Academia: Champions of Calgary

2. Coming to Academia

Connie mentioned that the wristwatch that Tom was wearing, is called the Circum Relic. She also mentioned that the Circum Relic contained magitech. Tom just "eh"ed at what the hell Connie just stated, while Sarah dropped the tea platter, that she originally was going to serve their mysterious guest. 

"Whatever. Can you help get this thing off my wrist, with your 'magitech'?" Tom requested, assuming that she knows of another way to get the Circum Relic off his wrist, hoping for an actual solution. "Circum Potential!", she chanted. 

Magically, the wristwatch came off Tom's arm, and it latched itself onto Connie's, instead. But, something was going on with his arm. The part of the forearm, which previously held the Circum Relic, started to have a 1st-degree-burning sensation. Tom was screaming like a man-child, when his wrist felt worse. Connie advised him to put the Circum Relic back on by shouting "Circum Potential!", so that the burning sensation subsides. He reluctantly shouts "Circum Potential!", and the Circum Relic returned itself to his wrist, blowing away all the burning sensation. 

"Why did my wrist burn like that, even though it's winter?" he inquired. "When I was an Int, I learned that the Circum Relic is bonded to me, and that it cannot be removed by will. The only way for the Circum Relic to be removed from the beholder's body, is that if it finds another person who can wield it.", she claimed. 

While all of this was happening, Sarah was watching a close eye on Connie, to see if she was lying to Tom. She's not sure if what she's hearing from her is real or BS, considering, the wristwatch did just attach itself to Connie's arm, and that she just witnessed her best friend scream like a man-child. 

"Ugh... If you want to know the whole truth, please follow me to the Tim Horton's cafe..." she requested of them, as she was walking out of their room, though pulling Tom. Sarah believed something was off, so she insisted that she follow them anyway. Connie wasn't really eager to have another person join them, but she had no choice. Sarah's persistence was too strong. 

They were waiting outside the apartment. They had to call an Uber, to bring them from the apartment to Tim Horton's. It was a weirdly silent ride on the way there. No one was talking. Sarah was hostilely staring at the already visibly, uncomfortable Connie, all while Tom was sitting in between them, nearly choking under the overwhelming tension. 

(Alright... So, either way, I was bound to go to Tim Horton's today, anyway... But with someone else..., I don't know what I'm getting myself into...)

Even the driver felt uncomfortable, and he sped up a bit. After a few minutes, they arrived at Tim Horton's. Connie paid her due to the driver, and she dragged Tom out the car, while Sarah thanked the driver, and followed them. The driver had already left. 

It was nearly 7pm, and the Tim Horton's was already closed, because it was the holiday season. 

"Well, what are we doing here now, Connie?" Tom asked, having full knowledge that Timmies is closed at this time. She broke the glass on the door, and she let her hand through, opening the door from the inside. They got mad at her for breaking it, but they waltzed inside anyway. "A posteriori!" she chanted, while pointing her right arm at the glass debris. The debris reformed itself, & the glass door was restored to its pristine condition. "You were saying what about the debris?" she mockingly retorted. 

There was complete & utter silence in the cafe... Connie guided the 2 of them towards the back of the counter. "You might want to brace yourselves." Tom & Sarah didn't know what to expect, and Connie pushed a button below the counter. A trap door activated below them, and they began falling. The teens were the only ones that started screaming like children, when they only fell like, what? 70 ft? There was a soft mattress, covered in snow, beneath them, and the screaming stopped. She guided them off the mattress. 

(What the hell was that?) 

She noticeably felt nauseous, and she may or may not have barfed in a nearby bucket. "Sorry, about me... *vomits in interval*.", she apologized. 

When she removed her coat, it revealed a woman who now bore the weight of 2 people, literally.

"Umm.. Connie... How many months have you been pregnant?" he wondered, while she was placing her hand on some kind of wooden sensor. She held up her palm straight to his face. 

(Ah. 5 months...)

"Anyway, welcome to Academia! You might want to remove any winter clothes you have here." she hailed, as her hand on the sensor activated two magnificently, large, mysterious doors. 

The mysterious doors had opened up to the 3 of them, and they were astonished by the sight they were beholding. The sight that looked like it was a beehive, but not a beehive, due to the honeycomb-like structures, that were decorated by magic & modern technology. Magic & tech were dancing together in harmony, with Academics being in the center of their relationship. The Academics were light-green in skin tone, and hairs varying across the rainbow spectrum. 

Tom *HAD* to ask Connie something. "So... why are you whiter than most people in Academia?" he whispered into her ear, though visibly discomforting her. She exasperatingly sighed, and she gathered up her courage. "I have a condition where I lose my skin color the older I get. What do you call it?" she asked, with curiosity & shame visible in her face. "Vitiligo... Interesting" he silently mumbled. They continued on.

It was like humans had advanced 10 years into the future, even though they just went under a Tim Horton's. They had been opened up to a secret society of people. She persuaded them to venture further into "Academia", particularly in a building called Arrytech Labs. They needed to keep things incognito, even though all 3 of them deviate from other Academics' smaragdine tones. 

"So, you want to know what is the Circum Relic?", she inquired. They nodded. "Nota bene!" she chanted, as a screen popped up in front of her. She also chanted "Ipso facto!", and her 

"The Circum Relic is a modern artifact crafted by the House of Arryth. The Relic chooses a person who they believe is worthy to defend Academia, because of their good heart, and their capability to do what's right. They are called, the Int." She also continued that there were 7 previous Ints before Tom.

"We have had, 

-Tanner Jentz of Academia (although he was only an Int for a week, because there was already someone worthier of being the Int)

-Exinter Septicassa of Savalohnia (died on first day as the Int, due to a lack of training. May he Rest In Peace)

-Matthew Escott of Australia (shockingly, he was amazing as an Int, because he held the sacred duty for 1 year, even though he wasn't that good at Math)

-Noah Jaeger of Switzerland (2 years)

-Oliver Mananansala of the Philippines (1 year)

-John Astrela of Malta (1 year)

-and yours truly, Connie O'Metri, whose tenure lasted 4 years! The longest of all Ints!" she boasted. 

"Woah, woah, woah. Hold on, you just mentioned Noah Jaeger was not good at Math. Why would you mention that?" Sarah pointed out, though having a mistake in her statement. Connie pointed that out later on, and she further explained why she mentioned THAT specific detail. 

"To you humans, Math is merely a subject. A concept. A form of punishment at school. But for us, Academics... it is something more. It is magic! It is tech! It is a way of life for us! We live off of advanced magitech! Even though we were driven underground by humans, we still thrive here, and have accustomed to Earth's very warm climates underground, unlike the surface above." she enlightened them. 

She realized that she was straying about the Circum Relic, and comes back to the topic at hand. "It was created by them to combat the malice that wants to destroy our Academic society. Currently, that title belongs to an underground crime syndicate known as the PEMDAS Order. We  know that their MO is to steal something valuable, we just don't know what it is. What we DO know about them, is that they attempt to accomplish their goal, via mind control. They control innocent people, for their goal. This is why the Int is still a thing! You are now the Int, preceding me, Master Tom. As the previous Int, it is my duty to train you, to become the next Defender of Academia." she continued. 

(She HAS to be joking, right?!)

"The Circum Relic is deceptively, a wristwatch. But shockingly, it is many more things. It's also a compass, and the other thing, well, you deserve to know. Sandra, stand back and let Master Tom say the incantation on the bezel!" she enthusiastically requested, as Connie herself stood back, protecting Sarah from any potential incidents. 

"From the Quadrants of Academia comes a new hero." Nothing happens.

She pleaded Tom to repeat it one more time, adding more chutzpah to the incantation. He sighed in annoyance. 

"From the Quadrants of Academia, comes a new hero!" Still, nothing happens. 

She shouts him, to incant it one more time. More energy!

"FROM THE QUADRANTS OF ACADEMIA, COMES A NEW HERO!" 

Finally, with enough energy, the Circum Relic activated its powers. It had caused him to levitate for a while, surrounded by green aurae sphering all around him. A suit of armor & a mask had suited on his body. When all of the armor's parts were assembled, he was pulled down by gravity, once again. 

Sarah handed him a mirror. He saw that in his reflection, there was a man, who had his world flipped upside down. And, I'm not lying either, because, amazingly, her mirror was upside down, I don't even know how that's possible.  He had fainted, due to the sheer incredibility of what had just happened to him. It seems like a new mystery is going on, underneath Calgary.