— James —

My world was still shaking, from what happened yesterday. I still could not believe the betrayal. We...We trusted them. They knew. They all knew. Blight and Decay, even our parents knew. The pity and concern in my parents' eyes; just damned them further. The adults and teachers had been acting odd the last few weeks, treating us like kings. I, like everyone else, though it was their way of celebrating our graduation. How naïve we were.

They could have told us. No, they couldn’t. Could they? If so much as a word of what was to come out...how many of us would have run? They could have prepared us at least...or did they? Thinking back to the last year there was a lot of survival training. Including how to handle pain. My body involuntarily shook at that memory.

For the last few days, I've been thinking in circles, trying to understand. After all this time, I've begun to see some of their point of view. ‘I could never do something like that. I would have done something different. What? I don’t know; anything else had to have been better.

“James we’re here.” An unsteady hand on my shoulder pulled me out of my head. Looking up I saw Aster trying to give me a reassuring smile. For a moment I felt slightly better until I felt the tremble in his hand. It was oddly comforting to find I wasn’t alone.

Aster was...Aster. Always trying to help; with mixed results. Right now his hand, tremored as it was, felt like the only thing propping me up. I’m glad he came with us. His hand helped to break me out of my unproductive thoughts, from yesterday’s graduation.

Focusing back on the world around me, everything was shaking. We had taken the first bus out of town, one that was not the smoothest of rides. The bus was an older model that was just uncomfortable enough to keep you awake. Peering out the window the first thing I saw was the massive city gates. They had to have been twenty stories high. ‘Colossal.’ Was the word that perfectly defined the spectacle. What kind of monsters comes here for walls like this?

Passing under the gates, the entire bus fell silent. I think it truly dawned on all of us what was happening. Looking over everyone on the bus I found I wasn't the only one staring out the windows in awe. I could see it in their faces, the way they forced a smile, the tensing around their eyes. Everyone was forcing themselves, and it showed. Aster and I weren’t the only people who took the first bus out of town, the entire bus was filled with people from the ceremony. Including the small party, we had put together. Violet, Rowan, Aster, and Bay, somehow we all made it onto the same bus. More would have come if they could. I think I saw a few people just runoff. Others weren’t so lucky. They barely spoke...just drifting around; something had broken in them. The worst...the worst…was that not everyone made it back. We were lucky.

Just as my thoughts started to spiral. I felt another squeeze on my shoulder, bringing me back to the present. “A lot to take in isn’t it?” Aster, just like the others was staring in awe at the sight. But I couldn't help but think there was a lot more to the statement than just the city ahead of us.

“Yeah. It really is.” Soon we would be on our own, for a time. No contact till the end. They even took our phones, as it could screw up training, but could we trust their reasoning? Supposedly, they will be returned to us at the end, but how would they even know where we were? Looking over my friends, I could see revelations of their own, flow over each of them.

Violet was looking every which way, checking and rechecking the map in her bag. Rowan looked calm as ever, but the way his eyes darted everywhere belied his coolness. Bay was comforting Violet, letting her know it would be ok. I think that might be more for her own benefit though. Aster…Aster was shaking. Fidgeting unable to keep still. He seemed to be the most afraid. Reaching my hand to try to steady him was interrupted by a jolt from the bus stop. Without a word, everyone grabbed their stuff haphazardly, not wanting to be crammed in this bus for a minute longer.

Soon we were all standing in a circle together as the bus drove away, waiting for something. I decided to break the silence, speaking what we were all thinking. “Well, this is it. Time to go our separate ways.”

“Why? We just got here?” Violet asked. I knew it was quick, but it would be best if we found our guilds now. Time was running down. We only had two weeks to choose a guild and we had taken a few days to get here. The farther away from that place the better.

“True, but registration is only this week and we are running out of time. Not to mention the tests. Those can take a while.” I explained. We had all heard of the tests and even heard rumors they can take a week or two.

“Can we at least figure out where to meet? Or we can just figure it out later. I mean phones work in cities fine. It’s not like we are in the Wilds.” Aster looked at his bag sadly. “Oh yeah. I forgot we don't get those back till the end.”

After a few moments of awkward silence, Rowan spoke. “Let’s meet at the Forge. It’s a restaurant. I saw it in the smithing district when we passed through. It had a giant hammer and fire on the sign.” Rowan made hand gestures indicating the images. “It was pretty big so I think we can find it.”

Before anyone could descent, Aster spoke. “Sounds like a plan. Everyone in? Yes?” Everyone nodded. “Great at the end of the training we will meet at that restaurant at five.”

I looked at Aster shocked he took command, but I was more surprised how fast everything was resolved. Now that we had a plan, I spoke, “Great! We all need to move.” We made our goodbyes, thus heading off on our own. Interestingly we all headed in different directions spreading into the city.

Now I was on my own, I had some time to fully take in the city. It was magnificent. The city had buildings that shot into the sky, with shimmering shields, like a net of plasma traveling across the sky to ward off monsters. There were only a few of these massive buildings the rest were small, in comparison to the skyscrapers, stone buildings surrounding the streets. There were even a few floating buildings orbiting the entire city. A nice woman caught me staring at them and was nice enough to explain they were called the lotus pods. There are seven different pods, each could only be reached via portals. One is a delicious restaurant, at least according to the woman. The rests were apartments and parks. It was like a mix of the new world, old world, and magic everywhere. With an advanced office building containing the latest technology, it was right next to an old wooden alchemist shop. Odd, but strangely cohesive and wonderful. Not to mention the magic that hung on storefronts inviting people in. I think I even saw a painting of a horse race past me. Not a horse. A painting of one. I could see the brush strokes on it as it passed me in the streets. The city was vast and beautiful. Somewhere in this tangle was the place I sought. I just needed to learn where the owls roost.