Present:
"Gibson."
Jasmine whirled about to stare at the boy who replied "here" to what had been her surname in the prior reality. He was sitting near the back of the class, and already looked to be checking out before class even began. He was big, probably standing well over 6 foot tall, and was solid as a slab of beef. As she focused on him, her memories of the boy filtered in, although there weren't many of them. As far as her memories of the new world knew, that was Jon "The Ox" Gibson, a linebacker on the Lakeview football team and Biff Meadow's chief lieutenant. Whenever Biff wanted to keep his hands clean with his bullying, Ox would happily act as his muscle. She hadn't had much personal interaction with the football player, but knew enough to know she didn't particularly care for the boy.
Except, he was Jon Gibson, a name that meant quite a lot to the Djinn girl due to her memories of the world before Asteria worked her magic. That name was feeling increasingly foreign to her, but she was still incredibly confused to find someone else sporting it. Casting furtive looks back at the boy, she admitted this Jon Gibson looked a bit like she'd used to, but only a bit. Oddly enough, the features she recognized, thick eyebrows, wide ears, pale blue eyes, straw like hair, and sharp nose, were all ones she'd happily jettisoned when she became Jasmine. In fact, they were all the features she'd once inherited from ...Roger.
As Hargreeves grudgingly began a review of material for the postponed test, Jasmine's mind was completely elsewhere. Roger, her previous biological father, (She refused to think of the man as her genuine parent due to how poorly he compared to Cassandra, or Lydia in either reality,) the new Jon Gibson had to be Roger's child in this world. It made sense, she slowly realized; it wasn't like her wish had erased Roger from existence, merely erased him from her family. He still would have grown up in Lakeview, and since Lydia wasn't there to make the mistake of sleeping with him in this world, it was totally plausible he'd knocked up another woman. Jon was a family name, so...
By my Mothers magic, this is bizzare Jasmine thought. It occurred to her that she had no memories of Mike Matthews, who had filled a similar position at school, in this new reality and she wondered if Mike's mom had ended up with Roger. She absolutely was not jealous of the boy having her old name or father, but it was certainly strange. Actually, if anything she felt a little sorry for anyone having to still have Roger for a father, but then again, considering how much of a dick this new Jon was, she wasn't that sorry.
"Ms. Galenos, since you find the back of the room so interesting today, I'm sure you can solve this next equation for the class," Hargreeves sharply interjected, bringing Jasmine's attention back to class. "Uh, yes sir," she replied as she slowly approached the board; identity crises would have to wait, avoiding detention with Hargreeves would have to come first.
Cassandra worked to keep a professional smile on her face, as her ire at the woman across from her grew. As the head curator of the Lakeview Antiquity museum, a surprisingly large and prestigious institution for the mid-sized metropolis, she was often consulted by the faculty of Ivy University's large Archaeology and Anthropology department, but it didn't mean she always enjoyed it. It was important sure, the connection with the university was one of the reasons why the museum was as successful as it was, but when it came to dealing with Dr. Devries, she'd really rather be doing almost anything else.
The short, plump blonde was just so full of herself, absolutely convinced that she was always the smartest person in the room. After a half hour of the professor not so subtly talking down to her, Cassandra found herself wanting to scream. Yes, she did in fact know Washington's teeth were made of Ivory and not wood. She wasn't some fresh faced undergraduate who thought Sally was the gods' gift to archaeology. Also, she'd met the man and gotten to see the stained dentures up close when the, at the time, young Virginian had taken passage on the ship she skippered in her early days in the new world; not that she could tell Sally Devries that.
"So, obviously you can see that the school will need to keep the funerary tablets for at least a further six months of research. They're a vital piece of the puzzle to demonstrating my thesis regarding the tree demons reviled by the native peoples of the region," Dr. Devries droned, making Cassandra pinch the bridge of her nose in annoyance. She bit back her retort that Devries' latest theory was total bunk (it was fairly obvious from even the scant evidence they had, that the people of the region had venerated, not despised, the nature goddess depicted on the various tablets and pieces of pottery found in the area,) getting into an argument with Sally about her latest pet theory would eat away the rest of Cassandra's morning.
"I'm terribly sorry, Dr. Devries," Cassandra began as calmly as she could, "we really can't postpone the new exhibit any longer, and you have had over a year to analyze them. You'll have to rely on the photos and scans you've taken for the duration of the exhibit, after which time the museum will be happy to lend them back to the university."
Sally Devries huffed in annoyance, "If that's the way it has to be, fine, but I'll be sure to remember this the next time you need my cooperation, Cassie." She turned around with her nose up in the air, which was a little comical due to standing only 4 foot ten, and called behind her, "I wish you a good day."
Cassandra felt the customary rush of magic around her, and used it to manifest a delicious Reuben on her desk for lunch. Having a free lunch that she didn't have to use her own internal magic to summon certainly made her day better. If there was one good thing, about the otherwise insufferable woman, it was her slightly archaic manner of saying goodbye, and Cassandra had frequently taken advantage of it for little treats. She knew Sally's threat was largely an empty one, the professor wasn't the head of the department and so didn't really have the leverage to cause more than minor headaches for Cassandra's museum, but it was still irritating.
She bit into the sandwich, and re-centered herself on the work in front of her. The tablets would be part of a larger exhibit trying to reconstruct the religion of the indigenous people who lived around the nearby Lake Plunder. It was all coming together for opening at the end of the month, and Cassandra couldn't help but feel a little rush of pride as the project neared the finish line. She'd had many careers in her life, ship captain, merchant, tailor, dancer, silversmith, but her current one might be the most enjoyable one so far. That or you're just so deliriously happy to have met the love of your life, and have three magnificent daughters, that your joy has bled into the career you picked up around the same time.
