Shue tilts his head. His white hair glistening and those eyes! Those emerald eyes seem to glow in the moonlight. The gesture is adorable and reminds me of what a dog might do if it is curious or trying to work out what a person is saying. After a moment the boy extends a hand.

“It’s nice to meet someone new,” he says. “We… don’t get very many visitors around here.”

“Oh, I’m not a visitor.”

He takes his arms and folds them behind his back. “You’re not?”

I shake my head.

“Then… you shouldn’t be here,” he says.

“I actually came to enroll.”

“Yeah… I don’t think you should. No offense it’s just… students don’t normally have…”

“A choice?” I ask.

That was something I figured to be true, but to actually hear someone say that… it meant that what had been recorded in those books, was at least partially real. I needed to get in there and find out more.

“Yeah,” Shue says after a long moment of silence.

“I know.”

“You’re not going to turn around, are you?”

I shake my head.

Shue bows his head. It was a gesture like someone would make if they were praying to the gods or honoring someone who has… oh god! That is not something I want to think about right now.

“Promise me Sai,” Senza says.

It’s his thoughts I can hear, made into words only I can hear and understand. I do the same, only thinking my response. “If the students here are in trouble then I will not be leaving.”

“If it means your life or theirs Sai, then I’m going to choose you every time. Promise me that if things start going bad, you will look for a way to escape.”

That is something I don’t think I can promise. Coward is not in my vocabulary and I refuse to abandon those who need my help. “I… I’m sorry,” is my only response. It’s to my relief when Senza remains quiet after that, leaving me to focus on the boy and the massive school standing before us.

“We would like it if you… lead the way?” I ask.

The school really was enormous, at least from the outside. I figure it would be helpful to have a guide.

Shue looks up at us. He turns his gaze in one direction and then the next, before turning back to me. “I can take you inside,” he says. “But… I don’t think… eh… nevermind. Just follow me.”

Shue turns around and it’s to my disbelief when he shifts. The eleven year old boy becomes a fox once again, white fur, large ears and puffy tail. Then he prances forward as if our conversation didn’t just happen. When I step forward to follow him, the illusion falls away. The frigid, mountain air returns and snow once again, covers the earth. I turn my gaze to the sky and watch as those lanterns still float to wherever the wind has decided to take them.

The large doors open by some, invisible force and we step inside. Warm air immediately greets us, as if this entire place has some kind of enchantment placed upon it. In the center of the entryway, is a tall pillar with four braziers built right into it and the statue of a gargoyle perched on top. The floor is made of marble and must have recently been polished because in it, I can see every reflection. Two curved staircases lead up to a second and sitting between the two staircases is a desk.

My eyes move to the figure leaning against the desk. A tall, young man, my age or maybe a little older, with dark red hair. He’s clothed in black. The man’s head is down so I can’t see his eyes and he has his arms folded across his chest.

I take a few more steps in, toward the desk and wince as every step I take, no matter how quiet, echoes loudly in the large room. But then I stop completely. He slowly looks up, his crimson gaze meeting with my own sapphire and my heart skips a beat. The feeling I get when looking at him is strange. Do I know him? Have I seen this man before?

I shake my head.

Stolen story; please report.

I didn’t think so. But then why did I see recognition in those eyes? And why does it feel like I do know this man? The look he gives me turns from one of recognition, to tenderness, to sadness and then a fury lights up in his eyes and he scowls at me. His expression changes so fast that I wonder if I had even seen any of those other emotions, or was I just imagining them?

“What are you doing here?” he asks. There is venom in that tone.

My voice catches in my throat when I notice the slight accent. “I… I came to enroll.”

“To Aurys academy?” he laughs. “Then you are an absolute-”

“I’m a what?” I ask in challenge. I know he is going to throw some kind of meaningless insult at me, but I don’t care. I can take whatever he has.

“A moron! You’re a fucking moron, dumbass, idiot to be coming here!”

“Oh? Is that all you have? Just throwing the entire dictionary of insults at me, are you?”

He raises an eyebrow which is… completely unexpected.

“Do you even know what happens at Aurys academy?”

“I have an idea.”

“An idea isn’t good enough,” he says as he pushes himself away from the desk. “You need to know before deciding to stay.” his voice turns from one of annoyance to having a sexual undertone.

My satchel falls to the floor as I back away from his approach. “W-hat are you going to do?”

He grins, but his brows are still furrowed as he reaches out and grabs the front of my jacket and pulls me close. Our eyes meet and that gaze of his. In those eyes, in the depths of his soul, it isn’t anger I see, nor is it annoyance or hatred, it is a sadness that goes so deep it can’t possibly be seen on the surface. Yet it is there. I find myself unable to act, to move, to do anything but stare as his lips get closer and closer to my own.

“Ow! You fucking little…!”

It takes me a moment to realize what just happened. He had pulled away and is now clutching his bleeding hand. My ocean, river beast lashed out with his teeth and now this man is paying for it!

“Good job Senza!” I think towards him.

“Always a pleasure to be at service.”

The man looks at me and then glares at Senza. He reaches out to grab him, but before he can, Shue in fox form latches onto his leg. He takes hold of Shue’s scruff and pulls him off with ease, before throwing the poor boy across the room. His gaze falls back upon me and I am pleased to see him once again, clutching his bleeding hand.

“Oh this guy?” I say. “Meet Senza. He is what you might call, a familiar.”

“Daxton!” a male voice sounds from the second floor.

I look up to see another young man. His hair is a light brown color and his eyes are silver. Unlike the one he called Daxton, he looks to be wearing a school uniform. A red suit with a crest emblazoned on the left side, of a fire surrounding a large boulder and beneath were the words ‘fire and stone’.

Daxton looks up at him. “What do you want Remmy?” he says, sounding utterly bored with everything.

Remmy’s eyes fall on the wound. “You might want to get that looked at.”

Daxton gives me one more scowl, before heading to the hallway on the left. Before he enters it though, he stops and looks at me one more time. “You should leave here,” he says. “Whatever you’re thinking this place is… it is actually a thousand times worse. And once you see the headmaster… well… let’s just say that there is only one way of leaving here.” then he turns around and vanishes down the corridor.

Remmy descends the steps and then his eyes meet with my own. “He’s right,” he says. “I know the headmaster is expecting you, but you still have a chance to leave and go home. What Daxton did… what he was going to do… is mild compared to what awaits.”

“Thank you,” I say and it is absolutely the truth. “Thank you for stopping him and for the warning. I’ve made up my mind though, so I will not be leaving.”

Remmy nods. He approaches me and my entire body tenses up, becoming wary of what he could do. The fear subsides however, when he reaches passed me and picks my bag off the floor. “Follow me then. As I said, the headmaster is waiting for you.”

I reach forward to take the satchel back, but he simply swings it over his own shoulder.

“Until you go through your assessment and are placed in a house, your bag will not be safe with you, nor will it be safe with the headmaster or in the barracks where new enrollees stay until their assessment is over.”

“And I can trust you?”

“Yes,” he says. “I can put both this bag and your ferret in my room.”

“Ferret?” Senza’s hackles rise.

“He’s an otter actually,” I correct him.

“Well… my apologies then,” he says with a slight bow of his head.

“You can trust him,” Senza says. “I sense no ill intentions.”

“How can you tell?” I ask.

“I don’t know.”

“Senza stays with me actually,” I say as I follow Remmy to the stairs.

“He’s your familiar?”

“Yeah.”

“Summoner than?”

Wow… he was good. I mean, it’s no secret that summoners often have familiars with them, but so do a lot of other mages. “Yeah,” I say.

The rest of our walk is silent as he takes me up the large steps, then to an elevator which takes us to the sixth floor. When I exit, I find myself standing before two very large, very beautiful, mahogany doors.

“This is your stop,” he says. “Shue, you stay here and wait for her to be done.”

The little fox yawns his response.

Remmy walks over to a small bench and places a book I hadn’t noticed him carrying. Then he turns to me. “When you’re done here, Shue will take you to the auditorium.” He nods, before reentering the elevator. The door closes and then he is gone.

I turn to the doors and what awaits me behind them.