Sitting there Luca thought his experience unreal, just like the first time he heard about the existence of the Underworld filled with all kinds of dark creatures roaming the land freely an impossible patented lie from his captors. A seed of doubt since sown in his subconscious, why was his blood so miraculous, and ‘force’ inside him acting like it didn’t want to follow his will? What is the point of that coerced struggle he had to pretend to be an obedient enjoyer of, his safety potentially depending on what exactly? On the number of pages he read daily, or miles run? After all, the memories of ten years of perfectly oblivious, but somehow happy life vastly overpowered the one year-and-some of this surreal, magical times he observed and participated in. Is the world he sees correct, or was it somehow changed at that memorable moment when he woke up laying on bare concrete in the ruins of the kitchen he ate thousands of meals in?
Who could have guessed that a day started as usual, by waking up to an effect of a slightly malicious hex cast by Winnetou, a price to let him practice on his body exchanged for starting mornings wide awake instead of agonizing attempts to get out of bed by himself after getting five hours of sleep at maximum, caused by sometimes mild, other night’s heavy insomnia? Now, the encounter with a deplorable waste possibly landed him back in prison, he felt nothing but hate and regret that his uncontrollable power somehow failed to follow his wish yet again and rip that man to unrecoverable shreds, that his intelligence and a stupid ghost’s persuasion actually worked to prevent him from acting on his deepest desire.
Luca’s train of thought suddenly got interrupted by the door that was supposed to keep him shattering into splinters flying wildly inside, cutting up the mushrooms that were unlucky enough to grow in front of it. The boy’s rage-filled eyes snapped back to normal, his whole face expressing only surprise at another coming event he couldn’t wrap his mind around. He saw vice-headmaster Fontaine dressed as one of the Greek or Roman gods, Luca could most likely guess Apollo from the white tunic and golden laurel crown, a lyre attached to his rope-like belt and bow on his back, come in and look around, rolling his wand in-between fingers.
“I can’t follow the ideas of those barely evolved Gnomes at all, why put you here when there are hundreds of better rooms that have an actual padlock or other protections against people coming and going as they please closer than this shithole. Was he thinking about having a sip of mushroom soup all day long or what?” Fontaine looked at the cave as he shook his head in doubt, finally, he locked sight with Luca and smiled joyfully as he came up and patted the still-sitting boy vigorously on the head.
“You did good, as a true Wampus! That lowlife’s arm can’t be healed, but I will fund him a wooden prosthesis on the cheap for the matter to shut down, just say it as it was, everybody already knows because of that ghost girl.” the commendation for almost killing a colleague the last thing Luca expected to hear, his mind shut off for the second time at the night of Halloween, previous relying on adrenaline, this one on pure refusal to accept reality so bizarre.
“Come on, let’s get out of here or riots will never end.” Fontaine grabbed him by the shoulder and dragged him up, Luca mechanically went up following the force. At the exit, the two Pukwudgies were held to the wall by five arms sticking out of the earth holding them by all limbs and blocking their mouths, they could only look with their yellow eyes in silence at the passing duo.
“Beautifully done, I had some doubts about you boy, but you proved me wrong. We should probably have you sleep on my couch though, idiots can complain if you are let free, and your roommates will for sure pester you to hear it from the source the remaining hours of the night.” Fontaine leisurely went back to the gate with numb Luca in his grasp, there a large group of Pukwudgies awaited them led by an apparent big shot among them.
“Suspect has to be under arrest, it isn’t something to be willful about Agilbert, that is the cornerstone of law and order.” he said as the battalion of ghouls raised their rifles to aim at them.
“What I do is none of your business William, wait until we settle the score for your people trying to arrest my apprentice.” Fontaine’s tone underwent a giant shift as he listened to the Pukwudgie’s words, from the carefree and joyful he talked to Luca with, to a cold and threatening at the get-go of meeting the magical creature.
“It is my business as the guardian of Ilvermorny.” William unfazed by his sentence fired back.
“He will stay locked in my office, much better guarded than some random cave. Also, his wand.” Fontaine reached the hand that held Luca to the Pukwudgie, his second one firmly grasping the wand aimed at the ground beneath himself.
“...fine, two conditions. Stop your house from tearing down the castle, and he can’t step a foot outside if not directly ordered by Roche.” the Pukwudgie relented after a thought and threw Luca’s wand to the empty hand waiting for it, then took back his team into the mist. The boy found their conversation even more confusing, but after a while, as they crossed the lawn circle, he could hear a great deal of shouting, screaming, and general uproar coming from inside the castle.
A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.
“Here.” Fontaine gave him the wand back as they saw anxious Abigail pacing back and forth above the entrance.
“Luca! Thank god you are ok!” she floated to embrace the boy, making him shiver from the cold the skin contact with a ghost brought, a very helpful thing at the present for Luca as his empty head restarted to analyze the situation.
“Why did you say Pukwudgies took him away to lynch on the spot, it wasn’t so harsh?” Fontaine asked with a slight smirk.
“I… Maybe colourized a little to get attention?” she replied weakly distancing herself from the boy. “How could I know things will get out of control after the story went a few rounds among the students… That guy was from the Horned Serpent’s house, your club kind of went wild and started flying spells to anyone they could recognize under the costume belonging to Serpent’s…” she guiltily described the current affairs as caused entirely by her mouth, the boy could barely make sense of what was happening. It seemed that his friends didn’t blame him for the murderous outbreak for some reason, he thought in doubt - am I unknowingly quite popular, or the people’s sentiment also wouldn’t stand for watching such a heinous thing happen in front of them?
“Come and show up to tell them to stop, don’t overstay, act arrested.” Fontaine calmly pulled out a button from his pocket and transformed it into a pair of handcuffs, locking Luca’s hands at the front, the boy wondering why his teacher seemed to be so familiar with the knowledge about how to behave in his best interest in this scenario. The trio went in the direction of the dining hall, apparently everything concentrated there judging from the astonishingly loud noises echoing around the corridors.
This time the school was really boiling, nobody could stay away from taking a stance for or against Luca’s case. Motionless bodies of superheroes, werewolves, witches, vampires, cowboys, and other dressed-up students laid thrown in a row by somebody on the side of the door, more of the young wizards sitting and dealing with various hexes and jinxes they were bystander victims of. Teachers themselves capable of restoring only rudimentary calm, they also argued fiercely about the case while casting barrier spells, white semi-transparent walls that separated as many students from each other as possible. Wands drawn and shouts expressing either support or disapproval of Luca’s actions, a host of freaks argued in the middle of the hall, the rest of the people, almost exclusively slightly calmer than Wampus and Horned Serpent houses, stood in their friend groups beside the walls protected by more barriers cast by their older students having heated debates.
“Sonorus.” nobody could hear anything even if the protagonist of the story arrived, so the vice-headmaster cast a spell on Luca’s throat and encouraged him with a wave of his hand to address the public.
“St… stop, please?” Luca implored, startled by his own voice increasing enough to shout over the commotion. The hall went quiet, roughly three-and-a-half thousand heads, if you count the ghosts and teachers, turned to look at him. Luca found it absurd that all the Halloween decorations and body modifications still persisted, the world enveloped in gloom and spooks made the scene look straight out of hell, he could only imagine how it looked when the spells were flying from winged demon figures to elephant-faced demihumans.
“Ehem… I’m fine.” Luca whispered intimidated, the spell making it audible for everyone. The Knight’s Club members in the middle of a labyrinth of white walls cheered and started smashing the barriers separating them from the entrance. Luca could see the giant pumpkin-headed Slate casting a red beam of light in intervals of roughly two seconds that shattered wall after wall, the rest of house Wampus also came alive to aid them, those closer to the line of confrontation with the remaining upright survivors of their rival in this instance house Horned Serpent kept their eyes on brimming with desire for revenge snakes.
Then from behind Luca, a rhythmic clatter sounded, clear in the brief respite from total squabble. It was the headmaster walking step by step putting his weight on the walker in front, in a nightgown decorated with yellow ducklings and a long sleeping cap on his head. He eventually managed to get up from his bed and come here, helped by Juno assisting from his left in addition to the metal walker.
“Attention, go to sleep, don’t stay here to be a burden. I promise everyone that details of the incident will come out tomorrow, now we need to take care of the wounded.” an equally loud sentence came from Roche looking over his agitated pupils and assessing Luca standing there with his muddled but stern eyes revealing fatigue. Fontaine pulled the boy to get out of the way after doing his job, his presence adding to the chaos. Abigail stayed to try and unscrew up what she proclaimed, the duo went to the vice-headmaster’s office, but even from there, they heard the thundering announcement.
“Since the case is so contentious, an open trial with anyone permitted to speak will be held tomorrow from nine am to six pm in the Entrance Hall.” the headmaster decided how to deal with Luca, the boy had no choice but to accept the arrangement and ponder how to defend himself. His teacher gave him a sip of a sleeping elixir, to present himself fresh at the hearing.
“Is this ridiculous world for real…?” Luca’s last whisper before losing consciousness went unheard by anybody.