“When you were eleven…” She answered. “It felt like three years being apart from you...believe me, I wanted to see you again.”
“...Just keep explaining.”
Emily paused a moment and regained her composure. She seemed a little bit shaken and uneasy, “Once you sign those papers, you can begin your classes and eventually be assigned a partner...classes are simply about combat and magic...and I’ll give you a bit of Lumen to make sure you have a little money...you get a steady income as long as you are a student…”
“Stop.” He finally said. “I missed you, yeah, and I’m glad to see you, but I just...really need time to breath and think it all over.”
Chris moved over to the desk with his folder and signed everywhere he needed to. Inside of the manila folder, he also found a dorm key with a number. Emily made a move to stop him, but he had already left the building and proceeded on his way. He made his way back down the steps of the building and ran as fast as he could passed the guards and into the crowd with his key in hand. He didn’t know where he was going, but for some reason he wanted to get away from Emily. He felt so much anger directed only at her, and he knew he didn’t want to take it out on her. So why did he?
Chris stopped in an area of town unfamiliar to him, there was a small park to his left and to his right was a set of homes. Then it occurred to him that he had gotten himself lost. He looked around a moment for help and noticed a girl with long black hair, a black top, a black skirt, black gloves, and although she didn’t have any weapons, he could tell she was a Wizard. Chris quickly ran up to speak to her, managing to grab her arm lightly before she proceeded.
“Excuse me?” He inquired. Somehow he felt he recognized her, but why did he approach her so easily?
She turned to face him, looking curious and uncaring all at once. She didn’t really have an expression.
“Why did you grab my arm?” She asked.
“I’m lost.” He admitted.
“Why did you ask me?” She asked in a slightly annoyed manner. “Why not anyone else?”
“Well...I’m new and you seemed nice…” he admitted, internally reevaluating that opinion.
“Oh...well why not just say you are new?” she asked, calmer. She immediately withdrew her question and continued on. She glanced up at his hair. “Emily’s brother…” She said to herself.
“Yeah…” he muttered. “I’m looking for my dorm.” He showed her the number.
The dorm was number 12,658. She raised her eyebrow for a moment at him before turning and leading the way. She took them through the many streets of town, explaining to him that he was very far from where he needed to go. She told him that his dorm is by the smallest park in the city with the least lights at night. It was toward the west side of town.
Chris thought she was very different than everyone else here...she seemed...detached and uncaring. He decided to try to close the distance a little.
“My name is-” He started.
“Chris,” She said. “Emily talks about you a lot to Victoria.”
“You know Tori?” he asked her. She ignored this, but she clearly heard him.
Chris made a mental note, attempt to be friendly...attempt number two failed...attempt number three engaging…
“So, what is your name?” he asked.
“I’m... trying to find your room. This is the area it’s in. Actually, I live near here too so it works out.” She dodged.
She began to count the numbers on the doors. The dorms were all side by side and were all around the city, according to her, but Chris wasn’t sure how he felt about living near this girl. He noticed his dorm room number and went up to it.
“Well thanks for helping me...See you around.” he said as he turned to unlock the door.
The girl said nothing, she had one hand on her hip and the other was rubbing her chin. Chris unlocked and opened the door. He noticed an unmade bed and a few female articles of clothing and items.
Chris was tackled to the ground by the girl. She held his throat with her left hand and held up her fist with the other. He began to blush, but he also got slightly startled.
“You have five seconds to explain yourself!”
“What do you mean?” he asked in a panic, looking for someone to help him.
“How did you get into my dorm?!” She asked.
“It’s my dorm too!” he insisted. He was panicking now. “I swear!”
“Out with it!” she demanded.
“Seriously, I got this from a girl with red hair in the headmaster’s office!”
The girl punched him anyway and put him into a daze. Everything got slightly disoriented for him for a moment.
“Tori?” He heard her ask without context for what was going on.
“Sis?? What did you--” he heard Victoria’s voice too, she sounded panicked.
“He broke into my room.” she said simply.
“Oh...you found out about that...Penny, he’s your roommate.” Victoria told her. “You didn’t kill him, did you?”
“No. Not at all. Wait, he was telling the truth? I punched him for nothing? Oh…” Chris regained his vision slightly to see Victoria with her arms folded.
“Good. You are going to stay with him until he wakes up.” Victoria told Penny.
“No way, he’s no help to me and he’s a boy in my room.”
“He’s Emily’s little brother.” Victoria pleaded.
“He’s going to take part of my room,” Penny replied. They began to argue by now.
“You’re staying with him until he wakes up.”
“Or...I could just leave him.”
“I’m your older sister, so I make the decisions here,” Victoria pleaded. “He’s a new student and my friend!”
“He was weak enough to get knocked out by a punch!” Penny said raising her voice, but using the same emotionless voice.
I’m going to hate this place, aren’t I? Chris thought to himself as he blacked out.
◆◆◆
When Chris woke up, he saw beautiful, brown eyes staring back at him. He felt comfortable, unsure where he was. Penny stared down at him as he stared up at her, he rubbed his head.
“Are you okay?” she asked quietly. “I’m sorry...I didn’t know you had the same room…”
“I thought I heard Tori say you were supposed to watch me anyway?” he asked.
“Um...Well yes...but...You seemed uncomfortable so I held you in my lap all this time.” She admitted as he sat up and got up. “Are you mad?”
“After today, I don’t think anything bothers me. Your name is Penny, right? Couldn’t you just say that instead of attacking me?”
Penny hid her face in her hair before once again looking back at Chris and opening her mouth again to say something and then once again closing it.
She finally decided on her words and spoke, “I didn’t think it would be important to know my name and it's not exactly a pretty name to me. Maybe on my sister, but even the last name is a bit much. Let me make it up to you. There are shows at a place we call the Dome and I think you’d like it. It’s free every night they do it, so let’s do that once you get settled in.”
Chris blushed once again and shook his head, she would be cute if she didn’t try to kill me.
“Yeah, just let me get settled in,” he agreed. “I don’t have my stuff--”
“That’s what Victoria was doing...She teleported them for you...your clothes and everything else you need. I don’t think everything came...mostly everything important,” she told him as she pointed at the door. “Emily probably got the rest.”
When Chris entered, he saw a room with tan walls. On the left side there was a bed with dark purple sheets. The room had been cleaned up on the right side, so it was empty besides Chris’ things: a few pictures, blue bed sheets made up nicely like Penny’s bed. The bathroom was to the far left, and a small kitchen to the right side.
“I cleaned everything up and set up your side for you. It’s my way of s
aying sorry.” Penny lowered her head a little and looked away slightly.
“Well, because you did, we can go. Just give me a moment,” he told her as he entered the bathroom and shut the door.
He took a deep breath and leaned over the sink, splashing his face with water and looking into the mirror. So far in the span of two days, he has won an impossible dodgeball game, climbed a wall faster than everyone but a magic user, survived a Sorcerer attack, and beat a Sorcerer. After recovering his sanity, he went off with Penny.
Penny showed Chris the parts of the town on their way to the Dome. They didn’t get to see much, but she showed him the shopping district, the outdoor market, a few restaurants, other dorms, weapon shops, potion shops, and many other things. Chris asked Penny along the way what type of magic he might have. She told him he would find out later, and that she has no clue. She explained that she was a necromancer.
They approached the Dome. It was massive with a large entrance, and according Penny, there were more ways in. It was getting dark by now, and as they went up the steps and into Dome, it became clear that it was even darker inside. In the center of the walkway, there was a subtle light just bright enough to be noticeable. They could hear a crowd by now, and as they entered, he could see a large stage in the center of the structure and it seemed like it was about to start. He saw a girl with lightly colored lavender hair that was currently in a messy bun with curly strands on both sides. Her one-piece pilot outfit was a black with a blue phoenix symbol on the right-side arm. She held a pilot helmet under her right arm and waved with her left.
Chris moved forward, but he did not yet take a seat. Every light focused on this girl. She was standing in the center with three other pilots wearing the same outfits with different color visors. She appeared to be the leader.
“Violet Fleur has had fifty confirmed kills and over one hundred completed missions including escort, patrol, combat, and infiltration! She is the best pilot in the Alliance,” announced an enthusiastic voice over the microphone. All the while, Violet blew kisses at the crowd and waved more as the pilots behind her stood there at attention and looked about the room and observed their audience. Chris watched as the girl continued to absorb the attention like a sponge.
“Violet, do you have any words for the crowd?” asked the voice.
Finally, a man wearing a blue suit stepped on stage and handed her the microphone. Violet took it and spoke as if she had done this before, or as if it was something she enjoyed dearly.
“We’re gonna show the Empire what we’re really made of! Everyone here knows a Wizard will always be better than a Sorcerer. You protect, you fight, you serve, you heal, what don’t you do besides kill?” she raised her fist as the crowd began to cheer, she spoke louder to overpower them.
“So, I’m here to tell you those no good lousy wanna-be’s have nothing on you! If they do try anything, we’ll go get ‘em, bring back that victory, and show them they have no business near our homes!” She cried. The crowd went up in an uproar.
“So, that said who wants to see their mages!” The audience went up in an uproar.
Eight figures walked out onto the stage. One was Victoria, another one was a pink haired girl, a boy with short black hair, a girl with curly dark brown hair, a tall boy with blonde hair, a girl with red hair, a girl with blue skin and white hair, and a girl with long brown hair.
Chris looked back to see where Penny was, but she was just leaning on one of the walls back where they came with her left foot against the wall. She was clearly trying to ignore the whole thing and Chris could tell she was hating every second. He approached her, wondering why she hated this so much, she brought him here to make up for what happened when they met.
“Hey. Penny? We should go, I’m hungry and this isn’t interesting to me,” was the excuse he used.
“Really? We just got here, but alright. Let’s go then,” she agreed as they left and headed back out and toward the main town.
“Be honest...You have no money.”
“No. My sister didn’t get the chance to...I was kind of mad at her.” Chris told her honestly.
“Gotcha, well I’ll pay. I know a good restaurant...it's an outdoor one on the edge of town. It’s actually slightly out of town and they serve all kinds of things there. It is Mexican themed, and so they have things from Earth apparently, like tacos. They just recently increased their menu.”
Chris was intrigued now at hearing there were things from Earth here, “What’s the name?”
“Las Estrellas. The Stars.”
Chris thought this name sounded perfect for an outdoor restaurant. He did very much want to go there, but he did feel bad for making Penny pay. She may have been making it up to him, but he wasn’t sure how much this would all cost.
“I wish I could help you with the costs. I know you offered, but it is your money.” Chris told her as they walked along the pathway.
“No, it’s alright. It’s nice to have someone to eat with. When Victoria was away trying to get you, I was alone for like a month. So, I’m glad, actually. What about you?” she replied in a softer tone. She seemed sedated compared to her behavior earlier.
“I was alone on Earth for almost two years thinking that was my life. I get what you mean.”
It was mostly empty outside. Most everyone was at the Dome, at home, or out eating. The few people remaining out on the streets were heading somewhere, or even out just for a stroll. Chris noticed the lights coming on in the city, they were beautiful and breathtaking. As the night grew darker, he noticed their many bright colors. They were not too bright, but just enough so you could see where you were going, and even better, you could admire them. As they proceeded down the steps, he noticed a bright area in an area slightly outside of town.
Chris noticed that here, the moon was very similar to the one on Earth, but it did not appear to have any craters at this time. The nights here didn’t seem as dark because of the lights, but he could tell. If it weren’t for them, it would be darker than Earth’s nights. Penny explained that when she came to Terminus, she felt she didn’t understand why the Wizards and citizens were so happy, but she felt that this world was very appealing. There was something about it that attracted you to it one way or another, if you belonged here, or if you didn’t.
“Why is the military not assembled?” Chris found himself asking. “To protect all of this, I mean.”
“It’s not that it isn’t assembled, it’s an alliance. Yes, we have a military, and trained soldiers are all over the city. There just simply isn’t a reason to go to war. Most of the Light Realm is all Alliance Territory minus small independent pockets of space,” she began. “Okay, so like me, I’m a Wizard and instead of doing whatever else, I chose to be a soldier.”
Chris stopped and rubbed the back of his head, “You don’t look much like a soldier...You honestly look normal,” he noted as he looked her up and down. Penny just seemed like a normal girl to Chris, he had never seen a soldier not in full combat gear and wielding a firearm.
“I would say you’re not very bright, but you’re new and from Earth where you don’t see Wizards so I’ll explain. Wizards are the field generals and commanders of our military. Sometimes we are higher up generals, but most are simply above soldiers. So, when you first start, you’ll be no higher than a soldier. You work your way up, but you can take and distribute orders and you are usually in the front.” This confused Chris more, but Penny continued.
“Basically, we are specialists.”
“Okay...but why no combat gear?” Chris asked, looking at her strangely. Penny sighed slightly, seeing that she would have to explain everything and on one of the many steps, Chris sat beside her.
“Wizards don’t need it. It would only slow us down, and unless you are trying to make yourself durable and tanky, you wouldn’t even wear armor. I have a friend that does and he only does so he can go quickly from one fight to another,” she continued again.
“Wizards have fast healing.
You probably never saw my sister get hurt, right? But if any of us did, our fast healing could help us. So long as we don’t bleed too much, it can help...it just has to keep up. If you didn’t have fast healing, I might have put you in the hospital...and honestly I’m glad you do or I would have felt bad.”
Penny explained that fast healing does not hurt, but it takes mana. She described mana as a form of energy inside of the body.
“It is a second stream in your body, similar to blood. It flows all over your body and allows us to cast spells and manipulate the environment. You have some too, it’s clear so you can’t see it even if you are bleeding, but without it you’ll feel weak. You’ll get cold, and it’ll feel like you can’t hold your hands still or move the rest of your body,” Penny noted this as if from personal experience.
“Your fast healing uses up a good bit to heal you, and it comes back, but it takes time. If your fast healing doesn’t have enough mana you’ll just bleed like any other normal person would.”
“I’m not planning on getting into a situation where I’m bleeding.”
“You want to stay in the confines of the city?” she asked.
“Well...why would I leave?” he asked.
“I don’t know...I feel like I have an obligation to join the fighting force, and I know the Empire will declare war one day...I’m ready, but I wish that day wouldn’t come.” Penny lightly clenched her hand into a fist and stared at the feet, as if she was in deep thought.
“An obligation?” he asked. Penny tensed up. “Too much information?”
“Too much information for when I just met you.” She replied. She stood and pulled him to his feet and they continued on their way.
They walked out of the main town and continued along a path of lights and stones. Chris had so many questions on his mind, but he didn’t want to overwhelm Penny. He debated if he should consider her a friend, he assumed they were, but what was he to her, he wondered. He could see it now. The restaurant had square tables, wooden chairs, there was also a bar to the right and to the left there was a pit for roasting things. There were waiters that wore blue with white aprons, and they cooked the food to the right near the bar.
Spellcrafter-Delta Page 5
