Chapter One: Open Enrollment
The place was dark. I didn't recognise it. There were so many trees, but they were black and scary. I could feel the wind attacking my face as I ran. I ran so fast. I was terrified. What was that thing behind me? I looked over my shoulder and saw a huge dark figure with horns and sharp teeth. It's mouth and eyes glowed a burning red, like magma had made a home in its core. It chased me on all fours as if it was a panther trying to catch its dinner. I ran. It let out a blood-curdling roar that pierced my ears and shook the ground beneath me. I fell into the mud. I couldn't feel my legs. I reached my hand out and grasped at the mud, trying to pull myself away, but my body was so heavy. I made it to a pool of black water that reflected my face back at me like a mirror… Wait… it wasn't me… Whoever it was… he looked like me, but he wasn't me. His face was muddy, scratched, and filled with terror.
"Come on! Get up! Keep moving!" I yelled, continuing to drag myself through the mud. I looked up and saw a long mirror. I needed to get to it. Just a touch… "Just… a little… farther!" I screamed at myself as I desperately tried to reach it. A thunderous bang echoed through the darkness. I spun around. Shit, shit, shit! It had caught up to me. I was out of time. I rolled onto my back and through my hands up in a last-ditch-effort to save myself. "Yueguang Trabem!" I screeched at the top of my lungs as a searing power left my fingertips.
I sat up so quickly that I became light-headed. My breathing was heavy, and my hand was on my chest, my shirt bunched up in my fist. I was drenched in sweat, but I was in my room. I was safe. I looked around to reassure myself. "That… That felt so real…," I whispered to myself. Suddenly, a sound caught my attention. It was my alarm. I silenced my phone and looked at the time. "Crap! I'm late!" I jumped out of bed and into my closet, grabbing at the first set of clothes I could find. It was almost 10 o'clock and I needed to be gone by 9. I darted for the door, glimpsing myself in the hallway mirror just long enough to know that I looked exhausted. My wavy white hair was a mess.
I got to my advisor's office with seconds to spare and fell into the chair across from her desk with a huff. "I am so sorry, ma'am. I overslept."
She looked a bit put-off by my appearance or behaviour, but her words were still kind. "You're not late, so that's quite alright, Mr. Miller."
"Just Percy is fine, Ms. Robertson," I sat up and tried to look more presentable, but I'd been slacking off so much lately in every aspect of my life, that I didn't really have the motivation to pull it off.
"Percy, right," she shook her head, seemingly disappointed with herself for not remembering that from the last time we met. "Forgive me. I'm used to working with… more troubled students." She sifted through some papers on her desk and pulled out a file with my name on it. After flipping through a few pages, she frowned. "By all accounts, you're a perfect student, Percy. It's only a couple of weeks into the quarter, but your grades and attendance are excellent, so I've got to ask… Why are you here?" she raised an eyebrow at me.
"It's hard to describe, ma'am," I explained. "I know I should be happy, but I'm just… not… I try so hard, but no matter what I do, it all just feels like… like I'm sittin' in a waitin' room or somethin' and no-one ever calls my name."
She folded her hands together and leaned forward on her elbows. "And what is it exactly that you're waiting for?"
I sighed and leaned back in the chair. "I don't know… I guess I'm lookin' for a life of adventure," I scoffed at my own air-headed comment.
"What?" was all she said.
I smiled, almost laughing at myself as I clarified. "A life explorin' new places, collectin' ancient artefacts, discoverin' mysterious powers… That's not too much to ask, is it?"
She furrowed her eyebrows and I noticed her lip twitch as she tried to remain serious. "Those are certainly some… original aspirations, but I can't help you live in a fantasy world, Percy."
I rolled my eyes a bit, my smile fading. "Yeah, I know. It's just a joke anyway. I just wish I actually knew what I was looking for. Whatever it is, it's not this," I gestured to the walls around us. College was so boring to me. Classes were easy, I was rarely challenged, and I just wanted something new to suddenly spring into my life a lift my spirits from this aggravating slump I'd been in for the last most of my life. I always felt like something was missing.
"I know you're at a crossroads right now, and one of the directions you could go would mean dropping out of Uni," she frowned.
I matched her expression. "The thought had crossed my mind…"
"Please don't do it," she implored me. "When this phase you're in ends, you don't want to discover that you've given up your chance to get a higher education, do you?"
I let my head fall slightly to the side as I pondered what to do. "But… what if you're wrong and it's not a phase?" I asked, wondering if phases usually lasted six years…
She leaned back in her chair and let her hands fall to her lap. "How about this? Why don't you go home and think about it before you make your decision? Will you do that for me?"
I sighed and nodded. "Sure. I guess I can do that."
The conversation wrapped up quickly after that and I made my way back to my flat. I felt so defeated. The meeting with Ms. Robertson was supposed to help me, not hinder me. I dropped my bag by the couch and went into the bathroom. I leaned against the counter and glared at myself in the mirror. My face looked dead. If it wasn't for the trace amount of pink in my pale cheeks and the annoyed furrow of my eyebrows, I'd have thought I was dead.
"I know you belong somewhere. I know there's more to you that this," I tried to give myself a pep-talk. I stared deeply into my own depressed eyes. Then I noticed the lights flicker. "What the hell?" I looked up at the fixture above the vanity as the bulbs flashed on and off. I moved to turn the switch off, but then I noticed something incredibly odd out of the corner of my eye. My reflection didn't move with me. "Huh?" I looked closer at the mirror, but it still didn't follow me. I was looking at… well… me… but it wasn't me… the guy from my dream? He had white hair, like me, but it was straight, not wavy, and his eyes looked angry and stiff, not depressed and confused. "What the hell?" I reached out to touch the mirror, curious to see if this was some sort of prank… not that I had any friends to prank me… My hand stopped short of the mirror, almost as if I was scared to find out why this was happening. Was I asleep? Well, if I was, what was the harm in investigating? With a slight shake in my hand, I touched the glass… but my fingertips went through the mirror… "Woah!" I tried to pull my hand back, but I was stuck… and getting sucked in… "Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait!" I shouted as my face came only inches from the mirror.
Everything went black. I couldn't breathe, I couldn't see, and I couldn't hear. I was terrified. Please be a dream. Please be a dream! Suddenly, I could see light, but it was dim, like I was underwater… wait… I was underwater. I could feel the current against my skin and the water stung my eyes. I tried to hold my breath, but I didn't have anything left. I tried to swim for the surface, but my body couldn't move. I was scared. I remember an arm wrapping around me, but I was about to black out. The next thing I knew, I was on land looking up at the sky.
"Where… Where am I?" I tried to sit up, but I felt so weak. I turned my head to see my surroundings. I was on luscious green grass and there was a stone bench next to a pond, which I assumed I'd just been pulled out of. There were buildings… like a small old German town… little stone cottages with ivy growing up the corners and apex rooves. There was a giant statue of a woman in the centre square… Wait! I finally had the energy to spring up. Where the hell am I? And how did I get here?! I looked around again, this time noticing that the statue's head was moving and people were flying around in the sky on furniture! I put my hand over my eyes. "Oh no… I must have hit my head or somethin'…"
"Hey, hey! You're okay. I got you," I deep, yet soothing voice came from below me. A dark-skinned guy in a soaking wet hoodie stood to meet my eyes. "You're a new student here, right?" he smiled warmly.
I dropped my hand and did another 360 of my surroundings. "I'm… a student…"
"Great! You missed the Hall of Mirrors by a mile, but you made it. Welcome to Penderghast College of Elemental Magics," he grinned widely, but my eyes might have been wider. Hall of… Elemental Magic?! "Since it's your first day of the new semester, we should probably get you to the dining hall for orientation. If you're feeling okay, that is."
I could feel my eye twitch in confusion, but I didn't want to give myself away. I looked around one more time, wondering if this was actually real or if I'd been hit by a bus on the way home… I saw some posh looking guy eyeing me disdainfully as he walked by.
"I suppose I should have listened to my father when he said the admissions standards are in decline here," he tilted his nose up. His pointed features added to his pressed shirt and tight blazer to make him look like a total prick. "Didn't you read the information packet? There are arrival protocols, you know." This may not have been the real world, but I was honestly offended by his presence.
"Who are you? Campus police?" the darker guy retorted in my defence. "Why don't you make yourself useful and take him up to orientation?"
He scoffed. "I think not. I am Beckett Harrington. I don't have time to show the other first years around campus," his lip curled into a sneer as he looked me up and down. Without saying another word, he turned on his heel and stalked up the hill towards a large stone building.
"I guess it's just you and me then. I'm Griffin," he held out his hand to me with a big smile.
I took his hand, my own a bit shaky from shock, the cold water, and the fact that I hadn't eaten all day. "I'm proper confused… and also Percy."
He chuckled a bit then said, "Here, Percy, let me help you." He balled his fists and brought them up to his mouth, making a tunnel as he blew through his hands. Before I could ask what the hell he was doing and how that would help in the slightest, the air around me suddenly changed and I could feel a strong draft airing out my clothing.
"Woah! I'm completely dry!" I looked down in awe.
"There you go, good as new," he said, shoving his hands into his hoodie pocket. "You might still wat to change at some point, though. It tends to get chilly in the evenings." He pulled his hands back up and dried himself, shaking the last of the water off of his shoes. "Sorry if the work was a little shoddy. Air magic isn't the most natural to us Earth-Atts, but Professor Englund says I'm getting it," the corner of his lip twitched up in a friendly smile. "Come on, I'll take you up to the school for orientation," he gestured towards the top of the hill with his head and turned to lead the way. Not knowing what else to do, I stumbled after him.
"Okay, wait… so… you're sayin' magic is real? Like… really real? For real?" I stammered, trying not to trip over myself while watching the people flying overhead.
He laughed. "Either that or we're all trapped in the same fever dream." We walked passed the large statue in the centre square and its head followed me. My eyes went wide and I ducked, as if it would suddenly make it stop. "Oh, don't worry about that. That's just the security system, set to vaporise any Attuneless intruders, but there hasn't been one on campus in… well, I don't even know."
Oh my god, I would really love not bein' vaporised right about now… I kept eye contact with the statue, terrified that it would know I didn't belong there, but it soon looked away. I let out a sigh of relief, but the curiosity of why it didn't vaporise me burned at the back of my mind. When I looked ahead again, I noticed that we'd reached a set of massive double doors at the front of the large stone building.
The doors opened by themselves and Griffin led me into a giant entrance hall. It was a mansion. In the middle of the room, there was a huge wooden staircase with intricate carvings along the railings. The ceiling was three stories high, showing the second and third floor balconies wrapping around the rest of the room. On each side of the doors stood a knight's armour set. The helmets seemed to turn to look at me when I stared at them. The floor was mostly hardwood, but there was a large blue patterned rug that took up the centre of the room. Candlelit sconces bordered each doorway and picture frame around the room. Overall, it was incredibly grand.
"Welcome to Penderghast! If you follow me this way, I'll show you…," he paused when a loud chime rang through the building. He looked down at his watch. "Oh, crap! I totally forgot about this Thief team meeting I'm supposed to go to!"
I took a step towards him, horrified to be on my own. "Please don't leave me," I blurted out.
He smiled kindly. "Of course not! I'll drop you off at the dining hall. We're just gonna have to speed this tour up, is all." He led me up the first flight of stairs to an adjoining hallway that was covered in a long green rug with a crest of the letter P every few metres. "The dining hall is just at the end of this hall and to the left. This is the school's main building, so there's a ton of offices and stuff in here. Reception, the dean's office, classrooms… Some of the Attunement placement exams are held here, too."
I repeated his words. "'Attunement placement?'"
He rolled his eyes and laughed. "I think it's kinda silly, too. I knew Earth was my thing when I caused a tiny earthquake throwing a tantrum over dessert when I was, like, five."
"Right… Totally… That's a thing that happens," I said awkwardly.
As we walked down the hall, I could hear a commotion coming from inside one of the rooms.
"Oh, HELL!" a girl's voice rang out.
"Um, Griffin? What's this room?" I asked, pointing at the doorway.
He turned around and followed my eyes. "That's the Hall of Mirrors, where you were supposed to come through."
I pushed the door open slowly to find a gorgeous girl with long, dark hair with her foot stuck in a floor-length mirror. What the… this day cannot get any weirder…
"Oh, Thank goodness! Some assistance, s'il vous plait?" the French rolled off her tongue naturally. She had a handbag on the floor that looked seriously expensive, and her knitted blouse and knee-length skirt didn't look any cheaper.
Griffin and I looked at each other then rushed forward to grab each of her hands. As she fell forward, she landed in my arms and her foot hit the floor with a thud. She blew her bangs out of her face and beamed up at me. "Oops," she giggled. "Shreya Mistry, in your arms and at your service. Good catch by the way," she introduced herself as she stood straight and tidied her wardrobe.
"How did you get stuck?" I asked as she ran her fingers through her curly black hair. She was a fit bird. She had a long neck, tan skin, and opal eyes. Her shoulders were slender, but she seemed tall for a girl. Like a model, I thought.
She sighed. "I always have trouble with these silly mirrors, if I'm being honest. I much prefer air travel. But at least I made it. I was about five minutes away from starting my first year a month late," she giggled.
"Why a month?" I asked.
"That's when the first Visitor' Day is, when the wards reopen, of course," she explained as she picked up her bag and slung it gracefully over her shoulder. "Guess Penderghast is stuck with me now!" she beamed.
"Well, welcome," Griffin held his hand out. "I'm Griffin, this is Percy. He's a first year, too. I was just showing him to the dining hall, if you'd want to come with."
She shook his hand daintily, like she expected him to kiss it, then put her hand on her hip. "No need," she spoke confidently. "I know just where it is. I'm a legacy student." She grinned properly and strutted out into the hallway.
We followed after her until we reached a pair of ornate doors, red wood with golden inlay. Griffin stopped and turned to me. "Well, that's the end of Griffin's tour! Sorry it was kind of rushed. I've gotta go, but good luck with the rest of orientation!" he beamed quickly then rushed off down the hallway in a jog.
"Actually, if you could just-," but it was too late… he was gone. I turned towards the doors and took a deep breath in, letting it out when I decided to finally open the door. I tried to slip in without anyone noticing me, but the room was so overwhelming that I froze. The ceiling looked like it was painted with stars and the stained-glass windows that stood from floor to ceiling let in rainbow light that made the numerous dining tables glow. Tapestries were hanging on every wall and the floor was tiled like a huge mural. When I got my act together, I slowly closed the door, which made a few heads turn my way, but overall, I didn't draw a lot of attention. The Dean was at a podium on the far side of the hall speaking to the students. Her voice rang through the large room across the tall ceilings.
"Pst! Hey! Over here!" someone whispered. My head spun in his direction. He was a skinny kid with dark spikey hair and a denim jacket. I pointed to myself and furrowed my eyebrows. He nodded and waved me over to his table. To avoid drawing more attention, I ducked over and took the seat next to him. "Hey, you're late! I'm Zephyr. You can call me Zeph if you want. Everybody does."
I furrowed my eyebrows at his extreme excitement. "I'm Percy. Just Percy."
"So, just Percy, what's your Attunement?" he asked giddily.
Trying not to sound like an idiot that didn't belong there, I said, "I, um… I'm waitin' until tomorrow to know for sure. Don't want to jinx it?"
He was going to respond, but the Dean cleared her throat loudly. "In conclusion, I'd like to remind you all that this is an institution of higher learning, not a playground for children. Put in the work or go home." All around us, students started getting up and heading towards the doors.
"She's just full to the brim with the warm fuzzies, isn't she?" Zeph joked.
"Wait, that's it? I missed the whole thing!" I groaned, thinking that this was the only thing that would explain what the hell was happening to me.
"Don't worry, Dean Goeffe's speeches are notoriously dry. Besides, I'm an expert in listening and speaking at the same time," he grinned. "The gist is, the first years will line up at 7am in the foyer tomorrow to get assigned one of the staff as their examiner for placement tests." He pointed at the stage where a hairy, kind-faced man with horns was seated behind a table with a few other teachers. When he stood up, I noticed that he had goat legs…
"Crikey! He's…," I said mostly to myself.
"Super tall! I know! I asked him already and the answer is over seven feet!" Zeph looked way too excited.
"I was goin' to say a satyr, but yeah, that, too," I mumbled as he got up and motioned for me to follow him.
As we followed the crowd out of the hall, Zeph said, "Classes will start after all the freshmen have been placed, and your schedule will be given to you then as well."
"So… What do we do now?" I asked, honestly gormless.
"Basically, the rest of the day is free. My roommate and I have a fun evening of bonding and laying out house rules ahead of us," he was way too happy at the idea of that.
We followed the crowd out onto the grounds, but I lost Zeph somewhere. Uh… now what? I looked around, hoping I'd find him or Griffin…
"Hey, Percy!" a familiarly soothing voice made me turn around. Griffin was coming from the bridge over the pond. "You survived orientation! How was it? As boring as last year's?"
"I wouldn't know… I wasn't at last year's… but this was really interestin'. Well, not the actual speech, since I missed most of that," I babbled. "But I saw a satyr and I think I made a new friend. It's all so much considerin' where I was this mornin'…" As the words left my mouth, I remembered… WHAT THE BLEEDING HELL AM I DOIN' HERE?!
"Are you okay?" Griffin put his hand on my shoulder when he noticed my internal freak out.
I forced a laugh. "Yeah, yeah. I'm fine. Just, er, first day jitters, I guess… It's all a bit overwhelmin'."
"Hey, it's going to be okay. If it makes you feel any better, you're really bright," he smiled.
I snorted. "I think my primary teacher told me that once."
He took his hand back. "No, I mean like, inside. I can feel your energy through the ground. I felt it as soon as you stepped onto campus, actually."
"Really? What did I… feel like?"
"Hmm, it felt like taking your first sip of a hot drink that's just cooled down. The kinda warm you get all over your body, you know?" he tried to describe.
I eyeballed him. "That's a weird thing to say."
"Is it? Maybe I'm just kind of a weird guy," he laughed, completely unphased. "It get's better, you know. My first day here was awful! I didn't really know anyone at first, but I figured that thanks to my Thief scholarship, I'd at least have my teammates, and then, next thing I know, I'm running naked across the lawn chasing the clothes my captain magicked to life while I was in the showers," he looked devastated at the memory.
I tried not to laugh. "No!" I mused.
"My point is, that day sucked, but there isn't a single moment since then that I regret coming here," he finally managed to reassure me. "Especially not now."
"Yeah, maybe it's not the worst thing that this is where I ended up," I said. "At least it's interestin' here," I mumbled.
"One thing I've learned in my time here is that if something happens to you, good or bad, it happened for a reason," he put his hand on my shoulder again. "I think you're meant to be here." He grinned slyly. "I've got an idea. I could really use your help with something if you're up for it. If anything, it might make for a good distraction."
"Oh? What could you possibly need my help for?" I asked with a laugh.
"There's this thing I lost last year. I must have missed it while I was packing up my dorm room, but I'm pretty sure I know where it is now," he started. "Still, it's gonna be hard to spot and an extra set of eyes would be fantastic. Do you wanna help me try and find it?"
I shrugged. "Why not? You were the first friendly face I met here. The least I can do is lend a hand with this."
"Awesome! I have a feeling you're going to like this," he grinned slyly again.
He led me up to the third floor of the main building. All of the hallways in that building look the same… The same green carpet, the same vintage pendant lights hanging from the arched ceiling, the same number of wooden doors… He finally stopped at the end of the hallway… at a dead end.
"If this is where your lost item is, it shouldn't be too hard to find, considerin' there's nothin' here," I stated blandly, looking at the tapestry hanging from the wall. It had a giant letter P on it, just like the crest on the carpet, but there were several pie slices of colour behind it, instead of it being all green.
"Hang on a second," he grinned wildly before pressing his palms together. He moved his hands back and forth in front of the wall, like he was wiping steam from a mirror, only instead of seeing yourself more clearly, a door suddenly came into view.
"How did you do that? There was a wall… and now…"
He chuckled at my ignorance. "Invisibility wards are pretty basic. The key is knowing where to look. Now watch this," he clenched his fists then pressed his knuckles together. "Here we go," he took a big breath and tapped the doorknob with two fingers from his left hand. The lock made a clicking sound and swung open.
"Did you just Alohomora the door?!" I froze. Harry Potter must have been real if this shit was happening right before my eyes.
"What?" he asked, genuinely confused.
"Magically unlockin'?" I tried to clarify.
"Yeah, that spell's a little more challenging. Metal's usually tough to work with, but it's close to Earth, so I do alright," he explained. I shook my head in disbelief. People flying, magically unlocking things, MAGIC… I was definitely at Hogwarts…
Griffin opened the door, revealing a shambolic storage room filled with random objects, colourful knick-knacks, and shelves bending under the weight of their contents. To the left of me was a stuffed raven that cawed at me repeatedly. There was a path cleared, barely wide enough to get through, that Griffin was already halfway down starting to search.
"Wow… what is all of this?" I looked at everything. There was a bicycle, floating candles with purple flames, and a large spikey ball of metal shavings hovering in mid-air as well…
"This is a lost and found of sorts. Anything students forget on campus ends up in here. I think the professors put confiscated items in here too, hence the wards," he said, rustling through a bag on the floor. "The thing we're looking for is a silver ball, about the size of my fist, with an onyx button at the top."
"I see why you need the help…," I slowly started looking through the piles of junk on the shelves. A bell rang that caught me off guard. I jumped and looked around to find out what caused it. There was an eerie doll with a bell in her hand staring at me from a top shelf. She made eye contact with me before ringing it again. I shivered. "That's not unsettlin' at all…" I walked farther into the room to escape the creepy toy and spotted a jar full of shiny jagged ovals. "What are these?" I picked up the container.
"Dragon scales. I wonder what they're doing down here… that's a lot of money gone to waste," he stood and walked over to me to eye the scales.
"Findertook!" a voice screeched behind me. I jumped again, expecting to be caught and in trouble.
"Oh, ignore that thing. It's just going to spew nonsense at you," Griffin waved off the noise. My eyes finally followed my ears to a pendant on a table with a woman's profile carved into it.
Her mouth moved again. "Thibity!" she screeched.
"What language is that even?"
"Honestly, I don't have a clue. I'm guessing it was some kind of prank gift," he explained as he sifted through some boxes behind me. I kept looking around and found a unicycle in the corner.
"Please tell me magical unicycles are a thing," I laughed.
He chuckled. "Last year some kid thought he could enchant it to fly. The professors confiscated it after he fell off of it about three stories up," he explained. "Turns out unicycles don't like to be enchanted."
I laughed again and moved on. There was a box full of random bits 'n bobs that I started sorting through. I found an Egyptian scarab that was so brightly coloured that it was almost hypnotising. I'd studied a lot in secondary school about different polytheistic cultures. Since I'm named after Perseus, I decided it was probably best to know who he was and from there I spiralled into one of the only things that gave me a sense of purpose until now.
"Oh, I bet the professors used that for Attunement placement," Griffin's voice was suddenly proper close. I hadn't noticed him approach me. "Fire-Atts usually have a connection with scarabs, since they're a symbol of Ra, the Egyptian sun god."
"Well, that does make sense," I turned it over in my hands, feeling a strange draw to it. It felt warm. I shook my head to clear my thoughts and put the scarab down. I walked farther down the aisle, squinting at the shelves. Something shiny caught my attention and drew me to a silver ball. "Hey, Griff, I found your… whatever this is."
"What? Nice! I knew inviting you along was a smart move," he beamed as he looked at the object in my hand. I slid my thumb over the onyx button and pressed it, causing several panels to pop out on all sides. It lit up the room in blues, purples, and pinks as the Milkyway galaxy was projected into the room.
"Woah…," I was speechless. It was amazing.
"It's a star-tracker. It maps the rotation of the stars!" he explained. "They're a tool for Astroweavers mostly, but I found this one here a while ago."
I looked straight at him. "Astro… what now?"
"They maintain constellations, mostly. A lot of Air-Atts go into that field after graduation," he told me, seeming even closer to me than he was before.
"Is that what you want to do after school?" I asked.
He shook his head. "Nah, Earth-Atts are a little more… grounded than that," he joked. "I'm thinking of majoring in natural preservation sciences. I just like having a star-tracker. It makes me feel bigger than myself, being able to see the stars so close in real time like this," he paused for a moment and looked up. "What do you think? Worth finding?"
"Yeah, this place is amazin'. Seriously, it's incredible. Thanks for the invite," I smiled.
"No, thank you. I'm so bad at finding stuff. I never would have gotten this back without your help," he closed the orb and grinned up at me. "We should get out of here. I don't like to leave the ward on the door down for too long."
"Yeah, sure." We started towards the door through the skinny pathway. "Say, could you show me to the dorm? This campus is huge, and if I tried to find it myself, I'd probably end up sleepin' on the front lawn." He laughed and nodded, but I was serious.
I followed him outside and around campus until we reached a big building with a sign out front that said "Fletchly Residence Halls."
"Here you go," he announced. "Once you get inside, someone'll help you find your room, I'm sure of it. Hey, and thanks again, Percy. I appreciate you helping me find my star-tracker."
I waved him off. "Don't worry about it. You've helped me so much today, I had to return the favour."
"See you around?" he asked with a hopeful smile.
"See you around," I nodded, giving him a brief wave as he walked away. I turned towards the doors and took a deep breath. "Good luck, Perc," I told myself before walking into the dorm.
The lobby of the dorm looked like a hotel. There was a lounge and a reception desk and an open balcony above the lobby… It was nearly empty, save one upperclassman with a clipboard. She waved me over and asked if I needed help finding my room.
"Um…," I couldn't think of what to say… I wasn't going to have a room… I suddenly appeared in a pond… I was going to get caught for sure.
She cocked her head. "You can just tell me your last name and I'll point you in the right direction."
"Um," I repeated, "Miller." I held my breath as she skimmed her clipboard, sure I wouldn't be on it.
"Wait a minute," she frowned and I could feel my soul leave my body.
"Okay, I confess… I'm not actually a-," I started.
She suddenly flipped the page over and said, "Here we go! Perseus Miller, first floor, room 108. Your roomie has been checked in since this morning." Her smile was huge.
I slammed my hand to my chest and let out a longer breath than I'd intended. "Thank you," I said hastily and bolted down the hallway, trying to avoid any unnecessary questions. When I was around the corner, I leaned against the wall for a second to catch up with what just happened. I was on the list?! How?! I thought this was all some huge misunderstandin', but… MY NAME WAS ON THE LIST! I composed myself and started down the hall, looking for 108. I could hear music, laughing, and other weird and random noises coming from behind some of the doors. Eventually, I found my room. I reached to open the door, but my hand didn't find anything. I looked down. There was no doorknob?! "Oh, come on. This place should come with an instruction manual…" I tried to lean my forehead against the door, but I fell straight through and stumbled into a room. "What in the?!" I turned around to find the door closed behind me.
"It's you again!" a shrill voice came from the room. "Well, aren't I the lucky girl?" I spun back around and found the girl that had been stuck in the mirror.
"Oh, right, from earlier… I kind of lost you in the dinin' hall… Shreya, right?" I tried to act as casually as possible, knowing full well she just saw me fall through the door.
"Yes, sorry about that. I had friends waiting, and, well, you know how that goes," she sat delicately on the sofa.
I nodded exaggeratedly. "Oh, yeah, right, totally."
"I'm so pleased! I'll be a perfect roommate. I don't know what you've heard about me, but I assure you it's only partially true," she giggled and paused, either to breathe or for dramatic effect… I wasn't sure…
"I hear you get stuck in mirrors sometimes," I teased.
She blushed just a little bit and I could see her huff through her smile. She shook her head like she was shaking any negative words out of her mind. "I was hoping my roommate would have a bit more panache in the style department, but being as trendy as me isn't easy," she gleamed.
I couldn't help but smile. "Solid burn."
She grinned back playfully. "I'm just kidding. You aren't completely devoid of style," she said, looking me over, "but you could still use a few pointers. Luckily, you have me to help you!" I raised an eyebrow, wondering if she was going to be this high-energy all the time. "Well, say something."
"I think you're even cuter than before," I stared down at her as she batted her eyes at me.
"Oh, I like you already."
I snickered. "I think I'm goin' to like you, too, but if you don't mind, I've had the worst day of my life so far, and could really use a second to just chill," I said, sitting on the arm of the sofa across from her and falling onto my back with a groan. The cushions were so soft I started sinking.
The place was like a tiny flat. There was a living room with two couches and a coffee table, a fireplace with blue fire, and floating candles near each side table where I would have normally put a lamp. The mantle had a large picture frame with the Penerghast crest in it and a statue of a sphinx. It was really homey for being so fancy.
"So, you said before that whatever I've heard about you is only 'partially true,'" I did air quotes.
She rolled her eyes. "I know you're thinking about me and Fifi's tiff at Mistry Inc.'s annual charity fashion show," she sighed.
"I… have no idea what any of that means," I said honestly.
"You know, the one with the lava rock runway?" she tried to 'refresh' my memory, but I was still out of the loop. It seemed dangerous to me. "it was all over the news a month ago, not to brag."
"I get the feelin' that if I tell you that I have no earthly idea who you are, it's goin' to be a whole thing," I squinted at her, hoping she wouldn't be one of those people…
She was completely still for an entire minute. Then she smiled, but it looked painful. "Not. At. All. My family is only the number one purveyor of enchanted objects worldwide, but why would you know that? Besides… This was the whole point! To come to college, have new experiences, fly under the radar, become the person I want to be, you know?"
"Now that I can relate to," I sat up, finally engaged in this conversation. "Honestly, that's the same thing I was hopin' to get out of the Uni experience. Do you ever feel like no matter how hard you try, nothin' fits? Like the things that you think are goin' to make you happy never do?"
"Absolutely. It's how I felt all the time. Until I arrived here, of course," she stood up and sat next to me on the sofa.
I inched over for her and started unloading my emotional baggage, but she didn't seem to mind at all. "This mornin', I was at this university I used to think was finally goin' to be my place in the world, but it quickly became clear that it wasn't. Then I got here and, yeah, it's a little weird and a little hard to believe, but for the first time somethin' feels right. And now it's… all goin' to be taken away…," I trailed off, remembering that I didn't actually belong there and I was going to get caught eventually.
"Taken away? I don't understand. Why would-," she paused.
I took a deep breath and decided to just tell her the truth. That I didn't have magic and that I had no idea where I was or if it was even real. Was I still dreaming? If I was, it was the longest dream I'd ever had. Maybe I was in a coma. "I can't do magic!" I stood up from the sofa and started pacing around the room.
"What?" she stayed seated, but her eyes followed me as I made my laps.
"I was in my bathroom at home and then there was somethin' weird in the mirror, and when I touched it, I just…," I threw my arms up in frustration, unable to explain it to myself, let alone someone else. I flopped back onto the couch. "I don't know what to do now. I'm afraid of what will happen if I tell someone, but I know I can't leave." I turned to see Shreya's wide eyes. "Um… you're not goin' to, like, erase my memory, or melt my brain, or anythin'?"
"I'll help you!" she grinned widely.
"You what? Why would you do that?" I asked, baffled. "I mean… Thank you. I thought the first person I told would, I don't know… light me on fire… Can you guys do that?"
She shrugged. "Well, I certainly can, being a Fire-Att and all, but I won't," she smirked. "Part of the reason I came to college was to meet all different kinds of people, and you, Percy, are quite an interesting kind of person. But have you considered that there may be magic in you? Have you tried any?"
"Uh, no? Well… there was that thing with the door," I looked behind me.
She laughed. "No, no. The doors are enchanted to accept the tenant's genetic code. That wouldn't count." She leaned forward and tapped her fingers on the coffee table, her eyes darting around the room. Suddenly, she jumped off of the couch and bounded over to the mantle. "I've got it! Come on, let's go before the shop closes."
"Wait, wait. Where are we goin'? I thought we couldn't leave campus," I objected, not wanting to be in even more trouble.
She pulled me off of the couch by my wrist and dragged me over to the other side of the room where there stood a door with nearly 12 doorknobs, each a different shape and size. "There are a few preselected places we're allowed to go. Like Penn Square, for example," she reached for a knob just as I noticed they were labelled.
"Shreya's room, Perseus' room, Penn Square… wait… Are you sayin' my room is in there?" This day was getting more and more bizarre.
"Sure. So is mine, and Penn Square, and the lake. That one opens up in a tree, though," she pointed to the knob for the lake. "It can be quite unpleasant if you run into a Berkspire."
"A what?" but before I got my answer, she turned the knob she'd had her hand on and swung the door open. We walked out into the middle of a town. There were vendors and stores lining the area. The ground was cobblestone, but there was a brick mural of a sun tiled into the main circle. "Woah…"
"Charming, right?" she gestured to the circle. "Welcome to Penn Square."
There was a stately woman with deep blue skin and tusks dragging a screaming toddler with impish horns past a magic toy store… Passed that was a pair of men with pointed ears and webbed hands debating over a beaded bracelet at a stall with a sign that just said "Charms."
"Is that… a vendor sellin' heads?" I asked, pointing to a nearby booth with shrivelled human heads hanging from the eaves.
Before I got a response, she'd grabbed me by the arm and started pulling me down the street. "Yes, but you'll want to stay away from those unless you want to end up with a nasty curse," she finally said. "Come on, no time to waste! We need to get you something to help with that whole 'no magic' thing."
"And how exactly are we supposed to fix that?" I raised my brow at her, not that she could see it while she was dragging me. She didn't replay for the rest of the journey, but she stopped suddenly, making me almost run into her. The store in front of us was labelled "Maison D'Yew" and a smaller sign in the window called it the "one stop shop for one stop shopping."
"Let's get inside and see if they have what we're looking for," she smiled and dragged me through the door.
"What are we lookin' for?" I asked as the door closed behind me. The store was like a pawnshop of magical items. There were clothes, assorted trinkets, beakers of colourful liquids, and all manner of glowing, spinning, and rattling objects that moved on their own or had some sort of aura about them. "How are we supposed to find anythin' in here?"
"That's where I come in!" I chipper voice came from somewhere… behind the desk maybe? "Oh, um, just a second, please!" An overstocked pile of lamps near the corner shook and began to rattle off of each other. Soon candelabras and a few other light fixtures started to avalanche down from the top of the pile, landing awfully close to my feet. I tried to back up, but Shreya still had me by the wrist. I held my other arm up to block my face as a few started flying down at me, but the impact, or noise at least, I was expecting never happened. I opened my eyes and dropped my arm. "Sorry about that! I was organising some of the floghart's droppings we store under this armoire," the voice from before was suddenly behind me and the lamps in front of me were frozen in mid-air. I looked back at the girl. She was green with dark brown hair and vines wrapped up and down her arms and legs. She flicked her hand and the lamps and candelabras re-stacked themselves. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to surprise you." The flowers in her hair seemed to open and close as her expression changed and the leaves along her arm vines danced like a breeze had struck them. I found myself staring at her. She was gorgeous. She gave me a gentle smile. "First time meeting a wood nymph? I'm Aster. I run this shop," she greeted me, holding out her hand.
I managed to get my wrist out of Shreya's vice grip and shook Aster's hand with both of mine. Her hand was soft, but felt like the polished wood of a freshly built bookcase. "I'm Percy," I managed to choke out. "You're beautiful," slipped out right after.
She beamed, her flowers looking bright and vibrant. "That's quite sweet of you to say, though, beauty is nothing but a mere construct. I guess the same thing could be said of us. We, too, were nothing but shapeless atoms once…," she looked behind me, as if something had caught her attention, and her green eyes turned black, the whites of her eyes becoming clouded. After a second, I noticed that she wasn't with us anymore.
"Um… Ms. Aster?" I moved my head a bit, wondering if I'd get her attention. Her hand felt limp in mine, but it gripped a bit harder than I'd expected.
"Interesting…," she whispered. Instantly, her eyes recoloured and her focus returned, flipping between Shreya and me. "Oh, it's you again! I was hoping you'd be back!" she beamed at her.
"I'd assume so. I spent a minor fortune the last time I was here," Shreya laughed, completely disregarding what had just happened. "Listen, love, do you have any marbles? My friend here is worried about the first day of classes and wants a boost."
I looked between the two of them, but lingered on Aster as her eyes met mine. "Uh, yeah… anythin' would help."
Still holding my hand, she said, "So you're a Penderghast student, too? You both are so lucky!" Finally, she slipped out of my grasp and skipped behind the counter with the register. "I've been begging Papa to let me go, but he's still bitter about all that wand business." She ducked behind the counter and, after a few seconds, came back up, coughing, with a dusty wooden box. The label said "Mistry Miracle Marbles" in gold letters. She gestured for me to look at it.
When I stepped forward, I gave Shreya a look. Mistry is her surname, right? I opened the box and stared down at the four glowing orbs padded by purple satin. "Cool… What are they?"
Shreya took her spot next to me and pulled the clear orb out of the box. White smoke twisted around inside. "One of Mistry Inc.'s bestsellers. Each of these orbs contains enough magic to perform one spell per element," she put it back and pulled out the blue one. "They may be small, but they pack quite a punch. Like one very beautiful, very down-to-earth heiress we all know and love," she winked. She placed the orb in my palm and folded my fingers over it. "And this little guy is all yours."
"But… why would magic people need somethin' like this?" I pondered aloud.
"You can use it instantly instead of taking the time to build a spell, and it won't use up any of your own magic, so you can cast again immediately," she explained.
"They're the very best on the market," Aster mused. "Of course, they'll only work for the elements with which they correspond."
I looked closer at the blue smoke writing around like a restless ocean. It was almost hypnotising. The other two in the box were green and red. "So… how do you use it?"
"Ah, Aster, do you have any singles?" Shreya asked.
Aster dug through a draw in the counter then handed her a dusty blue orb. "It'll cost you, and I must insist you go outside to-," but it was too late. Shreya raised the marble up above her head, rolling it between her thumb and index finger. A raincloud appeared out of nowhere as the blue smoke disappeared and rain started falling heavily on all of our faces.
"See? It's easy," Shreya grinned.
"You Attuned never listen!" Aster shrieked, flicking water droplets off of her arms. Her leaves rustled angrily as she glared at my roommate. She snapped her fingers and a strong wind blew the cloud out of the store, and managed to dry everything on the spot.
"Oh, don't be such a tenacious toad, Aster," Shreya rolled her eyes before turning to me. "What do you think, Percy? These will surely come in handy."
I gave Aster an apologetic look as she shuffled through some things on the counter to make sure they were dry. "These'll at least help me fly under the radar until I can figure out what to do next," I bit my lip and searched for my wallet in my back pocket. "How much…," I pulled out what I thought they were worth and held it out to her. She and Shreya glanced at my hand then at me, then back to my hand. "Is that not enough?"
"Absolutely not," Aster grinned widely and giggled. "This money is completely worthless. Lucky for you, I can fetch a high price for it on the collector's market."
Guilt and embarrassment stabbed my soul. I needed to get out of there… Why didn't Shreya tell me my money wasn't good here?! Shreya, seeing my humiliation, waved a quick goodbye to Aster and pushed me out of the store, box in hand. Before I knew it, I was back in the dorm.
Shreya flopped down onto the couch and beamed up at me. "So, now that you've got a bit of magic to take into battle, do you think you're ready to face tomorrow?"
"Honestly, I don't see how it'll matter after this Attunement placement thing… Seriously, Shreya, what am I goin' to do?" I set the box down on the table and fell onto the couch next to her, my head in my hands.
Her arm wrapped around my shoulders as she leaned into me. "You're going to get through this because I'm going to help you. And I'm just too fabulous to fail," she held her chin up confidently. I snickered at her, which made her laugh.
Then something caught my eye over her shoulder. The mirror… there was something off… a shadow? Or a smudge? I squinted at it, swearing I saw it move. "Shreya, do you see that?" I pointed to where I was looking.
"Hm?" she turned around, puzzled at my sudden curiosity.
I stood up and walked around to the mirror, eyeing it closely to figure out where the shadow was coming from. I cocked my head a bit then… I saw him… the guy that had been in my dream and my mirror at home. "Wait… that's…" He looked positively gutted. His eyes were mostly covered by his shaggy white bangs, but I could tell they were heavy and tired. He looked down at the shadow that had gotten my attention… and it was on my side of the glass. "What-"
"Percy!" Shreya shouted, nearly knocking over the coffee table as she bolted to her feet.
I looked back at the shadow, but now it was red, like it was on fire… and it had a face… It hissed and I almost fell backwards. It sprang towards me and I only missed it by tripping over the couch arm. It flew over my head and towards the back wall. It hissed again as it redirected back at me. "Ah, what the hell?!" I rolled out of the way and onto the floor then scrambled to my feet. Shreya looked utterly terrified. I instinctively stood directly in front of her, but when the shadow darted our direction, I didn't know what to do. I threw my hand up, hoping it wouldn't hurt too much when it hit me, but all I felt was warmth on my hand. A bright light flashed through the room, nearly blinding me. Some kind of energy shot from my hand and pierced straight through the shadow ball. "What… How…?!" I sputtered, unable to comprehend any of what was happening. I looked down at my hand as the light faded from the room, but my palm still glowed golden. The shadow was gone… but now there was a new problem… though… it didn't feel wrong… it felt calming… The energy pulsing through me felt as comforting as a warm blanket on a windy day. "What the hell was that?!" I fumbled into the chair next to me, not taking my eyes off of my glowing hand.
"I… I don't know," Shreya was frozen in place, still in shock. After a few seconds, a proud smirk graced her face and her breathing was more controlled. "It looks like there may be hope for you yet."