You guys all rawk! Migraine's not entirely gone (residue headache), prom is past, homework load is lightening, and Mother's Day has sucked my wallet (and thus my social life) dry. Time for the next chapter!
Majischul Book 1: Banvutu'u Majischul!
Chapter 3: Up a Cloud without a Parachute
Created 2008 by LinneaKou Studios LTD.
My first flying lesson.
Ohohohohoho. Did I mention I was deathly afraid of heights?
"Uh, I think there's been a mistake..." I attempted as I trotted alongside (well, actually, behind) Lord Lucia as he escorted me to my first official class at Majishul. "You see, I can't fly."
"Hm? Oh, well. You'll learn quickly. You must--" he fixed me with a cerulean stare that made me go weak at the knees and threatened to make me faint again. "If you have made my aunt's spell act the way it did, you must be a powerful Fatina."
"Like I said," I quickly replied. "It could be a mista... WAITAMINUTE SHE'S YOUR AUNT??!"
Lord Lucia blinked and smiled. "Yes. Mistress Lightbringer is my Aunt Fiora." He laughed as if to say "Didn't you know that?"
"So she's a Lady?"
"Yup."
"As in nobility?"
"Mm-hm."
"And she chose to run a school?"
"That's the only reason I'm even
on Earth," answered Lord Lucia. "My parents wouldn't have allowed me to come here if Aunt Fiora wasn't the headmistress."
"Ohhhh..." That made sense.
"Come on, Lìnnia-douchi. You don't want to be late."
"Okay... I mean, HOLD UP A SECOND!" I blinked and dug in my heels.
He turned around to face me with an amused expression on his face.
"How do you know my name? And how did you know where my dorm was going to be? I hadn't even been tested!"
However incorrectly that may turn out to be...Lord Lucia tilted his head. "I see the future sometimes. It was a hunch."
A pretty darn good one.
"And my name?"
"My Aunt told me."
Ah. Perfectly valid.
"If we could, Lìnnia-douchi? I don't want to keep Lady Kachamin waiting."
Who??
My face must have said it all, because Lord Lucia quickly added, "The flying instructor."
Oh.
He hooked his elbow through mine again and led me off, me trying to back out of it all the way.
No good. I was trapped.
FLYING! AAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!
As soon as Lord Lucia and I entered the field where the lesson would take place, a collective gasp rose from the female section (I kid you not, there was NO coed crowds going on) and assorted grunts and snorts from the guys.
I gulped. This is what happens when I'm faced with three things I hate: A, the prospect of flying; B, the prospect of making a fool of myself; and C, crowds.
Wow, suddenly I feel lightheaded.
Lord Lucia gave the crowd a dignified smile and nodded politely. "Good morn to all of you."
I ducked behind him and hid my burning face.
"Lucia!"
Lord Lucia turned with a wide smile. "Salima!"
A short, willowy blond girl ran forward and embraced him warmly.
My hopes (I had HOPES??) came crashing down. He had a girlfriend??
"You're just on time," said a tall, dark-haired guy, stepping forward to do some kind of buddy-handshake with Lord Lucia.
"I hope so," Lord Lucia replied. "I wouldn't want Lìnnia-douchi to be late for her first flying lesson."
The blond girl blinked. "Who?"
Lord Lucia stepped aside and revealed me (WHYYYYYY GOD WHYYYYYY??) and gestured me forward. "Lìnnia-douchi, these are my close friends: Duke Talika--"
The dark-haired guy bowed.
"And his lady, Salima."
The blonde curtsied, then twined her arm through the tall guy's.
Wait... so the blonde was the other guy's girlfriend?
Oh. Okay. I'm cool. That's nice.
WHY WAS I FEELING SO RELIEVED?? STOP FEELING RELIEVED, YOU IDIOT!
Lord Lucia introduced me. "This is Lìnnia-douchi, a transfer."
"You're a human?" Salima asked, tilting her head and causing a cascade of gold hair to slide down her shoulders.
I nodded mutely.
"This is quite rare indeed," Duke Talika said. "A Class One Fatina from Earth? It has never happened before."
"There's a first time for everything," Lord Lucia said, grinning.
The three of them looked at me again, and I flinched.
"She's quite uncomfortable," said Salima. "Let me take care of her this lesson. I'm not as fair a flyer as Lucia," she added aside to me. "But don't worry - Lady Kachamin is a wonderful teacher; you'll be in shape in no time."
"That's what I'm afraid of," I squeaked.
Salima gave me an odd look. "What, do you fear the heights?"
"Yes!!" I said empathetically. "Yes, yes, I'm very afraid!"
Lord Lucia looked at me in a sideways glance. "Really? I didn't realize."
"Oh, Lucia, always the brash one?" Duke Talika teased. He turned to me and offered a hand.
Feeling unsure, I took it.
He kissed it in a gentlemanly manner and gave me a warm smile. "You needn't worry about Lucia. His enthusiasm can drain us all at one point or another."
Lord Lucia made a face. "Don't give her the wrong impression!"
"But it's true, isn't it?" chirruped Salima cheerfully. "You do feed off of others' energy at times. Not in a bad way, of course," she added, grinning at me. "He isn't a leech."
I closed my mouth and nodded.
"All right, students, settle down! Settle down!" A high-pitched voice interrupted us and the three Othrworlders turned. I glanced around Duke Talika and finally saw the teacher.
A tiny green-skinned woman with big black eyes and curly brown hair zoomed over the field and hovered a good three feet off the ground. "Is everyone here?" she asked in her squeaky Piskie voice (for she WAS a Piskie). "Everyone is here? Good." She nodded seriously, and crossed her arms. "No stragglers, I see? I see no stragglers."
"Lady Kachamin repeats herself often," Salima murmured, smiling. "She talks so fast, she has to let her mind catch up with her words."
I nodded, silent. I didn't trust myself to speak.
"All right!" Lady Kachamin clapped her tiny hands and zoomed up a little higher. "The lesson you've all been waiting for is about to begin!"
The class cheered. I didn't.
My mouth was getting dry.
Here was the moment of truth!
"Hey, it's the
human girl!"
I recognized the voice instantly. Rojye, the guy who had talked down on Sara this morning!
I winced, cursing at Fate for placing another confrontation in my path.
Lord Lucia suddenly appeared at my side. "You know Lìnnia-douchi?" he asked evenly, though his face suggested other moods.
Rojye crossed his arms. "Well, if it isn't Lord Ladylike. Decided not to go back home, eh, Lucia?"
"I haven't the slightest idea what you're talking about," Lucia replied. "Unlike you, I find a change in scenery to be quite quaint."
"Preposterous! An Othrworlder who actually WANTS to stay in this cesspool?"
I felt myself bristle. "Earth isn't a cesspool!" I snapped. "It's a diverse world just like yours! It's just different, that's all!"
"It's lower class," complained Rojye. "No decent subspace networking, no connecting to other planets... by the Shadows, you don't even have LIFE on other planets in this Sol System, do you?"
"We're working on it," I shot back.
"Peace, Lord, lady," Duke Talika broke in. He nodded curtly to Rojye, who crossed his arms.
Salima placed a hand on my shoulder. "He's right," she said to the sulking Noble. "Don't fight with Lìnnia-douchi on her first day at Majischul."
"You're calling her a douchi?" Rojye demanded. "How dare you dirty that name!"
"What?" I asked, confused.
"'Douchi' means 'gifted one'," Salima explained. "I think it describes you well."
I blushed violently. "Well, I... I mean..."
"She's a HUMAN!" Rojye exploded. "Humans aren't 'gifted'. They should not even be Magick Users!"
"That's enough!" Lord Lucia snarled, stepping in front of me. "Take back your words and speak not to Lìnnia-douchi unless you can speak without venom."
"I shall speak to the human however I so please!"
"NOT IN MY CLASS!"
I jumped in surprise as Lady Kachamin popped up in front of me and glared at Rojye. "You shall speak to all persons of this Creation with a civil tongue and never otherwise, or else I shall make sure you return home in shame!"
Rojye backed off, glaring at me.
But I didn't DO anything! Why was he mad at ME??!
Lady Kachamin joined Jiselle on my list of favorite people.
"Oh, so you can't fly yet? Well, it's very simple, really..."
"Uh, I should mention that I'm extremely scared of heights."
"Not a problem. You've had flying dreams, haven't you?"
"Well..."
Yes, I have had flying dreams. But they almost always end with me falling, and that's what scares me the most. I never fly if I can help it... the nightmares always play in my head whenever I veto an airplane trip or something.
But flying in my dreams is always pleasant... until something makes me fall.
Doctor Freud, come on down!
Lady Kachamin patted my knuckle gently. "There, there, child. There's nothing to be afeared of."
Easy for you to say - you have wings!
But I nodded and shuddered as my nightmare from the previous night played in my head again. "If you say so."
"Right. Salima-douchi? Please help Lìnnia-douchi with the basics."
She called me "Lìnnia-douchi"? What a sweet lady!...
Who happened to be making me enact my worst nightmare!!!
Salima appeared beside me and pointed to a part of the field that was off to the side and empty. "Why don't we start with the basics?"
"Uh..."
"Come on, Lìnnia-douchi! It'll be fine."
I gulped and followed her.
WHOOSH! Overhead, Lord Lucia did a loop-de-loop and laughed gallantly as Duke Talika overshot him.
"Cheeky!" Salima called to him.
"Only to those who don't practice often in the paddocks!" he called back, wagging a finger.
Salima stuck a small purple tongue out at him and led me to the empty paddock. "Can you center yourself?" she asked.
Center? As in meditation?
I closed my eyes and imagined a six-point star (in other words, the Star of David) and saw it appearing in the air above me and encircling me, placing me in its very center. I felt my body relax.
"Very good! You are gifted!" Salima clapped happily. "This will be easy!"
The picture in my mind flickered as last night's nightmare pushed to the front of my consciousness. I firmly defeated it with a picture of an angel woman that I'd had in my dreams since I was very little. I imagined her catching me before I hit the ground.
The nightmare faded, and the Star appeared again.
"Now, can you imagine wings?"
Wings?
"What kind?" I asked, confused.
"Any kind," Salima answered. "I see myself with the Sprite wings, like Mistress Lightbringer."
I tried to Photoshop those wings onto my back.
Nope. Didn't work.
My angel's image popped back into my head, and her golden wings suddenly appeared on my back in my visualization.
I felt a giddy headrush kind of feeling. My pulse quickened.
"Take a deep breath," Salima coached. "Let it out slowly."
With the out-breath, I felt the heaviness that had been pressing down on me since the accident lift. My hair flew up like I was under water, and I felt the ground leave my feet.
I opened my eyes, saw the ground fall away, panicked...
... and came crashing down from the height of about seven inches.
"That was a good start!" Salima exclaimed, pumping my hand. "You're the quickest learner I've ever seen! You must have much practice in meditation and creative visualization!"
Well, I did. But that didn't matter.
I had been floating! FLOATING! OHMYGOD HOLY COW HOLY CHICKEN HOLY DUCK HOLY ELEPHANT HOLY FLAMINGO...!
"Join us, Lìnnia-douchi!" Lord Lucia called, stretching out a hand to me.
And suddenly, I was really tempted. As in REALLY tempted.
It must have showed, because Salima grinned at me. "Want to try?"
"Sure! ...I mean, I guess..."
I felt a weird sensation - like the angel wings on my "back" had unfurled, and suddenly I was UP!
A strange, foreign rush of freedom swept over me. I felt my fears become earthbound, and I was leaving them deserted. My body felt lighter than a feather, and I experienced an odd...
joy in...
triumph.
I looked up at Lord Lucia, Duke Talika, and Salima, who had joined them, and started towards them, which was incredibly easy...
...until I felt the lightness fade and a pounding headache drill into my skull. Yelping, I clutched my temples in pain. A sudden sharp stabbing sensation to the back sent me reeling, and I dropped.
I WAS FALLING!
My nightmare was coming true.
*****************************************
Ohooo suspense! Muahahahaha! >;-)~ Actually, I didn't see that coming either. (LOL)
I was surprised when fullmoon mentioned liking Rojye (me:
), so I decided to use him again. Hmm... maybe he
should be a reoccurring character.... *muses* Sorry to those who may not like the way he acts, that's just what his role is in the story at the moment. (he's a muscle-head
, but maybe he'll get better...
) I was kind of thinking of Draco Malfoy when I thought of him. My friends who see my sketches for the characters want Rojye to end up with Shiia or Sara. It's usually a toss-up between the two because they have two choices for love interests - Rojye and the guy Lee mentioned last chapter (Ben, from back home). I do plan on having Ben pop in. I STILL LUV LUCIA!!