A World Of Decree: And The Seven Laws

There were no words Atlas could use to express his fulfillment of joy in that moment. It was like he was released from a cage that trapped him for years with inclosure of his delight. Before Atlas could spring up from the bed, Leo and the others started to congratulate him with their passing scores as well. Leo was the first to make a move, he walked up to Atlas and gave him a sideways high-five followed by a fist bump, "Nice job man, glad to see you pass! I need some friendly competition," he laughed.

Paris was right behind him to follow suite, "Quite convenient they let you pass considering you didn't get a score, but whatever, at least you won't be useless."

Atlas laughed and thanked both of them until finally Rina came over and reached out her hand to Atlas, signaling him to take it to get up from the hospital bed. Atlas grabbed her hand without hesitation. With a slight leap from the bed onto his feet. He could feel her soft skin grip his palm as she pulled him towards her onto the smooth floor of the medical room. Rina congratulated Atlas in a delightful tone, "I'm glad you passed, I wouldn't want you to go back to David after what happened at the field. And yes, I did see everything, they aloud us to watch."

Rina didn't tell Atlas, but when she was watching him collide with David she was shaking in her boots, praying for Atlas to somehow win. Her heart beat fast with every second that passed during the first stage, but was finally ended by relief with the outcome of the brawl.

Atlas, letting go of her hand and now staring at his own, "Thanks, I don't know how I passed… but I did. I thought of all those moments from the past where I had no faith in myself. I didn't believe I had magic, or that I could use it." He paused for a slight moment, changing his face to show determination and honesty, "With the courage of the people that believe in you, nothing is impossible, and I hope that we can all strive and succeed in the days to come. Together."

Atlas looked at Leo and Paris when saying his deep words, but locked eyes with Rina one more time until they both gave each other a heroic grin as they proceeded to call for the doctor for further instructions.

The doctor came from the hallway and said, "Well, since young Atlas here passed out and the rest of you followed him to the medical center, I guess I will be the one to tell you what happens next. Since you are all now Princewood students, your school year starts a lot earlier than usual, especially because this is your first year. You will have one week to sort out your things and get packing, a letter will come into your mail tomorrow morning with further instructions. As of now, you may exit as you please."

The doctor proceeded to exit the room and the rest were ready to follow. Before everyone left, Leo looked at Atlas and Rina to say his farewell, "It was nice meeting you two, we'll be heading back to our town of course, but we hope to see you at Princewood on the first day. Seriously though, we're going to have to find each other somehow." They all shared once last laugh as they agreed and Leo exited through the door with Paris.

It was just Rina and Atlas left standing in the room, and Atlas indulged himself with Rina one last time, "Guess I'll see you in a week, huh?"

Rina replied, "Yeah I guess so. A bunch of my friends will want to ask me how it went obviously, so you know."

"Yeah, I actually have someone I have to meet as well. Plus I'm gonna try to avoid David and them while everyone is on break so there's also that," Atlas chuckled.

They both shared their last goodbyes for now and Rina went through the only exit left standing in the room, which has been used by everyone prior to her. After a few moments, Atlas followed her with confidence driving his momentum to open the door.

Right before he opened his exit, he looked back at the room one last time to remember how he got there in the first place, his new friends standing by his side, and his new title as an official first-year student of Princewood Academy.

As the door swung ajar, Atlas couldn't see anything passed it until his first step forward into the light, causing him to shut his eyes again. Nonetheless, he was beginning to get used to it by now, walking forward with darkness to fill his vision as he kept his eyes closed until about a few feet when he could sense that the light was gone. When he opened his eyes he realized he was standing in front of a very familiar house, it was the house where he grew up, where all his previous memories were forged, and where his mother was anxious, worried for when his return would come.

With all the craziness that happened to him, his arrival through light like an angel from the heavens above wasn't even a surprise to him anymore. Atlas walked slowly to his door, only to find his mother standing on the other side. Without a word to say his mother grabbed him as tight as a grizzly bear eager to devour their enemy, "Atlas. I'm so proud of you for trying, but I will always support you no matter where you go. Princewood is just… not for someone like you... If only your father were here, things would be so much different."

Atlas was confused but pulled back from his mother with a smile, "Mom, I got in. I passed," he said.

His mother's face stood still, frozen in place as she processed what she heard. A small tear formed slowly on her eye, rolling down her cheek gently. After a few moments, her pale face filled with colors of joy, changing her expression as if she had just witnessed a miracle.

"You never cease to surprise me Atlas," his mother said while laughing and crying tears of fulfillment.

They both cleared up and Atlas began to tell her about his exam, being confidential on the types of magic he witnessed due to the code they swore to follow. This code was sealed with magic essence when they swore upon it, meaning that if anyone even tried to say anything private, they wouldn't be able to.

The following day, Clouse came over to Atlas's house. He knocked on his door and asked Atlas what happened. Atlas told him everything he could, and how he was getting ready to pack for his journey to Princewood. "Oh, I almost forgot. I think I'm supposed to be getting a letter from Princewood this morning, if I haven't gotten it already that is." Atlas quickly remembered from before.

Atlas quickly rushed over to his mailbox with Clouse right on his tail, also curious about what the letter would say. Atlas looked in and found a small piece of paper, folded in half like a closed booklet. His first thought was that it was just some kids playing a prank, but once he unfolded it, he realized it was from Princewood. In black ink, the paper read, "Have all your things ready by next Sunday morning -- 10am."

It seemed like this so called letter had no effort put into it at all, having absolutely no detail of where to be or what to bring. Both Atlas and Clouse seemed very confused, but since Atlas did not receive any other mail on that day, he proceeded to follow his bland instructions.

Atlas said his goodbye to Clouse in their last little chat about what they had to expect, and Clouse even promised to attempt to apply next year as well if given the chance. They both laughed and hoped for the best for each other, ensing their first reunion after the exam.

The week went by faster than ever for Atlas, and it was finally next Sunday morning before he knew it. Atlas packed all his things for him to live in a small, dorm-set scenario without a clue on what to expect for the living headquarters. Atlas and his mom shared their last, warming goodbyes as soon as the old clock on their wall struck 10 am. Atlas grabbed his black leather suitcase, an old grey backpack he used for school, and an over the shoulder book bag with some other items he needed.

He stepped outside and was greeted by a faceless man in a black suit, standing outside a carved wooden door which led to an absence of a background. The painted red wooden door was standing still at the end of his walkway, with the man standing on its right side with his hands behind his back. Atlas was a little spooked and thought this was just creepy, but proceeded to hustle over to the door. Once he reached the door, the man opened his hand and signaled for him to step through. Right before Atlas stepped forward, he noticed the man also had no wrinkles or fingernails whatsoever, or any human characteristics on him at all.

Atlas thought this was strange, and also how the door led to nothing, as it was just a door standing at his walkway. However, once Atlas opened the door, he could see a large lounge with a dining table in the middle covered in exotic foods that he'd never even seen before. Despite the situation, he moved in without even noticing the door shut behind him or the fact that he was in a completely different atmosphere than prior to his entrance.

As he dropped his stuff on the ground, he saw Rina sitting at the dining table with a hungry smile on her face.

"You're finally here! They said I couldn't start eating until they got you in too. So what're you standing there for? Let's dig in!" Rina said with an urge to satisfy her hunger.

Atlas rushed over to Rina, happy to see her again, but also happy to feast on the delightful meals prepared for them. Atlas quickly sat down after dropping all his bags, taking an enormous bite out of a crispy pork belly, marinated and seasoned to perfection. As soon as he gargled his first bite down to the chambers of his empty stomach, a man came out of another door that was located at the other end from Atlas's original entrance.

The man wore a large red coat, sludged down to his knees, where his black, professional looking boots made a thud every time he took a step from the door towards the starving students.

Atlas looked over and the food in his mouth fell out back onto the plate, the man standing before him was Calvin, with that same glistering smirk on his face.

"Welcome, young, future prodigies of Princewood Academy! My name is Calvin Pride, and I am here to answer any questions you might have, and to fill you in on the details of what's to come for you."

Before Atlas could say anything, he noticed that Calvin's marks on his neck from their first encounter were covered by the coat. Almost as if he was trying to hide them so no one would see them.

Rina instantly sprung up and greeted Calvin, "P.l.e.a.s.u.r.e to meet you Professor Pride, Rina Ambrose here. Permission to eat sir?"

As soon as Rina mentioned her last name Calvin was struck by an odd sensation. It was like there were memories he was trying to escape finally came crawling back.

"Uh, yes of course. Please, eat, and my p.l.e.a.s.u.r.e to meet you. You two can call me Calvin, but not around other students. I am a professor after all."

Atlas was no more than eager to say something, but was absolutely speechless.

"Rina. Me and Atlas have met before, so please don't be confused if he says he knows me," Calvin spoke up before Atlas could.

"Well that explains why he's sitting there with his mouth open," Rina exaggerated.

Atlas finally rose to speak in a respectful tone, "Calvin, you've got some serious explaining to do."

Calvin laughed, "Of course, why do you think I chose to be your guide for first year students?"

Calvin began to explain to them everything they needed to know before they arrived at the school. Beginning with the fact that they were already there, due to the "rift" they walked through to get to the room. He also explained how every pair of students from the exam had a guide to help them settle in to their new homes and answer any questions they might have. Calvin just so happened to be the guide for Maverick.

The school was made almost impossible to reach by the public, and was created on an island cast out in the middle of the ocean. Thousands of miles away from land, covered by a magic-produced barrier for protection and invisibility.

They were currently transported to this room through a teleportation device called a "rift." This was used quite commonly throughout the world to get from one place to another but required a little extra effort to prepare ahead of time. To use this device, two places must already have the device implanted in the earth and a simple illusion ability would be used to create that "door effect." However, a rift can be shaped into anything possible, like a door handle, or even a book on a shelf for all that matters.

Calvin spent about an hour explaining everything in this manner until he finally got to the main point on what was to happen next. At the end of the room was another rift that led to the main dorm entrance to one of the biggest elevators on campus which would lead them to their rooms.

Rina and Atlas would soon be passing through that door to get to their rooms, but before they could leave, Calvin said, "One more thing. Wait in your rooms for about an hour and get settled in. You will hear an announcement to go to the stadium, and don't worry, a guide will take you. Your next instructions will be given to you by the grandmaster. I will see you again later tonight with your recruits… You'll see what I mean soon enough."

Atlas and Rina both had nothing to say considering they just sat through a lecture about things they had absolutely no idea about. Rina was a little more clear of the instructions while Atlas was almost dead asleep.

In the meantime, Calvin handed both of them their room numbers and was gone with the snap of his fingers without even saying goodbye.

Atlas looked at his number on the small piece of paper attached to a golden key, which read the numbers "A215." He looked at Rina and she showed him her number which was "B407."

Neither of them knew what to expect but agreed to try to find each other at the end of the day to discuss each others experience, in case they didn't find each other sooner. Atlas stepped through the rift and was suddenly on an elevator which extended at least up to 20 feet in each direction. Like most of the Princewood architecture that Atlas has seen, the walls were covered in fine texture and gold sculpting with very large mirrors on 3 sides. On the one open side, large silver doors stood still with what seemed like millions of small buttons to the left, with yet another faceless suited man right next to them.

The only thing Atlas knew what to say was his number, prompting the man to push a random, unlabeled button on the plateau of small circles on the wall. After the button was pressed, the doors flung open faster than he could see. It didn't even seem like the elevator moved, especially with the absence of any sort of delay from the movement of floor to floor helping that assumption.

Atlas was done with questioning things at this point, he just sighed in confusion and exited the elevator to a yet another location he was not familiar with. He was now standing in a hallway with about 15 doors on each side, with a much larger, Ancient looking door at the end of the hall.

Atlas began walking down the hall with his belongings looking at the numbers on the doors to the left.

"A201, A203, A205….A215," Atlas muttered in his head until he finally got to his room.

A golden brown wooden door with a small metal knob was looking right back at him. He took the golden key, inserting it into the crevice the knob had, anxious to see what stood on the other side. The door swung open and Atlas was greeted with a semi-large room with a few pieces of furniture and a large window overlooking a courtyard outside.

Dropping his things on the floor and closing the door behind him, Atlas was more than pleased with his new home. A small blue couch hugged the left wall for any sort of comfort or relaxation. A soft, queen-sized bed was placed on the opposite side with a polished, wooden desk and chair to share the space in between for planning and homework.

Even Atlas thought that this was a bit much for a first-year student considering that everyone also gets their own room, but he wasn't complaining at all.

He settled in and went out in the hall again to explore his new home. His door was the last one on the left from the elevator, and had a much larger door to the right which had the word "Egnuol" written over the top. Atlas was confused, not only about the fact that the door didn't have any sort of numbers or anything on it, but the mere absence of any sort of knob or handle to open it.

Atlas's attempts to knock or even say "hello" failed countless times until he heard a voice coming from behind him towards the other end of the hall. Atlas turned around and saw another boy around his age coming towards him. He had pitch-black hair that would've covered his eyes if it wasn't for the crimson-red bandana he was wearing on his forehead. He seemed normal height for a kid his age, a bit on the taller side but had an odd sense of fashion, wearing clothing that seemed way too small for him to fit into. In fact, the sleeves on his leather jacket only reached a little passed his elbows. He was also very muscular, but made it look like he made no effort of being so.

As he came over towards Atlas, he spoke while trying not to laugh, "What are you doing man? You just get here or somethin?'"

Atlas responded, "Uh, yeah, Do you know what the point of this door is?"

The other guy couldn't hold it in this time and started bursting out laughing, "Man you're like the biggest newbie I've ever met. You're funny though. This is the entrance to the lounge man, and that word up there is your entrance. Try saying that word backwards."

Atlas looked up and realized the word was just "Lounge" spelled backwards. Atlas shot a quick burst of excitement on his face and said "Lounge" as manly as he could.

Just as the guy said, the door faintly disappeared and another, magnificent room was right at his steps. However, before he could enter, the guy flung his arm around Atlas into a tight grip and said, "The name's Cartuja, and since you're a newbie, lemme show you around man."

Atlas was a little uncomfortable but tried to keep his cool, "Thanks, I guess. Oh, and I'm Atlas, nice to meet you."

With Cartujas grip, he nearly forced Atlas into the lounge which was now a lot more clear to examine. Dozens of bright yellow antique couches filled the floor with a massive fire pit in the middle. There was no wood in the pit which made it seem like the fire was being produced from thin air. The windows in the lounge were massive which had a dynamic view of the campus from all sides. Giant red curtains swung from the ceilings to give the room that nice yellow and red swirl of freshness.

At the other end of the hall was yet another door which had the letter "B" written on it. It was identical to the one that Atlas just entered from, and to his curiosity, when Atlas managed to get a glimpse of the door he just entered through, it had the letter "A" above it.

Besides the room, there were around five others in the lounge already, four were off to the side just chatting up, and the other was sitting at one of the couches staring at the empty fire that blossomed into the air.

Cartuja started forcing Atlas towards the kid sitting by the fire, and said, "This is Faibel. Yo Faibel, this is Atlas, newbie for short."

Atlas was confused by his claim and the fact that newbie wasn't even shorter than his actual name but ignored it and said his hello.

Faibel stood up and turned around to show Atlas a serious face. Faibel wore glasses and very fine clothing to accommodate his seriousness. He also had pure, white-blonde hair that seemed so natural that it was impossible not to admire it.

Cartuja spoke up again, "Yeah he don't really talk much, but when he does, I'm tellin you I don't understand. This dude didn't even have to take the exam, he got in just from his parents or something. And the weird part is, he says he doesn't even have magic, he's just mad smart."

Atlas was surprised to hear this, but before he could say anything Faibel spoke up in negligence, "No one can fully know there magic yet simpleton. We will all find out shortly, what else do you think we are waiting for. And no offense, but since I don't know you, I will avoid any sort of inferior underlings like you."

Atlas was in absolute shock to meet such a rude kid, but Cartuja stood up for him, "Ah, you'll get used to him, he's kind of a buzzkill."

Atlas said, "Yeah you can say that again."

Cartuja let go of his grip on Atlas and said, "Well I don't really know anyone else here so that's pretty much it for the tour."

Atlas didn't even get a tour, Cartuja just forcefully grabbed him and pushed him over towards the fire pit and introduced him to the rudest kid Atlas has ever met.

Atlas walked over to Faibel and said, "So, do you know what we're waiting for?"

Faibel didn't bother to look at Atlas, but managed to reply rudely, "Cartuja was right, you might actually be the dumbest kid I've ever met… We're waiting to be summoned to the grand dining hall where we will meet our professors and grandmaster. But how would you possibly know that."

"Thanks for the info. Maybe we got off on the wrong foot-"

"Sorry but I'm going to have to stop you right there," Atlas was cut off by Faibel in a polite manner, "I can see you're just trying to be friendly, but I'm not really the same type like you or Cartuja. Me and Cartuja came from the same school, and with even more luck, we got placed on the same floor. He's always been the laid back and open-person you see him as now, but I'm not the same. Don't act surprised if you think I'm being rude, it's just the way I am. Also, don't despise me, I can sense your magic essence pretty well and it intrigues me quite a lot."

Atlas had no idea what to say, but replied with, "No worries Faibel, I hope to see us as friends by no time at all, I hope you're there with me."

Faibel gave Atlas a quick glance of agreement and sat back down to stare at the fire with no verbal answer. Atlas knew he didn't have to say anything, he knew that him and Faibel had that little secret connection that no one else would understand.

"Everyone please head back to your rooms, the ceremony will begin once everyone is in place," a loud voice said out of nowhere.

Atlas followed the directions, as did Faibel right behind him. He knew that something important was about to take place. Now came a game of patience, and what to expect next.