"Come on, we've gotta hurry. The Dias is already crowded,"Anne said.
"Dias?"Isaac asked Anne.
Anne raised her eyebrow at him. "Yeah, that's what it's called."
"Oh, I've just been calling it the Platform of Doors."
Anne looked at him a little longer before sighing.
"You're an idiot."Without waiting for him, Anne stepped through the Door into Last Haven, leaving him behind.
Isaac stopped for a moment to take one last look behind him. The library was empty, but outside, Isaac could see people packing up and heading inside. In about fifteen minutes, the first bell would ring, and everyone would go to their first period and start their first day of school in a normal highscool.
If Mrs. Margrave never told him about Garden. If he had never learned about magic. He might have been like them. Going to a normal school with a normal life. There'd be no secret key with a cryptic warning, no magic door taking him to a magical world with monsters just outside the gates. No danger, no uncertainty.
And it'd be utterly boring.
This, Isaac thought as he stepped through the Door, is way more fun.
On the other side, Reindal was barely waking up. The morning sun was barely over the mountains as it shined down on the city. Behind him, the door shut without anyone touching it.
Fixing his satchel on his shoulder, Isaac looked out at the crowd of people in front of him.
Anne wasn't wrong. The Dais was packed. Hundreds of people stood on the Dias, waiting for their chance at a Door while more waited off the platform in Reindal.
The Doors themselves were divided between coming and going. With ten doors being used to leave Last Haven and the other ten for people coming in, Adults in suits and ties lined up to leave for work on Earth while kids came through heading for school.
And every time someone walked through their Door, it would close behind them all on its own, only for someone new to step up and use their Key to open the Door to somewhere else around the world.
Isaac couldn't stop and stare, though he had to run after his stupid sister who was already getting off the Dias.
Catching up to her, Isaac bumped her on the shoulder for leaving him behind. Anne scoffed and kept walking, not even acknowledging that he was there.
As they left the Dias behind Isaac was surprised by how quiet the city was. The Dias was a hustle of noise, but Reindal was like a ghost town. The last time Isaac was here crowds of people walked the streets in colorful arrays while stores were overcrowded and busy trying just to meet their customers' demands.
But this early in the morning, most people were still in bed. Most of these stores weren't gonna be open for another hour, meanwhile, Isaac and Anne had to hurry or else they'd miss the first bell.
Thankfully, the eerie silence of Reindal faded away as they came upon the steps leading down to Pommier. Students making their way down with them chatted with their friends, catching up after a long summer away from each other.
Slipping into the stream of people, Isaac stayed close to Anne, not wanting her to leave him again and disappear. How else was he supposed to annoy her if she wasn't there?
Isaac chuckled as he remembered how he really annoyed Anne a few months ago. After school let out, Isaac immediately had to start getting ready for his confirmation at church. It should have been done earlier in May, but the Cantors, due to their long history of just being themselves, had to have their confirmations scheduled when there wasn't as many people.
One thing that he had to do was choose a sponsor. Someone to help him during the process. No one from outside the family, for obvious reasons, so in the end, he chose Anne to be his sponsor.
Online registration, tests, choosing your saint, trying on suits, all of those things she now had to be there with him. And boy did he take his time annoying her.
Ignoring the wave of space magic washing over him, Isaac and Anne quickly made their way through Pommeir. Cutting through the city, they finally made it to Garden. Rounding the last corner, they saw it, Garden, still as imposing and majestic as when he first saw it. Looming over them as it glowed in the morning light.
Even as they crossed the street, Isaac still couldn't believe that he was going to an actual Magic school. Just knowing that one day he could be slinging fireballs and raising mountains made him run faster.
Opening the door to the Main office, Anne Isaac slipped in behind her and stopped at the door, shocked at what was happening in front of him.
Last time he was here with Luci Isaac, remember pristine walls, empty halls, and a quiet atmosphere that made everything seem more orderly. Today, it was a madhouse. Students, high school to college, freshmen to seniors, clogged the hallways. Everyone fighting to get to where they needed to go and all of them had problems.
People making last-minute changes to their schedules, wanting to change rooms, and some even needing to pay late fees from last year, all of them jam-packed together in one small space.
Not even the walls were spared from this mess. Mirroring the chaos outside, the weather inside the carvings were going crazy. To the left, Isaac saw waves of water come out of the wall, spraying unsuspecting kids, to the right, heavy rainfall came down through the canopy above, drenching anyone that walked underneath it.
The Golems tried to help. Emerging from their walls, they tried to direct the flow of people and restore some kind of order, but it was taking some time.
Isaac smiled, it was just like home. Turning to Anne, he tapped with his elbow to get her attention. Leaning in, he shouted in her ear. "You Wanna Race!"
She just rolled her eyes at him. Diving into the mess in front of her, Anne started making her way towards the doors on the other side.
Laughing, Isaac jumped in after her. Years of dealing with the chaos of their family made them especially adept at swimming through crowds of people. To Isaac this was no different than when he had to get his plate of food back to his seat at a family barbecue.
In no time at all they were on the other side. Leaving the Main office behind, they entered the courtyard and started walking. With a few minutes to spare, they had time to relax a little.
When they were almost to the school Anne asked.
"You know where you going?"
Isaac thought about it. Reaching into his bag, he dug for a little bit. "I think so…ah, here it is."
Pulling out his schedule that he got a few weeks back, Isaac looked it over.
(8:15-9:05)Runes I ~ Mrs. Maddison ~ Room 26R7
(9:10-10:05)Alchemy I ~ Ms. Andre ~ Room 14A2
(10:10-11:00)History I ~ Mr. Quoe ~ Room 1T23
(11:05-11:55)Writing II ~ Ms. Emory ~ Room 22B0
(12:00-12:30)A Lunch
(12:35-1:25)Magic Circles I ~ Mrs. Antin ~ Room 11L9
(1:30-2:20)Fey I ~ Ms. Bell ~ Room 15H7
(2:25-3:25)Forging I ~ Mrs. Lance ~ Room 18C9
(3:30-4:20)~Swimming ~Room 00S9
"Looks like I got Runes first."Isaac said.
It's funny, some of these classes are things that he's never heard of, while others were just the same as any other school.
Just like in regular school, there were four main classes, three extra classes, and one physical class. History and Writing are ones that he's used to, and he's been a part of the swimming team since seventh grade.
Alchemy, in most books that he's read, is just old science with some magic thrown in. And he's guessing that Magic Circles was math but for magic.
Besides swimming, everything else was a mandatory class, everyone had to take them. The only difference was that while every other freshman was in Alchemy II, he would be in the introductory class.
All new incoming freshmen from Earth had to take the introductory classes, they weren't allowed to pick anything else.
When it came time to pick his extra classes, though, he had a little more free will.
Fey Speak was one of the language classes they could pick, along with Draiconic, Mermish, Elvish, and Dwarvish. There was actually a long list of languages to choose from. Those were just the obese that he could recognize from books and TV shows. Others were just to weird so Isaac just skipped them.
He finally chose Fey Speak cause it seemed fun. Who wouldn't want to speak to those little chaos gremlins? That is, if they were actually like they were portrayed in all the stories.
Forging was under Art along with Music, Dance, Painting, Living Painting, and Sculpting. He almost picked Sculpting after Herny told them that that was where they learned to make golems, but he ended up going with Forging. Only because he couldn't get the image of making himself a giant battle axe out of his head.
Ruins was the only one that he wasn't that sure of. If he could, he would have picked Sculpting or Living Painting next, but he could only have one Art class. Ruins was actually labeled under Technical, which he assumed was like the computer classes back at Rain Wilde.
He ended up picking Ruins because, believe it or not, he was actually pretty good with computers. He once made a simple pixel game on an old Windows computer and was part of the robotics club in sixth grade. Before they kicked him out for making a fire-spitting robot on wheels that was programmed to explode into glitter when picked up.
They never did finish cleaning up all that glitter.
But also, because someone, he doesn't remember who, told him that his dad's ancestors were actually Vikings, so he thought he might as well learn some Norse Ruins. At least that's what he thought they were going to teach, could be hieroglyphs for all he knew.
Either way, if he didn't like it, then he had about two weeks to get it changed. He didn't think he would though, part of the fact that he was stubborn and if he said that he was going to do something, then he was going to do it.
"Hmph, all your classes are gonna be either on the first or second floor, that's where all the freshman classes are. Room 26R7's gonna be on the second floor. Come on, I'll show you."
When they finally got in front of the school, Isaac looked up in awe. Sometimes he forgot that he's never been outside of Lubbock before. The tallest thing he's seen was that old brick office building downtown. But this, this dwarfed that by miles.
Towering above them, the school was like a skyscraper. Standing tall over every other building on this floor.
Isaac wondered if the school was taller than the Empire State Building. He's never seen it, but they got to be pretty close, right?
Sights like these humbled people, made them feel small in a big world. Many people have stood where Isaac is standing right now and wondered how something this grand could ever be built.
Not Isaac. He was wondering if he could jump off one of the spires.
'If I strap enough plastic bags to my arms, I bet I could make a working parachute.' Isaac grinned from ear to ear. He liked that idea.
"It won't work,"Anne said next to him, interrupting his thoughts. "They've sealed the top floor off with magic so that no one can get up there. They're especially keyed to Cantors, so don't even try it. Apparently, our family can't have a single unique thought to save their life."
Isaac bumped her shoulder. "And how do you know that, huh?"
"Because I've already tried it. Freshman year, I wanted to fly with cardboard wings on my arms. "Pushing him to the side, Anne continued walking toward the school.
"How far did you get?"Who knows, maybe he could do better.
"Not very. All the teachers know what to look out for. I barely made it past the college wing before the VP got me with all my supplies."
Huh, well, Isaac put that away in his brain for later. He'll go back to it when he's feeling bored. Right now, he can see Luci waiting by the main entrance.
It was hard to miss her. Standing out in her Black jeans and white button-up shirt, Luci was leaning against the school, looking disinterested as people passed her by.
"Luci!"Isaac screamed, waving his hand in the air just in case she didn't see them.
He knew that she heard him cause she looked up to the sky and sighed. Isaac didn't know what that meant, but he was sure that she was happy to see them. Grabbing her bag off the floor, Luci trudged her way over to them. "What took you so long? Come on, we're going to be late. We're already supposed to be in the auditorium."
Luci gave a small wave to Anne as she stepped on Isaac's foot. Walking side by side with them, she led them towards the main entrance.
The main entrance to the school was massive. Wide enough for an army to pass through and tall enough that a dragon could come through. Jutting out from the school were these two giant doors made out of black stone, open wide to welcome all students into its halls. However, they looked more like walls than doors to Isaac. Walking beneath them felt like he was walking through a valley between two mountains.
Beneath the arch, ceramic tiles hung overhead, each one something unique. Animals, trees, rivers, Isaac thinks he even saw what looked like a ladybug in a top hat dancing with a cane.
When his mom had talked about Garden, she explained that each one of these tiles was made by graduating students who would then place them around the school when they left. A sort of goodbye ceremony that they hold after every school year. She said that there were thousands of these tiles spread around the school, in classrooms, the cafeteria, on the school. Some of them were so well hidden that they hadn't been seen for hundreds of years.
"Come this way, students. Name and badge number first. Freshman, though this door please."
Inside a giant female golem in robes was waiting for them at the end of the hall. Taller than any other golem Isaac had seen, her head almost reaching the extended ceiling above. Leaning halfway out of her wall, she checked students in with a book and a quill, kindly took their names before sending them on their way.
"Oh, hello again, Anne, it's good to see you. Did you have a nice summer?"The golem asked, smiling down at them as they walked up to it.
"Fine, kind of boring really, but I got to sleep in so that was nice."Anne had to look up to answer, her head barely level with the golem's big stomach protruding out of the wall.
"Well, that's nice, and who are these two little ones. I've never seen them before. Are they new students?"Turning her head to them, the golem welcomed them with a smile as her eyes scanned them from head to toe.
"Yeah, it's my brother and his friend, Isaac Cantor and Luciana Del Madera."
The golem flipped through its book. "Oh yes, here they are. Freshman and, oh look, their first year at Last Haven isn't that nice."
Looking over the top of her book, the golem introduced herself. "Well, if Anne here hasn't already told you, I'm Madam Sara. I'm usually in the library, but I like to help out on the first day, make sure all you little kiddies are where you need to be. You two go through the doors along this wall into the auditorium for student orientation. Anne, I'm gonna need your full name and badge number."
"Andreya Leona En La Montaña Cantor, badge 56007894-3-0."Anne said.
"Ok, there you are. You're free to head on to the cafeteria or the library, but please, no wandering until the bell rings."After checking her name off a list, Madam Sara pointed down the hall.
Anne hefted her backpack over her shoulder. "See ya. Try not to get into too much trouble, idiot."Swinging her arm into his side she left before Isaac could say bye back.
"BYE STUPID!"He yelled, wondering if she heard him before heading up the stairs.
"Oh, you Cantors. Always so nice to your family."Madam Sara laughed.
"Come on,"Luci said as she headed for the auditorium. She was already used to the Cantor's eccentricities, she wasn't even surprised anymore.
"Bye Madam Sara,"Isaac said as he left.
"Have a nice day you two."She called back.
Through the auditorium doors, Isaac felt that weird feeling again. The same one that he felt when he first went down the stairs into Pommeir. Henry had said the feeling was space being bent and stretched, and our bodies just getting used to being in the new space. Like having your ears pop at different altitudes.
The space inside the auditorium was being stretched. Extending the ceiling up for miles through what should have been multiple floors as well as the cafeteria, if the student pamphlet was to be believed.
At the very top, a giant, misshapen mess of what looked like hundreds of lanterns meshed together hung as the chandelier, casting the entire auditorium in an old orange light. Red and purple velvet curtains dressed themselves upon balconies and across pillars in an old Victorian fashion.
Looking down, Isaac could see an arena-like stage at the bottom. People were already sitting in seats around the stage as more people came in through other entrances around the auditorium.
Chatter filled the air as everyone sat with friends and caught up with people that they hadn't seen since May. Quickly, groups between students were already being formed as cliques started to stick together.
Not caring to mingle with anyone yet, Isaac and Luci just sat at some open seats in the top row. As soon as the last student took their seats, a man with long black hair and beard in a loose grey shirt stepped onto the stage. In the light, Isaac could make out blue makeup on his face. On his cheeks, around his eyes, and some even on his forehead. Isaac didn't know if it was a cultural thing or if he just liked the color blue, but he thought it looked cool.
Waiting a few more seconds for everyone to quiet down, the guy spoke.
"Good morning, I am Vice-Principal Khalid Bilal. For many of you, this will be your first real step into this new world. One that we are grateful that you have taken. We understand that many of these will be new to you, and some classes will appear difficult in the coming weeks. Your teachers and fellow classmates will be there to help you, so don't be afraid to ask for help. But give it some time, and I am sure that you will see that it will not be as different as what you are used to."
He paused. Looking around the room, Bilal turned so that everyone could see him. "For those of you who have had the privilege of growing up in Last Haven. Do not make this any harder on your classmates. Be kind and welcome them as they are now your peers."
At this point, Bilal must have noticed that he was starting to lose everyone's attention cause he clapped his hands together. The loud sound of his clap echoed through the auditorium, breaking up the little conversation that was going on, and brought everyone's attention back to him. Smiling at them, he snapped his fingers, creating a gentle breeze that washed over the whole auditorium with a hint of perfume.
"Before I send you off to your classes, we will go over basic rules and expectations that you will have as students at Garden Academy. Now, underneath your seat, you will find the student handbook that I have just given you as well as your badge that we will be going over later. Please turn to page 75 and we will go over some of the rules that you should know."
Isaac checked under his seat. Yep, just as he had said. Right under his seat, where there was nothing before, there was now a small booklet and a badge made out of wood. Grabbing the book and the badge by its cord, Isaac brought them up.
The badge wasn't anything special. Just a rectangular piece of wood hanging by a piece of leather. Putting it away in his satchel, Isaac then looked at the handbook. It was small, barely fitting in the pocket of his palm, and about an inch thick.
When he opened the booklet, the words were so small that they were barely legible. HE had to bring the pages right up to his face just to read them. Isaac felt Luci tapping his arm right beside him. Turning to look at her he saw her pointing at everyone else.
The kids from Earth were doing the same as him, holding it closer while trying to read the tiny letters on the page. But the other kids, the ones that knew what they were doing, were doing something different.
Instead of trying to read the booklet like everyone else, they were making it bigger. Grabbing the top and then the sides, they stretched the booklet until it was the same size as an actual book. The Earth kids started to notice what they were doing and were now slowly coping them in disbelief. Stretching and pulling their books until they were the right size.
Looking at Luci again, Isaac saw that she had already extended her book and was already flipping to the right page. Turning to his own booklet Isaac grabbed the edges and pulled it like it was rubber until it was full size. Opening the book again turned to page 75 and started reading.
Rules and Regulations
1) Students are forbidden from leaving the school grounds during school hours unless given permission by a faculty member.
3) Illegal substances/ objects will not be allowed on school grounds, including any known drugs, substances, weapons, and dangerous firearms. 3a) Familiars are to be collared or tagged on school grounds and must be approved by the office.
10) Students are forbidden from casting spells/ rituals in the halls on their person or others.
Barley listening to Mr. Bilal talk about the rules, Isaac started flipping past pages, reading past some rules while stopping at others. Most of them were fairly normal, staying in school during hours,homework needs to be turned in on time. Some of them were pretty interesting, like the ones about certain spells and familiars. But the most interesting were the ones for the Cantors.
84) Cantors are forbidden from bringing any fireworks, grenades, rockets, or any other explosive material onto the school grounds 89) Cantors are forbidden from jumping off the school roof.95) Cantors are forbidden to create sentient life without School faculty supervision.100) Cantors are forbidden from accepting any packages from outside of the school125) Cantor is forbidden from throwing parties or social gatherings on the school grounds140) Canto's are forbidden from learning or processing spells or materials that may cause mass destruction.
At least fifty of them were just on his family. Half of them didn't even make sense, like the Cantors can't make giant food, or the one about them owning multiple pets. One of them was just plain crossed out like they couldn't even bother to edit it. Man…What were those guys thinking?
Actually, no, he knows what they were thinking, they were thinking that it was going to be funny. Which, they probably were, but come on guys, what is he suppose to do if they already did everything else? He's got to find a way to one-up them.