by S. B Terra
“No. Thank you so much, Darius, everything sounds amazing” said Alice, as both her and Darius stood up.
“You’re very welcome, Alice, I wish you the best of luck on your journeys” said Darius as he walked back inside and headed towards the front door.
“SEE YOU SOON” yelled Darius.
“BYE” yelled Bella from upstairs.
Darius then walked outside and shut the door behind him.
“We’re going shopping to buy you clothes, and most importantly, your wand, the bigger shops are open until midnight on weekends” said Bella as she walked back into the kitchen.
“Thank you for being my mentor” said Alice, smiling at Bella, “if you are too busy I underst - “
“I was the one who found you when you crossed into this world. Maybe it was a coincidence, maybe it wasn’t, who would I be if I turned my back on that? I will teach you everything you need to know, and together we will unleash your true power” interrupted Bella in a kind, reassuring tone.
Emotions momentarily flooded Alice, it was the nicest thing anyone had said to her in a long time.
“If you are still hungry, make sure you eat some more food before we go, we’re leaving in ten minutes” said Bella as she walked out of the kitchen and back upstairs.
Alice grabbed a pastry and walked out onto the balcony, gazing out at the trees, she hadn’t felt this happy and excited for as long as she could remember.
Alice zoned out looking at the trees, and after what seemed like a few minutes had passed, Bella walked onto the balcony.
“Are you ready?”
Alice snapped out of her miniature trance state as Bella spoke.
“Yep, let’s do it.”
Alice followed Bella outside, through the trees and down the cobblestone road they had come up the night before.
As they turned into the rose garden, Alice saw the full spectrum of colors surrounding the pyramid, it was beautiful, the roses moved around harmoniously as if they were alive and the pyramid was glistening in the sun.
“You know how it works” said Bella as they reached the top of the stairs.
Bella walked straight at the wall and disappeared.
Alice took a moment to make sure that she was clear with no thoughts, and then with no further hesitation or doubt, she walked at the wall, going straight through and appearing inside.
Bella was waiting under the T.P inside, the nameplate read ‘Terra – Magic Council’.
“It’s going to be busy today, there will be a lot more people than you saw last night, Saturday is the busiest day in the city. Don’t be alarmed, and remember, being in a robe is normal here, you look very nice and will blend in just fine, you will get used to it after no time” said Bella, apparently sensing Alice’s insecurity about the robe.
“Thanks” replied Alice.
“We will first go to find you clothes and robes, then we will do the wand, tomorrow we will get you all of your books and things that you need to start your education” said Bella, handing Alice a transportation flask.
“Ready?”
Alice nodded.
“You first.”
Alice smashed the flask and walked through the flames, appearing in the larger room that they were in the night before. The room was bustling with people, there were a lot of robes and modest, covering outfits and people were walking in and out of the T.Ps every few seconds.
“Come” said Bella as she appeared behind Alice.
Alice looked around in amazement as she followed Bella towards the large entrance of the room, and as she looked back towards the elevators, she saw Alfred waving at her.
Alice smiled and waved back at Alfred as her and Bella made their way through the giant doorway and into another large room. The room had a huge, pyramid shaped, crystal ceiling that pointed up into the sky and a large, black marble wall on one side of the room where people kept appearing and disappearing through, which was clearly the entrance.
Bella and Alice walked across the room and through the wall, appearing outside. There was a large, wide, white marble staircase leading down to a giant square which was crowded with people and had beautiful fountains, plants and flowers spread throughout.
As they walked down the staircase and onto the square below, Alice looked back in awe. The place that they had just walked out of was a huge compound with several black, pyramid shaped peaks, including the crystal one which Alice had seen from inside.
‘MAGIC COUNCIL’ was written in large, golden letters above the entrance of the compound.
“You guys like your pyramids” said Alice in a raised voice so that Bella could hear her through the crowds of people.
Bella looked back at Alice.
“Pyramids?” she asked with a confused look on her face.
“The shape of the peaks, like the one at Rose Garden” said Alice, pointing back at the compound.
“Ah, yes, the shape of the temple is very sacred to us.”
“Bella Turnox!” said a short, rather chubby old man as they walked down another smaller staircase from the square and onto the cobblestone street below.
The man was wearing a purple robe and was carrying a small, camera like object.
“Hi, Paul” said Bella casually with a hint of dismissiveness in her voice, walking straight past the man.
“Do you have a moment, Miss Turnox? Do you mind if I ask you some questions about the raid last night in the Wild Lands?” asked the man as he shuffled along the street trying to catch up to Bella.
“Not today, Paul” said Bella, looking back to see if Alice was still behind her.
“Very well, Miss Turnox, next time” said the man, turning around and walking off in the other direction.
As they continued walking, they came to another large building on the opposite side of the street to the Magic Council.
‘Terra Monetary Reserve Center’ read a large, golden sign above the entrance.
“This is where you can withdraw gold and silver, you just need to go in, give them your name and fill out a form to activate your account, you will need your wand to be identified each time you go in. The gold from the council will be transferred to your safety box once your account has been activated” said Bella as they continued past the building.
Bella stopped as they reached a four-way intersection, “clothes first” she said as they started walking down the street to the left.
Alice curiously looked around at some of the signs that were placed in front of the stores as she continued following Bella.
‘PLANTS, SEEDS & FUNGI’
‘NATURAL FOODS’
‘NEW & USED MAGICAL BOOKS’
‘FLASKS, POTIONS & REMEDIES’
‘KERA’S FURNITURE’
Bella stopped outside one of the larger stores that had no signs on display.
“This is it, you will be able to find all the clothes you need here, I will take you up to the fitter and she will help you find your robes and dresses” said Bella as they walked inside.
Alice looked around, it resembled somewhat of a department store, there were spiral staircases on either side of the room and large shelves stacked with robes and different types of clothes spread throughout.
Alice followed Bella up one of the staircases to the second level and over to the opposite side of the room where there was a tall, skinny woman with red hair sitting behind a small desk.
“Hello, ladies, how can I help you today?” asked the woman.
“We need this young lady to be fitted for her robes and dresses, she needs a few of each, she also needs a few pairs of shoes” said Bella as she turned and looked at Alice.
“Of course” said the woman, standing up and looking slightly surprised.
“She will sort you out, take your time and get all of the other clothes that you need, get a few robes and a few dresses that you like, I will be downstairs at the snack bar. Once you have everything that you need, come and find me” said Bella before walking off back towards t
he stairs.
“Let’s get you started” said the woman, smiling at Alice and leading her over to the robe shelves.
After over an hour of being in the store, Alice made her way downstairs to the snack bar with a shopping basket full of clothes and found Bella sitting inside reading a small newspaper. The snack bar looked like a café and had a small train moving around a large circular bar in the middle of the room with plates of interesting and strange looking snacks placed on top.
“Hello, did you get everything you need?” asked Bella in a chirpy voice.
“Yes, but I realized I don’t have any money, I need to go to the TMR – “
“This one’s on me, don’t worry” said Bella as she stood up and took the shopping basket from Alice, “we will sort out your account at the TMR later, sit down and have a few snacks, I’ll be right back.”
Bella then walked off towards the counters inside the store with the basket before Alice could say anything.
Alice sat down where Bella had been sitting and picked up the newspaper, the paper was silky and soft and the photographs on the paper were moving as if she were watching a computer screen.
On the front page of the newspaper was Darius Bane, the man that Alice had met earlier at what looked to be a press conference, and as Alice read the headline, her heart suddenly sank.
16 KILLED, 8 ARRESTED DURING WILD LANDS RAID
Sixteen people have been killed and eight arrested during a raid conducted by the People’s Forces late last night in the Wild Lands. The raid reportedly targeted an outlaw settlement of Medelle linked militants and –
“Here you go” said Bella as she walked back into the café, handing Alice a small, black bag before she had a chance to finish reading the article.
“What’s this?” asked Alice.
“All of your clothes. Remember, you are in the world of magic now.”
“Thank you so much, Bella, I can pay you back when – “
“You don’t need to pay me back, save your money for something important. Come, we have one more stop” said Bella, kindly taking the newspaper off Alice.
“That was the raid, wasn’t it?” asked Alice cautiously.
Bella paused for a couple of seconds, looking at Alice.
“Yes, the people that died refused to surrender and fought to the death, three of our people also died. The ones that surrendered will face a fair trial.”
“Are you in the People’s Forces?”
“Yes” replied Bella calmly.
“What is Medelle?”
Bella paused again for a moment.
“The family that we told you about. Let’s go” said Bella kindly.
Alice stood up and followed Bella outside, they walked back along the street in the direction that they had come from until they reached the intersection, where they turned left and stopped at a small little store a couple hundred meters up the street.
‘LIDO’S WANDS’ read the sign in front of the store.
“He’s expecting you” said Bella as they walked inside.
The store was dimly lit with large candles and there were small, carved, wooden boxes placed on shelves all around the room.
“Bella! What a pleasure. I received your letter early this morning, how have you been?” said a short, skinny, elderly man with a big nose and short, grey hair as he walked out from behind the front counter.
“Hello, Lido, long time. I’ve been very well, how have you been? How is Marcia?”
“Too long! Marcia and I have been well as usual, same old, same old. So, this is the one?” asked Lido, staring at Alice, his voice was rather high pitched and croaky.
“This is the one” Bella responded.
“She’s beautiful, just like you. It’s a pleasure to meet you, Alice, I hope you are settling in well” said Lido as he reached out and shook Alice’s hand.
“Pleasure to meet you too, Lido.”
Bella picked up a magazine and sat down on one of the wooden chairs near the front door.
“Come, Alice, let us get started” said Lido as he led Alice into the back room behind the front counter.
There was a long, wooden table in the room with ten differently carved, wooden boxes placed on top and spread out down the table.
Lido walked along the table and slowly opened each of the boxes, there was a wand inside each box.
“Before we start, you must understand that your wand will likely be the most powerful object that you will place your hands on in this world, it will amplify your power and bring forth your magic, it will selflessly link and become one with you and will know everything about you.
“In the material from where you came, your inner state would have shown to have little effect on the physical reality that surrounded you, the same cannot be said about this world. You are now more connected to your surroundings, and with the wand that agrees with you, you will be ever more so connected, you must from this moment on act with the utmost discipline and self-control. Your wand will be your main companion, you must take extreme care and caution with it as if it is a part of yourself” said Lido seriously, staring at Alice.
Alice slowly nodded her head.
“Okay, whenever you are ready, hover your hand just above the first wand for approximately twenty seconds, we are going to find out which strain you are.”
Alice walked up to the table and raised her hand above the first box, the wand inside was a dark green color and after about twenty seconds, a very fine, light red energy briefly twirled around the wand and then disappeared.
“Not this one” said Lido, closing the box and placing it back onto one of the shelves, “same thing for the next one.”
Alice moved on to the second box, inside was a black, wooden wand with a pointy tip, and again after approximately twenty seconds of hovering her hand over the box, the same fine, light red energy twirled around and disappeared.
After about five minutes of slowly making her way down the table, there were only two boxes that remained.
“Don’t worry, we will find it” said Lido as he opened the second last box on the table.
Alice hovered her hand over the black, wooden wand inside and a few seconds later a fine, bright green energy suddenly came to life, twirling around the wand and then making its way around Alice’s hand, finally disappearing inside her palm.
Alice stepped back looking down at her hand, slightly confused as to what just happened.
Lido looked at Alice with a surprised look on his face.
“Interesting, wasn’t expecting that” he said as he took away the other, unopened box from the table.
Alice curiously stared back at Lido.
“It seems as though the strand of the raven has agreed with you, we will need to double check this, there are twelve wands in this family. One moment” said Lido as he walked back into the store.
Lido walked back in a moment later balancing a stack of wooden boxes, placing and opening them along the table.
“The same again, let’s see what happens” said Lido as he again walked out of the room.
Alice made her way down the table, hovering her hand over each of the wands, and the same, red energy appeared each time until finally she reached the last box on the table, which was the same wand that had produced the green energy for her.
“Any luck?” said Lido as he walked back into the room balancing another stack of boxes.
“Not yet.”
Alice reached out her hand and hovered it over the wand, and almost instantly the same, bright green energy appeared from the wand, this time travelling up her arm and twirling around her body, finally disappearing inside her heart.
Lido placed the stack of boxes onto the table and then clapped loudly.
“This, my dear, is undoubtedly your new wand. It is rare for those who have crossed to be of the raven strand, this is a very powerful wand family” said Lido as he carefully picked up the wooden box and held it up in front of Alice.
“Take your wand
.”
Alice carefully picked the wand up out of the wooden box and felt a warm rush flow through her body, and as she looked down at the wand, it momentarily glowed with the same green energy before turning back to its normal appearance.
Bella then walked inside the room.
“I heard the clapping, which strand is she?” she asked curiously.
“Raven” replied Lido proudly.
“I see” said Bella, giving Alice a curious look.
“The same strand as you, I believe” said Lido, smiling at Bella.
“You remember?” asked Bella, smiling back at Lido.
“Of course.”
“Thank you very much, Lido, keep the change” said Bella as she handed Lido a gold coin.
“Thank you, thank you, Bella, you are very generous. It was a pleasure as always.”
“Do you mind if we teleport from here?” asked Bella.
“Of course, not a problem at all.”
Bella turned and faced Alice, removing a small, green, staff like object from her robe that looked as though it was made of Jade.
“It’s getting quite late and I don’t want to go back through the crowds, plus I want to show you this. These are expensive and take at least three days to make, like the TPs, they are magically linked to another location, but they can only be used once. I made this one myself, take ahold, we will appear at my house” said Bella, holding out the object.
Alice reached out and grabbed ahold of the small staff-like object.
“Safe journeys, Lido” said Bella, smiling at Lido before tapping her wand gently onto the staff, there was a small crackling sound and a moment later they were standing in the middle of Bella’s garden, outside her house.
Terra Education Department
Alice woke up and looked at the clock, it was 8am and it was another nice, sunny day, and as she got out of bed and walked over to open the windows, she saw that there was a large raven sitting on the balcony railing, staring at her.