Slowly and with much effort, Fiona got up. Every muscle in her body was crying out, but at least she could feel nothing was broken. That didn't make standing any less torture. Fiona limped to the nearest tree and rested her back on it. She needed to think. The sun was setting, but she was approximately 10 minutes away from the hostel. Putting her current condition into consideration, she made that 30 minutes.
Fiona set off on the long and treacherous journey. She might have calculated minutes, but it felt more like hours. On several occasions, she'd had to take a break, sitting or leaning on something, because her legs could only take her so far. By the time she reached the doors of House Ivy, night had fallen.
The next treacherous journey was the climb up the stairs. With every step she took, Fiona cursed the Sentry Alliance, for transferring her to MARC; Borri, for being a pain in the ass (literally); Dominic, for not thinking to call help to her; and especially Joan, for giving her the highest dorm room in the building. The place was silent. There were no other supernaturals in sight, making Fiona assume they were having dinner. She was too much in pain to care about food, however.
An empty attic greeted Fiona on her arrival, which she was grateful for. The serenity was exactly what she need. Her pain had given way to overwhelming exhaustion, and now, all she wanted was a good rest. Heading straight for the bed, Fiona crashed into it. A short while after, she was fast asleep.
••••••••••
The morning sun streamed through the curtainless window, shedding light on Fiona's face. The rays disturbed her slumber, causing her eyelids to flutter. Her head on her hard and uncomfortable pillow, she lazily opened her eyes. The close-up view of Bam Bam's face, staring right back at her, made her jump up.
"The hell!?" Fiona exclaimed, clutching her sides. The sudden motion had reminded her she was not in the best of physical states.
"You should see a healer." Bam Bam pointed it out.
No questions had been asked; Fiona was surprised. The usual reaction would have been to inquire what had happened, but the pink pixie was anything but usual. It might as well have been so. Fiona had no intention of admitting Bam Bam had been right, and she should have immediately joined a fraternity. She raised her head in defiance, narrowing her eyes.
"I'm fine."
Bam Bam cocked her head to the side. "If you die, Joan will give me an F. I don't want an F."
If she hadn't been completely crept out, Fiona would have snorted. What a compassionate person her roommate was. Her appearance could be quite misleading. No matter the situation, no matter the discussion, Bam Bam always wore a cute, teary-eyed, and innocent expression. But Fiona knew there were some dark and probably disturbing things going on in her head. As long as they stayed there, Fiona was good.
After the visit to the clinic, Fiona regretted not heading there the previous night. An ointment had been smeared over her wounds, which disappeared a minute later, not leaving a single scar. She was then given a potion for her internal aches. This would take longer to take effect, perhaps half a day.
Nevertheless, Fiona was grateful. She had always had high respect for the healing profession. It was the most (and perhaps the only) humanitarian form of sorcery. Their method of medicine was far more effective than those of science. It was a pity the mystic world was hidden from non-supernatural humans. Healers could have prevented so much suffering.
Next, Bam Bam took Fiona to get her class schedule. They entered a room, which although was large, appeared cramped. A Hecatoncheir sat in the center. It was a grotesque creature with 50 heads, a towering height, and hundred hands. 200 typewriters were scattered around him, and each hand punched frantically on all of them.
"Hey, Aegaeon." Bam Bam greeted.
"What now!?" The school clerk snapped, irritated by the distraction. "I'm busy! I'm always busy! Don't I look busy!?" He went on to rant, his heads speaking at once and his hands still typing.
"We're looking for the class schedule of Fiona Lynec. She moved in yesterday."
"It's always —I'm looking for this or I'm looking for that. I used to be a warrior. A great warrior. Now, I work in a school. The pay isn't even good." One of his many hands pulled a small shelf from a cupboard.
It took the monster tossing the shelf to snap Fiona out of her trance. She had been shocked by the mere possibility of the Hecatoncheir. How could someone manage that many heads? One was hard enough for her. Searching and pulling out the file with her name, she took out her class schedule. The clerk promptly snatched the shelf from her.
Checking the paper, Fiona saw she had Mystical Lifelore next. She figured that that was the monster realm's equivalent of Biology. Bam Bam uneventfully escorted her to her class, before proceeding to hers. Fiona fixed her gaze on the door of Rm 207. Her heart was racing in her chest. The MARC staff board had probably officialized her enrollment before she had even arrived, but attending the classes seemed to put a stamp on it. Once she entered that classroom, she would be seen as a student of MARC.
A turn of the doorknob and she was in. Sixteen pairs of eyes turned to the one at the door. She stood still, rendered motionless by their intent gazes. The teacher, a centaur standing in front of the class, raised an eyebrow. From his head to his waist was human, but everything else was a horse's.
"Don't just stand there. Take a seat." He said. His tone was not harsh, but wasn't kind either.
Fiona studied the sitting arrangements. There were three blocks of seats, each containing five rows. She didn't need someone to tell her the blocks represented the three fraternities. And behind them all sat Dominic, alone and unbothered, like the lone wolf he was. Without giving it a second thought, Fiona grabbed an empty seat and dragged it. To the bewilderment of everyone watching, including the one she was approaching, she settled beside Dominic. His expression was so surprised, she had to bite her tongue to keep herself from laughing.
The centaur cleared his throat to draw everyone's attention back to himself. The class continued, the hoofed teacher blabbing about a vampire's unique digestive system. Fiona couldn't concentrate on the lesson. Her mind kept straying to the one beside her. There was complete silence on his end, but maybe he was wondering about her, just as she was him. Facing him, she parted her lips to make small talk, but instead, they curved downwards to form an amazed scowl.
Sitting as stiffly as a statue, Dominic had moved to the very edge of the table, his jaws and fists (which were encased in black gloves) clenched. His eyes were narrowed, and were concentrated on the blackboard. He appeared not only angry, but disgusted that the human girl had sat beside him. Fiona's jaw dropped. She got that he was antisocial, but that did not give him the right to treat others like weeks-old trash littered in the alleyway of a ghetto. Who did he think he was?
Still fuming, Fiona turned back to the teacher. She forced herself to listen to his lecture, learning things she would have preferred not to about a vampire's bowels. At the end of the class, students filed out the door. Fiona took a couple of deep breaths to calm herself down. She very much intended to tell Dominic off, but she wanted to do it without her temper coming into play. Once she felt she was stable enough, she faced him. He had already left. Sighing in defeat, she gathered her books and headed to her next class.
NB:
95% of the creatures in this book are not made up. Most are actual mystical beings from real-life myths. So if you ever wonder what a certain monster with 50 heads looks like, you can Google it up.