After the group dispersed, I had gone back to my- our new room alone, not having had a chance to explore it fully the last night, which was the only time I had been in there since the change. I pulled out my key, marveling once again at the shimmering, perfect ovals of lapis lazuli, blue topaz, and sodalite set in the silver. I had noticed that the keys to Briar, Tyron, and Caleb’s room were inlaid with just red amber (most likely because of it’s rarity), while Nico, Set, and Gareth’s keys glittered with citrine, golden chrysoberyl, and sunstones. Larimar, Amber and Zenery’s keys demonstrated an elegant pattern of chrysoprase, peridot and jade. For some reason, all the boys had gold keys, and all the girls had silver. However, each set of keys had a different, intricate pattern in tiny stones circling around larger ones in convoluted spirals.
When I unlocked the door, I noticed for the first time that the pattern on my key was reflected on the door. I shrugged it off as an oddity, and stepped into the room. It was still heavily scented with gardenia. I liked the smell, though. It was soft and pleasant, and reminded me of a long-ago waft of perfume, buried in a far corner of my memory. Illia had been right- the color scheme had morphed to sky blue and gold. Rather than abstract stars, fluffy, vague white clouds drifted across the walls, which had changed from velvet to quilted satin. The stone now had a golden tinge, rather than a silvery one, and all the silver gilding throughout the room had changed to gold. The lamps in the walls (still necessary, as there were no windows) were also glowing golden now. The wood had switched from smooth and silvery to textured with a warm tinge. Only the beds remained the same- even the gauzy curtains had turned to a pale amber silk shot through with golden filaments. Deciding I had to start somewhere, I chose the first opening to the left, planning on continuing around the room counter-clockwise. The first niche was a closet of sorts- it opened into a small chamber with six doors in the far wall, with our names emblazoned on them in flowing golden script (I took the fact that there were still six doors to mean the boys couldn’t move out yet). I cautiously pulled open the door with my name on it, clapping my hands in delight when I saw the interior. It was full of clothes, all exactly suited to my taste. Shoes were neatly lined up on racks beneath the bars that held my clothing. The back wall was covered in compartments. Upon further inspection, they contained everything I needed for dance- warm-ups, tights, leotards, slippers, pointe shoes (which had already been sewn with perfect placement) and everything else I could possibly require. I looked down at my jeans and top, which were from the day before and still covered with dirt (thankfully, I had located a simple tank top and shorts in the chest of drawers by my bed, so I hadn’t had to sleep in these clothes). Smiling happily, I stepped out of them and pulled on a pretty dress in a sage green floral pattern with pale pink lace trim. It had a swingy a-line skirt that ended just above my knees, fitted elbow sleeves, and a square neckline, and it fit as if it had been tailored for me. I kicked off my filthy boots and slipped into a glossy pair of patent leather flats. Feeling much more like myself, I skipped out of my closet, firmly resisting the temptation to peek into Lisse’s and Illia’s. I attempted to ignore the other three doors, which only reminded me of our unwelcome guests.
The next door led to another chamber, with another six doors with our names on them. I scowled. I would never be able to remember where anything was! Peeking past my door, I found a luxurious bathroom, with the kind of bath that could easily be mistaken for a small swimming pool. It wouldn’t have looked out of place in a palace, as nearly everything was covered in golden gilding. Ornate mirrors and statues decorated everything. My cosmetics and personal effects were neatly lined up on a long marble counter, along with numerous things I had never seen before in my life. After quickly washing my face of the last traces of grime and coiling my hair in a knot at the nape of my neck, I resolved to explore the ridiculous amount of drawers and cabinets later, and left. This time, I did peep into Illia’s and Lisse’s rooms, only to be disappointed- apparently this was the default bathroom and wasn’t personalized. I could see why it might be difficult for people to find fault with something such as that.
The third niche (again) had six doors. Muttering under my breath about the impossibility of identifying identical rooms, I yanked the door open, then stopped dead. It was a studio, a beautiful one- even, smooth wooden floors, fully mirrored walls, and glossy barres. A tiny door on the far side led to a little room with ceiling-to-floor racks overflowing with CDs and a powerful speaker system. A second tiny door led to a little room, tidy with boxes of rosin, sewing supplies, elastic, and ribbon. I sighed happily, then quickly roused myself from my bliss, reminding myself sternly that Milaek and Azami were certainly not giving this away for free. Again, I had to exercise immense willpower on my way out, to avoid peeking into the other doors (although I was fairly sure the others would lack my scruples). I was utterly overwhelmed after completing my circuit of the room’s little doors- contents varied from libraries packed with books gearing towards personal tastes to miniature gardens and even animals. Everything was extremely individualized- though I only looked through my doors, it was all impeccably selected for my taste. My animals, of course, were all dogs, and there must have been around thirty of them, all appearing healthy and well-cared for. Even my dogs from home had somehow appeared there, all seven of them, and they greeted me eagerly. After giving them all a thorough rubdown, I had scooped up a tiny white Pomeranian puppy, who I had dubbed, more than a little sarcastically, Pom Pom. She was extremely sweet, however, and when I had summoned my dragon (named, again sarcastically, Ator) he approved of the tiny dog, rubbing noses with her. There was an enormous field in one of the rooms, which I assumed was for this express purpose. It was amusing to watch the tiny ball of fluff roll around the dragon’s legs, once I had been reassured, a little disdainfully, that he wouldn’t step on her accidentally. He wasn’t very much older than me- he had informed me he was nine hundred and sixty five, the dragon equivalent of eighteen. I rolled my eyes at him and let him play, before I realized that Briar and Zenery would have to come back at some point, and I wanted to hear about it, my curiosity being stronger than my overwhelming desire to avoid Briar. I left Ator in the field after he assured me he could easily come when I summoned him, and departed with Pom Pom firmly secured under one arm. Walking through the halls, I wondered what had happened to everyone else. I passed Larimar, who looked grim, but she was in a hurry and didn’t see me in the shadows. Finally, I reached the arena and slipped through the door, which had been left standing ajar. A cushion appeared near one corner of the raised platform, and I seated myself with a mental shrug. Pom Pom wriggled out of my grasp and began to frolic over the arena, running in circles and rolling over herself in that funny way puppies have. I hummed softly to myself.
Rose, rose, rose red
Will I ever see thee wed?
I will marry at thy will, sire,
At thy will.
Oh poor bird,
Why art thou
Flying in the shadows
Of this dark hour?
The last note was just dying away when Briar appeared from thin air and slammed into the floor of the arena headfirst. Pom Pom, frightened, raced back to me, quivering in fear. Azami materialized right after him.
“Never again…” croaked Briar, sounding truly dreadful. Azami simply smiled and said, “Sadly, this will have to become regular” before disappearing again. Almost instantly after that, Zenery appeared, looking a tad disoriented, but smirking at the sight of Briar sprawled face-first on the ground. As I was in a somewhat shadowy corner, and Pom Pom was too frightened to make any noise, she didn’t notice me. She nudged Briar with her toe.
“Hey!” She kicked him gently. Frowning when he still didn’t respond, she knelt beside him and turned his head. I inhaled sharply when I saw an enormous gash on his forehead, bleeding profusely. The white of bone showed through. Zenery snapped her head around at the noise, but her expression relaxed when she saw who it was.
“It looks bad,” she commented. “Do you think you could take him to the nurse’s office?” About to reply in the negative, I looked a little more closely at her face. She was pale and clearly exhausted, swaying a little. I wondered what had happened wherever they had gone, but decided against further inquiry. With one last, regretful parting thought for my pretty dress, which would be ruined with the blood, I attached the convenient collar and leash that had materialized next to the cushion to Pom Pom, and slung Briar’s arm over my shoulder. I had to half drag him, since he was too tall and heavy for me to move him any other way. My shoulders were trembling with exhaustion by the time we were halfway across the school. Grimly, determinedly, I tried to distract myself by contemplating dances I would choreograph. Perhaps one that displayed the individual personalities of all these fascinating people, who I tentatively called ‘friends’. In this way, I managed to make it to the nurse’s office, only to pause uncertainly when I saw Nico and Lisse asleep outside the door. Their hands just brushed each other. Apparently Lisse had her eyes half open even in her sleep, or something along those lines, because she started awake as if she was aware of my scrutiny. Shaking out her spiky black hair, she glanced at Nico, still asleep, before commenting with her usual brevity, “The headmasters aren’t back yet.” I gaped at her.
“The Headmasters are the nurses?!” She stared at me impatiently before eyeing Briar and my blood-soaked dress.
“I think he might die,” she offered. I glared at her.
“Very helpful. The headmasters wouldn’t allow it.” She shrugged. I carefully deposited Briar on the ground near Nico.
“What’s wrong with Nico, again?” I inquired. She pointed to his ankle, which upon closer inspection seemed to be far worse than it had appeared before. I stared at her, awed.
“What did you do?” She looked at me indignantly, but was saved from having to answer by the appearance of Azami and Milaek. They both looked at the blood disapprovingly.
“He’s got our floors and your lovely dress all sticky with blood. This simply won’t do!” snapped Azami. I had the sneaking suspicion, with more than a little validation, that she was playing another role. With a flick of her wrist she vanished the blood from my dress and the floor, and healed Briar with a negligent twist of her hand. Milaek, who was thankfully not in one of her odd moods, was tending to Nico. Azami smiled brightly. It creeped me out.
“There. All better!” Her smile widened, saccharinely sweet. “Of course, Milaek and I are very busy, so you’ll have to bring them back to your room.” They vanished again. Lisse and I looked at each other, and for the first and probably last time in our acquaintance we did something in unison- we groaned.
