Weak. That’s what this species is. They need... something better, the old man thought. He was sitting in his tiny living room, a crackling fire flickering in the small fire place. He sat in a large, red cushioned chair that seemed to take up half the room. He was a renowned scientist, but no one cared about science. “Never did, never will,” he always said. He was generally a bitter man, having lost his parents at a young age, and his wife a year after their marriage. The rest of his family had moved on as he had stayed in his small apartment, working on his science.
Finally he thought he had found the best thing he could give the people. Something that made them stronger. Surely now, they could fully achieve their wildest goals, and also become the strongest species in the universe. For, as everyone thought otherwise, this was not the only world.
But first he needed to test it.
At the sound of his door opening, he knew the perfect subject. His servant, who he allowed the liberty of going to school, had just arrived back. It was a very diligent subject, keeping silent about his works, and willing to take any strange substance he gave it. Yes, it wouldnt think twice about participating.
“Hey, get in here,” he snaps. There are sounds of something being dropped on the ground, a bag perhaps? Then footsteps coming down the hall. It came in, arms crossed. It was young, younger than he was. Good, youth would help it in this case.
“Yes?” it asks.
“I need you to stay here for a couple months.”
An expression passed across its face. An expression of... annoyance? Impossible, it didn’t feel emotion.
“Of course.”
So obedient. If only past servants had been more like this.
“Good. Now leave.”
It nods its head, turns, and leaves, its footsteps retreating far into the apartment. To its room maybe? He didn’t care what it did, as long as when he needed it do something it would obey.
He leans back and closes his tired eyes. His body was beginning to fail him, of that much he was certain. But he also knew he had enough time to fix the problem of weakness. What would the serum attack? What elements would it alter to cure weakness? Great strength, great wisdom, and greater senses. A subjects appearance may also be added to or taken away as to make them stronger. But physical abilities wasn’t the only cause for weakness. Yes, emotions and memories, thoughts and personality. He would have to alter it all. He would have to change the subjects very soul.
He grins. In other worlds this would be deemed impossible, but he had all the tools necessary to accomplish this. Something he would need to gather. Remove the strength aspects from creatures and implant them in his subjects. Yes, that would eliminate the weakness.
***
My name is Devin.
I was named this because my parents wanted a boy. When I was born and they found they had a girl, they kept the name the same. So I’m Devin.
I grew up in Mooshu where my parents were the treasurers of the Emperor. It was a life of comfort... for the most part. I was the only human wizard of my age. I was friends with the other palace children, but there was always the gap of species between us.
When my parents finally enrolled me in Ravenwood, I was beyond happy. Finally I could be with others like myself.
But on the day I was to fulfil my enrollment the palace was attacked. A group of Berkshire ninjas lay siege to the palace and stole a good portion of the gold. Both my parents were mortally wounded. I wouldn’t be going to Ravenwood yet.
Berkshire was the name of the man who constantly raided caravans, random civilians, and houses. Mooshu was the hardest hit every time. Next was probably Krokotopia.
I stayed by my parents sides for a month. Then there was a second raid, only this time it was done single handedly. I was a ten at the time, disobeying my mother’s command to run as the palace halls were set ablaze, I stayed by her side until she died.
I ended up with a foster father after this, too young to fill in my parents jobs. He was nice, odd though. Always gave me strange requests to help him with his job. Finding various things, boiling this, peeling that. I felt like a chef at times.
My life there was peaceful in a sinister way. I felt like there was something more to myself. I just didn’t know what. Like I was walking through a dream, and I was blind trying to find my way out of a maze. Sometimes I felt panicked. Strange images would surface in my mind, and I would burst out crying. Father would hold me then, give me a glass of water and calm me down. The images would fade, and I would remember what was what.
The only thing that felt real was school, the only outside privilege I was allowed. I always looked forward to it. Though I started late, Headmaster Ambrose gave me extra credit projects and quests to help me level. And to think I was never under any stress between my boatload of school work and the house work.
Everyone always told me I was smart. I caught up and surpassed my fellow classmates quickly. Sometimes, however, I felt as though it were a test of some sort. A way for me to prove my worth to...
To whom?
I had no idea.
I always thought Father would answer it, but now that will never happen. He died just hours ago. He was old, older than I thought when he first took me in. He asked me for a final banquet. I did my best and prepared the most extravagant feast I could put together. Later on in the evening, while he sat in his large, red chair, he breathed his last.
I didn’t shed a tear for him. All I did pack away his things, throw my few possessions into a bag, then travel to Ravenwood, hoping the Headmaster would provide me with a dorm.
Now I sat in a red chair, much like Father’s, and waited nervously as the Headmaster shuffled through papers.
“I know it’s here somewhere,” he muttered. “Right here... It was right here a moment ago.” A stack of papers falls and scatter everywhere about the floor. The Headmaster doesn’t even pause as he snaps his fingers and the papers fly back into place, rustling on top of each other before finally settling down. “Ah, here it is.” He yanked out a piece of paper and handed it to me.
I took it. Across the top in bold lettering was: Dorm Application Form. I looked up at the old man. “Thank you sir.”
“I’m very sorry for you loss. Just hand this to the boy outside of the dormitories by Torrance. He’ll give you the key and room number.”
Again I thanked him, grabbed my bag and left the tower. Outside was twilight, the sky fading from a pale, blue-yellow to velvet navy, a couple stars already shining out. I paused for a moment, take out my quill, and fill out the form against the stone wall. I review it quickly, and satisfied with it, I cross the Commons.
I quickly passed through the Ravenwood tunnel, the inside cold from lack of sun, and slightly wet from a previous days rain. Just as promised, a boy a few years older than I stood outside, dressed in flaming red a yellow robes. I made my way up to him and silently handed him the application.
“Well, welcome Miss Darkwater. I do believe there are a couple dorms still empty. The new semester starts soon.” He unhooked a brass loop from his belt that clanked with five bronze keys. He gives it a good, long, hard stare before releasing one with a star shaped handle. “Here, this one opens dorm seventy-four. Way up, you’ll enjoy the view.”
I nodded and took it. “Thank you.”
I turned to the tall, stone tower. I went up to it and inserted the key into the lock. The feeling of teleportation enveloped me and suddenly I’m standing on a mat, facing an octogonal room. The floor was wood, the walls stone. Four windows looked out onto the Ravenwood school grounds, and the top of Bartleby.
I set my bag on the floor and walked around.
There was a bed against one wall; it was covered with a red blanket with gold stitching of the pattern of Ravenwood. Two white pillows were at the head. Next to it was a short night stand, consisting of a drawer and a candle on top. At the end of the bed was a folded up, patchwork quilt. At the foot was a large, ebony chest. I smirk, guess they knew what school I was.
A desk was opposite the bed, a padded stool tucked under it. I opened the four drawers on it and found stacks of paper, extra ink wells and quills, as well as the books I would need for the new semester. Next to it was a tall wardrobe. Inside was a thick coat for the winter months, as well as boots and a hat. A school bag also hung from one of the brass pegs.
I walked over to the windows to find that if I looked out over Bartleby, and to my left and right, all I could see was a dark blue-gray void, dotted with stars. A few clouds floated here and there, and every now and again a bird would squawk then soar up from the branches of the World Tree. I could see some of the schools, losing sight of the Fire, Death, and Myth ones behind Bartleby.
However all I could see was Ravenwood, everything else was just out of the windows sight.
Sighing, I turn back to the wardrobe and unpack my few possessions. Robes and boots mostly, then two hats. There was also the ratty old book that contained all of Father’s important notes. I had looked at it many times, but I didn’t understand any of it.
What was H2O? And what about the little flame symbol following that next to the number 212o F? The bulleted notes under the heading ENZYMES made even less sense. What are heavy metals? Aren’t all metals awfully heavy? And then there were pages and pages on the experiment of a bird-snake hybrid? What really interested me within the book, however, was the single, blank page near the back with the title: WEAKNESS.
I had given up on trying to make sense of it, but had taken it all the same.
Other possessions was my mothers gold, thumb ring. It was too small for my own thumb, but fit well on my left middle finger. The gold was beginning to lose its shine, and dark spots were starting to appear. It was old, older than it seemed. Words had once been inscribed on the inside, but from its constant use of wearing they had faded away.
Next was my fathers, my real fathers, glasses. Not many people used glasses because medical magic could easily fix that problem. I don’t know why my father decided to keep his glasses, but that just made them all the more special. They were thin and rectangular, with dark silver frames. The glass was thin, but when I put them on my whole world would blur, and if I wore them for too long I would get dizzy.
The last was a gnarled, old willow stick. It wasn’t a staff or wand, it wasn’t magical in anyway. I had found it when I was little in the Jade Palace courtyard. It was on the ground, and at first I didn’t know what it was since willows didn’t grow in Mooshu. My mother had identified it and told me, because this anomaly happened, it was a sign of good omen. Ever since I’ve kept it close, for good luck. So far it hasn’t worked. I’ve thought about throwing it out, cursing my bad luck, but I’ve kept it. I’ve developed a sentimental attachment to it.
Completely irrational, I know.
I set the ring and glasses next to the candle on the nightstand, and Father’s book in the drawer. I hung my clothes, then set my own school supplies on the desk. As I did, something on the wall caught my attention. I hadn’t seen it before since I had been taking in everything else, but now I noticed a series of symbols painted on the wall.
They were pictures of a flame, a drop of water, a fork, and the sun. Clearly they were magical, as was everything. I touch the fork one gently. With a soft ‘pop’ that still startled me, I turned to see a wooden box on my bed. I walked over and looked inside. I found a steaming bowl of chicken soup and a roll, as well as a note.
Becoming hungry from looking at the food, I took the the roll, then read the note.
Dear Miss Darkwater,
Welcome to your Ravenwood dorm! Make yourself at home, you’ll be officially assigned to this dorm for the rest of your schooling, lest you purchase a house and renounce your dorm application. The new school semester begins at the end of the week (four days). A student tuition fee of 5,000 gold will be billed at this time, as it will be every semester. This will ensure and keep your enrollment in Ravenwood.
We’re glad to have you here:
-Ravenwood Faculty
I set down the note. Five thousand gold per semester? I had just over seven thousand at the moment. I hoped questing and item selling would bring that back up so I can stay for the second semester. Father had always paid my tuition. Where he had found all this gold was beyond me. He was a mysterious man, and I had never really bothered to wonder.
I looked out the window as I started on eating my soup. It was really late now. I blink a couple times, telling myself I wasn’t tired, but I was.
When I finished the soup I set the bowl back in the wooden box and it vanishes. I set the note next to the glasses and ring, changed into a nightgown, let my dark-dark blue hair out of its ponytail, blew out the candles, and climbed under the covers. They were warm and soft.
I lay awake. Though tired and ready to sleep, it wouldn’t come. I gazed around the dark room. The silhouettes of the windows shadowed the floor from the stars light. It was a different place, a different environment. It was the same feeling I had felt when I first stayed with Father: the room had been chilly and the bed uncomfortable. I was nervous about my future, and sad about my loss. But I had told myself that was behind me, the past was history. It was like facing the spring after a harsh winter.
***
I awoke with the sun pouring over my face. I lay still for a moment more, my eyes closed, comfortable in my bed. After that moment I just became uneasy, I had to move around.
I stretched in relief, then climbed out. I could hear birds chirping from outside, and the day looked like it was to be warm. I took my time washing my face and changing into a new robe and pulling on some boots. Again touching the fork symbol, with another quiet ‘pop’, another box of food appeared. Inside, this time, was a plate of eggs and two slices of toast. A simple meal, but a fulfilling one.
Once the box had vanished I made sure my dorm key was in my pocket, then I left. The world swirled multicolored tinged with gray before solidifying into the Ravenwood courtyard. Students were milling around here and there, wandering in and out of the schools. I look around, trying to spot a familiar face, but I see no one I recognized.
As I was heading towards the Commons, I was stopped by Mr. Lincoln. He regards me up and down before saying, “Miss Darkwater?”
“Yes.”
“The Headmaster told me to give this to you. It’s your enrollment form. Just give it to your teacher sometime today.”
I took the paper he handed me. “Of course.”
He wanders away. I shrug and, once again, fill it out by pressing the paper against the wall. A couple people gave me weird looks, but I didn’t mind. Once it was all filled out, I walk around Bartleby to the Death School.
It was the same as ever. The dead thorn bushes still coiled around the corners and over the door. Inside was filled with the smell of undead and strange potions. Professor Malistaire was leaning over a book, the dark purple aura of magic floating about him in lazy tendrils. He was muttering to himself, so I decided not to interrupt.
I didn’t recognize any of his words so I guessed he was using ancient magic. He finished his spell and looked up. He closed his book hastily, then he smiled, as he did whenever he saw a student. “Ah, Darkwater, can I help you?” All the teachers referred to me by my last name.
“I was told to fill this out and give it to you.”
I walked forward and handed him the enrollment form. He scanned it over, held it up, snapped his fingers, and it vanished in a puff of black-gray smoke. “All taken care of. I’m sorry of your loss.”
I nodded. “Thank you. Though I do find it nice to live on campus now.”
“Yes, Ravenwood is a nice school. I’m glad you could make it this year, especially since you missed five months from last semester.”
I frowned. “Yes, Father needed help.”
“I see, well, I’m glad you could...” He trailed off and gazed at me intently. “You are different however.”
“I do not mean to be.”
“No, no. It is not a insult, merely an observation. I’m sorry for speaking out of turn.” He smiled kindly, but it was clear he wasn’t revealing all. “I’m glad you could come.”
I nodded, incurious. “Thank you.”
***
A boy with silver hair and ice blue eyes leaned against the Ice Tower. He was bored. Too bored to quest, too bored to just wander around aimlessly, too bored to do nothing. He sighed and leaned his head against the cold stone, gazing up through the branches of Bartleby. Not even any of his friends were around to talk to, not that he had problems making her new ones, but as of the moment he was just too bored.
He looked up at the sound of doors banging closed. Turning his head to the left he saw a person, a girl, coming out of the Death School. Something about her seemed vaguely familiar.
She turned left, away from him.
He paused, then followed her. He didn’t know why, but she was someone who was different. She seemed to just stand out among everyone.
He followed her through the tunnel and across the Commons to the Shopping District. She entered the Hat Shop. Curious he followed. All the while he thought to himself, What is so interesting about a hat shop?
Just as he was about to enter she exits. He stopped, startled. She glared at him, grabbed his arm and pulled him between the buildings. She threw him against the wall and stabbed a finger at his chest. He expected her to be angry, but her expression was stony. “Why are you following me?”
***
“Bored I guess,” the boy responded. He looked panicky.
I lowered my finger. “So you’re a stalker in your free time?”
“No, I just didn’t recognize you. I mean I did, but... I don’t know.”
“I go to school here.”
“A Necromancer?”
“Yeah.”
“I’m Caleb Snow, level thirty-four Thaumaturge.”
I regarded him for a moment, wondering what exactly I should reveal. But he had told me his name, so I guess telling him mine was no big deal. “Devin Darkwater. Level forty-seven.”
“Pleased to meet you - ”
“CALEB!” The voice was shouted near Colossus Boulevard.
Caleb sighed. “That would be my sister. I got to go. Maybe see you again in four days?”
I say nothing. Actually, I was unsure of what to say. I only give a slight nod as he runs off. What an interesting person.
For the rest of the day I wandered around, revisiting places in Wizard City. Lots of people gave me odd looks, similar to that of the one Professor Drake gave me. As though they couldn’t believe something about me. Something about me was... putting them off.
Which didn’t make any sense since I was just another wizard.
***
Four days passed in no time at all. I wrapped up some leftover quests and moved onto Celestia as a level fifty-three. I would be the youngest Grandmaster in my class. Most were in Celestia like I was, but a couple were still in Dragonspyre. All were about a year older, give or take some. Professor Malistaire did the usual: a review, a preview, and then the current lesson. We mostly focused on the different techniques for different spells.
The professor was as good as I remembered him to be. My absence of five months hadn’t dented my learning at all.
After class I heard several students, who were huddled in a group, talking about the professor.
“He seemed different, don’t you think?”
“Yeah. Anyone know why?”
“It’s probably because his wife is sick.”
“Sylvia?”
“Since when?”
The one explaining shrugged. “My sister has her. She’s still out.”
“Since last semester? What’s that... five months?”
“Wow.”
“Will she get better?”
“I hope so.”
I moved on. I hadn’t noticed anything different. Professor Malistaire seemed the same as I remember him.
I remembered the day I had arrived here. When I had given him my enrollment form, his facial expressions hadn’t been revealing everything. That much I knew, I just wasn’t sure as to what. I wanted to know.
I stop walking. Something was wrong with me. I felt a feeling wrap itself around my body. I knew what is was, determination. But I had never felt it before. What was I so determined about anyway?
I shook away the feeling. It fell easily and no other thought of it lingered in my mind.
On to secondary classes. That’d be Ice for me.
Professor Lydia was as lively as usual. Flittering around the classroom, sending work sheets floating down on snowflakes. No one was here that I recognized. Most were Conjurors and Theurgists, only one other Necromancer was here.
After school I spent the rest of the day questing by myself. I knew I wouldn’t see the blue haired boy because he was only a level thirty-four. He would still be in Mooshu. Though I suppose I don’t really mind. Having a conversation with someone who didn’t define me as abnormal was... awkward to say the least.
By the time curfew came around, which was the same as I remembered: twilight, I was more than ready for bed. Having been trapped in the Trial of the Spheres dungeon, I was rushing home to make it before the bell. The first warning had already gone out: lack of teleportation.
Thinking of it made me think about Father’s metaphor on the topic of microchips. Small plates planted under your skin that regulated all you did. Recording it. Recording it where I had no idea. A book perhaps? But that took a lot of enchantments to connect a book to write down everything you did. His point had been how did they take away my ability to teleport as a warning?
As soon as I opened the World Door I could smell it. That pungent smell of smoke filled my nostrils and made my eyes tear up. The entire Spiral Chamber was filled with gray smoke, and the loud crackle of fire was muffled by Bartleby’s bark.
Squinting through the dim atmosphere, I stumbled my way to the door. Once outside, I found it wasn’t much better. People were running everywhere as hoards of undead swarmed around. Screams echoed through Ravenwood. I looked around, frantically, searching for the source of the fire.
The fire was Bartleby. His branches were aflame and his trunk turning gray. Groaning and creaking could be heard coming from him. I spun around, searching. I could feel an aura. An aura of evilness.
I ran, pushing my way through the crowd that was surging towards the Commons. As undead came near me I shove them away.
It took me a moment to realize that they weren’t attacking me. They were charging the other students.
Finally I came to the Death School. It was shaking, the ground around it cracking. Lines were driving deep into the earth.
I went to the door. Again, I felt determination wrapped around my body. I needed to do something. But this feeling was alien, and I wasn’t sure.
“Devin!”
I turned my head to see the boy with blue hair, Caleb, coming towards me. A girl with purple hair was right behind him, looking panicked.
“What are you doing?” he demanded. “We have to get out of here!”
“Something is wrong,” I say. I just didn’t know what.
“We have to go!” added the girl, just barely loud enough for me to hear. “Bartleby’s magic is unstable since he’s on fire.”
“Wait.” I pushed open the heavy oak doors. It was harder than I thought it would be. Why? Was something blocking it? Inside, Professor Malistaire was bent over the book I had seen the day I had gotten here. “What are you doing?” I asked in a montone.
He looked up. His face was full of despair and anger. “She’s dead. They didn’t even try to save her and now she’s dead.”
“They did try! But this disease was alien,” retorted Caleb. “You have to stop. Killing everyone else isn’t going to bring her back.”
“We’ll see about that,” he snarled. His threw his hands into the air and dark purple mist shot out from the pages of his book and his fingers. They flew around the room, wrapping around things, such as chair and table legs, and acting as though they were being tied in a knot. Some flew outside the school and were no doubt doing the same thing.
“Stop it!” I yelled. My body felt like a sponge, it was soaking up the magic. Slowly the tendrils of purple smoke began to fade and fall. Professor Malistaire looked angry.
“Don’t. Let me soak in my misery.”
Again the purple smoke appeared, but my body was still subconsciously absorbing it. I don’t know why, I don’t know how, but if it saved everyone, then it was a good thing.
A sudden shock wave sent all of us sprawling to the ground. With a fearsome shake and an ear splitting crack, it seemed as though gravity had been lost. We were all falling.
The Death School was falling.
I felt an uncanny calm as blue-gray smoke enveloped Caleb, his friend, and I. Professor Malistaire looked stricken as he and our surroundings faded out. The fall came to a heart wrenching stop as the floor beneath my hands and knees turned to sand, and the temperature around me rose. I blinked in sudden brightness, trying to gather my surroundings.
Many people, my age and older, dressed in overcoats, hardy boots, and broad hats, were staring at us. I look over to see Caleb shivering, and the girl passed out. I wondered why, I was completely fine.
A tall man in a fancy coat with curly brown hair with a white parrot on his shoulder came up to us, regarding us with speculation. “Who are you?” he asked in an odd, yet formal accent I didn’t recognize.
“Students of Ravenwood,” I responded.
He laughed. “Of Ravenwood? Those wizards can’t teleport here.”
I shrugged. “We don’t know... how...” I trailed off as I caught sight of a sign on a billboard. I stood and took a few steps closer, ignoring the others around me, to confirm what it said.
As I read, for what felt like the first time, horror clasped my heart.
A JOYOUS OCCASION
Malistaire Drake finally found and defeated in Dragonspyre. After six years of uproar from his misdoings, he is finally brought to justice.
***
I was in shock. Six years? But we had merely teleported. Time travel? Impossible, yet how?
Caleb and his friend were brought to the infirmary while the man with the parrot led me up a stone ramp to an ornate house. Inside was large and roomy with many bookshelves and a large desk.
In a way it reminded me of the Headmaster’s office.
“I’m Captain Avery, and this is Avery’s Court of Skull Island.”
“I’m Devin Darkwater, Necromancer. I haven’t an idea of how me and my friends were teleported here.”
“Where were you before?”
I paused to think. “I was in the Death school.”
“They found that too?”
I shook my head. “No. You see, it wasn’t missing. Not yet.”
For the rest of the afternoon I explained what had happened. Or rather, what I had thought had happened. Captain Avery called a large man with a bushy white beard and a peg leg, named Boochbeard who reminded me all too much of Professor Balestrom, and his formal looking monkey friend, named Mr. Gandry, to also hear my tale.
By early evening Captain Avery was leading me up the stairs of his home. “You can stay here tonight, your friends are already in rooms. Tomorrow I will speak with them as well.”
I nodded. “Thank you.”
“It’s a mysterious happening, you teleporting here. I know little about the magic you use, but I know that how you did it is most certainly not normal.”
“I agree.”
He gave me an odd look. “It also doesn’t make you trustworthy.”
“This place is teeming with pirates, I wouldn’t be so trusting either.”
He laughed. “Touche, I don’t trust you and you don’t trust me, glad to know we’ve come to that understanding.”
I nodded, indifferent. “Glad indeed.”
He turned around looking amused, and I turn back to my temporary room. It was small, only containing a bed, a dresser, and a nightstand. Changing into a pair of cotton trousers and a cotton shirt, I slipped under the thin covers.
As sleep eluded me, I stared at the rising moon and thought about everything. After a while that became boring, but I do not feel tired.
Sleep, I commanded myself.
A couple minutes later I do.By Silver Emma (technically, since it refers to P101)
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