Alycia was relieved to see the once brightly lit study now being bathed in the soft orange glow of the setting sun. Her hand was cramped from writing all day, the sharp utensil used to carve words nearly made her hands go numb. 

"That's all for today." Alycia's private teacher, Mrs. Gylacia, straightened her back, then looked at her. "Remember to do the homework, and please," she looked at Alycia, formed into a ball to bend over the stone slab she used to write, "work on your posture." With those words, the fish-maid darted out of the study, not to return again until the following day.

Alycia unfurled until she was in a comfortable floating position. "You work on your posture," she murmured under her breath. With a sigh, she took the slim slab in her arms and swam down the hallway. This isn't fair,she thought to herself. I write aIl day, just to have to write more? Isn't 7 hours a day enough?  She started to get more and more lost in her thoughts, so much that she almost didn't notice the light figure in front of her.

"Nova?"

"Huh? Oh, Alycia, how are you doing?" Nova's tone was light and casual, the polar opposite of her harsh words and cut-off body language she had shown the same morning.

"I'm good. Hey, aren't you supposed to be in training right now? That's what happens for the first month, after all." 

"They let me off. I mean, when you've done this as many times as me, you pretty much know all there is to know about this." Alycia was confused by her casual words and phrases. No staff had ever acted like this, especially not a shark-maid. "So, what do you have there?"

Alycia's concerns as to why Nova had discontinued her past jobs as staff were drowned out with the urge to complain about everything and anything. 

"Oh, just the worst thing is the history of the ocean.  Not only did I have to spend 7 hours straight writing with THIS thing," Alycia held up her carver, "but I also have homework to waste even MORE of my precious time writing and tracing and translating and doing who else KNOWS what. I couldn't even imagine a worse punishment in the world. You're lucky." Alycia didn't take a second thought before the next words rolled uncontrollably off of her tongue. "I bet you don't even have classes." Alycia realised her mistake as soon as she saw the shift of anger in Nova's bright green eyes. 

"What makes you think that?" Nova crossed her arms, and narrowed her eyes defensively. "You think that just because I'm a shark-maid makes me any different than you?"

"No, Nova I didn't mean-"

"You think that just because you have a few more seashells around your hair means that you work harder or that you're better? That you're somehow more deserving of what you have?"

"No, I-I didn't say that, you're putting words i-in my mout-"

"I don't want to hear it." Nova spat, her voice returning to the rage that filled her this morning, now twice as powerful. "Even me-a sad, poor shark-maid-can understand that you shouldn't say that to anyone. Stop being so selfish and taking things for granted. People like you disgust me. Too bad I live in a world full of them." She swam off in a fury before Alycia could explain herself. 

Alycia floated there for a second, debating in her mind whether she should try to swim after her. However, the thought only lingered for a moment, as she decided to swim up to her room.