Lost in the Land of Enchantment. on Labyrinth Gardens

Nathaniel Mordue

February 26, 2018 5:19 PM

Lost in the Land of Enchantment. by Nathaniel Mordue

Nathaniel loved Sylvia generally, and he loved her all the more for her insistence that any decision which put him into a group she deemed inferior had to be a mistake that she could correct through sheer force of will. Sometimes, though, the sheer force of her will was so much more formidable than his that he just felt the need to get away, to go somewhere by himself and regroup before he began feeling less like himself than like Sylvia’s shadow. In public, of course, it was better to be that, but he didn’t like the idea of not being anything but that, anywhere; there had to be some space that was his own.

Therefore, he skipped breakfast one Saturday morning and went out into the Gardens with his camera and his writing box, intending to look for some good scenes, photograph them, and start writing all the letters home he needed to write today. This last part could, admittedly, have been done in his own room, but he liked being outdoors; it reminded him more of helping Mama in the garden when she felt well, and playing with his brother and their father when they’d still had one, and hanging out with Sylvia in their treehouse, and the air was better - it was real, not like the air in Teppenpaw. Later he’d have to apologize to Sylvia, he supposed, and come up with some excuse that wasn’t quite a lie, but for now, he could just...breathe a moment.

Unfortunately, the scenery in the Labyrinth Gardens was...uninspiring, and so he kept wandering deeper, looking for something else. Slowly, images, interesting ones, began to present themselves to him: an ancient tree with what looked like the remains of ropes hanging from it, a fountain with dancing centaurs in stone, an interesting intersection where several paths spread away from one point. Encouraged, he went further, and further, until he was hot, tired, and his stomach began to pointedly complain about his treatment of it, and so he stopped.

I guess it’s time to go think about a snack, he thought, after I rest a minute.

Sitting on a bench, he was momentarily content, until another thought occurred to him: he had wandered through a lot of paths to get here. He had turned right and left, left and right, gone straight, looped back at a dead end...or had it been two? He was pretty sure it had been two. Almost as sure as he was that he was hopelessly lost.

Think. Think. Think. But he couldn’t think. Panic and an empty stomach did not go well together. Rising, he rose from the bench, leaving his camera and his writing box behind, and paced, trying to burn off nervous energy so he could think, but it wasn’t working - it just made him more aware that he was hungry and nervous. He stopped by the fountain, wondering if drinking some of that water would help or if it would poison him, and decided to at least dip his hands in it to cool down. As soon as he touched the water, however, it began spinning wildly; by the time he jerked back, the top of the fountain was sending a cascade of blue and red and green sparks up like a volcanic eruption, and the fountain was emitting such a piercing whistling that when another person entered the courtyard he was in, that person was greeted by the sight of a small, pale-faced boy sitting down on the ground, his knees pulled up to his chest and his hands over his ears beside the bench on which his writing box and camera still rested.

16 Nathaniel Mordue Lost in the Land of Enchantment. 1412 Nathaniel Mordue 1 5

Cleo James

February 27, 2018 7:46 AM

Just... lost by Cleo James

Cleo had no idea what to do. Parker’s last letter… She didn’t know what to think. He was being so kind… He kept saying that he’d understand… But it was so hard to believe. And there had been that line, that one line that she couldn’t forget. The new healer says we are all human. The rest of it - the good stuff, the implied understanding - was a lot harder to keep hold of, than the fact that Parker had this one solid fact in his head. He could talk about being a birdfish but it was… it was a feeling. He could promise to understand a birdfish, but he never really expected to meet one. He thought they were all human.

She had been doing the jobs Professor Xavier set her, mostly. She did need to get out sometimes. She missed Parker, and missed being with people.

She was heading back from one of these jobs, when a burst of sparks blew into the air nearby. Not again! Cleo had, of course, noticed all the weird goings on in class of late. At first, they had been pyrotechnic enough in nature that she thought she must have been responsible. However, she had to admit that things had been getting weirdly tangential if it was meant to be to do with her… Still, explosions definitely were. Normally the teachers sorted them out, but they were in the gardens, not in class. And what if the sparks set it all on fire? She loved the gardens. She didn’t want them to burn down. Cleo rushed towards the sparks, and the ear splitting noise.

“Finite incantatem!” she yelled, as firmly as she could. She wasn’t fully convinced of her own ability to tackle a stream of sparks that big, or whether the spell would work on…. Whatever this was. But between her love of the gardens, and the fact that the instigator now very much wanted it to stop, the spell was enough to bring the fountain back to normal.

And that was when Cleo noticed that she wasn’t alone. There was a boy there.

13 Cleo James Just... lost 389 Cleo James 0 5

Nathaniel

February 27, 2018 12:04 PM

I think your problems may be more serious than mine. by Nathaniel

The noise stopped, but it took Nathaniel a moment to notice that it had done so. Even with his hands over his ears, the noise rang on, keeping his eardrums vibrating even after the cessation of the stimulus which had started them off. As he realized that he was only hearing echoes, though, he slowly lowered his hands and looked up to see his deliverer.

It was not, to his relief, a teacher. Instead, it was a girl - older than him, and very pretty. With her fair hair and delicate features and blue eyes, she looked like an angel, an impression helped by the fact he was pretty sure it was her shouted spell which had just made the noise stop. Finite incantatem; they had learned this in class. He had somehow made a building block start shrieking like a teakettle in that class. What was wrong with him? Making noise was not something he set out to do - he supposed it had been convenient in this case, it had drawn someone’s attention so he could hopefully get back to the building, but he hadn’t meant to do it, and now he felt stupid for not remembering how to shut it off himself, and -

“Thank you,” he said in a very small voice, just above a whisper. He flushed with embarrassment as he slowly stood up again. “I don’t - I don’t know what happened. I mean, I think it was an accident - I got lost and - “ he stopped talking, turning redder, and then tried to start over. “Thank you,” he said again, bowing slightly to her.

16 Nathaniel I think your problems may be more serious than mine. 1412 Nathaniel 0 5

Cleo

February 28, 2018 9:38 AM

Yeah. Authors are mean, watch out for them by Cleo

“Uh… that’s ok,” Cleo nodded, as the boy not only thanked her but did so twice and actually also kinda bowed. He also seemed to think he’d done the thing with the sparks, which she supposed sort of made sense because sparks were a distress signal and he was small and lost. It had just been a pretty incredible number of them, and the whistling was a new touch, and she was the pyromaniac monster thing so- Well, they were gone now, so maybe it didn’t matter.

She really wanted to just go, now that the garden wasn’t in danger of burning down. But even a heartless monster like herself couldn’t just run off and leave a lost first year in the gardens. And there were elves around and… well, he didn’t look like he was really old enough to like girls, so perhaps he wasn’t that much of a threat. Not that that was the only reason she didn’t want to be with people. She just didn’t know how to talk to Parker about what was going on, and she didn’t know how to pretend everything was normal when it wasn’t and- it was just complicated right now. But so long as she and firstie here didn’t get into deep life discussions, she supposed she could handle walking him back in the right direction.

“You want me to show you the way back?” she asked.

13 Cleo Yeah. Authors are mean, watch out for them 389 Cleo 0 5

Nathaniel

February 28, 2018 7:21 PM

I'll do my best. Thanks for the advice. by Nathaniel

Nathaniel nodded when the girl asked if he’d like her to show him the way back to the school. “Yes, please,” he said. “I came out to take pictures and write some letters, but I - I didn’t keep track of all the turns I was taking.”

HIs voice got slightly smaller as he progressed through this speech, as it made him feel intensely stupid. For one thing, the labyrinth couldn’t be as complicated as it looked - they wouldn’t let students out into a maze that could really get them permanently lost and kill them. For another, what kind of idiot went out without knowing his path? It was irresponsible and stupid of him, and now he looked like a fool in front of an older student. It was all wrong.

“I’m Nathaniel,” he said as he gathered up his camera and his writing box, thinking he had to say something but leaving his surname out because he really did not want the Mordue name associated with such idiocy. Maybe she would forget him altogether before they had an occasion where his surname came up, if such an occasion ever did occur at all. “I’m - one of the first years,” he added, as this might partially excuse him in her eyes, maybe. His tutors had assured him he would often look and feel stupid as a first year. So far, they were right.

16 Nathaniel I'll do my best. Thanks for the advice. 1412 Nathaniel 0 5

Cleo

March 02, 2018 8:41 PM

I'm afraid it's likely out of your control. by Cleo

“This place is kinda big. It can be really confusing at first,” Cleo nodded, when he started mumbling about how he’d ended up lost. He seemed pretty embarrassed about the whole thing. Cleo was an only child, and at her elementary school her combination of slight quietness and china doll features had had her fussed over by other people. She had had a slight go at wearing the big girl boots last year when she’d met Parker, and had to find a way to get him involved in their Potions scavenger hunt, helping him to feel like he could contribute. But that had still been fun, and (looking back) relatively easy. This was a whole other level. She guessed as she moved up the school, she was going to have to get used to being the responsible older student… Faced with a frightened child, she was subconsciously using the voice she did with small and easily startled assignments that they got in Care of Magical Creatures. And it was impossible to be as cold and shut down as she had been whilst talking in that tone.

“I didn’t find my way for a while,” she continued, finding it felt almost nice to keep chit-chatting. “But I liked to think of it as exploring. I’m guessing you’re not a Pecari?” she asked, still smiling, “I mean, nor am I, but I still like to think of it that way.

“I’m Cleo,” she told him. She had guessed he was a first year, seeing as he was lost and she didn’t recognise him. “Third year. Crotalus,” she added.

13 Cleo I'm afraid it's likely out of your control. 389 Cleo 0 5

Nathaniel

March 05, 2018 8:48 PM

Yet I shall not play the Roman fool, but will try the last. by Nathaniel

The girl did not seem to think Nathaniel was an utter idiot. This was good. Possibly untrue, but good. Aside from concern for the family, there was also the small issue of Nathaniel just not wanting to look foolish.

School was big. He had not realized at home just how big it was going to be, and how easy it was going to be to make mistakes. He had expected it to be easier than it was, but now he was needing saving by a really pretty girl when he had always read it was supposed to be the other way around - though admittedly, her being older than him and this being school did make up for a lot.

“That’s a nice way to think of it,” said Nathaniel when his rescuer said that she liked to think of expeditions into the Gardens as exploring. “And you’re right - I’m a Teppenpaw. I’ve just...always liked it outside.”

Cleo. Third year. Crotalus. “Oh! My - “ he began to say, but then remembered he had planned not to mention his surname. Now that he had started to say something, however, he thought he would look like more of a fool if he didn’t finish that sentence. He faked a slight cough and said, “sorry - my cousins are in Crotalus - fourth and first year. Do you have any family here?”

16 Nathaniel Yet I shall not play the Roman fool, but will try the last. 1412 Nathaniel 0 5

Cleo

March 06, 2018 6:20 AM

Right. Cool... Hope that works out for you. by Cleo

“Yeah. The outside is nice,” Cleo agreed, a little awkwardly. She wanted to make sure the kid was ok, but she was finding it kind of hard to keep up a conversation, she had to admit. It just all felt sort of fake and awkward. She was inclined to blame her own extreme recent anti-socialness, although the substantial gap in almost every element of their personal identities - age, gender, upbringing - was working against them, “I like gardening,” she added in much the same tone.

The subject of Crotalus seemed to almost perk him up for a second, although then he did a weird cough thing. Cousins. Fourth and first.

“Oh. That’s nice. I… I’m sure I’d know your cousin by sight, but I don’t really know the fourth years,” she commented, slightly apologetically. She wondered whether his cousin was the one with glasses, the curly haired one or the… other one, “ I… I mean, they’re three boys… They tend to hang out together,” and I really, really hope it stays that way rather than them taking a sudden and disturbing interest in me. “And last year we weren’t in the same classes.

“Uh. No,” she shook her head, when he asked if she had family here. “I’m an only child. And no cousins. Here, anyway,” she added. Her daddy was an only child, so she didn’t have cousins there, but she suddenly wondered… Did her mother have siblings? Did she have veela cousins? Did her mother have other children? Her mother had always been such an abstract concept. Sometimes she had wished for her, and invented a whole plethora of family who were going to sweep her off into their world, but that was a startlingly literal concept now she knew the truth. She was fairly sure if she had any cousins, she didn’t want to meet them.

“So, you like taking photos?” she asked quickly, casting around for any other subject.

13 Cleo Right. Cool... Hope that works out for you. 389 Cleo 0 5

Nathaniel

March 06, 2018 4:55 PM

Can't work worse than it did for the first guy to say it... by Nathaniel

Nathaniel nodded a little, deciding that Cleo not really knowing Simon was overall a neutral thing. “Of course,” he said as she explained why she didn’t really know the fourth years, though he did wonder if this meant Simon wasn’t doing it right - he really shouldn’t just hang out with his roommates, should he? He was supposed to get to know people. Make connections. Winston and Victor were a good start, but just that - a start.

His curiosity was piqued by her mention of cousins somewhere else - what did that mean? - but she quickly changed the subject and he didn’t push it. He didn’t, now that he thought about it, want to answer too many questions about his family - for a moment, busy with being confused and alarmed and then relieved and then worried about other things, he had almost forgotten about...stuff.

“I do,” he agreed when she asked if he liked taking photographs. “I like that it - it’s like it can keep something the way it is,” said Nathaniel, not sure he was explaining himself correctly, feeling it out - he had never really talked about his hobby before, but it was a way to keep conversation going. “I like gardening, too - I used to help Mama with her roses - and you can take pictures all the time while they’re changing every season,” he said, thinking that was a better way to go since it tied in with something Cleo had said she was interested in, and didn’t involve the fact that he still kept old pictures, pictures from Before, and sometimes liked to go through them and pretend that he was still in some of all the different Theres instead of Here, now.

16 Nathaniel Can't work worse than it did for the first guy to say it... 1412 Nathaniel 0 5