“Okay, but in my defense, we don’t have those back home so how was I supposed to know?” I defended, Sir Mirroheart still laughing occasionally in the momentary breaks in silence as we proceeded back up to the University District. These great stairs were still a marvel to behold, even retreading them a third time, and I began to wonder how many times I’d have to use them for them to feel routine. Such a simple thought was cut short as my initial protests were finally answered, Sir Mirroheart ceasing his chuckling.
“I get that, it’s just hilarious anyway.” he insisted. “Your mother said you were similar to your father, but from my perspective, you are far more like your grandfather.”
At the mention, I tensed slightly. Given our conversation earlier in the day, I knew this was probably heavier than I needed to get into right now. Thankfully, a welcome distraction came in the form of our prior tour guide, that golem woman, arriving at our side again with a smile. Something was different about her, but I couldn’t tell right away. She seemed physically more lively somehow. Maybe it was her stance, more eager to help and more impatient as she tapped her foot.
“Welcome back.” Sir Mirroheart said. “You look like you’re in a good mood. And you’re not in uniform anymore. What did you do while we ate?”
That was it! She was in new clothes! I felt dense not noticing that immediately. She was sporting some sort of tight compression clothes with no sleeves, which really emphasized those fabricated joints more than before. It seemed she was also wearing suspenders, but the straps that would go around her shoulders were dangling around her legs, and the pants themselves were supported by a belt. Both pieces were black and gray with the Magnum insignia on the right side of the chest, and used as the buckle for the boots I’d noticed her pants tucked into. Her hair hadn’t changed much, but I wasn’t sure how hair even worked for this species yet, soI didn’t make too much of an observation about that.
“I ‘ad m’self a li’l treat.” she said, turning her attention to me again. “Y’look like ya ‘ad some good food. Y’a’ight ta get signed in now?”
“Yes please!” I said with as much enthusiasm as she brought.
“Le’s go then.” she waved us along, and our path continued. It felt more friendly and intentional than before, instead of being asked to do a task, she was acting more like this was her choice and her desire to do. It was a change from earlier that I appreciated greatly, and it made me feel comfortable enough to ask Sir Mirroheart my question after all, even if it was now an old topic that had no place in the conversation.
“What was my grandfather like? Mother never talks about him. Or any of the rest of my family, actually.”
“He was a down to earth, dense man that cared far too much about those around him and not enough about himself.” Sir Mirroheart began. I think he wanted to say more, as he began to say something else, but remembered we were still in public and silenced himself. Even though the sun was nearly set, it was still busy out in the streets. Instead of continuing his thought, he gestured to the road ahead.
“Take a look up there. You see these posts all along the side of the road? They’re not just there for detail.”
As he finished speaking, I saw a faint light from in front of us that slowly grew into something I had to look away from for a moment. It seemed that each small post and each lantern along the sides of the buildings of this road housed a small flame, or perhaps some other form of light, that triggered as the shadows overtook the road ahead. The closer the lights came, the easier it was to identify that these were some form of magical orbs contained in the glass tops of the posts and within the same locations as the candles that the lanterns housed. Even a novice to magic could probably do this spell, I thought, but the concept eluded me completely.
“S’a simple spell.” Key spoke up. “Ya focus ya ene’gy on th’palm o’ya hand, an’ close y’eyes. Then ya focus on try’na see ya hand wit’ ya eyes closed. Ya innate magic gonna light it up for ya, an’ then ya use Principle Spellcastin’ command words ta set a trigger, duration, all that stuff.”
“That seems… Easy, yeah…” I nervously laughed it off. “But how do you make something like that a permanent spell?”
“Ya don’t.” Key responded. “Tower District mages make th’rounds e’ery mornin’ ta cast the spell again. S’one o’the things they get paid for.”
“That makes more sense. I bet all sorts of mages are responsible for things here, it’s so… Fancy compared to back home.” I gazed upward, noting that the sky was very clear tonight. A silence fell over the group as we continued our march, and so I asked another question.
“When did they come up with that system?”
“Some time after the founding of Magnum, these were installed to make night watches easier. That was back when Magnum was just an abandoned fortress from the Second War that a bunch of refugees had settled in for safety. At the time, your grandfather was out on a journey, and he stayed in that old fortress to protect its people for a full month.” Sir Mirroheart spoke up this time.
“But, the Second War was probably over a century ago, right? How old was he?” I asked, now starting to understand why Sir Mirroheart had opted to stay quiet and I noticed Key also didn’t speak up during this.
“He was still very young at the time. He, his traveling companions and I kept the place safe while the smarter refugees devised safety precautions, like these night lights and some very durable walls. The Ivory colored walls are actually a shell, protecting sturdy enchanted brick from the elements. Magical assaults will be deflected by the enchantment, and physical attacks will be deflected by the Ivory. The Inner Ring of the city, at the Tower District, was where all of this took place.”
I stayed silent, absorbing the information and thinking about the city before the walls. How much it must have looked like my home, though maybe less trees around it. And how could a permanent spell exist on the walls but not the lights? That seemed very counter-
“June, wrong way!”I heard Key a few paces away from another direction. I had almost gotten so wrapped up in those thoughts that I didn’t see us turning a corner, and hurried along after correcting myself.
“What was his name?” I asked. “My grandfather I mean.”
“If I say it too loudly, we might get swarmed. Best if we just save that for the next time we can speak in private.”
I nodded, and it seemed the sun had finally set completely. The last details of orange light were fading in the distance, but they, too, melted away behind the buildings around us. One in particular that we headed straight for, which I assumed to be the registry, main office, whatever they’re calling it this time. It was very subtle, with the same outer iron and wood aesthetic as the rest of the housing, though it seemed like there were actually no windows on this building at all. Instead, there were murals and maps and all sorts of decorations about the city itself, in particular interest to me being the map. Judging by the tiered system and the three rings of the city from what I was told, I thought this city would extend all the way to the other cape, and I was mostly correct. It seemed small territories and beaches around Magnum counted as part of it, too. As my eyes drifted from one corner of the map to the other, I noticed a box below it that housed many brochures, with the box having the words ‘maps – free’ engraved into it. I grabbed one immediately for later use.
Sir Mirroheart opened the front door without knocking, and inside was a polished wooden finish for walls and support beams all around a wood and stone desk, behind which sat a man with ears that were pointed, yet slanted down toward his shoulders much like a Donnriel. I noted the absence of horns on this one, and I assumed him to either be of another species or perhaps a half-breed. It was fascinating all the same, but I tried to hide my curiosity as it was rude to be amazed by a person’s physical appearance no matter how new it was to me. Surprisingly, however, my question of his origins was answered without asking as he stood, and I saw tufts of feathers running from his forearms now that they were no longer resting on the table. It seemed he was dressed more casually than a government official normally would, from my singular experience meeting one from a different country entirely. He wore a red button down shirt with white buttons that vanished behind a black vest and matching pants, though as he rounded the table I noted he had no shoes. Instead, I saw the talons of a hawk or some other bird of prey.
“Mirroheart, a pleasure.” he said, bowing. “And friends, too! What can I do for you?”
“Good to see you as well, Matthew.” Sir Mirroheart returned the bow. “I brought a new student, and wanted to make sure she had a place to stay before I went back home for the evening.”
“Understood, understood.” the man approached us , and at Sir Mirroheart gesturing to me specifically, he extended a hand. “Drey brings us the finest students, It’s a pleasure to count you among them.” he eagerly grabbed my hand and shook it – as well as most of my arm for me – the moment I began to raise mine to meet it.
“T-thank you. My name is June.” I said through his shaking.
“She’s here for the combat courses, but she needs the elementaries first.” Sir Mirroheart spoke for me, seeing my difficulty doing so. “I’d like to get her into the upcoming semester in the most open class.”
“Specific, specific.” Matthew spoke, still shaking my hand and not taking his eyes off of Sir Mirroheart as he did so. “Let’s see the roster, then!”
Almost at once he released my hand mid-shake, allowing mine to flop back down on its own. In my confusion I didn’t stop this and it must have looked silly, but no more so than the eager man helping us. Key giggled, which I thought was fitting given the situation, and Sir Mirroheart urged us to come with him to the counter as the man disappeared underneath it for a moment, only to pull up a large book and a writing implement that I assumed he plucked from his own body.
“Most open, most open…” the man scanned his pages quickly, flipping two or three of them before addressing us again. “That would be elementary building five, Mirroheart. The class has just above ten students and two professors – Professor Ritter and Professor Faye.”
“That sounds perfect, actually.” he stated. “Throw her into that one, I’ll pass along the information to the Professors myself.” Will she be living close to the classroom?”
“Certainly, certainly.” Matthew nodded. “I’ll just need her chosen identity in writing and the tuition fee up front.”
“Tuition fee?” I asked, before I was immediately silenced by Sir Mirroheart dropping a sum of coins on the counter in a satchel. I began to wonder how many of those he had.
“There we go. June, fill out the paperwork and we can get you to your assigned housing.”
The paper he handed me had several blank spaces, and alongside those were an equal number of categories to fill out. I did so with the provided pen as follows:
Name: June Kohma
Age: Sixteen
Major: Combat
Pronoun identity: Female
Prior Education: Home schooling
Entrance Exam grades: ______
I left the last one blank, as I didn’t remember my grades from this morning entirely. I turned to ask Sir Mirroheart, and suddenly spotted something horrific on his back. Some form of mangled entrails and monster parts that felt familiar. It slowly came back to me, our fight from the morning, but I made sure to make a mental note to let Sir Mirroheart know about that when we next spoke. After all, he hadn’t mentioned them either, and nobody we spoke to mentioned them, so they must have just escaped our memory, or perhaps something else was happening. It put a bad taste in my mouth either way, but I was being taught to be subtle, and so I kept it to myself for now.
“Hey, what were my grades this morning?” I asked.
“I’ll handle that part.” Sir Mirroheart stated, taking over the paperwork from here on out. Apparently, my grades averaged out to a ‘B’ thanks to my Physical Strength test and Honor Test, but my Reaction Time was a very low ‘D’ bringing all of it down. My Intelligence was also a ‘B’ which I felt I should be insulted by, but remembered exactly the caliber of people that existed here and brushed it off with only a scratch to my pride.
“All set.” Sir Mirroheart stated.
“Very good, very good.” Matthew checked over all the paperwork and nodded to himself before flicking over to a few new pages in the book. He mumbled to himself for a moment before loudly declaring that he had found the perfect spot.
“Which house would that be?” Sir Mirroheart asked.
“She will fill in the empty room in the Ouzo building.”
“That’s perfect.” Sir Mirroheart confirmed, and turned to me with his arms crossed.”That’s the building we reserve for foreign exchange students with the Empire. You already have some Imperial contacts so it might be easier to integrate. Matthew, who is currently occupying that building?”
“Oh, oh, as a matter of fact, Lady Aldritch registered for the elementaries just an hour or two ago, and I put her there as well. Alongside her, there is one other Imperial exchange student currently.”
I did think Arceia was closer to my age, but I supposed this confirmed it. She couldn’t be more than two years older than me if she was just now registering for elementaries, right?
“Who is the other student?” I asked.
“Her name, her name is Lillian Ragnis. She’s also taking the combat courses, but she’s a returning student who already graduated the Flux courses.”
Sir Mirroheart seemed to recognize this name, as he nodded in approval.
“A strong friend to have. I hope you get along with her too.” Sir Mirroheart spoke, shrugging. “Well then, the last thing to do is lead you there and set yourself up.”
“An’at means I’m’a head out.” Key spoke up. “Welcome t’Magnum, legally now. Stay in touch, a’ight?”
With a smile, Key turned on her heel to return home. I knew I’d be relying on her a lot in the future, being the senior student to me and my closest contact to someone who might be trustworthy.
“Be safe getting home!” I called back to her. She dismissively waved without turning back as she exited the building fully.
“Very good, very good.” Matthew chirped in. “We will send for you when the paperwork is processed to grant you your passport and your class schedule. Orientation for first years takes place in elementary building eight, closest to the Tower District northwest gate, in five days.”
“So… That’s it?” I asked.
“No, no.” Matthew dropped a small metal key on the counter. “You’ll need this.”
“Now, that’s it.” Sir Mirroheart patted my back. “You’re in. Now it’s on you to make that idealistic dream come true, kid.”
At once, I hugged him, and felt as though my life was just beginning. I had no way of knowing at the time that today was the day not only my life, but the lives of everyone I’d met, would change forever.
“Come on, June, let’s get you to your new room before you lose sleep.” Sir Mirroheart spoke, shaking me out of my stupor. I nodded, and onward we marched, straight out the door of the registry, down another block or two, and straight ahead. Without apology, I had an extra skip in my step as we continued, until I remembered my earlier thoughts.
“Actually, before we go any further, do you remember our battle this morning?” I asked, to which he shook his head, and then at once nodded.
“How did I forget that?” he asked. “If I’d remembered that I’d have changed your reaction time grade to a ‘B’ too. Bizarre, it’s like it doesn’t exist unless I think about it.”
“That’s what I thought, too. Until I saw some of the remaining parts on your back, I didn’t remember it either. What’s going on with that?”
“I’m not sure.” he tilted his head toward what I assumed was the sky, and crossed his arms. “But I don’t like thinking there’s a beast like that, who only exists in our immediate thoughts. I’ll ask the Professors about it later, but for now, let’s not spoil the mood.”
“Alright.” I nodded and continued my pace. “Why is Arceia taking classes? Isn’t she a diplomat in the Empire? She’s probably already had a formal education.”
“Beats me.” he took the lead, as we both realized I was walking ahead despite not knowing anything about the city yet. “If I could wager a guess, I’d say she’s looking for an excuse to stay out of the castle for a bit. She’s always been a bit of a wild card in that way.”
“Well, she seemed nice, so I’m sure I’ll figure out why if I ask. On that note, what about her somehow being in two places at once?”
“Not so loud.” he scolded. “We shouldn’t ask about that directly, just observe and try not to make a big deal of it. If she has that kind of spell or ability, she probably doesn’t want it getting out.”
“I understand.” I said, not fully understanding. “How far is it?”
“We’re there.”
I glanced to my left, and sure enough, this building was designated Ouzo. It looked to be a darker shade than other buildings in the area, but color and shade weren’t easy to make out in this level of light. The only reason I even noticed the designation was because it was written on a sign directly in front of the building and intentionally lit to display the text. Sir Mirroheart approached the door without me, and then urged me forward.
“You should be the one who opens the door. It’s your house after all.”
“Right. Here goes.”
I swallowed my nerves, inserted the key I’d received, and heard the click of the lock. The door began to open, and the rest of my life began to unfold for the second time today.
Magna Varia 