really can talk."

He looked rather pleased with himself. "Excellent decision."

I cut him off before another sarcastic remark could escape. "My first question is simple." I fixed him with what I hoped was an intimidating stare. "If you have always been able to speak... then why have I never heard you before?"

For the first time since we’d started talking, his teasing expression softened ever so slightly. He sat down properly, wrapping his fluffy tail neatly around his paws as he replied matter-of-factly, "Back then I thought it’s because you were a groundling."

That word again - Groundling.

He continued before I could interrupt. "When I first found you, you were living in the human world. You looked completely ordinary, with no magical aura and no elemental scent. So naturally I assumed you were a groundling." He tilted his head and added, "And groundlings can’t hear familiars."

I frowned.

"So I couldn’t understand you because I was... human?"

"That was my initial assumption." He nodded. Then his expression became noticeably more serious. "Then last night happened. I returned from my evening walk just when those armored idiots spelled you to sleep. I hid and listened since they seemed to have a lot to talk about the Lost Princess, a seal, and about how your magic had been hidden for twenty years."

His blue eyes settled on me.

"That’s when I finally understood. It wasn’t because you were a groundling. It was because of the seal. It didn’t merely suppress your magic, but disconnected you."

I frowned. "Disconnected me?"

"From your world." He explained. "From your birthright. From your instincts. From magical beings." He pointed a tiny paw toward himself. "And from your familiar."

I blinked. "My... My what?"

"My familiar." He sounded almost offended that I didn’t know.

"What’s a familiar?"

The white cat let out an exaggerated sigh that somehow conveyed years of disappointment. "I suppose someone has to educate you."

He stepped inside the bedroom before beginning to pace back and forth like a professor preparing for a lecture. "In simple terms, familiars are magical creatures who voluntarily form lifelong contracts with mages, royals, witches, sorcerers, druids, and other supernatural beings."

He glanced at me.

"We are companions. Partners. Protectors. Occasionally babysitters." His nose wrinkled. "Though that’s usually the least enjoyable part."

I ignored that last comment. "So... you choose your masters?"

"Of course." He sounded almost offended by the question. "No respectable familiar allows themselves to be owned. We choose, observe, judge. And if someone proves worthy, we form a bond."

"And if they aren’t worthy?"

"We leave."

That... actually made sense.

"So..." I hesitated. "You chose me?"

He puffed out his tiny chest proudly. "Indeed."

I stared at the fluffball that was becoming more and more odd with each passing second. "But... you just said you thought I was a groundling."

"I did."

"Then why would you choose me?"

He looked at me as though the answer were painfully obvious. "Because you fed me." He started counting on his claws. "You gave me your blanket when I was shivering. You spent money you barely had taking me to a veterinarian after I got injured. You shared your dinner even when it meant eating less yourself."

He stopped pacing. "You scratched behind my ears exactly where I liked." His ears twitched. "You never once tried forcing me to do anything. You simply...loved me."

Something tightened painfully inside my chest.

"I knew you were probably a groundling. They don’t possess magic to properly support familiars. You would have made an objectively terrible master." He nodded as though discussing the weather. "But I decided to bestow you with my grace anyway."

I couldn’t help staring. "...Your grace?"

He nodded solemnly. "I am very generous."

Despite everything, despite the grief crushing my heart... the ridiculous seriousness on his fluffy face almost made me laugh. Almost. I pressed my lips together before he could become even more insufferable.

"I’ll... pretend I didn’t hear that."

"A wise decision."

I sighed. There were still countless questions swirling inside my head - magic, royal family, seal, the academy. Everything. But one question had been bothering me since yesterday.

"What exactly..." I looked directly into his blue eyes. "...is a groundling?" I already suspected it wasn’t a compliment.

"It’s what supernaturals call humans." He said it simply. "As simple as that."

I remained silent. Humans. Groundlings. The words referred to the same people. Yet, they didn’t feel the same. Humans carried equality. Groundlings... sounded dismissive, like calling someone lesser or like creating a separate category simply because they weren’t considered important enough to belong.

I suddenly understood why Reign yesterday hadn’t simply called me human. Groundling wasn’t just another word. It reflected how this world viewed ordinary people. The realization left a bitter taste in my mouth.

I looked away as I muttered, "I don’t like it."

Crazy shrugged. "I didn’t invent the language."

Fair enough.

Trying to push aside the uncomfortable feeling, I asked another question. "How did you even get here? You were in Florida yesterday. So how are you suddenly at Moonveil Academy?"

He answered as though it required no explanation whatsoever. "I hid inside the SUV. There was plenty of room."

I honestly wasn’t sure whether to admire his determination or question his sanity. Perhaps both.

Silence settled between us. The cool evening breeze drifted across the balcony. And for a long while, neither of us spoke.

A question lingered on the edge of my lips, one I wasn’t sure I had the courage to ask. My family - mom, dad, Felix. But before I could gather the strength to voice it... Crazy spoke first.

His usual sarcasm was gone and his voice had become unusually quiet. "They might have lied to you."

I slowly looked at him.

"They might have kept secrets." His blue eyes met mine without wavering. "And they might never have told you who you truly were."

He paused.

"But... there is one thing no one - not the Reapers, not Starfall, not anyone in this world - will ever convince me otherwise."

My throat tightened.

"They loved you."

The words hit me harder than I expected. I lowered my gaze, fresh tears gathering in my eyes before I could stop them.

"They may not have given you the truth..." Crazy whispered softly. "...but they gave you everything else they had. And that’s something no lie can ever erase."