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I sit in my bed in my dorm room looking out the window. Today is the seventh day, the day I leave the mage school. The human part of me wants to stay and continue learning and exploring the world beyond the campus. The other part of me, the part the mantle has fused with so far, wants me to leave this place and follow the low pitch whining I have been shutting out this whole time.
A small series of knocks comes from the door of my room. I get up and answer it, not sure of who would go out of their way to see me. I can’t say the students of this school have been too fond of me being here. I open the door to be met by a familiar greyhound like snout poking through the crack of the door.
“May I come in David,” asks Anubis while sniffing through the small space in the opening of the door.
“Yes sir.” I open the door all the way to let Anubis into the room. I walk over to the bed and sit down as Anubis closes the door behind him.
“David, I want to say thank you for conducting yourself like a true mage while on my campus. You surprised me and my staff with how quickly you have grasped and applied the concepts of magic. I came here to take you to your next destination. You will be learning combat principles from Thor. It will be a simple lesson and you will only be spending a day or two with him, but I warn you now you're going to wish it was only minutes.”
I want to be concerned about what Anubis said but I can't stop looking at his tie dye cat tee shirt that he wears all the time under his vest. It’s so out of place for a person that speaks so regally, and demands respect for his position. I have to know why he would risk appearing so hypocritical over something as simple as a tee shirt.
“Sir I was wondering-”
“It’s the shirt David. I know you want to know about the shirt,” Anubis comments with what sounds like a sigh of relief.
“Yeah, it is. It has been stuck in my mind this whole time. It just feels so out of character for you.” I feel like I’m being a little ballsy with saying that, but he did bring it up first.
“Bast. When all the gods fled to the Land of Nod with Lucifer, the angels pursued us. Lucifer and some of the other gods stood to fight the angels so the others could get away. Bast stayed to fight with me at my side with Odin, Zeus, and a handful of demigods. We fought hard to protect the freedom of all gods but the angel's numbers were too great. The demi gods fled at the sight of the angels' power just leaving us gods and Lucifer to fight. We fought hard and thought we were winning but the archangels arrived and turned the tide of battle. Bast fought the archangel Micheal so beautifully. She looked like she was dancing and just having fun, but that's when Micheal ran her through. She looked at me before she died and I lost myself. I was mere seconds away from burning my soul up so I could destroy them all and Lucifer put his hand on my shoulder with tears in his eyes. He told me to live and let the pain of love make me stronger. Lucifer agreed to surrender himself as long as they let the rest of us go. The angels agreed and took Lucifer and imprisoned him. Lucifer’s smart and already knew of the prison that awaited him. So when he created the Land of Nod he created pathways and mirrors where we could peer into his prison and even talk to him at times. I'm sure he has seen you here.”
“Wow, wait! Wouldn't Lucifer want me to fail? I'm kind of working for his pissed off dad, and the angels that you all fought.” I can feel a sense of panic rise up within my chest like acid reflux.
“The faceless one and his angels are no longer a concern to us David, so don't worry. You’re safe with us. To ease your mind let me tell you about the shirt. When building the mage school Bast was helping me prepare things for the other gods to make this place their home. On our seventh day of being here she came to me and told me that we were entitled to a rest. If the faceless one was allowed to rest on the seventh day so should we. She tossed me a shirt and told me I needed to dress the part. People needed to see me relax. The shirt was a tie dye kitten shirt. I hated it and never wore it. After the battle happened and we lost her I was overrun with sorrow. When a soul is destroyed you stop existing. The thought of her no longer being part of this world in any capacity made my heart heavy. In an attempt to keep the spirit of who she was alive I wear the shirt and have many others like it. She was my friend and she gave her life in such a beautiful way and I wish to honor that selfless sacrifice.” Tears build in the corners of Anubises eyes.
“Anubis, I'm sorry if I ever disrespected this place in any form. I will do what I can to honor her memory and I won't let such things happen again if I can do anything about it. We all possess a soul so we are all family.”
“David, do you truly mean that? Would you betray your god and stand against him if such behavior wasn’t acceptable to him? I hope with all my heart you mean what you say David, but only time will tell. For now I have faith in you because Ciel has faith in you. Ciel has lived a lot of life David and I would strongly recommend you stay close to him even when his stances appear to challenge your own. Come now David, the staff wishes to see you off.” Anubis waves his hand towards the door.
Anubis and I make our way through the dormitory. I may have only been here for a week but I feel a strong sense of nostalgia walking through the dormitory halls. We exit the dormitory through its large front doors. On the front lawn of the dormitory stads the six teachers who gave my lectures during my short time here in the mage’s school. They stand lined up in a row in front of a portal. I feel I can safely assume that the portal is to take me to my next lesson. At the front of the line stands Mr. Marslow from my magic laws lecture. I walk up to Mr. Marslow and he smiles as much as a clay golem can smile. He takes his two pointer fingers and places them into the corners of his mouth pulling upward to mold a larger smile.
“David, you consumed the laws of magic like it was feeding your very soul. Stay hungry my boy, but never let your hunger consume more than what your belly is ready to handle.” Mr. Marslow shakes my right hand with his two large damp hands.
“Thank you sir. I'll make sure to eat like a bird. Constantly but never gorging.” I’m sure this answer demonstrates my understanding of Mr. Marslow’s comment.
Mr. Marsow smiles and steps out of the way revealing Professor Vroot sitting on the ground behind him. Professor Vroot is sitting on his hind legs twitching his rabbit nose looking up at me. I bend over to lean down and-
“Don't you fucken bend down to me like I'm some child boy. I may be a rabbit but I can still beat your ass senseless if you ever engaged me in a battle of magic. Let that be a lesson you take with you on the road boy. Not everything is as it seems so don't be quick to judge a situation by its face value. You won't have me to save your ass out there so learn quickly,” Professor Vroot says while cleaning his face with his two little paws.
“If anyone has taught me the value of not taking things at face value it has been you Professor Vroot. You have also taught me some valuable lessons on the power of the imagination in creating magic sir.”
“Aye of course I have. I wouldnt have got this fucking job if I wasnt magical in all that I do David. You got your words of wisdom for the road now piss off.” Professor Vroot hops a few times clearing the path for the next teacher.
Behind where Professor Vroot stood, my shield spell teacher Mr. Smith waits for his turn to speak with me. His face is almost stoic if it wasn't for the small traces of doubt that twitched behind his eyes. His mouth begins to twitch as well as he stutters trying to find the proper words to describe what he wanted to convey to me.
“Da da David. You’re a gifted student but I fear your mind will be open to attack. You have all this new knowledge that doesn't quite line up with what you grew up feeling is the truth. Living a human life and only knowing one aspect of your god can leave you open to being rattled by new truths or at least ones that challenge what you feel is the truth. Please make sure to shield your mind and when you feel shaken by life don't retreat into yourself. Shield yourself and push forward David.”
Mr. Smith’s words leave me with a heavy sense of duty, but I would be lying if I said they didn't leave me feeling concerned as well. Mr. Smith nods and steps out of the way to reveal Randy who has been towering over Mr. Smith just looking down at me the whole time. I find Randy a little pervy to be honest but the female students seem to respond to his being tall, dark and handsome.
“David. I would implore you to cast your magic with passion when you can, and with restraint when passion would consume you. You must know when to let yourself feel your magic and when to command it. I see greatness in you David, but don't be afraid to love what you do.” Randy leans over and kisses me on each check. I'm sure it is a cultural thing so I think nothing of it as he steps aside for the next teacher.
Mr. Songsguard the telekinesis teacher stands there waiting with his arms crossed with a slight upward tilt in the left crease of his mouth suggesting he might have been fighting off the urge to smile. His artificial limbs still twirling with life, moving gracefully as he unfolds his arms and sticks out his hand to shake mine.
“David, I think I may have been wrong about you. I'm not a fan of showing off, but after taking some time to think about it, I understand you were merely just showing me that you have already grasped what you have learned in a short period of time. How quickly you learned it made me angry, maybe even jealous if I'm being honest with you David. Please forgive me for acting out of ego.” Mr. Songsguard stutters as he struggles to get out those last words.
“I understand sir and I am most thankful for your guidance. Without your help I wouldn't have been able to learn as fast as I did. I want you to know I take all of this very seriously and want to do all I can to make a difference in a way that supports everyone.”
“Good. I’m glad to hear that David. I'm holding you up because you still have some other training to do before you leave the Land of Nod and the last thing I want to do is hold you up.” Mr. Songsguard says, smiling through his sharp features.
Mr. Songsguard moves out of the way gracefully revealing Beth from the conjuring lectures. I don't know how much I can trust her with her being an agent of sin. If Anubis trusts her to teach at this school I will have to put some faith into that even though every part of me screams to push her away from myself as far as I can.
“David, I know you don't think much of me with your christian upbringing, but you know I can be trusted and soon enough you will learn to put faith in that trust. Don't take my word for it David because time will tell, and by the way Bob says to not forget his cigarettes when you get back,” Beth says with a wide grin on her face knowing she has gotten under my skin a bit.
Bob is an agent of sin, but I had no choice but to trust him. It still haunts me a bit that I trusted him to get us out of the Hellscape. Would he betray me? No. We made a deal and as long as I keep sending him cigarettes he should not be a problem. Demons are known for keeping their deals right, or are they more known for twisting them? No matter what the case is I need to play along until I have achieved enough power to be able to do something if everything went south. I wave goodbye to all the teachers and Anubis knowing that this brief moment in my life will become fleeting. I’m bound to experience more surreal experiences. The novelty of this experience will eventually fade from uniqueness and bleed into the mediocre memories of my mind. I feel guilty thinking such a thing but It’s true. It just makes me want to love them more for even being part of my experience. My emotions are growing in complexity but yet simplifying my life in its perspective. Is the mantle grasping at my thoughts now digging deeper, or is it challenging my mind to evolve in its own way?
Putting my feelings aside I look into the portal ahead of me knowing that the next step of my journey is seconds away, and that it will most likely change me as well. I wonder will I even resemble me any more once I reach my journeys end? There are times to ponder, and there are times to take action until you can find a moment to reflect deeply. Now is the time to take action and to walk into the unknown of the portal before me.