" What is that mean? "
I looked ..
" May Merleau show .. the way? Or road? ..towards heaven for the future? Faithful! Yeah, for the Faithful.. "
" Hmm, Hmm .. what about this? " Pelit pointed.
I looked ..
" .. Man against monsters.. or goblins? ..wh..
Where the hell is Rim? How long have we been standing here!? "
We stood outside the door as Pelit endlessly quizzed me on ancient Aramaic after I told him it's the language depicted on the carvings.
" He is taking ages .. " Pelit gave a wink to the girls coming by.
Didn't even blink when they ignored him.
I had to smile how resilient the man seemed to be. His confidence was admirable, and he carried it like a shield around him.
" You shouldn't give him that book, brother. " Pelit continued.
I was already regretting it.
" Talk about hindsight.." I took out a piece of paper. from my pocket. " .. he should hurry. Look at this list! "
Pelit came over cheking out the dozens of books, materials, clothes, and a bunch of stuff I had never heard of that we had to have, just to start the year.
" What the hell is cantle? " He pointed.
Pelit knew less than me about these things, but all this was needed, ideally by tomorrow.
Finally, our missing third arrived with .. things.
" What are those? " I asked, walking closer.
" Meet with Milan .. boy, his sister is mad at you. Anyway .. they forgot to give us these. "
He handed us a black robe and a pair of decent looking pendants.
" The robes are for convenience ..
" And they look good!! " laughed Pelit sharing a high five with me.
" ..the pendants basically the same as the badge we had with the Border Control, showing we belong with the school. " Rimel continued.
He put his robe on and placed the pendant depicting two wands crossing over one another, and we examined each others looks.
" We look cool. " Pelit patted his robe.
" We look smart in these .. " Rim adjusted his.
I agreed with both of those statements. Comfortable yet stylish.
We started our journey towards the forest.. At least we tried until someone crabby voice reached us.
" Hey!! "
We all collectively jumped a little ..
" Boy, her voice is really high. " I complained, turning around.
" It's also unbecoming of a lady to call people out like that, I believe. " added Rim.
Lor Orlean, ahead of the two girls from before, was marching towards us menacingly.
" Dum dum dum ..dum dadadum dum dadadum .. " hummed Pelit out loud.
We almost fallen over with laughter as they closed in.
" Wh.. where's the fun bomb? " asked Lor already a little offended.
What the hell is a fun bomb?
" Nothing .. how can we help Miss Orlean? " I wavied her question away.
She took offence when I called her by her family name?
" ..Well .. why did you start laughing? " She asked persistently.
Pelit couldn't help but oblige.
" It's a joke you see, on the juxtaposition of 3 beautiful girls marching towards us like in the movie ..
" Hush you. With all due respect, we have a long list of .. things to gather. " I stopped Pelit exposition dump. We were late. " If you don't mind, just tell us why you came? "
The girl seemed to take offence again .. apparently, being formal and acquiring about motives is frowned upon.
I sighed and waited .. admittedly, she was a little funny.
Even the girls around her .. Leyla and Irina, if I remember .. shared some knowing looks and stepped a little to the side as if anticipated some kind of explosion.
" Well .. we came to offer you further assistance with assimilating better in the lives of ..
Lord God .. her tone and facial expressions did not mention the pretentious way she talked. It was getting on my nerves already.
" .. normal school kids. Also .. I think I told you to come find me outside when you are ready to leave for the headmaster's office.. that was hours ago. "
She ended there and waited ..
I suppose an apology was in order. Never let them say that the Aslan family is incapable of admiting their fault.
" Khmm .. Sorry for the inconvenience .. Miss. "
I added the last bit and enjoyed seeing the oncoming smile disappear from her face.
She was really about to explode, but her friend stepped in.
" Apology accepted. Now you mentioned some gathering of things..? "
" Irina, right? " I smiled.
" Umm, yes .. hello. "
We shook hands officially.
" Irnia.. very well listen here Irina ..
I had too much fun seeing how much it annoyed the Orlean girl my informal way of talking to her friend.
" .. Your headmaster, brilliant as he might be forgot to tell me, that we might need more than just ourselves to start school .. and this here. "
I waved our list around a little.
" Needs to be completed, and the last thing I need now is 3 slightly hyperb..
" You girls should definitely come with us is what he means. " Pelit pushed me aside before I finished. " .. as you may know, we are all brand new .. are we not? "
He turned towards us.
Occasionally, he was smart. At least he kept me from offending these ladies who really just want to help, I guess .. maybe.
" Absolutely.. right Ferith? " Rim closed it.
" .. Yeah, no .. totally. Now let's go. "
" Don't you need a guide? I think I will take the lead. Thank you very much. "
Lor Orlean strode past me with the silent Leyla and talkative Irina close behind her.
This should be fun.
~
The town of Etien was one of the oldest and largest town magicans ever created. Boasting hundreds of years of pure magicans history. Countless battles, famous duals happened there and legendary people born and lived here.
In the new age, most major magican brands had a shop here, and it even had its police force who called themselves the Sentinels.
I would tell just by their names how they were the hearts and souls of the parties they attended.
" .. and this here is our first stop. The Bank of Etien. You can withdraw what's needed here or deposit..
That's why I didn't want them to come.. the constant yapping is like being on one of those tourist buses. Also, what was her tendency overusing the words .. this here ..
".. let's go together, we have to buy a few things in the town as well. "
I was led inside by Lor as the others followed close by.
" So tell us .. how much are you worth? " asked Pelit.
My friends catched up to me.
" I honestly don't know. " I answered.
" How will it look? Like in the movies? Just piles and piles of notes in bulks? " He continued.
I looked ahead resilient, fully knowing Rim would answer him soon.
" It's not a heist movie, Pelit. People don't store their money like that. " He snorted.
He had a point.
" Like you would know how rich people store their money? " Pelit asked sarcastically.
He had one, too.
" You never withdrawn before? "
Irina walked beside us. She seemed comfortable enough to talk like a normal person, unlike her friends.
" I .. you know I wasn't even here. Didn't need it to ..
My friends gave me a few looks, probably remembering us gnawing of wild berries and such when we missed a meal.
" ..khmm .. you know. " I ended somewhat clumsy.
She seemed to get the gist of it, just as we arrived in front of a few machines.
The girls, including Leyla, stepped in front of each and took out their card.
" Like normal ATMs.. how lame. " Pelit remarked.
Lor noticed us standing around.
" What are you waiting for? " She asked.
I took out the intricately made key my uncle gave me. " ..I don't think it will work. "
" Of course.. the Aslan family would have a vault. Please wait a little. " she said it to herself, then turned around.
We used the time to scope the surroundings.
Mostly made of marble..like how? It's a bit excessive.. bunch of people doing the same thing the girls are doing.
A few guys look like security .. why would they wear ..
" For what purpose would they choose yellow as the colour of their robes? " asked Pelit along my thoughts.
" Hmm.. " I hummed.
We both looked at Rim and waited patently.
" What?.. I have no idea.. I mean .. obviously I do, but I'm done explaining things to you savages. " He complained.
We teased him a little while until the girls finished their business. Lor turned to me.
" Come, I'll show you who to talk about that key. "
I nodded, and she walked to the nearest guard.. she sure showed me. Sigh...
After a few seconds, the man walked back with her. I checked his name tag.
Branch manager Terry. B. Yendel.
I guess the yellow robes are just their .. work outfits?
" Good day Sir, the lady informed me about a key you have .. "
He waited until I handed over the key. After a few seconds of examination, he smiled and showed the way.
" I see.. fantastic. Please follow me Mr ..
" Ferith Aslan. "
He stopped for a second, but after a curt nod, he led us through a door toward an elevator.
This is where he inserted his own card, and we travelled down.. for a while.
45.46.47 .. 77 .. My God .. how deep is thing going!?
We stopped at 88th.
88th floor deep!
I expected a desolate cave, so I was pleasantly surprised when we stepped outside into a modern large glass atrium.
Lovely music, a staff of beautiful women, they even had comfortable couches.
The lights were various amazingly carved mythical creatures, all glowing brightly, flying around following an intricate pattern.
" Whoa.. this place is amazing. "
Pelit voiced all our feelings.
" This way, Mr. Aslan .."
The man walked ahead and offered the comfortable couches where we waited until he talked to one of the ladies at the main desk.
Pelit immediately started once the man left.
" What the actual hell? Dudeee..
" Calm yourself, Pelit. Let's not embarrass Ferith here. " Rim tapped his hand, looking nervous.
I grimaced thinking .. when that ever stopped them doing anything?
The girls took the couch opposite us.
" It's normal. I mean, the Aslan's are an old family. The vaults here were built hundreds of years ago. " Irnia explained.
" Hmm .. as in .. by dwarfs? " asked Rim, inching forward.
" Exactly! " She proclaimed, scaring her friends.
" Sorry, sorry .. but yes! One of the masterpieces of a now extinct race. How interesting is that? "
Her eyes got large .. like disturbingly so. The alarm sounds gone off my head for some reason.
It was no never mind for Rim.
" I wouldn't just call it interesting.. it's history itself! I read all I can find about ancient races ..it's all very fascinating. I got the newest book today! "
He tapped my knee absent-minded.
" Which one? " asked Irina.
To my surprise, he pulled the book out of his robes.. I mean, of course, he brought the damn book.
Pelit and I leaned back with an identical look of dead eyed acceptance.
Who cares? It's not like my uncle told me to hide it.
As the duo discussed the book, we accepted some water from the lady offering, and from the looks of Lor and Leyla, they were used to their friend shortcomings just as much we were with ours.
Kindred spirits in foced boredom.
Like the angel he was, the branch manager came back, and that made them shut up.
" Apologies for the wait. Are we ready? " He asked politely.
" Yes, please.. "
" God yes.. "
We all stood up but the man didn't move.
" Mr Aslan, usually customers of your families' calibre prefer to walk in their vaults alone. But it's absolutely your decision. "
I took a look at the others who all looked like they were drying to get in.. and not even Lor could hide it ..then a few evil thoughts passed me by ..
" No .. they are all coming. It's fine. " I nodded.
They all collectively sighed behind me.
" Very well, Sir. This way. "