"You'll see." a hoarse voice replied. His dark eyes looked like hallows. His thin frail body looked as though he hadn't eaten for a week. He was wearing a hooded cloak. Everything about that man seemed dark.
"Why?" asked the girl.
The man remained silent. They both walked at the almost faded path towards somewhere. The wind blew very strongly. It was difficult to see the road up ahead. She squinted her green eyes. The grass was swaying around because of the wind. It looks as if they could fly off.
From a distance, she could see a tower. Xanthea was astonish on how grand it looked. The windows were all stained glass.
"We are here." the man said while putting on the hood to cover up part of his face.
The girl wanted to ask but before she could, the huge wooden doors opened and two men came out from the tower. They wore light green robes. It looked really weird on them because one of them had spiky platinum hair and the other had curly red. Their entranced seem frightening. The girl backed off a little. Both of the robed men seized her arms and dragged her into the tower.
She looked back but the hooded man was already gone. She was so scared that she didn't dared to move a finger. They carried her to a huge circle shaped hall. From the top, it was almost covered with stairs leading to every sides of the tower. They dragged her up the stairs at the left and went into the first room. From there, they dropped her carefully on a red rug. They left immediately.
The girl couldn't help but wonder where she is and what she was doing here. In the room, there was a wooden desk, which had lots of compartments. It looked different from any other normal desk. The room was surrounded with bookshelves that towers to the ceiling. There was a ladder at the far corner in the right. The room wasn't really huge, just high.
She waited there, sitting at the rug for someone to come in. After a few leg numbing minutes, an old man appeared behind her. She gave a little jolt because she didn't notice him standing there. He soon circled around her. He had a bald spot at the top of his head. His round glasses was at his sharp, pointed nose. She couldn't help but stare at him because he was wearing a garlic necklace and he smelled awfully of garlic.
"Why, hello there, young girl." he smiled while taking a seat at his desk.
"Hi." she said indignantly.
"My name--" he pointed to his chest "is Professor Dimkins."
"You may call me, Dimdim or Dimmy."
She couldn't help but choke out a laugh. Obviously, something is wrong with him.
"And yours?" he asked ignoring her giggles.
"Cornell--- Xanthea." she strained her first name.
He smiled. "Pleasure." he gestured his hand towards her.
She stand up and shook it. They both stared at each other for awhile.
"This--" he said while placing out his palms. "--is your new home."
Xanthea had so many questions to ask him. But before she could ask, he replied, "You are brought here, in my lovely tower.. or whatever the... non sparkle fingers called it, Intellect Tower because you are a sparkle finger." he said with a huge grin.
She had a confuse look in her face.
He sighed. "So.. another serious-type, huh?" he said while touching his chin. "No matter. Anyway, shoo. I'm busy." he looked rather disappointed.
Xanthea got up, brushed her knees and went out of the room, while shutting the door behind her. She expected to see no one around the door but the two robed men that carried her into the room were standing beside the door. The one with spiky platinum hair, held out his hand. There were some robes and a name tag. She looked around to see if anyone was behind her. Then, seeing no one, she grabbed the items.
"Go to the room that reads, "Girls' Dorm."" he said while pointing to one of the rooms at the far right. "Also-" he continued "-there is no doubt you got questions, we will answer them tomorrow on your first lesson."
Xanthea nodded.
She took a peak and made her way there. From the looks of it, there were around one hundred staircases. She felt dizzy just by trying to look at all of them.
She reached the room that read, "Girls' Dorm". at the door. She fiddled with the golden handle and glanced inside. There wasn't anyone inside the room except for more doors that lead to different rooms. She decided to take the door at the very end of the room in the right near the bathroom.
"Number twenty five." she said aloud while opening the door.
The room was really tiny. There was two bunk beds and a closet. That's it. It looked like a storeroom rather than a room. At least, it is clean. She placed the robes inside the closet. She also found some other stuff inside it, there was a tiny drawer inside the closet, she opened it and found some stationary. Xanthea grabbed a pencil and wrote her name on the tag. She also grabbed a robe and exited the room.
The place was silent. Xanthea could hear a distant laughter from a girl in one of the rooms. The good thing about her room was that, it is near the female's bathroom. She opened the door, there was a loud creak. Xanthea quickly shut the door behind her to avoid hearing the sound again. The bathroom was strange looking. The first thing she saw was a long rectangle mirror with the basins below. There were two ways to go the cubicles. She made up her mind and chose the left. It was all very well connected and constructed.
She entered the first cubicle and changed. It was rather roomy compared to her tiny room. There was also a bucket of water inside a huge pail. She touched the water, it felt warm. Xanthea wondered how was the water being warm the whole time. Must be the senile old man, she thought.
When Xanthea was done, she headed back to her room. Again, she was pleased she chose her room near the bathroom. She placed a worn clothes and placed it in the closet. Xanthea felt rather tired, so she quickly chose the bed on top. Once her head touched the pillow. She fell asleep.
Xanthea had a strange dream. She was walking unsteadily towards a wooden house. There was a window that overlooked a woman with long dark brown hair. She was hastily walking up and down. The path around her was full of mud. Xanthea immediately knew where she is. Home... it echoed in her head. She felt an excitement but something didn't feel right.
Soon, Xanthea reached up to the door and opened it. There was an annoying creak that came from the door. The first person she saw, was her dad. He smiled at her and gave a little wave. However, her face remained expressionless. Xanthea's heart started pumping fast. She was in denial that this is truly happening. Her dad, had blond hair and a thin face. His hazel eyes glittered when she appeared through the door.
Xanthea felt her heart skipped. She wanted to cry but somehow she couldn't. Her mum faced her, she looked so much like Xanthea. Dark brown hair and this alluring green eyes. She was holding a short knife and slicing the vegetables on a wooden board.
Somehow, Xanthea felt fury and anger boiled in her. Xanthea frantically ran towards the tiny kitchen and grabbed the knife the mum was holding. She couldn't stop herself, she didn't even remembered when it happened. Xanthea slit her arm and blood oozed out. Her faced remained cold and dangerous. Blood shot out like a bullet through her parents.
Everything became slow motion. She could see her parents falling to the ground, over and over. It was painful to watch, she wanted to scream and do something but she couldn't. Xanthea could feel hot tears streaming down her face. This can't be happening, she thought. The knife dropped from her hands, and as soon as the knife dropped her parents did to. There was a sickening thud that filled the whole house.
Xanthea's head started throbbing and her heart was aching. She could see herself walking out of the door without closing it. The sight of her, drenched in blood was rather sickening. When she walked out, everyone was staring at her. All of them backed away from her. She wanted to stop herself from walking but failed to do so.
Xanthea arrived at the lake. She just kept walking, her mind wanted to stop but her legs just kept on going. She reached the water and went into it. Blood was all over the lake as soon as she stepped in. Then, her head soon reached in the water too. Xanthea wanted to scream for help or to swim up to get air. She struggled and struggled out of the water. Her lungs were about to burst from breathing in water. She needed air more than anything else.
Then, two hands grabbed her body and dragged her to the surface.
She startled and her body just rose up from the bed like a jolt. Xanthea looked around squinting her eyes. She started to breathe heavily and her heart was pounding out of her chest. Xanthea tried to calm herself down.
She nearly jumped out of her skin when she noticed a girl with long black hair and brown eyes staring at her. Xanthea knew she was around her age but maybe slightly younger.
"Hi." the girl said with a very perky voice.
Xanthea didn't replied. She kept clutching on her chest as though had gotten a heart attack.
"I couldn't help but hear you over the other side." her huge eyes blinking rapidly
"What- do you mean?" Xanthea said
"I think you had a terrible nightmare, you were screaming and sweating." she pointed at Xanthea.
Xanthea touched her face, it wasn't sweat, it was tears. She quickly wiped them off with her finger.
"Just keep it down, we are trying to sleep too."
Xanthea just noticed that she was carrying a doll that looks strangely like the girl holding it. The back of Xanthea's hair stand on ends.
"Sorry."
"Emmelia, my name." she said suddenly
"Oh-eh- yea. Xanthea." Xanthea replied
"I'm seven." the girl smiled which looks oddly like barring of teeth.
"Ten--" she said while massaging her forehead "--look, I want to sleep. So, if you don't mind, I want to go back to bed." Xanthea said rather rudely
"Sure." Emmelia gave a little wave and walked out of the door. Somehow, Emmelia didn't look disappointed that she was being told off.
Xanthea couldn't help but notice, the amount of weird people here were unbelievable. She lied down again. She tried to recall the dream, every single detail. Why hasn't she remembered this happened, she asked herself. Maybe, it is a dream but it seemed so real. When the mysterious hooded man took her away, he never told her what exactly happened, but now she somewhat knew. Then, she remembered, in the dream she slit her arm. Her heart leap. Should she.. look? Xanthea swallowed.
Xanthea sweat dripped from her forehead to her chin. She started to breathe in heavily. Then, she decided to take a peak. She immediately noticed a thin scar. Xanthea looked closer. Her heart pounding. After a few minutes of staring at it. She felt so emotional, that she broke down. It's true.. the dream is true, she somewhat knew. Tears kept on falling. She couldn't make it stop.
"It hurts so bad." she said aloud while clutching her chest.
The tears were flowing out, uncontrollably. She sniffed miserably on the bed trying to block out her dream and thoughts. But somehow, her mind always drifted off on it's own.
After an uneventful minute, she dried her eyes. She clenched her fist tightly until her knuckles had gotten white. She still felt like crying but she stopped herself.
"No more!" she shouted aloud.
This is stupid, she thought. She climbed out of bed and made her way to the bathroom.
Luckily, nobody was in there. Xanthea looked in the mirror, her face looked white but her eyes and nose were all red. She looked down in the basin and turned on the tap. Xanthea washed her face vigorously like trying to wipe off her thoughts. Her faced was soaking wet so she wiped it on her sleeve.
Xanthea wanted to sleep but she somehow couldn't. Her eyes were bright and wide awake. Somehow, she wandered off around the tower. She had a desperate need to know the time.
Every step she took, she reminded herself to forget. Xanthea looked below, hoping to see people walking around but there weren't any. She continued to walk, having no idea about where she wanted to go. There wasn't any sunlight outside the tower, it was still night. Xanthea didn't want to sleep, she just wanted to get lost.
After half an hour of walking around aimlessly, she found herself, almost at the top. When Xanthea looked up, she saw a shadow going through a door above her. She squinted her eyes but the figure had already gone. Xanthea was pretty sure someone was up there, snooping around.
Xanthea ran up trying to catch that person. Maybe it was just another crazy mage but she wanted to make sure. The door that someone went through, was slightly open. She looked at the sign, and it read, "Store". Xanthea grew curious, she wanted to find out what he wanted to do. She pushed the door and peered into it.
The place wasn't a very clean place, there were specks of dust here and there. Xanthea entered the room and quietly shut the door behind her. It echoed through the empty hall. Her heart skipped, what if he heard that, she thought. Xanthea tried not to make any sound. The place was really empty except for a huge cupboard at the end of the room. There wasn't anyone here. It's empty!
Xanthea wanted to go back but then she couldn't help but stare at the strange cupboard. The cupboard was very well made and designed. The handle was golden with a snake coiling around it. The sides of the cupboard had something that looked like a golden bird which was a wonderfully made design.
Xanthea went nearer with her hand outstretched. She wanted to open the cupboard because she wanted to know what was in it. Xanthea turned the knob and heard many clicks. It was really strange because most doors doesn't sound like this one. She opened it and gasped.
It wasn't a cupboard, it is a door!
It was leading into a dark placed that looked rather blue. The place looked like a laboratory. The lamps inside were rather dull. Xanthea squinted her eyes to see what lies at the end of the long corridor. But it was very dark.
Then, she saw a light flickering. Xanthea jumped out of her skin. It looks like it's moving from one corner to another. She was still holding onto the door knob.
After a minute of staring there, the light disappeared. Xanthea closed the door quietly behind her. The place became more dark. She tried to feel around as though, blind. The blue lights was extremely dim. Xanthea have bumped into many things. She grunted in pain but quickly shut herself up. She regretted coming here.
A few times, Xanthea stop to hear for a sound. But it was quiet. She moved around the room with her hands outstretched. The long corridor didn't seem to have an end.
After a while of mindlessly wandering around the room, blindly. Xanthea decided to turn back, but she grew even more curious about the strange light that she saw. But yet, somehow.. she knew that there is no one here besides herself.
The lights flickered and suddenly the whole room became lighted up. Xanthea could feel her heart drop and she had to shut her eyes for a full second. When she opened them up, she looked around. Why did the light turned back on, she thought. Xanthea decided it's time to go. She felt extremely uneasy and the hairs on her back stand on end. She gave a light shudder and quickly jogged her way back.
Before she went, she saw something or someone at the corner of her eye. Xanthea turned.
"Imme!" someone shouted.
Xanthea flew backwards and landed on a table. The table broke into two. Xanthea felt sharp pain at her back but in the inside she felt full of life. She groggily pulled herself up. She saw a figure running towards her and pinned her down on a table.
Xanthea could see his features so clearly. His eyes were dark gray and his hair was jet black, it was tied in a ponytail. The man looked young even though he had huge purple eye bags. The one thing that made Xanthea shudder about that man, was that his hand was covered in blood. She struggled to pull him away but instead, he pinned her down harder.
"You're alive?" he said with a hoarse voice
"Why shouldn't I?"
Then, he let her go. Xanthea coughed and slowly got back up. He looked frustrated and confused.
"A kid, survived the spell." he sounded like he talked to himself rather than her.
Xanthea eyed him. What on earth is he talking about, she thought. The man seemed mentally unstable. He was grasping his own hair while muttering curses and threats. Xanthea backed off, finding the right time to run.
"YOU!" he pointed.
Xanthea immediately stop. She felt scared. Then, the man roared with laughter.
"I thought, I was going to get in trouble." he sounded relieved.
"Anyway, what are you doing here?" he asked
"I-- got- eh- lost." she said softly
"Lost? First time?"
"Yes."
There was a long pause.
"I t- aren't you in the B.M.A?" he said looking confused
"The--what?"
He showed his bloody hand and made a "five".
"Did-- he sent you?" he narrowed his eyes. Xanthea knew he would attack. There was a huge lump at her throat.
"I-I- who-?"
"The senile old professor." his eyes had a deadly glare.
She gathered up her courage. "No, I told you, I got lost--" he looked at her "--honestly." she added
There was another pause. Xanthea began to think this is ridiculous. Then, the man changed the topic and he lowered his hand.
"You, wanna get out of here?" he asked
"What? I thought we can't"
"We can."
"How?"
"If you are willing to help."
Xanthea shrugged. Then, she made up her mind.
"Alright."
"Good. Mind you, this is illegal. If we are caught, we will be in huge trouble." he said turning away.
Xanthea didn't say anything. She, herself, wanted to get out of this place. She felt extremely uncomfortable during her stay here. It was barely a day but she couldn't handle it. But, since when did it became illegal to go out of the tower?
Instead of going through the exit, he went deeper into the room.
"The exit is there." Xanthea said, pointing to the other end.
"I know." he replied without looking at her.
"Then--" she got interrupted "--I have to get my bind." he said
Xanthea paused. She had a confused look on her face. The man knew she wasn't following, so he turned and look at her.
"A bind is something they took from you, when you just arrived here. It's like a leach. You do know that if you are out of the this tower before you graduated you are considered illegal, then the government will hunt you down."
"I see. I didn't-- know."
"Now, you do. Let's go, we have no time for breaks."
They both walked quietly through the long room. Their footsteps were echoing from one side to another. It had a creepy sensation to it. Xanthea kept moving her eyes around the room. Now, that the man told her about the bind, she gave a shudder. What if we got caught, she thought.
After what seemed like hours, they finally reached at the end of the room. It was very dark at the end. Xanthea could made out something that looks like a door. The man stopped and took out something from his pocket. It looked like a huge piece of black rock. Xanthea could see the man mouthing something she couldn't hear. Then, after a blink of an eye, the black rock was on fire. It was a really a strange thing, the light was very bright, it feels as though she is looking at the sun. Xanthea shielded her eyes.
"Sorry." he said. Then he mouthed some words again, and immediately the light became slightly dimmer.
"What's that?" she asked
He moved the rock closer to her. Now she could see the strange symbols on the rock and it seem rather.. shiny.
"It's a Umanim Stone. This stone lights up if commanded by it's owner. I bought it 'Strange But True'. This is a very magical stone, instead of choosing it, it chooses you."
Xanthea fell silent. She thought maybe he was pulling her leg, so she snorted.
"I'm not lying. It's true. All you have to do is hold some of these stones, and if one of it lights up on it's own that means it chooses you. If it doesn't, it won't light up. Pretty simple." he said
"I- see. What is 'Strange But True'?" she asked
"It's a shop. Maybe we could go there someday."
Then something caught her eye. Xanthea didn't notice it was there at all until the stone lighted up. She pointed at the door with her mouth open. But the door wasn't any wooden door, the door was made of.. ICE. Or was totally frozen up. Whatever it was, she wasn't very sure.
"Well, I see we have a problem." he said
Xanthea didn't really find that as a problem. Why couldn't he melt it with the stone, she thought.
"This requires some complicated magic." he said while holding the stone until his knuckles turned white.
"Can't you-" the words slipped out from her mouth. "--use fire?"
He snorted. "No. This is no ordinary door. See the markings? Most likely, if you wanted to unfreeze it or melt it, something will surely happen. Expect the unexpected." he said while placing the stone down on the ground beside him.
Xanthea stared at him. He was making a fist with his bloody hand. Then, something strange happened. The blood is moving! Xanthea gasped. The blood shot out into the door. There was a loud click. The man lowered his hand.
"Why- how-the-" Xanthea shuddered
"There is no point hiding it now. I am a blood mage." he said while picking up the stone.
"A- what?" she asked.
"I tell you when we get out of here." the man said, impatiently.
Xanthea fell silent. The man reached out his hand and opened the door. When the door opened, cold air came out. Xanthea felt a chill. The place was frozen, or partly frozen. The room isn't huge. There were many racks full with tubes.
"Don't fall now." he said.
He walked carefully on the icy floor. Xanthea made her way in too. She could see her breath as though her mouth was smoking.
"Back off a little. Since I am here.. I might as well-" he moved his bloody hand above his head. He muttered some words that Xanthea didn't understand. Suddenly, the racks toppled down and the the tubes were all shattered on the ground. It sounded like an explosion yet seemed like an earthquake. Xanthea looked on the icy cold ground. There were pieces of glass here and there but the weird thing was the contents that were from the tube. Some looked like hairs while others looks like pieces of skin. There was also blood. Suddenly, the contents let out a very strong smell. It smelled like rotten eggs with a hint of blood. Then, before her very eyes.. the contents became black and vanished. Xanthea was dumbstruck. Her mouth was opened, widely.
"They better thank me." the man said
"What did you have to do that for?" it slipped out from Xanthea's mouth.
"Trust me, many people want to escape. Besides, I'm to lazy to find my bind." he made his way to the door.
Xanthea fell silent.
"Oh yes. Almost forgot. I am meeting my friend just outside of here. He is such a coward, so he decided to stay outside." he said, while looking in the room.
"I didn't see anyone." Xanthea said
"Really? Guess he chickened out."
The man gave the room another look, as thought he was he wanted to stay in there.
"Just in case-" he said while raising his bloody hand.
"Vlar!" he shouted. Xanthea gasped. The room became on fire! Bright orange flames came out of no where and burned the room. She could smell a strong smell of smoke. It soon covered the whole room. Then, the man shut the door behind him as though nothing happened.
"I better do that. Maybe my bind hasn't broken. So, rather burn the whole room, instead." he answered, like he could read Xanthea's mind.
They both then walked to the other corner of the room, to the exit.
"Neville-" he said while looking at her "-my name."
She gave a smile. "Xanthea, mine."
"Pleasure. You are a little extraordinary for your age."
"Thanks."
"You know- when-- we get out of here. I was hoping to teach you. You know, some- blood magic."
Xanthea looked at Neville.
"Mind you, it's illegal." he said
"Uh-- yea. Sure. Much better than staying here."
He smiled. For the very first time. Xanthea saw Neville smiled. He looked much younger and more handsomer.
After an uneventful hour, they finally reached the exit.
"I'll go first." Neville said
He opened the door and step through it. Xanthea followed closely behind. Xanthea took one last look at the door. She never seen a door that looked like that. She admires the crafting of it.
They soon exited the room together. Xanthea was extremely glad to see the familiar sight of the tower. She didn't like how the room looked. It seemed rather quiet. Suddenly, Xanthea felt extremely uneasy.
"Where is he?" Neville whispered
"Who?"
"My friend I told you about."
They both kept their voices low, just in case. Then when Neville took one step. Mages started running in every direction except from the door they just came through. Xanthea's heart gave a jolt. She knew they were in deep trouble. She swallowed.
"It's over." said a familiar voice in the crowds.
Then, the senile old man came from the stairway. Somehow, he didn't look crazy or anything. For the first time, he looked normal. His garlic necklace wasn't in sight. The other mages gave way to him. He raised both of his hands in the air.
"We know what you did.. Neville."
"No, you don't." he replied
"Yes, your other friend told us everything. Bring him." the old man gestured at the stairway he came from.
Then, there was a man with blond hair that was being escorted side by side. He looked as though he got into a bad fight. One of his eyes is purple and his mouth is bleeding.
"Raymond!" Neville shouted, "How could you?"
"S-orr-ry. I-- tri-ed." he said while struggling from the robed men.
Xanthea looked extremely worried. The old man went closer to her.
"I can't believe you already caused trouble." the old man said while pointing a finger.
His voice and tone were somehow different, stern and strict. Xanthea tried to speak but somehow she couldn't. It's like her voice wasn't working anymore.
"You just came here, around 5 hours ago. I expected much better than this. To make matters worst, you helped a blood mage." he old man said. Then, he turned and looked at Neville. His eyes sparkled with fury. "Neville. You are one of my top students. I am very disappointed in you. Very. Were you always a blood mage or just recently?" he raised an eyebrow
"Does it matter?!" Neville shouted.
The old man backed off but ignored him.
"Girl. Do you want to suffer the same fate or do you want to continue here?" he asked Xanthea.
Xanthea looked at Neville. He closed his eyes, avoiding her eye contact.
"I-- will not-- back off!" she shouted. She didn't know where she got the confidence from.
"I don't want to hurt you. But-- I have no choice. Leaving you to the government-- it's worst- than this will ever be." he said in a cold voice.
At the corner of Xanthea's eye, she saw that Neville raised his hands while his eyes were still closed. Suddenly, there was a loud bang and before her very eyes. Everyone fell to the ground, except for Neville. Then swiftly, he grabbed her arm and pulled her up. Xanthea couldn't move or scream. Her eyes were just open. It's like she had been petrified. She looked around, everyone was struggling to get up. Neville pushed his way through the crowd. He stepped on their backs and ran down the staircase.
There were some loud mutterings. Bolts of lighting were shot in every direction. One of it, almost got Neville's ear but missed by a few inches. Xanthea wanted to scream and kicked but she felt so weak. Her strength was ebbing away before her very eyes. She could hear screams and bolts of lighting shot everywhere. Her vision slowly blurred. Then, she could feel herself falling asleep.
TO BE CONTINUED.
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