Mirabilia Vitae

[Lexi_Lush]

College…

The thought felt weird, some part of my brain acknowledging that it was the natural next step of my life, that finishing school obviously meant I had to go to college, and yet...

I didn't really feel like it. Going to school or not never really was an option, but college was a choice, and frankly, I wasn't really that interested in it.

Of course that left me with the question of what to do now.

I eyed the various unpacked bags in the room, opened solely for the purpose of taking what I needed from them without ever actually unpacking my limited stuff.

My apartment was small, with one sleeping area and one bathroom, a portable stove set up across the room from my mattress, and the little sink doing some heavy lifting for the whole 'kitchen' part of the flat.

The only other furniture here was a chair and desk pushed up against the only remaining free wall, giving me a space to sit and eat or write if I felt like it.

It wasn't much, but it was mine.

Not like I needed much when I had everything I needed right here.

I twirled the black ink pen around, golden engravings reflecting light into my eyes whenever the angles aligned just right.

I wasn't quite sure what to do with myself now that I was legally considered an adult and wholeheartedly independent in the eyes of the law, but maybe I could use my favorite—and only—hobby for something productive.

I scrunched my nose in displeasure, an unpleasant thought worming its way to the forefront of my mind. Right, maybe it was best that I kept my one remaining interest as far away as possible from any sort of obligation, even if I could probably make a decent profit with whatever idle thoughts my brain conjured up while writing.

Right, I should have maybe a little fun while I ponder what to do.

---

"Whatcha writing there?"

"The aftermath of the Founding War." I replied automatically, continuing to write down Walmir's discovery of the Vespyres' chitin fragments that would serve as the basis for their new society.

Then, I paused.

I lived alone.

Letting the effects of my Dreamwriter fade away, my apartment that still didn't feel like home reasserted itself as the remnants of the Haven Isles I crafted from my own imagination slipped away.

Carefully I looked around. While it was all too easy to forget that I lived in a world of magic and myth when I had to contend with the mundane for the vast majority of my life, my Dreamwriter served as a constant reminder that magic did in fact exist.

I couldn't see anything, but that meant little when the fae, spirits, and incorporeal undead existed.

"Oh, don't be so on edge; here, take a sip."

I brought the glass of apple juice to my lips and took a drink before freezing, realization reasserting itself as I was suddenly sitting at a table outside, fully clothed.

"You know, this is actually pretty good; if you didn't have magic, I bet you'd make a killing as an author, maybe even literally with that artifact of yours."

I moved slightly to the side to grant a better view of the scroll I was writing in, the ink from my dreamwriter still drying as the almost dark blue letters permanently etched themselves into the parchment.

My head snapped to the side fast enough that a rush of dizziness quickly followed, but I still couldn't see anyone or even anything. I was back in my apartment, the exact same position as previously.

Did I even leave in the first place?

I could still taste the barest hint of apple on my tongue as I tried to figure out what was happening. Slowly I stood up and immediately averted my eyes, looking for anywhere that didn't prominently feature people of all shapes and sizes engaging in enthusiastic carnal activities with each other.

"Less your vibe, huh? See this is exactly what I like about you."

Thankfully I found myself in the comfort of my room the moment I looked directly up, though this time I was sitting comfortably on my bed, one of my stuffed toys on my lap. My arms were naturally wrapped around it, the soft fur a grounding presence as I tried to forget what I had just seen, my mind incapable of remembering any of the sights in the first place.

"I've seen the stuff you've written; considering you get to experience all of it personally, it's intriguing that you'd shy away from such acts once they're actually happening. It's a contradiction, and I love contradictions."

I turned around to face the voice, fully expecting to find myself somewhere entirely new, but for once I wasn't alone in what was supposed to be my private sanctum.

She looked both older and younger than me, like she'd been around for decades and was just out of high school. The most striking part about my newfound tormentor was her clothes, a coat that was open just enough to display the bikini beneath, and from my position near the ground I could see that it was a complete set before I focused my eyes elsewhere.

Her hair was split down the middle, one pigtail a stark black while the other was a brilliant white; the odd color scheme further extended down the rest of her outfit, down to even the bottom half of her bikini, which was an odd sight to realize before my eyes snapped back up again to look at her face.

One of her eyes was a dull dark gray, but the other was a bright brilliant purple that seemed to glow with an otherworldly intensity as she patiently waited for me to stop admiring her sudden form, my cheeks heating up slightly at the realization; the smug grin of satisfaction on her face only added further fuel to the fire.

"Welcome back, CC. I can call you CC, right? Great. So yeah, you're full of contradictions; you want to do so much and yet do nothing, but when you do something, you never actually want to do it."

I nodded slowly in agreement. There was nothing I could really refute about her words, and besides, even someone like me who was about as far-fetched from any of the religions as one could be without outright sinning knew of the five Eternals.

"But your contradictions aren't very fun; they just make your life boring."

I could feel myself freeze in place; the notion that a Grand Being could consider my life boring was strangely unpleasant to think about. I didn't want to live a boring life, a comfortable one, sure, but not something boring.

The flame of motivation within me to do something about my life so it wouldn't be considered boring flickered out almost as soon as it began. I couldn't be bothered. Even if a literal goddess deemed my life boring, there wasn't really anything I could do about it.

I wasn't special. I wasn't even ordinary.

I had just enough to live and distract myself from the passage of time and everything else using my writings, no less, and certainly not more.

I reeled back in sudden pain, a welt blooming on my forehead where she had flicked me, despite never having even moved an inch, an unparsable expression on her face as she stared at me.

"Okay, you know what? I've decided; have fun!"

I looked up at the opulent engravings denoting the entrance to one of Geolocus's most prestigious magical academies.

Bellafonte Academy for Magic
The 'S is silent
​

I squinted at the shimmering slogan-like phrase, the words fading out of existence before my very eyes as I tried to make sense of the words.

Eventually I gave up and headed through the large entrance doors, small groups of people who had to be other students chatting among themselves as they moved through the building without even a moment's awe at the marvel of construction that surrounded them.

The marble flooring reflected my image back at me whenever I looked down to avoid some especially skimpily clad passersby, a part of my mind acknowledging that I would have to get used to the sight, especially if I were going to attend here for the next four years.

I eventually manage to make my way over to the receptionist, the bright blue hair almost blinding when illuminated by the array of floating luminous crystals above, and I find myself looking into a familiar set of eyes, though her shade of green is far more eccentric than my own.

She's supernaturally beautiful, and my eyes can't help but trace every feature of her face in a vain attempt to make sense of it all without the explanation simply being 'magic.'

"Welcome, how may I help you?" The receptionist—my eyes glance down, reading her nametag briefly—Laura, greets me with a cheerful voice.

"Hi, I'm here to…" My voice trails off, my eyebrows furrowing together as I try and recall what I'm here for. I know I've been accepted into the academy but… When? How? What?

"Ah, Corporea Crescent, right? Yeah, I have you here for twelve thirty; you did mention you might be a bit confused when arriving, probably something magic-related, but as a non-caster, I wouldn't know."

I watch, still confused as she rapidly types on her keyboard, the steady clicking and clacking of the mechanical apparatus joining the steadily growing cacophony of background noises until she stops with a pause and hands me a sheet of paper, the parchment still warm from when the printer spat it out.

I read the printed words over, still in a bit of a fugue as I try and comprehend what is happening, memories I could have sworn I never experienced mixing with the things I could last recall.

Right, I'd submitted an application to the academy and gotten an acceptance letter… But why did I even submit one in the first place…? I'm not a Caster, I can't do magic. But I am, and I did; for the application, I had to perform a small spell.

I could recall my hands turning into liquid, not molten, glass when I finished the incantation and gestures, the clearly magical feat not having fazed me at all at the time, for some reason.

As I walked to the specified location, parting from Laura with a quick thanks, my memories gradually caught up with the present, conversations with a representative from the academy regarding tuition fees and accommodations providing context as to where I'm currently heading, and fewer students passing by as I made my way to the administration accommodations.

There were a variety of potential accommodations both on campus and outside, the academy being very lenient and permitting of even some outright absurd housing locations, like just in the campus's wild forests, but tuition was expensive, and even though I barely had any expenses up until this point, my meager life savings still didn't cover all of them.

Thankfully, it wasn't an unprecedented situation, and other people had similar experiences beforehand, leading to the teachers' accommodations serving as a two-in-one package deal, providing housing and a way to 'pay' back any missing funds from the tuition.

While I'd be technically helping all of the staff, I'd likely be spending far more time with my assigned tutor than the others whenever the time for choosing one rolled around anyways, which was entirely fine by me.

Having reached my destination, I knocked a few times on the dark wooden door, my fist producing a surprisingly complex melody on impact, and waited, occupying myself by watching the few people who were out and about in the area.

It only took maybe a minute until the door was opened, and I had to crane my neck up to take in her whole stature, her massive black and white scaled serpent lower half propping her up so that I was about at eye level with where her navel would be.

She wore a black, almost ceremonial-looking dress with golden trimmings and an extravagant royal red velvet cape that draped over her shoulders seemlessly, giving her a striking backdrop.

Noticing me a moment later, she gradually lowered herself so I didn't quite need to strain my neck to look at her face, which coincidentally put her chest directly in front of my face. I did my best to ignore her plentiful cleavage, instead mesmerized by her vibrant pink eyes that peered at me from behind her dull purple bangs.

She seemed a bit confused and surprised, judging by the slight tilt of her head as she stared down at me. I shuffled in place a bit, unsure of what exactly to say; just because I could vaguely remember signing up to be essentially a servant for the next three years didn't mean I had any sort of confidence in the matter.

"Are you here for the reading assignment?" She eventually decided to ask after finishing appraising me, an odd glimmer in her eye, like a cat about to catch the canary.

"…I don't think so?"

"Oh."

She seemed to deflate slightly, an excitement I hadn't even known existed escaping her posture as she gave me another look over.

"Then what are you here for?" She asked in a much more muted and exhausted-sounding tone, the tip of her tail flicking from side to side impatiently as if she couldn't get back to her previous activities fast enough.

"I, uh, I'm here for the accommodations, ma'am?" I hedge, holding out the sheet of paper handed to me by the receptionist earlier. I still wasn't sure how this worked or if I was missing anything, but she took the document from me with the beginnings of a smile forming on her glossy lips, quirking up further and further as she skimmed the writing.

"Well, you're not Ako, but I'm excited to have you regardless. Come, come, there is much to read!"

An indignant squeak escapes my lips before I can stop it, the lamia having lifted me bodily with her two hands and rushing inside faster than I could achieve by running.

As I'm being carried with ease through a central living space and many different rooms, I can't help but wonder to myself if all of the teachers will be this eccentric.

 

[Lexi_Lush]

Creator Of Wonders written by LongDoggos featuring the story of Creo Admirari.