Chapter 81

Lee finally got the crowd’s attention.

She explained that the purpose of the day was to have fun, meet new and old friends, cheer their successes, and commiserate over the failures while learning more about magic.

Later, they would share a meal and celebrate the lives of the departed and those that live on. If they had questions, it was best to ask the people wearing the gold armbands.

Zeke chuckled as most of the attention of the crowd was on the seven people standing off to Lee’s right. Lee’s husband, Sean Watson, and her wife, Donny stood the closest. Beside them was Kyle with his partners, Tony, Debora, and Naomi.

Donny and Naomi were certainly eye catching with their exotic looks, pointy ears, and skin colouring. Donny had pale greenish skin and green hair. Naomi had dark blue hair and pale blue skin. If anyone harboured doubts that the people from Utopia were different, the two women dispelled them.

“Oh,” said Lee. “Please be aware. If you don’t wish to become a Shapeshifter, then do not exchange bodily fluids with any of us. Touching is fine, but kissing or anything else could be dangerous.”

“Also, you have to have your partner or partners permission. Magical people are more likely to change than mundanes. If you are accidentally changed, it doesn’t mean you have to change.”

“If you want a kiss that can change your life, then Sean and Kyle are more than happy to swap spit with you,” she grinned as most of the crowd chuckled.

Kilos whispered to Zeke, “I’d kiss both of them in a heartbeat.”

Zeke and Lindsay both smiled at Kilos. Lindsay was standing on the other side of Zeke and had heard the comment.

Zeke replied softly, “Well if you think about it, it has advantages. If you infect Mikau, you can get him to change when he goes into season, then knock him up. Or, you can be the mummy if you prefer.”

Kilos looked at Zeke with wide eyes. “Seriously?”

“Yes. From what I’ve read, you have to stay in female form until you have weaned the kid unless you bottle feed. If you’re not pregnant, you can swap back and forth between genders as you wish the rest of the time. I know both of you have had flings with women, so it just adds to the variety.”

“I’ll talk to Mikau,” Kilos said and then looked forward.

Zeke just smiled.

Zeke looked up as Lee started giving instructions.

“As you may have noticed, the two sides of this hold have been divided into three areas. Each area is colour-coded. Sorry, Zeke, for painting your walls and putting lines on the floor,” Lee said and smiled at him.

“To my right, the areas are: Lore - blue, Nature - green and Psychic - amber. On my left are: Energy – red, Earth – orange and Physics – purple. When we’re changing zones, I want you to move clockwise. If you can’t remember which way that is, check the clock.”

Lee lifted a hand above her head and snapped her fingers. A giant, round, analogue clock, numbered one to twelve, appeared over the top of the hull door she had her back to. The hands indicated it was ten minutes to nine.

Lee grinned as many people clapped and cheered.

She waved them to silence and continued, “In the next hold, the right side has three special areas. Some of you will train in them. I’ll explain them better later.”

“The left side of Hold Two, you will notice, is set up as a dining and meeting area. There are also Port-a-loos in the back corner. Those without items can stay there, or you can watch whoever you wish. Just stay out of the marked zones. They are shielded for your protection.”

“Now, this next instruction is for you magicians who are watching your weight. Don’t. What you are going to be doing for the next few hours is going to be exhausting. When we stop for breaks, eat your fill and drink plenty of fluids all day.”

“Some of you have only had magical items for a few days. You may have only just begun to notice your metabolism has changed. It has sped up. Most of you have been using your magic for years but didn’t realise it.”

“Now you have items that help focus the magic. You need energy to do magic. You must eat to refuel your body. Sex is best, as most know, to recharge your magical energies, but you need food too. Lecture over.”

“Now, if you know your primary discipline, when I say so, I wish you to move to that zone first. If you don’t know, choose an area you have a gem for. It doesn’t really matter as you are going to cycle through each area even if you don’t have a gem for it.”

“We are going to spend an hour in each area. After two areas, we will break for half an hour, do two more, have a break, and then do the last two. We should finish the cycles around four o’clock by the big clock.”