This chapter wasedited by angelhair16 and Random_Afterthoughts
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Question of the day: how does it feel to go through a portal?
Unlike the first time, Irene was conscious when she traveled through it this time. Therefore, she could describe how it felt precisely.
At first, she felt nothing. It was just like walking into a long, light green cave with sparkles everywhere. But after she finished taking her third step, nausea hit her guts. The smell of the cave got worse and worse with every passing second. It smelt like a mixture of vomit and public toilets. For the rest of the trip, she just felt like she was going to die. And 'the rest of the trip' felt like forever.
"Seven seconds," announced Elswood, checking his wristwatch, with an amused smile on his face. "It's pretty good for a newbie!" He patted his daughter's shoulder. "So, welcome to Z! You'll live and study here until summer comes. Isn't it great? You've never been to a boarding school, have you?"
Irene just shook her head. Still feeling pretty nauseated, she put her hands on her knees and faced the ground. When she looked up, her head started to spin again. But she could see what was before her.
There was a tall, gigantic gate that made her felt like a dwarf. The white gate was at least twenty feet tall and ten feet wide, with tendrils full of thorns circling around it. When she looked past the gate, she could see nothing. On top of the gate was a carved symbol, Z.
Was Elswood about to throw her into a boot camp? Because it looked a lot like that just from the gate.
And were they going in or what?
Irene shot a look at the man beside her. She raised a brow and crossed her arms. Then she started tapping her feet.
Elswood cleared his throat. "Oh, yeah, I forgot," he muttered. "Shaw, it's me, Julius. Please open the gate."
Irene had no idea who he was talking to and just looked at him like he was a nutcase. "Are you sure that's how you open this ... massive gate? Because I'm pretty sure that's not how people open—"
The gate parted. Elswood just looked at her with the same exciting expression he always had.
They walked past the entrance just in time before the gate closed by itself with a loud thud.
"That was scary, you know?" commented Irene.
"You will find most of the things here scary," said Elswood, "at first," he quickly added. "What you just saw is one of Shaw's plants. The gate won't open unless Shaw wills it to."
"Who's Shaw?" The name itself sounded like a serial killer to her. Never mind his 'ability' to open a gate by his will.
"Oh, you'll know soon. A teacher. A nice guy."
Irene doubted it, but she didn't say. She was far too annoyed by her (well, the granny's) outfit that she was still wearing at the moment. She was going to a new school already labeled as a loser.
Not that she thought much about it. Duh.
The pathway to the other end was terribly far. There were open spaces on each side of the path. Some students were sitting and eating on the grass, but most of them were sitting at the long tables placed on stone tiles.
Outdoor cafeteria. Cool.
What wasn't cool was that everyone was looking at her. Curiosity coated their faces.
She decided to ignore them. They were probably wondering who had invited a bum to their prestigious, magical school. As she continued walking while pulling the hem of Elswood's coat, a pale guy ran towards them. He was wearing a maroon sweater with a Z symbol on the left side of his chest. The white collar of his dress shirt stuck out beneath the maroon sweater and he was wearing a pair of black pants.
She looked back and forth between the guy and the other students. They were all wearing identical outfits.
Great, thought Irene. Never mind the majestic school area, it was still a boarding school and they had uniforms.
Behind the guy was a girl that looked exactly like him: tall, pale, blond, with freckles on her face.
"You must be a new student!" beamed the guy who was out of breath when they finally reached Irene.
Irene glanced at Elswood who just gave her a shrug.
"Yeah."
The girl whispered something to the guy. Whatever it was, it alarmed him. He shifted his gaze to Elswood with his hands shaking. Then he looked at the girl again and nodded. After that, they exchanged what could be the creepiest smile of smile history.
"Good morning, Sir Elswood," both of them bowed.
"Hey, kids."
The girl cleared her throat. "Since you're a new student, you must come with us!" she said in a total made-up cute voice. Then, she nudged the guy.
"I'm Hank Sherwood."
"I'm Cecil Sherwood. People know us as the Sherwood siblings," she said. "My brother is the student body president and I'm his second-in-charge. The job has been passed down in the Sherwood household for generations."
Irene really hated that smug smile. Maybe the girl—Cecil—wasn't aware she was doing it, but she looked like she's going to write books like Keeping Up with Sherwoods or something in the future.
"Anyway, we're responsible of escorting new students," continued Cecil.
Irene looked at Elswood again, raising an eyebrow. The man just shrugged while looking somewhere between constipated and about to crack into a laugh fit.
Elswood showed his set of perfect teeth in a big smile at the Sherwoods. "I guess my daughter will be in good hands then?"
The siblings nodded eagerly.
"Well, my daughter is new here, like really new. I hope you guys can guide her well. I'll be counting on you." He patted the Sherwoods' heads.
"Of course, Sir!"
Irene had never seen someone as enthusiastic as the Sherwood siblings. Just looking at their smiles gave her goosebumps. She tugged Elswood away from the crazy siblings. "You know them?" she asked.
The man shook his head. "But I think they know me."
"Like I haven't noticed," Irene muttered. "So now you're going to leave me here with these creepy people? Then, I'm going to start studying about freaks?"
Elswood frowned. "We are not freaks, Irene," he said calmly, though there was a sharp edge to his voice. "This is where you've always belonged. You'll find people like you soon after you're free from the Unknown title—"
"Unknown?"
"Well, we haven't figured out what your talent is. We call people like you Unknown."
Irene huffed. She didn't just arrive here looking like a loser—she was one.
She closed her eyes for a few seconds. She hoped it was all a dream, a very adventurous dream. But she shook her head when she realized everything surrounding her was as real as she was.
"You're leaving?" She might have thought about having more chit-chats with her newfound father. Like, how his life had been or why did he leave in the first place?
Elswood smiled. "You'll do great here. I can assure you that. Now you should go with the Sherwoods."
"I really don't want to be with them," she whispered. She glanced at the Sherwoods. She highly suspected they were playing secret student council president / vice president game.
"I think they're nice." Elswood got a who-are-you-kidding look from his daughter and he chuckled. "Okay, a little weird, but nice."
"How can I contact you?"
Elswood mouth formed an 'O'. He held up a finger and put the other hand into his pocket. "I almost forgot. This, ... take this." He handed her a stone.
"A stone," stated Irene.
"A stone." Elswood nodded.
It was as if Irene was struck by a zap of lightning, "You're kidding."
Looking uneasy, Elswood rambled, "It's another Lumin stone like the one I've told you about. This red one is for communication. Just say 'Julius Elswood', or 'Dad' if, uh ... you want to," he cleared his throat. "Throw it to the ground. And I'll pop up in a form of light. Sometimes in smoke form too. Then you can talk to my projection."
Irene took the red stone and shoved it into her pocket while muttering a low 'thank you'. She had to check if she was secretly schizophrenic—another magical stone, bah!
"I've bought some clothes for you. They're already in your room. I don't know if you'll like them or not ..."
Irene gave a short hum.
"I better go now," announced Elswood.
Before he turned to go, Irene asked, "When will I see you again? I mean, in person. Not in some smoke, light thing," she asked. "Will I ever go back to Mom?"
She should be sad that she was away from her mom. But the truth was, it felt just like those days when she was gone for filming.
Elswood shook his head. "I don't know about living with your mother, but you probably need to get your stuff from your house. On summer vacation, I'll pick you up, and you can stay with me and a couple of my friends in our house. It would be fun, I promise. And of course, you can visit your mother from time to time."
"You promised a lot of things today."
"I'm a man of my word," he said.
"There really is no way I can back out, go home, or go back to that granny's house, isn't there?"
"I'll see you in summer," answered the man. "Alright, I better go." He tapped his foot three times and the same greenish portal popped out of thin air. "I'll see you soon." He waved his hand and stepped into the portal. In a few short seconds, the portal was gone.
Now she was left with the two freaks.
Irene turned around very slowly. She put on a smile, although it looked more like a grimace. It contrasted with the wide, creepy smile the Sherwoods was giving her.
She walked towards the two. "I'm Irene ... Irene Elswood." The new surname tasted weird on her tongue. That made her think of her mother. Did Madam Corneille also make her forget about last night? Knowing her mom, she wouldn't just stay calm when her daughter went missing in the morning. Or maybe something worse had happened: Did Madam Corneille make her forget about her entirely?
She was so lost in her thoughts that she didn't hear Cecil Sherwood telling her about the history of Z even with her high-pitched voice. She just followed the student body presidents quietly from behind.
"Irene? Irene?"
That snapped her out of her thoughts. "Yes?" She was no longer standing on the pathway. She was inside the school building. Behind her was a tall iron door, probably as tall as the gate. The ceiling was unbelievably high. On one side of the large empty room was a table with a woman sitting behind it. The middle-aged woman had thick red lipstick on her lips. Her dirty blond hair was hanging straight just a little above her shoulders, and her bangs went past her eyes. Behind the woman was a small door. Well, it was pretty small compared to the other doors she'd seen so far.
"That's Madam Clay, she's our registrar," whispered Hank Sherwood. "I don't think she's in a good mood today," he added.
His sister rolled her eyes. "She's never in a good mood. She's Madam Clay." Nonetheless, Cecil jumped cheerfully towards the registrar like a ball of happiness and lollipops. "Hello, Madam Clay! How's your day?" she beamed.
Madam Clay shot her a sharp look. If it were an animation, the edge of her eyes would be glinting. "What do you want, Sherwood?"
"I guess you're having a brilliant day! Well, I'm just delivering the new student." Cecil gestured Irene and Hank to step forward. "Come on, introduce yourself," she said to Irene.
Irene looked at the registrar. The woman didn't seem interested in knowing her. "I'm, um, Irene Elswood."
There was a sudden change of expression on Madam Clay's face. She looked like she had just won a lottery. "Elswood? Oh, I know your father! He was a great man! I hope you'll do as well as he had! Oh, snap! You will need uniforms, what else? Ugh, that thing you're wearing is ugly. I believe Sir Elswood just came here the other day and brought a large suitcase. He went to the girls bunker to deliver your clothes, I suppose. Oh, what a great father! What else ... what else ... ooh, books! And a timetable! I'll get those in a sec!" She disappeared into the door behind her.
"I've never seen her that excited," commented Hank.
"Neither have I," added Cecil.
Her father seemed to be a famous guy in Z, judging from what happened when the Sherwoods met him and now Madam Clay. A famous actress for a mom and ... what did he call it? Ace? Yep, and a famous Ace for a dad. It didn't feel as good when you knew you were a loser.
Madam Clay came back with five thick books. "Now, now, what's your talent?" she asked, holding up her laced fingers with her eyes widened. Instead of looking like Sadness from Inside Out, she looked like Roz from Monster Inc.
"Um ..." What talent was she talking about? Then she remembered what Elswood said. Right, she thought. She was the loser. "I'm an Unknown."
The registrar raised a brow. She forced back a smile. "Still undetermined, huh? Don't worry, it will come soon." She handed Irene five thick, blue books and a purple one, which was equally thick.
History of Z (blue),
What You Must Keep in Mind (blue),
Let's Mix It! (blue),
It's Magyk! (blue)
Floras All Over the World (and Perhaps, Beyond) (purple),
You Better Watch Out for These Beasts! (blue).
"You're in beginner classes, except for Floras because Madam Jenkins just resigned months ago. There are no substitutes at the moment. I hope you can catch up with advanced Floras." Madam Clay shot her a sympathetic smile. "And this is your timetable." She gave Irene a piece of paper.
She would be taking History, Law, Floras, Fauna, Magic, Potions, Combat, and one-on-one tutoring with determined students.
"Is everything okay?" asked Madam Clay.
She looked up from the timetable. "Um, wait."
Taking History and Law were not okay. Floras sounded fine. Fauna sounded nasty. Magic? Oh, well, things had been weird lately anyway. Potions? If she had to mix frog's pee and spit and drink it afterwards, she was 100% sure she would be leaving the school. And why on earth would she be taking Combat class? Was it like Boxing 101 or Fighting for Dummies? Everything sounded worse than Math!
"What is one-on-one tutoring?" she asked.
"Well, since your power's still an Unknown, you have to practice as much as you can even if it's for another talent."
Irene didn't get it, but she wasn't that curious either. "Do you have any paperbacks?" asked her.
"What?"
She waved her hand dismissively, "Nevermind." She muttered a 'thank you' before taking the books from the table. The books were as heavy as her mother's suitcase. She turned to the Sherwoods. "Can we put these somewhere first?"
From behind, Madam Clay chuckled. "Oh, honey, you're so funny. Let the goblins do their jobs, okay?" And then she whistled very loudly.
Two small, green creatures came running from the east wing. They had fat bellies, skinny legs and a pair of pointed ears. They couldn't be taller than a meter. Judging from the expression on their flat, wide faces, it looked like the whistle had annoyed them. They were murmuring some words Irene couldn't make out. It sounded nowhere near English. For a good five seconds, she couldn't help but gawked at the two green creatures. "Goblins. You have goblins. They really ... exist!"
Okay, her father could make portals that could travel anywhere was weird. Hell, everything that had happened since her birthday had been ridiculous. But seeing creatures she had thought only existed in movies was on another level. Would she encounter trolls next?
"Of course we do, foolish hummy!" said one of the goblins in English. It was hard to tell them apart, but the one talking had a squeaky voice.
Madam Clay glared at the goblin. "Meet Greeniewick and Jackiewick!" she introduced. "Greenie, go take these to her room." She gave Greeniewick half of Irene's books.
"But we're having breakfast!"
"Now."
While Madam Clay and the goblins were at each other's throats, Irene leaned toward Cecil's ear and whispered, "What's hummy?"
"Their term for humans. Just ignore it." Cecil shushed.
Madam Clay was still glaring at the goblins. "Greenie!"
"I'm Jackie!"
"Not my fault you all look the same," said Madam Clay.
Irene couldn't blame her. She doubted anyone could tell them apart. They even sounded the same - high pitched and squeaky.
"Now, Greenie, take the other half to her room. Go!" ordered the registrar.
The goblin scurried away with the books.
With a cat-like, satisfied smile, Madam Clay turned back to Irene. "I suppose you should have a tour."
'Tour' meaning Irene had to stroll around the school campus with the siblings again. It's not that she didn't like the two. Sure, they were weird, but she'd seen worse. But the way they seemed to worship the ground she walked on creeped her out.
"I think I'll just rest—"
Cecil grabbed her by her shoulders and spun her around. "Oh, you silly girl. You don't want to miss the tour. Don't you want to know what's on the second floor? Or the fourth? Or what was outside? Have you seen the eatery? You have so much to discover, come on!" She pulled Irene to follow her. Her brother led the way.
Irene could only shout out her gratitude to Madam Clay as the siblings dragged her out of the building.
--
Z School of the Talented and Basically Supernatural Peeps turned out to be a huge school. It was located on Saint Mont Island, pretty close to the border between Canada and USA. It was a private island, owned by the government. Which government? That was classified information. Wikipedia didn't elaborate that much. Probably because it was just an alibi for the elder of Ace to build a school that was bigger than Disneyland.
Okay, that was exaggerated.
The school was secured with thick, bewitched metal walls and a wooden gate that wouldn't open unless a man called Shaw—or Sir White, as Sherwoods called him—willed it to. Students were not allowed to go anywhere beyond the gate. Not like anyone would try because outside Z was just ... a bunch of trees and vast ocean. Unless you got a ferry to pick you up, you were pretty much doomed.
The five-story school building was divided into four wings: north, south, east, and west. The east wing was the girls' dormitory. Every room had about ten bunk beds. There were at least 80 rooms on the east wing. The same went with the west wing, where the boys slept. North wing was for teachers and classes while the south wing was used for one-on-one mentoring. Most of the rooms in the south wing were empty.
Irene didn't get to meet her roommates because Cecil was persistent that she had to explore the whole campus first. Not like she was thrilled to meet them, but it would be nice to know if the girls had any strange sleeping habits like snoring, gritting their teeth, or killing others in their sleep? What could she say, she watched a lot of movies. She really couldn't stand snoring. It could easily disturb her sleep. Good thing Cecil assured her that her bunkmate was a kind, quiet girl called Jeanette Robert.
After exploring the main building, the three went to the eatery, which was called cafeteria in normal schools.
There you would be served with good meals 24/7, prepared by people with cooking talent. The eatery was the place filled with students where Irene saw when she first arrived. Students went to the eatery for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Hank Sherwood said that it was also fine to take some snacks in between.
At the back of the school, not far from the eatery was an open field which was completely barren. The soil was brown and it got a little slippery after the rain fell. It was where the students studied 'Combat'— which means where students fought each other. Cecil said the worst record of a student who got wounded rested for a month in the infirmary.
Yep, another what-the-hell blow for Irene. She decided Combat was going to be her least favorite class.
At the other corner of the schoolyard was the woods which was home to every kind of animal (be it strange or not) that the students needed to study about. Both Hank and Cecil said that place was the only place on Z that smelt bad. They also said that they hated that place, but they took the class anyway to set a good example.
Ahead of the woods was a big greenhouse, where students would study Floras. When they looked at the greenhouse from outside, Irene noticed a guy inside watering the plants. He was tall with broad shoulders and messy jet-black hair. He was only wearing a white shirt and black pants, the school's maroon sweater tossed over his shoulders. He didn't tuck his shirt in, unlike Hank.
Irene had seen many guys with the usual stereotypes - bad boys, players, model students ... but she'd never seen one watering plants. But she let it go, anyway. It was a school for freaks—maybe watering plants was the it thing.
"Who is he?" she pointed at the guy, asking the siblings who were standing on each sides of her.
"Oh." Cecil sounded almost disappointed that Irene asked. "He's Logan Kassel. He's been living in Z all his life," she said. "At least, that's what I've heard. Brooding, very handsome, charming, and has a pair of the most beautiful grey orbs you'll ever see. He's drop dead gorgeous. I mean, I know his aura screams 'get the hell away from me,' but—"
"Stay focused, Cecil," warned Hank.
Cecil cleared her throat. "Alright. He never loses in the Tournament! Everyone who's—"
Irene asked, "What is the Tournament?"
"You've never heard about it?" asked Hank.
There were two choices in Irene's head: tell the truth or lie. They had been expecting her to know everything because she was an Elswood. They got a disappointed look whenever she didn't know something. And Irene didn't feel like explaining how mundane she really was.
They had no idea that she had just been told she was supposed to have some crazy, magical talent about two hours ago. Earlier, the two had asked why she had come to Z when she was already grown up, but she brushed it off with a simple "Why not?"
"Uh ..." her brows furrowed, almost touching each other. "No, I haven't." She decided that they would have found out anyway someday.
"Remember the large field in the middle of the main building? The Tournament is held there. It's like a monthly evaluation. The teachers, seniors, and just about everyone at Z will evaluate your talent," explained Cecil.
"Since you're still an Unknown, let's just hope your talent is revealed before the Tournament." Cecil gave Irene a reassuring smile.
"I suppose you didn't live with Sir Elswood before?" asked Hank.
Busted.
Irene shook her head, tugging a strand of hair behind her ear. "No," she said. "You know what, I actually just met him last night. So it'd be nice if you guys don't treat me like some kind of royalty."
The siblings went still for about two seconds before Cecil's face cracked into a grin. "Whatever, right? Come on, let's check out the food. I'm starving!" The girl pulled Irene's arm as she headed to the eatery.
Irenecouldn't see the guy when she looked at the greenhouse again before followingthe siblings.