Falling Into a Fantasy

II: BLAKE

        I woke up with a jolt. I looked around me to see if I somehow landed in a hospital because of Glittery Glowing Book, but instead, I saw a flowery field and you're never going to guess it: Jo. Up ahead, I saw these two magnificent-looking castles, one with beautiful pastel colors and gold, looking absolutely marvelous and... and... complete. The other castle, on the other hand, looked like it was starting to disintegrate, and it had a lot of wear-and-tear, but overall, abnormally elegant and nicely put together. Anyway, where am I? Am I being delusional? I don't know.

        Wait. Is that the school for Great and Grim from The Great Prophecy of Umbra Malum?! Whoa, hold on a second. Let me process my brain (let my brain process? Forget it.) for a moment...

        "Where in the world am I? And why is there a castle up there? Am I being messed with? AM I SCHIZOPHRENIC?!" Jo exclaimed. Yup. Sounds like Jo and looks like Jo. Definitely not schizophrenic or messed with.

        "I don't think you're being messed with or schizophrenic. I'm also seeing the castle and pretty flower field. Do you think we should go toward the castle?" I asked.

        "Yeah, sure. Is there someone to guide us, though? I'm not feeling so safe when it comes to the pink-and-purple tree forest and the dead tree forest..."

       "WhY, HeLLo tHeRe! I'M JaRbO, tHe LoCaL fOrEsT dWaRf. I'm hErE tO gUiDe yOu AnD yOuR fRiEnD tOwArD tHe sChOoLs fOr GrEaT aNd GRiM," Jarbo the Forest Dwarf said. How, in the world, did he materialize right in front of me and Jo? He also spoke weird, in this REALLY high pitched voice with too much vibrato.

        "What's the School fo-" I cut Jo off from saying the schools' names.

        "It's the Schools for Great and Grim. It's the main location in The Great Prophecy of Umbra Malum. The pastel castle, the School for Great, is for the people who will succeed in life. It's also the School that Umbra Malum attended. The crumbly black castle is the School for Grim, which is for people who probably won't succeed in life. Tenebris Sceleratus, the main villain of the book, went to this school," I whispered in a hushed voice. "Now, don't ask any questions until we have time to actually talk."

        "Okay, little NERD." Jo laughed.

        Jarbo then led us toward the forests and gave us a brief overview of what they are and their purpose. Apparently they're there to prepare us for the 'real world', and in that 'real world', I don't think pink and purple trees exist. I know, for sure, that forests of dead trees exist though.

        "So. WhAt ArE yOur nAmEs, SiR aNd mA'aM?" Jarbo asked. So uhh... I'm not a sir at the moment... I'm a ma'am...

        "Blake Panem, sir. Also, I'm not a sir at the moment. I'm genderfluid, you see, so my gender depends on my mood for the day," I explained.

        "OkAy, tHaNkS fOr TeLLiNg mE, aNd wHaT's yOuR nAmE, oThEr mA'aM?"

        "I'm Jo Vivus, short for Jolene Vivus. At the current moment, I'm female, and I'll stay female for the rest of my life." Jo said.

        "oKAy, MiSs jO ViVuS, sHoRt fOr JoLeNe ViVuS. NoW, LeT uS gEt BaCk oN tHe rOaD tO tHe CaStLe." Jarbo then led us through the forests, showing us every little thing and basically being an upgraded tour guide in Spain or something. I wonder if I have to pay him. I don't have any currency of any kind except for like, 100 euros that are in my pocket, which is completely useless, seeing I'm probably in another realm.

        After about 15 minutes, we arrived at the front gate of the School for Great. I think, according to the book, the Magna Pretorium, also known as the Great Hall, is in the Hope Tower in the School for Great. Anyway, Borj led us toward the Great Hall, where there were about 200 people in total waiting in one big line waiting for something or someone that I couldn't see from where I was standing.

        Someone clapped. "All right, everyone! Settle down! We're going to begin our induction and sorting ceremonies in about five minutes. But first, may we welcome the School Master, Professor Joolia Mundanae!" Applause filled the room. The said applause lasted about... 10 seconds. Yeah. 10 seconds. I don't know how long it lasted, but it was a short while, that's for sure.

        "mA'aMs bLaKe AnD jO, pLeAsE jOiN tHe LiNe. i hAvE SnEaKiLy aDdEd yOuR nAmEs tO tHe cAuLdRoN oF sTuDeNt nAmEs. NoW, tHiS iS wHeRe We PaRt," Jorb said. "aLsO, i sHaLL MaGiCaLLy tRaNsfOrM yOuR cLoThEs iNtO sOmEtHiNg bEtTeR sUiTeD fOr tHiS LeArNiNg EnViRoNmEnt." I looked down at my white t-shirt with long-legged overalls and black high-tops and wondered what was wrong. I then looked over at Jo, with her crew neck sweatshirt and light blue jeans. I still don't see what's wrong. Tossing that thought aside, I watched as my overalls turned into a summery elven-looking dress that you'd see at Renfaire. Looking over at Jo, I saw her sporting a frilly forest-green one piece dress that went right under her shoulders, and I couldn't stop seeing her resemblance to Demeter... Thanks, Greek mythology.