Ray usually felt a twinge of nausea whenever he was teleported, especially when he wasn't the one doing the teleporting. He couldn't deny after almost dying the last time, after needing to teleport himself quickly while also maintaining a heat resistance spell, definitely gave him a bit of anxiety about the whole thing.
For the moment, however, he found he was alone in a room with a small bed that was little more than a cot, a plain dresser with a small mirror over it, a writing desk and a wardrobe. None of it seemed all that spectacular, but he didn't think much of it. If he had to guess, he might assume that this was a holding cell of some sort, though he hadn't seen one before without bars. If it really was, then it was one of the nicer ones, and he was grateful. If it was an average room, however, then it was one of the more boring ones that he had stayed in, but he didn't consider that a bad thing as he sat on the bed until his stomach settled. He itched his arms lightly, feeling momentarily as if they were burnt, though he knew there were no actual burns there at all. Just the remnants of dull scars.
He felt anxious at first, but after a while and after deciding that there was no good way to tell how long he would be there or if they would even see him that night he finally just laid down. He didn't intend to fall asleep as soon as he did, but when he opened his eyes again, a young man was lightly shaking him. "Sir, it's time to wake up. They want to talk to you."
Ray blinked groggily, and stared back at him, trying to piece together where he was before it snapped back into place. He sat up and nodded, shaking out his hair a bit. He felt particularly unkempt, and the young man quickly noticed how much he was toying with his hair.
"There should be a brush in the dresser there," he told him, "just for you to use. I'll wait outside the door for you if you'd like to straighten yourself up a bit, but please don't take too long. I'm pretty sure they'll take care of the worst of it after they talk to you."
He nodded and replied stonily, "I'll be right out then."
He nodded back and gave him an uncertain look before going to stand outside the door like he said, giving Ray one last look before closing the door. Ray blinked a few times, rubbing his eyes, but got up and went to shuffle over to the dresser. He didn't want to take too long as the young man didn't seem to be that bad of a person and he didn't want to cause trouble for him just yet. He figured he might want to figure out why he was here first before he started misbehaving. The floor was simple stone, and he imagined it would be cold on his bare feet, but he had fallen asleep in his shoes, so he didn't' have to worry about that.
Even if the dresser looked plain, he saw that the top could be slid away to reveal a basin that had runes etched into it. He wanted to study it further, but he was also aware that he was keeping the man outside waiting. He slid it back into place and opened the drawer to find the brush. This too was simple, but it was also made well, and he was relieved to be able to comb out his hair properly. There were a few places where it was matted, but he had expected that. He did his best but didn't spend too much time on it. He didn't want to keep the strangers that wanted his attention waiting.
He placed the brush back into the drawer. He hadn't missed the mirror, but until now he tried to ignore it, though he couldn't ignore the fact that he indeed looked like a vagabond, with a scruffy beard, long and messy hair—less messy now—and those eyes. He couldn't decide if his eyes came across as sad or mean or just tired, but he could imagine how they might come across to a man who hadn't seen him before, seeing him talk to a child that he was obligated to keep safe. He snorted. It was no secret to him that most people would consider him dangerous and unpredictable if they knew even half of what he had done in the span of his life. In the last year, even.
Now wasn't the time for reminiscing, and so he went to meet the young man. The door stopped him for a moment. He stared at it, having a strange feeling that he shouldn't touch it or open it without permission. It wasn't a magical inclination, as if the magic of this place was insisting he not move it. No, it was a strange urge that sat under his skin, mocking him.
Your master wouldn't like that, would they? If you were meant to go through this door it would already be open, wouldn't it?
He continued to stare at the door uneasily, his jaw clenched, and he felt himself getting angrier. He felt like he wanted to punch it again and again and scream his lungs out. He lifted his hand, but after a second he took a deep breath and quietly knocked on it. A compromise.
After a moment it opened, and the young man's face was screwed up, a weird frown that could have been a tight smile as he told him, "You know it was unlocked, right?"
Ray's face reddened considerably, and he felt like cussing at him. Obviously, it was unlocked, but it was closed. He then took a breath. He couldn't lose his temper. He didn't even know why he was feeling so angry and that made the anger burn worse in his gut.
"Let's just go. Didn't you tell me to hurry for a reason?" Ray spat, annoyed.
The young man's eyes widened, and he wanted to point out that he hadn't intended to rush him at all, and maybe even that he could have told him just to come along without giving him any time, but he saw that Ray was already agitated. In case he had to take care of him in the future he didn't want to make him entirely insufferable to handle so he merely nodded.
"Right, yes," he replied quietly to Ray, going to walk ahead to lead him along. Ray knew that he had come across harsher than he should have, and he regretted it a bit as he was hoping to talk to him and find out a little more about his situation before seeing whoever he was being taken to see, though now it felt more natural to just follow him in silence. Already the tower seemed to make him dizzy and disoriented even if the passages seemed straightforward. It appeared like they were walking down a straight hall, taking a turn and then going up some stairs, but it felt more like they were taking twenty different turns and going up and down various staircases that didn't even necessarily go up and down. Ray thought he was insane more than once during this journey.
The young man, despite being wary of him now, hazarded to say, "Sorry about all this. As a defense, the tower tends to have a strange effect on outsiders. It was like that the first time I was here as well, but if you're meant to stay here they'll add you to a list that will state that you," he paused, not wanting to say 'belong to the tower' as it sounded possessive, though it was basically what it meant. He didn't know much about Ray, but he did know that Ray behaved like a caged animal as it was so he didn't want to make him any more nervous than he already was. "That you live here," he finished, finding that was just as accurate.
Ray was relieved that he had spoken to him first, as he was starting to feel guilty for reacting the way he did, and replied hesitantly, "Do you have any idea why I was brought here? I was hoping to find out before they talked to me so I would know what to expect. Also, my name is Ray, and I was wondering what your name might be." He appeared immediately embarrassed and flustered.
The young man seemed to relax visibly, glad that Ray seemed to be acting less hostile towards him. He replied, "I don't really know all the details, but I do know that it's probably not what you have in mind. I don't think they intend to do you any harm and I don't even think they're going to keep you here if you don't want to be. If I had to guess, I would say that someone sent in a recommendation letter for you. Oh, and my name is Glen."
"Glen," Ray repeated under his breath so it would be easily to remember. "Recommendation letter?"
"Well," he explained, "often people will either come here on their own with some sort of research to present in order to join the guild and obtain either the right to study here or the right to be recognized officially. That, or someone already recognized and in good standing will send in a recommendation letter along with a student or colleague they believe to deserve a place in the guild, or at the very least a hearing to see if they're worthy. My teacher, Ostraz did that for me, and I'm currently studying the effects of salt water compared to clear water when operating spells and if different rune combinations work better depending on the salt levels." He smiled a bit, and Ray gave an encouraging nod.
"I would love to hear more about that if you wouldn't mind after this is all settled, but I still don't understand why they would think something like that about me. I can't help but think that-"
He stopped talking as he suddenly began to wonder if Glen was actually who he said he was or trying to convince him to say something he shouldn't.
Glen, not at all aware of what Ray was thinking, turned to look at him for a moment, confused as he replied, "think what?"
He looked away when he saw the awful look that Ray was giving him, feeling a bit uneasy again as Ray replied, "Nothing. It's probably what you said. A recommendation letter of some sort." Still, that didn't make sense to him. There was no one in the world alive that could possibly do something like that for him, and especially not someone that knew that he was in Yanille.
It didn't occur to him that Telago was still alive, or that if he was that he was still concerned with him or his whereabouts. It wouldn't have made sense to him even if he had known.
Their conversation had once more awkwardly tapered off, and though they weren't far, it was a quiet walk until they arrived at a pair of double doors. He quietly told him, "I can't go in with you, but they're expecting you in there. Do you want me to open the doors for you?"
Ray had been eyeing the doors uneasily before glancing over at Glen and nodding, sure that Glen thought he was an ogre in human skin or something like that, though the young man didn't comment on it as he opened the door for him and Ray went through.
Sitting there were three wizards. The one in the middle was hard to identify. It was wrinkly and didn't have any particular features, but their voice was an old woman's voice, sounding much like a shrill, crackly bird as she said, "Ah, the young newcomer has arrived."
The one to the right of her was an old man with grey hair sticking out of his ears and a stereotypical, pointy wizard hat sitting on his head. He crossed his arms like a sulky child as he muttered, "About time."
The one to the left looked incredibly young, but he didn't feel young even if his movements were those of vivacious youth. He sat forward and replied, "It's fine, Reffalk, it's fine. Look at him. Quite an interesting one, though he's either doltish or brilliant. Think there's anything in-between for this one?"
Ray simply rocked back on his heels and cleared his throat as he said, "Is there a reason I'm here?"
The young-looking one laughed, and the old one grumbled, but the woman spoke up and said, "There's a reason everyone is here, and we're going to find out yours here and now."