Bobby looked up, and doubted his eyes, believing his schizophrenia was acting up, again. He stayed in his seat, as Professor Dave waited for his response. “Bobby, is it alright if I talk to you in the hallway?” Professor Dave explained again. “Ah, this is one of the magic tricks I wanted to demonstrate, but the audience seemed more interested in leaving the class than seeing the show.”
Bobby was gathering his bearing, “sure, just give me a minute.” He noticed his hand was reaching out to Professor Dave. ‘There is no way, there is no way, there is no way…’ was only statement on Bobby’s mind, as he packed his notes in his backpack. He looked around, everyone else was either shocked, or in a rush to leave. Bobby looked down at the mess he just made, “so my reaction is normal?” He muttered, as he hurried to pack it up and stood up.
“Very normal indeed,” Professor Dave responded, turning to leave. Bobby quickly followed, leaving the crowd behind him. They entered the hallway, but this time, Bobby was dazed by the duplicate to notice his surroundings. Professor Dave cleared his throat, “Bobby, I need you to pay attention. I need to introduce you to your roommate for the next three years. Let’s just say he is a…. demanding student.”
Bobby snapped back to reality, “Wasn’t he in the classroom we just came from? If not, is he an honor student?” Bobby glanced at his surroundings and saw the occasional Professor Dave doing various tasks. And no one was overreacting. Bobby was baffled by what to think.
“Yes, he is an honor student. His name is Yu Xiao, and he is Chinese.” Professor Dave nodded, as he led the way. “Mr. Yu prefers to go by ‘This One,’ for some odd reason, that I wont attempt to explain.” He shook his head, “He is skilled, I must admit. He is a very talented young man who has infinite potential, but he struggles with realization magic. And I am sure you can help with that.”
“I don’t understand. How can I help with teaching magic to a talented magic user?” Bobby asked, coming to an abrupt halt. They stopped at a corner, but it clearly led outside. Bobby could already feel the breeze flowing over his skin.
“Magicians, we are called Magicians, Bobby.” He turned around, finally facing Bobby. He snapped his fingers, and quickly opened his palm, catching a small bottle containing a vibrant liquid. It glowed like the morning dawn, with a small yellow ball floating within the mist. “And, you will soon know how you can help him. You have an innate talent, Bobby. You are schizophrenic. That’s how you will help,” Professor Dave said with a smile, and passed him the bottle. “Now, drink this.”
Bobby looked at the bottle, hesitant to take it. A warm haze seeped out, welcoming all under its embrace peace and serenity. He looked up at Professor Dave, while another Professor Dave came from behind him, entering the building. ‘It’ walked by, and Bobby couldn’t help but try to reach out, seeking ‘its’ truth.
“Bobby,” a voice brought him back, drawing his attention to the still warm and kind bottle. “I know I have nothing to offer you in turn,” Professor Dave said with a smile, showing off his crow’s feet, “but I can guarantee you, this will help yourself more than it will help Mr. Yu.”
Bobby reached out and took the bottle. It was just glass, nothing more and nothing less, but the floating sun in the hazy mist was something that his mind couldn’t comprehend. There were so many things in a single day that Bobby did not understand. Or at least he thought so; he had no idea what he did and did not understand- if he understood anything at all. But before he knew it, he drank the potion. Bobby felt the haze condensed on his lips, and he felt the sun coat his mouth, leaving a thick oil-like layer all over his tongue. But he still felt nothing. Nothing. There was absolutely nothing.
And then there was something.
Bobby’s legs felt weak, as he collapsed on himself, crashing into the floor. And crashed into a dark hole, falling, and continued to fall…. Until…. It felt like an eternity. An eternity of being denied the basics.
Bobby continued to fall in this dark, sunless, hole. Until he wasn’t. He was standing upright, as he always was. He looked up to Professor Dave, confused. And became even more confused when he saw a half-snake man with raven-like wings. Its’ gripping hands dragged Bobby out of the building, and onto a golden plain, with rolling winds and dancing grass, like seaweed in its sea. And soon, he stood face to face with a giant water snake, with gold, greens, and reds.
And soon enough, it all ended. Bobby stood in front of a black-haired youth, with the darkest black eyes. “This One will never obey such a lowly dog who can’t even bark! It’s ridiculous I don’t even have the right to end its miserable life.” He turned his head away from Professor Dave, crossing his arms.
“It is my job to teach you, and its clear you will not learn anything even if I force you into every lecture this academy has to offer,” Professor Dave responded, unfazed. “You really are talented and should get treated as such. I would personally teach you, however, Bobby here is more talented in realization magic,” he said, releasing his iron-like grip. Bobby slightly stumbled, trying to gather his bearings. “More so than me, and you, Yu Xiao.”
“You have no right to call This One by their lowly name!” he screamed, facing Professor Dave. “Besides, it’s an act of compassion! It’s clearly a miserable wretched thing that has no right to exist under the heavens!” He nearly lost all his composure as he held himself back from slapping Professor Dave. “How can a retard like you get such a high position without understanding even the most basic of basic human rights!”
Professor Dave smiled, “Now that I have your attention,” he snapped his fingers, and a long, thin metal sheet popped out, and stood on its own. Professor Dave turned to Bobby, “now, what do you see on this ordinary sheet of metal?”
‘What I see?’ Bobby thought looking at the metal sheet. It was nothing ordinary; Bobby saw a horned beast, with several sets of wings. But it had multiple sets of hands and legs sticking out at random places. It seemed familiar to Bobby, almost as if he had seen it before.
Professor Dave looked at the metal sheet and saw a loose imprint of something; he snapped his fingers, and spread them open, and another bottle appeared, but this time, it was clear- empty- with nothing in it. Professor Dave threw the bottle onto the lose imprint.
And something started to bubble out, as it took up more space. “The City, that’s where I have seen this before!” Bobby said loudly. But both Professor Dave and Yu Xiao were too flabbergasted at what was being born. The bubbles soon started to connect to each other, and the hideous monster was formed and lunged at the closes human- Professor Dave.
It stood no chance; with a quick snap it was paralyzed before it could do anything. And soon, it died as it lived; in an instant, and as bubbles. Popping one by one until none remained.
Professor Dave glanced at Bobby, and then faced the gapping, Yu Xiao. “Bobby, as you can see, is extremely talented. So much so in fact, he can barely control his powers.” He snapped his fingers, and the metal sheet disappeared, leaving the shattered glass behind. “Now,” he said slowly, “do you think it’s possible to learn with Bobby?”
Yu Xiao closed his mouth, but stared at Bobby, and remained silent.
“That’s good,” Professor Dave nodded. “Since he is your roommate. But right now, he has more important things to do,” he said, snapping his fingers. Bobby soon found himself drained and tired, and all he wanted to do was sleep, but the professor in front of him clearly would not appreciate that.
“And that is why most runes, that spawn from the cosmos spawn in the northern hemisphere, especially in Norway.” said the professor with a bushy beard.
Bobby sent a little prayer to Jesus, hoping this will be over all over soon. He was tired. He didn’t want to do any of this. He just wanted to whine, but a whining man in a classroom where everyone is diligently taking notes is not normal.
So, Bobby complied, and rushed to start taking notes.
