“I can show you the world”, I attempted to sing, my voice muted by the raging wind of our escape, “Shining, shimmering, splendid.”

Kalli groaned through our mental connection. Would you stop that? Do you realize that we could have been killed just then? If that man had any ranged attacks, we would have been defenseless. Are you sure he was level 50?

‘Tell me, princess, when did you last let your heart decide?”

She reached back to silence me, failing miserably. I'm not a phoenix. My heart decides you need to stop that awful singing. To top it off, you’re scaring the phoenix.

Fine. Sorry. I was just trying to ease the tension. We lived after all. I know the man in red could have killed us, but he didn’t. Let’s focus on the bright side.

While I did mean it, I was also struggling not to panic. Kalliphae had been flying for a long time. We flew so far away that I wasn’t entirely sure where we were. It made sense to put as much distance between us and the threat as possible.

Now that she had gotten me to shut up, Kalli was calming down. What are we going to do, Mel? What if that man is looking for me to take me back?

Don’t you want to go home? I’m more worried that the man in red wants to hurt you.

If the feelings she was projecting were any clue, Kalli didn’t want to go home. If he works for who I think he works for, then going home will hurt me.

What does that mean?

Kalliphae’s body swelled in my arms as she took a deep breath. Mel, in my world, peasants don’t learn magic. Sure, they would get a class but it usually winds up being a profession like weaver or innkeeper.

That didn’t make any sense at all. Kalli was a pyromancer. I’d seen her use magic. She knew the magic language and everything. When I tried to summon a wizard, the cosmos had produced Kalliphae. Even if I failed the ritual to summon a master wizard, it still brought me a mage. The cosmos didn’t make mistakes. Or did it?

I felt the girl shudder as she continued. I had to find a way to learn magic. I started out trying to get our village elder to adopt me. When that failed I begged every upper-crust family in my village to sponsor me. While not guaranteed, sponsorship by a named family does go a long way toward convincing a trained mage to take an apprentice.

Kalli stopped to sob for a second. I had a bad feeling about what the girl wound up having to do to become a pyromancer.

You don’t have to tell me about it if you don’t want to.

She sniffed and wiped her eyes. No. If they really are hunting me then you need to know. It might be best if I leave so you can get back to living a normal life.

I laughed, causing her to turn to face me and give me a hurt look. We weren’t flying anymore. The phoenix hovered high in the sky over a mountain I didn’t recognize. The warmth of the phoenix was likely the only reason we both weren’t freezing. That and the fact that Kalli could become a living ball of flame if she wanted to. I tried to give her a reassuring smile as I cleared up the misunderstanding.

Sorry. I wasn’t laughing at you. It’s just that I only started living a few days ago. If normal life doesn’t have Kalli in it, then I don’t want a normal life.

Kalliphae smiled again and turned back to the phoenix, directing it to land in a nearby meadow. She continued her story. Anyways, this next part is difficult to admit. You see, I’d exhausted all of my options and I got desperate. Orphans don't get many opportunities to begin with. When a certain family approached me with an offer, they made it clear that I only possessed one thing of value. My body. I should have known that it was too good to be true. They originally told me that they would sponsor me if I accepted an engagement to their oldest son to be his wife. The boy they introduced me to was only 5 years old at that time. The deal was that I needed to earn 1000 gold before he came of age if I wanted to buy out the contract. Otherwise, I could give them awakened grandchildren. My plan was to master a magical class and join the guild right away to start earning money. If I worked hard, I should have been able to just manage. The deadline to pay the debt was supposed to be when the boy came of age. That gave me 11 years to learn magic and earn enough to buy back my freedom.

I let out a breath I didn’t realize I had been holding.

What went wrong?

She balled her fists at her side. Recently I got a message from the head of the family that his brother, who is 40 years old, just lost his 5th wife. The head of the family decreed that I was to be his wife instead of his son’s. Now, instead of the debt being due when the son came of age, I had to have the entire 1000 gold when I come of age or be forced to marry and produce an heir immediately. There is no way I can pay the debt off in under two years.

What did you do next?

She turned and gave me a wicked grin. I didn’t have a chance to do anything. Some moron summoned me.

Silent reigned as her words sunk in. I suddenly started laughing and I couldn’t stop. The irony of summoning her right at that moment was just too much. She laughed too. For a few minutes, the only sound in the grassy field we landed in was the sound of our laughter. When we finally composed ourselves I had a question.

If that’s the case, why do you want to go back?

She turned to face me, still astride the griffon who was nesting into the tall grass. I don’t have a choice. I have a magical contract with both the Hellquists and my master. You saw what happened to Eddie when he tried to run away from a contract. Magic is powerful. It can follow you.

Across dimensions?

Kalli shrugged. I don’t want to find out.

I smiled, coming up with a plan.

Then it’s settled. We need to make you 1000 gold and send you home in style.

She hugged me. That would mean the world to me.

My heart ached at the thought of sending Kalliphae back to her world. I pushed those feelings out of my mind.

There's only one thing to do then. We have to register with the guild so we can start earning gold.

I could tell she was apprehensive. But, what if they discover my identity?

All the more reason to be registered. Your contract says you have until you come of age right? If they try to pull anything, we will have the guild mediate the contract. I promise we will get you that gold in time.

I was prepared to edit a mountain of gold if I had to. That would be the backup plan. The first plan would be to legitimately earn the money and then find a way to open a portal to another world. I took out the M-Phone and summoned PAA, “Tell me where to find the nearest guild.”

“Greetings sir”, the droid voice answered, “I have updated your map with guild locations in your current area. Select one to create an augmented reality waypoint.”

I blinked a couple of times and was blown away by the sheer number of guilds in the Northern San Diego County area. There were a variety of different kinds of guilds. I saw crafting guilds, hobby guilds, professional guilds, and lifestyle guilds. I decided that the entries just labeled ‘Guild’ would have to be the ones I was looking for. Every city had one. I clicked on the one closest to where we were.

Wow, Kalli, you flew us all the way out to Poway. We’re quite a ways from home.

She stuck her tongue out at me. Give me a break. I was scared. The Hellquists sent a bounty hunter after me.

I found us a guild. Can I drive?

Kalliphae raised an eyebrow at me. No. You can’t drive. Just save the waypoint.

Why won’t you let me drive?

She tutted at me out loud before answering in my head. Sorry. Archy only responds to me.

You named the phoenix?

Kalli giggled. It’s actually Archibald, but he likes his nickname.

The guild office was a hole in the wall. We landed behind an Albertson's grocery store and walked around to a row of stores in the back of the parking lot. Under normal circumstances, it was one of those stores that I would walk right by without a second thought. The guild was located between a barbershop and a postal annex.

The magic began as soon as we stepped through the door. High-pressure wind pelted us from above as we passed under the door. I was used to this system in the bigger stores as a way of keeping the cool air inside the store from escaping. Kalli informed me of its true purpose. The wind works to identify any enchantments you may have on you. It's low-level magic, but it can detect most disguises.

I triple-checked the enchantment covering up my manipulator class.Thankfully, it was still intact.The inside of the guild was enchanted like Lavender’s hut.I expected to enter a building with a single receptionist sitting behind a desk but wound up walking into a bustling multi-story building.

The building was laid out like a tavern with lounges lining the walls that reminded me of the VIP section in nightclubs I had seen in TV shows. Most were filled with groups of people that looked like they were gearing up to raid a dungeon in a VR video game. If they went outside dressed like that, they might get accused of cosplaying.

I thought it was strange that the guild was still open. It was close to 5 o’clock when most government facilities would be winding down for the day if they were even still open.

Glancing at my minimap, I noticed yellow and red dots all over the place. Hardly anyone around me was blue. That had to mean I was one of the lowest-level people in the building. I inspected some of the people seated in the lounges.

Hey Kalli. That guy over there is a warrior? Oh wait, and there’s a cleric? Oh my god, that’s a necromancer.

Kalliphae watched me geek out every time I witnessed a new class I recognized and rolled her eyes, scooting away from me. Seeing two confused teens, a friendly-looking mage in a robe similar to the one I had summoned Kalli in greeted us, “Welcome, children. Are you here to register or enroll in school?”

Kalliphae and I looked at one another in confusion. I blurted out, “I’m already enrolled in school. Can you unenroll me, please?”

Kalli sighed audibly at me and the mage opened a folder and studied it for a moment before saying, “I’m afraid you must be confused. I would like to enroll you in private school.”

I gaped at the older woman. I guessed she must be in her mid-twenties which by my standard was positively ancient. I mock-gagged and whined, “You want me to go to school with nothing but rich kids? No thank you.”

She shook her head, “I want you to go to school with other kids like you. Awakened kids.”

That caught my attention. I insisted, “Tell me more.”

She led us deeper into the bowels of the guild and handed us both pamphlets that showed various academies around the Southern California area. Kalli didn’t speak to the administrator as she gave us a tour of academic options we were now afforded, but that didn’t stop her from telling me how she felt about it. Why couldn’t I have been born in your world? You don’t even have to marry anyone and you get your pick between 20 different kinds of magic.

I sent my thoughts hopefully to the girl.

Once we get your debt paid off, I am sure you can transfer to this world permanently.

She gave me a sinister smile and pointed out one of the flyers. Look, an all-girls school.

Then we couldn’t go together.

She giggled. I’m just kidding. Did you know it's harder for a female to become a mage in my world? They usually insist that we take up some form of witchcraft instead.

Our guild concluded the tour at her desk and asked, “So, have you chosen a school you’d like to enroll in, or do you need time to think?”

I raised my hand and announced, “I have just one question. Does Hogwarts exist? Is that an option?”

The woman sat heavily behind her desk and informed us, “No. Hogwarts is not a real school of magic. I’m sorry to burst your bubble. However, the author is a level 25 storyteller. Kind of ironic to write about our world while living in our world isn’t it?”

I grinned and dropped a bomb on the poor woman, “Actually, we don’t plan to enroll in school just yet. We need to earn some money. Can you help us register with the guild?”

She deadpanned at me for a moment before noisily climbing from her chair and slamming it under her desk. The woman then stiffly walked over to the circular counter in the middle of the guildhall and presented us to another young woman, possibly in her early twenties, and announced, “Fresh meat for the questline.”