I had to pause at the sight of the “school”. It was huge. It reminded me of something I had seen before.

College.

I wasn’t quite sure what that was, but it brought to mind an image which had a similar layout to this school. Although the buildings themselves looked quite different. They had soaring steeples and enchanting detailing that depicted many different fish and mermen. There were five buildings all centered around a large open area that was full of people doing all different activities. The building we were headed to was about twice the size of the other buildings.

“The buildings are separated by the Core Disciplines.” Bart explained. “we have Mystical, Musical, Elemental, Physical, and Healing Disciplines. There are more focused Specialty Disciplines in each Core, but you can only choose one Core Discipline to learn. We are heading to the Mystical Arts building; it is the biggest one in the middle. It happens to be the biggest because not only is it the most popular Core, but it is also the building where the staff offices are located.”

“What do you do?” I asked rushing to keep up with his quick pace.

“I teach the intro to magic theory class; all new students are required to take it.” He replied with a glance back at me.

“Hey teach!” I heard someone call from the entrance of the Mystical Arts building.

“Hello, Sean.” Bart replied with a small sigh.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

A merman came swimming up to us waving jovially at Bart. He had a mix of red and yellow scales that covered all his skin except his face. He had relatively short yellow hair that created a hallow around his head. As he turned to look at me my attention was captured by his golden eyes that almost seemed to glow.

“Who is this?” He asked. “I don’t think I’ve seen you around before.”

“I just met her.” Bart interjected before I could answer. “She seems to have a memory problem so I’m taking her to get curse checked.”

“Ah, well in that case I’ll leave you to it, but I do have some questions for next time, teach.” Sean proclaimed already swimming off.

“I don’t doubt it.” Bart sighed while watching Sean’s retreating form. “Well, come on the sooner we see the headmistress, the sooner you can get yourself sorted out.”

And with that lovely encounter behind us we headed into the building.

After walking for what seemed like forever and walking down many a hallway, we finally came to a stop in front of a door.

“This is my office, why don’t you wait here while I go find Mrs. Lumi?” Bart asked before walking down the hall.

Turning back to the door I took a deep breath. This had already been an overwhelming day, and I was starting to feel it. Well might as well sit down for the wait. I thought while opening the door to Bart’s office. Only to come face to face with a mermaid that had flowing green hair to well past her waist. My eyes couldn’t help snapping to her scales which were green and red and covered her entire body. Then as she stated talking my eyes were drawn to hers which where the deepest shade of green I had ever seen.

“Oh! Hello, I was just looking for Mr. Mart, would you happen to know where he is?” She asked stepping aside to let me in his office.

“Ya, just went down that hall, but he should be back soon if you would prefer to wait.” I said putting on a light smile.

“Nah, that’s ok I’ll just come back later, but thanks for the help.” She called as the door swung shut behind her.

She seemed nice; I wonder if I’ll see any of these people again. This place just seems so big, I wonder how many students they have? I thought turning to sit in one of the provided chairs while looking around the room.

The small room seemed to be dominated by a large wooden desk that held a pile of papers so tall, a light breeze could bring it toppling down. The chair I was sitting in had identical chairs on either side, all facing the large desk. The wall behind me was covered by a large bookshelf, which in tern was covered by books of all sizes and colors. Then as I turned back to the desk in front of me the door to the office opened to show yet another new face.