Teriksa Sunwhit's Story

Approx. 4:30 P.M.

"You sure?" I asked, looking up into the almost glowing face of my mother. Her smile was nearly as wide as her cheekbones (which was incredibly disconcerting and honestly likely a flaw in her shapeshifting spell) and her green eyes shown with a fervent energy.

"Gods, yes, dear, I am incredibly sure. Would your own mother give you incorrect coordinates?" She shoved the crumpled up piece of paper into my face. "Open it!"

I took it and opened it, feeling through the coordinates. It wasn't too far, actually, not that that was really a concern for me. Just meant that the landscape and culture wouldn't be too different from what I was used to. Mom was standing, giddy, in front of me. The harsh glare of our kitchen lights made it seem as though she was an angel descending from heaven, though that was ridiculous.

“I am so excited for you to go to this new school…! Your father and I weren’t sure at first but, well, you know the story!” She trailed off with a cheery giggle. How my mother could always be so upbeat was beyond me, but she contrasted nicely with my father. Whenever I had an issue, my mother was the one to whom I went first.

I took a deep breath and closed my eyes, concentrating for a moment to find a few nearby anchors of the universe. They were big, and they were strong, and they were not made of metal. Rather, they were immaterial and could only be accessed with dimensional magic — as far as I knew.

The nearest ones were only a few lightyears away, which made it easier for me to feel up, through their chains, and across the shattered-glass pattern of their connections. After a half second, real time, I’d located the intersection that I’d wanted. I tugged on the intersection of the four planes and brought it slowly over to where I was, pushing it into the intersection in front of me until they merged together. A ‘whoosh’ sounded, and I knew the portal had opened up; I’d tried to make it about my size and, when I opened my eyes, it was only a little too tall. All of our house’s warm air was being sucked into the portal; it was a chilly day at Half Moon Academy and I’d already put on my black jacket with the white gear symbol. The portal wouldn’t last for too long before the universe decided to repair itself, but a fraction of a fraction of a second to the universe was hours long to me.

“Okay, Mom.” I said, trying to hide a smile. I wasn’t going to give her the satisfaction of knowing that I was — ah, screw it. I smiled big and wide, excited to meet new people, friends, creatures, magic. Who knew? Mom gave me a quick hug and kissed me on the cheek (though I quickly wiped that off). “And you’re sure you got everything?” She asked, looking to my large black suitcase. “All your clothes? Computer? Supplies?” I nodded for the hundredth time; she’d pestered me for the past three days about this sort of stuff, and it’d all been in there the first time. And, regardless, if it hadn’t, I could just warp back home and get whatever I needed, no biggy.

I made a gesture of farewell and my mom began to tear up, squeezing me to death one more time. “Bye, Dad!” I yelled.

“Yeah, see you this weekend.” He called from the livingroom. I shrugged, dragged my suitcase, and walked through the portal, stepping out onto the lush strip of grass in front of the massive stone walls that guarded the castle of my new school.

My charm, a purple and red, woven bracelet, sat snugly against my thin wrist. It provided me with the form of a somewhat frail looking, black-haired, green-eyed human with a splattering of freckles across his face.

I took a deep breath and approached the frowning figure by the tall gates which led into the academy. “Here.” The hooded figure said, and handed me a hefty sack. A bony finger rose, steady and fixated upon a wing of the castle inside the gates, to the left of the entrance.

The castle was immense. Old, powerful, and mysterious, it almost crackled with an aura of magical energy. I suddenly felt butterflies in my stomach; a large group of students were milling around in the courtyard, chatting among each other. All of them looked human, though I could spot a few that seemed to give off an aura of mystery.

I took another deep breath, bit my lip, and entered when the gates opened of their own accord. A shimmer came over my body and revealed my true, canine form. It felt weird to be outside and in my own body, but nobody — well, very few people — stared. Regardless, I blushed and hurried toward the building he’d pointed to, wanting to catch my bearings before meeting anyone.

The lobby of the building had a rather homely, though grand, feel to it. It was spacious, had red carpets, and a small, cozy fireplace on the wall. Around the fireplace were some congenial furnishings: a matching set of wooden-framed, red cloth chairs and one wide couch. Students — I assumed — were scattered around the room, some were on the furniture (as there was another set on the opposite, non-fireplace side of the stone room) and some were just milling around by the numerous decorative plants.

I took a minute to sit and gape, and then a minute more; this was just a smattering of students, but they all looked so interesting. Not because any of them were in their true forms — this was the moon dorm; surely they had true forms, just like me — this was because of the things that they were doing, the auras that they carried, and the subtle hints of differentness that surrounded each of them. This was already a much better choice than my previous school.

I gulped and stopped staring, and I decided to have a quick sit by the fireplace before continuing. I needed to figure out where my dorm room was before doing much else, but I was starting to get cold feet and I needed to take a moment to collect myself, pour my trepidations into the fire and let them burn.

I looked to my right after a few moments to see whom I was sitting with, and I found several quiet people reading intently, discussing intensely, or sitting… incurvedly. Among them was someone, a young-looking, pale adolescent (though he seemed to be on the verge of ‘blooming into a handsome young man,’ as my mom would say), whose energy seemed to draw me toward him. He was someone important, someone with whom I could orient myself and get my bearings in this new, scary world. I put my bag on my lap and awkwardly scooted a few cushions over, as he was just at that awkward range where it was weird to get up to move to him but it was also weird to scoot over to him.

Nervousness clawed my belly, as this was my first impression toward everyone out there, but I put on a half-smile, and said “Hi, I’m Teriksa.” My bag was clutch to my chest, though not tightly so, as a shield against the possible social ramifications of my greeting.