Wizards

CHAPTER 6: Room 400

They waited patiently. Rei sat on the hood of Niflheim's car, beside her was Jovial; both staring at the spinning castle. Rei wondered, she's one step closer to another unknown. Her heart pounded fast, she started to sweat a little. Was it nervousness or was it excitement? Was it possible to be both?

     By the door of the car, Niflheim stood, leaning, staring at the night sky full of stars. He's staring at it as if this was his first time seeing it. Now that she thought — Rei wasn't able to appreciate the sky this much in a long time. Living in a lit-up village, with all those lights in the streets, gave no justice to this beautiful sky. The stars shined bright tonight.

     "I'm sorry, Rei," said Jovial.

     Rei looked at Jovial who was still staring at the Nesting Peak.

     "Sorry?" she said. "For what?"

     "That all of these happened to you," he answered.

     She was supposed to feel sorry for herself as well. This wasn't supposed to happen. She was just doing her daily chores. But was this all just an accident? Or was she placed on that path in the will of someone high and mighty? As moments passed, as things unfold for her, she thought that maybe these things happened for her and not to her. Maybe it meant something.

     "Nah," she said. "I live in an orphanage, I always expect the worst."

     She crossed her arms on her chest.

     "I have to learn to do so . . . else I will always feel sorry for myself for not getting picked."

     There was a momentary silence . . . a pause . . . before she continued.

     "You know, when I was little I used to imagine things when I was playing alone — actually, I always play alone — I was playing with imaginary people, pretending I can cast magic, pretending magic exists. But now I don't have to imagine anymore. I mean it is shocking at first. Scary."

     Rei redirected her attention to the Nesting Peak. "So what's your story?"

     "Me? I'm an orphan. Just like you. The difference is I begged for money every day to feed myself, to keep going. The whole Magicana became my family. Its people kept me alive. Then the director saw me. He took me in and trained me to become one of the protectors of Magicana. That's about it," he said. "I only live to serve and protect Magicana and its people . . . my family."

     "What about you, Niflheim?" said Rei.

     "Hmph . . . everyone in the Death Squad is an orphan. We have no one else to protect but Magicana and its people. That's our destiny," he answered, still staring at the sky. "My story is the same story as Jovial's; an orphan who only lives to serve and protect Magicana and its people."

     They said nothing else. They observed joy of silence, the scene, the peaceful sky — everything.

     And while both Niflheim and Jovial were staring up above, Rei chose to appreciate the beautiful lake beside the mountain that glitters from the shine of the stars and moon.

     "So," she opened. "Anything I should know if I'm going to stay here for quite a while?"

     Jovial crosses his arms on his chest and before answering the question. "First thing is this . . . this world is ruled by the Circle. And there are three councilors, each from the three dominating races in Magicana. Humans of Terravir, leovirs of Lionheart, and elkerians of the Elk Nation. I'm sure you will learn more about them in Nesting Peak."

     "How many races are there?"

     "Many," Jovial answered. "Stay away from the leovirs. They hate us."

     "Really? Why?"

     "I wish we had the time for that story. Unfortunately, the others are here."

     Not far from where they were; two headlights appeared, racing towards them. Morrigan, riding on her broomstick, was flying above the lake.

     Morrigan landed on her feet and both Crimson and Grave pulled over besides Niflheim's car.

     "Took you longer than I expected," said Niflheim.

     "What? We can't have fun?" said Crimson, smirking.

     Niflheim snorted, didn't care enough to answer Crimson. He got in the car. Rei followed and then Jovial.

     Rei turned to Jovial who was chillin' at the back, "Where's the entrance by the way?"

     "The only way to get in the Nesting Peak is up," said Jovial.

     "So, we're going to —"

     "Fly? Yes. So hold on to something,"

     Rei sat properly, held on to both sides of her seat. The seatbelts moved on their own, wrapped around Rei, Jovial, and Niflheim.

     "Relax," said Niflheim.

     She looked at him as he stepped on the pedal. Rei's back slammed on her seat when the car went from zero to a hundred within 0.1 seconds.

     Niflheim pressed the red button under the steering wheel.

     Rei looked at the side mirror; the back of the car started moving, changing into a jet's exhaust. And then the car immediately tilted upward.

     Blue flame bursts out from the exhaust, sending the car into the air.

     "Everyone good?" said Niflheim.

      Rei barely heard it. The car's engine was loud. So loud that she can't even hear herself.

     Crimson and Grave flew beside them. Grave saluted at them and Crimson winks at Rei.

     It was a clear view from up there. The castle was disc-shaped slowly rotating from the top of the mountain. Attached to it was a runway.

     "Hold on," said Niflheim.

     Rei grabbed her seatbelt — not afraid but rather amazed. Well, she was flying. What more could she want? She was flying and right within her eyesight was a floating castle. They flew around it, allowing Rei to see the details of the castle that was built with ancient stones.

     The loud engine got quiet, and the rough ride got smooth. They were circling the castle, aiming for the runway.

     "How is it floating?" Rei asked.

     Niflheim pointed at the top of High Mountain.

     "See that crystal?" he said.

     Although it was hard to see with only the moon as their source of light, Rei still manages to notice a crystal floating in the middle of the castle, directly above the mountain.

     "That's a magic stone," Niflheim continued. "It carries the castle — hold on."

     The car started to dive. The window started shaking as they gained speed quickly which was reduced as they approach the runway and landed.

     Ahead of them were stairs attached from end to end of the runway that was almost a half kilometer long.

     "Time to see Nesting Peak, eh, Rei?" said Jovial as he walked beside Rei up the stairs where an enormous black gate greeted them.

     The gates opened, and a man — or was he a boy? He was almost as young as Rei. He stepped out and greeted them.

     "Welcome to Nesting Peak," he greeted. "My name is Delfin Reyes. I'm the dean of this school."

     "Good evening, Dean," Niflheim greeted. "I'm sure the director briefed you?"

     "Yes, of course," he directed his eyes to Rei. "You must be Rei Griffin?" he said.

     "Yes, sir."

     "Welcome you to this school," he said. "I do hope you enjoy your stay here."

     Rei wanted to say "I hope so. . . ." but chose to nod instead.

     "Niflheim, thank you for your assistance," said the dean.

     "Just doing my job," Niflheim answered.

     "I'll take it from here," said the dean.

     "You're leaving already?" Rei turned to the Death Squad, automatically looking at Jovial.

     "They'll take care of you, Rei, don't worry," he said.

     "Can't you stay a little longer?"

     "No," said Morrigan. "The job was to transport you here. The job is done. We're going back to Guild Tower."

     "Easy, Mori," said Jovial.

     "Hey! You wanna flirt with sunshine here?" she retorted, stabbing her finger on Jovial's chest. "Do it on your own time!"

     She looked at Rei head to toe.

     "We're leaving."

     Morrigan was the first to ride to fly off the Nesting Peak followed by Crimson and Grave, not waving at Rei nor looking at her.

     Jovial, however, patted Rei on the head before entering Niflheim's car.

     "You take care!" he shouted as the car was starting to lift off.

     Why was everything so fast? She just arrived at the school and the one thing the people whom she knew in this place did was leave her in the hands of another unknown on her own.

     "Let's go?" Delfin gestured to the gates.

     Beyond the big gates was a paradise much grander than the Guild's garden. The late hours did not affect the beautiful state of this garden; the fireflies and the light orbs made it glow.

     Rei and Delfin walked at the pathway made out of bricks. It was silent, the only sound she heard was the sound of splashing water on the big fountain ahead of them by the big front door.

     Rei wanted to see what's inside the Norris Mansion; instead, she was given the chance to, not only see a mansion; but to live, sleep and study in a castle. A floating castle.

     She's still in battle with her own thoughts on whether this world was a trap or a gift for her. But she was overjoyed by the experience that she couldn't care less for the moment about that dilemma.

     The dean pushed the door opened, revealing a red carpet that laid on the floor from the front of the door to the far end of the entrance hall.

     "I guess you already noticed," said Delfin. "This castle is in halo shape, so there is no right or left-wing. But this place is still as ginormous and you can still get lost. Don't worry we'll sort that out first thing in the morning."

     They turned right on the end of the hallway and to the first corner and up the stairs till the fourth floor. It was a hard climb. As the ceiling was high and so were the stairs. Rei couldn't complain, though her breathing got a little bit heavier.

     It was like a hotel. Rooms are aligned on both sides of the corridor. They stopped at Room 400. Delfin opened the door.

     "The owner of this room is not present at the moment. You'll meet her tomorrow, do not worry. Also, your things are inside, they're on the red box right by the foot of your bed. Our staff picked those up for you. But if you do not like what they picked just tell us and we'll get it sorted out."

     Rei opened her mouth and was interrupted by Delfin by raising his palm.

     "Don't worry. Rest first. We'll sort out everything tomorrow morning, okay?"

     "Yes, sir."

     He smiled. And then he nodded slowly. And right before he closed the door. "Get some rest."

     And then the door was shut.

     "Time to sleep, Rei," she told herself before jumping on the bed. Before she knew it, her eyes were closed and, slowly, she drifted into unconsciousness.