Aayla quickly walked out of the Student Council Office and immediately headed to Ramona's office. A sharp prick occasionally stabbed her heart. How much does Ramona know about the strange animals? Why didn't Ramona give her any information about them at all?
She took a few deep breaths before stepping into Ramona's office. The secretary mentioned that she should be back at any time. Aayla quietly waited. She had no idea what she was going to say. Did Ramona not trust her? Not want her to leave?
Feelings of frustration and homesickness welled up inside of Aayla. All throughout her life, she had rarely spent so much time so far away from her family. She was almost always watching over her brother. If they weren't with their parents, then they were with their grandparents.
The ticking clock on the wall seemed to slow down. Eventually, Ramona arrived while Aayla was deep in thought. She immediately noticed that something was wrong by Aayla's pale face. After the door shut behind her, Ramona immediately cast magic to soundproof the room.
"Aayla, what's going on? You're so pale?"
"Did you know about the animals that have been showing up on campus? The ones that are like me? No mana at all and can't absorb it."
A guilty look flashed over Ramona's face. She sighed and hung her head as she sat down. Ramona thought for several minutes before she replied.
"Yes, I know."
"You knew? For how long? Why didn't you tell me? If they are like me then doesn't that mean –"
"Not necessarily. Yes, those animals are probably Terran, but no people crossed over. The portal that brought you here is closed. I've already confirmed that. The search parties haven't found anyone else, including Dr. van Brakke."
The pair sat in silence for several minutes. Ramona started brewing some tea.
"Look, something similar happened when I travelled between here and Terra. After the portal closes, the surrounding space becomes more prone to sudden, involuntary transfers from one dimension to another. Basically, creatures and objects are phased from one dimension into another.
"Phasing is different from crossing with a portal. Targets are broken down and reconstructed. There is significant damage to one's consciousness and sentience. Normally, those with higher sentience instinctively stay away from unstable space.
"Above all, phasing is one way only. Since you travelled to Tellus, the targets can only be transferred to Tellus. Aayla, sweetie, I'm so sorry. I didn't want to get your hopes up for something that can't happen. That's why I didn't tell you about the animals."
Aayla struggled to process what Ramona just told her. The teapot whistled when the water started to boil. Soon, a piping hot cup of tea was placed in front of Aayla.
"So… there's no way for me to go home?"
"Not at this moment. We do not have the magic needed to open a portal to Terra. No one in Tellus has that type of knowledge in this era. Even if we could, there are some problems.
We would need the spatial coordinate plotter and a locator. Specifically, we need something from Terra that we could use to lock in on the coordinates of the destination. You are a living being, so we can't use you. One of your Terran belongings could work, but they're too young. They haven't existed in Terra for long enough.
The last problem is that the space around the planet is becoming unstable. The instability is slowly rippling across the planet. Within a few years, the entire planet will be covered. At that point, we would have to wait until the instability died down. Even the intra-planetary portals and similar long distance magical transportation that we have mastered are going to experience significant issues."
"How long do we have until I can't go home anymore?"
"I wouldn't say 'never go home', just 'delayed going home'. We have one to two years until the entire planet is unstable, then about another year until the instability gets so bad that dimensional crossing is impossible. The instability should last around 10 years after that. Plus a few more to make sure that the space has properly healed. I spent a good 15 years on Terra, so the wait could easily be that long."
Fifteen years is a very long time to spend in a country becoming more unstable by the minute. If she could even get home after the planet is stable again. Aayla couldn't even begin to imagine what her family would go through. What they are going through now.
If they think that she's already dead, then would it be better if she didn't go back? No one would believe any of her explanations. Should she force them to reopen old wounds if they've already healed?
More silence reigned in the office. Ramona let Aayla take her time to think things through for a while. The whisps of steam rising from the tea cup fizzled out as it cooled.
"If you don't mind me asking, how did you find out about the creatures arriving on campus? You've hardly left the residence hall, and you rarely talk with your classmates."
"You've heard about the snake incident, right?"
"Yes. Ah! So, it was a Terran creature?"
"Probably. Looked like a Canadian smooth green snake. People kept freaking out and calling it a toxic magical beast or something. Anyways, I started getting suspicious then. I checked around town, and there were some similar stories. I had to return and couldn't ask more questions.
I didn't realize that there were incidents on campus, but then the Student Council gave me an assignment to help manage the animals on campus. What they described matched what I knew."
"Ah. This morning's summons, then?"
"Yup. The president and Mr. Ahroyor told me all about the animals. Theo volunteered me for the assignment, and both Nurse Rouse and Headmaster Marin approved."
"Headmaster Marin did?"
Ramona frowned. That meddling headmaster is always causing problems, but this incident shouldn't be malicious. He probably noticed that the mysterious creatures were Terran. Since Aayla was Terran, he assigned her to the case thinking that she could handle them better than native Tellans.
Aayla eventually calmed down as she drank the cooled tea. She understood why Ramona kept the animal incidents from her, but she still felt a bit wronged. Being left out of the loop on such a critical piece of information was frustrating.
Ramona started explaining the difference between creatures on Tellus and Terra. Basically, animals on Tellus have mana while those from Terra do not. Simple enough right?
Tellan animals instinctively use mana, and if they have a magical core then they are called magical beasts. Even the weakest magical beast is dangerous. They can grow to become extremely strong. They can use more structured and powerful magic. Most of their magic is combat based.
Magic beasts are typically brightly or oddly colored, which reflects their main attribute. The lower ranked magic beasts tend to be small and weak physically but can make up for that weakness with mana. In ancient times, the largest specimens were rumored reach the size of a four-story mansion. The largest known individual today reached the size of a two-story house.
That's why those from the boutique thought that the regular Terran snake was a magical beast. Normal Tellan snakes are not that large or that brightly colored. They assumed that it was a highly toxic magical beast.
"Who are you working with?"
"Daren and Chris. I'm not sure about anyone else."
"Those two, huh? They normally have their act together, so the research itself shouldn't be a problem. The Butterflies, however… They could be a problem."
"The Butterflies? Oh, you mean that clique of very rich and very snobby pretty girls? I think some of them are in the Nafriton Residence Hall. Didn't one of them get arrested?"
"Ms. Morvell is a former member now. The most important one is Vanessa Landrienne, and she is a resident. She is also hyper fixated on becoming Daren's wife."
"Like a stalker?"
"Even worse. An obsessive stalker with a powerful background. She comes from the Landrienne family of Landrienne City fame. She's been quiet lately since the incident with Ms. Morvell, but she absolutely hates for any female to approach Daren."
"So, I've got a super stalker that I'm responsible for living in my residence hall who's target of obsession is someone that I've been assigned to work closely with?"
"Yes."
"I don't suppose that you know of a way for me to get out of my assignment? Or avoid Daren completely?"
"No and no. Once word about the assignment spreads out, she will not care about how much time you actually spend with Daren. Only that you have a prime opportunity to 'flirt' with him."
"Why is it so hard to avoid people? I keep trying but the opposite seems to be happening."
"The Celestials have a funny way of messing with people sometimes."
Aayla soon went back to the residence hall. She needed to prepare for the coming storm that is Hurricane Vanessa.