“Hup.”
Lyra grunted as she finished pushing her bed into its position. She’d moved out of her hotel as soon as she could, there was no reason not to take a dorm room if it was offered. She hadn’t liked how the room’s furniture had been positioned, so she’d spent the afternoon rearranging her room until she had a bit more floor space. The room in itself wasn’t incredible, but she had her own bathroom, a bed she’d pushed up against a wall with a bedside table, a desk she’d moved to be under the window, and a complementary bookshelf. God, she loved this school. That one had been a pain to move around though. Eh, worth it. Books are incredible.
“Okay, so that’s that done, guess it’s time to unpack,” Lyra muttered. She didn’t have a lot of personal belongings, she’d never had the space for them back at the church. She had a few clean sets of clothing, mostly jeans and t-shirts. She did have one dress and 3 skirts, but she didn’t wear those often, so they were pretty much just for dates. Her favourite piece of clothing was her old leather jacket though. She loved that thing to pieces, and wore it whenever she got the chance. It made her look badass. She owned a few rings, and her ears were pierced so she had a couple of metal studs that she almost never took out. She was planning to give herself an industrial now that the Matron wouldn’t flip out about it. “Such a thing is unbecoming of one of your status, thou shalt never desecrate the body of a magus, blah blah blah I’m massive a killjoy” Can’t fucking stop me now Mother Garcia, I’m gonna get myself a Tower-damned industrial and you’re going to eat shit.
She took a deep breath. Okay. No need to cuss out Mother Garcia in your head Lyra, you’ve done that plenty before and you’ve left that behind now. She unpacked the rest of her suitcase, and made a note to buy some toiletries when she got the chance. They provided enough for a couple of days, but not much more. With the room done, and feeling much less cluttered for it, Lyra wanted to spend the rest of the day exploring Waypoint U and introducing herself to any neighbours. If I have neighbours. She entered the bathroom and tried to make herself more presentable.
“Ugh, I look gross,” she muttered. Cleaning the room and moving all that furniture around had left Lyra sweaty, her hair and clothes clinging to her neck and back. She’d been too excited to get to sleep at a good time last night, so she looked a bit more tired than she normally did. Her eye’s normal bright gold was dimmed somewhat, and the shadows under her eyes were deeper than she would like.
“I think I need to take a shower,” she said to herself “At least before I go show myself to the world. You can only make a first impression once, after all.” She played with her face for a little bit. Nail polish is chipped. Do I care though?
She turned on the shower and stripped, preparing to get in. After some trial and error, and a scalded back, Lyra figured out how the shower worked and spent a good 15 minutes basking in the warm spray. It was soothing to sit under the hot water, after the excitement of the last couple of days. Still haven’t figured out what that lady I met at the hotel was all about, she thought, I’ll make sure to ask my professors about mind reading and any potential defences, that was really unsettling. They’re Tower Mages, they probably know the answer.
She shut off the shower, and started towling her wet hair. She’d need to give it a few minutes to fully dry, she didn’t have a hair dryer and it went down to her shoulders. She was glad she’d won that fight with Mother Garcia, it would’ve been way too much of a hassle if it was the “traditional” waist length. She couldn’t even imagine trying to brush through that much hair. It could not be easy and she pitied anyone who had to deal with it. She wandered out of the bathroom in a pair of old shorts and a blank tank top, and wandered over to the bookshelf. She hadn’t got around to shelving her books yet, but she had piled them on the floor in front of the bookshelf. She bent down and picked up the book on the top of the pile.
“The adventures of Gideon the Great huh?” she mumbled, “I haven’t read this in ages.” It was a storybook about Gideon the Great, “the Greatest Mage since Mellainus himself,” set during the Golden Age of magic. It followed Gideon as they uncovered the plots of one “Harrow the Hateful,” an acolyte who was constantly trying to “Bring back the glory of the Demonic Age!” by way of needlessly complicated plots. It was…definitely a fiction. She’d heard plenty of rants, courtesy of Mother Garcia, about how it “Misrepresented the Holy Sage” and “Made the Golden Age of Magic seem better than it actually was.” Mother Garcia’s passionate hatred of the book had made it a favourite of Lyra’s even though the writing was iffy at best.
Lyra settled down on her bread, towel around her shoulders and book in her lap, and opened the book. God, I’d forgotten how much of a pretentious fuckwad Gideon is. She read for a few minutes until her hair had air dried, and started getting ready for her introductions. She changed into something more presentable, just some jeans and a black shirt, with her jacket thrown on top, and slipped a ring on. After pulling her hair into her preferred half-up ponytail, she opened the door to her dorm room and looked at the hallway outside. It looks like there’s stuff in front of room 306, so I’ve got at least one neighbour.
“Hello, neighbour!” Called it.
Lyra turned her head to the left, and came face-to-chest with the biggest man she’d ever seen in her life. He was huge, built a bit like a bear. His shoulders were broader than her door frame, and her head was about chest level. She wasn’t short either, she was about 5’9. Man, doors must be hell for this guy. How does he fit!? He’s too tall and too wide!
“Hello,” she said to the man.
The man beamed, and boomed, “My name is Liam! What is yours, my new friend!” Lyra squinted, tower he’s loud.
“I’m Lyra, nice to meet you Liam,” she said, “306 is your room?”
“Yes indeed,” Liam boomed, “and what about you, where is your humble abode?” Note to self, do not get drunk. I don’t think I could handle a hangover if I had to talk to a guy this loud.
A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
“I’m in room 305,” Lyra replied, “You know if anyone’s in the other rooms?”
“I have not met any other residents of the Waypoint U dorms!” Liam responded, “But it is still only the second day of exams, so I fully expect some more neighbours before the week is out.”
“Hopefully”
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Lyra had no idea where she was. She’d extricated herself from the conversation with her new neighbour, and had left the dorm building to look for a school map. Unfortunately, she’d forgotten that it was still exam week, which meant a bunch of strangers. Unlike the testing site from yesterday, there were tons of people milling about on the school’s grounds. It seemed almost like a festival, with a line of student run stands selling food, baubles and knick knacks for some quick cash. She walked to the line for one of the food stands, it looked like it was selling some sort of …pink cloud on a stick? Whatever it was, it looked tasty and she wanted it. The line moved fairly quickly, and soon she was standing in front of a small woman. Short queen, fuck shit up- what the fuck, Lyra.
“What can I get for you?” asked the student
“A pink one of…whatever these are, and also directions to somewhere that sells maps of the campus,” Lyra said
The student smiled, and started preparing the pink cloud thing, “I can get you a pink cotton candy, but I can’t get you a map. The campus changes too quickly for us to bother with a map, so they don’t exist.”
“What do you mean the campus changes?” Lyra spluttered
The woman chuckled, “First time on campus huh? Yeah, resonances happen daily here, hourly if the staff can help it, so the school grounds change all the time.”
“Why do resonances happen so much!?”
The woman gave Lyra a befuddled look, “How else are we supposed to learn magic? Here’s your cotton candy.” And she shooed Lyra away.
Lyra was very quickly pushed away from the cotton candy seller by the crowd, but she managed to beat her way to a grassy plot just outside of the crowd. She sat down, a few bits poorer and a “cotton candy” richer. I have absolutely no clue how I’m going to get to class. This trip was kind of wasted wasn’t it, I could’ve finished unpacking instead of dealing with a crowd for an hour just to learn there’s not a fucking map. She took a bite of the cotton candy. This is great though, I’m glad I bought this.
“Hello, darling,” said a familiar voice. Lyra choked on her treat.
“Mind-reading-lady?” she coughed to the figure in front of her.
“It’s nice to see you again Lyra,” the woman said, “Come to think of it, I don’t think I’ve introduced myself to you yet. My name is Elaine, it’s a pleasure to meet you.”
“You-you too,” Lyra rasped, “You surprised me.”
“I can see that,” Elaine chuckled
“What are you doing here?” Lyra asked.
“Why, I wanted to join in the fun,” Elaine responded, “I love Waypoint U, I come here every chance I get. It’s always so enjoyable to see the campus, and how much it changes in just a year.” Yeah, cause apparently it just does that shit. Lyra thought, I have no idea how the fuck I’m going to find my way to classes if the campus just decides to change every day.
“Oh, you won’t have to worry about that sweetie,” Gah- that mind-reading is really unnerving. “The first teacher of the day will pick you up in the morning, and they’ll bring you to your classroom. You’re encouraged not to go exploring on your own until you're a senior, but I never saw the harm in it.”
“So you were a student here?” Lyra asked, “Also, stop reading my mind! It’s rude and, frankly, it’s really creepy.”
“Yes I was a student here, a long time ago,” Elaine responded, “and it’s not as if it’s something I can turn off! Once you learn to listen to thoughts, there’s no way to stop.” Joy.
“Is there a way I can defend myself then?” Lyra asked, “like a bracelet or something I could buy that could block my thoughts from being heard?”
“Nothing can completely stop your thoughts from being heard,” Elaine said, “Short of somehow becoming a Mundane. To be a Magus, to use magic, is to be connected with the world. When we resonate with a concept, when we understand what it means to ourselves, the world shows us what that notion is to it. I’m sure you’ve been told something to that effect?” Lyra nodded. “Good. Once that happens, a line of communication is opened between you and the world. I’ve learned to listen in on that communication. Not perfectly, but I can get the gist of what you’re thinking. Asking me to turn that awareness off would be like asking you to stop using your ears. It’s a sense I’ve developed, and there’s no way for me to block it.”
“What about like, earplugs for that sense?” Lyra asked, “Like, I couldn’t stop hearing if you asked me too, but I could put plugs into my ears.”
Elaine shook her head, “This skill is difficult to learn, and not many people do. So few people in fact, that I am probably the only person in a hundred years who is able to do it. The only thing that you can really do is learn to control those ripples, and that takes a very long time and a lot of practice.”
“Then what did you mean about the charm?” asked Lyra
“What?”
“In the hotel, you said I should buy a charm or something.”
“Oh, did I say something like that?” laughed Elaine, “I was in a bit of a rush, so you’ll have to excuse whatever I said then. I wasn’t paying much attention.”
“Why were you rushing?” asked Lyra
Elaine gave Lyra a look, “That is my business, and my business it shall stay dearest.”
“Oh. Ok,” Lyra said, “In any case, where could I learn how to block my thoughts? I’d really like to be able to keep my thoughts my own, y’know?” And also that shit is really unnerving.
“It would be a long and difficult process,” demurred Elaine, “but if you’re willing to work at it, I’m willing to teach you.” Oh thank the Sages. “I’ll give you your first lesson right here, if you wish.”
“Oh,” Lyra said, surprised, “Oh, yeah, sure. Hit me with it!”
“Every night, before you go to sleep,” Elaine said, “You must open your mind to the world.”
“...What?” Lyra said back. The fuck does that mean.
“It means,” Elaine said, “this.” And Lyra felt her awareness open up to something else.
The world was suddenly more. She could feel the presence of hundreds of critters in the little grass plot, she could- not exactly hear, but there was a buzzing that wasn’t there before coming from the crowd. Lyra was suddenly acutely aware of the exact distance between her and Elaine and the family while having a picnic on the grass nearby. The farther away she focused with this new sense, the more indistinct things became, until she could barely tell that there was anything at all.
You will attempt to reach this state every night before you go to sleep. Lyra startled, not expecting to hear Elaine's voice in her head. I will give you a set of breathing exercises that will help you reach this state.
Won’t this make it easier for you? Lyra thought It seems like this would deepen my connection with the world, not close it off.
A chuckle echoed through her mind. You are not trying to close off that connection. To do that would be to lose your magic, and no one wants that. Elaine said, Instead, you will be learning to regulate what I will hear. You will never be able to stop people from reading your mind, but you will be able to choose what they see when they look.
This is really fucking weird, for the record, Lyra thought.
“You’re not wrong darling,” Elaine said.