Chapter Sixteen

Amber woke up to the buzz of her phone rattling against the side of her bed. She’d wedged the phone between the mattress and bedframe so that it would be easy to find if she had to look at the time. She regretted that now, the rumble was faint, but persistent and annoying.

Yawning, Amber rolled over and pulled the phone up, pressed the home button, and blinked at the bright light until the time registered. Nine. She knew that. Then why did I put it there in the first place?

There was a message waiting for her, a text from a number labelled Norumbega Academy Council.

Miss Green. Please present yourself before the Administration Building for First Year Orientation at 1000 hours today. --The Council of Norumbega

Amber let the phone drop onto her bed and sighed. She almost fell asleep again, but the guilt and the sound of someone moving in the main dorm-room kicked her into action. A change of clothes later and she stumbled out of her room, face wet from splashing water over her eyes and mouth tasting minty fresh.

Morgan was rifling through the cupboards in their little kitchen area, already dressed and looking ready for business.

“Hey,” Amber said. “Did you get the text too?”

“I did,” Morgan said. “We’re out of cereal.”

“Ah, sorry,” Amber said. She might have been the one to polish off the box the night before. “My bad.”

Morgan stopped searching, sighed a little, then straightened back up. “In that case, I suppose we’ll have to go out for breakfast.”

“Won’t that make us late for orientation?” Amber asked.

“I don’t intend to participate,” Morgan replied. “It’s voluntary. Besides, I’ve been around enough and I doubt I’ll learn anything.”

“Oh,” Amber said. She shrugged. “Can I stick with you then?”

Morgan’s brows rose just a little. “Certainly. Breakfast? It’s mostly eggs and ham and potatoes. They don’t bother with anything too impressive. The hashbrowns are great though.”

Amber’s stomach grumbled its approval. “I could go for... all of that. And maybe some coffee.”

Morgan nodded. “We need a coffee machine in here.”

“We really do,” Amber agreed. “Think we can buy one?”

“We can order it,” Morgan said. “It’ll take a bit to arrive.”

They left the dorm and headed for the cafeteria. Halfway there, Amber’s phone buzzed as she received another text. This time it was from Norumbega Administration.

Miss Amber Green. This is to inform you that your allowance for the month has been added to your cryptocurrency account. Access is locked behind a biometrics check. Please use the official app. If you need additional financial assistance, please contact the Administration.

“Oh hey, I have money now,” Amber said. “How do I see how much I have?”

Morgan helped Amber find the right app, then log in using the phone’s camera to take a picture of her face then a print of her thumb. The app displayed her main account, currently filled with 900 Agarthan credits.

“Is that a lot?” Amber asked.

“You could trade it one-to-one for USD in town. I’d advise against that, though. The Agarthan credit is a limited currency, it’s worth a lot more. About the same buying power here though, but then everything here is super expensive to ship.”

“I think I understood that,” Amber said.

“Let’s put it this way,” Morgan said. “The conversion the other way is about twelve USD to every one Agarthan.”

“So we’re being fleeced?” Amber asked.

“Only if you convert your money to USD through the official channels,” Morgan said. “There are money changers that will do it for a fair-er price.”

Amber nodded along. “So how much is breakfast?”

“Five Agartha,” Morgan said. “You have enough to buy six meals a day.”

Amber nodded. She was doing exactly that math in her head. “So some money to spare for toiletries. Isn’t that a big allowance? Why not just give us free meals and stuff?”

“You have the student council to thank for that. They passed this thing a few years back, about sharing the wealth that we make. You’ll be making a lot more once you go out in the field.”

“Huh,” Amber said. She wanted to ask more, but there was another more pressing question in her mind. “These phones can’t call home, right? To Earth?”

Morgan shook her head. “Phone signals... radio? Can’t pass through dimensions. I... think? Honestly, I’m not well versed in the subject, but you can’t really call anyone. There's the internet, but it’s really slow. No live streaming or anything.”

“So if I want to contact someone on Earth?” she asked. It felt weird talking as if she was on another planet, though she supposed that that was the case, technically. “Do I have to write a letter?”

“Or an Email.” Morgan gestured towards the north side. “I’ll show you where to send things later.”

Amber nodded. I need to send something to dad. I’ve been here for... three days now? No, two and a bit. Still, that long and no contact. I’m not winning daughter of the year prizes here.

The cafeteria wasn’t as full as it had been the day before at lunch, but it wasn’t exactly empty either. Team Glasir wasn’t around, though Amber did recognize some of the magicals in passing. Not by name, but she’d seen them around.

They had breakfast. Amber paid for both of their meals, insisting that she owed Morgan that much at least, then picked up a few eggs, a fistful of bacon, and a bit of every sort of meat they had available. The hash browns were perfect, crisp and fresh.

Amber tucked in, shovelling food down in a way that would have made her blush if she didn’t see a dozen others doing the same. She wondered what the food budget for the school was like, then decided not to think too much.

When she’d finished cleaning off her plate with a bit of toast, she leaned back and chewed while nursing the bump of her belly. “I’m full,” she said.

“Did you want to go to the post office?” Morgan asked. “They have paper and pens and all that on-location.”

Amber paid a bit more attention to her new sense of time, noted that it was past ten already, then sighed and got to her feet. “Sure.”

The post office, as it turned out, was on the other side of the Academy, across the bridge over the passage in the middle, and closer to the administration building. As they crossed over, Morgan pulled Amber to the side a little and they both watched as a group of two dozen boys and girls in normal clothes followed after a tall girl in the school’s uniform and a capelet, and a familiar young woman in a smart dress.

The same girl that had questioned Amber the day of the explosion.

“I guess that’s the new class,” Amber said.

“I guess so,” Morgan agreed. “Usually you’re meant to chant ‘fresh blood,’ over and over as they pass, but seeing as how we’re both in the same year that might be in poor taste.”

“Really?” Amber asked. “Like a hazing?”

“Rituals are pretty important,” Morgan said. “We have classes about them.”

Amber snorted. “Seriously? Do we do horoscopes too?”

“No, those are stupid, but we do hang garlic out over the doors when there’s a red moon.”

“Why?” Amber asked.

Morgan shrugged a shoulder. “Vampires.”

Amber realized she wasn’t following Morgan a moment later, then jogged to catch up. “Are we talking Bram Stoker or Twilight here?”

“Do you want a sparkly young man to sweep you off your feet?” Morgan asked. There wasn’t a hint of teasing in her tone, but Amber felt it anyway.

“No, I just want to make sure my blood stays in me.” She walked on for a bit, then narrowed her eyes and looked at Morgan. The girl had a certain beauty to her. Hard and severe, like one of those old actresses in a silent movie. She also had a tiny smile on. “You were messing with me!” Amber said.

Morgan’s smile broke a little. “Nonsense. I’d never fool around about vampires. Big sparkly men that come up and glow in the sun. Terrifying they are.”

Amber punched Morgan in the shoulder, but she couldn’t help but laugh. “Crap, you had me going.”

“We do watch out on nights with red moons. There are some shadow creatures that can move easier when there’s less moonlight. Some monsters do only show up on those nights, but none around this region.”

“Monsters are regional?” Amber asked.

“Generally, yes,” Morgan said. “And that’s the post office.”

As it turned out, the post office was wedged into the bottom floor of a rather normal looking house. An obvious addition that hadn’t been there when the home was built. Amber found cubicles and lockers within, and a wall with a poster explaining how to send a letter or package. There wasn’t anyone around, but there was a desk and some stationary to the side.

Amber sat, Morgan giving her plenty of space, and she wrote a letter to her dad. It wasn’t very detailed. She was alive, she hoped he was okay. She’d write again and would appreciate hearing back from him.

The letter was dropped into a box with instructions on the top to find and give it to her dad. Morgan assured her that the people taking care of things were good about that kind of situation.

“Thanks,” Amber said as they stepped out.

“No problem,” Morgan said.

Amber was about to ask what her teammate wanted to do next when Morgan grabbed her by the back of the collar and yanked her back. She flailed for a moment, confused and just a little angry.

Then a girl nearly crashed into the ground just a step or two before them. Nearly, because she came to a hovering stop a few inches off the ground. “Found ya!” she cheered.

Morgan let go of Amber, then patted her shoulders with her free hand. Her other hand lowered to her side, and Amber had the impression she was a twitch away from summoning her sword. “Were you looking for us?” Morgan asked.

“Maybe,” the girl said. She pointed to Amber. “I was definitely looking for the carrot top.”

Amber eyed the girl up and down. Blonde hair, with the tips dyed blue. She had pale eyes, a faint bluish colour. Her coat, complete with a sort of capelet held in place by some straps, was a bright blue, and just long enough that it was competing with her skirt to cover her legs. It wasn’t a magical girl outfit, not unless those came with designer logos on the breast. Perhaps most noticeable of all was that she was sitting on a floating stick.

Not a stick, a broom, Amber realized as she looked back to the bristles on one end. They were held together with a blue ribbon.

“Calm down, blondie,” the girl said. “I’m her teammate. Uh, hi, by the way.”

“You’re on my team?” Amber asked.

The girl nodded, then yanked her phone out of a breast pocket. There was an image of Amber on it, and below that a map. She could just make out an icon which, if she was reading it right, pointed to right where they were now. “You left your tracker on.”

“Oh,” Amber said.

“Orientation got boring, especially when I noticed half the team was gone, so I ditched.” She looked to Morgan, then black down to her phone. “Oh hey, you look a bit different.” When she raised her phone again it had an image of Morgan, looking... brighter, with an almost goofy smile on.

“I imagine that I do,” Morgan said. “Do you have a name, since you have us at something of a disadvantage?”

“Cassy,” the girl said as she tucked her phone away. She gripped onto the haft of her broom even as it rose up, then with a backwards twist fell and spun around to land on her feet before them in a bow. “The blue... uh... I haven’t come up with a cool nickname yet, but it’s coming. Comet, maybe?”

“Pleasure,” Morgan said.

Amber had the impression that she was going to have to play referee in a moment.

***