Chapter 3: Crystal is the color of reflection, of intention

As imperfect and jagged as crystal can be,
it can never take away from a real gem's worth.
Though "clear," colorless yet colorful,
it remains strong for itself.
It stays true to its beliefs, its intentions,
ever transparent in its resolve.
As any other precious stone,
it can be broken, molded, and changed;
but in the end, the result is clear.
Now, if only some of that light could be refracted your way.

Maka entered the pharmacists' office with Black Star trailing behind her. To her surprise, he had made it through an entire week of following her around without ever meeting her superiors. That needed to change, Maka thought, especially if he was planning to stick around.

"Over here," she said to him, gesturing into another room to the side. "Past this point, only authorized personnel can enter so I'm not sure-"

"As the young prince's page, I'm allowed anywhere that he is," Black Star grinned.

"I'm pretty sure that's not how it works."

"I'm pretty sure it is."

Regardless of if he was permitted or not, he brushed past her through the open doors without a care and despite her protests. As Maka found out earlier in the week, Black Star was as impatient as he was cocky, his first impression as tame as it got. She struggled to keep his ego in check, but in all honesty, she hoped that his encounter with her coworkers would humble him.

In character and without looking where he was walking, he collided right into a child who was running past the door, causing their head to bump into his stomach and then fall from the impact.

He yelped in surprise but was too late to catch them, watching them land on their bottom with a squeak. Everything went still for a moment as the shock registered, and she quickly moved passed him to get to the kid.

"Sorry for him, boss." Maka squatted down until she was eye-level. "He's my new troublemaker."

"Boss?" Black Star blinked incredulously.

"Damn right, I am!" the little voice called out, tone not matching the squeak that came from her mouth. She rubbed her forehead where he hit her, rolling on her knees and clutching the edge of her dress with a small fist. "I should have you thrown out!"

Before Black Star could properly respond to that outburst, another child seemed to appear out of nowhere.

"You fell, Angie," they said softy, tugging at the sleeves of the girl in an effort to help her up.

"No thanks to this idiot here." She shot Black Star a look of disdain.

"Listen, if you hadn't been in the way-"

"Oh, so now it's my fault?" she exclaimed indignantly.

Raising her hands in a surrendering fashion, Maka said, "It's no one's fault," before she was quickly interrupted by the girl.

"What are you even doing here?" she targeted at Black Star. "Authorized people only. Did you read the sign on the door? Can you read at all? I'm twelve and I learned how to read!"

Sputtering, he replied in a frazzled voice, "I- I can read!"

"Then do you have a cut?" She paused to wait for his head shake before continuing. "An owie? Are you hurt? Sick? You got someone who is? No? Then you have no business here! Get out!" she screeched, stomping up to him and giving him a resounding kick to his nether regions.

Black Star's eyes went glassy, and he bent over and dropped like a sack of potatoes, shaking. No scream managed to escape from his mouth, but his hands flew quickly to his crotch, face turning red before he buried it into the carpet below him.

It was time for Maka to step in again.

"Now now," she began, "he's actually here to meet you all."

If the girl were a puppy, her ears would've perked up. "Meet me?"

"Yes, you, and Feir, and Lila, and Kilik."

"I'll go get him," the other child said to no one in particular, sneaking away.

"Oh." The girl flipped her short hair over her shoulder and returned to Black Star, looking down at him directly and sizing him up as he struggled to even glance in her direction. "I'm Angela Leon! The Chameleon Witch of Clarines! You can't have an autograph but you can bask in my presence!"

It didn't seem like Black Star heard her, so she repeated it again with the same amount of conviction. It took that second time for Maka to realize how utterly beat he was, so she stopped Angie from delivering her introduction a third time and instead helped Black Star to a lounge chair nearby. She patted his hand in pity until he regained awareness.

Only after his spirit re-entered his body did Angie grace him with the third round of the same statement, this time with a little less power than the others.

Maka further explained, "They-"

"Who's they?" Black Star said weakly.

"They call her the chameleon witch because of how compatible and flexible she is with different medicines and procedures. There's really no one else who is specialized in no specialty, so Angie is a kid genius," Maka nodded to Black Star, checking in with Angie every so often for confirmation.

"You got that right! Good minion," she patted Maka on the leg- the highest she could reach without spending so much effort.

"So," Black Star began carefully, "You're the boss?"

"Y-"

"That would be me, not that little scamp," said a new voice.

Maka laughed when Black Star jumped in his seat, following the voice to its owner, a young man in a white coat and black framed glasses. Behind him were two similar looking children who followed after him like ducklings, one a little more shy than the other.

"Ah, you were free after all," Maka teased.

"Well, if Lila is the only asking me to come, then I can't refuse her."

The young child clinging to the young man's left side was the same as before, a short girl who peeked behind his leg to look over at Black Star. She nodded at the sound of her name but didn't come out from her hiding place.

"Did you say 'Hi' yet, Lila?" he asked, patting her back.

"Hi," she said, sinking deeper behind the young man.

"What's your name?" he urged once more, providing it only when she proved to be too timid to say herself. "This is Lila, and her brother is-"

"I'm Feir," the second kid said, eyes wide and curious, already approaching Black Star in his seat. "Lila is my twin. Uncle Kilik is taking care of me and her."

Black Star looked to their caretaker questioningly, "And I assume that's you?"

"Correct, though they're also my aids."

"Is it safe for them to be around so many… poisons?"

Kilik hummed, "To put it simply, their mother- my sister- is currently filling in for the head researcher at Lyrias, so I think it'll be fine."

"O-oh."

"Regardless, welcome to the Pharmacists' office, Black Star. I heard you were looking after Maka as she trains. She's mentoring with Angie," Kilik nodded towards pharmacist, "and I'm the head of our department. The Young Prince already sent notice, so where Maka's allowed, you are, too."

"Ha," Black Star said in stage whisper to Maka. "Even better."

She rolled her eyes but didn't fight him. Instead, she could see that he was far out of his comfort zone, overwhelmed with the amount of new faces and the nature of their greetings. But if he were sticking around like he told her before, he may as well get to know the people who Maka would be working closest with. He didn't look like he knew how to start or introduce himself, so Maka decided to do it for him.

Gesturing to him, Maka cleared her throat and announced, "May I introduce, Black Star, ex-assassin, page of the young prince."

He stood up and added tentatively, "And appointed bodyguard of Maka, Court Pharmacist In-training."

"Self-appointed bodyguard," Maka sniffed. "And! Self-appointed page!"

Despite smiling at her ire, he seemed worried from his introduction. He didn't know what to say after that, but instead of letting the silence settle in the room, Lila came closer to him.

In the way she did, she asked innocently, "Do you need an ointment for your penis? It's maybe swollen."

As though the ice had broken, Black Star turned pink and dropped his formal facade. He looked to Kilik before responding, "It- I'm fine."

"Are you sure?" Kilik said, concerned.

"Really- I'm fine."

Lila patted his lap. "Angie's kicks hurt. Kilik knows, too."

"No seriously, it doesn't hurt anymore. My dick is good."

Angie snorted, "We aren't talking about a 'Richard,' you illiterate."

Black Star snapped, "I know that-"

"You kicked an assassin, Angie."

"He's an ex-assassin because he sucks at his job, then."

"I don't-"

"Look!" Feir laughed, pointing at Black Star. "He's as red as Maka's hair!"

Looking over to check, Maka saw that there was some truth to the statement. What little they were able to see of Black Star's face was completely flushed, and he turned redder at the attention that he gathered. What a poor guy.

"At least I'm not some five year old running around the office like a hazard!"

"I'm twelve, not deaf!" Angie screeched, swinging her leg back for another kick before anyone else could stop her.