The One

Adventure at the library

Once Waylon and Feray began school, they could only return home on weekends. As the siblings entered Grade 1 and Zanna began at Grade 3, Feray would typically only see her roommate in the evening when all was finished. She would take her classes with Waylon and share what she experienced with Zanna at night. When Friday came, she would pack her bags and go back home with both. In the following two days, the three would either do schoolwork if they had any or explore their surrounding area if they didn't. Sometimes, they wondered where Izar was and how he was doing. At night, Feray would write to Bentley. This routine began a month after Feray and Bentley's birthdays.

Every year, grand sorceress Odessa would choose one academy's opening ceremony to attend. This year, she chose Academia Augustus—the school Feray was in. Because of that, the girl was able to catch a glimpse of the grand sorceress on the first day of school. She had been looking forward to seeing the famous sorceress, even, but that excitement died in her throat when she actually saw Odessa.

She was as beautiful as the rumors said she was, and even more graceful than the rumors could begin to describe. As she strode to the front of the stage to deliver her speech, the rise and fall of her shoulders was so minimal it was almost as if she were floating. It wasn't Odessa's appearance that burst the bubble of Feray's imagination; it was the suffocating aura she felt in her presence.

It was the same as that time on the street when the group was with Izar. Was it the same woman? Feray felt almost entirely sure that it was, but what if it wasn't?

"What are you staring at?" Waylon asked once the ceremony was over. "Come on."

Feray looked up then to realize that students were already leaving the hall to their respective first classes.

"Oh. Right."

Sending familiars was one of the first things they learned. That proved to be convenient as soon as it was learned.

Feray saw her sparkling purple roadrunner fly off into the night. After sending off her familiar, she perched by the window, waiting.

"He may not reply so soon," Zanna reminded her. "Izar said he's busy, right?"

"That he did," Feray acknowledged, "But his schedule is entirely up to him, isn't it?" Besides, she added to herself in her mind, I think he might reply immediately—but I don't want to be wrong.

A few minutes later, a dark green, hazy tiger the size of a human hand ran towards her from somewhere outside the window. Izar's familiar is a tiger? But she didn't think further—at least, not now. The tiger landed on her open palms and, once it touched her, it turned into a piece of paper. Only one word was written on it: "yes".

"What'd he say?" Zanna asked.

Rather than answering, Feray simply showed her the piece of paper.

"Ah, so she really is—mmph!"

Before she could finish her sentence, Feray covered her mouth with a hand. "Geez, Zanna. You've been here far longer than I have; be a little more careful. We're never really alone unless we're in our own animorbis, you know that."

It was only when Zanna nodded that Feray released her.

"Speaking of which, do you know how to get into your animorbis?" Feray asked further.

"Not yet," Zanna answered. "But I do know a book in the library that can help us figure that out. It's advanced magic, but if we ever want to use it at all, it's better to learn sooner rather than later, yes?" she said with a wink.

Feray nodded. "When do—"

"How about now?"

"Now?" Feray glanced at the clock. "It's nine already though."

"It's not like we have a curfew."

"Well...I suppose you're right."

The dormitories of Academia Augustus were structured like a panopticon. The building housed thousands of students, all gathered in one place; the male dorms were on one half of the ring of rooms while the female ones were on the other. Large bathrooms were situated between where the first and last male and female dorms met on each floor. Every few floors, there was a common area.

Of course, the library was not in the dormitories. Zanna and Feray made their way out of the dimly lit hallways, which were still quite lively as it was only the beginning of evening—the beginning of the day for many students, not because they had any serious business to take care of, but because one only felt alive during one's free time.

"See?" Zanna said to Feray with a grin, as if making a point, "This is normal."

Eventually, they walked out of the dormitories. Next to the prison-like dorms was a commercial building designed specifically for students. That building was much smaller but had in it bookstores and gadget stores—an array of supplies shops, essentially. The girls passed that building and finally reached the library, which was next to the main school building. The library was almost as high as the dormitories, shaped like a cylinder. The two walked in. They passed through a translucent screen which served as a security screening system, then browsed the directory on the wall.

As Zanna looked for the section she had in mind, Feray too followed her gaze at first—but she was soon distracted by something she glimpsed out of the corner of her eye.

She tugged at Zanna, who turned to her.

"Someone just passed by, I think," Feray said to her, nodding in a certain direction.

Zanna looked but furrowed her brows. "There's no one there."

"I want to take a look," Feray said, her gaze still lingering in the spot where she thought she saw the silhouette disappear. "Maybe it'll be a helpful senior!" she added.

Zanna shrugged. "Doesn't hurt to look. Besides, I'm all for going on adventures with you, my one!"

Feray led the way, occasionally halting in her steps when she lost track of the silhouette. Every time she saw it, it was only a corner of someone's dark mage robe, just enough to lead her on while at the same time hiding the identity of the person—or whatever it was—she was following. After ten minutes of chase, she and Zanna began to think that it was a ghost that Feray was following: only she could see them; Zanna could not. Nevertheless, the thought of this only made them more curious and determined to go to wherever the figure took them.

Eventually, the chase ended. It ended in front of a shelf on the tenth floor. When Feray reached there, she heard a whisper saying, "This is it".

"Did you hear that?" she asked her companion, who shook her head.

"Is this where they wanted us to go?" Zanna asked, "This is a pretty dark corner."

Feray nodded. "It looks like nobody really uses this part of the library." While speaking, she reached for the book she had been led: a full map of the school's premises. "This book...wow. It even has secret passages and whatnot."

"I would have thought they'd bring us to the books about amimorbis," Zanna said as she leaned over Feray's shoulder to see the maps.

Feray chuckled. "No, no. It makes more sense if they show us secrets rather than stuff everybody knows about, don't you think so?"

"True...hm, do you want to borrow this book?"

"I'd rather read it here and leave it here. If a ghost or something led us here, we probably shouldn't really have the book in our possession."

"Oh?" Zanna peered closer at her roommate. "My one, you're smart!"