We took our time, enjoying the scenery and capital one last time before reaching the gates of Heavensward. We weren’t going to be back here for quite some time after all, at least until we got a break or something.

“Well, we’re here.” I spoke while looking around. We were back at the spot where we met that old man. He didn’t seem to be anywhere around here though. “Do you see him anywhere?” I asked Rio.

“Him? Are you talking about Mr. Butler? If so, I don’t.” He replied, his arms were slightly shaking but his gaze was curious.

Mr. Butler, huh… I guess he didn’t reveal his name to Rio either.

“I guess we’ll just wait around near the wall then. Let’s go.” I replied, starting to walk towards the wall where we first saw him.

Rio followed closely.

As we got closer and closer to the wall, I could hear a sudden voice in my head that stopped me in my tracks.

“The white incline-” It sounded like it was spinning around in circles in my head.

“What the…?”

“Leo?” Rio stopped and looked at me, it didn’t seem like he heard the voice.

Suddenly, I could start to see a bright white rectangle on the brick wall. One that wasn’t there before.

“Through the door, the path will shine.” The voice was changing pitches crazily, from high to low. “The light will brine, but the heart will mine. You dig, and dig, but can never find. Change becomes clear, the days are near. One step will judge, two steps will break, three will reform, and four will refine, do you dare march forward, even to the undefined?”

What in the hell is this…?

It felt instinctual to move forward, towards the light. But I didn’t move. I couldn’t move. I tried to remember anything and everything I had written about what this could be, but nothing came to mind. A riddle, a strange voice, and a bright door. That was nothing I had ever written about.

“Leo, are you okay?” Rio’s voice sounded faint but its snapped me back to reality as I could move again. I looked towards Rio before looking back at the door.

“Uh…Yeah, I’m fine. Let’s go.” I replied before taking Rio’s hand and walking away from the bright door.

“Huh? Okay!”

After a few steps forward, I suddenly felt a tap on my shoulder that made me jump. Turning around it was that suspicious old man, the one who gave us the exam.

“Leo Vondheart, Rio Vondheart, it’s wonderful to see you again.” He bowed.

“Oh! Hello, Mr. Butler!” Rio turned towards him and slightly bowed.

What is with butlers appearing out of nowhere and tapping me on the shoulder? If I had a nickel…

“Hello.” I replied.

“Are you both ready?” He asked.

“Mhm!” Rio replied energetically.

Before replying, I looked towards where the white door was, but it was gone. Vanished without a trace, like it was never there to begin with. I looked back towards the butler before replying, “Yeah.”

“Brilliant. Than, shall we go?” He walked past us to the original door he was in front of when we met him. Rio and I followed.

We headed through the door, and it felt the same as before when we took the test. Except this time, we didn’t get separated. We continued to walk forward before the scenery started to change with every step I took.

From a misty town, to a flowery field, to a vibrant forest, to the top of a mountain, eventually the scenery stopped changing before we ended in front of a huge gate. We were finally here, Heavensward.

“These are the gates to Heavensward. Once you enter, you’ll be officially a 1st year student.” The butler looked towards us and smiled.

But…It looked a little different than I remembered.

‘The gates of Heavensward were made out of pure gold.’

Yeah…That’s definitely not gold. At most its some kind of metal alloy or something?

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I felt a tug at my shirt. It was Rio, his eyes were wide open, and he was visibly shaking. “We-we’re here! We’re actually at Heavensward! We did it!”

“Mhm, this is just the start.” I replied while ruffling Rio’s hair.

“That’s right. Once you walk through these gates, you’ll continue to grow and evolve getting more and more opportunities. This is just the start of your journey’s.” The butler chimed in.

“Right! Thank you, Mr. Butler!” Rio bowed.

“Head on through, you can find someone to guide you around inside.” He replied, smiling as he opened the gate and stepped to the side.

“Not you?” I asked.

“I cannot. I must guide other students here.”

“Seems like a pretty important job for a ‘mere butler’.”

“On the contrary, it’s a job only for a mere butler.”

“I see. Thanks for guiding us. Shall we go, Rio?”

“Huh? Yeah! Yeah! Let’s go!” Rio responded.

“I wish you both the best of luck.” The butler said as we walked past him before his voice faded. When I looked back, he was gone.

We headed inside and it was like the air and vibe changed. Outside of the gate felt gray and dark, while the inside felt vibrant and full of life. The wind was nice and cool and there were birds chirping.

We were standing on some kind of stone road that headed straight. There weren’t any buildings nearby, only some trees, flowers, and small bodies of water. I looked around but couldn’t see anyone else nearby.

“Wow…We’re students now…” Rio stood still and looked around with curious eyes, “I can’t believe it… I’m actually here… It doesn’t feel real…” He looked towards me, “Thank you, Leo…” He wiped his eyes.

“It’s real…” I took a deep breath before continuing to speak, “Let’s go, there should be someone to show us around a little.”

“Okay!”

We headed onward.

…

After around 5 minutes, I could start to see people-Students. Some of them were wearing uniform while others were in casual attire. Most of the ones in casual attire seemed to be a little older than me. They were probably my seniors.

“Leo, I have a question.”

“Mm?”

“If we just came from the entrance, why didn’t we see anyone else? Where are the other new students?”

Rio brought up a good point. As far as I know, where we just came from was the only entrance and exit to Heavensward, but we didn’t see anyone either leaving or entering. I could understand the leaving part because of the restrictions placed on students, but I didn’t know why we didn’t see anyone entering.

There should be around 80-ish new students. Four classes, 20 students each. I doubt we were the only new students to enter in the afternoon.

“No idea.” I replied, pausing for a moment before continuing, “I wonder if there’s some kind of pamphlet that shows us the layout of this place though.”

“Um…I don’t see anything like that.”

“Me neither. Maybe we’ll just have to ask someone or explore for ourselves.”

Though I remember writing about the layout of this place, it was different actually being inside of it. Surreal even. I knew what kind of buildings there were, I just didn’t know where they were.

We continued to walk until we ended up in the big area, a plaza of sorts with tons of students walking around, a lot of them talking to each other. This was probably a hang-out spot of sorts. There was a big fountain in the middle of it all and some benches around. The ‘Main Plaza’ is what I think I called it.

“This is…crazy…” Rio mumbled.

‘The main plaza connected to it all, the dorms, the districts, and everything else. It was a beautiful area bustling with students of all grades.’

That was how I writ it, so I knew that this place would lead us wherever we needed. I just hoped there were signs or something.

“Anywhere you want to go first? Dorms, cafeteria, school building?” I asked.

“Um… What do you think?”

“I think we should probably head to the dormitory first, get situated and settled, drop off our stuff then go from there.”

“Alright! Then let’s do that!”

I nodded my head before we started to move. I headed towards a duo of students who were sitting on a bench, they looked to be in their 20’s, pretty girls.

“Hey, could you point us in the direction of the dormitory?” I asked bluntly.

“H-huh!? Leo!?”

“Hm?” She looked towards us, eyeing us up and down before speaking, “New students?”

“Yeah.”

“Ah-! Well, then, Jenny, we’re not busy, right?” She looked towards the dark-purple haired girl next to her who responded.

“I think we were just waiting on Benny and Bry, they should’ve been here like 10 minutes ago.” Jenny responded, her nails were purple, and she had a calm voice.

“Well, then we’re free!” She stood up before continuing to speak, “My names Lin by the way! It’s my third year here, we can show you two around since you’re new!”

“Mhm…So, where’s the dormitory?” I asked.

“Huh? For first years, it’s just that way.” She pointed in a direction, “So, what do you think Jenny, should we show them the school first or the recreation district, or something else?”

“I’d think the school would be best, it’s more important when you’re first starting.” Jenny replied.

“Alright! So, you two-” As she looked back towards us, I spoke, “Thanks, see ya.” I started to walk away shortly after, Rio following.

“Huh? Wait!” Lin spoke.

“Mm?”

“Don’t you need someone to show you around? It’ll be useful!”

“Nah, we’re good. Bye.”

“Huh…? Huh!?”

Rio and I left, following the direction she gave us.

“Leo?” Rio spoke with a questioning tone.

“What’s up?”

“Was that okay? They were really nice and trying to give us a tour.”

“Ah, yeah, it’s probably fine. I don’t think we need to explore around just yet, these bags are pretty heavy you know?”

“Huh, I guess so, yeah. Wait!- Do you think they’re going to be mad at us!? They’re our seniors, right!? Should we go apologize!?”

“Apologize for what? It went pretty well, no?”

“But shouldn’t we speak respectfully to our seniors?”

“Maybe to the teachers, yeah. But you don’t need to be overly polite to everyone you see. Most of them would probably find that more tiring. Just talk to them like you would a co-worker or something.”

“Okay, got it!”

Jenny and Lin…Yeah, no clue who they are. Pretty friendly though.

…

Eventually we stumbled upon a plaza with four big buildings, the dormitories. There was one building for each class. The plaza looked like the main plaza but without the fountain and seemed more communal for students.

We could see a few students in the plaza, most of them gathered around a vertical slab.

“Woah…They’re huge…” Rio looked with awe.

“Yeah, one of these buildings is our new home for the next year.”

We headed towards the slab, and I could start to see names on it. I looked for mine and Rio’s name for a few moments before eventually spotting it.

[Class 1-C / Rooms]

[Rio Vondheart / Room 19]

[Leo Vondheart / Room 20]

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