Player 1, Press Start… (Dust)

I tumbled through the teleporter, which was basically a metal cylinder the size of a phone booth that just sat under a pavilion.

After a second or so, I was teleported, the scenery changing in the blink of an eye.

I immediately fell to the ground and hurled my breakfast. Everything in my body rejected what just happened. My lungs felt like they were collapsing, while my muscles all spasmed and my heart skipped a few beats. My organs all pulsed like they were listening to EDM music, just before the beat drop.

I got up, clutching my stomach, closing my eyes, and wiping my mouth.

“God, that was terrible…” I moaned, taking a second to recover before opening my eyes.

The large landmass that I stood on floated in the sky, the clouds curling around the base and cresting over the edge in some places.

Great… now, where’s the school building that I need to check out? Let’s see… There seem to be almost 6 buildings just sitting about… That one over there seems most important. I’ll check it out first…

I silently judged the distance.

A warm wind blew over me, making me uncomfortable.

“God damn it.” I cursed, before beginning to run across the entire floating island, from the plateau I was on to the plateau that was on the opposite side, where the largest building rested.

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It took me 45 minutes. Of course, with the elevation of the floating island, it was a bit cooler up here, but there was a warm breeze that blew against me almost the entire run, leaving me breathless, tired, and hot.

Not at the point where I’d begin to ‘melt’, but I was quite annoyed, and I really wanted to hit something to take out the pent-up emotions.

I sighed to release what I could, but a lingering annoyance lingered.

I really do hope this is the school. If it isn’t, I’ll really be quite pissed.

Luckily, it was indeed the school, and so I went to the main place that I could, (There were signs scattered about directing me, blocking off the hallways) and ended up at what seemed to be the cafeteria.

Against one wall, a large amount of stacked tables and chairs littered a few feet out, and the rest of the empty floor was sparingly filled with students.

A single person stood out from the rest, a person who towered over the rest of the crowd, quite literally. He stood on a large black pillar that moved with his legs, as if they were stilts that were built into his legs.

Assuming that he was the person to go to, I immediately headed towards him.

He leaned down towards me when I came close, his tower bending smoothly, even though it looked to be made of stone.

He reached for my hand, and I let him take it.

“Classroom… You have no classroom assigned. So many of them this year. I wonder why?” The person seemed confused.

“So, what should I do?” I asked. He’d have a better idea than me, after all.

“Head over to the Principal. Point your hand over that way.” He pointed towards one of the walls.

I pointed over there, and a light -no brighter than a candlelight- shined atop the back of my hand. Moving my hand away, it got dimmer, before eventually fading.

“Huh. Magic compass.” I murmured, before walking towards where my hand led me.

It was far enough away that I had to use a spell on my way there, to reset my timer. My mother’s shield was running out, as well.

A building buried itself in the plateau I stood on. It seemed to be a single story from the outside, but…

“Why does the inside look like a hideout for some secret ritual…?”

I raised my hand towards the entrance, and sure enough, the light bloomed. But looking into the open doors, at the darkness that almost seemed like a gel that filled the room, I had second thoughts about going in.

Well, I guess it’s not going to get better…

And I walked into the darkness.