Dawn of Dragons

Chapter 19: Mikhail

When Aria returned to the classroom, she stood outside the door, dreading the moment she would have to open it. She expected glares of outrage or fearful eyes from the other students, and a classroom so messed up nothing would be able to restore it. Taking a deep breath, she opened to door and, keeping her eyes downcast so she wouldn't have to look at the other students, entered the room.

"Welcome back Aria," a deep voice greeted her. "I assume your meeting with Gloria went well?"

Aria didn't answer, still keeping a steady gaze on her feet. The door slowly closed behind her with a clank.

"Look up at me, Aria."

Aria did as she was told, and barely managed to keep back a gasp.

When she had left the classroom, it was completely destroyed. The chaos she had released had swallowed up as much as it could, only leaving behind some half formed desks and chairs. But now, it was completely restored. Desks and chairs lined up neatly in rows, and they sparkled like they were brand new. But the students, the students were all gone.

Aria turned to look at the person that had performed this magic, and saw a middle-aged man with dark indigo eyes and bark colored hair. With a shock, she realized the resemblance of him to another Dragon she had met when she first arrived to the Academy.

"Would you...by any chance, be Andres's father?"

The man looked surprised. "I'm surprised you knew that. Did you meet my troublesome son?"

Aria nodded. "I met him when I first arrived to this Academy. He helped me get set up with my room."

The man nodded in approval. "Glad to know he isn't being mean to newcomers. He tends to do that quite often."

Aria blushed. "Oh no, sir. He was quite helpful and polite."

"Please, Aria. Just call me Headmaster Mikhail."

"So you are the headmaster...please, tell me, what happened to the students in my class?"

"Oh, them? Come over here, Aria, and I will show you." When Aria hesitated, he chuckled softly. "No need to be afraid. I won't bite." Aria walked over to the desk that Headmaster Mikhail was sitting in. Mikhail waved his hand in a circle, muttered some words, and a shimmering circle of what looked like a portal appeared. Aria peered into it.

All the students in her class were sitting in their seats, all of them looking very shaken. Headmaster Mikhail was standing in front of them, lecturing to them about magic, but the students could do was nod and pretend to look like they were paying attention, but they were all very disoriented because of the chaos that had threatened to take their lives. And then Headmaster Mikhail-wait that couldn't be true. Mikhail was in this room with Aria. So how could he be in the other room teaching?

As Aria was thinking about this, she glanced from the Mikhail sitting in front of her to the Mikhail teaching in the other room. Headmaster Mikhail laughed, a good hearty laugh that made Aria give a small tentative smile back.

"Ah, Aria, caught you didn't I?" he said, grinning. "Space Dragons, the masters of illusions. That "me" in the scene you are seeing is merely an illusion. While illusions cannot hurt or physically touch anything, they sure do look real. In fact, this room you are standing in right now is also an illusion. It is a layer upon the real one. You are technically in the room right now, but you are not." When Aria looked confused, Mikhail continued. "You are in the room. That is for sure. But I also built upon this room a layer of illusions. So your fellow students cannot see you, and you cannot see them. But yet you are still in the same room as your peers."