sai’s stairs

“You know,” murmured Sai, shoving her hands into her sweatshirt’s pockets, “there’s been reports of weird stairs around here.”

Ester slowed her pace and scratched the back of her neck. “Um, you mean in houses, right?”

“Nope.” A sly smile slithered onto Sai’s face. “Just sitting there. In the middle of the woods.”

“Shut up,” Nightingale chimed and slammed her foot into the back of Sai’s knee, causing her legs to buckle. She tumbled into a set of mossy logs with an alarmed screech, earning an unamused glare from Nightingale.

Tabby shielded her eyes from the sun and gazed upward. “Even if they were real, they’re just stairs. It’s getting late, anyway.”

“They’re not just stairs,” Sai insisted, hoisting herself into a sitting position upon one of the logs. “If you climb them, weird stuff happens.”

“What weird stuff?” Ester asked.

Nightingale gritted her teeth. “Don’t give her fuel.”

“The fire’s been lit, Nightingale,” Sai taunted, tapping her fingers against the wood. “Someone in the wizard course had their entire hand sliced off after they climbed the stairs.”

Ester wrapped her arms around her body and raised her eyebrows. “Because of stairs? That’s a lie, right?”

“Of course,” confirmed Nightingale.

“It’s not a lie!” Sai shrieked, jumping to her feet. “People say the stairs were cursed by that wizard who runs the shop in town.”

Nightingale sighed and ignored Sai’s ramblings, hesitantly gazing into the sky. She discovered that the sun was quickly setting, and she slightly regretted joining the group’s expedition into the forest surrounding the school, though it was Sai’s idea. She whirled to face Tabby, but she instead came face-to-face with a tree that towered above her, a pattern on its trunk seemingly meeting her irritated gaze.

“Where,” interrupted Nightingale, “did Tabby go?”

Ester disregarded Sai’s huff of annoyance when she directed her attention toward Nightingale. “I thought she was by the tree?”

“I think she turned into the tree,” answered Sai, beginning to nervously nibble on her bottom lip. “Um, Ester, do that thing.”

Ester emitted a confused noise from her throat. “That thing?”

“The telepathy spell,” Sai urged, raising her eyebrows. “You know it, don’t you? You were talking about it the other day.”

“Um.” Ester hesitated. “I mean, I can try.”

Ester placed a finger against her temple and closed her eyes, attempting to imagine Tabby’s whereabouts before mentally relaying a simple message. She waited a few moments, and when no response was heard, she blinked.

“Well?” sighed Nightingale.

“I don’t think it worked.” Ester sheepishly blushed. “It doesn’t work very well unless I know where the person is.”

Sai snorted and flopped back down onto the log. “What a boring spell.”

Ester narrowed her eyes and, in a swift movement, outstretched her hand toward the log that Sai was sitting upon. A blast of energy rammed into the log, forcing Sai to screech and jump away from the impact that sent fragments of wood in every direction.

“Oh, so,” mocked Sai, “your spells work when they’re against me?”

Ester grimaced. “You’re acting as if your only personality trait isn’t a flute.”

“At least my flute works!”

Sai reached into her belt, but Nightingale flung a stick at her before she could present her flute’s magic to her companions.

“Are you two,” Nightingale mumbled, “ever mature?”

Behind the pile of logs that Sai was sprawled upon, Tabby appeared, swatting away bugs that crawled up and down her exposed arms. She noticed the looks that she was receiving and shrugged, pointing in the direction of the academy. “Are we heading back yet?”

Nightingale buried her head into her hands and groaned, whirling to face the direction of the school.

Sai disregarded Nightingale’s irritability and grinned, turning her head to stare at Tabby. “Find any stairs?”

“No.” Tabby’s ears twitched. “Found some bugs, though.”