There was a silence in Jewel’s office as she sat across her desk from her daughter. The occasional click of her assistant’s mouse punctuated the sheer absence of noise in the tiny room, but no one made any large movements. Jewel was now a mere four meters tall, as she had to move around a fair amount of money to satisfy everyone today. But she would return to her usual height once things were sorted out with the jewelry collector. Edith, however, had been grown back to her previous size upon returning home. Despite that good news, she had remained silent since returning home less than two hours ago. She didn’t know why she had been summoned to her mother’s office, but she would find out soon enough.

“Done,” the assistant announced, getting up to hand Edith a brochure and a thick packet.

“What are these?” she asked, not even looking towards her mother.

“That is a brochure for the boarding school I am sending you to.” Jewel’s tone was even, giving her daughter no indication as to the circumstanced=s of her decision. “Rose and Gildaa have already packed your things. You will return in the first if May if you behave.”

Edith flipped the brochure over a few times, not bothering to read anything, and placed it into the bulging packet it accompanied. “Okay” was her response before being dismissed from the room by her mother.

Just as the girl exited a woman entered. Her blonde hair was in the same ponytail it was in three days earlier, but her clothes were a bit less modest than before. She had a smirk on her face that made her look utterly foolish, but it didn’t stop her from beginning the conversation.

“So, I did what you asked,” she said. “You gonna give me the rest of now?” Her posture was one of a prideful idiot, and Jewel was repulsed by this woman’s lack of finesse. Still, she did in three minutes what Jewel had been attempting for the past eight years: she scared her daughter away from tinies permanently. She deserved the money if only for that. Jewel’s assistant carried the large briefcase over to the woman and placed it at her feet.

“Once my people get the jewelry out of those old mines, we will give you your share as promised.” The woman had stopped listening, however. She was gawking at her rapidly increasing size and the large sum of money she had just received. Such a simpleton, asking for it all in cash, Jewel thought. That’s how you get yourself mugged. The blonde woman exited without so much as a goodbye, leaving Jewel alone with her thoughts and her assistant. She pulled a tiny black sphere out of her pocket that one of the maids had confiscated from Edith’s things. Jewel rolled the sphere in her hand, and felt a tiny ridge she hadn’t noticed before.

Gripping the sphere on either side of the ridge, she twisted counter-clockwise until the ball split into two. Inside the sphere was hollow, but lined with a soft material of sorts. “Knew it,” Jewel said to no one in particular before resealing both sides and crushing the ball between her fingers with a sickening crunch.