“And then you woke up on the floor.” Danniel said, wrapping up his story.

Lily stared wide-eyed at Danniel as he finished his tale. He had her attention the entire time he spoke. Occasionally, she stole glances at the crystal in her hand before focusing on Danniel’s exposed eye once again. Once he was done, she rolled onto her back and looked at the ceiling. 

“So, that was a lot. I have no clue what any of that means. Or what it has to do with this.” Lily held up the crystal and slowly turned it in her hand. 

“That is your marker stone. It contains the first drop of your magic and is kind of a mage multitool. If you use magic, you have one.” Danniel watched as Lily popped up, sitting upright,  and turned to face him. Her ears were straight up and her eyes were as wide as dinner plates. The rabbit’s nose twitched as her hand gripped the crystal tightly. As soon as her feet hit the ground, Lily’s foot was rapidly tapping on the floor. 

“But I have one.” Lily spoke in a soft roar, her excitement barely contained. 

“Aye?” 

“So do I have…” 

“Yes. Fire, to be exact. Saw it with my own eye.” 

The rabbit hopped off the bench, standing directly over Danniel. The crystal was clutched close to her chest and her maw was curled up into a wide but nervous smile. Danniel leaned back a bit as Lily loomed over him. 

“So, that brings me to-” 

“Will you teach me how to use magic?!” Lily fired off. Her eyes silently pleaded with him to grant her request. Danniel looked at Lily in stunned silence. The rapid-fire question caught him off-guard and the longer he took to answer, the closer Lily leaned. 

“Fine. I’ll teach you.” Danniel said with a nod. He watched as Lily let out a sudden loud cheer while jumping a few inches off the ground. She bounced a few times before dropping down onto the wolf for a tight hug. He patted her on the back before she hopped back to her feet. He accepted a hand to get back to his own feet. “So how are you feeling?”

“I'll live. Head hurts but everything else is still ticking. Not that I'm in a rush to get back topside or anything. Where's your marker thingy?” 

“I kinda can't show you. A fun thing about marker stones is that you can change them into anything you want. I'll show you how to do it when we get started.” Danniel said while starting back to the elevator. He didn't get more than a couple steps away before he felt Lily grab his wrist. 

“Come on, I wanna know.” Lily pulled gently on Danniel’s arm. 

“Only if we can head up afterwards.” 

“Fine.” Lily released Danniel's wrist and crossed her arms. “Now let me see.” Danniel nodded and leaned down slightly. Lily leaned back slightly in response and watched his mouth open. In the middle of the wolf’s tongue was a barbell piercing. Two brilliant sapphires sat at either end of a dark purple metal bar. She found herself leaning forward to get a better look at the piercing but they gradually drifted to Danniel’s sharp teeth 

“Annnd when did you get that?” Lily asked, her eyes turning back to the piercing one last time. 

“Always had it.” Danniel stood back up and headed back toward the elevator. 

Lily’s face curled up in confusion at his claim, though she didn’t spend too much time thinking as she moved to catch up to him. As the two stepped onto the elevator, she kept looking at the side of Danniel’s mouth.

“How have I never seen that before?” she finally spoke as the car began to ascend. 

“Well, how often do you look at my maw?” Danniel asked while removing his phone. 

As his attention was on his phone, Danniel was unaware of the expression that shot across Lily’s face. Often would be the honest answer. it was a feature she enjoyed not only on Danniel but on wolves in general, the sharp teeth in particular. His were special, though. His smile had a habit of always making her feel better. His voice’s usual calm tone and his measured way of speaking were the fastest way to keep her from losing her temper. A few customers still have all their teeth, thanks to Danny’s voice.  

“N-not that often, I guess. Weird place to keep it.” 

“Eh, it's good to keep it handy..” Danniel said with a smile, slipping his phone back into his pocket. “Besides, it's simple enough to change it back. Watch.” The wolf took a deep breath and blew out a chain of shimmering bubbles. They flew and swirled into a tight column. After a quick flash of light, Danniel reached out to catch a falling dark purple crystal and offered the crystal to her. She held it close to her eyes and, unlike her own, saw nothing but solid purple. 

“How come yours doesn’t light up like mine does?” Lily spoke, sounding a little disappointed.

Danniel reached up and partially covered the light orb in the elevator ceiling. As the light was mostly snuffed out, the surface of the geode began to change. In the dimmed light, Lily could see what looked like an endless sea of stars twinkling through clouds of interstellar dust. She gasped and marveled at the display before turning her attention back to him. 

What Lily saw when looking at the wolf made her forget whatever she had to say. In the darkness, Danniel’s exposed eye twinkled just like his marker stone. The formerly dark blue now shined a deep purple with dots of light glowing in them. 

“Pretty…” whispered Lily 

“What?” Danniel spoke, his hand sliding off of the orb. 

“Your,” Lily stared before trailing off again. Her eyes shifted from him back to the crystal. Thinking quickly, she offered it back to its owner while flashing a smile, “Marker thing. It looks pretty.” 

Danniel thanked her before snapping his fingers. A spritz of mist erupted from the crystal as the marker stone popped like a bubble. The particles hung around Lily’s now empty hand for a moment before drifting back toward the wolf’s muzzle. He inhaled the vapors through his nose and mouth and made a soft clicking sound with his tongue. 

“There.” Danniel said while sticking out his tongue once again. 

“Show me how to do that.” 

“In a bit. Lets get topside first.” 

Lily huffed in resignation while slipping her marker stone into her pocket. The two fell silent while the car continued to climb. After a minute or two of quiet, a ding sounded as the elevator passed through the featureless shaft and continued up through the floors of Starlight.

“Main store and Cafe.” spoke a voice through the elevator speaker.

 When the doors opened, the sound of customer chatter stampeded over the shared silence. The two moved quickly down the hall to find a long line coiling around the displays and ending close to the front door. The two found that only Isabella was behind the counter, with Gonzi nowhere to be seen. She finished up with a customer and caught a glimpse of the two in the corner of her eye. The bat’s head snapped around and silently stared at Lily. 

“Ah crap, I know that look,” Lily whispered. She looked up at Danniel, the light in her eyes dimming slightly in fear. “Promise to show me how to make the stone do that changing thing.”  The wolf simply nodded and watched as Lily hurried behind the counter under the unbroken gaze.