Down the open hallway, to the courtyard, and into the library. Crowley's mumbling to himself while I'm looking around. They did banish Grim, it looks like, because I don't see him anywhere. I'm really starting to feel sorry for that magic fire-cat. He clearly wants to go tot his school to become an amazing sorcerer. I wonder why he can't? I don't really understand the rules of this dream, but I figure when I wake up it will still make absolutely zero sense.
I will probably have to go to sleep here? I don't know. Usually my brain finds some weird stopping point and I wake up. The story feels like its concluded too, so…
Right. Crowley throws open the doors and we head inside the library. Except this time I see there are several brightly-lit lanterns on the support beams, and some hanging up on the second or so story with further in, beautiful chandeliers light this place. The carpet is a gorgeous, royal, plush purple and even some borders have red lined decoration and little spots of gold. I think I even see a fire place? This place looks cozy at this point, and old. I also think I spy a globe in the distance but I'm not close enough to see its features properly.
But it doesn't look right…
The Cirque Du Freak reject starts to rummage through a variety of books. Some of them are floating, and some he takes from shelves before they fly right back. Now that is pretty cool. Never having to organize books again? Someone count me in.
"Nothing." He states in what is a very… satisfied tone? "I knew it. Nothing. I cannot find where you are from on the map. You really came from this iTexas/i, right? You aren't lying, right? Because, then the only conclusion is you came from another planet or world. Or… were you summoned from another dimension?"
Yeah, this sort of turn in the dream doesn't surprise me. I am reading far too many isekai novels right now and it really is my fault for dreaming this up. The genre is everywhere and I am a sucker for a good revenge story. And romance. Let's not forget about a good romance novel.
I have a few really good updates to get to when I wake up too. A good, long sleep and the best of what's next in some stories? Oh, this is going to be the best morning ever.
"What, you think I'm an alien?!" He's the weird ass alien.
"What do you have that you brought with you? Show me. Any I.D.? A driver's license? Or something on your shoes? But it seems like you came empty-handed."
I just realized that I definitely have nothing on me. No cellphone. No trusty lip-balm. Not even a pair of sunglasses. These are all my usual equipment. Actually, as I'm patting myself down in my too-big robe I notice underneath the illfitting pants and robe I'm wearing my pajamas. I don't remember putting on my too-big ones either. That, and I'm definitely wearing that push-down sports bra.
I have never in my life been more thankful to wear a bra. Ever. This one is probably my least favorite but it holds the girls well and that's all you can ask for in one of these.
"I don't have anything on me. No phone. No lip balm. No sunglasses. What is this crazy dream?" At least it isn't winter. I won't suffer from chap-lipped Hell in this dream.
"Quite the predicament, isn't it? I cannot let someone without magic in attend this college. However, it is heartless to throw out a young one without a way to contact their guardian." Once more he seems to ponder with his chin grazing the golden claw. And I swear now that his golden, glowing eyes are strange slits. Does he narrow them when he thinks? That's peculiar—as is every single thing about this headmaster. Like, really. Did he design this outfit? The robes are pretty fancy, too, but does that mean all of the clothing here is like this? Because honestly I would dream up goth wizard college with ostentatious outfits.
Wait. Guardian? I'm an adult. This is a college. Wait a second.
"I'm an adult."
He isn't listening.
"I am so kind, after all."
Okay, so what, he's basically steamrolling into saying that I'm a ward of the state. Considering I don't have an I.D. to prove I'm an adult and I'm still getting carded left and right… fine, dream. I guess this really is a nightmare.
"Hmmmmm. Right!" After that very dramatic hum, I am almost startled out of my own head. "There is an abandoned building at this academy."
"That doesn't sound good."
I don't think I speak on a frequency he can hear.
"It used to be a dorm a long time ago. If you clean it up, you can stay there for now." This definitely doesn't sound good. "I shall allow you to live there while you try to find a way to return where you came from. Ah, I am so kind! An exceptional, model of an educator!"
This place better have hot water or I am going to find a wooden stake for his heart.
"...Great."
"Well then! Let us go to your dorm. It has a rustic feel, with lots of character, No."
The more he talks about it, the worse I feel about it.
"My name-"
"Now, follow me!" I swear he doesn't know what listening is. What are those pointed ears for, then!?
He beckons me along, and I really have no choice but to follow. I keep him in sight as we start to make a path onward, and I'm feeling myself to see what I have on me. It's just my pajamas under my clothes it looks like. So, I'm wearing dark black pants, with sleep shorts and underwear underneath. And under this buttoned-up robe and I think shirt, I'm wearing a big sleep shirt and a sport's bra. So that means I at least have an outfit with the pants and shirt, and these shoes are super comfortable. They sort of look like my sneakers that could be dress shoes if you don't look too closely at them. And guess what? No ones does.
As long as this place has running water and heat, I can deal. Hopefully there's some soap somewhere too—but it's probably a disused buidling for awhile. Where am I even going—okay, I really need to stop investing a lot of thought into this. I'll probably wake up pretty soon from this crazy dream.
We're going past several buildings, and eventually a walking bridge that leads to a very… old path of worn stone. The grounds are kept up, but barely, and most of it looks half-dead. Then, I see it—it looks like a manor, and it's definitely in disuse.
Home sweet home?
Finally, we approach the old steel and stone gate. It's offset, but when it was new it was probably elegant. There's no rust on the black metal, and the bricks are in good shape. A shovel is leaned up against… and oh my God those are graves on the other side. Why are there graves outside a dorm/ Did a bunch of students die?
The lighting on the path looks like its a few oddly-lit torches and in all honestly I'm wondering what sort of thing keeps them lit. Is it magic?
"How… rustic." I comment dryly.
"Isn't it? Well then, please go inside."
We walk up the broken-stone path of neglect to the manor. It… isn't great, when the door opens. It's not even locked. Really, it looks like the big, wooden door has a broken lock that no one's bothered to fix. And the hinges creak and groan with protest when the door opens. That needs some WD-40, and fast.
It opens into what I assume is the lounge. There's strange, sparkling lights everywhere. I can't really tell if it's fireflies from outside or magic. But… this is a mess. A nice layer of dust coats everything. Furniture is strewn and upturned everywhere. I'm pretty sure I see a spider wave from a web in the corner. Pictures on the walls are both coated in dust and skewed. The fireplace looks like it has dry wood there, and something, a little light flickers there too.
It's dark, and the light is fairly dim. I can see a grand staircase leading to another floor, at least.
"This is shelter enough from the wind and rain. I'm going to continue investigating this problem, so find some way to keep yourself occupied." He seems a bit stern, when I'm the kidnapping victim. "DO not let me catch you wandering around campus!" Then, a smile, a bit ofa twitter. "Ta ta!"
He leaves, and I look around and sigh. "Well, I better clean up so I can have somewhere less dusty to sleep…"
It feels really lonely here, now.
First thing's first, I find a way to turn on the lights. Which gives me a better look at the place. It's…
It's a mess.
Of course, not even a few minutes later as I start my search of this place that I hear the familiar pitter-patter of rain outside. "It's raining…" I comment with a bit of a scowl. This place is most certainly empty with how the rain echoes.
"GAH! Why did it have to start raining?!" The familiar squak of a certain cretin meets my ears.
I turn around, letting out a sharp, startled yell to see no other than Grim!
"Ha ha ha ha ha! The look on your face is pricess! It's just like a bat that got sprayed with a water gun!"
So I learned something, they have water guns in the dream world.
"As for me, it was a piece of cake sneaking back onto campus! There is now way that I would give up on getting into the academy after being thrown out!"
"Why do you want to attend this school so badly?" I ask, bewildered at Grim's persistance after that pretty embarrassing rejection earlier tonight.
"Isn't it obvious? I am a born magical prodigy, and I will become the greatest magician that ever lived! I've waited my whole life for that black carriage to come for me. But…" I swear I see tears in those large eyes of his. And how his ears droop! It tugs at my heartstrings, and boy, am I a sucker for cute. "Hmph! The Mirror of Darkness is blind to true talent anyway!" But his ears are still drooped.
"Aw…"
"That's why I came here myself!" He bounces back pretty quick. The imperious smirk back, and his ears are standing high. "You humans don't know what you're missing out on by not having me."
Then, he suddenly screeches! "Nyah! The roof's leaking on me! Ah! Fgah! There's more water! My ears will go out!"
"I'm going to find some buckets." I say, looking up at the ceiling and its holes. This place needs a roof replacement, and that's way out of my skillset.
"Why don't you use magic?" He asks, before-"Oh, wait You can't use magic! Pffft! What a useless human!"
"Then why don't you help me and fix it with your great magic, Grim?" My voice is pretty flat. I'm already having a bad day here.
"Huh? You want help?" I know already he's going to rebuff me, and he does. I'm walking away when… "If you had some cans of tuna, I might help! But I don't work for free!"
I'm out of the room before he finishes. "Buckets it is." Now, there's got to be some, somewhere around here…
The lounge leads toa dark, creepy hallway with many rooms. At the end, I think there's a kitchen. I feel a shiver run up my spine. I swear it's even colden here than it was before. I swear I hear something rustling, when I turn to look over my shoulder-
I screech. I see ithree/i ghosts. They're white, not-quite solid creatures with different shaped heads, top hats, and grey capes with black ties. They've got arm, too, but instead of legs they've got long, ghostly white tails. They're floating in the air and are of different shapes and sizes but oh my gosh these are definitely ghosts!
Of course they start laughing.
"It's been some time since we've had guests"
"I've been waiting for some entertainment!"
There's more cackling. I am startled, and—well, it is a nightmare, right? Creepy house, and ghosts? This is definitely dragging on forever. When do I get to wake up, again?
Okay I screech again and it's definitely horror-movie level girly screaming. I don't care.
Grim comes out of the lounge and down the hallway, "What are you screaming about—AHHHH! G-G-G-GHOOOOSTS!"
Now he gets it.
"Everyone else who lived here, we scared away."
"No shit." I can't help myself.
"You two could join us! We'd like more ghosts around here!"
"Help!" Not that anyone's coming.
"Eeee!" But Grim seems to regain his previous bravado. "No! The great sorcerer Grim ain't afraid of no ghosts! Nyah!" Of course, sending a torrent of flame… not at the ghosts.
He's got his eyes shut.
"You missed!"
"We're over here!'
They taunt, moving around. Phasing in and out of being… as solid as ghosts get.
"Tch! They won't stay still!"
"You could get them if you'd open your eyes, Grim!"
"Quiet! I-I'm amazing! I can get rid of these ghosts!" The flame-cat protests too much.
The ghosts taunt more as they appear and disappear around us. I'm starting to get less frightened, and more frustrated. It's already been a bad day, and this isn't going well.
"Look—aim to your left, Grim!"
I swear I must be selectively mute. "Tell me where to aim, human!"
"I said your left, Grim!" I sigh exasperated.
He releases a torrent of flame, hitting one of the bony ghosts, who screeches, "Hot! Hot!"
"Awesome! Now we can get them!"
"Now we can hit them, we can get rid of them!"
"Right, Grim!" Well, at least he's listening now. The fire cat spins to his right though he's closing his eyes as he lets out a torrent of flame. Now, we're getting somewhere.
Thankfully, they only seem to notice Grim as they approach him. I start to call out what direction they're at. He turns that way, and spews flames hitting them here and there. They phase away and try the approach again.
It's intense. I'm keeping my eyes out. My back against the nearby wall so none of them can get me from behind. My directions are as loud as I can yell through this chaos of ghost-baiting with taunts for Grim and the screeching feline-monster that spews blue flames.
He pauses when it feels like there's break, grinning with triumph. "See? Nothing to it."
Of course, one pops up right beside them. "Are you so sure?!"
"NYAH! NO! You're supposed to tell me!" He spews more flames, eyes screwing shut again.
Finally, the ghosts run away with a last laugh. They're gone for now.
"Did we win?" He asks, one eye opening cautiously.
"Thank you!" I sigh in relief, finally leaving my place against the wall. Relief washes over both of us.
I swear I see Grim's eyes tear up again. "That was so scary—I mean, that was nothing!" He recovers his image quickly enough, but we were both definitely scared.
"I think we're safe for now…"
But fate proves me wrong when I hear strange, mysterious footsteps approach.
Fuck.
