It was the time of the day when the last light of the sun's rays washed out the sky and its pale blue clouds in a glow of dying embers while the inky blue stroke of the oncoming night was beginning to thrive. The coexistence of dusk and dawn were the very marks of nature's way of telling that both humans and the supernatural could coexist in this world, simultaneously, peacefully, just like the night goddess co-exists with the god of the light, peacefully taking turns to watch over life.
"Earth to Ash." The sing song pleasant voice made her smile. She looked down from the sky at the marvel of the university before her. A structure so wide spread that no matter how keenly or how far she looks, she saw no end. Carved in greys stone dying into faded whites, were the faces of its stories, battles, upheavals, chancellors, students and moments.
But as she looked further down, the scene on the wide paved path, leading up to the university's front steps was a sight for a select few eyes. If the people of the world saw what was before the small group now, they would break down in fear or awe.
The two people standing in front of the large open double doors did not even flinch. She had seen little of this world and dealt with some of its horrors but she had also made friends, who stood beside her now.
The woman standing to her left was a siren with a rare golden sheen on her body and she was a princess who trained all her life to be a queen.
"If you see a siren, let me know." The siren said, and stood straighter, her slight frame and narrow waist pinching closer together but she did not move. Her human form was marvelous as is, but everywhere her eyes turned there were beauties, each in their own right. Again, the siren sucked in a big breath and released it forcefully, her waist getting narrower. The princess looked over, "what do you say we say a quick prayer to the moon goddess before going in?"
"Good idea Ash." The golden glow on the woman brightened as she joined hands with her, closed her eyes and moved her lips silently. Princess Ash, closed her eyes too but said nothing, mind filled with the image of the sky alongside the chaotic street that lay ahead of them.
Once her friend was done with her offering and prayers, she stepped away from her and asked once, "if something happens you have the voice of the siren. You are a siren, you are Mayra, the survivor, you call me."
The siren nodded to Ash, a hint of a smile on her now. "This is not a battlefield or the palace. You will be fine." Princess Ash looked away from her friend, having unwittingly given away her own nervousness. While Mayra's concerns were over her beauty, there was deeper insecurity was acceptance laying underneath. After all, she knew her friend rather well. This also meant Mayra knew her too. She knew the nervousness that didn't show on her face slipped into her words, she knew that walking into the unknown feeling lost and unsure was her problem.
However, the first lesson of being the queen was to hold your grace and keep your held head high as you enter the battlefield.
And so she did. That is, until a passerby's words floated over. "I smell human on her. Are we getting another faint hearted human brat this year?"
She stepped after them, her first step towards a new life, from princess to a student, and said politely, "yes I am, thank you for having me."
The two young men, with a sway in their long hair and swing in their step stopped for a moment, realizing she heard them. One muttered, "you are most welcome," and kept walking off, mouth now shut.
She caught her friend's smooth hand, and stepped after the young men. The guys stopped at the nearby booth, pitched on four stick and a blue shade covering them. There booth was empty apart from a few scattered brochures and a collection of pins in deep red and golden. The motif looked like a wine glass but she couldn't see close enough. There were no signs so it was hard to say what it was for.
The next booth and the next one were just as empty as well, only they had clear signs stuck to their poles announcing, Free raffle for kelpie rides and Blood Donation Club with a vampire sitting in each of them busy talking to each other. The fourth booth was crowded to the point, she could's see past or get past. The was the set up for volunteers who signed up for sorm help.
"We could have gotten the dorm help if we had bags."
Indeed, they had no bags, nothing but themselves to bring to the university for the moment. She looked to the side, past the empty booths and thin line of trees to the mansion standing tall far away. "Should we go get our luggage?"
"I'd rather go shopping than wear what I brought."
The princess looked over at her friend and said, "pinch it in anymore and you are going to look unnatural. This campus is so big, once we start walking from place to place everyday, your waist will start looking just like that."
Her friend looked down and smiled awkwardly, "maybe I overdid it."
Instantly, her waist filled out her jeans and shirt. Suddenly a wolf whistle reached her ears. She had the urge to turn and look, maybe even glare at the wolf but her friend smiled a little and stood straighter. As they kept moving forward, Mayra moved freely, even swaying a little, back to the confidence that defined a siren that defined her friend.
Past the huge crowd and their suitcases were more of the same line of camps and clubs asking to sign up, join and explore, only now they were on both sides of the road. To the right were more vampires, werewolves, witches, some kelpies and even a siren club while on the left were more normal, hobby based clubs, with a mixed crowd.
While she spied a sewing club with needles and dresses, on the right, her eyes were drawn to the broach of high priestess-in-training broach on of the students whose face she couldn't see from the crowd. High priestess-in-training is what she was here for. A position that would confirm and secure the throne for her brother, eliminate her as a threatening figure.
She looked away quickly and her eyes landed on a man, glasses sitting on his nose, legs up on the sign up table and leaning back on his chair, head falling back, almost as if he was sleeping, only most creatures of the night do not sleep as night approaches, they wake up. The board hanging above him read Night Radio. Two small standees said there was space for volunteering and signups. Few women have already retrieved the forms as they passed and more kept coming to get more forms.
It got her a little curious, but she kept walking, unsure to approach and disturb someone who hadn't even woken up yet. And even more unsure of what to ask about the Night Radio. As they headed up the road, her friend squealed, "look."
She looked and found a set of men who had chosen to do away with their upper clothes and were getting rowdy to the side of the road, closer to their club sign ups, that read BloodMooners and MoonBlessed. One had a hair full of red while the other white. One woman among them stood silently, fists clenched, teeth clench, hunched as if she was the one fighting instead of the men in her pack. Ash paused to look at the multiple heads that sported white hair and felt her heart empty of emotions for them.
If anything, she felt her unease falling away. Not only did the rough competition raise the energy around, it also eased the crowd of freshers looking around uncertainty. Multiple abandoned bags stood around. To the left was a fair crowd of sign ups from diamond making, gold making, artifact appraisal, mapping, tracking and trekking clubs were also watching the fight with amused smiles. Considering it a norm around, she looked back. Her friend was already invested, head craned for a better look.
"There is so much hotness going around, you will definitely find your type here." her friend whispered, as her features widens, eyes pulled apart a little and brows became more defined. The sheen on her skin reduced to an ashen color. Ash looked back at the two men sighting and found the red haired guy's eyes shifting, taking her friend in. She almost smiled.
"We should keep going. We still have got to get our admission forms from the front desk." At her prompt, her friend looked away, "right. Let's go."
The slight red that rose into the tips of her hair faded quickly and her eyes settled back into what she was used to seeing. Only when they were a little distance away from the crowd, cheers in the backdrop, she asked, "did someone catch your eye in there?"
Her friend smiled slightly, "we will see but I surely know one thing." She paused for dramatic effect and said, "werewolves are definitely my type."
She smiled back wordlessly. Her friend did not need anymore encouragement that she already had. Werewolves were creatures of mate bonds. While many never found their mates, sometimes when they did, the situation of the three could get messy very fast.
The main doors of the university's main building was in sight now but the road ahead split into two parts, one passing through the dorm path and leading to the main entrance while another going around the side building, behind the back.
"Let's go here first." Mayra suddenly caught her elbow and pulled. Quick to react, Ash stepped after her, saving herself from a fall or stumble. "What is it?"
"I heard a party going on."
Curious herself, Ash did not resist.
The past behind the dorms led them to a much more private place. The main university building was surrounded by a thin circle of forest. Between the building and the forest was a wide path, filled with leaves, dirt, insects and benches. Yes, benches old and new lined the path, some of them filled with couples, busy in their own world together.
Some were more busy than others. One couple right in front of her, at the beginning of the path, right around the corner, wing open wide, took cover from the passerbys but made sounds unconventional for an open environment. Ash carefully looked past what was anyway unseen and sound more such sights.
"There." Mayra called and she found her finger pointing to a shed in the forest, wooden and shining, filled with yellow light on the inside, as vampires of all kinds scattered around it, each holding a glass in hand, the wine glass, with golden rim, almost like the one she had seen at the first booth. There were not too many of them compared to the huge coed of werewolves or the long line for dorm help but there were more than she had ever seen in one place.
She wondered if what they were drinking was blood. She had studied that they kept their gathering private because not even supernatural creatures could swallow through the sight of blood being passed around as food. Considering this, she had a strong stomach and stronger gut for the sight glass and the thought of blood filled in it, did not bother her.
"Let's go there," her friend said slowly, eyes unable to land, either on the winged back hiding his partner or the glasses of blood.
Before she could suggest they go back, her still lingering hand on the elbow pulled again. As she followed, they went past some sweet, some obscene yet sweet couples. Eventually the path turned a corner around the forest and she saw lover entangled in their original form, a golem sat at the edge of the forest on the floor, laughing softly at a nixie poking her head out through a tree in random place. A siren with her sheen far too prominent and fins sticking out of her from the hand, roamed her hands free in the arms of a cyclopes. She looked away quickly and walked faster with Mayra to get to the end of the path.
When they reached, she saw more camps, only bigger and centaurs, golems, gorgons, cyclopes, going about their first day, much like they were.
"Oh. So, there campus is this side." Mayra said as she kept pulling her along.
"We should wait for them at the fork ahead. Once they are done, we will be able to spot them from the crowd.
The crowd was really a crowd as the creatures, all walked around freely, holding sheets, carrying bags and heading for the dorms. Closet to them, she saw a tent saying pottery club, where members were being led to the back towards a pottery wheel. A golem stood up and shrunk to a shell of a human.
"There." she recognized him. The golem turned and looked at them. A smile spilt on his boney looking face as he raised a small vase, he made. Mayra clapped, "he's got the talent for this."
"I am not surprised he already signed up and even made something before getting his forms together."
Out of the crowd, someone walked up to them. She looked to see the shadow covering them was her very friend. "Hey C. Did you sign up for something?"
"Hacking club. They let us do all sorts of cool things."
She looked from one friend to another and wanted to shake her head. The two of them were so opposite and still united in the fact they wanted to accompany her to the mainland journey. Seeing them enjoying themselves, she was slightly glad.
The withheld feeling in her body began to thin. "Have youn taken your forms yet?"
The golem stopped right on the other side, "we did. You told us not to get distracted. We didn't. We finished filling the form then came here. This place is amazing. I want to sign up for some more clubs."
"Go on then," she encouraged and he was off. The cyclopes laughed, "has your highness signed up?"
"I am not your highness anymore. I am Ash here. Just call me Ash here."
C opened his mouth, closed it once and grimaced. Mayra jumped in, "we have not. We have yet to go back, I don't want to go down that road in the back, it's embarrassing."
"What is there?" he asked curiously walking past them, "there is a library behind the information desk, you can go from one side to another through the library or there is a corridor underground though no one uses it."
"I want to check out the library," Ash said, finally a little more interested and a little more relaxed.
Mayra, enthusiastically followed as did she.