'Looking for something?'
June paused and stared breathlessly at the muddy ground. Her fingernails were caked with mud from digging the land in search of her spectacles. She gathered her courage and looked at the eyes of the devil in front of her.
'You might wanna look over there ...' the pink-skirted girl pointed her manicured nails across the school grounds.
Indeed, June had spotted something glimmering in the sunlight, partially buried in the mud. She picked up her stack of books and walked towards it. Her vision was blurred without her glasses -
'Ooops!' June heard glass crack and her heartbeat stopped for seconds.
The raucous laughter of the girls echoed across the bare grounds; June felt her head swim, felt her knees buckle - and then she could hear -
BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!
June opened her eyes; the sound of her alarm clock ringing in the dark. She reached out a numb hand and, with a slight tap, the sound drowned into silence. She caught a glance of the time; eleven pm.
Sighing, she rested back on her pillow, gazing at the roof.
The dream of a wicked girl taunting and mocking her had made a home in her mind. Why? She would ask herself every morning. Why couldn't she dream of something else? June didn't even wear glasses ...
A sudden thought hit June, causing her to smile broadly.
Today was going to be the best day ever. It was her first day in a brand-new school. There would be new people to meet, new things to learn. She couldn't contain all the emotion she felt at this moment: Happiness, because she would finally be leaving this dreadful place. Sorrow, because she would be leaving behind her beloved aunt. And anxiousness because she had no clue of what was heading her way.
She gathered all her strength and hopped out of bed excitedly, rushing to the bathroom.
June was shorter than most thirteen-year-old girls. She had black wavy hair that dropped just below her shoulders and piercing brown eyes. Whenever she smiled, besides the fact that she had dimples on the left side of her cheek, her left eye would squeeze together so it looked smaller than her right. Aunt Audrey kept telling her that her father's eyes did the same whenever June complained. Aunt Audrey told June a lot about her parents.
'You're looking more like your mother every day,' she had said, looking at June in an admiring sort of way.
June had ghostly palms and fair complexion. Audrey told her it was because of her ability to manipulate water and that her palms stored it. Another ability that June had, and absolutely loved, was that she could create a duplicate of herself. So, if she wanted twins, triplets, quadruplets or even and entire army of June's, she could make it happen. Unfortunately, she had no control over it at this age. That was the reason why Enchanted High existed; to teach the magical youth how to use their powers.
Enchanted High.
Enter the magic of Comikaycrest at its best! The brochure had said. A school, located at the very heart of our great land, that welcomes beings of all kinds. With over twenty subjects to master, excluding all sports ranging from Magical Ball to swimming, and plenty qualified professors to teach them, Enchanted High will guarantee your child their education! Enroll today and make memories.
June did not have to read the brochure to decide that Enchanted High was where she wanted to study; Aunt Audrey's personal stories were insight enough. June could almost hear the music of the trees in Cerddingham; taste the rich texture of chocolate from Emeraldholde. As June gazed out the window of her room for a last time, she could almost see the face of a mermaid peeking back at her.
Audrey had said that there were different breeds of mermaids. The most common breed inhabited Diamond Falls in southern Oceantide. According to Audrey, this breed was not the most dangerous, but likely to claim your life nonetheless. Sailors walked toward their own death, hypnotized. Their bodies were found weeks later, with internal organs missing. She had even read an article once; Vampire Mistresses on Rampage - a deadly cult of fairies, that had been held in prison for decades, had escaped. They practiced an ancient magic like witchcraft, but with a mixture of several other dark practices. Audrey never left out the gruesome details, even when June was merely nine years old.
"But what sport did you play?" June had asked Audrey once.
"Magic Ball," Audrey had said. "One of the most competitive games we have."
June felt a tingle of excitement as she gathered the last of her belongings. It did feel as though she was missing something. She paused by the doorway of her bedroom, savoring a few moments.
Soon, she would be in a place where she would be familiar with none, where none would know her - a place with unfamiliar pathways, a place far away from here - but a place where she belonged. She could not stand in the human world any longer. Primary school was a long ride filled with fear, bullies and interrogating teachers. She waited too long, but now there would be no more of that.
Audrey was in the kitchen, one of her favorite places to be, either preparing an extremely late supper, or an extremely early dinner. When June appeared at the doorway, rowdily placing her suitcase beside her chair, Audrey looked up from the frying pan, a hint of a smile playing on her lips.
'You know, June,' Audrey began, 'I knew this day would come. But I don't think I anticipated the feeling of you leaving.'
June didn't either; the walls of her home in Cinder Street was all she had seen for thirteen years.
Audrey switched the stove off, and gazed at June. 'Your parents would be proud.'
June gobbled down the pancake to swallow the overwhelming feeling that had accumulated in her throat.
Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.
'Do you have everything you need?'
'Yes -' June replied.
'Your school books?' Audrey began as she flipped the pancakes. 'The ones we ordered?'
'Yep.'
'Creselts?'
Creselts were the magical currency of Comikaycrest.
'More than enough.'
'And you can always withdraw some more if you need to from our bank account. You remember how?'
'Yep,' June remembered the steps in vivid detail. 'Go to the Mail Room at Enchanted High, tell the gargoyle our password and retrieve the money.'
Audrey raised an eyebrow. 'You're missing something.'
June thought. 'Oh, yes - the gargoyle looks like a cupid who ate something sour - the same one in the logo of the National Bank of Comikaycrest. And it'll bite you if the password if incorrect.'
Audrey nodded.
They continued in this manner, Audrey firing questions and June returning the fire with as much detail as she could remember, throughout the drive to Bearlake Harbor. Audrey had always been this way; she never had children of her own, and June had never seen her parents, so Audrey had to have a firm stand in life - something June needed many times to reassure her.
They reached the deserted Harbor; June's stomach twisted in anxiety now that she was this close to something Audrey had told her about.
'The Speedy Sailor,' June whispered, awed.
Towering over her and everybody in view, was a large, ship - it was unlike anything June had ever seen. Audrey had told her that it was never one specific color for long; it kept shifting hues to match its surroundings, blending in, but not completely invisible. Now, it was reflecting the light of stars - and June couldn't help but imagine how much more beautiful it would have been if there were a moon that night. The hull itself was enormous; supporting tall poles that held mases of material - the sails. As it sailed towards her, the image shifted; there were pirates, cold, twisted pirates, and another ship, firing cannonballs at each other. June heard one shout 'Abandon ship!' and saw him dive into the ocean -
'June.'
June snapped out of her reverie, and saw the ship as it was. No pirates, and no cannonballs. Her mind had the tendency to do that; her imagination could not be contained.
Aunt Audrey stroked a stray strand of hair behind June's ear. 'I'd like to see a good report, June,' she said.
June exhaled. She always had excellent results to show Audrey - she didn't mind learning; in fact, she loved learning. The more she knew, the more her mind yearned to wonder. 'I will do my best,' she promised.
Audrey clutched June's shoulder gently, squeezing them. 'Write frequently. Tell me everything.'
'I will.'
Audrey sighed. There was a loud honk! Signaling the students to begin boarding the ship. Audrey checked her watch and said softly, 'It's almost midnight. You should be going. Remember,' she added, 'Enchanted High has a lot of rules. Know them all.'
June smiled mischievously. 'Know the rules, so you can break them effectively.'
Audrey seemed satisfied with June's reply. She let go of June's shoulders and stepped back. 'Enjoy yourself. I love you.'
*
June joined a crowd of students, first to eighth year, as they entered the ship in a mass of speech. She followed the crowd up the gangplank and onto the deck, butterflies of nervousness fluttering inside her with each step she took. The view was different from on board. On one side, a great expanse of water covered as far as she could see, and on the other side, was land; Bearlake Harbor, the post office and Cinder Street. A horde of parents was there too, and, separated from the crowd, was Aunt Audrey. Her hair blew in the wind.
'Hurry up, now! We don't got all day!'
June glanced up at the next level of the deck of the ship to see a man through the little light of the ship - a coat over his many other layers of clothing, a tattered hat above his bald head, and, when he smiled, June saw a bunch of wooden teeth.
He's Captain Squirm, said Audrey's voice in her head. Nice chap. Great Sailor. Lonely. Suffers from memory loss, but he's never lost his way at sea.
June took her eyes away from the Captain and wandered elsewhere. There were plenty things to look at, so many new faces, and so many voices saying so many words, but she had to get herself a cabin.
June found an empty cabin and dumped her single suitcase on the bed. The cabin was crudely furnished; anyone would have guessed that Captain Squirm was the designer himself. Wooden bed frames and a single table. A small stall for a bathroom. And a bouquet of dead sea weeds kept neatly in a vase. June was not surprised to see the hovering jars of light; but she investigated one anyway. Indeed, the source of light were little sleeping bugs.
June walked to the port hole and gazed at the churning sea. The ship moved in an undulating motion as the waves hit the waterline of the ship. The sky was filled with stars. This scene was comforting for June. The sea always was a place of refuge for her.
Suddenly, a great honk brought her back to reality. She walked out of her cabin and leaned against the railing at the busy deck, watching as the ship sailed further and further away from her home.
June caught the voices of a group of nearby girls.
'I heard that the anchor of the ship slaughtered a water dragon once.'
'Yeah,' said another. 'If you think that's bad, I heard that Captain Squirm's arm was bitten off by the ships own steering wheel.' There was a hint of alarm in her voice.
There were many people on board; June regarded those who talked more as first years, and those who were comfortable with the rough way the ship was steered as years above.
'Hold yer bananas!' Captain Squirm's voice would echo over the chaos while he roughly attempted to steer the wild ship.
The three day voyage passed off with June sightseeing the ship. It was an enormous ship indeed, with countless amount of cabins and it left June wondering how Captain Squirm handled all this alone, without a crew. The weather was pretty bleak, with a few clouds in the sky during the day and night being exceptionally cool.
Breakfast, lunch and supper were served in buffets respectively by the kitchen crew. Salmon, eggs, bacon, lamb, toast, salad, desserts ... it was just the type of thing that would excite Audrey. At night, June slept in the single bed of her cabin and she discovered that no matter where you go, even if that place is a magical land hidden away at sea, mosquitoes would follow you. That was probably the only thing that was troublesome.
Finally, it was just a few hours before they reached their destination. The Speedy Sailor sailed across the Indian Ocean towards a secret portal; The Gate to Comikaycrest. This was where Enchanted High and the other magical places were impressively hidden from the human world. There were only three gates, one in each ocean. The Speedy Sailor was the only known mode of transportation to Comikaycrest. Some of its most important passengers included the first year students of Enchanted High. Others, like Enchanted High teachers or people visiting would also be transported. But no humans were allowed on the ship. Captain Squirm made sure of that.
The Speedy Sailor rushed through a huge wave and neared the glittering portal that made its surroundings look dull. The portal hovered slightly above the water and had a distant look about it, a mysterious look that could have caught the attention of any human who sailed pass. But why didn't it? The credit goes to the ancient magic folk who created the entire land. They made the portal so that no human could see it and it would only begin to glow when the Speedy Sailor was nearby. Sort of like a lock and key. There was only one key that could open a certain lock. And fortunately, there haven't been such cases as lock picking - yet.
The portal looked even grander up close. It glittered magnificently under the misty light of the full moon. The students stared in amazement. It was now safe to lean over the sides of the enormous ship because it had slowed its rough pace and was now gliding peacefully.
Aunt Audrey's voice appeared in June's mind: The Gate to Comikaycrest. Pay attention to what happens next.
The ship was sailing very slowly now; it didn't even feel like it was moving. Moments later, they were so close to the portal that they could reach out their hands and touch it.
But they would feel nothing, said Audrey. The portal was made of a substance similar to clouds, and as the ship is sucked into it, the clouds will burst apart and make way for the ship.
The Speedy Sailor emerged at the other side.