“I am very sorry Green, but I can’t accept a new student right now,” Violet said, trying to be as polite as they could. It is hard not to hurt other people’s feelings, especially Green’s. “There is this student I want to focus on. She’s got potential, but I need to dedicate some extra time until she can finally grow on her own.”

Phantoms do not have pupils, but you can still read their emotions from their eyes. Green’s eyes flickered. “I didn’t know you accept students on your own.” 

“Well, it is more that I got accepted as a teacher.” Violet shrugged. “I rejected her at first, but she knows how to taunt people. Crazy human would then attempt magic in front of my hut, just to get on my nerves.”

“Is she also stubborn? Jacob is sometimes very frustrating to teach: He comes to complain about his failures, but then forgets to report any good progress. I figured that I have to come visit him occasionally so that I really know where he stands now.”

“Hm,” Violet took their time to think. “Well, she is persistent; never giving up on what she wants and cherishes – which sometimes leads her to act stubbornly. She would not burn a tree – for example – saying ‘that the poor tree didn’t deserve it’. Or that one time where she kept failing to cast a certain spell and wouldn’t sleep attempting to get it right. I told her to move to another, simpler one, but in the end she would always go back to the difficult one.”

Green looked blank trying to imagine it. But suddenly they sat up. “She somehow sounds familiar, I think Jacob had a neighbor or something who was crazy persistent, but she moved away some time ago. What was her name?” 

The other phantom sighed and plucked at their sleeves. “I don’t know.” They shook their head when they perceived Green’s stare. “Some call her Anya, some Monique, some Gilda. When you ask her what her real name is, she would just say ‘they all are!’ And she always takes her time if she introduces herself to people. ‘Some call me Anya, some Moni or Monique, some Gilly or Gilda, but you can call me An from Anya.’ would she then say. I decided to just call her Nona : No Name.”

“Huh,” Green tilted their head. “Maybe that’s not Jacob’s old neighbor, I wouldn’t imagine her to be that crazy. And she doesn’t mind you calling her Nona?”

Violet chuckled. “Not at all. ‘A name is just a part of us, we shouldn’t identify ourselves with what others identify us with. So I don’t care what name you call me with, as long as we are friendly to each other and I know who you are referring to.’”

“That is a unique human you have there. I don’t often encounter a human who is that detached to their names.” 

“Me neither. But she is a good student. Her persistence leads to more good than bad, although it sometimes takes a toll on her. -Say, does your human also have this ‘feeling’ thing?”

The green phantom scratched their head. “Hm, what do you mean by that?” 

“Nona sometimes refuses to do something on some days, saying ‘I have a feeling that today is not a good day for it’, for example. Then a sudden thunderstorm comes some hours later. I also had some people who wanted me to take them as a student, and she warned me that she had a feeling that ‘those would only have your knowledge for their own gain’. I took my time to think about the matter and some days later it turned out that those people were pirates who got stranded and tried to get away from the law.

I asked her what those ‘feelings’ are, as they seem psychic, but aren’t magical. She also couldn’t explain it. She told me that female humans usually have this ‘feeling’ thing,  but that doesn’t exclude male humans from having it too. And not every female human has it.”

“Huh, that’s crazy.” Green took their time to think about something similar to his student. “I think Jacob has it too, but not as crazy as Nona. He sometimes says ‘I have a bad feeling about this’ and refuses to do anything. Then he would say ‘see, I was right, if I did it, it would be a mess now’. So I think she was right that it’s not exclusive to female humans. Maybe it is only for humans who are stubborn…”

But the magic phantom shook their head. “I don’t think so, as a magic teacher I have encountered a lot of stubborn students. I rarely hear them talking about ‘bad feelings’.”

“Maybe they just don’t talk about it while Jacob and Nona are open about what they think?”

“That can be, yes. I don’t know, I don’t really pay attention to humans. They are more often a pain than good company. But your Jacob sounds interesting, to say the least, I might take a look at him and his magical affinity after I’m done with Nona. -which might take a while. But I’m not sure I would be happy to handle his lack of communication. Nona would report back to me every day no matter what happened.”

Green nodded in approval. “I think something like that can be learned. I will train him to build a habit like your student and regularly report his progress in the meantime. He’ll be a good candidate for you to assess and teach.” 

Violet stretched out his hand. “Deal.” And they shook hands to seal it. “By the way, wasn’t this Jacob originally Blue’s apprentice? I think I have heard about him before you came to me today.”

“Yes, but he caught the Blue Cold so I took him. He has talent with plants, which is fortunate. How about Nona?”

“She wanted to learn with Blue, but fell ill and Yellow took her. It went well but I think Yellow expected a little bit more from her than what she wanted to achieve. Nona is a good student though; I see how she applies what she learned from Yellow when learning with me. If I am not mistaken, she also went to Rose and Red for a little while, but they couldn’t teach her much.” 

The guest phantom nodded slowly. “Very diligent, as if she has nothing better to do than bother phantoms all around Iluskia.” 

The host shrugged. “She has her own means of income. People ask her to teach them things, and she has a wide skill-set. It is easy for her to get some money every now and then to get by. And I think she likes to live like that; doing different kinds of things for people. When I asked her what her dream is, she would always say ‘I want to learn everything I can!’ Funny human, but fun to talk to.”

“Very interesting indeed.” Green rose from their seat. “The moon is coming out, which means I have to get back.” They took their hat. “Thank you very much for receiving me, Violet, and your willingness to take a look at my student. If the wind allows, maybe we can trade our pupils. I would like to get acquainted to Nona.” 

Violet bowed a little. “Always glad to have a friend come over. I will tell you when I am done teaching her. Your student sounds a little bit annoying though, I don’t know if I could handle him.” The phantom grinned to hint that they didn’t mean it all seriously. “Anyways, send my regards to Blue and tell them that I would like to visit, when the blue snow and Iluskian wind allows.” 

Green nodded. “Good-bye, Violet.”

“Good-bye, Green.”