Everything looked like a movie set or some fan art on the internet. Carved stone and limestone pillars lined the walls along with some paintings, presumably of famous people. Not one crack could be seen anywhere as if someone really looked after it, not like a ruinous castle somewhere in England. Whenever something new or interesting appeared Davis wandered off to touch it just to make sure all of it was real after all. The porous structure of the limestone pillars was so fun to touch. “Do you live in this place? Are there dorms here?”

Gerrit smiled. He remembered how he walked through Academia’s halls in his first year. Seeing that wonder in Davis’s eyes made him feel a little bit nostalgic. “Almost all of us live here but not everyone in dorms. Only the first to third years do. After that we got two or three person bedrooms. Don’t ask me how they had this planned out. Some students that have homes in the nearby Capitol visit there on a weekend. Other than that we have to wait for the end of a semester to visit home.”

Most of the windows they had passed on the second floor only showed the courtyard they were moving towards but as they finally stepped outside into sunshine high above the southern main hall rose the spires of the Capitol. The main part of the city was raised up on a plateau while the outskirts fanned out around it.

“This place is crazy!” shouted Davis grabbing the intention of some students sitting on stone benches nearby enjoying their free periods.

Of course Davis stood out next to Gerrit. The Professor’s apprentice wore the school’s sand colored uniform and dark brown light cloth pants. Davis’s dirty white shirt with yellow flashes and denim jeans looked unbelievably out of place. Two girls nearby began whispering and giggling, trying to steal glances at the new mysterious boy.

“Davis, let’s get under the shade of that tree over there.” Gerrit pointed towards a big tree with a round of benches under it’s leafs. He specifically turned his back to those two girls showing interest. “You said ninety thousand lived in Asheville? How does it look there?”

The boy began explaining his world to Gerrit. Telling him how Davis and Maron wanted to play videogames. About the ride on the bicycle and the accident at the intersection. This was a good way to talk about cars and motorcycles. Next he got sidetracked talking how planes could transport people all over the planet.

“We got something like your planes too. They are airships powered by sky crystals. Let me tell you those dwarves are some crafty people. Somehow they found a way to use them without a magician to focus them.” Ever since he first saw one breaking through the clouds Gerrit had wondered how such huge hunks of steel and wood were able to fly through the sky.

“Now what do you mean? I don’t get this focus stuff.” Like a curious dog Davis tilted his head to the right.

“Ohhh yeah. You see my ring?” Gerrit raised his left hand to show Davis. “That stone in there is an arcane crystal. To use my magic I need concentrate on the world around me and focus that energy into the stone. Then I’m able to manipulate those arcane or elemental energies and change stuff. Ms. Lia’s familiar was also able to use her healing magic, elfs are really good at that.”

Davis was amazed. Elfs, Ogres, Dwarves with magic powered air ships. Even though the boy was a bit worried about his family reporting him missing he wanted to see what else this fantastical world had to offer. “You got any idea how long I will be stuck here? Can you make one of those portals again?”

The red-head’s face scrunched up a bit. “To be honest? No clue. This was the very first time we even opened a portal. Whenever we tried before either nothing happened or a festival cracker explosion went off.”

Steps from behind made the pair turn around. One of the two girls came over. She tucked her blond hair behind a pointy ear. “Hiii. Are you a new student? I’ve never seen you around.” For Davis this was a first. In school at home the girls were always picky who they talked to. Even though his best friend didn’t really look the part he was branded as nerd and in return Davis was one too, guilt by association. Such a beautiful girl as this elf never would’ve talked to him.

“Oh no” Davis blushed. Even though he was crushing hard for his best friends for years now it was always cute that someone seemed interested. “I’m just visiting. My dad is….eh…”

“His dad is good friends with the Professor, that’s why I’m showing Davis around.” Sometimes Gerrit was clumsy but no matter how often he fell down he never lost his wits. Nobody had to know that Davis came from some different planet, as far as Gerrit knew.

“Yes, right. Gerrit was a nice tour guide so far. I’m sorry but I don’t know how much longer I’ll stay.” It surprised Davis that this girl seemed genuinely disappointed to hear that.

The elf looked down but then raised her face with an even brighter smile making her deep blue eyes shine. “When you visit next time maybe we could go to Capitol? I know a very cozy café near a nice park.”

“I mean…yeah if you want to. I just don’t want to make any false promises, okay? Who knows if I ever come visit again? But…sure! My name is Davis by the way.” He extended his hand with a smile, forgetting that Gerrit dropped his name a minute ago.

“Eillia. Don’t forget it until we meet again.” After she briefly shook hands with Davis Eillia returned to her friend who immediately started whispering and hushing, wanting to know all the details.

What Davis didn’t catch on during that small conversation was the fact that Gerrit didn’t seem too happy. “How long are you here now? About an hour and you already got a girl asking you out.”

Blushing and laughing Davis averted his eyes to any stone he could find on the ground. “Thanks for helping me out.” As Gerrit had said Davis did arrive in this world only an hour ago so he didn’t know want them to know about his crush on Maron back home. Davis didn’t even knew if liking boys was frowned upon. “Who knows…maybe I’ll take her up on that offer if I’m stuck for a while.”

“Yeah, who knows?” To distract himself a bit Gerrit chose to manipulate the wind around some fallen leafs. “You were surprised to hear about magic…that means you don’t do that where you are from.”

“No we don’t. Could I try? I mean you said you needed your ring for that. It’s not like some magical wand or your cat choosing its owner, right?” Excitement showed on Davis’s face. His lower lip began to twitch and that twinkle in his eyes returned.

Gerrit thought about what could go wrong if Davis borrowed his ring for just a second. “You…” he began but stopped. What if this boy had such a high magical aptitude and couldn’t control it? But what if he just couldn’t do anything at all? The risk seemed like a coin flip. “Why not, let’s see how well you can do.” The ring slipped off effortlessly.

That twitch in Davis’s lower lip got even worse. It felt like all of those butterflies Gerrit conjured earlier were now flying around in his head. Would he be able to really do magic? With a shaky hand the boy put the ring on his finger.

“Now listen.” Gerrit was already relieved that there wasn’t a big arcane explosion or flying chunks of stone. “Close your eyes and focus on your breathing. Can you feel the wind?”

Following the orders Davis nodded affirmative.

“Imagine the wind going around your hand or in a ball above it, whatever works best for you. It might not work the first time so just take a deep breath and in your minds eye catch the wind. Collect that breeze into the ring.”

Even if it sounded logical in his mind Davis looked stupid having his right hand extended like that, focusing all of his thoughts on the silver ring. After some minutes of nothing happening both boys were about to surrender but when his breathing calmed for the last time, the stone began glowing blue. Immediately Davis felt the change. It was felt like there was a little wind halo right above the stone.

“Nice! Don’t lose your focus! Now the easiest thing to do is manipulating that wind. Try to draw some circles around those leafs over there.”

Not losing focus was easier said then done when one was this excited. What also wasn’t easy was not going full force. As soon as Davis pointed at the leafs Gerrit mentioned a strong wind current blew everything in a ten meter cone away. The boy was surprised.

“Damn it Davis, you were supposed to make those leafs dance and not blow them away like some storm.” They both started to laugh at the mistake. “If you are stuck here for a while maybe the Professor talks to the headmaster to let you go to class with the first years. You’d look cute next to all those little kids.”

Rather not risking to blow Gerrit against a pillar or down some unseen cliff Davis chose to strike back quite literally. “Don’t you dare make fun of me, Mister Children Birthday Magician without a ring.”

“You should give me the ring back before you blow up the whole school. I don’t want to get into any trouble. Just thinking about all that extra work makes me shiver.” Gerrit’s ring was soon back in its place, sitting snug on the left ring finger. A purple raven came swooping down, landing on Gerrit’s shoulder and began picking his head. “Ow. Stop it! You delivered your message, get lost!” His hands were swiping at the raven to make it disappear again. “I guess the Professor already returned. We should get back to his office.”

“Can we make a quick stop at the hospital? I forgot to take my bag with me.”

A/N: Please don't forget to like and subscribe, maybe leave a nice comment. Your words are the only thing that keeps me going.