The week before leaving for school turned out to be the easiest since I became Anastasia. I didn’t have any classes so I was able to spend most of the day in the library. I had given in and asked Gabriela how the library was organized and found several books about magic basics and even some that mentioned witches. Initially I thought that the difference between a sorcerer and a witch had something to do with how each obtained magic but both born with it. The difference came down to whether they were a noble or a commoner. The nobles called themselves Sorcerers. Commoners were witches. Though some books claimed the magic of witches was inherently evil, I found no proof they used any magic all that different from mine. Some authors mentioned that as time went on, the magic of the Sorcerer’s had weakened but wouldn’t the commoners have just taken over if that was the case? I found an answer to that in a stack of newspapers haphazardly piled up in a corner of the library. I took two random newspapers, one from three days ago and one that looked like it was printed in yellow paper.

I added them to my reading pile, figuring that recent and not so recent news would help me understand the world I had been thrown into. Across the library, Gabriela and Larissa were studying some heavy looking book.

Gabriela had gone to my father and told him that I would feel more comfortable if my maid was around my age or some other such bullsh*t. I didn’t expect it just work but it had.

Picking up the old newspaper, I looked at the publication date, ten years old. I then moved to scan the headlines in the front page. The largest headline had a picture that almost made me drop the newspaper. There was a girl that looked like Larissa! It took a bit but I realized it probably was a younger Gabriela. She was standing in front of a large house looking distressed and behind her were two adults, maybe her parents. Intrigued, I took another look at the headline.

“The Fall of House Landgeage!”

I read on expecting some crazy scandal but all it boiled down to was that some guy by the name of Alfred Landgeage made a deal with a witch. His granddaughter had been sick and he had asked the witch for help. What was with the obsession with not dealing with witches in any way? Flipping through the newspaper, I found the name Landgeage mentioned again. It read like an opinion piece declaring that the reason given for the Landgeage family’s fall from grace was an excuse. The writer claimed that Alfred Landgeage had created a pin capable of suppressing the magic of witches. It was so effective that the king had worried that the pin could be used against nobles. The whole newspaper was ridiculous. I flipped through the more recent newspaper. 

So they limited the power of witches, probably why they were still commoners.

 I glanced at the front of the recent newspaper. It had an image of some treehouses, The headline declared that the capital of Tallocren was abandoned. The country of Tallocren, wasn't that where elves were rumored to live. Turoe, the country I was in, did limited trades with Tallocren. There is also an old rumor that magic abilities were a sign of elven herritage. According to the newspaper, contact with Tallocren was lost and a diplomatic task force found several major cities in Tallocren empty. I flipped a few pages and found a small article close to the end of the newspaper that caught my attention. A city guard was charged with making a deal with a witch. I had never seen the man in my life but it was not that hard to imagine the man with the deep voice and heavy boots from four days ago. I could not help but wonder if Night had actually ruined a man’s life just because of a disagreement. I shook my head. I would rather get my information about the world from books.

At the end of the week, I had a small trunk packed. I woke up extra early on the day of departure. The school’s uniform which essentially consisted of wizard looking robes was hanging in the closet. It was mostly black with gold trimmings. It also looked lighter than any of my ridiculous dresses which honestly sounded like a huge improvement. I also read that most students had access to teleportation pendants to easily get to school but those that lived in the capital of Turoe, me essentially, could just take a carriage there. Its location was actually just past the maze that I had destroyed. I wondered if the few students that had been at school at the time had seen the fire. I was not exactly proud of what I had done to the maze. In my week of reading, I had found a spell that could get rid of simple illusions which would have been much better to use in the maze than resorting to fire. I half glanced at the closed curtains, they looked dark but I saw hints of what could be the sunrise.

It would have been the ideal night to have a conversation with the real Anastasia but I hadn’t really heard from her since the day of the maze test. Who knows, maybe we still talked daily but the Gods that trapped me in this story decided I didn’t need to remember anything from those dreams. In my reading time, I also had not found any similar stories to my situation and unlike asking Gabriela the layout of the library, this was not something I could just bring up in normal conversation. I barely knew how to approach the subject with Larissa and she was in the same boat as me. 

I got up slowly, ignoring the fog beginning to cloud my vision. I had barely even thought anything but I guess I’m not allowed to think. 

I spent the time before the sun rose properly going over the notes I made over the past week. I used the language of Alacran because that is something I apparently know. I wrote down random history tidbits I found interesting and everything I could remember the real Anastasia had ever told me, which was not much.

When the sun rose properly, I stared at the door expectantly but Gabriela didn’t come in. Was I expected to dress myself now? I guess it would probably be a really simple outfit to put on, but it was odd. I glanced towards the window. The sun was definitely up. It was daytime and time to leave, where was my maid?

Walking to the door, I cautiously pressed my ear against the wood and heard nothing. Frowning, I opened the door but what greeted me was not a hallway. 

It was dark. The air felt humid and instead of portraits I was greeted with what looked like cave walls. I took a tentative sniff, stale air if I had to guess. Deciding to walk back into my room I turned around and found myself facing a rock wall instead. Only two directions I could take were creepy rock tunnels and I picked left.

My footsteps did not echo all that much probably because I was barefoot but every footstep seemed way louder than it should have been. Every couple of steps, I paused to listen but the cave was silent.

After walking what felt like an hour I reached what looked like a room or at least a wider part of the cave. I was as far as I could see still alone but somehow felt as if someone were watching me. I had to look around every couple of seconds but I was still very much alone.

Finally as I was debating walking back to where my room used to be, I heard a voice.

“You’re not supposed to be in here.”

I knew the voice. At the same time, the knowledge was causing a rather painful stabbing feeling in my head. I could barely see clearly but I think a woman with curly hair was standing in front of me. I felt her place her palm on top of my head and it was as if I never had a headache. I did know her. It was Eiris and we had talked in a dream once. 

“What is this place?” I was worried the head pain might come back any second.

“The Inbetween? At least that is what I have been calling it.” The way Eiris stroked the cold stone wall was almost loving. 

“What is The Inbetween?”

“It’s self-explanatory, isn’t it. It is between two things. In between reality and whatever you call your current life. I can’t cross over into either. It makes me tired. The Inbetween however is a nice spot where I can rest and hopefully recover my energy. I was hopeful the Gods would not care enough for this place to monitor but I guess I was wrong. I’ll probably have to leave soon. I am not looking forward to that.” Eiris walked slowly around the room. 

“How did I get into this place?”

“Oh, you must have walked out the wrong door.”

“There was only one door.”

“And it was the wrong one. The life you lead, it is a fabrication of Faramund. I don’t fully know it all works but I assume that the hallway you were trying to get to just hadn’t loaded or something.”

None of that made any sense and I began to tell her that when from one blink to another I found myself standing in the hallway. My notebook was still in my hand. I gazed at it blankly before furiously scribbling everything I had just heard.

The next thing I knew I was back in my bed. I reached next to me when the notebook had been when I initially woke up. It was there. I wanted to check if what I just wrote was still there but I didn’t think it would be a good idea. The door opened and closed. Gabriela and Larissa were here and everything was normal the way it should be. I allowed myself to relax. It was time to leave for school.

It was quite similar to the day of the maze test. I went outside for the fourth time and met my father for a few minutes before getting into the car/carriage thing. This time I got to ride with both Gabriela and Larissa and judging by the way that Larissa was looking around, I would bet anything that this was her first time (apart from the brief visit to witch street) that she had ever been outside. Her head turned in every direction looking at the front of the house and the holographic horses in front of the carriage with wide eyes. I guess she found it more interesting than I did. I was waiting in front of the carriage and looking at the door with an apprehension I could no longer explain. 

The ride to the school was a fast one. I watched Larissa as she stared out the window. I also vaguely thought back to my first ride on the carriage and how confused I had been by the lack of animals. I had actually found an answer to that little question. Apparently it came from plants, like fruit. I just wasn’t sure how weird to consider meat trees in a world with magic. They still kept animals but in small numbers outside of cities but that was more of a delicacy only the rich, like me, could afford. That still didn’t explain why I had never seen as much as a mouse though. 

We passed the blackened remains of the maze and to my horror, the school was actually painted the same weird gold from the brochure. I nervously smooth down my new robes. The fact that I was sneaking Larissa into the school was a secret, we had been forced to change her out of her too big dress in the carriage but she was also wearing her own set of black and gold robes. She looked less eager than me but at least she didn’t look as scared as I had expected her to be.

The castle that we were approaching seemed to be separated into four smaller buildings. There was a small tower looking building connected to two of the buildings by large golden arches. The stone also looked odd, if I didn’t know any better I would say the castle was actually made out of gold but that was ridiculous. The smoothness of the walls could only be metal though. I assumed it was painted metal but considering this was a school for nobles, who knew. The path that the carriage was taking was a straight road, cobbled like the roads outside the school and strangely deserted. 

I had half expected to see other students walking around. It was also way too quiet. The carriage stopped abruptly causing Larissa to almost fall out of her seat.

“That’s as far as I can take you.” The driver’s voice almost made me jump.

“Why?” I asked.

“The barrier. It does not allow anyone without magic to cross.” 

There was a barrier? I looked more closely at the air between us and the school. It looked like regular air but now that it had been pointed out, something felt off about it. It was like looking through glass.

Gabriela picked up my small trunk and helped steady Larissa. She waited for the driver to open the door before gesturing for Larissa and I to follow. Before getting out though, I watched her pass a hand through her hair. I thought it was a sign of nerves until I saw the roots of her hair begin to change color. Her hair went from an exaggerated orange to pale blond. I stared. I guess it would make sense to not resemble her daughter so much if Larissa was to pretend to be a student. 

As we neared the gate I half expected to feel resistance or many like I had walked into a wall but was disappointed to feel nothing. I barely had time to notice that the walls of the school had changed before something small and dark tackled me. 

Thankfully I did not hit my head on the way down but it would have been nice for Gabriela or Larissa or anyone to have at least tried to catch me. I irritably pushed the small bundle of robes away from me. I got the vague impression of brown hair and tan skin before Gabriela finally helped me stand up.

The one who attacked me was a kid. I don’t know why I thought she was small, she was at least a head taller than me. I could not also not process the fact she would tackle me at all until the fact that Anastasia had had some “friends” before registered, not that I knew their names. I suspected she was one of them though. She gave me a bright smile that faded the longer we stared at each other. Tall or not, she was definitely around my age. Her skin was light brown and her hair was long and curly. She was wearing the same robes as I was, making her a student. I really wished I had asked Anastasia for the names of her friends. 

“Are you okay? You didn’t hurt yourself did you?” Her voice was low, sort of raspy. She genuinely sounded concerned. If she was one of Anastasia’s friends it would make sense for her to pretend to be concerned but she did not seem to be faking. I found that even more suspicious than if she had outright laughed at me. 

“You are worrying about me after you tackled me?” I asked blankly. I don’t know how I expected her to react but I really didn’t think she would laugh, she did. I was also not sure if she was laughing at me or not. I thought I had gotten used to dealing with people I was supposed to know but I was finding this interaction aggravating. 

“It’s just ground, soft ground won’t kill you.” She shrugged.

“I’m sure the softness of the ground would have been real comforting if I had hit my head on the way down.” I was liking that girl less and less. There was no way that I would ever be friends with someone this annoying.

Thankfully Gabriela tapped me on the shoulder reminding me that we would be late for orientation. I quickly turned back to Larissa, or rather Leanne Brown as far as the academy was concerned, and together we walked to the small tower looking building.

I hope I don’t see much of this girl around the school.