Bernard opened the door to the staff room and took his usual seat. He only been notified yesterday evening about this meeting’s existence. Such short notice probably meant that this was important, urgent, or perhaps both. Though no context was given he had a fairly good idea what this was about. Kolbert who was seated next to him leaned over:

“Any idea what this might be about, Bernard?”

“If I had to guess it is probably about Celsia’s companion,” he said quietly.

Kolbert nodded.

“That is precisely what I though...”

The door swung open to their left and in walked Headmaster Sarmirylis. The room greeted her.

“Pleasant morning Headmaster.”

She took her seat at the end of the table behind the sole window in the room. Out from her robe she drew a catalyst and twisted around to face the window. With a flick of her wrist she opened one of the window panels with a gust of wind.

“Tis’ a bit stuffy in here. Anyway…”

Sarmirylis slapped her hand on the table.

“Let us begin. I presume at least some of you know what this is about?”

The woman across from Bernard answered:

“Is this about that boy Celsia... err… acquired?”

“Yes, Adelade. We have all heard the rumors?”

The room collectively agreed. Sarmirylis once again flicked her catalyst and a white noise could be heard around them.

“I almost forgot to make this private!” she said, chuckling. “Now then, have any of us met this young man?”

Bernard, Kolbert and Felcie all raised their hands.

“Impressive! You got him to talk?”

“I cannot speak for Bernard or Kolbert, but Jack, as he calls himself, does most of the talking.” Felcie answered.

“Oh really?”

Sarmirylis shifted in her seat.

“Tell us, what has this ‘Jack’ said? Anything notable?”

Felcie once again answered:

“Other than introducing himself, he was bantering with Celsia. Not anything beyond that.”

The attention shifted to Bernard, who nodded his head in agreement.

“Same story.”

He turned to Kolbert who had been taking notes.

“What about you Kolbert? Anything?”

After a brief moment of scribbling he set down his quill and adjusted his glasses.

“Err… I have talked with him quite a bit. More so than the two of you.”

Sarmirylis gestured for him to keep going.

“He is curious, I found him in the library early in the morning one day prior to now. When I questioned him, he said what he was. I decided to take the opportunity to ask questions and record the answers, as is my job. To keep a long story short, he does not appear to be from around these parts. Between his rather thick, unrecognizable accent and his claim that he is not from any nation here, or anywhere, for that matter, I think we are dealing with something… ‘new’ to put it simply.”

A man with a large scar running down his face on the opposite end of the table broke the brief silence:

“Pray tell, what did you mean by ‘any nation here, or anywhere’?”

“Adair, I believe he means that this boy is not of this world.” answered a man sitting across from him.

He leaned forward to look down the row at Kolbert, who nodded.

“Thank you Joyner, that is precisely what I meant. He claimed he was from a nation named ‘The United States’ which he believes resides in another world.”

The woman left of Joyner laughed.

“No offense of course, Kolbert my friend, but do you not think this is just slightly absurd?”

“You know well what I have to say to that, Sabliela,” said Sarmirylis. “I know it seems preposterous, but that is what most said about ceinic energy. Now look where we are.”

She leaned back in her chair.

“Until we can prove otherwise, this shall remain plausible. On top of that, we will assume his intentions, if any, are benevolent. Agreed?”

“Agreed,” responded the room.

She turned to Bernard.

“You have a trip to the Colored Wood Circle soon after this. Celsia will be going, along with Jack. Two objects of interest interacting might result in something… well… interesting. Keep an eye on the boy for me.”

“Yes Headmaster.”

Sarmirylis addressed the others.

“As for the rest of you, talk to him if you get the chance, but be subtle with your questions please. If he is anything like the rest of us, he will not take kindly to being interrogated.”

She stood up from her seat.

“Dismissed.”

Bernard quickly gathered his things and headed for the door. He still had some things to do before the trip.

* * *

Jack awoke to a foot slamming down inches from his head. He snapped up and spit out whatever words his barely conscious mind could muster:

“Hey don’t,” he said, words barely passing his lips.

“You sound especially stupid today.”

He looked up at Celsia who was already dressed and as happy as ever.

“Up, pet. I would rather not be late.”

“Late for what?” he asked, rubbing his eyes.

“The trip to the Colored Wood Circle. We learned of this yesterday. Have you forgotten already?”

He awkwardly rose to his feet and grabbed his jacket.

“I’ve had a lot on my mind lately…”

Celsia strolled out the door with Jack dragging himself behind her. He slowly began to wake up as they walked along towards the central plaza. On the way they passed a small building he recognized.

Oh yeah…

After they had finished bathing, Ottono had showed him one of the campus’s restrooms at his request. It was nothing more than a glorified hole in the ground. Interestingly enough, it didn’t smell very much. Apparently, each latrine was home to a colony of creatures who literally ate shit. Their own excrement was a virtually odorless sand which was cleaned out periodically.

“Absolutely wild,” he said, yawning. “Living toilets.”

He had went to bed late last night, too late. Part of him regretted it, he hated this groggy feeling. The plaza was fairly populated this morning, students and staff moving about. In the typical fashion, Celsia left him to his own devices while she got food. He waited in the library. Kolbert was nowhere to be found, so he continued looking through the shelves. Jack picked a thinner book and found an empty seat by the front window. Gingerly, he flipped through the pages, paying close attention to the text.

“Hmm…” he rubbed his chin.

The text was anywhere between dark gray and black. Ink laid down by a quill or something similar. Its structure wasn’t too far off from the written english he was familiar with. Text appeared to move horizontally, presumably from left to right based on its leftward alignment. Additionally, symbols formed larger components, which intern, formed what were probably sentences. The books he skimmed through all shared a similar format. Jack’s personal linguistics class was cut short by Celsia who had returned. She handed him a larger amount of food than previously as well as a corked bottle of water.

“I would prefer you did not complain about being hungry today.”

“O-Ok?”

He took the bread and the bottle, not really sure where to put it. Ultimately, they ended up in the deep pockets on the inside of his jacket. I her usual fashion, Celsia walked away expecting him to follow which, of course, he did.

Much like yesterday, they made their way into the lecture hall and climbed the stairs to the second floor. Jack jogged ahead and pushed open the oversized wooden door. He gestured for Celsia to enter.

“After you, m’lady,” he said, tipping an imaginary hat.

She gave him a queer look as she passed by, he met it with a grin. The classroom was mostly full, except for the teacher’s desk. They took the same seats as they had the last time.

“Seems you had a change in attitude,” said Ceslia, poking Jack with her foot.

“Nope, I’m just putting on an act ‘cause its funny.”

“There is nothing funny about treating a woman, your master, with respect.”

Jack turned a bit and looked up to her from his seat on the ground.

“Celsia, all things considered, I’ve been pretty damn respectful given all the shit you’ve put me through so far.”

“Have I not made it clear to call me master?” she growled.

Classic move, change the subject.

He leaned back against the desk and sighed.

“No, Celsia, you haven’t.”

“I am your master, refer to me as such!” she whispered aggressively

“Sure thing, Celsia.”

A few students around them looked on as they bickered. Soon enough everyone’s attention shifted to the front of the room when Bernard walked in.

“Pleasant morning everyone. Apologies for my lateness, I had a few things to take care of.”

He scanned the classroom seemingly counting heads.

“It appears that everyone is here. Did I miss anybody?”

The students looked around silently, but no one objected.

“Good,” he said, standing up, “As per academy procedure I should go over the travel rules, but I think all of us have enough common sense by now.”

Bernard gestured for them to follow.

“Let us be off then.”

* * *

The group walked across the plain towards the forest. In the lead was Bernard, Jack, and Celsia, followed by everyone else. Jack, in his usual fashion, preoccupied himself by letting his eyes and mind wander.

“Mr. Gram?” called the Instructor over his shoulder.

Jack snapped back to reality.

“What's up?”

Bernard paused for a moment, confused.

“The... uhh... sky, but that has not much to do with anything,” he quickly changed the subject, “If I recall, you wanted to talk?”

“That’s right, I had some questions for ya’.”

Lets try and get some more answers… he thought.

Notebook and pencil in hand, he began:

“Would you mind telling me what ceinic energy is?”

“It is what we arcanists use to perform the arcane arts. Think of it like wood to a fire.”

“Is that so…” Jack scribbled something down, “How do you know it's here?”

He gestured to the open air around them. Bernard scratched his head.

“Well, it was merely theory for a time. Some believed that there must have been some sort of fuel. To use the fire comparison again, without wood, there could be no fire.”

Jack continued to write. Bernard was closely watching.

“That’s what we call the law of conservation of energy. Good to see y’all got that figured out.”

“What exactly does this law entail?” he asked.

“All it means is that energy cannot be created, nor destroyed. In your case, your scholars correctly figured that the energy had to come from something.”

Bernard paused for a moment, thinking.

“Interesting…” he continued, “Anyhow, ceinic energy was a theory for a time. It was not until Headmaster Sarmirylis came along and solidified the idea into reality.”

“How’d she go about doing that?” asked Jack.

“It was quite simple. She and a volunteer stood next to each other, both with a very powerful scroll. One scroll was activated and in the same instant the other was activated. One scroll performed its intended purpose, the other did not. When they put ample space between themselves and did the same thing, it worked. The conclusion was that there was something we could not see consumed for the arcane to work.”

Jack excitedly scribbled down notes.

“The idea was further solidified when tested at different areas. At all places, one scroll would work properly, but both would work at a handful of areas. These places were appropriately named ‘High Ceinic energy areas’. We are heading to one such place now.”

He took a deep breath.

“What a mouth full. Does that answer your question?”

“Yep,” Jack flipped his notebook closed.

“Sorry to change the subject, but I wasn’t aware you could write?”

Celsia who had been walking silently the whole time finally spoke:

“Oh he can, not in any way we can understand though.”

Bernard seemed particularly interested in his mechanical pencil, but as he was about to ask Jack cut him off.

“Sorry instructor, but could you, real quick, tell me what the hell that is?”

He pointed at something just above the horizon far off in the distance.

“That is an airship,” answered Ceslia, rolling her eyes.

“Woah. You guys can fly?”

The boat-like object gently floated downwards below the tree line, out of sight.

“Is man made flight a foreign concept to you?” asked Bernard.

“Probably…” mumbled Celsia.

Jack stowed his notebook and pencil in his back pocket.

“No, we’re very familiar with it. Though we don’t have anything quite like that. As for myself, I have a shitload of time spent on simulators,” he scratched his neck, “Probably a little too much time actually.”

Celsia looked at Bernard, who shrugged. There was silence for a time as they made their way off the plains into the forest. This trail they were on was different from the one Jack remembered, larger and well worn.

It wasn’t long before they came to a clearing where the path branched. Bernard came to a stop and turned around.

“I do not have much to say now that we have arrived. The goylems will start to come out shortly, the biggest of which are of the four mark variety,” he paused, thinking. “Oh! If any of you start to feel the mild effects of ceinic poisoning, take a few paces down the trail behind you. It should wear off quickly.”

He dismissed them with a wave. The others went off in groups down either path leaving behind Celsia and Jack.

“So uhh, instructor?” asked Jack.

“Yes?”

“What’s the deal with this ceinic poisoning?”

“Being around here too long can make people feel ill,” replied Celsia. “It starts almost instantly with a headache.”

Jack rubbed his chin.

“That doesn’t sound pleasant.”

“It is not, but you will be more fine out here,” replied Bernard. “Since I imagine you are not aware. Do not go beyond the inner ledge unless you plan on dying.”

“Oh damn. It’s deadly?”

“Ceinic poisoning,” said Celsia, putting heavy emphasis on poisoning.

Ignoring her remark, Jack quickly wrote something in his notebook and then began to make his way down one of the paths.

“Where do you think you are going?”

“To see the goylems?”

Celsia mumbled something to herself then followed after him. Meanwhile, Bernard seated himself on a stump just outside of the clearing.

* * *

Jack followed the curved path. It seemed to follow the circumference of this deadly zone. He came to a stop at what appeared to be a small shrine of sorts and stood at the edge of the inner ledge. It wasn’t a particularly tall ledge, maybe a meter or so and not very steep either. Beyond was more forest, much thicker than anything he’d seen so far in the Colored Wood.

Nothing so far. Headache or otherwise, He thought.

Celsia, on the other hand, could have been better. Just by her expression you could tell she was starting to get a headache.

“Headache?” he asked.

“Yes...”

As quickly as it started, Jack abandoned the conversation when he heard rustling coming from nearby shrubbery. He turned to Celsia with a slightly concerned expression.

“Relax,” she said. “It is only a little one.”

As if on cue a little thing walked out of the bush in question. It stood about a foot or so tall and equally as wide.

“Honestly, I was expecting something a little more… Human?” he said.

It trotted over to them on its three legs, each made of a conglomerate of dirt and rock. Its torso lacked any other limbs. Once at their feet it tilted its torso up to face them. On it was a series of two notches. Talking about living rocks was one thing, but seeing them in the flesh, well that was something else.

“I-I really am in some sort of fairy tale, huh?” he stammered, poking the rock tripod.

It didn’t seem to mind, it merely faced his finger when close enough. Others had started to come from the brush. Their shapes and sizes varied, a notable one resembled a centipede with the amount of limbs it possessed. Celsia interrupted his amazement fueled stupor:

“I need to head back, this headache is unbearable.”

“Then go,” he said, dismissing her. “You can find me easily enough.”

She frowned, but not having the energy to argue, headed back down the trail.

Jack continued to observe these inanimate creatures as they came and went. Their interest in him waxed and waned, some went but others replaced them. Jack always had an audience of at least three. He wasn’t the center of attention though, they did seem to acknowledge their friend’s existences. Occasionally they would turn to face each other or poke and prod at others with their various limbs. This would typically result in the other returning the favor.

After finally getting over his initial astonishment, Jack realized he should be documenting this, so he whipped out his notebook and began writing:

Goylems Continued:

Today I met a handful of these creatures. As discussed in my previous entry under the same topic, they are indeed made of inanimate objects. Stone and the like being the major components. They come in various shapes and sizes, but the one thing they all share in common is a series of notches on their torso, all in rows parallel to one another. The number of which seems to be proportional to their size. The largest I’ve seen so far was about 2 ft. tall and possessed 4 marks. Whether this relationship is linear or not, I’m not sure, but I’ll have to see to that.

As for their behavior, they are curious, they’re the ones who approached me first. They seem somewhat sociable given that they interact with themselves and with me by means of poking, prodding, and turning to face. Sociability is not solid grounds for assuming intelligence though. They seem to have some awareness of their surroundings or they wouldn’t be able to detect each other, or me for that matter. Additionally…

Jack looked up from his notebook and snapped his fingers. The goylems stopped whatever it is that they were doing and turned to face him.

...they do seem to have the capacity to respond to sound. I am not sure if they actually hear it in the traditional sense, or merely feel the vibration in the air.

He decided to include a sketch despite his questionable drawing skills:

His train of thought ran into the ground shortly after so he put away his notebook and opted to just sit and watch.

“Looks like you have an audience.”

It was Bernard.

“Howdy Instructor. They’ve been comin’ and goin’ for a while now.”

“They take in interest in anything that moves,” he chuckled, “anything.”

He scratched his head.

“It surprises me that you are still out here. Surely you have a headache by now?”

“Not a thing so far.”

Bernard seemed a fair bit concerned.

“Nothing?”

“Yep, nothing.”

Jack hoisted himself onto his feet.

“You don’t suppose I’m immune to this poisoning, do you?”

“O-ho no,” Bernard chuckled nervously, “I know exactly what thought is swirling around in that head of yours right now. It is a terrible idea.”

“What's so bad about going in? Worst comes to worst I start to get a headache and I turn around.”

Bernard came closer and leaned in.

“Everyone who has gone there has not come back. We do not know what is in there. We have tried burning down the forest to see but all fires we lit just stopped. Five cycles ago we sent an airship to bombard the center to rid it of trees. It was grounded after it was hit by an unknown spell from something below. Everyone perished,” he said sternly, “ I was given orders to watch over you so it would be nice if you came back alive.”

Rubbing his chin, Jack responded:

“If there is something hostile in there, don’t you think it would come out here and kill us and all the others who come through here?” he gestured to the shrine, “Because I think it would have by now.”

He walked to the edge of the clearing and pulled down a lengthy vine.

“I’m going in. If I don’t come back tell your superiors that I said to blame me.”

Jack stepped over the ledge into the inner circle.

“And anyways, if you really wanted to stop me you would have by now. You’re morbidly curious, you just don’t want to admit it.”

Just like that, he disappeared into the thick wall of trees. Bernard wasn't quite sure how to respond to Jack’s accusation, not that he was there to hear the response anyway.

* * *

For a time Jack walked, stopping occasionally to check if the vine he was dragging was straight behind him and to give ample time for a headache to manifest. One never did.

“Everyone knows blood is the cost of progress, but try to fake morals anyways,” he mumbled.

He was trailed by a handful of goylems that trotted along behind him. Despite their awkward morphologies, they managed to keep up with him. Jack weaved through the many, abnormally large trees and the occasional boulder always making sure to check his vine after making any turns.

After somewhere around twenty minutes of walking, the landscape finally started to change, drastically at that. What little brush was present began to thin out, but something else caught his attention. Jack bent down examining the ground beneath his feet.

Its goddamn pink?

Under, and sometimes on, the thin layer of detritus were traces of a fine pink sand. As he made his way forward it became more and more plentiful at an exponential rate. He started seeing it sprinkled on the trees and rocks. Above all, the pink grains became progressively more coarse, soon becoming more akin to gravel than sand.

Eventually, amongst the trees he spotted something very large and very pink. When it fully came into view he couldn’t help but stop a second and take it in. This massive pink crystal structure stood at about three times his height. It's vaguely dome-like silhouette was covered in large jagged crystals. At its base more crystals protrudes outwards in a series of rings of progressively smaller spikes.

“I-I think I found the center,” he said out loud.

He looked around at the still plentiful trees. A large amount of this substance had deposited itself on the trunks, up until about the halfway mark. He walked around the relatively small area that was the supposed center. Jack bent down and scooped away the gravel. Only after removing about six inches did he reveal normal dirt. Once again, he pulled out his notebook and began writing:

Colored Wood Circle Center:

It seems that I am not affected by the so called “ceinic poisoning” and have been able to enter the otherwise untraversed Colored Wood high ceinic area. I now find myself at its center at the foot of a massive, pink crystalline structure. It is covered in and surrounded by many jagged spikes of the same pink substance. The area around it is covered in smaller crystals (1 cm or less in size) forming a layer of gravel at least 6 in. deep. These crystals can also be found attached all nearby objects in the immediate area. If you make your way away from the central formation, the pink substance become more infrequent and smaller in grain size.

Jack looked up at the goylems meandering around the area, not with any clear purpose, leaving little footprints in the pink ground.

The goylems mentioned earlier are present here and continue to wander aimlessly. Other than them and myself there is nothing besides foliage. I haven’t heard a single noise or call from any other animal since I entered. Perhaps they too are affected by ceinic poisoning? Instructor Helfo mentioned that some time ago an airship (they do have flying machines interestingly enough) was shot down by an unknown entity when trying to deforest the area via bombardment. Perhaps these forest creatures prefer to avoid this entity? My thoughts are on the former. This thing clearly doesn’t kill indiscriminately or we’d be in danger visiting. Not to mention, it only shot after being shot at.

He included a cutaway of the crystal formation on the following page:

Jack put his notebook away having run out of intelligent things to write down. That's when he spotted something among the trees. Only on closer inspection did he realize what it was. In the shadows stood a goylem far, far larger than the rest. It stood on three legs, but unlike the others, possessed two arms.

Was that here the whole damn time!?

He froze, not sure how he should react. Its seems to only observe him, which on a surface level didn’t seem malicious.

Ever so slowly, Jack made his way to the goylem until they stood face to face, or rather, face to waist. It was easily double his height and looked down upon him. Besides its stature, the most frightening thing about it was that it contained bone. Human bone. Bits of could be spotted all around the body, a jaw here, half a pelvis there. There was an especially high density in its one and only hand. There it made up the five fingers attached to a palm of sorts.

Other than bone, It was made up of stone, dirt, and unlike the others, various crystals. One large white crystal was where its other hand should have been. He counted the notches on its face, there were twenty-three.

“Hey there big guy…” he said, “Whatcha’ been doing here? Just looking?”

It didn’t respond. He reached out and poked it and, after a moment, it too reached out and gave him a firm nudge.

“You’re not too different from your little buddies here, huh?”

He took a step back and proceeded to draw this large goylem to the best of his ability:

Jack looked around the area.

“Where’d I put that vine? It's about time I go back,” he grumbled.

He eventually found the vine, but before he could pick it back up, he stopped. Instead, he picked up a nearby branch and brushed the pink dust off.

One last thing.

The tree next to him was a suitable spot for his experiment. He scraped off the crystal growth from the tree leaving bear bark, collecting a pocket full of the larger specimens. He drove the stick into the ground at the foot of the tree, marking it for later.

“There we go, we’ll check on this later.”

Jack picked up his vine and began to make his way outward, a few goylems in tow.

* * *

“What do you mean ‘he walked in’?” growled Celsia, “Why did you not stop him?”

Bernard raised his hands defensively.

“He was dead set on going in there Miss Seliota.

She ran her hands down her face.

“So you went and let him get killed!”

Before he could respond, a voice called out from down the trail.

“What was that about me being killed?”

The two of them, as well as a handful of other students, turned to see Jack coming down the trail. He was munching on the bread he had gotten that morning.

“What a hike,” he said, bread muffling his words.

Celsia stomped up to him.

“You dumb animal! I leave you alone for a moment and you go off and do this!

“A warm welcome, as expected,” Jack siged.

“I am so much more that warm!”

He took another bite out of his bread.

“You’re certainly more exothermic than usual.”

Bernard stepped in before Celsia could exceed tolerable temperatures:

“Thank the creator you lived. Do not put me through anything like that again.”

“I can’t promise anything, Instructor.”

“Honestly, I am afraid to ask but… What did you find in there?”

“Tell us!” urged one of the others.

He donned his notebook.

“Well then, have I got a story for you.”

Bernard stopped him.

“Actually, hold your speech. I would rather you tell me in private.”

“They deserve to know too,” protested Jack.

“And they will. I will explain my reasoning later.”

Somehow I doubt that, he thought.

Jack frowned.

“Fine then.”

Turning to address the others, Bernard spoke:

“Go find those still out and meet us by the entrance. It is time we head back.

The students scattered, leaving behind the ever angry Celsia. Snatching Jack’s wrist, she followed Bernard to the entrance.

“Cool your jets! I can walk myself just fine.”

“Oh you certainly can! Right into your grave.”

“Were you worried I might die? How unusual...” he teased.

“As a matter of fact, I was,” she snapped, “You are my responsibility. I do not know what hole in the ground you came from, but up here, blood is hard to wash from one’s hands.”

Jack let out a huff.

“Not that it’ll make you feel any better, but I wouldn’t blame you for my death. Whatever causes it will by a decision that I agreed to.”

She didn’t care to respond. Shortly, they met up with the rest of the class. They left on the only and only trail, heading back to the academy. Jack walked along twirling the crystals around in his pocket, thinking.

* * *

After dismissing the class, Bernard took the two of them back to his study in one of the staff buildings. Coming to his door, he gave addressed Celsia:

“Miss Selitota, you also count as a student. This is between me and Mr. Gram.”

She sighed.

“I know. I do not trust him to arrive at my room in one piece. I will wait outside.”

“Fair enough.”

Bernard opened the door and followed Jack inside. The room was well furnished, much more so than Celsia’s. Bulky shelves lined the walls each containing an assortment of stones. In one corner sat a glass display case holding objects a great deal more important looking than than the others. A large L shaped desk took residence in another corner, covered with papers and the like. Bernard took a seat behind it. After a second he craned his neck and stood back up.

“How rude of me. Just one moment.”

He retreated through another doorway. Jack stepped over and peered into the other room. A bedroom by the looks of it. Bernard came back out with a chair and put it down across from his own seat.

“Before I say anything, would you mind telling me why you’re so secretive?” Jack asked, taking a seat.

“I would like to avoid any rumors. They have a habit of eroding fact.”

Fair enough.

“I swear by the Creator it will be released when the time is right.”

“Thank you,” sighed Jack, “If you’re wondering why I’m so menstrual about it. Where I’m from, my people have a problem with putting research behind walls.”

“Physical walls? Or…”

“Yes, sort of. That and paywalls.”

“Paywalls?”

“Yeah, like you have to pay to see it.”

“I see, the only ‘wall’ here is that you have to have access to the book.”

Jack scratched his neck.

“Maybe one of these times I’ll tell you about how we handle information where I’m from. Anyways, we're here to talk about the circle.”

“That we are.”

Bernard pulled out his catalyst and with a flick of his wrist a faint white noise could be heard around them.

“What in the fresh hell was that?”

“Silence. A spell so no one outside our vicinity can hear us. Easy to counter, but I know Celsia cannot.”

Jack rubbed his chin.

“Well, in that case,” he took out his notebook, “Have I got a story to tell.”

Jack went through in excruciating detail, from beginning to end, his observations on his death defying hike. Bernard seemed to be particularly interested in the crystals, asking many questions. Not to Jack’s surprise considering his large rock collection.

What really caught him off guard was the large goylem. He had been sipping on a beverage of some sort while taking notes and, when hearing about the goylem, went wide eyed and coughed violently.

“You alright Instructor?” Jack said plainly.

“Twenty-three marks!” he said raspily, wiping a tear from his eye, “The largest on record is fifteen! Anything above ten can and will break your legs. They are not friendly!”

“Well this one was friendly. As friendly as any other goylem. I poked it, it poked back, just like any other.”

Bernard scratched his head.

“Perhaps they become friendly after a certain number of marks?” asked Jack.

“Or perhaps it has something to do with you being able to enter.”

“That’s certainly a possibility.”

He leaned back in his seat folding his arms behind his head.

“Mr. Gram?”

“Please, call me Jack.”

“Jack, going back to the pink crystals--”

“Oh yeah!” he cut him off, “I completely forgot…”

Jack placed a few crystals on the desk.

“I was just about to ask…”

Bernard picked up the larger of the two and examined it closely.

“Any researcher worth his weight in salt would bring back samples.”

“You perform research?”

“Well, I go to… err… an academy for it. Not that I really…” he trailed off.

Reaching somewhere behind his desk, Bernard pulled out a bulky apparatus and placed it on his desk near the light. He swung its variety of lenses in and out of place using it to better examine the crystal.

Well I’ll be damned. A simple microscope.

After a brief time, he looked back up at Jack.

“This is… certainly new. I do not know of any rocks or crystals with this pink hue. Nor have I seen something so uniform and unclouded,” he took the sample out from under the lenses, “I’ll be showing these to my colleagues.”

“Go ahead.”

There was a period of silence, Bernard juggled the crystal between his fingers.

“I should tell you that my colleagues are very interested in you.”

“I figured. An odd boy spouting names and things you’ve never heard gets contracted. Not a surprise to me they’re interested. If I were them, I'd be curious too.”

“I am glad you understand.”

“I know you have questions. I can tell,” he leaned back, “Go ahead, ask.”

Bernard took a deep breath.

“Kolbert quoted that you come from another world. Is this true? Or has his age finally starting catch him?

Jack chuckled.

“He’s right, that's what I said.”

“This may seem like a silly question but… How do you know?”

“How do I know?”

He leaned forward placing an arm on the desk.

“I know because when I look up I see Luna and Celeste, two moons, not one. The stars that surround them form constellations that don’t exist. I know my constellations and those are not mine. No Big Dipper, no Little Dipper, no Polaris, nothin’.”

“That is… err…” he paused, “Most interesting.”

Jack scoffed.

“Interesting is one hell of an understatement. I close my eyes in the woods for a mere ten seconds and when I opened them, here I was. I know a lot of things about the world and how it works, but I’ll be damned if I can even begin to explain what happened to land me here.”

“What can you explain about the world?” asked Bernard, curiocity taking the wheel.

“A lot of things. Probably more than what you’d expect someone my age to know. Hell, in some regards, maybe even more than you. I say that with all due respect of course.”

“What do you know about the ground we stand on?”

“That depends. What’s your question?”

Bernard took a rock from the glass display case and set it in front of Jack. A stock standard rock, that is, except for the branch like pattern spanning it’s flat face.

“Oooooh! What you have here is a fossil. A plant fossil by the looks of it. To keep it short, they form when something dies underwater and mud settles on top of it. Eventually it becomes stone, leaving the mark you see here on the rock that formed around it. Fossils are what we call them. Fossilization is the process that creates them.”

“That sounds--”

Jack cut him off.

“Unreasonable?”

“Well…”

“Look, I know word of mouth doesn’t carry much weight, but as time goes on I think you might be more inclined to believe me as I begin to talk about and do things that are more, uhh… provable.”

“You have plans?”

“No,” he shrugged, “I’ll do something at some point though. I can guarantee it.”

He sighed.

“I could go on and on, but for Celsia’s sake, and mine. We should continue this at a later date.”

“An abrupt ending, but a necessary one,” said Bernard, shuffling papers on his desk, “There are some things I must attend to.”

Jack gathered his things and went for the door.

“Have a good one Insturctor.”

“You as well Mr-- Jack, I mean.”

He gently closed the door behind him.

Celsia was sitting against the wall, head resting on her knees.She snapped up immediately as the door closed.

“I was beginning to wonder if you would ever come out,” she said, lazily getting to her feet, “I am taking us to dinner.”

Ah shit. I’m screwed unless Hahnt plays along.

“Oh really? I thought I wasn’t allowed in there.”

“Not a problem at this time of day. Nobody will be there,” she sighed, “And yes, they are still serving now.”

“Ya’ took the words right out of my mouth. Seems like you’re getting to know me.”

Can’t say the same for you.

She didn’t answer, instead she went for the stairs. Jack sighed and proceeded to follow her.

* * *

He pushed open the door to the fabled dining hall, holding it open for Celsia. The immediate room was lined large cubbies, presumably for people’s things. Celsia paid them no mind, walking straight through the doorway into the spacious hall. Rows of table and chairs were dimly lit by a number of candles, each on its own elevated tray. Some light came through the massive windows thanks to the sun, now under the horizon. Like the grand lecture hall, banners were hung on the walls. Some depicted scenes, some text, others with symbols. They meant nothing to Jack. He would have preferred that not to be the case.

Celsia walked up to the counter at the other room and flicked a small bell attached to a post. After a moment, Merek came out.

“I was wondering where you where,” he said plainly.

“We had something to attend to.”

He looked at Jack with an eyebrow raised. Jack subtly, yet frantically, shook his head.

I swear to god man…

“You must be that companion boy that everyone is talking about.”

Celsia sighed.

“He is.”

At that moment, Hahnt came bursting out of the back room. If a door had been in his way, he would have knocked it off its hinges.

“The ever beautiful Celsia finally decides to grace my kitchen!”

She blew air out her nose.

“Oh please Hahnt. You have said that enough where it has begun to lose its meaning.”

“Still true as ever!” he leaned on the counter, “So, what can I do you for?”

”The usual.”

”What about your companion here?” he gestured to Jack.

“You knew?”

“Just a lucky guess.”

Jack quietly let out a sigh of relief. Hahnt continued:

“We have plenty in the back. I will make something suitable for you both.”

Celsia nodded and took a seat. Jack followed suit, choosing to sit diagonally across from her. It was clear this place was built for taller people. The tabletop was uncomfortably close to his shoulders. He took out his notebook and while waiting for his meal, wrote his daily entry knowing he wouldn’t want to do it later.

Day 3, May 8th, 2019

In a mere 3 days it seems I’ve successfully managed to solidify my importance here. Today on a field trip I got dragged along, I was able to enter a “High Ceinic energy area,” something never done before. Before today, that is. Apparently the phenomenon stopping others from entering, ceinic poisoning, has no immediate effect on me. I’ve already talked about what was in there on a previous page, so I’ll refrain from reiterating. I’ll probably become a research instrument. Not that I mind, now I don’t have to worry about being cast aside. One worry crossed off the list.

I’ve kept a handful of those pink crystals to myself. I plan to do some discreet experiments to attempt to identify their composition and properties. Hardness, solubility, and anything else I can think of testing. Who knows, maybe they’ll have some useful properties. Worst case scenario is it’ll give me something to do. Later down the line I’d like to figure out what the deal is with that formation. “How did it get there?” is probably the most important question. Did it land there? (By extension of that: is it what creates that exclusion zone?) If it didn’t land, why did it form there? Why is there a crystal mound in the middle of the woods? Too many questions and I’m afraid I won’t find enough answers.

Jack tapped his pencil on the desk, thinking. His eyes met Celsia’s, she stared back. He promptly went back to writing.

Obligatory language discussion. I am currently sitting in the cafeteria with Celsia who is currently boring a hole through my head with her gaze. Just a few moments ago she ordered something from Hahnt, the chef. He asked “What can I do you for,” then she ordered. I won’t explain the phrase's origin, but these days it is a playful inversion of “What can I do for you?” Prior to that, if I remember correctly, it was used in common speech in the rural US 100 plus years ago (don’t quote me though). So, why do these people have it? They’re not 1850s rural US folk, nor have they experienced the linguistic evolution of english in the past 100 plus years. The more I learn the more confusing.

One last very important thing. They’ve managed to figure out man made flight. I saw a boat like object floating around in the distance earlier this morning. I cannot begin to explain just how goddamn excited I am to figure out how they managed to do that. This place really is just some fantasy world. They got magic, magic wands, magic people holding said magic wands, magic schools teaching said magic people, magic death zones, magic living rocks within said magic death zones, magic flying boats, and who knows what other magic things they have. I could make use of some magic myself. Maybe someone might teach me?

“Dinner time!”

Hahnt came from behind the counter balancing two trays. He dropped one in front of both of them.

“Thank you Hahnt,” said Celsia grabbing a fork off her tray.

Jack was still taking in the food placed before him. Fish, not dried last like last time, a side of something that was not meat, bread, and soup. There was also a ceramic mug full of something. He gave it a sniff:

Alcohol, definitely alcohol.

He ignored it for the time being and began to shovel food into his mouth.

“I take it we did a good job?” asked Hahnt, who had taken a seat at the table.

The both of them nodded. Almost as soon as the platters had been dropped in front of them, they had been cleared. Hahnt gestured to Jack’s still full cup.

“You do not want your wine?”

“I have water on me,” he said, pulling out the half empty bottle he’d received earlier, “Anyways, I’m not much of a wine drinker.”

“Clearly you have not had Estrian wine then! Best wine around.”

“I don’t doubt it is, but I’ll have to pass.”

“If you say so...”

With that, Hahnt took the mug and threw it back, downing the whole thing in one go. Jack couldn’t help but recall that one college party he had gone to.

Hahnt shifted his attention to Celsia, who had been staring off into space. She wasn’t particularly interested in any small talk.

“Celsia, I was thinking…”

“You were?”

“Yes, I was. I know it is against academy rules, but I think Jack should come here on his own accord. It would save you the effort and save him from solely eating soup. I think we could make an exception.”

Celsia narrowed her eyes.

“You know his name too?”

“Of course! You people feed me words, and I feed you… well, food. I do listen to your conversations.”

He’s really good at this. Better than me, and I’d consider myself good at fabricating stories.

“I see…” she brushed the hair out of her face, “If you say you can make an exception, then fine.”

“Great!” he turned to Jack, “There is a door on the back of the building, always open. I am sure you can find it. Whenever you feel like it, stop by, I can make something.”

Jack couldn’t help but smile. It had been a long time since someone had gone out of their way to do him a favor.

“Thanks Hahnt.”

“Of course!”

Celsia had begun to gather her things.

“It is late. Time we headed back. Thank you for the meal Hahnt.”

“Such is my purpose. Now, if you will excuse me, I must go help Merek clean up.”

He made his way back behind the counter and into the back room only to peak his head around the corner:

“Be safe you two!”

The heavy door slammed shut behind them. It was dark. Celsia pulled out her catalyst and with a few flicks, the tip lit up. Enough to light their way. They went on their way.

“I am going to sleep when we get back,” she blurted out.

“I wasn’t going to stop you,” he sighed, “I’m tired too.”

Jack looked to the sky as they walked. The stars were out now. He liked being able to see more than the moon in the night sky for once. Normally he’d only see anything when he went camping. He’d wasted many hours sitting out there looking for stars he knew. So many were out now, even the faint, milky ring of the galaxy was visible. He wondered if his star was out there somewhere.