Panic. Zero thoughts. Noooooooooooo.

  "If you're a druid, you being brought to this world makes so much more sense. If a higher power wanted to bring druids back, they could bring one here from another world. You have no idea how much this means. We could bring back the druid groves. The dryads can come back. Even the dragons would have to show themselves again after how they failed! You have to--"

  I think Drusil finally picked up on how I was reacting to this news. Also, I may have curled up and hidden myself in the cloaks hood and started hugging my tail.

  Suddenly I was picked up again and pulled into a very emphatic hug. If I ignore how hot my face is becoming and breathing is difficult when I'm being squashed to death against the breasts of a goddess, it's quite an effective way to stop a panic attack. Her skin is cold, but not uncomfortably so. I've always run hot; I guess being in another body didn't change that, and it's actually quite nice. She smells like sage and vender.

  "Oh, Precious, I'm sorry. I got carried away. I don't even know if you're actually a druid; the possibilities if you were are just astounding."

  "Air" I manage to squeak out, and she sits back down, relenting her grip as she sits me down on her p.

  "Sorry, sorry. Air is quite important to you breathing people, isn't it? You're looking a little flushed there."

  The way she smiles down at me and strokes my cheek is doing unspeakable things to me, and I'm just gonna look away and keep my thighs squished together, I think.

  "Yesimfine. Uhm, if we ignore all of... that... what exactly is a druid?"

  "The simplest expnation is that a druid is a caster that creates and enhances nature. Where a caster with a nature affinity might have minor control of nature, a druid is capable of calling upon all of nature. Powerful casters with a nature affinity may be able to heal and mend serious wounds, but druids are capable of restoring lost body parts. Druids used to be called if an area was suffering a drought or a harvest had been ruined. Some casters are able to make deals with spirits to empower themselves, but druids could summon those same spirits and fight with them at full strength. If you'll pardon the pun, druids, simply put, were a force of nature. Even with all of that power, the biggest problem with the loss of druids isn't their abilities; other casters can fill their gap individually. It's that for the mortal races, they were the envoys to the dragons."

  Envoy. To the dragons. No thanks. That sounds like an awful lot of responsibility for one me. I'm just a single person. I don't do responsibility. I've always called myself kind, but I'm under no illusions; I'm not what you'd consider a good person. Morally gray is my default.

  "Right. Well. I'm not doing any of that just yet. Especially that st one, you can forget it. But it does... sound about right."

  The unearthly sound that emits from Drusil's throat at a pitch that would give dogs hearing loss is mildly worrying. I look at her askance as she wraps her arms around me and squeezes me a little too tight.

  "So. Uhm. What exactly do we do now? Because, as far as I know, I need a focus or components for my spells, and some of those are, frankly, insane."

  "Insane, huh? Regardless, you've clearly been taught wrong. Whoever taught you has to have either been ancient or an idiot. Foci are only used as a crutch. A training tool for new casters until they learn to regute their mana. Barring a few specific cases, such as the extreme emotive casters."

  Emotive casters? Please don't tell me we're using emotions to cast. I'm autistic and emotionally fucked.

  "I saw that scowl, Precious. I'm not disparaging your master or you, just stating a fact."

  "That's not it. Uhm, I never had a master or anything. We don't have magic where I'm from, or vampires for that sake. You're not supposed to be real; you're supposed to be monsters that scare good little kids into behaving."

  That gets a good single eyebrow raise out of her.

  "Monster, am I? I suppose it is quite monstrous of me to hide you from other people after you said you didn't do well with strangers."

  Oh no, I made her upset, didn't I? Why is a vampire pouting at me? How is this my new normal?

  "You're not a monster! What I mean is that, like, magic, werewolves, demons, vampires—where I'm from, you're all fictional. You don't exist. Just humans."

  "Ah yes, I believe that's been expined by some otherworlders. They come from worlds without magic, but really, just humans? You poor baby."

  "I'm not a baby. I'm 33 years old. I mean, yea humans suck but that's life, and some of them are quite enjoyable."

  "Oh yes, I'm sure you enjoyed them. I certainly did in my youth."

  I decide to shut up and hide myself in my hood again, which gets her ughing. Stupid vampire.

  "If you truly haven't learned, then you're certainly blessed. Your body is positively burning with mana. Quite literally. I do hope you'll forgive me for using soul sight on you; it's not proper, but I had to gauge what I thought was a succubus that'd invaded my home."

  "Soulsight?"

  "It's a technique most casters develop eventually. Those who live combative lives earlier than others. It gives you an impression of your opponents affinities as well as their overall mana levels. Knowing whether or not the opponent you're facing in a desert is an earth mage or a water mage makes a world of difference."

  Huh. Yea, that checks out. I don't know if I should be bothered; it's not like I was going to hide it anyway.

  "And the impression you got from me was that I was a nature caster?"

  "Hmmm, yes and no. You have a core of strange fire, which I attributed to your demonic upbringing, but surrounding it is nature mana that moves like a living bze."

  Ah fuck. I'm definitely that version of Strax.

  "Uhm, yea I mean it could be, but it could also be because I'm a wildfire druid. It's an archetype that's all about destruction and creation and like bonds with a fire spirit and stuff."

  "...and stuff. Truly informative. And what is an archetype? The way you say it makes it sound like there are more of them."

  "Yeah, there's... a lot. It's hard to expin, and I don't really remember most of it."

  She hmmms and tilts her head at me.

  "Do you think you can expin more? You've said that this isn't your body, and you seem unfamiliar with how your powers work. If I'm going to have to tutor you, or Divines forbid, let one of my familiars do it; we need to know what we're working with."

  Shit. That's alot. Where to start?

  "Alright, so Strax is a character I made. Like in a py. I assume you have pys?" At her nod and amused expression, I continue, "Strax is a character I made for a game where you, like, pretend to be the character you make and go on imaginary adventures. Imagine each pyer picks a character they pretend to be for the game, and then you pick like a css. Like a caster, or a fighter, or a mechanic."

  Fuck, how do you expin stats and shit? I've never considered how this is just like an abstract thing.

  "Your character has stats, like you can make them strong, wise, intelligent, dextrous, and so on. You have a limited amount of points, and each stat starts at ten. With me so far?"

  "I'm following yes; it's certainly unique."

  "Alright, so as you finish adventures, complete quests, or kill things, you gain points that increase your power. Every so often you can upgrade your character, but each css comes with their own bonuses. You keep doing this until you defeat the big evil dragon, the ancient lich, or whatever the overall problem in the world is. I almost always py Strax, and I always make them demonic-looking and like a healer or support css. Like you know, don't judge a book by its cover; it's the nice demon healer!"

  "Right..."

  I can tell she's digesting the information. I mean, I guess it doesn't make complete sense, but fuck, I don't know how to expin this to someone not familiar with the concepts.

  "And this version of your 'character' is a druid? Did you defeat your big evil dragon then?"

  I swear she's trying not to ugh at me. What part of this is funny?

  "Yes, I defeated the evil fucking dragon! How is this funny? If I knew how to use my magic, I could turn you into a fucking flea."

  She finally bursts out in a full-blown cackle. That's it. The pretty vampire lost it. I broke her. I try to leave her p, and she just holds me in her iron arms, ughing at me.

  "I'm sorry, Precious, it's just. Dragons aren't evil. They're a bit indifferent at best. As for you turning me into a flea, as much as I'm sure you're powerful, I doubt it. My clothes alone have enough wards to protect me from anything but the most powerful magic."

  "Oh yea? What if I told you that the way we stopped the dragon from gathering more power was having me summon a 200-meter-wide storm above the city the cult worshipping it lived in, flooding the area with lighting and thunder, acidic rain, hailstones, and gusts of freezing rain? All through a spygss while I was kilometers away."

  She bnches a little.

  "Not so smug now are you, Ms. I have powerful wards."

  Am I childish? Yes. Is she looking at me at something other than just a pet cat now? Also yes.