Outcast (Original Story)

Chapter Five: Emotional Baggage Claim (AKA Death by Suitcase) ~Zeldon~

I stepped through the portal, the waving red veil washed over me and I stepped out into the North Star courtyard. There was a thick crowd there already, families crowding around their brand new students and old friends greeting each other with blood-curdling shrieks, you know, the excited, friendly kind. I didn't have either. My dad hadn't talked to me since the Calling ceremony, not that it was much of a change. He pretty much forgot that I was alive a long time ago. Honestly, I was glad to get out of that apartment, it wasn't much of a home, more of a place to sleep in. I adjusted the strap of my duffle bag and quickly walked towards the giant door, or as quickly as you can when wading through a river of people.

Some people would say that this was the start of something new, that I was reaching a new chapter in my life. Some people are also idiots. Other than the tiny revelation that I was one of the first elves since the dawn of time to have a new type of magic, I was the same old Zeldon.

Right before I reached the door I tripped over a suitcase, well, no sane elf would really call it a suitcase. That thing was a light blue wardrobe on wheels.

"I'm so sorry! Are you hurt?" A familiar voice came from above me, "Zeldon, right?"

I peeled my knee off the pavement, "The one and only." When I got up I matched the voice to a face. It was Gwen, the pale girl with paler blonde hair offered to help me up but I ignored her. It's best if you don't need help from anyone.

"I'm so sorry, I was getting distracted and-"

"I do tend to have that effect on people," I said with a smile.

"Not by you, it's just this whole day is so crazy and important and stressful and..." Gwen wrung her hand together and looked off into space.

An elf who looked like an older Gwen and at least a dozen kids stood in a semicircle around her. Sibling I assumed, or else they'd decided to take a small school for a field trip. The elf, who I assumed was her mom, looked at my duffle bag and sighed, "Gwen, I think you may have overpacked a little."

A little? You could put a small dragon in that thing!

"Well I was actually worried I wouldn't have enough, I don't want to be underprepared..." Gwen mumbled nervously.

"Given the fact that you could house a small city in that suitcase I don't think that'll be a problem," I put in helpfully.

"Gwen honey, you're going to be fine. You're stressing too much again. This doesn't need to be perfect, you already have a mom who couldn't be prouder of you, no matter what happens," Gwen's mom put a hand on her cheek.

"Thanks, mom," Gwen said, brushing away the hand and the comment like it was nothing. She seemed bored with it, like she didn't even hear it at all. I felt a pang of jealousy, there wasn't a thing in Brightell I wouldn't give to hear my mom say that to me. By now I realized I was probably intruding on a moment and faded back into the crowd as her mom launched into another motivational speech.

The future students and their families were filing into lines, four banners hung over them, a dark cyan one with a drop of water for the Deltas, a green one with a fern for the Arboreals, a gray-blue with a gust of wind for the Gales, and a red banner with a flame for the Embers. There was no giant sign saying, 'Other'. I debated asking someone but I also didn't feel like being pointed at and hearing, 'Oh my goblins! Look, guys! It's that lightning elf!' another time. If I did I was probably going to resort to saying, 'Oh my goblins! Look, guys! It's an idiot!' and that probably wouldn't be taken well.

Ember line it is then!

The line moved slowly towards a table with lots of important-looking papers, every time the elf behind the table would yell "NEXT!" and the line would move up about an inch. This was going to be a long afternoon.