We rode through the forest now. It had been a bit of time since we’d left. I had no clue where I was even going, as the carriage remained as silent as a graveyard in the winter during the trip aside from the wheels churning across the bumpy road.

“Sir, I’m rather hungry.” I said politely, wiggling in my handcuffs.

“You will get a meal when we arrive.” said Worcester, sitting stalwart, not moving a muscle to even give me eye contact. Singular eye, of course.

“Where are we headed, Walnut? Why are we even heading there?” I said quietly to the magician. She had not been cuffed and simply sat, twiddling her thumbs.

“Back to the mansion, I’d guess. My parents think I ran away again.” she explained, confusing me.

“No offence, but aren’t you old enough to live away from home if you want?” I asked.

“I have a complicated life, Jenkins. It’s best you just forget we ever met when they let you go.” she requested with a frown. She looked much more distant, peering out the window.

“When?” I asked, looking at Worcester for a response.

“If you are found innocent in this, then you will be released, but aiding one of our Warlocks in exiting the program is punishable by prison.”

“You run a college, not a jail, you know?” I said, raising my eyebrows at him.

“And the contract when you sign up states that we are allowed to detain you very clearly in bold lettering. Armadaeda College is 100% legal, for your information.” he sneered, gazing at me finally with disgust.

“Maybe during Emperor Dirge’s days, but this world is changing.” I explained, trying to reason with him.

“Yes, and our new lord has deemed our craft acceptable. Perhaps you will be interested in joining, even?”

Becoming a mage? Hmm, now that caught my attention. “From what I’d heard, there are qualities you gain from birth that determine if you are even capable of using magic.”

“That the stuff other schools use to keep students they don’t like outside of their classrooms. Armadaeda welcomes all. Whether it’s to learn magic, study it, or simply get a degree. If you prove innocent, you are welcome too.” he said, more kind than before.

“I’ll think about it.” I replied softly, returning to my own devices. My mouth was dry, and my stomach was still empty, I just hoped we’d get there soon.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Master Vivaldi, where are you?” a distressed boy’s voice called out. He ran through a vibrant lush garden of greens and all sorts of flora. Bushes growing vibrant colors all around, massive flowers sprouting from pots, and a glamorous spring whose pristine water reflected the glass ceiling and the sky above.

The boy ran across a dirt pathway toward a rock garden, stacks of grey rocks calmly lay to put the mind at ease, surrounding a statuette of a grotesque metallic figure, it’s body like that of a titan. A man was praying, knelt down at a mat in front of the statue.

The boy stopped upon seeing him, his voice grew quiet, and he stopped in his tracks.

“To what do I owe this greeting?” the man asked, slowly and gently rising to a standing position. “Ah, Peter. Why does my star duelist need to see me?”

“He’s back. He asked for you. You… know who I’m talking about, right?” the boy said shyly, picking his words carefully.

“I do, Peter. There is no need to fear. Go play with your friends, I will talk with the monster.” Vivaldi replied protectively, his voice soft, brave, indomitable.

He rolled up the mat swiftly and left the garden with it under his arm, walking through the halls as a class broke. The students all waved to him, he gave them a smile and a light nod.

His trail led him to his office, the door grand and exuding power, but upon opening it, the room was rather quaint. It was a simple study you might find anywhere else, perhaps even one you’d think of if you heard the word, minus the strange runic inscriptions on the floor.

Bookcases lined each side wall, and piling upon his large desk messily. He walked behind the desk and slid the curtains of his window to the courtyard shut. His hand moved up, spry and in good health, giving a resounding *snap* of magical significance.

A small bronzoid pyramid statue that was on his desk began to shift, the lowermost corners sprouting legs and the top rising up to reveal a robotic eye that looked around, scanning the area, and then looking up at him.

“Perform the Calling Spell. Target Ethereals.” Vivaldi commanded the droid, it did as instructed. With speedy efficiency, it scurried down the desk, able to walk on the side without falling off. Down to the floor, it gathered a piece of chalk with an extendable arm and put it inside itself. The chalk emerged at the bottom, allowing it to draw wherever it walked. It began busily making inscriptions upon the designated floorspace for ritualistic spells, runic symbols modifying the already drawn content.

Vivaldi took no notice, knowing the droid would perform its work to perfection. He took the glasses from his vest pocket, equipped them, and poured some dust from a small pouch on his waist into the palm of his hand. He grabbed a tinderbox from his deck and approached the circle, now complete, the droid standing idly by, awaiting its next order.

He scattered the shiny dust in a small circle at the very center of the circle and then lit a match. The dust burst into a white flame, shimmering as Vivaldi murmured in latin with bated breath.

“...Dicimus Vulgo Dicitur Demetrius Pale.” he finished, blowing the flames.

Nothing happened, nothing he could see, but now a beacon had been lit, and wherever you were in the world, you could see it, rising up into the heavens. As long as you were an ethereal being named Demetrius Pale.

Vivaldi smiled, and sat in his desk chair and began to read.

Within minutes, he arrived. Vivaldi looked up from his literature and saw the ghost before him.

“Demetrius Pale.” the summoner said, looking upon the figure before him. “You called upon me.”

He was old, but hardly frail. He wore shimmering golden and black armor against his whole form in it’s eerie shade of blue. Several armor spikes protruded from the outer arm, one held a staff, the other held a wooden circle with feathers surrounding it, a magical protection artifact. He was clearly a mage, but he wore some pretty strange clothing for that profession.

“Vivaldi, friend! It seems you finally called me up for a chat!” he said merrily with an accent most commonly found in the Southern Provinces. In our world, the accent was like that of an Italian.

“You’ve been scaring my students again, and we aren’t friends anymore. You aren’t welcome in my school in the first place.” the principal complained.

“You still owe me, Viv. Especially after what you did to me. You could say, I’ve come to collect.” he smirked, floating closer to Vivaldi.

“What do you want?” he asked, frowning.

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

“Ever since the new king took his throne, I’ve been cautiously optimistic. After all, he was not elected to his position. I’ve been seeing to it that the kingdom remains peaceful for the time being.” the ghost explained.

“You’re doing that from the Ethereal realm?”

“Just because I can’t physically interact doesn’t mean I can’t cross over.” Demetrius replied smugly. “Your daughter is missing, yes?”

“She’ll be back soon, we got a tip and I received a telepath that she’s been found.” Vivaldi explained. His face turned down as he realized what Demetrius was about to say.

“What if I told you, she never ran?” the ghost smiled wider.

“You… You kidnapped my daughter!” Vivaldi said in rage, slamming the desk.

“Forcing her to get lost is very different from something as tragic as kidnapping. She is perfectly safe. Here’s where the favor comes in, Vivaldi.”

“What do you want, senile old man?” he said gutturally, glaring at the specter.

“Your daughter has someone with her, I need you to accept him into the school. It is for the fate of the kingdom that you do this, not for me, understand?”

“Is that all?” Vivaldi asked with suspicion. “This is for one of your lunatic visions, isn’t it?”

“I predicted the downfall of Emperor Dirge, didn’t I? And I predicted your child’s future, full of prosperity.”

“Which hasn’t occurred.”

“Yet.” Demertrius finished his sentence, raising a finger.

“Fine, if this has to happen, what do I gain out of it?”

“Life. Not another war. An intact college. This prediction is extremely important, Vivaldi! It’s the fate of the kingdom and maybe the world!” he said with vigor, like a desperate plea.

“Alright. Enough whining, I’ll accept the stranger into my college.” Vivaldi said, reaching into his desk drawer and pulling out a scroll. “Next time, if you want to contact me, come to my office. And don’t kidnap my daughter just to bring a student to me.”

“I didn’t kidnap her but whatever! Have a wonderful day, Vivaldi.” the ghost waved, and vanished back into the ether, the beacon and the white fire extinguishing.

“Droid, return. Sleep.” he said, standing from his chair. “I suppose it’s time to meet this person he thinks so highly of.”

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It had been a full hour. I felt peeved. I was starved! Depraved of any foodstuffs! My breath smelled like a corpse’s rotting stomach! Quite embarrassing indeed.

This fucking nunce just stared at his armored kneecaps the entire ride and gave me no more attention. I was bored to say the least. Gods, I didn’t get this angry often. I guess my uncle kinda kept me in check.

I began to wonder about randomness. Would people question the fact that there was a bed in the middle of a field? What about the crater? Would people even know I’d been taken to some secret magic college? Was this place even a secret?

“Good Machina, are we there yet? I’m dying here!” I exclaimed, unable to take it anymore. My sweaty wrists writhed in the handcuffs in rage.

“You speak his name in such vain. I doubt you’ll be accepted into our ranks at all.” Worcester said tauntingly.

“At this rate, I don’t want to fucking join your dumb school! I’ve been cuffed, starved, kidnapped, and am now being held trial for hanging out with one of your students for one morning! You know how pretentious you are?” the hunger really was getting to my emotions, I thought. I wasn’t usually like this, but I’m sure you’d be mad too if you were stuck in a carriage for an hour straight with nothing to eat.

“I suppose it’s your lucky day, because we’ve arrived.” he said, looking out the window with a glance. I joined him, and… yeah, that sure was a college. To me, the giant building with a massive open front garden, dozens of windows lining the front wall, tall stone towers on either end, and a open air stadium of a dueling arena was more of a mansion to compensate for something rather than a place of studious knowledge.

The carriage reared around a fountain with a statue of the titanic god himself, Machina, in the center and parked at the front entrance. I assumed it was for VIP’s only, as I couldn’t think of the many students walking through here every morning. Or perhaps they had dorms. I dunno anything about college, my uncle couldn’t afford any higher education for me.

“Get out.” the general-wannabe barked at me. Asshole. I did as he instructed and shimmied out of the vehicle after Walnut. When I came out, I saw someone there waiting for me. He was a man a little shorter than me, but I was tall, so that was to be expected. He had gelled auburn hair and sideburns, shimmering and powerful, he’d not bothered to cover them up with anything but some glasses. He wore a simple green button vest over a white woolen undershirt, and glared at me the same way Worcester did. I guessed he’d turn out to be an asshole too. I just hoped he’d feed me, unlike his annoying compatriot.

“Walnut, you’re forgiven.” he immediately said to my friend. Both of us were caught off guard by the remark.

“Please come closer, you two.” he requested. At least he had manners.

“Hi Dad. I didn’t run, but I think you knew that.” Walnut explained.

“Yes. Demetrius took you, didn’t he?” he asked kindly.

“You mean the ghost man? Yeah, I was down by the beach and he showed up, and we had a chat.”

“I’ll look into it further… but he told me he did it so I’d meet this young man. Hello, sir.” he said, turning to me with a smile.

“Hi…” I began, remembering my terrible breath… oh well. “You’re telling me someone kidnapped your daughter so you could meet me?”

“Yes, it’s a strange, but interesting world here at Armadaeda. I’m happy to let you know that, as of today, you’ve been accepted into our college.” My eyes widened.

“Uh, excuse me, what…?” this certainly is not how I’d thought this exchange would go when I was in the cart.

“Yes. Our dear ethereal friend requested you join our ranks. So be it. I’m happy to officially welcome you to the college.” he explained, I was still processing the first part. “Your room has been prepared and you are expected at three classes tomorrow. As well as a couple catch up classes as the year started a little while ago.” he handed me a rolled up scroll of paper with a gear shaped seal on it.

“Well this was… unexpected.” I muttered aloud. He gave me a jesting smile as I took the scroll from his hands.

“Just tell me your name first.” he asked. I stopped for a second, letting it all in. I was extremely confused, and unsure if I could even back out at this point. But, I needed some food, and a place to stay while I figured out what happened. And I mean, would you turn down a free college tuition? Even if you’d never heard of the college? Eh, I wouldn’t.

“Jenkins Marsile.” I said to the man. He froze up, his eyes squinted in anger.

“That fucking bastard.” he swore, his face wincing, turning almost red. “Fine, come in.”

What exactly did I do wrong?