Red Mountain Chronicles: The Illusionist

Chapter 9

     "Good morning class, welcome to Mage History. I'm Miz Hatathle, and I will be your professor." She was a slender woman with great posture. Her dark brown eyes were sparkling with enthusiasm, which somehow matched well with her calm demeanor. "As you may well know already, after all it's the end of the day, orientation is a mandatory event which allows students time to prepare for their upcoming classes. But it also allows staff members to better prepare for their classes as well. So, something I like to do is try to get to know you. This is something I like to do to better create an idea of how this class will better perform as a whole and build a connection with my students."
      "This is new." Mary said.
      "I like her." I replied. It was nice to have a change in setting.
      "Me too."
      "What I would like to do is go around the room and you introduce yourself. Say where you're from, what kind of mage you are, your wield, and something interesting about yourself. It could be a hobby, a place you want to visit, a hidden talent, whatever. I'll start."
      "What's a wield?" I asked Mary.
      "It's slang for specialized magic." She replied.
      She then scooted herself onto the front of her desk. "Like I said before, I am Miz Hatathle. I am a witch from here, and I am a healer. Now I know what you're thinking: why be a history professor when you can heal people and save lives? Well, I was always fascinated by history, and I wanted to teach it because I wanted to prevent people from making mistakes and getting hurt. To me, History can prevent you from making these mistakes that can possibly harm people."
       "Wow. That's pretty deep." Mary said.
       "It's official. I like her." I added.
       "Now, let's see... " she squinted her eyes, pondering where to start. "How about on this top left corner, and we'll go row by row for each section and hop over to the next section?" She made gestures with her hands to help illustrate what she was talking about. "You sir. Go ahead and stand up to start."
       "Crap." I murmured.
       "What?" Mary asked.
       "I don't know what my wield is..."
       Mary's ears sank a little, and one twitched. If that was not enough to know what she was thinking, she cringed at the same time. Anyone could practically hear her think, ooh. I didn't think about that. "What are we gonna do?"
       "I don't know!" I whispered to her in panic.
       Mary's eyebrows knit together in concentration. After a while, she suggested "maybe you can skip it.  She might not notice."
       "Oh also, " Miz Hatathle added. "I know it may seem irrelevant but it is important you include your wield. It helps me in examples and experiments as well as lets me know what I have to work with."
         Mary looked back at me. "Well, maybe just make up one. Maybe a water wielder. It suits you."
         "You want me to lie?"
         "Would you rather say you don't know? I'm trying to help here!"
          "Will she know?"
          "And to make sure you're not lying, because some students have done it before and made my job harder, I would like you to demonstrate. The glamour is enough to prove it." She added. "And please don't over-do it. Last year someone demonstrated their fire magic by sending a fireball at my bookshelf. He had to fix them after class and clean my classroom for a week. Don't let that be you." She ignored the cries of disappointment that were coming from people all over the room.
         We both looked towards each other. "What do I do?" I asked.
         "I guess tell the truth. Unless we can come up with something. We won't have to present for a while."
          "Ok," I nodded, trying not to panic. We tried to put our brains together to come up with a solution. By the time half of the class had gone, Mary started shaking her head in disapproval. "I know it's probably gonna be pointless, but maybe try to summon your wield."
         "What?"
         "Remember when I said I was gonna help you find your specialized power? Maybe we can try to do it now."
        "How?"
        "Meditation."
        "In the middle of class?"
        "I know, it's stupid. But trying can't hurt."
        I closed my eyes, trying to calm down. I took deep breaths and tried to block out the world. Then I heard someone clearing their throat. I opened my eyes. Mary was looking at me apologetically. I looked at the professor. She responded with raised eyebrows. "Well?"
         Crap!
         I stood up. "I'm,"
         I looked down at Mary. She nodded at me to go on.
        "My name is Elaine. I am a... witch?"
        "Go on." Miz Hatathle replied.
        "Hmm?"
        "Where are you from, dear?"
        "Oh! Um, the human world?"
        There were outbursts of disbelief. Some people gasped.
        "Really?" Miz Hatathle asked, impressed.
        "Yes ma'am."
        "Well," she stood up. "Which city?"
        "Rio Rancho."
        She smirked. "I've looked at a lot of maps depicting the two realms. I've never heard of Rio Rancho. It must be relatively new." She sounded like she didn't believe me.
       "It is. Only, like, 20 years old."
       "Hm. And how long have you lived there?"
       "My whole life,"
       "Well then." She began to pace the room. "Can you tell me what cars run on?"
       "What?" Was she serious? Did they not know how cars ran?
       "Answer the question."
       "Gas."
       "And where does gas come from?"
       "It's a fossil fuel. It comes from decomposed organisms in the ground."
      "And how do they get this oil?"
      "They pump it."
      "How?"
      "They have oil wells."
      There were many exclamations of awe coming from everyone. I think I even heard someone ask "how does she know all of this?" I looked back at Mary. She was smirking. I could almost hear her thoughts. « Yep. That's my friend. »
      "Very impressive. Unless you thoroughly studied human technology, you make a solid case. I guess we'll have to assume you're from the human world. I'm very sorry to waste you're time. Go on."
      "Um..."
      "What is your wield?"
      There was a long pause. Someone then chimed in. "If you're in the human world you can't use magic, right?"
      "Not in public. But you can still use it in private." She responded. "Now tell me, what is your wield?"
      "Um..."
      "Go on. Spit it out."
      "I... don't know." My face became hot.
      There was a light roar of surprise. Or was it mockery? Or both. My face grew hotter and I looked down out of embarrassment. The class grew louder.
      "That's enough class!" When Miz Hatathle said "enough", there were multiple thuds in sink from the tables being slammed on the floor. Immediately everyone quieted down. I looked up to see Miz Hatathle with an iron expression. I did not know someone could ever look so serious. "That's enough. We do not need everyone's commentary on this subject. She's already flustered enough. Let's move on."
      Then, the bell rang.
     "Hold on, class." The pile of papers levitated l, then began to separate into smaller piles, which then separated into smaller piles, and then passed themselves out among the students. "Please look at the syllabus and buy all of your supplies for this class! You are dismissed!"