Apollo was falling, which was quite disconcerting to say the least. He screamed his head off crazily, quieting only when he landed in a chair in the middle of a classroom. Apollo scrunched his face up, furrowing his brows as he looked around like a kid lost in a store. Apollo blinked, rubbed his eyes and then blinked some more. Yepe, he was in the middle of a classroom now, some weird old Victorian kind of classroom covered in either stone or wood. It was like he stepped straight into Hogwarts.
Sitting all around him were all kinds of students, students with fins and sharp teeth, some with fur, some with green skin and long tails. All of the students were looking down, focusing intently on the papers on their desk. Apollo followed their lead and looked down at his desk to find a test written in fancy cursive. On the very top of the test was the words Lumeria Academy Entrance Exam. Entrance exam?! Was this what Nelle meant when she said she'd give him a second chance? How the hell was he supposed to pass this test? He'd only been in the world a mere five seconds and she dropped him straight into school? This was not at all what he imagined when she said magical fantasy world. He expected it to be like an Isekai, dropped in and suddenly the hero of the story who has to save the world, instead he was taking a test that he had no hope of getting even a single answer correct. Sighing heavily Apollo said fuck it and started with the first question, perhaps the test would be easier than he thought. Perhaps his extensive knowledge of Harry Potter would assist him.
Question 1: What is a Dream Vine? And what are they frequently used for?
Ah shit, of course it'd be something weird that he had never heard of. He thought, well if it's called dream vine then it probably puts you to sleep, right? He filled in the answer that he thought made the most logical sense and moved on to the next question.
Question 2: Why must you always be wary around mirrors?
Apollo looked at the answers, hoping one of them would stick out compared to the others. A. because demons are known to pop out of them. B. Because falling into them takes you to a pocket dimension known as the Upside Down World. C. Because you're spirit could get trapped in them if you stare too long. D. Mirrors are known as bad luck by many cultures and could end up causing great bodily harm.
Apollo blinked, none of the answers stood out to him. They were all as weird as the next, well it was time to do a tale old tradition of Christmas Tree-ing the shit out of this test and hoping for the best. He randomly guessed through the answers stopping only when his eyes caught a particularly abnormal question. Once he finished the test he put his pencil back down and looked around. A girl at the very front of the class with curly purple hair stood up from her seat, in one second she was right by her chair and the next she was at the front of the desk placing the test on it neatly. Then in that same second she was back at her seat picking up her things.
Apollo followed her lead fumbling his test to the front and then following her out of the door. He wanted so desperately to ask anyone some questions, the main question flying around in his head was where the hell was he? But as usual he was beyond nervous, every time he rose his hand up to tap her shoulder he chickened out and looked to his feet, toeing the ground. He followed her out of the gigantic stone castle they were in and was completely awestruck when the big wooden doors opened to reveal the world.
The sky was a nice mixture of oranges and yellows, it appeared to morning as the...suns?! There were two suns! Apollo looked away, his eyes already burning as he examined his other surroundings. Castles much like the one he just exited decorated the land, they appeared to be on a floating island, beneath them was a crystal clear sea. So clear that he could see the fish moving around even from this high up. Dozens of floating islands bobbed up and down around him, off to the distance he saw what appeared to be regular old land with large hundred foot tall trees that looked like a lumberjack's dream. He followed the purple haired girl to a large white archway that when walking through it led you straight off the floating island.
Apollo held his breath as the girl nonchalantly wandered through the arch and in a flash disappeared and reappeared on another arch on the island next to them. Apollo gasped, grinning widely as he stepped through the archway and was teleported to the same island. Wicked! Now it was starting to feel like a fantasy world!
Apollo scrunched his face up in determination. He promised Nelle he would be more daring, if he wanted to know more about this world and not go bumbling around like an idiot he would have to suck it up and ask this girl. Balling his currently shaking fists Apollo fast walked to the girl and, a little too loud called out after her.
"Hey!"
The girl stopped and turned, looking for the person yelling. Her golden eyes landed on Apollo. She was stunning, her purple hair was dark at the roots growing lighter and lighter until it reached the bottom as a lavender, tied up into a high ponytail. She had porcelain skin, not a blemish to be found and big baby doll eyelashes that only made those golden eyes pop out more. She wore a frilly black dress with lace fingerless gloves and a cute bat charm necklace. She rose a thin eyebrow at Apollo. When she spoke Apollo noticed a pair of tiny fangs poking out.
"Yes? Can I help you?"
"Um-um..."
Apollo was already digressing to his usual state, he no longer could meet her eyes as he looked at the familiar sight of his feet. He whispered out.
"Could you tell me where I am?"
Apollo felt his nerves sky rocket as she approached him, her platforms coming into view with his own dirty untied sneakers.
"Did you just ask me where we are?"
Apollo nodded.
"Hey, if you're talking to me at least look me in the eyes when you do it."
Hesitantly Apollo rose his head.
"We're in Maple Brooke, obviously."
"Yeah, obviously."
Apollo chuckled out nervously. Golden eyes squinted, very clearly scrutinizing him.
"Who are you? I don't think I've ever seen you around before. I think I would remember someone with eyes like yours."
Apollo felt the heat rise to his cheeks as he lowered his head again.
"My names Apollo... I'm not from here."
"Then where are you from?"
"I don't think you would know it."
"Nonsense, I've traveled all over the world. Now go on, tell me."
"Earth."
Silence overcame the two and through his eyelashes Apollo looked at the girl. She looked deeply confused.
"That-that's impossible you can't... You're saying you're from another world?"
Apollo nodded his head slowly. The girl's mouth hung open for a moment, her brain appeared to be taking in this newfound information as she looked back and forth between the boy's eyes for some sign of lying.
"Really?"
"Really."
The girl let out a breathy laugh and then it grew into a full blown laugh, throwing her head back she held her stomach. Once she was done with her laughing fit she looked at Apollo again. She held out her freshly polished hand and gave a big dimpled smiled.
"My name's Kyra. I've never met an Other Worlder before. So that's why you've been following me, I thought you were stalking me and I was going to have to shove you into a trash can."
"Sorry, I'm not very good with, well people."
"Yeah I got that much. So what's Earth like? What kind of magic do you guys have? Do you eat like we do? What do you eat? Does everyone on Earth have eyes like yours?"
"Um...Uh...Earth really isn't that extraordinary...We don't have magic or anything unlike here."
Kyra sulked a bit, her shoulders drooping but this look didn't stay on the girl too long as she immediately bounced back.
"So the Goddess placed you here, huh."
Apollo nodded as Kyra linked their arms together and started walking. She continued speaking as she did so, not letting Apollo join in at all, which Apollo didn't really mind.
"How exciting! Well you are as I previously stated in Maple Brooke, you just took the entrance exam for Lumeria Academy which is all the way over there."
Apollo followed her pointer finger to what looked like a very tiny mountain from this distance, he could barely make it out it was so far off.
"So that wasn't the academy?"
"That used to be the academy, but they recently had a location change. They still hold the entrance exams here though so the locals can take it without having to travel as far."
"Why don't they just portal to the new school building?"
"Because portaling a short distance is a lot different from portaling a few hundred miles. The farther the distance traveled the more dangerous teleporting is."
"Oh, I see... So then why did they change locations?"
"No one really knows, a change of scenery perhaps? They wanted a fancier looking castle? Any who, let's explore the town while we wait for the news about our exams! I can show you all my favorite stores!"
Kyra dragged the boy along into another arch way. This time they appeared not on a floating island but rather that wooded area Apollo had seen previously. All he saw for miles and miles was big ass trees that blocked out the suns.
"So... Where is the town?"
"Just up ahead, it's hidden by warding magic. Don't want random creatures walking into town willy nilly."
"That makes sense."
The duo walked a couple more feet and suddenly the scene changed from forest to a cute little village with people moving along the busy streets hurriedly. Tiny stone and wooden house went up and down every curvy street with fancy lit up signs of various colors and sizes. Floating lanterns went up and down the perimeter currently off as the two suns shined brightly in the sky. As Apollo was pulled along he noticed that the stone beneath his feet had wave-like patterns that shifted and moved like the ocean.
"Cool..."
Apollo muttered under his breath. There were all kinds of stands and little shops hanging around on the streets selling all kinds of clothes and food, on one of the carts was what looked to be a lizard on a stick and even though the sight was slightly disgusting the smell was intoxicating, so much so that it made Apollo's stomach growl. Another thing Apollo took note of was the abundance of cats wandering around, dozens of them moving in and out of people's legs without a care in the world. Apollo lowered his gaze once he noticed people looking at him strangely, instantly feeling self conscious he cowered in on himself a bit. That was until Apollo was pushed into a shop, nearly falling flat on his face but Kyra grabbed him and yanked him to the back of the store. Dozens and dozens of clothes of all kinds filled the aisles and Kyra let Apollo go only to go sifting through those aisles.
"Why are we here?"
"To get you out of those nasty clothes of course."
"Na-nasty?! Hey, I like this sweater."
Apollo pouted looking down on the clothes he had worn when he met his untimely demise. They were still dirty, mud crusting on the old worn jeans he wore and the maroon sweater that had been sown and re-sown again so many times it was a wonder that it still managed to hang on his body.
"It's old and falling apart, you need new clothes unless you want people to keep staring at you."
"Is that why they were staring?"
"Of course, why else would they be?"
"My-my eyes..."
Ah, Apollo looked at those sneakers once more.
"Stop looking down so much. What's wrong with your eyes? I think they're pretty."
Apollo snapped his head up and felt his ears go hot as he saw that she wasn't playing with him.
"Pretty? You think they're pretty?"
"Of course! Cat eyes are extremely rare, cat eyes that are different colors, even more rare. Tons of people would sell their house to have eyes like yours."
"Really?"
"Yes really, what did you think they were ugly?"
Apollo scratched his arm nervously, finding a thread sticking out of his sweater and playing with it.
"I've always been bullied for them. Called a freak, mutant, monster, anything they could think of."
"Well Earth sounds like a shitty place to live if they think eyes like that are freakish."
Apollo gave her a small smile, hiding his face as he turned to some clothes to avoid those golden eyes.
"Yeah, yeah it is."
Kyra nudged him playfully.
"It's a good thing you live here now then."
"Yeah."
Apollo pulled out a nice pale blue sweater and held it against his torso, waiting for Kyra's opinion.
"It's cute, I think that would go great with..."
Kyra pulled out a nice pair of black slacks.
"...These."
Apollo grinned grabbing the slacks and Kyra pushed him towards the dressing room.
"Well go on then, try them on!"
Apollo did as asked and peeled off his old clothes and put on the new ones, it felt strange not to be wearing that old sweater but it certainly was warmer now. He stepped out awkwardly twirling as Kyra gave him a thumbs up.
"So it looks good?"
"It looks great, I'll go buy it for you."
"Oh no, you don't have to do that."
"You're from another world, I doubt your money is going to work here. It's fine, I don't mind."
Apollo shuffled back into the changing room, grabbing his old clothes and making his way back to Kyra who had already finished paying by the time he arrived. He felt slightly bad about making her pay for his clothes but he supposed that he would just have to find a way to pay her back that didn't involve money as he was flat broke. Once she was done they left the shop and began wandering once more as Apollo asked.
"So what is this world's currency?"
Kyra pulled out a bunch of opal colored coins that shimmered every time it caught the sunlight. Some were smaller than others, those ones he figured were probably a lower value. Carved into the bigger ones was what looked like Nelle, the smaller ones simply had a crescent moon carved into them.
"They're called Moon Coins. There are also Sun Coins but those are only usable in the Sun Kingdom."
"Cool."
Apollo took one and held it against the light, watching it gleam and shine as Kyra shrugged. In that same moment Apollo's attention was caught by a bird, a bird that was getting quite close might he add. As the bird soared closer he noticed that instead of feathers and a beak it looked to be made of paper. The bird zoomed down at him, nearly hitting him straight in the face as it dived haphazardly into the stone. It then unfolded itself into a letter addressed to one Apollo Labauve. Apollo picked it up and opened the letter, Kyra at the same time got a similar letter but instead she expertly grabbed the paper bird out of the air before it hit the ground and it changed in her hand.
"It's our results! Hopefully we got in."
Kyra said as she ripped her letter open. Both of them read them at the same time and grinned uncontrollably when they both read Congratulations. They faced each other and without having to read anymore of the letter they threw their arms out and hugged one another, bouncing happily. Apollo unattached himself from Kyra, shyly looking down at the ground as he said.
"I'm shocked I got in, I guessed all of it."
Kyra snorted a bit as she hit him playfully.
"Well it seems as though luck is on your side. You and I are both officially freshmen at Lumeria Academy!"