"They don't call it slavery when it's elementals. They don't call it anything in particular. It's just how things are done. It's what we're considered to be for," he says, shrugging again.

"Um."

"Yes," agrees Earth. "Maurabel has just about the same reaction, but she can't do much about it except treat us as much like people as she possibly can."

"Is she planning on doing something?"

"I'm sure she is. She hasn't told me if she's thought of anything specific, besides buying an elemental from the university when she graduates."

"And - are there free ones? Is that magically possible? I don't know how this works."

"We start out free. Many of us still are. Humans find us in the wild and capture us and bind us to amulets. It's possible to break an amulet, but I've only ever heard of it happening by accident."

"But she's got to be planning to do that, right, not just buy one and keep them?"

"Breaking an amulet is considered a very dangerous thing to do. I don't know if there are any of us that she trusts enough to be sure they wouldn't kill her and everyone else in sight and then flee, which has historically been what happened whenever an elemental got loose by accident."

"Oh. Yeah, if that happens every time that would be, uh, a deterrent." Pause. "I want to meet her."

"I'm under the impression that would be difficult to arrange," he says. "For one thing, she's not in town right now."

"Yeah, maybe I can't. Alas. I mean, at least you can be here instead of - who owns you or are you a free one?"

"The university. They have a little collection - at least a few of every element - for the magic students to borrow."

"I guess that... seems like something that would happen."

"Yes."

"What's the magic like, do you have to be born with it or what?"

"Humans are born with different levels of affinity for different elements. Elementals aren't born at all, we coaelsce, but we come in varying power levels too. Not all humans can do magic, but it's pretty common."

"So I probably can't learn any."

"I very much doubt it."

"Rats. Oh well."

He shrugs.

The conversation peters out. Katie quizzes Bar, takes notes, collects napkins, accepts a Sprite, and goes out again.

Lightning finishes his nap. They sit together on a couch and wonder if another Maurabel is going to show up, and what she'll be like if she does.

Well, next is this random dude with wings and a tail in lieu of wearing a shirt. He looks pretty damn confused, which is something of a theme.