Skreeeeeechk. Skreeeeeeechk.
Janine hated the noise her marker made when she dragged it across the paper. But it was impossible to escape it. Not with her job.
Skreeeeeeck.
”How many more of these are there?” Rio asked. ”Can we go home soon?” Wordlessly, Janine pointed at the big pile of books on her desk. They were stacked right next to her nameplate.
Janine Evergreen, Expurgator
It read. Every time she saw it, she had to roll her eyes. Expurgate was just a fancy word for censor. But they couldn’t write that on her nameplate, because then it might cause people to ask questions. Nobody likes censorship. Barely anyone cares about expurgating.
Words. Words had power. Janine knew that maybe better than most people.
”I don’t want to wait till you’ve blacked out all sensitive words in these books. I want to go hooooome. I think I smelled a mouse in your bedroom yesterday. I want to hunt it.”
”Why didn’t you catch it yesterday then? What kind of useless cat are you, Rio?” Rio stood up and stretched like cats do.
”I’m not useless. I wanted to wait and see if there are other mice too. If I eat one, the others might be too scared to show themselves. And aside from that, it’s not my job to keep your house pest-free! I’m a familiar, not your pet!”
”Aren’t familiars supposed to be useful? Provide spiritual guidance or something like that?”
”Yes!”
”So what do I need spiritual guidance for?”
”You’re a witch!”
”So is everybody else.” She turned back to her books while Rio sat down next to her, his tail twitching from one side to the other. Janine knew that Rio knew that she was right. But it didn’t make either of them happy. 
Hundreds of years ago, magic didn’t exist in the world. There were stories, but most people believed they were fake. And then many things happened. The world almost got destroyed and magic resurfaced. Bit by bit, it spread around the globe until everyone possessed magical powers of one kind or another. And it never went away again.
The problem with special powers is that, as soon as everyone has them, they’re not special anymore. Bit by bit, people have to take on ordinary jobs again. It’s just the type of job that changes.
Everyone had been convinced that technology would change people’s lives, nobody expected magic to do it.
And it wasn’t just the jobs it had influenced. Politics changed a lot too, as it usually does after a catastrophe. With billions of powerful magic users, there needed to be new rules. And out of the ashes of destruction and anarchy rose …
An oligarchy of the strong.
Not everyone had the same degree of power. Some were more gifted while others could barely lift a feather with their mind. Those who could destroy whole cities with just a thought were the ones who placed themselves in the positions of rulers. The others had two choices: Accept it or die.
The population dropped a bit, during the time of change.
But this too had been a while ago. Janine hadn’t even been alive yet. She had just heard the stories read the books. And then censored the books so that nobody could prove that the leaders were telling lies.
”Why can’t you just use your magic to remove all the bad words and then go home”, Rio complained.
”We’ve been over this. Magic can be reversed. This marker, on the other hand, is permanent. Look, it even says so on its casing.”
Several hours later, Janine had finally filled her quota for the day and was able to go home.
”Can we do some cool spiritual journey?” Rio asked while he tried to keep up with Janine’s big steps. ”Pretty please? We haven’t done it in a while!”
The witch wanted to say no. She felt tired and emotionally drained. A spiritual journey was almost the opposite of what she needed. But when she looked at Rio, she just couldn’t say no. It wasn’t his fault that he had been bonded with her. He had just been unlucky enough to be born the same minute as her and then assigned as a familiar for life. Which, in his case, would be exactly as long as Janine’s.
”Alright, but only a short one.”
”Yessss!” His ears perked up and his steps became more energetic. He loved trips to the spiritual realm.
Back at home, Janine lit some scented candles. Technically, those weren’t necessary, but she liked the atmosphere they created. Today, she had chosen one that was labeled “ocean breeze”. It smelled like salt and sand.
”Are you ready?” Rio asked.
”Sure, why not.” Janine closed her eyes and let her soul leave her body. It attached itself to Rio, who jumped and then …
She was underwater. The cold, blue ocean was calm around her. It was dark. She couldn’t move, but it was fine. She didn’t need to move. Water was flowing through her pores.
”You’re a sponge”, she heard Rio’s voice. Well, she didn’t really hear, she had no ears. But she knew Rio said it.
Janine tried to find out what she could do in this form. After a bit of experimenting, she was able to move something. Her flagella, as Rio told her. They increased the flow of water. She felt the oxygen flowing through her body, along with … food? Bacteria!
Normally, she would have been disgusted by the sheer amount of bacteria passing through her body. But right now, right here, it was great. It was the way a sponge lived. So calm …
She didn’t know how much time had passed when Rio led her soul back to her original body, but the candles had burnt down and the wax had solidified. Janine touched it. It was cold.
”That was weird”, she said.
”I’m sorry”, Rio replied. ”I didn’t want to disturb you. I just thought it might be nice to get away from everything for a bit. To have some peace …”
”It was nice. And you’re right, I needed a calm place.”
She picked Rio up and cuddled him. Life sucked, but at least she had someone to rely on.
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