The Bridge To Nihon (BOOK ONE)

Chapter 29 - The School

One after the other, the statues leant forward as if they were performing a dance. They stretched their arms towards the entrance of the School, their index fingers pointing straight at the gate.

The doors opened. The path continued into a court.

Still, there was nobody.

Sofia kept standing among the stone formations. She knew that she was supposed to go in, but, like Kaido, she had an overwhelming feeling that she might never get out again. The statues remained in their new postures as if they had been carved like that. They waited with the unhurried patience of the elements.

Finally, Sofia turned to the one that had addressed her.

"Where did you come from?" she asked, trying to ignore how silly she felt speaking to a supposedly inanimate object.

There was no time lag before the statue's answer, no hesitation, no moment to consider what it was going to say.

"We are always here."

"You weren't before. When I first got here."

"We were unseen. But still here."

The statue's voice was neither warm nor cold. Its manner of speaking had no intonations, no ups and downs. Every word was allocated the same weight and thereby appeared to have the same significance. Sofia had to listen closely and repeat the words in her head as if she was getting used to an unfamiliar accent.

She peered into the courtyard. It was framed by more statues of the same appearance. They stood immobile and looked ahead of themselves, seemingly unconcerned by the open gates or by Sofia.

"Are they the same as you?" she asked.

"Yes."

"All of them?"

"Yes."

Undecided what to do, Sofia tried to come up with another question. Her mind was blank.

"You should go in now," the statue said, and, with an unexpected lightness, it stepped from its pedestal and strode towards the gate.

After a moment of confusion, Sofia followed her. More than anything, she didn't want to stay back on her own.

The statue walked, putting one foot in front of the other with an unshakable balance. Its large flat feet tread securely on the ground, yet there was a kind of inner self-mastery as if it were carrying out an exercise.

At the open gate, it stopped and turned to Sofia.

"If you ask, you will receive answers to every matter that the School is willing to disclose."

Sofia nodded, bewildered. She wasn't sure if she was supposed to thank the statue or say anything meaningful in return.

Not awaiting her to make up her mind, the statue returned to its previous post. The gate shut without a sound.

When Sofia turned towards the courtyard, another statue of the same height and fashioned in the same manner was standing in front of her. Its face was marginally different. It had a wider forehead and a narrower chin that gave it a triangle-like geometric appearance. Otherwise, it might have been the same one as before.

"Follow me," it said in the same gravelly voice. "The headmistress is expecting you."

The courtyard was a perfect square. A roofed-over walk lined with columns went all the way around it. There was enough symmetry to lose one's mind. The gate through which Sofia had entered was gone.