Unseaming

The flowers in Asi were more vibrant than Haruka was expecting. Between them being in the shade and the sun flitting behind the thick leaves of the jungle, she wasn’t expecting them to be an array of bright colors that almost repelled the shadows. The carriage driver told her that she shouldn’t trust the brighter colored flowers though. They had a saying in Asi: “The brighter the shade, the quicker you fade.” It helped tell predators that they weren’t worth eating, apparently.

If they had a morbid saying like that in Asi, Haruka thought, then it was a good thing that she packed mostly pastels. Soft shades of blues, pinks, and greens would tell the people here that she was approachable then, right? Her clothes were like those of a doll’s and dolls weren’t that intimidating. She was also grateful for the dull shade of her hair, for once. Her hair was more similar to the color of a blue cloth that’s been washed too many times, rather than the bright fish-scale blue of her dad’s. Hopefully those would be enough to offset any unease she curried with her height, voice, or anything else that strangers in Asi raised a brow at.

These were the thoughts that occupied her on this carriage ride to Kna D’isath Non. It was supposed to be this highly praised magic academy that was accepting more students this year. Her parents told her that a customer had mentioned it to them offhandedly while he was visiting New Azora. She wasn’t sure why they were so eager to send her there, to be quite honest. There were magic academies in New Azora. Hells, there were plenty of magic academies throughout Estary. But they seemed insistent that she go abroad. “It’d be good for her to see the world outside of New Azora,” they said. Fine by her. It was their money.

They weren’t the ones who had to go from boat to boat to carriage to carriage just to get from the city-state of New Azora to, what looked to her for the past few hours, an endless wall of greenery. When she told the current carriage driver the name of the academy, he had sagely nodded and said the name of the village around it. Bajd’a Nopshar or something like that. She didn’t know a word of Asic. It only added to the confusion of everything.

Thankfully, her carriage drivers weren’t nosy enough to ask her why she was so clearly far from home. The ones in Asi in particular weren’t one for conversation. Each time she tried to strike one up, they’d shush her and gesture towards the trees. As though the trees were going to get offended that they weren’t included. So there she was, just staring out the window at bright flowers, lush leaves, and a sun that only peek out from behind them.

She could certainly say that the experience was already different from New Azora. The air in New Azora, while brisk, carried with it the comforting scent of sea salt. The air here was thick and warm. It was as though morning dew never faded and just lingered on every breath. The people of New Azora came from all over, really. It was a port city where travelers were just as common to come across as locals. From what she could tell, Asi’s settlements were very isolated from each other. It was an ordeal just to find someone who even knew where Kna D’isath Non was. Even if she was surrounded by a crowd of strangers in New Azora, she didn’t feel nearly as lost as she did now.

“Miss,” said the driver, loudly enough that she could hear him. “We’ll be heading through Bajd’a Nopshar now.”

Haruka looked out the window. The carriage crossed a rickety wooden bridge that Haruka was amazed was able to hold. Walking about the dirt paths were villagers with bright faces. This one, she felt, looked more lively than the one she saw on the border of Crysala. The village by the Crysalan border seemed skeptical of anyone that exited from there and hesitant to take her in. This town though? The children were allowed to gawk and jump in excitement at the sight of the carriage. Women folding clothes paused in their work to wave at her when their eyes met. It was an idyllic scene that prefaced the reveal of the academy of Kna D’isath Non.

A massive stucco building towered over the trees which parted ways to make room for it. The windows held no glass, only shutters that filtered the light through them in horizontal strips. Golden domed roofs and domed awnings covered balconies and windows. Bright colors stuck out against peach stucco. Murals were painted on every inch of wall available and then made their way onto the shutters. The sheer amount of windows that stared Haruka down reminded her of a wasp’s nest, however, they held perfect symmetry. Below the wall of paint and gold and windows were open arches that welcomed her to the school with open arms.

Standing beneath one of the arches was a woman wrapped in an orange shawl so bright that it soaked up the sunlight. Her wrapped fabrics accentuated a full figure and matronly appearance. The embroidered fabrics themselves seemed of a light material that hung off her like curtains at dawn. Her hair was held up in elaborate braids with strings of golden chains and beads woven into them. At the ends of perfectly shaped eyebrows were pearl studs. The human-looking woman of middle age radiated warmth from her smile.

Once Haruka stepped out of the carriage, that warmth was pointed directly at her. The woman came over to Haruka and gave her a bow.

“Welcome!” she said cheerily. “Miss Yutori, I presume?”

“Yes,” Haruka answered nervously. “And you are?”

“You can just call me ‘Miss Adesda,’” she answered. “I help the students get accommodated and I thought I’d come help you find your way around myself.”

Haruka waved a hand. “Oh, you don’t have to if it takes a lot of time out of your day. I can find my way around myself.”

Adesda shook her head. “It’s no trouble at all. We wouldn’t want you getting lost before you even put your bags down. Besides, the rest of the staff are busy with classes right now since it’s the middle of the school year.”

Haruka nodded in understanding before turning to the carriage to grab her bags. The carriage driver, however, was already in the midst of removing them himself. Haruka was surprised, but didn’t comment on it.

“How much is it for the fare again?” Haruka asked.

“Three days travel,” he answered, “three halfs.”

Haruka rummaged about in her coin purse. Failing to find any silver, she pulled out a gold coin. “Would a gibboun do?”

Both the driver and Adesda blinked in surprise. The driver looked to Adesda in confusion and she silently shrugged in response. He begrudgingly took the gibboun.

“I don’t have change for this, miss,” he admitted.

Haruka figured the change wasn’t that much, as she failed to realize that she was paying the man over triple the fare. “Oh, don’t worry. You can keep it.”

“I can’t possibly accept this.”

“I insist.”

He nodded dumbly. “Thank you, miss… Have a nice time at Kna D’isath Non.”

As he drove away, Haruka could vaguely see him bite the coin. A part of her felt offended that he’d think she paid in false coin. But then again, not her money.

“Right this way, Miss Yutori,” Adesda said in a breathless way.

Haruka’s hard-soled shoes clicked against the tile floors. Adesda walked her past dozens of rooms filled with the sounds of chalk against wall. The walls inside were also covered in murals. A particular one that stuck out to her was of a sun elf boy with a sun tattoo facing a clawed, gold-eyed monster.

“What’s with all the paintings?” Haruka asked.

Adesda’s voice brightened up. “Oh! Those tell stories! Histories, legends, the odd anecdote from students.”

“Students painted these?” Haruka said in surprise. The art could rival those she’d seen in New Azora’s Painted Terraces. Her home.

“Yes. Faculty too. Anyone can paint their story on the walls if they can find the room for it.”

Haruka briefly mused about what story she could paint. The way her parents always described how they met seemed romantic to her. Her mother buying fabric for dolls and catching a glimpse of a stunning siren in the sunlight of the harbor. Nearly falling into the water out of her distraction and her father rushing forward to catch her. Shame that she couldn’t paint that well.

“...and it should help you find your way around. Okay?”

Haruka turned her focus back on Adesda. “Sorry. What did you say?”

“I said, you should be able to find where your classes are from the walls. Students tend to draw stories where they happened, so you see more stories from the botany class around that classroom, for example.”

Haruka looked around. She took note of the recurrent shields and bubbles on the walls of this hallway. Probably where protective spells were taught.

Adesda walked her up a ramp to the second storey. “The students’ rooms are up here. If you ever get lost, you can remember that the bedrooms are by the sunset.”

When Haruka looked out the window, she could see that they came just over the canopy of the jungle. For the first time since arriving in Asi, Haruka was able to see the midday sun fully.

“Why are there shutters on the windows?” Haruka asked.

Adesda seemed puzzled. “‘Why’?”

“What if it rains?”

Adesda seemed almost amused by this. Adesda grabbed the edge of one of the shutters of the nearest window. All it took was a gentle push for all of the shutters of the window to loudly close like a trap.

“But there’s so many windows! Does everyone really have to close every window in the school every time it rains?”

Adesda chuckled. “We have bigger things to worry about here than the rain.”

Haruka supposed that was true. With shutters, that was more likely to keep out thieves, wasn’t it? It would be inconvenient to try to make their way through metal shutters. But then, there weren’t any doors to get into the school. Just the open arches. Anyone suspicious could just wander in! Weren’t they worried about that?

“And, here’s where you’ll be staying.”

The room before her had three small canopy beds with nets draped over two of them. The sheets were much thinner than Haruka was used to. A small stack of scrolls were neatly laid atop the untouched bed. She guessed those were for her. A wardrobe across from the untouched bed was opened to brand new uniforms in her size.

“Those will have the classes you’ll be able to take and a form to fill out if you have a particular specialty you have in mind to practice.”

“Wait,” Haruka said. “I have to pick a specialty already? But I’m just a first year!”

Adesda held up her hands. “You can always change it later. Don’t feel pressured to have to pick something on your first day.”

Haruka breathed a sigh of relief at that.

“But do bear in mind that you’ll have quite a bit of catching up to do.” Adesda smiled at her. “I’m sure you’ll do fine though. Lunch starts in about an hour from now.”

With that, Adesda left Haruka alone.

Haruka placed her bags down on the bed and flopped onto it. Her hair splayed around her like a cape. She could see that her bed’s net was piled on top of the canopy. She didn’t want to touch it. Why would someone want to sleep in a fish trap?

She sat up and looked at her class options. Her eyes lit up once she saw the word “Transmutation.” Perfect. She could deal with whatever was thrown at her so long as that word was there.