"Oh.. wow.." Pixies? I did not even know those existed..

Pia would in other circumstances found that funny, if she did not know that danger on this island did not come in a lot of shapes. The image of something like Tinkerbell trying to accost someone like Susan would be funny, except that Pia knew some of the monsters were able to look quite harmless.. but still be very dangerous. She just hoped that they were long gone now, something they probably where. Danger could come any time at Shokushu, but even so, most of the time girls who were in pairs went unmolested. Most of the time..

"Thank you!" Pia said, beaming at the compliment. She was happy to change the subject, and also eager to please her lover. She bent down to give Susan a quick kiss on the cheek, hoping to put her in a better mood. Walking barefoot in the grass on dainty feet, she started to assemble the food on the stone. The last thing she took out was a little plastic Tupperware container, which she set aside. "Err.. that one is for later.." she added.

"Wow, I am hungrier than I thought.", she said, seating herself next to her lover.

Susan smiled when Pia kissed her, stopping her from getting too far into memories of that incident. I wonder if you really know how much little things like that mean to me, she thought as she watched the blonde finish setting out the food. She nodded when Pia set aside the last container and said it was for later; she was curious about what it contained, but assumed it was supposed to be a surprise.

"Wow, I am hungrier than I thought."

"Well, let's get started, then," Susan said, reaching for a pastry.

After Susan started, Pia began to eat as well. She was actually quite hungry now, she noticed, and apart from the walk from the campus, Susan had also given her a little extra morning workout. Pia blushed a little as she remembered their morning tryst. Susan really got out the more daring side of Pia. She had not been able to contain herself, watching her pretty lover straight from the shower. Pia grinned a little, a goofy, happy grin.

Pia ate and made some small talk, giving feedback whenever Susan wanted to talk, but happy to fall into silent enjoyment of the waxing day as well. She really liked having some time with her lover, and the quiet spot made her feel quite serene.

However, she felt some stirrings of unease arise after a time. Sex, food and natural beauty had done quite a job at putting her mind in a pleasant state, but her guts knew she had things to do, things to say. She really loved Susan. She knew she did, and as long as Susan cared for her, at least a little, it would be more than Pia had imagined she would ever have. Yet the things she had to say.. she did not even quite know how to say it. Will she think me mad? Will she think me a bad person? I wish everything would be like this always, but I got to be honest..

The picnic went pleasantly, with a mix of small talk and the occasional quiet moment, the two of them just enjoying each others' company. If only it could be like this all the time. Of course, that wouldn't be possible even if this place were normal, but I can dream.

As time went on, though, Susan got the impression that there was something Pia was avoiding but wanted to say. "Is something on your mind?" she asked, not entirely sure she wanted to hear the answer. Just please don't say you don't think we should stay together. Meeting you is the best thing that's happened to me since I got here, maybe ever, and I'm not sure I could take losing you. It wasn't likely that that was what was troubling Pia, especially given how their morning had started, but it was one of Susan's biggest fears; no matter how much events reinforced it, she found it almost impossible to believe that Pia had chosen her out of all the students here.

"MMm..n-no.. I mean. Yes. Yes, there is something on my mind."

Pia spurted the words out. If it had been up to her, she would have picked a later moment to say her piece, not wanting to ruin the perfect moment. Then she would have found reason to postpone it further, then further..
Now she had the knife at her back. She could either come out, or she could lie, and pretend as nothing. She did not want to lie to Susan. Not ever. So she tried to figure out what to say.

"Susan..", she began, looking down at her fidgeting hands. "I kinda.. well, there is stuff I think I should say. And I am kinda afraid that you will think I am crazy. Or that you won't like me anymore, or be mad at me or something.. And I am not sure how to even say it.."

Pia looked completely lost. "Do you promise.. do you promise you will at hear me out? It is kind of hard to explain.."

Whatever this was about, it was obviously something that troubled Pia deeply. Susan took the other woman's hands in hers and looked her in the eyes. "I promise I'll hear you out, and I'll try not to judge it until you're done. I can't imagine anything that would make me hate you or think you're crazy, or even make me that mad at you." She smiled gently at her lover. "Now, what's on your mind?"

"OK, then.", Pia began. Susan's gentle smile give her a tiny bit of hope. Hope that Susan would listen to her, hope she would try to understand, and maybe even forgive her.
"It started after I began experiencing the attacks. I guess.. I guess I have always been the bookish kind, so after the first attack, the one I could remember, I started with doing my research. You may have noticed all the books and notes I keep in my room.."

Actually, her desk was a little less overflowing now then it used to be, but she still pretty much always had a few books on witchcraft lying around. Susan had actually been a good influence here, when Pia had been alone she had obsessed over magic, monsters and her desperate hope to find some brilliant escape plan, often sitting up, pondering some theory or other until early morning. She had not abandoned the projects, Susan had made her aware that there were other things in life than to obsess over the monsters. That, and Kanoe had given her struggles a little more direction. She continued, speaking fast, hoping to get to the difficult parts before she lost her nerve.

"After a while, my research began to drift towards the occult and the supernatural. I mean, the monsters display all sorts of crazy abilities, so I thought that perhaps I could use that against them. Perhaps find something I could use, a spell, a ritual or something. I had no luck at first. I think about 99 percent is hogwash and the rest designed to get you into trouble. But then.. then I ran into something. A creature, in fact. He.. he showed me some stuff. Stuff that kind of worked. Nothing big, no go-home-and-away-from-this-place spell, that is for certain. But enough to make me realize that it was for real. Then he.. well.. you kinda know how things goes. I kinda.. submitted."
Pia blushed a little. Monster violations were kind of a touchy subject to bring up. In that particular case, Pia had been rather overwhelmed by the creature, Seraph, and submitted, even becoming somewhat enthusiastic after a while. Sure, she had been under his mental influence, but she still felt a little embarrassed about it.

"So.. anyway. That is the first part.". Her expression betrayed that there was more.

Susan listened as Pia hurriedly told the first part of her story, nodding or making sounds of acknowledgement when appropriate. So far, there wasn't anything she couldn't believe, understand, or forgive; she'd had too many encounters with the dark side of this place to do otherwise. There were some questions she wanted to ask, but they could wait; it was obviously difficult for Pia to tell this, and she wasn't finished yet.

"I see. So far, nothing too unusual for this place. I take it that this led to something else, though." She waited for Pia to continue with the story.

Pia took a deep breath. At least Susan did not think her crazy just yet. "The thing is.. that whole encounter revealed some things. I don't know if you believe me, but what I experienced was that magic was real. I could even use some of it.. I only know a few minor tricks, and most of the time, I have no control even even of those. But I was determined to explore that bit further."

Now Pia began blushing, and she spoke lower, her face turned down. "But.. here is the thing. According to that being, the one who awoke my talents, I only possess very limited capabilities. And my particular talent is.. uh.. My talents need pleasure to work. Sex. Mainly sex. Some other things. So.. I am kind of a witch, but a really poor one, and need to be.. well.. you get the picture. And whenever I try to do something, I get real horny too. I try to be nice, but I have learned that something in me, apart so deep down inside of me is really.. slutty. And I am not sure that is the kind of girl you want. Or deserve."


"I..uh.. I guess that part is not the bad one, though. You see.. I have found at least one girl who is also a witch. A real one, who knows what she is doing. I have been trying to learn from her.. and.. uh.. my 'talents' being what they are.. things happened." Pia did not dare look up, to see how Susan reacted. "And then with you and me getting more and more serious, I feel like I am being two persons, and I kind of think it would tear me apart. No one makes me as happy as you, yet I think I am maybe being another person than what you think, and I feel like a big fat pretender and I am afraid you will think I am a nutcase or a terrible whore or something."
The last part was blurted out, fast.

All of it was quite a bit to take in at once. Not the fact that magic was real; she'd found that out in her first year here, between encounters with Keemari and those damned pixies, and it wouldn't have been much of a stretch even if she hadn't known. That some humans could use it was more news to her, but even then, there were rumors about a couple of students. Some of the rest, however, would take some time before she'd fully got her mind about them.

She didn't need to think about some things, though, and one of them was the one that clearly was worrying Pia. She leaned over and kissed the blonde on the cheek. "Never think that you're not 'good enough' for me. Meeting you was probably the best thing to ever happen to me, and I fell in love with the woman I met that night. That includes the parts you might not be so proud of; they're part of what makes you you. Besides," she grinned as she concluded, "I'm pretty sure I'd encountered that deep down part of you not long before I got the courage to tell you how I felt." She waited to see how Pia reacted; there were more things that would need to be dealt with, but one thing at a time.

"Oh.. thank you.. that is.. I am glad you say that." Pia looked up at Susan, daring to meet her gaze again. She looked a bit like a sad puppy, looking up with big blue eyes.
"I-I so desperately want to be your girl. I think.. I think if I had not met you, I think I would have been so miserable. I have been down, so down, but with you, I feel happy again. Whenever I think about you, I feel stronger and happier, and sometimes I cannot for the life of me imagine what you see in me. You are brave.. and just good to me."

"I guess it is silly, but sometimes I just like to pretend I am home, and that you are with me, just strolling, hand in hand. I like to imagine what people I knew would think, seeing me with the hot stranger. I bet some jaws would drop." Pia smiled a little, but her face got serious again soon after.

"And it is because you mean so much to me, I need to be honest with you. The witch I told you about, Kanoe.. I came into contact with her a little while before I met you, I think. And while our common interest is magic.. things got.. uh.. definitely sexual. The way magic works with me, it is kind of inevitable. I have not done anything magical with her in a while.. she has other apprentices too, I think, and I have been.. well.. I have kind of been more interested in you than in magic studies lately. But the magic and the sex is part of me, and sooner or later it will pop up again. And I would rather you heard it from me now than later."

Susan smiled and nodded when Pia mentioned imagining being back home with her; it was the sort of fantasy that she suspected everyone who knew the school's secret probably engaged in. It probably wouldn't ever come true, since there was no way the administration could risk letting the stories spread beyond the island; one or two students could be dismissed as disturbed individuals, but that wouldn't work for a large enough number of reports. Susan knew firsthand of half a dozen students who'd been attacked besides Pia and herself, and she strongly doubted that was even scratching the surface of the problem.

Pia soon continued, talking a bit about the student she'd been learning magic from. Susan nodded again; she'd heard some rumors about a student with the same name who was supposedly a witch, although she'd never met the woman, who was presumably the same person. She couldn't say she really knew anything about her, though, since the stories were so contradictory that at least half had to be false. Still, it was somehow reassuring that the other student wasn't exactly a complete unknown.

She had some concerns about the link between Pia's magic and sex and whether it were even really necessary, given that it was a monster that told her about it, but she set them aside; Pia had almost certainly considered them, and Kanoe was probably the person to talk to if her concerns became too much. In any case, the fact that Pia had chosen to tell Susan all of this when Susan hadn't had the slightest hint of any of it did much to allay any fears that it might drive Pia away from her.

She put her hand over Pia's and smiled warmly. "I'm glad you care enough to tell me about this." She paused for a moment, unsure of how to word the next part. "And, if concern over what I'd think is the only thing stopping you from learning more magic, please don't let it. I can understand trying to find anything that might be a weapon against… those things, and the occasional need to just fall into bed with anyone handy and willing." With a wink she added, "I could probably be convinced to help you practice, too."

"Really?"

She felt a rush of pure relief. Once she had began talking, she had been terrified. The morning had began so perfectly, and yet had had the potential to end so terribly. She was not afraid of what she feared the most. Loosing Susan, perhaps. To never again feel her embrace. Or to feel her scorn, being branded a freak. Or her anger. Or perhaps most of all, to be cast away, left to the harsh cold of loneliness.

She should probably have said something more, said something to express her feelings, but she could not. She did not have the words ready to say what she wanted. Instead she almost threw herself as Susan, hugging her hard, burying her face between her neck and her shoulders, kissing her smooth skin.
"I love you so much right now..", she whispered.

Pia may not have had the words to say what she felt, but she made her feelings known quite well anyway. The initial hug caught Susan slightly off balance, but she managed to catch herself before she could fall over backwards. As Pia kissed her neck, Susan moved to return the hug, pressing the blonde against her harder, her hands softly caressing the bare skin of her upper back. Their positions made it impossible for her to return the kisses in kind just yet, but she would correct that when she could.

"I love you, too," she whispered in reply.

"Mmm.. Really?", Pia said again, this time in response to Susan's whisper. She could not restein herself, all of a sudden she was in Susan's lap, hugging her even more, crushing Susans head into her breast, then kissing her even more.

Who could have known, today had started out perfect, and then become even more perfect. Right now, Pia was the luckiest girl alive,she was sure.