Petrichor

2054 words for you my dear little readers.
Have fun . . .

Part 4 – It’s back to school for me!

If anyone had told me a year ago, okay even a day ago, that I would at some point end up in an alternate dimension, populated with demons, wizards and magic, I would have probably punched them in their face. Now though I honestly think I would apologize to any of these hypothetical people, because it is hard to stay mad at them when this so-called magical world hits you right in the face, quite literally too!

From the beginning of my face crushing into the stone floor, up to the woman opening the door I had still thought all of this to be a way of torturing me; no matter how weird the setting would have been. But the moment that I had actually looked outside all of these thoughts were scrapped and moved to the garbage bin of my mind, as now they bordered on lunacy. With my mind still in disarray from the reveal before me, all that came out of me were unfiltered thoughts.

“This . . . This is fucking magnificent! How is any of this even possible!?” I had problems to even comprehend some of the things I saw.

All around me were evidence of what even my half sane mind could only describe as magic. The wooden door we had come through had opened into a wide park area, bathed in the light of two moons, next to them the shattered remains of a third. This by itself would have convinced anyone that this world couldn’t be earth but it wasn’t even the only wondrous thing! Right next to the entrance of I guess my summoning chamber, were two iron braziers with floating light bulbs in them. At first, I had thought they might be LEDs but after looking closer, I realized that they weren’t even solid; they were simply floating balls of light held aloft by what I guess must have been magic!

“Wow! This so amazing! Floating ghost lights! How do they work!?” I had grabbed onto one of the braziers and was now poking around at it trying to figure it out.

Apparently my actions were not to the liking of Miss Aldeno as she simply grabbed me by the collar and pulled me along. Normally I would have broken her jaw for this insolent behavior, but for some reason, I didn’t feel like it anymore. ‘Okay, something weird was happening in my mind. But still magic! No one would care about feelings now!’ Ignoring whatever alarm bells were going off in my head I turned to walk side by side with the Teacher.

“So, how do they work? A luminescent gas suspended in mid-air with a force field? Tell me already!” My face might have revealed my childish curiosity because she only sighed and walked on before answering.

“They are simple light-enchantments with an air spell that fractures the light like a globe. Even people with almost no talent can make small versions of them, now come on it is already late. You’ll learn it soon enough” She kept walking but I ignored her, something else had already captured my interest.

On one of the bushes close to the wooden path, we were walking on looked really odd. Instead of what one would expect normally the leaves were glowing in the soft moonlight. It had looked like the light was being reflected off the plant, but actually, the leaves themselves were glowing in a pinkish hue. And to top it all off, on each of the little branches were small intricate nests with glowing purple fruits in them. I plucked of several of the little balls and inspected them when one of them plopped in an explosion of luminescent juice. ‘This was amazing! I need more!’ In an instant I had picked up and squished more of the berries in my hands and began drawing glowing symbols and patterns on my body and face. ‘This was so much fun! Why the hell was I so happy?’

“Hahaha! I’m like a glow-bug! This is so cool!”

I twirled on the spot for a bit, amazed by how the drawings were leaving glowing mist whenever I moved around. Sadly my communing with nature and pre-teen behavior came to a halt when I looked down at the strained face of my Escort.

“I hope you knew that the juice of mana-berries is almost impossible to get off? Because if not, then you just unwillingly condemned yourself to glow like this for at least a week. Pretty markings though.”

For a moment I stood still; I didn't understand what she was talking about. ‘Why would I be glowing? This didn't make any sense! I would never cover my glorious frame in childish markings!’

“What nonsense are you talking about, woman! I certainly did not paint on myself!” ‘Why was I even talking to this insolent worm?’

“So, someone else painted your body?” The sarcasm was dripping as she spoke.

Confused because of her words I looked down at myself. Every bit of exposed skin was covered in the softly glowing markings. The longer I looked at them the worse my head hurt; I couldn't remember doing this! I would never do something like this, right? Then why did it make me so happy to see them? ‘No! Thinking about this won't do me any good.’ I shook my head trying to get the painful thoughts and happy feelings out of it.

“It doesn't matter now, go on, I wish to meet this Head of Academics or whatever,” I said and looked up. ‘Be calm and composed you can't let this body effect you!’

“Sure. I'll bring you to him. As long as we won't need to stop anymore on the way.” I was certain now that she regarded me as a lunatic; her body posture has changed from strict to wary. It was obvious that I should try and avoid this person from now on; no good would come of being in her presence.

The rest of the walk we didn't talk anymore, instead I focused on the back of her head, trying to avoid all magical and mystical things around me. None of this should exist, so I decided that it didn’t. But still, my head hurt; there was something wrong with me, something that was possible even worse than losing my companion AI. But it was not something that I could truly focus on right now. I didn’t know where I was or how I had got here, so the most important thing right now would be to gather information about my situation and the world itself. The second thing I would have to do, as much as it pained me to accept it, was to get used to my new body.

Still being absorbed in my thoughts I didn’t even realize when we finally stopped. The door we now stood in front of, was impressive, to say the least, some would even call it imposing. It was a beautiful piece of art; the metal bands holding it together were made of pure silver and engraved with smooth curved lines that reminded one of the flow of water and the thundering of a storm out on a rough sea. It seemed an oddly specific thing to think about when looking at a door; once more I simply chalked it up to being a magic-thing. So, in other words, I forbade myself from ever again looking too closely at this door. I would have to face this new world with its wonders at one point but felt that I wasn’t ready yet.

I was ripped from my musings when Miss Aldeno told me to wait and disappeared through the suspicious door. I guess they didn’t see fit to inform me about what was going on in the room because I didn’t hear a thing from behind the door for several minutes. At one point the teacher appeared once more and beckoned me inside, after which she simply left. The room behind the entrance was even more impressive than the door had been. Everywhere I looked laid, stood or hung weird knick-knacks and magical doodads; one of the shelves even housed the skull of a massive three-eyed beast, its eye socket alone was the size of my fist. While all of this was mind-boggling in itself my jaw dropped slightly when I looked upon the person in front of me. Standing behind an organic-looking wooden desk was a tall, imposing man with stark white hair that flowed easily down to his chest. His face was harsh but his eyes sparkled with friendliness and to top it all off he was wearing multilayered white robes and carried a sleek black staff adorned with a silver crystal. ‘Saruman is that you?’ The man turned around and a reassuring smile cracked across his face.

“Hello, Miss Bellrose, you must be the world walker that recently arrived, is that right?” His gestures were friendly but they felt more practiced than actually meant.

“I suppose I am. Why do you ask? Not like there would be many people from other worlds, right?” I had decided that I didn’t like this man. But I could still listen to what he had to say.

He studied my features for a while before tracing my body and finally settled on one of the glowing markings that I supposedly had drawn myself.

“No, I suppose there are not. Yet I had to wonder how someone who claims to not be a demon knows demonic tribal markings.” His lips twitched into more a smirk than a smile.

“I’m sorry what? I do not know what you’re talking about. I would appreciate if you would not mock me, that has as of yet never ended well for the person doing it. So carry one and tell me what you would want of me.” He knew something that I didn’t and chose to withhold it; such things never sat well with me.

“Yes, I suppose that it didn’t. But enough of that, I took time for you, because I believe I have an offer for you that is too good to pass up.” He stopped for a second, trying to gleam my reaction; I gave him none.

“Go on.”

“You must have noticed the compulsions you have begun to feel, the hunger for new and darker things and of course the thoughts about the one you call Mistress. You may not have said it out loud yet but I am sure you have felt it affect your mind. If you let these things continue you will at one point be reduced to nothing more than the attack-dog of Miss Mureay. But, your summoning was badly done, and as such your bond is weak and can yet be broken. I think you are smart enough to see that this would be in your best interest. So my offer to you is the following.” He made a short pause and continued

“You will enter this school as a student of the magical arts and in turn, you will learn the necessary things to break your summoning bond. And in turn, once you are fully freed from it you will graduate and take on a working position in the institute.” His smile returned grand and welcoming; I didn’t believe his intentions to be true in the slightest.

“And what if I choose not to?”

“As you are bound to the academy ground, the only one you could turn to would be Miss Mureay. After some time you would succumb to the bond connecting you and slowly but surely would turn into her pet on a leash. An undesirable outcome for all parties involved, I assure you. So what shall it be pet or student.”

“In this case, I guess I choose to enroll in your academy, Sir.” ‘I just had to bid my time, break my bond and escape their clutches. Good plan right?’

“Excellent! I will enjoy working with you in the future. I think Miss Aldone has already gone to get all your things ready. Good Night, Miss Bellrose.”

“Bye.”

‘Guess this meant I was going back to school? Let’s see how that pans out. . .’

Petrichor

Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed it.
Oh, and do leave a comment otherwise I might feel lonely, kay~? <3