A far away bell roused Lyra from her slumber. She yawned and rubbed the sleep out of her eyes. Is it the Holy month again? Fuck. No more sleeping in for me I guess. She wasn’t sure she needed it. With the exercises Elaine had given her, and the stress and excitement over joining Waypoint U lessened a bit, Lyra was able to get a full 8 hours of good sleep for the past week. She sluggishly sat up and swung her legs over the edge of her bed, when a knock sounded from the door.
“Good morning Lyra,” An unfamiliar voice said from the other side of the wood.
“G’Mornin,” Lyra mumbled
The voice chuckled, and responded “Every year has a heavy sleeper. Time to get up!”
“Don’ wanna” she grumbled
“You don’t want to miss your classes,” the voice said
“Ugh, ok,” she muttered, then louder “I’m getting up, just give me a few minutes to get presentable!”
The unfamiliar voice huffed, “Don’t take too long, we don’t want our off-campus students to be left in the cold for another hour. We’ll be waiting just outside the dorm.” Steps retreated down the hallway
“Stupid…Off-campus students. Making me get up.”
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Ten minutes later, she was ready. Hair brushed, pulled into its usual half-up style, earrings in, and leather jacket thrown on, she opened the door to her room. There was no one in the hallway, but the door to Liam’s room was ajar, so she assumed he and the other residents were already outside. She’d met them all over the course of the last week, and she could have done a lot worse for neighbours.
Liam was about as loud as her first meeting with him had implied, and as far as personality went he seemed to be like a really affectionate Great Dane. Constantly cheerful, always boisterous, and big. The resident of room 307, Adrian, was a lot quieter. She’d only spoken to them once, and she’d felt vaguely like they hadn’t wanted to be talking to her at all for the length of the conversation. She hadn’t seen their door open at all since then, so she assumed they either really liked the city, or really didn’t like the city. Room 303 held Selene, who was really pretty and surprisingly funny. She was easy to talk to and generally seemed nice. Lyra might have had a bit of a crush.
She walked down the stairs to the front entrance, where everyone was supposedly waiting for her. And, lo and behold, they were. Liam, Adrian, Selene, and a short blond-haired man. The person who woke her up, she assumed.
“Lyra, so nice of you to join us. I’m glad we’re more important to you than your bed.” the man said.
“Only barely sir. Hello Liam, hello Adrian, hello Selene” Lyra waved to the two of them. Liam and Selene waved back, but Adrian just nodded and pulled his coat closer to him, “And hello to you too, mysterious-voice-who-woke-me-up.”
“Good morning Lyra. Let’s go and pick up the other half of the class before introductions why don’t we?” the man said, already walking to the front gate. The walk over to the gate wasn’t any different than it was the last few times she’d walked it, despite the rumoured “daily changes to campus.” Classes hadn’t even started yet, so she guessed that wasn’t much of a surprise. When they made it to the gate Lyra saw a small gathering of people with a tall man standing in front, facing a larger crowd. As she got closer, she was able to make out a familiar figure in the larger crowd.
“Emma?” she said, and sure enough, it was Emma. She was as short as she remembered, although this time wearing a blue and white sundress, smiling and laughing despite the early morning chill. “Aren’t you cold?”
Emma turned to look at her, “Lyra, right? A little yeah, but it’ll warm up quickly. I’m honestly more worried about you, it gets hot this time of year.”
“I can just take off my jacket if it gets too warm,” Lyra said.
“SO! These are your little troops Oliver?” Lyra turned to see the tall man clapping the blond man’s shoulder.
The blond haired man stumbled and cleared his throat, “They are indeed James! I was just about to add a couple more to my merry little band. I need one Emma Foster and one Jack Williams to come over to me please.” Emma stood next to Lyra, and a boy with a bright green streak through his hair and a smile on his face walked up to join the class. ‘Oliver’ looked at ‘James’ and said, “Shall we introduce ourselves to the little ones?”
“Of course we should,” ‘James’ laughed, “I’m Professor Miller, and I will be in charge of some of you little rapscallions for the next month or so.” He said to the students. “Or maybe longer, depending on where you go after the provisionary period.”
“My name is Professor Roberts, I will be the teacher to a different batch of you for the next month,” ‘Oliver’ spoke to the crowd, “Before we get going, we’ll give you the Waypoint U Rundown, as our seniors have so cleverly named it.”
“I suppose we should, shouldn’t we,” Professor Miller clapped his hands, “SO! How do you think magic is learned here at waypoint U? Any guesses? You, what’s your guess.”
A dark haired girl lowered her hand, “I assume the teachers will teach us spells or something?”
“ERRRR!” Professor Miller made a sound like an alarm, and held his hands in front of him like an X, “Wrong. ‘Spells’ are a myth, and we can’t teach you something that doesn’t exist! Instead, we try to make you resonate as much as possible, with as many things as possible, so you can learn the associated magic. It’s why there are so few of you in each class, so we as teachers can give each of you individual attention.”
“And to protect the students from the aftermath of a resonance,” Roberts said, “In fact, that’s the main reason the classes are so small, as you well know James.”
“They were equal at best and you know it!”
Roberts ignored Miller and said to the crowd, “The frequency of Resonances also means you should never wander the campus on your own, as it’s been around for nearly 15 hundred years with daily resonances. You’ll understand what that means for the state of the campus, if you don’t already, by the end of the week. The world is much more malleable here, so it’s far easier to connect with the world and learn magic, but as a result the Campus changes quickly and sometimes on its own.
“As such, we have some safety measures and general guidelines in place that I have copied onto,” he struggled with his pockets, “This paper! I will leave most of those for you to read on your own time, but we will go over the most important rules together. Now, here are your rule papers.” Professor Miller helped pass the papers around, rolling his eyes a little at his fellow Professor’s over preparedness.
Lyra skimmed through the list, she was sure she’d get a chance to read through it more carefully later. It looked like a bunch of signs of what is safe and what isn’t, where certain things generally were in relation to each other, and a few particular signs that you were in the “wrong place.” What does the “wrong place” mean? Why is there a place that’s consistently wrong enough to warrant a spot on this paper, if the campus is constantly changing?
A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
Lyra looked up as Professor Roberts began to speak, “If you look at the top of the front page of your paper, you will see bolded and in all capitals the words “DO NOT GO ANYWHERE WITHOUT A TEACHER!!!“ To clarify what that means, do not go anywhere without a teacher. Not to the meal hall, not to the school gates, not to your classes.”
“Now, there is actually one exception to that rule…” Miller trailed off at the look that Roberts was giving him, “That I’m sure the seniors will tell you, I’m sorry Oliver please go on.”
Professor Roberts huffed, and turned to somberly look around at the gathered students, “Despite what the seniors will tell you, it is incredibly dangerous and ill advised to wander the campus. The school staff are all Tower trained Mages, and are among the best among them at magical detection. We will be able to recognize when a resonance is going to happen, and we are trained to deal with any resulting danger. You are not. We will not be able to help you if we can’t find you, so do not try to wander off on your own.”
Adrian scoffed, quietly enough that the Professors wouldn’t hear but loudly enough that Lyra could barely make it out, “What secrets are you trying to keep, old man,” he muttered.
“If, however, you do somehow become lost,” Professor Miller winked at the students, prompting Roberts to roll his eyes, “break the capsules on these bracelets,” here the Professors handed out bracelets with a glass capsule and what looked like red sand inside it, “and a staff member will find their way to you as soon as they can.” A hand raised from in the crowd.
“Yes?” asked Roberts
“If we can’t go anywhere without a teacher, how will we get to classes if we’re stay-at-home students?”
“Your teacher will come here to pick you up after picking up the dorm students,” Roberts replied, “just like today. Any more questions?”
“...”
“No? Good. On the subject of your classes,” Roberts said
Miller raised his hand and smiled widely, “Can I explain this bit! I love explaining the classes.”
Roberts pinched the bridge of his nose and made a shooing motion with his other hand, “Go ahead James”
“Awesome. Now, classes are a bit different here at Waypoint U. We’re not trying to teach you anything, per se, more just…help you along until you reach a conclusion.” Professor Miller said “It doesn’t even matter if the conclusion you reach is right, so long as you understand it.”
“James,” Roberts said, “You know full well we encourage correct answers. It makes things way better for the students in the long run.”
“Encourage, you said! Not ensure,” Miller winked. Roberts started glaring. It was kind of hilarious to see such a tall man cowering in front of someone that barely reached Lyra’s shoulders.
“I-in any case,” Miller stuttered, “classes are not about teaching you new information, they’re about helping you reach conclusions and epiphanies about whatever we assign. Those are the things that will trigger a resonance, so we try to group people who learn similarly in classes. This first month is about finding how you best learn, though it’s not set in stone after this month. Most of the seniors you’ll meet have changed classes at least twice. Any questions?” No hands were raised.
“Good,” Miller said, “Now, I believe it is time to be off,” he looked to Professor Roberts for approval, and got an exasperated nod in response. His face brightened up, and he clapped his hands together. A green light billowed out from under his feet, almost like tentacles, and wrapped around six students. The Professor started floating upwards, and the group began zipping off roughly towards the middle of the campus.
“Well, I can’t have him outdo me,” Professor Roberts huffed. He flicked his wrist and snapped his fingers, and bubbles rose up out of the ground to surround Lyra and the rest of her new classmates. Roberts swept his hand in front of him inside his own bubble, and the bubbles started to float after Professor Miller’s group. I think I’m going to love this school, Lyra thought.
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The University was so small, compared to the city built around it. It looked like a plate, only a little longer than she was tall from up here, but Lyra couldn’t even see the edge of the city. That massive city, all the hundreds of thousands, maybe even millions of individual lives, each living a completely unique existence. All of them, just to support this tiny academy.
“Scary, isn’t it,” Adrian said from staring at her through the his bubble
Lyra looked at him, “A little,” she said.
“WHAT DO YOU MEAN “A LITTlE,” THIS IS TERRIFYING!” Emma screamed at them from her place scrambling in her bubble, “Ohmygod I think I’m going to have a panic attack.”
“NO PANIC ATTACKS,” Liam yelled, looking like he was about to have a panic attack, “WE DON’T WANT ANY PANIC ATTACKS!!!”
The green haired boy, who’d been introduced to them as Jack, laughed, “This is AMAZING, I don’t know how anyone could be scared!”
“WE’RE SO HIGH UP HOW CAN I NOT BE SCARED,” Emma shot back, “WHAT IF IT POPS!?”
“It won’t pop,” Professor Roberts interjected, “I’ve done this for years, don’t you worry, I have a good handle on the magic. But, I can bring you closer to the ground if you wish.” He swept his hand downward, and the bubbles started to fall.
“Wait nonononONONONONONO THIS IS NOT LESS SCARY THIS MUCH WORSE OH SAGES-.” They stopped right before hitting one of the school roofs. Jack was whooping and laughing, and Roberts was chuckling.
“You. I don’t like you,” Selene said. She looked scared out of her mind, frozen inside of her bubble, arms held in front of her face in a belated attempt to stop the collision.
“Are you okay?” Lyra asked
“Do I look okay?”
“Oh you’ll get over it, you big baby,” said Jack. Emma frowned at him.
“Jack, don’t be an ass,” she said
“Hey, that almost rhymes!” he responded
Professor Roberts cleared his throat, “If you are quite done with your dramatics, I would like to draw your attention to the class on the ground.” He swept his hand towards the edge of the roof, and our bubbles floated over to just before the edge, then popped. Adrian, Lyra and Jack landed on their feet. Liam shrieked, and fell backwards on top of Emma, who yelped and crumpled to the floor. Selene didn’t even try to land, she just kneeled with her forehead touching the roof.
“Get off of me you big loaf,” came a muffled voice from under Liam.
“Of course,” Liam squeaked, and rolled off of Emma.
“Wonderful, I can breathe again,” she huffed out
“You guys- ha” Lyra laughed, “You guys okay?”
“Peachy,” Emma grunted, and gave her a thumbs up. Selene gave Lyra the middle finger from her spot on the ground.
“Ahem,” Professor Roberts coughed, “If I could get your attention, I think you all would enjoy the scene you will witness if you look at the class I brought us here to see.”
“Professor’s right, you all should see this,” Adrian said
Lyra looked over the edge, and she immediately understood what they were talking about. There was a girl, curled up on the ground, her hair gently floating around her. White light was coalescing on her eyelashes like droplets of water, and then lazily floating upwards. She looked peaceful.
Something in the air changed. She suddenly felt heavier, she felt like time had slowed itself down, to better bear witness to this moment. She could hear the far off sounds of a whispered conversation between a small voice, and the deep thrumming of… something else. Something vast and unknowable.
The girl opened her eyes, and Lyra saw a golden ring with a glittering white stone set in its centre, and knew the ring to be a promise. She saw a stone, gently spinning as it fell from its perch, a hand ripping away from another. She saw a girl, bent crying into her pillow, and saw a ring clenched tightly in a fist, an arm bent back to throw. She saw flashes of water, the ocean rushing to meet her, and heard muffled screams and sobs. She saw a wiping of tears, and a ring being sold, a glittering gem still present atop the ring.
Then a rushing filled her ears, and something incomprehensibly vast seemed to lean over and look. She fell to her knees, pushed down by the awareness of something so vast, even though she wasn’t its focus. An ancient fern sprouted and grew in her mind, saw it get trampled under the foot of an ancient creature and shoved into the dirt below. She saw millions of years go by in a second, saw the plant get slowly heated and crushed into a little black rock. Then she saw that rock get heated and crushed and heated and crushed and heated and crushed until it breached the ground in the side of an earthen wall, glittering in faint sunlight.
She watched this, and knew she hadn’t seen half of what was shown on either end. She watched as a woman broke, but never saw her build herself up again. She watched as a diamond formed, but did not see it unearthed nor cut into shape. She saw very little of what was shown, but she still felt she had seen something she wasn’t supposed to, desecrated a ritual more sacred and holy than any sage there ever would be. But she could not stop seeing. Could not stop hearing. Could not stop feeling.
“Woah.” Emma’s soft exhalation broke Lyra from her trance. The girl from before was kneeling, eight spikes of diamond spearing out around her. Ancient ferns etched in the stone beneath her reached out, twisting and writhing and shattering the brick they grew through as they outgrew the ground and started crawling up the walls. The spikes quivered, the presence Lyra had felt doubled, then tripled as something was being reached. Lyra thought she heard a scream, but everything was so far away from right now that she couldn’t be sure. The spikes seemed to reach their capacity, and they shattered with the sound of breaking glass. None of the pieces touched the ground, instead floating lazily around the foetal woman. A groan echoed from the ground, and a crystalline willow split the ground behind the girl, and grew until she was shaded from view by its leaves. It started to drizzle, then pour rain, and the water ran down Lyra’s face like tears.
Then the presence departed, and a shockwave seemed to blast out from the tree, the water pushed back and evaporated, floating shards of diamond crashing to the ground in a sudden clamour of noise and motion. Lyra flinched, but the shockwave seemed to pass her by, only drying her face of the fallen rain.
“‘Rejoice, you who have seen my glory in its purest form, and worry no longer. For I shall bring you home,” Lyra whispered under her breath. She lowered her head and clasped her hands together. Selene, Emma, Liam, Jack and Professor Roberts joined her, while Adrian gave them all a befuddled look.
“That was resonance,” Roberts whispered, “For all of its beauty, it is still a great and terrible thing.” He gestured to the assembled class below, and Lyra saw bleeding students, cut by the floating shards of crystal. She saw brick broken by the trunk of a crystalline tree, violently lifted up and torn apart. She saw vines etched into the walls of the buildings, stone leaves jagged and sharp. She saw, at the centre of this devastation, a woman smiling, glowing white tears flowing freely down her face.