Xander kept his eyes shut tight as he stepped through the mystical gate. What he saw when he opened them, however, he was not prepared for. A strong breeze rushed through Xander's hair, as he laid witness to the bustling streets of a strange-looking town. All kinds of people of different races and forms he was not used to walking past, living their lives. The sounds of this interesting town surprised him. It was nothing like the city Xander was used to.
Max and Kylo chuckled as they watched Xander's surprised face. They started walking, in hopes that Xander would follow suit. They strolled down a large staircase that led from the gate into town. They passed many food stalls, selling interesting meals that Xander had never seen before. The smell of delicious food made Xander's mouth water. His stomach growled as he remembered that he hadn't eaten food since the previous day.
"I heard that," Kylo teased. "Here," He flicked an interesting coin at Xander. As he caught it in his hands, he could see a special marking on it, along with a date. It said, "Year 512." This caught him off guard, and he realized how long ago this coin was made.
"That coin was made over 500 years after the discovery of magic. It was only a few hundred years after said discovery that this town and school were built. Crazy, right?" Max said.
"Go get yourself something to eat," Kylo told Xander. "You'll need to fill your belly before we go on the long tour of the school anyway." He laughed and then sighed comedically.
Xander looked around excitedly. He had no idea which stall to go to for his meal. After a few recommendations from the two others, he decided where to go, and ordered a meal that he had never heard of before.
He sat down to begin eating a dish that resembled steak tartare. The flavor was stunningly pungent, but it was attractive to Xander's taste in the strangest way.
Kylo sat down behind him and laughed when he noticed what Xander was eating.
"...what?" Xander looked at his friend and then back at the dish on the table in front of him.
"It's hard to find someone who will eat that stuff," Kylo sighed off his laughter but couldn't contain it and continued to laugh.
Xander was cycling through all of his guesses as to what the food could be but nothing came to mind.
"Xander… You're eating basilisk. You know. mythical snake? Although this one wasn't mythical it's still a mythical creature to the non-magic Earth's standards. A mythical basilisk would cost an arm and a leg for even a sliver…" Kylo trailed off.
Xander looked back down at his food. "Am I really eating a breed of snake that causes death at just a mere glance?"
"Kylo.. Nobody died trying to get this food to the store here, right?"
"Haha, you're funny. Nobody died getting that snake here. That's a common basilisk, the most they can do is a venomous bite. There are different variants of creatures, with mythical being the peak of what it means to be a creature. Think of a phoenix, for instance. You may think of a bird that returns from the ashes and manipulates fire, but the common variants are just a dumbed-down version," Kylo explained. This time, Xander understood each word.
Xander took another bite of his basilisk dish and savored the taste. He smiled unknowingly, as he started to get excited about the world he was currently in. He had always heard fantasy stories of magic and mythical beings, but just like everyone else in the normal world, he thought they were all fake. Not just being told, but being shown that it is all real filled him with delight. At this point, he had almost forgotten about the altercation in the alley and was ready to discover all of the great things this world had to offer. Kylo noticed this look in his eyes and smiled a bittersweet smile.
"We may have saved him from his depressive state, but for how long?" Kylo thought to himself.
Xander finished his meal.
After a few comments from Kylo about Xander's suffocating snake breath, they marched onward throughout the town. It was interesting because Xander felt so at home here. Even though everything was so strange, and it was all very overwhelming, it all felt natural. He no longer felt like he was being choked by the feeling of being on the "normal earth." Here, he felt free.
As people passed Xander on the street, they would wave and greet him, and he would do the same, awkward as it was. While he felt comfortable here, he still wasn't used to this much social interaction.
"You're sweating, you know," Max had told him.
"I know, I can't help it," Xander said with a hint of embarrassment.
"It's quite alright though, it is totally natural," Max explained. "You might want to calm it down though, it's soaking through your shirt," he laughed.
Xander's face flushed red as they continued walking.
Since the second he stepped through the gate, Xander had been listening closely to the new world he found himself in. Each and every sound he heard was burned into his memory. Everything he had heard thus far had been new to him. New languages, animals, etc. However, while walking alongside Max and Kylo, he heard something familiar… Nostalgic even. The sounds of waves.
This shocked Xander. So much so, that he stepped away from his two friends, and walked straight to where the sounds of splashing water could be heard. Both Max and Kylo were confused at Xander's sudden change of direction and focus. Worried he might get lost, the two followed him.
As Xander got closer to the water, however, he heard something else. Another oddly familiar sound, but unlike the sound of waves, this one pissed him off. It was the sound of a person tormenting someone weaker than them. Xander began to run
"Stop!" cried a random child on the beach.
"No, you stop. Do you know who I am? Don't act like you don't. I can't believe that you can't deliver on something so simple. I asked you to give her a piece of paper. A piece of paper! And you couldn't do that. Now I'm mad, and you get to deal with it." a man of similar age to Xander snickered as he stomped on the kid.
Xander arrived at the scene, with the two others following just shortly after. Seeing the kid get beaten by this bigger, stronger boy reminded Xander of Damien, and how he got beaten by him. It filled him with anger. Watching this situation go down truly made Xander realize just how much his personality had changed since before the incident in the bathroom that day. He had an intense sense of justice and wanted to save the poor kid from getting stomped on the sand as quickly as possible.
"What are you doing?" Xander called out, making his way towards the two of them.
"Huh?" The bully looked up, his foot remaining on the child.
Xander pounced at the boy, fully ready to attack him and win. However, before he could make contact, he was propelled away by the very same ocean water that was in front of him. The salt stung his eyes. It was saltier than any seawater Xander had ever come into contact with. He couldn't open his eyes.
The boy laughed. "You think you could mess with me? Who do you think you are? I am the son of the family of Thorne, yet you attacked me? You must be out of your mind," he laughed. Water began to well up again and shot out at Xander.
He was thrown around the beach, hitting the sand, knocking the wind out of his lungs, and suffocating him with water. He thought he might die.
He got picked up and slapped back down. Up, and down, up and down. Scraping against the sand, Xander felt intense pain.
"Adrian!" yelled Max. The water stopped flowing. It splashed back on the beach soaking into the coarse sand.
The boy named Adrian Thorne looked up at Max, his eyes widened. "What? Max? What are you doing here?" he asked.
"Escorting this young man. What do you think you are doing to him? You could kill him. Also, what is going on with Benjamin on the ground there? Why did you hurt the two of them? Just because you are the son of the headmaster doesn't mean you can terrorize whoever you want." Max scolded him.
"Yeah, yeah, whatever," he grumbled. Without answering any of Max's questions, Adrian left. Max let him go, smirking as he walked past him, for some reason.
Xander coughed. He was soaked, head to toe. He gasped for air and rubbed his eyes. Max gave him a cloth that seemingly appeared out of nowhere, but as Xander didn't notice, he didn't question it. Using the cloth, Xander wiped the salt water out of his eyes and dried his face and hair off. "Jeez… what was that guy's problem?" he asked.
"That was Adrian Thorne, the son of the headmaster of the school, and a total a-hole. He thinks he is the strongest one in the school, which is technically true among us students." Kylo told him.
"You mean… he is stronger than you, Kylo?" Xander asked, surprised. After seeing, or, not seeing Kylo take down the guy in the alley, he couldn't believe that there was anyone stronger than him.
Kylo nodded. "In terms of raw talent, he's better than me. But you best believe that I will overthrow him as the best among the students," he said with a look of determination in his eyes.
Max helped Xander up, and after taking a moment to rest, the three of them took off. As they left the beach, Xander felt sad. He had rushed over to it to feel reminded of his favorite place back home, but instead, he was reminded of the thing that got him kicked out of his house. It reminded him of the pain of getting beaten down, except this time it hurt so much more.
"It is getting kind of late. We could head to the school, or…" Max looked at Kylo and the two of them smiled.
"Sleepover in a hotel!" the two yelled in unison. "Come on, Xander," Kylo motioned at him to hurry up.
Xander sighed. He slightly picked up his pace and followed the two of them to a hotel, where they rested for the rest of the night.
Before he fell asleep, however, Xander replayed all of the things he saw today. He felt excited about all of the new things he got to see but felt bitter and angry about the fact that there were bullies even in this world of magic. Not only that, but he was scared of the pain that would ensue if he got caught up in something like that again, without the help of either of his friends. He might die. This thought kept him up for just a few minutes, but then the exhaustion kicked in. He passed out.
The next morning, the three of them set out to the school. It took them just a short walk to arrive at the building. It was massive. Compared to Xander's old school, this was like a skyscraper. Even Kylo was surprised. With watchtowers at the corners of each wall and a giant one in the center, it was awe-inspiring
"It's been a long time since I last saw it. I forgot how large it actually was," he laughed.
Xander assumed that there would have been an incredible number of people walking in and out of this building, based on its size, but in reality, it seemed abandoned. It was confusing. Xander didn't question it though, because both Max and Kylo seemed so happy to be back. The three of them stepped through the large doors and entered the school.
It was extravagant. Truly breathtaking for someone who lived in the normal world their whole life. Xander was awe-struck. The building seemed straight out of a fantasy. Gold trim lined the walls and ceiling. Glowing gemstones float atop pillars all over the room. It was beautiful to Xander. Kylo took a deep breath and smiled. "It's good to be back," he said.
Then there was a loud knock. The three looked up at the staircase in the middle of the room, and at the very top was a man who seemed to be very old, but his body looked very young at the same time.
"The headmaster?" Xander assumed.
It seemed like he had slammed a large staff down on the hard wooden floors, creating that loud knocking sound.
"Welcome back, Max, Kylo. It has been a while. It seems your mission was a success?" the headmaster looked at Xander. His voice was stern but strangely calming.
"Yeah, we got it done, Old Man, just like I said we would. Did you ever doubt us?" Max smirked.
"No, although that attitude of yours does worry me from time to time," he sighed. "You there, the boring-looking one," He pointed to Xander. "I am Caspian Thorne, the headmaster of this school. You made it here just in time, as we are about to begin exams. While it is already halfway through the year, you would be joining us late, but if you take part in these exams, we may just enroll you in this school." He said with a sly look on his face.
Time seemed to stop as these words fell on Xander's ears.
"Enroll? Into this school?" Xander was fearful of what might happen. Remembering the little run-in with Adrian on the beach, his comfort in this new world began to falter a little around the edges. He now knew that even in a fantasy world like this, there were still bad people. Bullies, villains, whatever word you wish to use. But, all it took was one look back at Max and Kylo and he felt relieved again.
"I'll always have them to protect me, though. They'll teach me and I'll learn. I'll be fine." Time began to move again as he looked back towards the headmaster and slightly smiled.
Ready to begin his new life, he asked the following words:
"What do I have to do?"