Tales of Grandier

Act One Part Two

"To be honest," Liam began as he walked the two girls into the city," I'm only here to help you get settled in. Make sure that you can find the office buildings and all that." Povi had barely heard what her cousin had said, as all her attention was directed towards the sights all around her. The buildings towered over her to a ridiculous degree. They were far taller than any plant or tree back at home. She needed to strain her neck to even see where they ended. However, she could just barely peer inside the skyscrapers. The sun was reflecting off of them and directly into her eyes, but Povi was still sure what there was movement inside of them. Should the movement belong to humans, Povi couldn't imagine what they were doing. Lolly was equally bewildered by the city and those who walked by. Liam chose not to explain the city, and instead walked faster to their next location.

As they walked, there were a few buildings that were particularly prominent in the sea of reflective material. One of which was being upheld by a tower of vines. Each one was far larger than they had any right to be, as if a god had something against the building. So much so that the building was far above any of the trees that surrounded it. The vines, although seemingly originating from the forest, grew out and towards the city. As the small group walked towards the upheaved building, Povi found herself with a major question: how on Earth would they get inside?

At the very least, there was some sort of path leading up to the door a good distance into the sky. It wasn't anything Povi would consider remotely safe, but at least she was walking with one of the best healers in Grandier. Perhaps, that was the only reason Povi was forcing herself to climb up the stairs that were carved into the vine itself. The other two were far less concerned about the height. However, they weren't the only ones forced up and down these dangerous steps. Though there was less people than at the bus stop, there was still quite a few young faces passing by. Those who were going faster than Povi were either very brave or pretending to be. Lolly was one of the former, skipping up the stairs. Meanwhile, Povi took her time literally crawling. It would have been mortifying if she wasn't the only one. Even so, she cared more about her life than embarrassing herself in front of potential classmates. Upon reaching the top, she didn't dare think about how she was supposed to get back down.

Instead, she turned her attention to the reason she was so high up in the first place. She found herself in some sort of office, with one of the employees "subtly" laughing at her. The rest were too busy guiding other students through small packets of paperwork. "Sorry, we consider the path up here a rite of passage," the woman said, her hand still covering her mouth. Seeing Povi's frown, the woman quickly takes some papers from under her desk. "I'm assuming you are an upcoming student. Can I have a name?"

From behind her, Liam gently brushes past Povi with a handful of papers of his own. He slides them towards the woman, mentioning that "Povi's parents already signed everything." After skimming through the small stack's contents, the woman at the counter accepted them and put everything back below the desk. Whatever she had stuffed the papers into flashed with light for a moment and the worker's hands returned with a small card. "Here's your ID, Miss Shearhart. It opens every door you have access to, so don't lose it," the woman explained.

Povi had expected the paperwork and the registering progress to be a lot longer. The trek up to the building was longer, and the way back down was even more so. But once she was back down, Povi would never have to go back. At least, she was pretty sure that she had no other papers to turn in. Which meant, according to Liam, that Povi was free to explore. Since he didn't want to interrupt the two girl's fun, he walked them to the entrance of the academy then left. All he said as advice was "to hold Lolly's hand." With no way of contacting him again, they had no choice but to enter.

Unlike most buildings in this city, this one was made with white marble adorned with neon lights. On the sides, there was a tall hedge that Povi couldn't see past. The roof's edge was engraved with the name of the facility: New Grandier's Saint Plaza. The crowd was back once again, with the entrance being flooded with people entering and leaving. At least the crowd was fast moving. Taking Lolly's hand, Povi headed towards the large entrance.

No matter how close she got, Povi was unable to see past the dark entrance. People were simply appearing and disappearing into a void, even from a mere couple of feet away. Povi had to assume that this was some kind of security measure, but she didn't understand how it worked.

As she made her way into the darkness, Povi's grip on Lolly's hand tightened. Povi wasn't sure how they weren't bumping into anyone, as she could barely see Lolly's little head bobbing in front of her. Despite the large crowd from earlier, Povi couldn't even hear anyone else. The only footsteps that could be heard were her own and Lolly's. Fortunately, the school wouldn't leave them in the dark, literally, for very long. From her pants pocket, Povi can hear a faint beep. Then, suddenly, her eyes began to adjust.

If Povi had thought the buildings outside were amazing, then the plaza was indescribable. It was still rather dark, but now she could see the marble buildings that were illuminated by colors she hadn't seen before. Each one was so bright, and yet, they didn't hurt to look at. Instead they painted the walls and the passerby various colors. Not only had color been restored to the world, but life as well. There wasn't as many people inside as the crowd would make one believe, but who's to say that there was only one entry way?

The area was vast with no identifiable ceiling, making it hard to tell if they were still in a building at all. At the very least, it shouldn't have been possible to fit multiple other buildings inside of the original.

But the princess's amazement was nothing compared to her little sister's. Lolly bounced out of Povi's grip, reaching out to touch the walls. To her disappointment, the colors didn't transfer to her hands, only dust.

Like her cousin, many of them had obtained the features of the deities that they believed in. Some had tails, while others had wings. But the most common altered trait was eye color. Of course, almost everyone that was going to attend magic school had the ability to use magic. However, the alterations that she saw weren't limited to one's eyes being "opened."

Povi hadn't meant to stare at others, but she couldn't help it. Povi felt like she was the only one who remained unchanged, even though that wasn't the case. Although having been blessed by a deity wasn't uncommon at her age, it did make her feel as if she stuck out. It wasn't enough for anyone to stare at her, but it was enough that she felt uncomfortable.

Still, she had to keep moving. At this point, Lolly was already four buildings away. Although they weren't staring before, the others were curious of the now running blonde. Povi paid them no mind, instead she was begging for Lolly to come back. But with all the people around, her voice was drowned out. For a moment, Povi even loses sight of her sister. When she sees her again, she's within the arms of a stranger.