They had been following the trail for a while now. Jack wondered if she knew where she was going. He convinced himself that she must know how to navigate around these parts. How else would she have been able to get this far into these woods?

“Does this place have a name?” he asked.

“You have really not heard of this place?”

“I’m afraid I haven't. Is that a problem?”

Celsia rubbed her temples as she continued walking.

“You really are clueless… This place is called ‘The Colored Wood.’ Everyone knows about it, except you it seems.”

“Why’s it called that?”

“Have you not seen the flowers?”

She must have been referring to those pretty shrubs. The first plant he had come across when he arrived here. The name made sense, they were indeed colorful.

“I’ve seen em’. Do they have a name?”

“Cyliums. They bring good luck. How many questions do you plan on asking?”

“One more?”

“Fine.”

She let out a sigh, he had many questions, but not wanting to test her short patience he only asked one more:

“This Rite of Contract, what is it? Besides a way of getting a companion.”

She straightened herself as she walked.

“The rite is an old custom that all those who practice the arcane perform in their early years...”

She droned on, it seemed like she had to regurgitate this explanation more than once.

“...They come here to these woods from all over to perform the rite, many creatures exist here, some rare, some not. Today was my turn.”

Jack rubbed his chin.

“I had actually found a rare one, that skula. I tried to catch it, but caught you instead!” she growled.

Startled by her sudden flare in aggression, he put a bit of extra distance between the two of them. He wasn't sure how to handle this girl.

“Is it not rare that you managed to contract a human?”

She relaxed.

“Rare? No, it is impossible or should be…”

“Shouldn’t this be a good thing, for you at least? You did the impossible.”

“It is not, it means I messed up.”

Celsia’s remarks reminded Jack of himself. It reminded him of the past. He frowned at the thought of it.

“Water under the bridge,” he mumbled.

“You keep saying that, what does it mean?”

He hadn’t thought she’d heard that.

“It means it’s in the past, behind us. We can't change the past. Why dwell on it?”

She remained silent. Perhaps she hadn’t expected him to say something like that. Jack waited for a response and when nothing came he diverted his attention to his surroundings. The forest hadn’t changed much since they’ve been walking, still the same composition of flora. It dawned on him that the trees he knew were still around. He made a mental note to write down his thoughts on that later.

His attention shifted to Celsia, he hadn’t actually gotten a good look at her up until now as he’d been occupied with other more important things before, like trying to pry information from her. Her figure was fairly average, he guessed she was well built. It was merely a guess though, he couldn’t see through her clothing nor did he want too. She was taller than him, he wasn’t tall to begin with but she still stood about a good foot above him. Her hair was long, down past her shoulders, and was a dirty blonde.

She wore a sort of cloak that was halfway in between a cape and a robe, it was grey. Her pants were blackish in color and went down to her ankles where they met simple brown shoes. Obviously she wore something under her cloak, but he couldn't see it from the back. He looked at his own clothing. Simple shoe boots, long grey khakis, a dull blue T-shirt with a brown jacket to top it off. Jack sighed, he had always dressed like a dad.

* * *

After a while the forest seemed to open up a little. Almost suddenly the forest dispersed, now they stood on the edge of a sea of grass.

“There were are!” she came to a stop and stretched her arms.

He stopped beside her and frowned

“What is the problem?”

“I was expecting something more than grass.”

She was already beginning down the path. He grumbled as he jogged to catch up. The grass around them was up to his knees. On closer inspection, it looked just like the grass he was used to. He wasn’t familiar with many types of grasses though. They came to the top of a gentle slope.

“Look,” she said pointing towards their front.

A distance away was what appeared to be a small town.

“Is that where you’re from?”

“Yes, Ester Academy of the Arcane.”

He was a bit surprised at it size given it was a school of sorts.

“That’s a school?

“An academy, but yes.”

“That's terribly large, for a school.”

Celsia shot him a glare.

“It’s a wonderful place actually, one of the top academies in the world.”

Jack gave a confused smile. What had he said to elicit a response like that? It hit him after a short time.

“I didn't mean it was terrible. It has a different meaning in the context of that sentence. What I meant is that it's a rather large school.”

“You certainly have an unnatural way of speaking. Can’t you just speak normally?”

He bit his tongue at that remark.

“I’m not from around here or anywhere here,” he poked at the ground with his foot.

“Of course,” she didn’t seem to believe him.

It hadn’t occurred to him that communication might be an uphill battle. In fact, he was surprised that they could even communicate. How is it that a she, and the rest of her people for that matter, spoke english? They lived on what could be another planet.

Another planet.

Jack put his hands on his head in awe of what he just realized.

“Holy shit, I’m on another planet!? This is HUGE!”

She met his excitement with a face somewhere between disappointment and amusement.

“You might be insane.”

Celsia rubbed her temples.

“Come on, let us get this over with.”

As they drew nearer to the low wall that encircled the campus he spotted two people standing by the entrance.

“Are those guards?” he asked, with a hint of concern.

“No, that is the head instructor and her assistant awaiting my return.”

“Ah…”

Jack’s mind raced:

How will they react? I could very well be screwed if this goes awry.

He remained stoic, at least on a surface level.

* * *

They approached the entrance. Celsia stopped. He continued walking, staring at the ground, thinking. She reached out and yanked him back. He fell onto his rear.

“What the hell!”

She shot him a fierce look and pointed forwards. The head instructor and her assistant were coming towards them. He stood up and brushed himself off. This head instructor had quite the imposing presence.

“Miss Seliota, you have returned. With a suitor in tow it seems” she chuckled.

“No,” they both said simultaneously.

She turned to face Jack.

“Then who might you be, young man?”

“Apparently, I’m her companion.”

She burst out in laughter.

“You are quite the funny one! Miss Seliota, where might your companion be?”

She craned her neck scanning the area behind them. Celsia pointed at Jack.

“He is not joking and neither am I, It is him.”

She grabbed him by the shoulders and spun him around showing her his neck.

“See?”

The head instructor was astonished, her assistant leaned in and looked as well.

“Master Sarmirylis, is this real?” He asked.

“It certainly seems like it. That is a proper mark.”

She touched the spot on his neck. Jack twitched a little.

“Impressive Miss Seliota. You always find… interesting ways to do things. Normally I would have you come with me to tell you about what you brought back, but seeing as you brought back… something… we have an intimate understanding of, I do not think that will be necessary.”

Celsia seemed disappointed.

“I had hoped you would have any suggestions to right this.”

“You know that this cannot be redone, I cannot change that fact.”

The head instructor turned to address the crowd that had formed behind them at the entrance, presumably composed of other students.

“Let it be known that Celsia of family Seliota has returned, with a companion!” she yelled. “The Rite of Contract has been completed!”

The crowd clapped, it wasn’t a roaring applause, but one that seemed like they only did it to be polite.