《The Strawberry Witch Chronicles》


 1: A New Life

    She thought that it was for the best that the world forgot about her. She was just about to descend into a new world of emptiness, when she awoke as a new person. The room was pitch dark until a sharp thud made the windows break into shards that lay on the ground, and the greenish light shone through the cracks of the windows.


    ¡°Julia!¡± said a screeching, high-pitched and inhuman voice


    Julia panted and her heartbeat accelerated in an uncomfortable fashion, until she began to shake while she was trying not to. She turned and ran, but as she was running in the dark, Julia wondered why she had a name only after death. This however, felt more like a nightmare than an issue of heaven or hell.


    The darkness was brightening up, and her legs felt tired and Julia was so thirsty and longed for a glass of water. As she walked with brisk steps towards a cottage with pink walls and adorned with painted hearts. Knocking on the door first, Julia entered the cottage since she found the door to be open. She slammed the door shut. Behind Julia there was a dim red light, with nothing but a white-framed mirror in the center. Julia looked around. There was neither water, nor food, nor any furniture other than a full length mirror. She saw that person in the mirror, the one who abandoned Julia while she was a dream without form or body. She hated to see Patricia again, and Patricia had her eyebrows scrunched and was staring at Julia with dull and emotionless eyes, and a frown. Patricia even dyed her hair a shade of hot pink and had short bangs. Upon coming closer, pointing with her index finger, and mumbling, Julia realized her new body looked exactly like Patricia¡¯s.


    ¡°No! This can¡¯t be. She is a pretty girl but I don¡¯t want to look like the one I hate.¡± Said Julia


    Julia sighed and turned around. She opened the door to leave and was dragged into light, until she realized she was falling. She found an umbrella in her hand and so, she opened it and landed on a pile of fallen brown leaves. The whirling and whistling wind almost blew the umbrella away, so she somehow closed and fastened it. Julia got up and brushed the dirt off of her white blouse and lavender plaid trousers. In front of her, there was a greenish glowing sign.


    ¡°WELCOME TO THE UNIVERSITY OF CREATIVE ARTS. HELLO WITCHES AND WARLOCKS.¡±


    She guessed this was the only path to take.


    ¡°Hey, wait!¡± said a man


    He had blonde hair and rectangular glasses.


    ¡°You dropped your ID when you fell,¡± He said


    ¡°Really?¡± said Julia


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    He handed her a wooden card which was painted and had intricate details and her photo.


    Name: Julia Blossom


    ID: SW-LT-W


    Dept.: Witchcraft


    ¡°Thank you very much,¡± said Julia


    He nodded. She saw that there were people ahead of her in a line. So she joined them. The guy from before was behind her.


    ¡°Ugh, what a horrible line,¡± He said


    Julia turned and saw the man from before and said nothing else but ¡°Yes.¡±


    ¡°My name¡¯s Cole. I¡¯m assuming you¡¯re Julia,¡± Said Cole


    ¡°Julia, that¡¯s me,¡± She said


    She couldn¡¯t help but be shy around him. After all, this was the first time she had met anyone besides that traitor Patricia. What if he turned out to be just like her? It was better to avoid this new guy.


    Julia was finally in front, but after walking ahead, she tripped and almost fell.


    ¡°Whoa, be careful,¡± Said Cole


    ¡°ID please,¡± Said an old woman in a black witch hat and emerald green dress


    Julia handed it to her. She narrowed her eyes and stared at the ID for thirty seconds before swiping it across her star shaped magic wand. Julia got her ID back and then she entered the hall and followed the gleaming arrows in the dark halls all the way to the well-lit auditorium.


    There was an announcement.


    ¡°Please take your seats. Fairy Core is in aisle two, Witchcraft aisle three¡­¡±


    Julia took a random seat in aisle three. She kept her umbrella next to her, on the seat and her ID in her pocket. She then checked her left pocket. There was a wallet inside.


    As the boring and long speeches commenced, she peeked inside her wallet. She found a bunch of copper coins with the symbol of two birds. And then there was a single note with the value of ten. She assumed it wasn¡¯t much. The wallet went back into the pocket and Julia sighed. In front of her, Cole was sitting with head bent and chin resting in his hand.


    It was the witch from before who was now on the stage. Julia sighed again, thinking that it will be another boring speech.


    ¡°Hello my students, I know all of you are very bored and tired,¡± she said


    Everyone laughed.


    ¡°So I¡¯ll keep it concise. I¡¯m Heather Ice, the chairperson of the Department of Magic. I¡¯m sure that all of you have already guessed that I specialize in Witchcraft. Well, before all of you go off to your dorms, remember to study well and put your studies first. That is the only way that you can gather enough energy for the Hope System to work and to keep us all alive.¡± Said Professor Ice


    There was dead silence.


    ¡°Anyway, I¡¯ve already been pleasantly surprised by one of our students. This just might be a fun semester. Or at least try to have fun. Thank you,¡± Said Professor Ice


    When Julia was guided to her dorm room, she was shocked to see that she had no roommate. It was an empty room with a bed, a desk, and a bathroom. There was a note on the bed.


    ¡°You are expected to use magic to create all your necessities.¡±


    ¡°Seriously?¡± thought Julia


    For sure there was no way to summon a tube of toothpaste and a toothbrush. Being in disbelief, Julia opened the drawer to search for a real solution for the problem that no dorm shopping was done. There was a heavy brown leather bound book. It had golden corners, tied with twine and the title was, ¡°The Complete Guide to Witchcraft.¡±


    But before Julia could summon a toothbrush, she fell asleep on the cozy bed.


    She woke up parched and dehydrated an hour later.


    She somehow managed to recite the spell for drink. She drank the whole glass of orange juice in one gulp and went back to sleep.


    ¡°It¡¯s funny how I know so much about being alive when I was merely a dream of a living being.¡± Thought Julia, when she awoke at dawn.

 2: Learning to adjust

    Julia woke up at about six a.m. after having some sort of dream she couldn¡¯t remember. This didn¡¯t make sense to her at all, since she herself was a fragment of a dream before. She wished to think more about it but her mind went blank as her stomach felt empty. Julia wondered if there was a cafeteria or a kitchen or any place where she could get food.


    She realized that she had gone to sleep wearing her regular clothes. Julia needed to take a shower and change her clothes.


    There was some sort of paper on the ground below her desk. It must have fallen over.


    ¡°Instructions


    The hidden door shall contain the following: your wardrobe where you may find your clothes, your basic materials, a safe for your valuables and mysterious items. Find and unlock the hidden door by casting a spell.


    If you are on scholarship, it is heavily dependent on your grades and conduct¡­¡±


    At this point, she stopped reading.


    She got a hold of the book, which was now black leather instead of brown. Julia was a bit startled by this, but there was magic after all. Anything was possible.


    The index told her to skip over to page 22.


    ¡°Spell for uncovering the secret dorm door.¡±


    ¡°The door where witches keep their thoughts and belongings, it shall now be a part of my many findings,¡± read Julia, aloud


    She looked around and nothing happened. Julia looked down, shuffled her feet and was about to head to the shower, when there was a sound that one would expect from a music box. The door was behind her, as Julia turned and saw. It opened by itself. She entered, and it was the same cottage from before, with the mirror. However, now there was a wardrobe and a small partition where the kitchen was. The furniture was all white, and there was a fridge, a cupboard, a microwave and a tiny oven. As for utensils, there was a sharp knife, and a set of spoons and forks. She saw there was a note taped on the fridge door.


    ¡°Please take these items as my apology.


    ~ Patricia¡±


    There wasn¡¯t much she could do. Perhaps if Julia was independent, she could refuse the help. However, right now she was helpless.


    She opened the fridge. There were a dozen eggs, and some other basics. But she didn¡¯t know how she was going to cook an egg without a stove. There was bread in the fridge, as well as a few bottles of water. Since there was no butter, she had a slice of bread without anything. Julia craved for peanut butter, but she had no choice. She finished the slice somehow and drank some water.


    There were some clothes in the wardrobe. They were all the exact same robes and dresses in grey. She took all the clothing she needed and went back inside. As soon as she left, the door vanished behind her. This meant that she¡¯d have to recite the same spell again and again.


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    She took her book and recited the spell that might change her clothes to her style.


    ¡°Creative vision, enter this world and exit my mind!¡± said Julia


    They changed at once, into pastel, dark or light colors. After brushing her teeth, she went to the small shower area and splashed water on herself which was freezing cold. Julia used a small unused bar of waxy soap which was from the cabinet. There was only one small towel, with which she somehow dried herself and she wore her clothes. A lightweight coffee colored blouse, with a black midi skirt. She got out of the bathroom and wore the only pair of shoes she had, a pair of black loafers. She got the belongings from her pant pockets and put them in her skirt pockets.


    Julia yawned until an announcement was made through the speaker in the room.


    ¡°Classes commence in thirty minutes. Please don¡¯t forget your guidebook for your respective major.¡±


    Julia realized she had no book bag but she didn¡¯t bother. She lugged the heavy book and locked the door, putting the key in her pocket which was almost full. Julia then ran across to the end of the hall, and then realized that she didn¡¯t have any clue on where to go for class. She opened her guidebook and saw the map. The schedule portion that was taped on one of the pages said that WC101 was first, and the classroom number was WCB002.


    Julia exited the dorm, and set off to go to Building no. 3. She walked for a long time, until she encountered a map. Everything was fine, she just needed to take a right turn. The grass was a shade of dark green and the sky was an intense blue with the sun peeking out from the white clouds. There was a concrete pathway in the middle of the grass. A plain yellow butterfly was fluttering about. She arrived in front of Building no. 3 at last. It was an eyesore to see such a huge building that looked like it belonged to the medieval times, and hadn¡¯t been repaired since. It looked more like ancient ruins than a proper building. It was grey, layered with dust and the windows had cracks. Light was shining in a few of the windows. The gate wouldn¡¯t open.


    ¡°Insert your ID to enter,¡± Said a masculine voice


    She looked behind her and saw a somewhat muscular guy with black skin and with spiky hair as the same color of a dove feather, a matte white. He was as tall as Cole and was wearing a white striped button-up shirt with a black pair of trousers. He wore an emotionless expression, but it wasn¡¯t harsh unlike Cole¡¯s expression. Rather, it was nonchalant and carefree.


    ¡°Thank you,¡± Said Julia


    ¡°Excuse me miss, would you happen to know where Building no. 4 is? I don¡¯t know why I can¡¯t find numbers on any of these buildings,¡± He said


    ¡°This is building no. 3. There ought to be a map left to us,¡± Said Julia


    ¡°Thank you,¡± He said


    Julia nodded as she put her ID in the space of the gate. The gate made a chime-like sound.


    ¡°Excuse me, this is the building for witches... oh, the gate has accepted your ID. You must be a witch then, I didn¡¯t mean to assume.¡± He said, waving goodbye


    Julia entered and took her ID with her. It didn¡¯t take her long to find her classroom, which was on the first floor. As she entered, she saw there were two students inside, Cole and a woman with ash hair cut into a bob. They were talking about something that Julia couldn¡¯t discern. The desks were plain wood, with a white board and a giant cauldron in the corner that looked out of place. The woman was talking with a lot of energy, and she had her desk littered with sticky notes. Julia stood in the middle of the classroom, until Cole told her to sit with them. At that moment, the third person crumpled up a sticky note and threw it in the trashcan which was inches away from Julia. She sat in front of Cole.


    She began to crumple all of the notes and throw them near the trashcan.


    ¡°Quit being so hyperactive Lindsey, and clean up this horrid mess.¡± Said Cole

 3: A Different type of Witch

    Julia watched as Lindsey somehow flung the pile of sticky notes into the trash all in one go. The students arrived one by one and soon, ninety percent of the seats were filled. It was weird that everyone was wearing grey clothes except for her. However, no one said anything about that to her.


    The lecturer arrived. He was an old man with a grey beard, a black witch hat, grey suit and short cape, and a monocle. A yellow stone pendant was around his neck.


    ¡°Hello everyone, good morning. I assume none of you know me. I¡¯m Mr. Penn and I¡¯m your lecturer for this course. This course will cover very basic witchcraft, along with some explanation behind your origin,¡± said Mr. Penn


    Everyone was still chattering, save for Julia and Cole.


    ¡°Quiet. Now I will show you some visuals by the use of magic,¡± Said Mr. Penn


    He went near the cauldron, took off his pendant, and reached inside his pocket. Then he unplugged a tiny bottle of what looked like a shimmering dark purple fluid.


    ¡°I will pour a little bit of Purple Fox blood,¡± He said


    He then dumped half of the bottle into the cauldron. That didn¡¯t seem like a little bit to Julia. He put the cork back and got another bottle from a drawer.


    ¡°Just a pinch of false mercury salt,¡± he said


    As soon as he unplugged the bottle, he sneezed with a loud volume. Some of the students laughed until he looked at them with stern and fiery eyes. They quieted down at once.


    Mr. Penn then stirred the mixture with a stick that was in the cauldron. He then dipped the glowing yellow pendant in the mixture. There was the sound of a pulse of air, and the room became dark. The liquid on the pendant appeared to evaporate into yellow smoke and there was a vision in the smoke.


    ¡°As you can see, this is your place of resurrection,¡± said Mr. Penn


    It looked familiar. It was a dark place with a glowing house and with shattered windows and the sound of screams. Julia¡¯s heartbeat increased.


    ¡°If you were harmed in the dream in which you first appeared, then this haunted house will appear and drag you inside, where your consciousness awakens and you come to learn about being a witch or warlock, and about this university. We¡¯ve all been through that,¡± Said Mr. Penn


    ¡°But¡­¡± said Julia


    ¡°Any confusion?¡± said Mr. Penn, looking at Julia


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    ¡°No.¡± said Julia


    ¡°You¡­ Are you sure you¡¯re in the right place missy? This isn¡¯t the Fairy core building.¡± Said Mr. Penn


    ¡°I am a witch. The haunted house did appear.¡± Said Julia


    ¡°Oh, so you used your magic to transform your dress. Interesting,¡± He said, turning away


    ¡°But¡­¡± said Julia


    ¡°But what?¡± said Mr. Penn


    ¡°I actually ran away from the haunted house.¡± Said Julia


    ¡°That¡¯s impossible. No one can resist the force coming from the haunted house.¡± He said


    Everyone began to whisper.


    ¡°Indeed, I did run away and I entered a cottage with a mirror.¡± Said Julia


    ¡°May I see your ID?¡± He said


    Mr. Penn rotated his pendant clockwise at the end of its chain and the lights turned back on. Julia squinted her eyes before reaching inside her pocket and giving him the ID.


    ¡°Let¡¯s see¡­¡± he said


    Name: Julia Blossom


    ID: SW-LT-W


    Dept.: Witchcraft


    ¡°Department is fine. The last code is fine too¡­ so I guess nothing has happened¡­ Hold on. LT. Light type power. You¡¯re a light type witch? That¡¯s strange. I think you should go to the registrar¡¯s office and get it checked. After all, all departments have DT and LT except for Witchcraft.¡± Said Mr. Penn


    Julia put her ID back in her pocket and drooped her head down.


    ¡°Excuse me Mr. Penn, but there has been a light type witch in history,¡± Said Cole


    ¡°That¡¯s just a myth, boy,¡± Said Mr. Penn


    ¡°The real life example is right in front of you,¡± Said Cole


    Mr. Penn shrugged and said, ¡°I don¡¯t have time for this.¡±


    The students began to talk amongst themselves.


    Afterwards, they were shown basic spells on the projector for some reason. Julia couldn¡¯t help but wonder why they didn¡¯t use magic for that. Maybe the ingredients and materials were expensive?


    Even though they were studying magic, there was nothing quite magical about it. The lecturer was just reading out from the slides. No one would be expected to concentrate under such circumstances. And after hearing all of that, there was no way that Julia could concentrate, and instead she just started to feel like an outsider. She was the only light type witch in the room, the only one to be wearing different clothes, and no one¡¯s hair color was quite as showy as her own. In short, she felt like she didn¡¯t belong there.


    After the first class was over, it was time for a general course that was open for all departments, at least according to Cole. Julia checked her schedule and saw she had a course that was different from that of Cole¡¯s and Lindsey¡¯s.


    She waved goodbye and was about to lug her guidebook as she walked away.


    ¡°Darling, don¡¯t you have a bag?¡± said Lindsey


    ¡°No,¡± said Julia, looking away


    Julia felt like shrinking away. Her heart was beating fast in her chest and she felt discomfort and couldn''t speak.


    ¡°Why, I guess that your dreamer had no sentiment for you,¡± said Lindsey


    Cole left. Julia was expecting Cole to defend her again, but he didn¡¯t. It was then Julia thought that if she couldn¡¯t help herself, then no one could help her.


    The two of them were in the middle of the pathway. But alas, Julia couldn¡¯t think of what to say. So she left, with her eyes on the ground. All she could see was the grey concrete and the green grass. There were some wildflowers amongst the grass.


    As she walked all the way to building no. 1, she bumped into something but didn¡¯t drop her guidebook. She lifted her head and saw it wasn¡¯t someone but rather someone. It was the white haired guy from before.


    ¡°Sorry did I hurt you?¡± said Julia


    ¡°No, but please be careful from now on.¡± He said


    Julia sighed.


    The two of them headed in the same direction and found they had the same class, Basic Transformation Science.

 4: Plenty of Friends

    The lecture hall was half filled. Julia took a seat in the rightmost column, in the first seat. The desks had scribbles on them. The distance between seats differed according to their height on the steps. Julia looked all around. There were students of all sorts. Julia didn¡¯t expect the white haired guy to be sitting behind her, but he was indeed sitting there. He was tapping his nails on the desk, with his eyes looking down and the other hand on his chin. Julia was tired of being in her comfort zone.


    ¡°N-Nice to meet you,¡± said Julia


    He looked a bit upwards to see her face. His expression changed from blank to a slight smile.


    ¡°It¡¯s nice to meet you too,¡± He said


    ¡°I¡¯m Julia¡­ You?¡± she said


    ¡°I¡¯m Silvio,¡± He said


    The instructor entered and so Julia turned to face her. She was plump, had black hair, a beautiful light green floor length dress with puffed sleeves, a flower-adorned wooden wand, and small round purple wings.


    ¡°Hello everyone, I¡¯m Jill Kacey, Associate Professor here at CA, and I¡¯m sure you¡¯ve guessed that I¡¯m a fairy,¡± She said


    ¡°Can you fly?¡± asked a girl in next column


    She had golden hair tied into twin tails, wearing overalls, had a blue stain on her face, and was carrying paintbrushes in the front pocket of her denim overalls.


    ¡°Indeed but I wouldn¡¯t want to crash into anything right now,¡± Said Prof. Kacey


    Julia watched as the girl quickly sketched a flying cockroach on her lined notebook page. Julia somehow contained her excitement after seeing the sketch of mocking the professor. She wanted to laugh and point it out. Prof. Kacey went on and on about her introduction. It started off with her talking about how much fun this course would be, but her voice was flat and soothing, and made a good sleep-inducing lullaby.


    ¡°Now, who wants to go first? I¡¯ll need one magic major and one non-magic major to demonstrate,¡± Said Professor Kacey


    ¡°Me! I¡¯m a non-magic student, Light-type,¡± said the blonde girl next to her


    ¡°Okay, and one magic student please?¡± said


    There was no response.


    ¡°Julia, you¡¯re a witch right?¡± said Silvio


    ¡°Yes, but¡­¡± said Julia


    The blonde girl got up, and stood in front of Julia¡¯s desk.


    ¡°Come on!¡± she said, raising her fists


    The class giggled.


    ¡°I¡¯m coming,¡± Said Julia


    She was rising at a slow pace until the blonde girl dragged her by the arm towards Professor Kacey. Julia thought she was going to trip and fall any moment. The class was behaving as though it was some sort of circus act with laughter all across. Julia didn¡¯t understand what the big deal was.


    ¡°Tell me your names,¡± Said Professor Kacey


    ¡°I¡¯m Julia and I¡¯m a witch,¡± she said


    Julia had her hands clasped together and was avoiding eye contact.


    ¡°I¡¯m Sunshine but you can call me Sunny. I¡¯m an artist, I can paint you for a cheap cost,¡± She said


    ¡°We¡¯re not here to advertise,¡± said Julia


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    Even Prof. Kacey started to giggle. She then wiped her tears with a handkerchief because she was laughing too much.


    ¡°Anyway, I¡¯ll show you how you can transform one of you into your true self. The person who will transform via the magic source is chosen at random by the spell. Do you have your wand yet?¡± said Prof. Kacey


    ¡°No, not yet,¡± said Julia


    ¡°No problem. Sunny, you can use your paintbrush as a wand while Julia chants an incantation. Let¡¯s see if I can find the witch spell handout,¡± said Professor Kacey


    Prof. Kacey began shuffling her papers about and kept a page aside. Then she organized the rest of the papers and kept them back on the table.


    For a long time, Julia was reading. Sunny stomped her foot on the ground while looking into the distance.


    ¡°Are you done yet?¡± said Sunny


    ¡°I¡¯m reading the instructions,¡± said Julia


    ¡°Let me see,¡± said Sunny, snatching the paper


    Sunny scanned her eyes on the page.


    ¡°Dear, it¡¯s only two paragraphs. Let¡¯s do this already.¡± Said Sunny


    Julia swallowed her saliva and took the paper back as she was trembling. She wished that Sunny would be the one to transform, so that no one would judge her for being a light type witch like they did back in the first class.


    ¡°Show us the true power, not for one hour but for ever and ever,¡± said Julia


    Sunny waved around her wide and flat paintbrush and then bonked Julia on the head with it.


    ¡°Ouch,¡± said Julia


    Needless to say, the class was being entertained. Julia swirled around, and her dress transformed into a pink, brown and wine red slightly cropped, cold-shoulder top with a strawberry motif, and matching skirt which had a belt and a buckle. Her shoes were turned into wine red tea party shoes, and fishnet gloves appeared. Strawberry earrings appeared on her lobes, and a wine red witch hat with a ribbon and strawberry pin came out of nowhere, floated and landed on her head. Sunny¡¯s mouth was open as she observed all of this.


    ¡°Ooh, a strawberry witch,¡± Said Sunny, smiling


    ¡°Thank you dears, we¡¯ll take one more pair and end the class,¡± Said Professor Kacey


    Julia ran over to her desk and yelled, ¡°Silvio is next.¡±


    ¡°Wait, what?¡± said Silvio


    ¡°Revenge,¡± whispered Julia


    Silvio face palmed and said, ¡°Fine.¡±


    He stood up and dragged his feet towards the front.


    ¡°Non-magic, my major is defense. I¡¯m Silvio,¡± said Silvio


    ¡°Any magic major up for it?¡± said the Professor


    ¡°Me,¡± said a boy with ash hair which had purple undertones


    He was an inch taller than Julia and looked more like a middle school student or younger. He had a cheerful expression.


    ¡°I¡¯m a fairy boy, and my name is Arthur,¡± he said


    The two of them casted the fairy spell together.


    Silvio¡¯s clothes quickly changed to a black half-sleeved, zippered jacket, with white cargo pants, a chain at the belt loops with leaf motifs, a sky blue orb pendant, black shoes, and most important of all, a strange sword.


    At this moment, everyone began to clap, especially the girls, as Julia noted.


    The fairy boy sighed.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry it wasn¡¯t you,¡± Said Silvio


    ¡°No problem,¡± said Arthur, smiling


    Silvio looked around before asking, ¡°Umm, how do I change back?¡±


    ¡°There is a button somewhere on your costume,¡± said Professor Kacey


    ¡°Ah,¡± Said Silvio, pressed the button on his pendant


    He changed back at once.


    ¡°The transformation does not always work, but if it does, you can summon it anytime by a spell which we will learn in the next class,¡± said Professor Kacey


    The Professor left. Julia, Silvio and Sunny packed up and walked out of the class.


    ¡°Oh my goodness! Art class!¡± yelled Sunny


    Sunny raced across while her backpack looked like it would fall off any moment.


    ¡°Aren¡¯t you going to change back?¡± said Silvio


    ¡°No,¡± said Julia


    ¡°Okay,¡± said Silvio


    The two of them walked towards the cafeteria since both of them didn¡¯t have classes till a few hours. It was almost twelve p.m. The sunshine was bright and the hat shielded Julia well. It was, however, hot and suffocating.


    ¡°That book of yours looks heavy,¡± said Silvio


    ¡°It is,¡± said Julia


    ¡°Julia, there you are,¡± said Cole


    Cole was resting against the wall with his arms crossed.


    The three of them were in front of the cafeteria, which was within a white building.


    ¡°I¡¯ve been looking for you everywhere,¡± said Cole


    ¡°But why?¡± said Julia


    Julia noticed he was carrying a dark blue messenger bag, and had a brown one in his hands.


    ¡°You see, Lindsey made a remark this morning about you not having a bag. At that moment, I remembered I had a spare satchel. If you don¡¯t have a bag, please accept it. I know it¡¯s probably not your style. But in my opinion, it¡¯ll suit you well,¡± said Cole


    ¡°Thank you so much,¡± said Julia


    ¡°You¡¯ll accept it?¡± said Cole


    ¡°Of course,¡± said Julia


    Cole smiled. Julia put her belongings in the bag.


    ¡°I gotta go. Nice hat by the way,¡± said Cole, leaving


    A fresh breeze blew as the two of them entered the cafeteria.


    ¡°Is he a friend?¡± asked Silvio


    ¡°Yes,¡± said Julia


    ¡°Oh good, I thought it might be a stalker,¡± Said Silvio


    ¡°Why would you think that?¡± said Julia


    Silvio sighed and frowned.


    ¡°I¡¯ve got a bit of history with a stalker myself,¡± said Silvio


    ¡°Sounds scary,¡± said Julia


    ¡°I¡¯ll tell you someday, if you don¡¯t tell anyone,¡± said Silvio


    ¡°I¡¯m good at keeping secrets, don¡¯t worry,¡± said Julia


    The two of them bought food, and Julia was grateful that the food was cheap to be bought with a few coins. The two of them spent their meal in silence.

 5: Tech addict already?

    The classes had ended long ago, and it was ten p.m. when Julia decided to see what else was behind the hidden door. She had changed her clothes into shorts and a t-shirt, and brushed her teeth a long time ago.


    She entered the room again. The chestnut wood wardrobe door was stuck and it took her a while to open it. She looked around to search for clues, as to why her classmates were different from her, and where her tuition was coming from, since she appeared to have little money, and no bank cards. Julia felt the top rack of her wardrobe, and a small box as well as a notebook and a pencil case fell as she almost caught it. It landed on the ground. Still no bag though, so thank goodness she got one from Cole.


    She read the title of the box which had the image of a cellphone printed.


    ¡°Juice Flip Phone (Metallic Lavender 09)¡±


    Julia had seen something similar in that dream, where Patricia was using a device which had a screen you could interact with. She knew so much about human life, but this phone thingy seemed alien to her. She opened the box. There was a handwritten note.


    ¡°Dear Julia,


    This is the last item I can provide you with before they cut off my connection with you. I can provide you with money occasionally through online transfers, but I can no longer provide you with gifts. WiFi does work on this phone. It¡¯s a hybrid, mainly a flip phone with smartphone elements. I hope you will like the charm and will attach it.


    ~Pat¡±


    There was a lingering feeling within her that maybe Patricia wasn¡¯t a bad person.


    There was a charger and a plastic charm of a cake slice with fake whipped cream and a strawberry on top. It took her a while to figure out how to put the charm on. It refreshed Julia¡¯s memory and she remembered the concept of a phone. She put it to charge using the port beside her bed. The instruction manual also came with an advertisement for a social media platform.


    It was now twelve a.m. and she was unable to sleep. The phone let out a beep. Julia checked and saw the charge was full.


    After tinkering with the phone for twenty minutes, she was able to access the WIFi. She registered for a password using her ID. The phone was controlled by a cursor and a keypad, the screen wasn¡¯t a touch screen.


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    She surfed the internet for a while before entering the social media platform called ¡°Just Juice¡±. She created a profile without an image. After taking ten selfies and deleting the ones she didn¡¯t like, she added her display picture. The first profile she followed was that of her university. She then searched for ¡°Cole¡± and hundreds of results came. She then searched for ¡°Cole University of Creative Arts¡± and found him. She then followed him, he had fifty followers. After Cole Letterman, she followed Lindsey Royce who had ten followers. The next profile was that of Silvio Maple, he had two hundred followers. Sunshine Roberts had a follower count of six hundred followers. Arthur Ash had a following of a whopping two thousand followers. Julia looked back at her followers. Zero.


    She was about to fall asleep when a beep alarmed her and she jumped up.


    ¡°Silvio Maple has followed you back. Online two minutes ago. Send a message?¡±


    Julia: Hello.


    One minute later, <seen>


    Silvio: ¡­ <typing noise>


    Can¡¯t sleep? I suggest listening to soft music.


    Julia: <typing noise>


    Then why don¡¯t you listen to music and fall asleep?


    Silvio: I¡¯m trying. You should too.


    Julia: Okay good night.


    Julia played a song called ¡°Moonlight¡± by Ai Tea


    She somehow managed to turn off her phone before she fell asleep. It was really humid inside her room.


    In her dream, a woman with black hair wearing a white dress with angel wings appeared in front of her. She looked exactly like Julia. Was it¡­ no it couldn¡¯t be Patricia. She was far from being an angel. After all, in the dream, Patricia had ripped Julia¡¯s face off and pushed her down from a height, into the darkness. Upon closer inspection, the angel wings were fake, they were mere costume wings.


    Julia woke up just as the announcement was made. She somehow took a shower and got ready for class. The first class was supposed to be Wand Creation and Use 102.


    She rushed towards class, putting her phone (which was turned off) inside the satchel.


    On the way, there were some stalls. She didn¡¯t pay much attention to them, and wouldn¡¯t either, if it wasn¡¯t for Sunny who yelled at her to stop running.


    ¡°Take this,¡± said Sunny


    It was a flyer for the Art club. As Julia was reading it, two others dumped flyers of two other clubs into her arms. Julia somehow caught all of them and put them inside her satchel.


    She entered the Witch building and made it just on time.


    ¡°Julia,¡± Said a voice


    It was Cole. Today for some reason, he was also wearing different clothes like Julia. He must have tried the spell himself as well. He was dressed in a black plain polo shirt with dark grey pants and had his usual spectacles.


    ¡°I saved you a seat,¡± He said


    It was in front of Cole.


    ¡°Thanks,¡± said Julia


    She sat down and kept the satchel near her.


    The assistant professor came and said the students had to follow them all the way to the meadow to gather the supplies for wand making. They had very short hair and wore a smile.


    ¡°This should be fun,¡± whispered Cole


    ¡°I¡¯m Gem Lint and I am your lecturer for this course. I¡¯m queer and my pronouns are they or them and I¡¯d appreciate it if you respected that. Anyway come on, let¡¯s go to the meadow. We only have an hour and thirty minutes after all.¡± Said Prof. Lint


    They all packed up and exited as a pack.

 6: Meadow outside the University

    The class trudged down the stairs, and left the campus while chattering with loud voices. They just had to cross one street, and the scenery changed in the blink of an eye.


    They found themselves in front of a different place, with lush grass, wildflowers everywhere, and an open sky.


    ¡°Make sure none of you get detached from the group, okay?¡± said Prof. Lint


    The song of birds was so gentle to the ears and sounded so sweet and melodious. Across the land, there were green hills. There were calls of all sorts of birds. The sky was a clear blue with one large cloud drifting across. A sparrow landed on a branch near Julia and started to hop up and down.


    ¡°Listen up, you can use any kind of natural material, provided you see worth in it. You need three items, one for the base, one as a spell ingredient and finally, one as a power source.¡± said Prof. Lint


    Julia walked on the grass and it made a soft crunching sound, until she stepped on a dry leaf which made a louder sound. The sound of the wind was soothing and it cooled Julia¡¯s skin and glided through her hair. She was wearing a lemon yellow, midi length, pin striped sailor dress with a light blue ribbon at the collar.


    Everyone was witnessing the natural beauty of the area in awe.


    ¡°I hear that the campus has a barrier around it, for protection, and it hinders the view of the outside world. Only certain people can enter and leave the campus,¡± said Cole


    ¡°It¡¯s beautiful, isn¡¯t it?¡± said Julia


    ¡°Yes,¡± said Cole


    The students started to collect supplies. Julia wondered what to use. One of the birds left a feather behind, and she picked it up. It was a green feather. She saw that Cole had picked up a rock.


    In the near distance, she saw a wild sunflower and something appeared to be glittering. She went close to that sunflower. A drop of glittering water landed on the feather she was carrying, and it tickled her palm. It must have rained a while ago.


    Professor Lint started playing the ocarina that was around her neck. It sounded like a sad tune. Julia discovered a rock with small crystals inside.


    Julia went back to where the others were. She found Cole with a yellow flower in his hand.


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    ¡°Do you like flowers, Cole?¡± said Julia


    ¡°Yes, I guess,¡± said Cole


    ¡°How nice,¡± said Julia, smiling


    ¡°Actually this flower reminds me of you,¡± said Cole


    ¡°Really?¡± said Julia


    ¡°Well, you are clad in yellow today, so¡­¡±


    Julia noticed he looked bright today, almost glowing. The black color complemented him well. Julia thought he looked handsome today, but got flustered and turned away.


    Prof. Lint said, ¡°Okay now, let¡¯s see what we were able to gather so far.¡±


    They were holding a pocket watch and checked the time.


    One of them turned up with a twig.


    ¡°Yes, twigs are very important for building the base of the wand,¡± said Prof. Lint


    Julia¡¯s mind went blank and then she wondered why she didn¡¯t think of that before.


    They checked Cole¡¯s findings, and said, ¡°Good but you got two spell items, and one power item. No base item, huh? You need to either discard the blade of grass, or the flower. The magic number for wand making is three after all.¡±


    Cole didn¡¯t make eye contact, and in fact he turned his head to the furthest side and said, ¡°I know, I didn¡¯t get the flower for that purpose.¡±


    His face had a mild blush, like a faint red.


    ¡°Oh okay. Next!¡± said Prof. Lint


    Julia showed them her findings.


    ¡°Very good, you just need a twig or a stick,¡± said Prof. Lint


    Julia¡¯s lips curved into a smile. She found a stick in the grass, and that was the end of her duty. She sat down near the shade of tree, and watched as the others tried to gather objects. Cole snapped off a dying branch and that was it. He sat on the opposite side of the tree for some reason. The cool wind nearly made Julia fall asleep.


    ¡°Ah! Come on, let¡¯s go back. Only twenty five minutes are left,¡± said Prof. Lint


    The class returned in much haste, but were still careful while crossing the road.


    They entered the classroom, and they had to prepare the solution in the cauldron and drop the objects, one person at a time. Most people got plain-looking wands. They were a plain looking silver, bronze, golden or copper stick.


    ¡°Hold this flower,¡± said Cole, when his turn came


    He dropped the ingredients one by one, as the solution was displaced by a bit every time. He then recited the incantation and mixed them using the Professor Lint¡¯s broomstick, just like everyone else.


    The wand rose to the surface. It was a pearl white wand with a clear, colorless stone that flickered and glowed yellow.


    ¡°Whoa¡± said some of the class


    It was Julia¡¯s turn. She accidentally added the flower, the stone and the stick, instead of the feather, which flew away long ago.


    ¡°Oh no! I added Cole¡¯s flower by mistake,¡± said Julia


    ¡°Did you add four ingredients?¡± asked Prof. Lint


    ¡°No, three,¡± said Julia


    ¡°Good. No problem,¡± said Cole


    A rose gold wand floated and had a bow on top, made of two heart shaped, purple crystals, with two short ribbons.


    ¡°The most unique wand here yet,¡± said Prof. Lint


    The class ended and it was time for Basic Transformation class. Julia put her wand inside the satchel and headed over to building number one. From the outside, it looked like an ordinary building.


    ¡°Hey,¡± said Silvio


    ¡°Hi,¡± said Julia


    ¡°Hey, hey, hey!¡± said Sunny


    ¡°What¡¯s up, guys?¡± said Julia


    ¡°According to the outline I got from resources, we¡¯ll have a theory class today. I hope you all brought your notebooks,¡± said Silvio


    ¡°Yep,¡± said Julia


    ¡°Theory? Boring! Let¡¯s skip,¡± said Sunny


    ¡°No way,¡± said Silvio

 7: Moonlight

    The basic transformation theory class commenced but there were some people in the back who were asleep. Julia noticed this as she turned around. She was taking notes while closing her eyes and yawning every few seconds. Silvio (who was still sitting behind Julia) had the stare of a demon as he fixated himself upon the slides. Sunny was sitting in the back today and she joined the siesta.


    Julia couldn¡¯t help but think she was friends with nerds and a slacker¡­ there was nothing in between.


    ¡°Are any of you even listening?¡± yelled Professor Kacey


    ¡°Y-yes!¡± said Julia


    ¡°I am,¡± said Silvio


    ¡°I won¡¯t continue to take class if all of you behave in this manner!¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re sorry,¡± said Julia


    Professor Kacey smiled.


    ¡°Maybe I should make things more interesting. Let¡¯s have a lottery and split us up into groups, for an assignment.¡±


    ¡°Oh man,¡± said one of the students


    Professor Kacey ran out of the lecture hall. Meanwhile, Silvio let out a loud yawn.


    ¡°Hey, Strawberry¡­ Look at Sunny, she¡¯s still asleep!¡± said Silvio


    ¡°I¡¯m Julia, not strawberry!¡± said Julia


    ¡°But you¡¯re a Strawberry Witch,¡± said Silvio


    Julia faced him. He had a smile with glistening teeth and shining green eyes.


    ¡°If I¡¯m a strawberry, then you¡¯re Mr. Box cutter,¡± said Julia


    ¡°Huh?!¡± said Silvio


    His expression changed as his eyebrows were raised and he had a frown.


    ¡°That giant sword from yesterday was totally a box cutter,¡± said Julia


    Silvio held back his laughter for a few seconds before bursting into genuine and strange laughter.


    ¡°That hurt my ego, but I must admit it was funny,¡± said Silvio


    Julia smiled.


    ¡°I¡¯m back,¡± announced Professor Kacey, ¡°I just realized that we don¡¯t need paper or a container or a hat, we can just use numbers.¡±


    She clapped her hands together.


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    ¡°Starting from this column, each of you say a number from one to six in serial, and then repeat the same order,¡± said Professor Kacey


    ¡°One,¡± said Julia


    ¡°Two,¡± said Silvio


    They repeated this.


    At the end, someone announced the group of ¡°one¡±. She was clad in a band t-shirt, leather pants and had ombre hair, with black at the roots and sky blue at the tips.


    ¡°I¡¯m Aqua. Let¡¯s introduce ourselves.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m Julia.¡±


    ¡°Harold.¡±


    ¡°Arthur.¡±


    ¡°Hey guys, I¡¯m Glimmer.¡±


    They sat down and exchanged contact information.


    Prof. Kacey wrote the assignment on the white board and said it would be worth five points. Julia and Harold were noting the assignment down. But as soon as they were about to discuss, the class time ended.


    Silvio caught up to Julia.


    ¡°Wait, let¡¯s have something at the cafeteria at first,¡± said Silvio


    ¡°Okay.¡±


    They walked out of the building.


    ¡°You ought to introduce me to that friend of yours,¡± said Silvio


    Julia glanced at him and said, ¡°Which one?¡±


    ¡°The dude with the glasses,¡± said Silvio


    ¡°Sure then!¡± said Julia


    They sat down and Julia got a sandwich and a tiny bottle of water. Silvio just got coffee.


    ¡°So do you wanna hear?¡± said Silvio


    ¡°I guess, are you talking about your stalker?¡± said Julia


    ¡°I just want to get it off of my mind,¡± said Silvio


    He took in a deep breath and gulped a bit of espresso.


    ¡°Then sure. But are you sure you can trust anyone with this information?¡± said Julia


    His face became dull.


    ¡°You won¡¯t tell anyone, yeah? I deemed you trustworthy,¡± said Silvio


    ¡°Of course I won¡¯t,¡± said Julia


    His lips formed a small smile. He sighed.


    ¡°Now, where did it all begin?¡±


    Silvio was a teenager in that dream. Not knowing much at all about reality, yet knowing a lot about academics, he aimed to become a great scientist. He had no friends and would stay awake studying day and night. But one day, he met someone who kept recurring in those dreams. A girl with long hair tied into a ponytail, who would often force him to be more social. The dream continued for years, and she would often follow him wherever he went, hacked his account and tried to enter his house. It turned out that girl was a reflection of the dreamer¡¯s love interest and he hated to see her obsess over Silvio. So he took out a gun and shot Silvio on his eighteenth birthday, which he was celebrating with his mother in the dream. It seems that most, if not all, dreamers are vindictive.


    Julia, who was listening this entire time, tried to control her tears. This dream did remind her of her own dream, but Silvio¡¯s seemed worse, since he was killed in front of his mother.


    ¡°I¡¯m so sorry to hear this.¡± She said


    ¡°Do you know what the worst part is? I¡¯m sure this girl is within our university,¡± Said Silvio


    Julia gasped.


    ¡°I¡¯m not going to fear her. I¡¯ll get her expelled so that she no longer survives,¡± said Silvio


    ¡°But¡­¡± said Julia


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, did I scare you?¡± said Silvio


    Julia put her hair behind her ear.


    ¡°A little,¡± said Julia


    They walked out of the cafeteria. Julia stared at the ground.


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong, Julia?¡± said Silvio


    ¡°Nothing, well it¡¯s something,¡± said Julia


    ¡°You can tell me anything,¡± said Silvio


    ¡°I¡­ need a hug.¡± Said Julia


    ¡°From me?¡± he said


    ¡°From anyone. Well, maybe not anyone¡­¡± said Julia


    Silvio gave her a hug for a short time. She could smell his faint perfume. Julia felt comfort.


    It was dark already. The sun was down, and the sky was a light grey. The wind was soft and light. They could see a half moon in the sky, alongside a few stars.


    ¡°I bid you good night,¡± said Silvio, waving goodbye


    He left at once and he walked as though he was carrying the wind along with him. Julia entered her dorm and after getting ready for bedtime, she put her phone to charge and went to sleep.


    She awoke again at twelve thirty p.m. Since she couldn¡¯t sleep anymore, she browsed the internet. She came across three messages.


    One was a group message from Aqua which no one responded to. Another was from Cole, and another from Silvio. Without opening the messages, she went fell back asleep.

 8: Basketball break and joining a club

    Julia rummaged through her satchel after class and found some crumpled up glossy pages. There were three flyers, one was for the art club. It had a background of an abstract artwork, and had plain textboxes. Julia, however, wasn¡¯t interested so she folded it up and put it inside her bag to throw it away later. The other flyer was for the dance club, and after seeing the dancing figure on the poster, she put it away at once. The last flyer had clip art that looked like instant photos, buttons, and stickers.


    ¡°Join the scrapbooking club now!¡±


    Cole was standing beside her in the indoor sports area, getting ready to play basketball with some unknown students. He had transformed his outfit to a t-shirt and Bermuda shorts, and was holding an orange basketball.


    ¡°Come play with us, Julia!¡± said Cole


    Julia was still focused on the benefits and disadvantages of joining a club, and if it was suitable for people who don¡¯t speak much. She figured that a scrapbooking club would be the only club where you weren¡¯t expected to be outgoing.


    ¡°Julia¡­?¡±


    She finally put the flyer down. Julia saw that he was dressed in a blue t-shirt which read ¡°Be Free¡± and grey shorts. He was pale and his eyes were bright and lavender.


    ¡°I¡¯m rather clumsy¡­ I don¡¯t know if I¡¯m fit to play,¡± said Julia


    She saw Aqua with a jersey and track pants. Julia remembered she was wearing a dress up to the ankles, and it wouldn¡¯t be suitable.


    ¡°Try once and if you don¡¯t like it, you can stop,¡± said Cole


    ¡°If you say so,¡± said Julia


    She kept the flyer inside.


    ¡°Come on, my class will start soon,¡± said Aqua


    Julia took her magic wand and said, ¡°Creative vision, enter this world and exit my mind.¡±


    She twirled around and she changed into a jersey and shorts with sneakers.


    ¡°Hey guys¡­¡± said Silvio


    Silvio was wearing a white t shirt with track pants. He paused after he saw Julia.


    ¡°You play?¡± said Silvio


    ¡°Not really¡­ Cole, meet my friend Silvio,¡± said Julia


    ¡°Oh. Hi there,¡± Said Cole


    ¡°Nice to meet you,¡± said Silvio


    ¡°The pleasure is all mine,¡± said Cole, shaking hands with Silvio


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    They didn¡¯t look happy to see each other. Both of them had cold expressions, with Cole with a smile that looked forced and angry eyes, and with Silvio staring at Cole with deep concentration and a frown.


    The game began. Cole, Silvio and Julia were on one team. The other team had Aqua and two other students.


    Julia failed to run fast enough to get a hold of the basketball. She kept running to and fro across the small court, unable to allow her teammates to pass the ball. Aqua was shooting hoops as often as Silvio. There were many spectators.


    Cole dunked the ball into the basket for the first time. The match was over.


    ¡°We won,¡± said Cole


    ¡°By one point¡­ Oh my goodness, class!¡± said Aqua, running off


    Cole gave Silvio a hi-five.


    ¡°Good work,¡± said Silvio


    ¡°I should be saying that to you,¡± said Cole


    Julia was already panting, and she sat down on the bench. She still had enough energy to notice that the two guys were walking towards her.


    ¡°Do you need water?¡± said Silvio


    ¡°Have some water,¡± said Cole, at the exact same time


    The two of them went into some sort of staring match with each other while each of them were holding a water bottle.


    ¡°Uh, go ahead,¡± said Silvio, still looking at Cole with stern eyes


    They didn¡¯t notice that Julia had already gone to the vending machine. She touched her chin with her hand.


    Julia turned to get her wallet when Cole said, ¡°You can have water,¡±


    ¡°Thanks,¡± said Julia


    She somehow managed to drink the water without touching the bottle with her mouth.


    ¡°Did you get my message last night?¡± said Silvio, with his deep voice


    ¡°Sorry, I forgot to check,¡± said Julia


    Julia was about to leave for the last class of the day. However, on the way to class, Julia eavesdropped on their conversation. It was a normal conversation between two people meeting for the first time. Julia looked behind and saw that they split ways.


    ¡°Julia!¡± yelled Cole


    ¡°Yes?¡± said Julia


    ¡°Are you sure about this guy? He seems kind of fishy,¡± said Cole


    ¡°I knew you¡¯d say that,¡± said Julia


    Cole sighed and said, ¡°I see.¡±


    ¡°Anyway, I should get to class.¡±


    ¡°Right,¡± said Cole


    Julia had a thought that maybe it was her fault that the two of them weren¡¯t getting along. Ever since that day when Cole said Julia reminded him of that flower, she couldn¡¯t help but think he likes her. Maybe she was wrong. But in the hypothetical situation that Cole had a small crush on her, he was misunderstanding Silvio and thinking that Silvio also had a crush on Julia. This was a hypothetical situation however, and maybe their personalities and egos got in the way of friendship.


    Anyway, the spell construction class was dismissed earlier. Thank goodness, since Julia couldn¡¯t concentrate. She kept thinking of Cole¡¯s frown and lowered gaze as he walked away forty five minutes ago. Julia stayed sitting on the same desk as the class ended and everyone left. She let out a breath as she got up, still staring out the window.


    On the way to the dorm room, she had her flyer clutched in her hands. She walked up to the scrapbooking club booth.


    She shook a little as she said, ¡°I¡¯d like to join the scrapbooking club.¡±


    ¡°Sure, fill up this form please,¡± said a member at the booth. ¡°Then we¡¯ll take your interview at the clubroom.¡±


    During the interview, Julia was so lost in her thoughts that she answered without shaking, or becoming silent all of a sudden.


    ¡°Great, you can join us from tomorrow,¡± said a girl with lavender hair


    She looked familiar. Julia must have met her during a class.


    Right before bed, Julia checked her texts.


    Cole <24 minutes ago>: How are you?


    Julia: I¡¯m fine.


    Aqua: @JuliaBlossom01 Here is your part of the assignment.


    Julia: Okay. I¡¯ll get to it tonight.


    Silvio: I hope we all get to know each other.


    Julia: Yeah. Me too.


    Cole: Good.


    Julia: I¡¯ve joined the scrapbooking club.


    Cole: Great. Sadly I don¡¯t have time for a club.


    Julia somehow finished her part of the assignment, got ready and went to bed.

 9: These arent exactly dolls

    It was soon the weekend so Julia sat with her book to memorize some spells. She met some nice people at the scrapbooking club the previous day, and it was then she realized that stationery items were needed, and that meant more money spent. So, in addition to the classes, and club activities, it would be good to get a part-time job.


    She wished there was something to understand, but it was all memorization. Her desk looked empty, it had a notebook and a pen alongside the guidebook. There was a shelf above the desk that was not only empty but also dusty. She came across a spell known as ¡°Making a doll¡±. Julia thought it was a fun spell to make a fashion doll or a plush doll.


    Julia checked her messages.


    Cole <15 minutes ago>: What are you doing today?


    Julia: I¡¯m studying. Why?


    Aqua had sent her a personal message.


    Aqua: Hi!


    Julia: Hello.


    There was also a good morning text from Silvio.


    Julia: Morning.


    Her phone beeped.


    Cole: That¡¯s good, keep it up.


    She was done memorizing the spell for the doll. Julia then took a rag and swept the shelf clean.


    After sitting in her room for fifteen minutes, she got bored. There was nothing to do. Julia searched for places to go, using the internet.


    There was a park near the campus. Julia thought it would be fun to go there with all her friends. So she made a group chat. She put Sunny, Silvio, and Cole in that group chat.


    Julia kept her lavender phone closed for two minutes before the cell phone beeped several times.


    Cole: What¡¯s this GC for?


    Silvio: Hey guys.


    Sunny: What¡¯s up?


    Julia: I wanted to go to Low Hill Park with you guys this afternoon.


    Cole: Oh, alright.


    Silvio: Lemme check my schedule.


    Sunny: I¡¯m in! I¡¯m free anyway.


    Silvio: I¡¯ll be free from 5 pm onwards if that¡¯s okay.


    Cole: 5 pm is okay.


    Julia: Great, see you guys there. We¡¯ll go together from campus.


    Julia then cooked and had lunch, and fell asleep all of a sudden. She woke up at 4:30 pm.


    She rushed to get changed. She donned a white off-shoulder blouse with black paper-bag shorts. After checking the group texts, she emptied her pencil pouch, and put her wallet, phone, and ID inside. She locked the door, took the keys and headed downstairs to the entrance. Cole and Sunny were standing six feet apart.


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    ¡°There you are,¡± said Cole


    ¡°Hi, there. Oh, you must be that guy,¡± said Sunny


    ¡°Which guy¡­?¡± said Cole


    Silvio was behind Julia.


    ¡°Oh. Hi,¡± said Cole in a monotonous voice, hunched over and avoiding eye contact


    ¡°Don¡¯t slouch homie, it¡¯s bad for your health,¡± said Silvio


    ¡°Hi, Silvio!¡± said Sunny


    Silvio was in front of them now. He was dressed in a black graphic t-shirt with the image of pixel art. He was also wearing blue jeans. Cole wore a half-sleeved shirt, khaki tweed shorts, and was carrying a drawstring backpack. Sunny wore a magenta romper.


    They began walking.


    ¡°Wait, we¡¯re walking? I could¡¯ve brought my car,¡± said Sunny


    The rest of three people exchanged looks.


    ¡°Walking is good for health, and the environment,¡± said Cole


    ¡°You¡¯ve got a car?¡± said Julia


    ¡°I¡¯d never board a car with you as the driver,¡± said Silvio


    The three of them chuckled while Sunny frowned. It was supposed to be a fifteen minute walk.


    There were some people selling street food, like chicken lollipops, rolled ice cream and crepes.


    Sunny stopped in one place and was staring at the cotton candy. The three of them walked a considerable distance before noticing that Sunny wasn¡¯t there. Julia looked behind and saw she was coming with two white cotton candies.


    ¡°This one is for Julia and me, and this one is for the guys,¡± said Sunny


    ¡°Thank you!¡± said Julia


    The two men looked at each other and they both shrugged their shoulders, smiled and took the cotton candy.


    They started eating while sitting on the bench near the road.


    ¡°So much for good health,¡± said Silvio


    ¡°Hey, at least it¡¯s not artificially colored,¡± said Cole, taking another lump of cotton candy


    The girls¡¯ one was finished first. They threw the sticks and plastic covering in the trash and walked towards the park. The sky had no clouds, and the sunshine was harsh, and the weather was hot and humid. The walkway was made of red stone tiles. There was also a path for cyclists. They walked in silence for a while as Julia observed the rose bush, the tall trees, and random people jogging. A person on a bicycle fleeted past.


    ¡°Oh my goodness, it¡¯s a cat. Oh wow, it¡¯s a dog!¡± said Sunny, every time


    She would run after every cat and pet every dog. Julia sat on the bench next to Cole, and Silvio sat on the other side at once. Julia started the conversation.


    ¡°I saw a spell for creating dolls today,¡± said Julia


    ¡°You mean like a voodoo doll?¡± said Silvio


    ¡°That¡¯s the ancient doll spell,¡± said Cole


    Julia looked into Cole¡¯s glasses.


    ¡°Nope, it was called something like ¡®Making a doll¡¯.¡±


    Cole put his hand on his chin and looked at the ground. She noticed that Silvio was looking at her. She stared back. Julia got embarrassed by his stare and started fumbling with her hands.


    ¡°Well then, let¡¯s try it,¡± said Cole


    He loosened the drawstring of his backpack and took out a wand.


    ¡°Do you remember the verses?¡± said Cole


    ¡°Yep,¡± Said Julia


    ¡°Are you guys insane, are you really going to do magic outside the school?¡± said Silvio


    ¡°It¡¯s not against the rules,¡± said Cole


    ¡°Oh,¡± said Silvio


    They watched as Sunny was running, no, frolicking in the field of grass and flowers.


    ¡°You can use my wand,¡± said Cole


    Julia wondered if it would work if she used someone else¡¯s wand.


    ¡°The mystery of dolls, appear now!¡± said Julia


    Silvio had his eyes shut tightly and he was facing the other way, with his arms crossed to avoid the magic sparks which may come into contact with him.


    ¡°Relax bro, the spell is over, sheesh,¡± said Cole


    ¡°This isn¡¯t what I was expecting at all,¡± said Julia


    In her hands there were three acrylic stands of the three of them. It was Cole in a sapphire blue warlock outfit with a black witch hat. He was holding a wand exactly like his. Julia was dressed in her strawberry witch outfit, and she was holding onto her hat with both hands. Finally, there was Mr. Box cutter, as in Silvio after transformation.


    ¡°How is it possible? Those aren¡¯t dolls. Looks nice though, gotta admit,¡± said Silvio


    ¡°I suppose if the wand isn¡¯t yours, then some disparities arise,¡± said Cole


    She put them inside Cole¡¯s bag and he said he¡¯ll give them to her once they return.


    It was dark outside already. Julia found herself wishing that she would have a friendship that would continue to grow, regardless if she ever develops feelings for anyone.


    They returned to the campus at a fast pace. Silvio gave her a hug before he left. Upon seeing this, Cole gave Julia a tight hug. He returned the items to her. Silvio left by that time already, as if he was in a rush. Sunny patted Julia on the head before she jumped and walked away.


    ¡°I¡¯m not a dog, you know,¡± said Julia


    Julia returned to her room, kept the stands on the shelf and hopped into the shower to wash her hair.

 10: Truth or Dare

    It was the final day of the weekend, and Julia woke up hours later than she always would. All she could think that it was a good rest. Her assignment was finished yesterday, as she recalled. She freshened up.


    She cooked breakfast, and started eating it while sitting on the sky blue couch behind the hidden door.


    Julia opened the wardrobe door, and found a card of some sort. It had an image of two swans on it, both white. One wore a black crown, and another wore a pink crown. At first, Julia didn¡¯t even understand that it was hand drawn. She opened the card, and recognized the cursive handwriting at once. It was from Patricia.


    ¡°I humbly request and invite you over to the Dream World for my 19<sup>th</sup> birthday. If you accept, recite the following the code¡­¡±


    Julia put it away at once. She should discuss with someone she trusts. After closing the light brown wooden door, she wondered whether she could trust anyone at all.


    She returned to her dorm room. She lied down on her narrow bed with white sheets, and started to think who she could tell this information to.


    Of course she couldn¡¯t tell Sunny. Julia had a feeling that troublemaker would tell anyone and everyone. Cole was someone who appeared reliable due to his calm stature. She doubted he¡¯d go around telling anyone. But there was Silvio, who had shared his secret with her. However, she was still unsure about who he really was.


    She groaned and turned over, getting a hold of her flip phone. The first thing she did was check her messages.


    For some reason, Lindsey had created a group chat, as well as an event reminder.


    Lindsey: Truth and dare, at 4 p.m.


    Cole: No.


    Silvio: Hmm.


    Julia: How does Lindsey know Silvio?


    Silvio: I don¡¯t know her.


    Cole: Ugh, don¡¯t just add random people you don¡¯t know.


    Lindsey: Why Cole, are you jealous?


    Cole: ¡­


    Hell no.


    Lindsey: I saw Silvio talking to Cole this morning, and I instantly recognized him as in my following list.


    Cole: What?


    <Silvio left the group.>


    <Cole left the group.>


    Lindsey: Well this is awkward.


    Julia also left the group.


    Later on, Silvio texted in Julia¡¯s group chat that truth or dare was fun, and that they should do it without her. And Julia agreed that they should.


    Cole: You sure, Julia?


    Julia: Well, I¡¯m bored.


    Cole: True.


    Sunny: I¡¯m always up for a game of Truth or Dare!


    Silvio: Let¡¯s meet at the student lounge then.


    Julia was glad that she had something to do, but she couldn¡¯t erase the questions in her mind about the invitation.


    When the time came, she looked at what to wear. She put on a black ruffled blouse and a black full length skirt. She combed her hair and put it into a ponytail. She took some of her belongings in her satchel and locked the door behind her. She walked past the clubrooms, and was stopped by Glimmer.


    ¡°I haven¡¯t seen you in the club lately,¡± said Glimmer


    Stolen story; please report.


    ¡°Sorry about that, I need to buy materials,¡± said Julia, looking at the ground


    ¡°Alright, no problem,¡± said Glimmer


    She arrived in the crowded student lounge. There were so many people that she didn¡¯t know where to focus on. Julia began to scan the area. She saw the back of Cole¡¯s head, along with Sunny¡¯s face, and saw Silvio yawning.


    ¡°Am I late?¡± said Julia


    ¡°Sit down Julia, and Sunny, you should move,¡± said Silvio, making space on the couch


    ¡°Wouldn¡¯t it make sense for two people to sit on each side?¡± said Cole


    ¡°Yes,¡± said Julia


    She sat beside Cole. Silvio gave them a stern look.


    ¡°Great, I don¡¯t have to move,¡± said Sunny


    Silvio was wearing a purple polo shirt and Cole was wearing an olive polo shirt. Julia was wondering what the deal was with the polo shirts. Sunny was wearing a floral top with a skirt and sneakers.


    ¡°Before we begin, there¡¯s something I wanted to discuss,¡± said Julia


    ¡°Go on,¡± said Silvio


    ¡°But Sunny,¡± whispered Julia to Cole


    ¡°Understood,¡± said Cole


    Silvio was looking back and forth at Cole and Julia before sinking into the black couch.


    ¡°Hey Sunny, get me a drink from the vending machine, will you?¡± he said, handing her a coin from his pocket


    ¡°Okay, which one?¡± said Sunny


    ¡°Any one,¡± said Cole


    Sunny took the coin.


    ¡°Wait! Whatever you do, don¡¯t get me the strawberry one,¡± said Cole


    Julia and Silvio looked at Cole.


    ¡°That stuff tastes like medicine,¡± said Cole


    Silvio chuckled.


    ¡°Stop it, you,¡± said Cole


    ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± said Julia


    ¡°Never mind me, talk about your problem,¡± said Silvio


    Julia looked at the floor.


    ¡°You don¡¯t have to look at the ground every day you know,¡± said Silvio


    Julia looked at Silvio. Her voice was shaking as she spoke.


    ¡°My dreamer¡­ sent me an invitation to go to the Dream World,¡± said Julia


    ¡°Wait a minute, what?¡± said Cole


    Silvio leaned forward. Cole placed his hand under his chin.


    ¡°I don¡¯t think that¡¯s possible,¡± said Silvio


    ¡°It is, it happened to me!¡± said Julia


    ¡°No, what I mean is¡­¡± said Silvio


    ¡°What he means is¡­¡± said Cole


    The three of them exchanged looks.


    ¡°It¡¯s a trap,¡± said Cole and Silvio in unison


    They stared at each other.


    Sunny reappeared, carrying a can of iced coffee.


    ¡°I thought you don¡¯t like fruit drinks, so I brought you iced coffee,¡± said Sunny


    She sat down, and they were about to start Truth or Dare.


    All of a sudden, Julia saw that Lindsey appeared.


    ¡°I can¡¯t believe we were going to play Truth or Dare, but we don¡¯t have a bottle,¡± said Silvio


    Cole suggested they use the coffee can, but Silvio said it might slip off the table.


    Julia looked up at Lindsey.


    ¡°Truth or Dare without me? Well it¡¯s good that I always carry a bottle with me,¡± said Lindsey


    The look on Cole¡¯s face was devoid of emotion. Lindsey was wearing all white.


    ¡°Scoot over, Cole,¡± said Lindsey


    He didn¡¯t move.


    ¡°Come on, Cole, don¡¯t just sit there,¡± said Sunny


    ¡°You don¡¯t even know who she is,¡± said Cole


    Silvio raised his hand and said, ¡°Neither do I.¡±


    ¡°You can make space,¡± said Julia


    ¡°If you say so¡­¡± said Cole


    Lindsey gasped in an exaggerated manner.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t see you there, Julia. You¡¯ve blended in with the furniture,¡± said Lindsey


    ¡°Don¡¯t talk about her that way,¡± said Silvio


    Lindsey sat down and got a soda bottle out that was filled with water. Cole was stiff. Silvio spun the bottle.


    It landed nearest to Cole.


    ¡°Me¡­?! Truth,¡± said Cole


    He was scratching his face.


    ¡°Okay, who do you think is the good-looking one in this room?¡± said Lindsey


    ¡°Well, it¡¯s J...¡± said Cole


    ¡°You can¡¯t say Julia,¡± Said Lindsey


    ¡°Oh,¡± Said Cole


    He started to scratch his head. They waited for a whole minute.


    ¡°We haven¡¯t got all day¡­¡± said Silvio


    ¡°It¡¯s Silvio!¡± said Cole


    ¡°Wait, what?¡± said Lindsey


    Silvio laughed and said, ¡°That¡¯s one way to save yourself.¡±


    Cole looked at Lindsey and said, ¡°Did you seriously think I was going to say your name?¡±


    ¡°Moving on¡­¡± said Silvio, spinning the bottle


    It landed on Sunny.


    ¡°Dare!¡± said Sunny


    ¡°Hmm... start singing in front of everyone,¡± said Silvio


    Sunny cleared her throat. She started to sing a popular song by Ai Tea, but it was so off-key and so horrid sounding that they had to get her to stop.


    The next person was Julia.


    ¡°Truth or Dare?¡± said Cole


    ¡°Dare,¡± said Julia


    The others looked at each other with widened eyes.


    ¡°Okay, I dare you to¡­¡± said Lindsey


    ¡°We dare you to mock one of our professors,¡± said Cole


    Silvio let out a sigh and smiled, after sinking back in his spot.


    ¡°Okay¡­ Here it goes.¡± Said Julia


    She tried to do an evil laugh and showed that she was conjuring up something in a cauldron.


    ¡°Who the hell is¡­¡± said Lindsey


    ¡°Is it Mr. Penn?¡± said Cole


    ¡°Yes,¡± said Julia, sitting down


    The bottle landed on Julia again.


    ¡°Truth or dare?¡± said Sunny


    ¡°Truth,¡± said Julia, looking at Cole


    ¡°Okay so, who do you have a crush on?¡± said Silvio


    Cole looked at Silvio with intense eyes and tight facial muscles. Julia stared at the green bottle which had no label.


    ¡°Umm¡­ umm¡­ well you see¡­ I have crushes on many people,¡± said Julia


    ¡°Name some,¡± said Lindsey


    ¡°No¡­¡± said Julia


    She curled up into a corner of the couch.


    ¡°The poor girl is red,¡± said Sunny


    The bottle landed on Silvio.


    ¡°Truth,¡± he said


    No one said anything. There was deep silence. Silvio rolled his eyes and sunk back into the leather couch.


    ¡°Tell me something embarrassing,¡± said Julia


    Silvio looked at Julia with raised eyebrows and widened eyes. Everyone else also looked at her.


    ¡°Well¡­ Hmm. There was this time I accidentally spilled water on my trousers and everyone thought¡­ I believe the rest is clear.¡± said Silvio, with red cheeks


    ¡°When was this?¡± said Cole


    ¡°A few days ago,¡± said Silvio


    Julia was giggling.


    ¡°Well, I¡¯m leaving and I¡¯m taking this bottle with me,¡± said Lindsey


    No one said goodbye to her. The four of them talked about their daily lives.

 11: Confusion

    Julia was listening to the lecture in Witchcraft 101, and even though Mr. Penn acted unusual last class, he was quite expressive in his lectures. He had good intonation and articulation in his voice, and gave off the atmosphere of a true Warlock with his looks and attire. They were learning a different spell for adjusting their wardrobe, using the old attire as a base.


    ¡°This is the spell I used,¡± whispered Cole


    Julia nodded.


    He was sitting behind Julia, as usual. Before class, she had seen he was wearing a striped shirt with jeans. She noted down everything, in a random manner. Julia was wearing her usual attire of skirt and top. Lindsey was wearing a hideous grey sack-like oversized coat with a blue top and a skirt. Everyone else was wearing grey basic clothes.


    ¡°We may soon learn how to make varieties in your magic witch outfit as well. The same topic is covered during Basic Transformation Science, how many of you have that this semester?¡± said Mr. Penn


    Julia and a few others raised their hands.


    ¡°Hmm, not many,¡± said Mr. Penn


    He looked back at the clock and said, ¡°Class dismissed.¡±


    They were let go three minutes early. She noticed Lindsey staring at her with her piercing blue eyes, but chose to ignore her.


    ¡°See you later, Julia,¡± said Cole


    ¡°You too,¡± said Julia, smiling


    She dashed off to her second class. There she saw Silvio listening to music with earphones. He was nodding his head to the music. Upon seeing her, he took off his earphones.


    ¡°Hi,¡± he said, putting his earphones and smartphone in his bag


    ¡°Hello,¡± said Julia


    ¡°Let¡¯s go,¡± said Silvio


    They were the only ones in the class. No one arrived yet. She sat at her usual spot, and so did Silvio.


    ¡°So¡­ how¡¯s Witchcraft?¡± said Silvio


    Julia didn¡¯t turn around to face him.


    ¡°It¡¯s fine. How¡¯s Defense?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s taking a toll on my health. I¡¯m always exhausted,¡± said Silvio


    Julia turned and said, ¡°Umm, what are you defending?¡±


    He blinked and smiled. He coughed, as if to hold back a chuckle. At that moment, Julia was thinking that Silvio must¡¯ve really thought that this girl knows nothing. It wasn¡¯t her fault that her awakening wasn¡¯t complete.


    ¡°We¡¯re defending against the Deep Thought Chaotic Aggregation. You can just call them DTCA,¡± said Silvio


    ¡°Oh, are they harmful?¡± said Julia


    ¡°We¡¯ve got the defenders to protect against them,¡± said Silvio


    His eyes grew serious and gave off reflections of her. His eyes were a beautiful shade of green. She couldn¡¯t see Cole¡¯s eyes that well because of his glasses. Julia then wondered why her thoughts of these two were always somehow linked.


    The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    Silvio put his eyes to his notebook, and then his eyes rose again, towards Julia after he caught her staring. He clenched his fist and put his head down on the desk.


    Julia returned to her previous state, except with her eyes on her notebook. She sighed. For some reason, she started to feel like Silvio grew frustrated with her. But what was the reason? They hadn¡¯t known each other for that long. Same goes for Cole. Ugh, she started drawing parallels between Cole and Silvio once again. Julia wished she could only think of one of them for once.


    Some students started to come in. Aqua walked towards Julia¡¯s desk.


    ¡°Hey Julia, I got the assignment printed,¡± said Aqua


    ¡°That¡¯s great,¡± said Julia, in a low voice


    ¡°Is there something wrong?¡± said Aqua


    ¡°No, nothing important,¡± said Julia


    Professor Kacey walked in, so they all went back to their seats. Julia watched as Aqua, Silvio and some others handed in their group assignments.


    Silvio walked with brisk steps and went back to his seat.


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± whispered Silvio, after sitting down


    ¡°Nothing important,¡± whispered Julia


    The lecture started. Julia could concentrate on every word and concept. Professor Kacey explained the limitations of the science behind this magic system. She showed the components of the human brain on the projector, and talked about how the magic in their world arose from the imagination of those in the normal world. It made sense.


    Professor Kacey talked a great deal about the subconscious mind, and how everyone in the room was a mere symbol of the dreamer¡¯s life and mind. This gave rise to questions in Julia¡¯s mind. Why was she a light-type when Patricia appeared manipulative, and did something terrible to Julia? It didn¡¯t make sense to her. With every new slide, the questions kept piling up.


    Sunny sat beside Julia today, and was drawing the brain diagram on her lined notebook with a yellow pencil. At that moment, Julia began to wonder. If emotions were reduced to simple messages of the brain, then the superego¡¯s rules must be false. They must be fabricated by individuals, by society, by education, and by religious scriptures. Surely those rules and laws must serve a purpose. For example, if person A stole something from B, they¡¯d cause B a lot of problems, trouble and mental pressure. Hence there is a law that stops both A from stealing, and B from taking revenge. However, if person A just asked for it from B, there is a good chance that B wouldn¡¯t give it to A¡­


    ¡°Hey Julia, class is over,¡± said Silvio


    ¡°It is?¡± said Julia


    ¡°It sure is,¡± said Silvio


    Silvio offered her his hand as he helped Julia get up. They held hands for a minute, until Julia let go. The hallway was empty.


    ¡°You can tell me anything, if you want to,¡± said Silvio


    He looked at Julia. He was dressed in a purple tank top with an open black half-sleeved shirt, and faded jeans. His expression looked less carefree and more like he was trying to hide his emotions. His eyes were dull and lips were taut.


    ¡°Now is not the time,¡± said Julia


    ¡°Hmm? You want to tell me later?¡± said Silvio


    They walked down the stairs.


    ¡°Yes,¡± said Julia


    ¡°Fair enough,¡± said Silvio


    There were few trees near the campus buildings, and they flowed in the breeze. Her hair also flowed in the breeze, and her skirt fluttered in the breeze and sometimes showed her safety shorts.


    ¡°You sure are mysterious,¡± said Silvio


    Julia looked up at Silvio. She looked at his face.


    ¡°I¡¯d say the same about you,¡± said Julia


    The tension in Silvio¡¯s face disappeared. He had a relaxed smile.


    ¡°Cole isn¡¯t a bad fellow. In fact, he seems to be too good for his own good. I actually don¡¯t mind¡­¡± Said Silvio


    He stopped there.


    ¡°Don¡¯t mind what?¡± yelled Julia


    He got startled, and almost stumbled after hearing Julia yell. He put his hand on his mouth and appeared to be lost in thought.


    ¡°I don¡¯t mind spending my time with him. Seems like he would be a good ally. Later!¡± said Silvio


    Julia stared at him as he left. For a moment, it seemed like he¡¯d say like he doesn¡¯t mind competing against Cole. Perhaps that was what Julia wanted to hear. She stood in the same place as she felt someone¡¯s hand on her shoulder.


    ¡°Julia,¡± said Cole¡¯s voice ¡°Did he hurt you?¡±


    ¡°No, not at all,¡± said Julia


    She faced Cole.


    ¡°Then why do you look so¡­ Never mind, I guess you don¡¯t want to say anything,¡± said Cole, sighing


    Julia came closer to Cole. She gave him a tight hug. He flinched. She could feel his hand in her hair.


    There were many things she wanted to say.


    ¡°Do you like me? Will I end up playing the both of you? No¡­ I can¡¯t do that. Will all three of us end up with broken hearts?¡± thought Julia


    But instead, she stood there hugging Cole for a few minutes, feeling his every breath and standing in the middle of the grass.

 12: The Terror of DTCA

    Julia woke up right in time for class when she heard an announcement. At first she thought that she heard it wrong.


    ¡°Warning: The DTCA has infiltrated the system. All students are urged to stay indoors. If you are outdoors, please stand near the designated signposts marked with H-L-P. I repeat...¡±


    It was only yesterday that she heard about the DTCA, and now they were trespassing? Julia didn¡¯t know what to do. The first thing she did was that she checked the online notices. It didn¡¯t load.


    A few text messages was in her inbox.


    Cole: Where are you?


    Julia: In my dorm room.


    Cole: Don¡¯t go anywhere.


    Silvio: Be careful, don¡¯t go anywhere.


    Julia: Okay, will you be defending??


    Silvio: I¡¯m just a first year student.


    Julia: Good.


    It was silent for at least an hour.


    Cole: The university online server has been hacked. Don¡¯t send texts with the university server.


    Julia: I couldn¡¯t even access it.


    There was no reply. Julia wondered what happened to him. She couldn¡¯t stay calm. Maybe nothing happened, but Julia began to hyperventilate and sweat. She felt nauseous. After going to the bathroom, she tried to puke but nothing happened. Julia returned to her room and lied down on her bed. The speaker used for announcements began to sound like an alarm. It stopped and let out a screech, as if it would no longer work. There was a pungent smell in the air, as if an electronic was burning. The smoke entered the room. Julia couldn¡¯t breathe. She coughed as she took her wand in her hand, and her phone in her pajama pocket for safety and opened the door, and stood in the hallway.


    She was able to call for help and go downstairs, when she came face to face with a masked man holding a gun. He was a bit far away, and he kept the gun in his pocket. On the floor, there was Patricia lying while covered with blood. Julia gasped but couldn¡¯t scream, lest the murderer would hear her. Patricia had real wings that shed blood. There was a stench in the air. Julia looked behind and saw there was nothing wrong, no smoke or flames or anything. It was then Julia realized that she had been tricked by an illusion. She rushed back to the room, only to see that the room was no longer there. Neither was the masked man. The only ones there were Julia, and the corpse of Patricia. Julia shook and her teeth chattered.


    The corpse was moving. No wait, that couldn¡¯t be right! It started to repair itself, except the wings were shed. The eyeballs turned to face Julia. The corpse began to stand up.


    This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.


    Julia was now running away, not knowing what else to do. The corpse walked with heavy steps, and got a hold of Julia¡¯s shoulders. She dared not to look behind, but couldn¡¯t resist. There was no one there, except that Patricia¡¯s detached and blood covered arms clung onto Julia¡¯s shoulders, and then fell to the ground. Julia let out a shrill scream.


    At once she started to try and remember her lessons. Ah yes, spell construction, that might be her only chance.


    She waved her wand around, and chanted, ¡°Send a signal towards those who may help, before the darkness takes another step!¡±


    The magic sparks flew across.


    Julia felt that the ground beneath her was crumbling. She had an incessant fall with her eyes closed. She felt someone¡¯s hand hold hers. Her palm was sweaty, yet numb. She couldn¡¯t open her eyes. Both of her palms felt sweaty now.


    She heard the sound of violin and piano. Julia saw the vision of a pianist and a violinist playing. She had spent too much time worrying about the little things in life.


    She opened her eyes at last. She stretched her arm and felt a pain. It was a bag of blood attached to her arm via a set of tubes.


    ¡°Ouch¡­¡± said Julia


    The room was dark. The air smelled like hand sanitizer. There was still soft violin and piano music playing. Beside her own bed, there was someone sleeping in a sleeping bag, who had left the music on. The music was looped on and on, until it shut down. Whoever it was must have been fast asleep.


    It was sunrise. Someone entered and switched the light on.


    ¡°Doctor, the patient is awake!¡±


    She heard footsteps. The doctor entered wearing a lab coat.


    ¡°How are you now?¡± he asked


    ¡°I¡­ I¡¯m okay,¡± said Julia


    ¡°That¡¯s a relief.¡±


    She watched as the guy next to her rubbed his eyes. It was Silvio.


    ¡°How is she doing?¡± asked Silvio


    ¡°She¡¯s awake,¡± said the nurse


    ¡°She is?¡± said Silvio, getting up


    ¡°How are you? Can you speak?¡± said Silvio


    ¡°Yes,¡± said Julia


    ¡°That¡¯s a relief,¡± said Silvio, sighing and falling back into the sleeping bag


    ¡°So¡­ what happened?¡± asked Julia


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry,¡± said Silvio


    ¡°Sorry for what?¡± said Julia


    ¡°We could have called for a help a lot sooner if Cole and I weren¡¯t arguing so much,¡± said Silvio


    ¡°If you guys weren¡¯t there, I probably would¡¯ve died,¡± said Julia


    ¡°Don¡¯t say that,¡± said Silvio, giving her a stern look


    There was silence. She found baskets of fruit and a few lilies in her room.


    ¡°Anyway, I gotta get to class, Cole will cover the next shift. It¡¯s good that his blood type matches with yours... I got him to rest after he donated so much blood,¡± said Silvio


    ¡°Goodbye Silvio, thanks for looking after me,¡± said Julia


    ¡°No problem. See you later,¡± said Silvio


    He took his bag and belongings and left the room.


    She heard Cole¡¯s voice from outside the room.


    ¡°You fool! Why is your phone switched off?¡± said Cole


    ¡°She¡¯s awake,¡± said Silvio


    ¡°Oh thank goodness,¡± said Cole


    He opened the door at once.


    ¡°How are you, are you okay?¡± said Cole


    She looked at his face. He looked tired, with dark circles.


    ¡°Yes¡­ what happened? I don¡¯t remember,¡± said Julia


    ¡°You left the room! I told you not to,¡± said Cole


    ¡°But¡­¡± said Julia, as tears came to her eyes


    She didn¡¯t expect Cole to yell at her.


    ¡°Don¡¯t cry¡­ I was just worried,¡± said Cole


    She cried for a bit while Cole wiped her tears away with a tissue.


    ¡°My room was filled with smoke,¡± said Julia


    ¡°Those DTCAs and their dirty tricks¡­¡± said Cole


    Cole sat down. His eyes looked watery. His bit his lip and looked at the floor. Cole then looked at Julia again.


    ¡°Is Patricia dead?¡± asked Julia


    ¡°Who¡­? It was just a dream that causes physical damage,¡± said Cole


    They spent the whole time in silence before Julia was released. Cole walked alongside as they took her payment information. They took her in a wheelchair as they loaded her onto Sunny¡¯s car. Cole drove as Sunny sat beside Julia and looked at her with a deep frown and watery eyes. Sunny placed her hand on her head and let her sleep on Sunny¡¯s shoulder. All the while she was sleeping, that violin and piano song was playing in her mind.

 13: Slowly healing

    Even though Julia had a full night¡¯s rest, she still felt exhausted. She couldn¡¯t move and had a headache. There was still that nauseous feeling.


    Sunny entered the dorm room with a steaming pot. Behind her, there was Cole with a breakfast tray, a bowl, and a spoon.


    ¡°How are you feeling today?¡± asked Sunny


    ¡°Exhausted,¡± said Julia


    ¡°Here, have some chicken soup. I cooked it myself,¡± said Sunny


    ¡°Thanks Sunny,¡± said Julia


    Julia sat down on her bed. Sunny left the soup pot on the desk. She poured a bit into the bowl.


    ¡°Can you feed yourself?¡± said Cole


    ¡°Yes,¡± said Julia


    Cole set the breakfast tray which had legs, on Julia¡¯s lap. She was shaking as she blew on the soup and took a sip. Julia was tired of shivering all the time. The soup was light and creamy, but not too creamy. The egg drops were perfect and wispy, and the chicken pieces were filling. Before long, Julia finished the soup.


    ¡°Want some more?¡± said Sunny


    ¡°Yes please,¡± said Julia


    Sunny refilled the bowl and Julia finished it within five minutes.


    ¡°You¡¯re eating well, that¡¯s a good sign,¡± said Cole


    Julia looked at Cole¡¯s face. His eyebrows were sunken low and made him look sad, as he was looking down. He looked up to meet Julia¡¯s eyes.


    ¡°She needs rest,¡± said Cole ¡°We ought to leave.¡±


    ¡°No, please,¡± said Julia ¡°I hate being alone.¡±


    Cole and Sunny glanced at each other.


    ¡°If you say so,¡± said Sunny


    Julia was lying down in silence. Sunny had a frown as she sat on the chair. Cole leaned against the wall and looked at Julia. Julia was looking into the distance and recalling that nightmare-like situation where she woke up being damaged.


    ¡°It¡¯s weird how your phone and wand survived all that,¡± said Sunny


    ¡°Only living beings can be harmed by the DTCA,¡± said Cole


    ¡°Oh¡­¡± said Sunny, checking the time on her watch.


    ¡°I gotta go, I¡¯ve got class,¡± said Sunny


    ¡°Okay, don¡¯t worry. I¡¯ll be here. One absent won¡¯t hurt,¡± said Cole


    Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    Julia rolled over to look at him.


    ¡°You should go,¡± said Julia


    Cole sat down. He nodded to say no.


    ¡°There¡¯s no one else to take care of you,¡± said Cole


    Julia closed her eyes and took rest. She wasn¡¯t sleeping though.


    She heard a phone ring.


    ¡°Hello?¡± said Cole


    After a pause, he said, ¡°No need. I¡¯m skipping class. It¡¯s fine, don¡¯t worry. Come on man, why¡­¡±


    Cole groaned. It was silent. The air smelled like soup, and the sheets were warm. The white walls seemed to close in. There was a knock at the door. Julia opened her eyes.


    Cole looked at the door. He looked at Julia again. The door opened and Silvio appeared with a bag.


    ¡°You rascal, you woke her up,¡± said Cole


    ¡°I was awake,¡± said Julia


    Silvio walked closer towards Cole who was staring into Silvio¡¯s eyes with concentration and while clenching his teeth.


    ¡°I talked to the doctor and brought you medicine, and extra water bottles,¡± said Silvio


    ¡°Thank you,¡± said Julia


    Cole shrugged.


    ¡°And thanks Cole, for donating blood,¡± said Julia


    Cole looked at Julia with piercing sea green eyes, and said, ¡°But I didn¡¯t tell you that, how did you find out?¡±


    ¡°I told her,¡± said Silvio, yawning


    Cole¡¯s eyes widened.


    ¡°Sit down,¡± said Cole, rising up from his chair


    ¡°Thanks,¡± said Silvio, sitting down


    There was no sound for a long time except for that of Silvio¡¯s yawns.


    ¡°You know,¡± said Silvio, breaking the silence


    The two of them looked at Silvio.


    ¡°I realized something. Cole, you and I are fighting for no good reason. If we continue to fight like this, we¡¯ll neglect Julia while she¡¯s in her sick state,¡± said Silvio


    ¡°I agree,¡± said Cole


    ¡°I want to make peace with you, Cole. I should¡¯ve said this when Julia isn¡¯t around, but she also needs to hear about this eventually. Cole, you did say that Julia might have feelings for me, and if I hurt her, you¡¯ll seek revenge. On the other hand, I¡¯d say you¡¯ve got it all wrong. I always thought Julia has feelings for Cole, and rightfully so. When the time comes, it is Julia who will say if she has feelings for anyone, and if she likes anyone at all,¡± said Silvio


    ¡°Agree with this as well,¡± said Cole


    ¡°What do you think, Julia?¡± said Silvio


    ¡°Well, I guess¡­¡± said Julia


    She had a glimpse of a memory of Cole in the meadow, followed by a memory of walking with Silvio under the moonlight.


    ¡°I care about the both of you, and no matter what happens don¡¯t become a stranger to me. I haven¡¯t developed strong feelings for anyone yet, and it¡¯s too soon to tell,¡± said Julia


    ¡°I understand, you¡¯re right,¡± said Silvio ¡°What about you, Cole?¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re all in this mess together. With the security breached by the DTCA, we all have to stick together. Who knows what will happen? Silvio, I think we should become friends,¡± said Cole


    Silvio looked back at Cole.


    ¡°I¡¯ve always respected you,¡± said Silvio


    Julia sighed with a deep breath. Silvio looked back at Julia.


    ¡°Can I share my nightmare with you guys?¡± asked Julia


    They nodded. Julia spoke about the nightmare in detail. The others were listening with great concentration. However, Julia yawned and couldn¡¯t keep her eyes open.


    ¡°We have to solve this puzzle. Anyway, let¡¯s leave,¡± Silvio


    ¡°I¡¯m worried. She did say she¡¯s scared of being left alone,¡± said Cole


    Julia fell asleep. She had a short dream. She was walking near a cemetery with tears in her eyes. In her arms were white and pink lilies. Silvio and Cole were walking in front of her.


    ¡°Here lies Patricia Blossom, 2001-2021¡±


    They were wearing all black. Julia left the lilies on the grave. Cole and Silvio walked off far away, and Julia was struggling to keep up. She entered a garden filled with white and blue roses. She walked past the rose bushes.


    Julia sneezed after she woke up. The room was dark. No one was there, and the soup was gone. The phone was put to charge. She turned the phone on. Incoming texts made the phone beep several times. It was ten p.m.


    Cole: What do you feel like eating? I¡¯ll bring food tomorrow.


    Julia: Strawberry shortcake.


    Cole: You sure?


    Julia: Yes.


    Silvio: I got a surprise gift for you.


    Julia: Really? Thank you.


    Sunny: Get well soon.

 14: Zombie-type DTCA

    Julia was in her room when Cole, Sunny and Silvio arrived. She was sketching hearts, stars, flowers, and leaves on a sheet of scrap paper. Silvio was carrying two folding chairs.


    ¡°Good morning!¡± said Sunny


    ¡°Morning,¡± said Julia


    Julia was wearing a t-shirt and sweatpants.


    ¡°You look a lot better,¡± said Silvio


    ¡°I do?¡± said Julia


    Cole was struggling to carry some boxes.


    ¡°What¡¯s all this, Cole?¡± said Julia


    ¡°Food,¡± said Cole


    Julia cracked her knuckles and laid down. She was way better, but still weak.


    ¡°I thought I told you to just get a slice of cake¡­¡± said Julia


    ¡°Huh? That¡¯s impractical and completely illogical,¡± said Cole


    ¡°That¡¯s true¡­¡±


    Cole sighed as he put the boxes on the table.


    ¡°Silvio¡¯s box is in here too,¡± said Cole


    Cole did the hidden door spell using his wand. Julia¡¯s hidden door appeared in a sea of magic sparkles and opened with bass and piano music.


    ¡°Wait, what was that?!¡± said Sunny


    ¡°Interesting use of magic,¡± said Silvio


    Cole carried all the boxes inside save for one.


    ¡°You guys are acting as if you¡¯ve never seen a hidden door until now,¡± said Julia


    Julia watched as he put the boxes into the fridge.


    ¡°That¡¯s because they actually haven¡¯t ever seen a hidden door,¡± answered Cole from behind


    Julia sat up and looked at Silvio and Sunny. Sunny was dressed in a t-shirt and jeans. Silvio was also dressed in a casual way.


    ¡°Wait, where do you keep your fridge and¡­¡± said Julia


    ¡°We have a shared kitchen,¡± said Silvio


    Cole slammed the white fridge door. Julia heard a piercing sound, like something shattering into pieces, followed by the sound of something crashing onto the floor.


    ¡°Cole?¡± said Julia and Silvio in unison


    ¡°I¡¯m okay, but¡­¡±


    ¡°You broke something, didn¡¯t you?¡± said Silvio


    The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.


    ¡°No, but¡­¡± said Cole


    Julia heard Cole gasp.


    ¡°There¡¯s something horribly wrong with this place,¡± said Cole


    Silvio ran inside.


    ¡°Everything okay, Cole?¡± asked Silvio


    Sunny was looked at them in the distance while she was biting her nails.


    ¡°Get me my wand please, Sunny,¡± said Julia


    Sunny handed her the wand and continued to stare with widened eyes.


    ¡°How the hell did this happen?¡± said Silvio


    ¡°Silvio, we all have to leave this place. Julia can¡¯t stay here for a moment longer,¡±


    ¡°Look, there¡¯s more of them!¡± said Silvio


    ¡°Do something! You¡¯re the defender,¡± said Cole


    Upon hearing this, Julia froze. Something horrible must have happened. Her mind was blank, until she tried to think of a spell to help them. The two of the guys were about to exit the room, when the door slammed shut and locked itself. Loud thuds came from the other side, and Sunny tried unlocking the door, and then the lights went out.


    Julia tried to remember her spell construction classes. There were screams from both sides, but Julia was quiet as she spun her wand around and was about to recite a spell. This doesn¡¯t mean didn¡¯t want to yell out for help. She controlled herself.


    ¡°Bright light, show us a path for defense or fight,¡± said Julia


    The alarm in the room sounded again.


    Nothing happened, Julia started hyperventilating and the pains across her body grew worse.


    ¡°Warning: The DTCA has infiltrated the system. All students are urged to stay indoors. If you are outdoors, please stand near the designated signposts marked with H-L-P. I repeat...¡±


    Sparks flew out of Julia¡¯s wand, and lit those two rooms. The bright light made them fade. Julia opened her eyes. Julia saw her friends as she was being held in place way above them, by a series of running vines. The wand was still in her hand.


    ¡°Light-type shield activated,¡± spoke a voice in a robotic voice


    ¡°What? Why would you use your own health to activate a shield? Why Julia, why?¡± said Cole


    ¡°Wait, what? You know what this means?!¡± said Silvio


    ¡°She¡¯s already suffered one attack from the DTCA. One more, and this means¡­¡± said Cole


    Silvio shook Cole¡¯s body.


    ¡°Let¡¯s do something already!¡± said Silvio


    The two of them nodded.


    Cole waved his wand.


    ¡°Let me wield at this hour, and change this shield¡¯s source of power,¡± said Cole


    At once, Cole was held in place as Julia was falling. Silvio darted across and caught Julia in his arms.


    ¡°Take care of the DTCA!¡± said Cole


    ¡°What about you?¡± said Silvio


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about me, you idiot!¡± said Cole


    Silvio nodded. Julia felt so ill, she couldn¡¯t utter a word.


    ¡°Dark-type shield activated.¡±


    Silvio placed Julia near Sunny.


    ¡°Take care of her,¡± he said


    Sunny watched Julia¡¯s movements as Silvio pulled out something from his pocket. It looked like a flash drive. He flipped a switch, and it transformed into a box-cutter sword in the blink of an eye.


    ¡°How did that happen? I thought he¡¯s not a magic user,¡± said Julia


    ¡°Oh, that¡¯s a sword-in-pocket. Only defense people can use them. They¡¯re charmed by someone else as far as I know,¡± said Sunny


    They were walking corpses that wreaked of a rotten smell.


    ¡°Zombie-type DTCA,¡± mumbled Silvio


    He took another device and it transformed into another box-cutter sword. One by one, Silvio chopped the zombies into pieces. Blood squirted out. The zombies let out groans of agony  The sight of it made Julia disgusted. He was ruthless, as he sliced into every bit of flesh and bone with great force, with sweat trickling down his face.


    ¡°Ha!¡± said Silvio, cutting the last zombie into half


    Silvio was panting.


    The pieces soon evaporated into a vomit-inducing stench. They all coughed.


    ¡°Something seems off, those zombies were too weak,¡± said Silvio


    ¡°Cole!¡± screamed Julia


    Silvio looked behind. The chopped pieces had merged in irregular forms, and Cole began to fall right into the place where they were all merging.


    ¡°No!¡± said Silvio


    Julia waved her wand and said, ¡°Deep thoughts disintegrate!¡±


    The pieces turned to powder were swept away by the wind as they all held their breaths due to the toxic smell. They returned to the dark room, and the lights switched back on as Julia woke up. Cole, Silvio and Sunny opened their eyes as they were on the ground.


    ¡°What was that?¡± said Cole, coughing


    ¡°I don¡¯t know!¡± said Sunny


    ¡°We ought to report this case to the authorities,¡± said Cole


    ¡°I¡¯ll do that. Silvio, you take Cole and Julia to the Medical Centre.¡± Said Sunny

 15: Magic seeds

    A few hours had passed since Silvio left Julia in her room, which she had moved into five days ago. It was about 9:45 p.m. Her new room was almost the same as her previous one, except she had a good view from her window. Julia looked through the curtain and saw the full moon. She couldn¡¯t help but think that maybe it was just a random girl that he was afraid. He didn¡¯t even take a good look at that person. She remembered his words.


    ¡°Be careful, Abigail can and will do anything to track you down.¡±


    Julia thought she must do something. It was dark outside and the moon wasn¡¯t bright enough to illumine the whole campus.


    Just then, some particles collected in her hands. They kept floating downwards into her hands. After careful observation, Julia saw they were seeds with delicate wings. She placed them on the window sill, and opened the windows. This unexplained phenomenon could hold the solution to this problem. She took the pile of seeds, and blew on them so that they were dispersed and carried by the wind. She shut the window and went to sleep.


    Julia woke up after hearing loads of beeps from her phone.


    Sunny: Come take a look! Something happened, and the campus has changed overnight.


    Julia got ready and went downstairs. She was wearing a shirt with pants. There was bright sunshine, and the campus looked the same, except there were wildflowers all across. She saw her friends were standing in the middle of the field. In the center, there was an arch decorated with green leaves and primroses.


    The air carried the scent of fresh and fragrant jasmine.


    ¡°I wonder who did this,¡± said Cole


    ¡°It must be those pesky fairies,¡± said Silvio


    ¡°No. It wasn¡¯t them,¡± said Julia


    ¡°Good morning!¡± said Sunny, giving Julia a hug


    Cole took a step forward.


    ¡°How can you be so sure?¡±


    Julia let go of Sunny.


    ¡°Well you see, last night I think I scattered some magic seeds,¡± said Julia


    ¡°Oh,¡± said Cole, cracking his knuckles


    Silvio sneezed. He blew his nose using a tissue. Julia figured it was the pollen.


    ¡°Don¡¯t tell anyone, lest this takes a bad turn,¡± said Cole


    This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    There were loads of people taking photos with and of the flowers. They rushed to class. Everyone was asking the professors, and they replied that the Fairy department denied that it was their doing. People couldn¡¯t stop talking about it.


    In the afternoon, Julia was having a sandwich at the cafeteria. There was a sound of trickling water, which turned to a downpour. Silvio who was across the table widened his eyes as he stared through the door.


    ¡°We only have rain twice a year here at Plume, and this isn¡¯t the time when. Julia, are you sure this won¡¯t cause trouble?¡± said Silvio


    ¡°Of course I¡¯m not sure.¡±


    Silvio blinked and looked at Julia, then crossed his arms and looked away.


    ¡°It¡¯s just a bit of rain,¡± said Julia


    The rain stopped as soon as she said that. There were the sound of splashes as Cole walked into the cafeteria and wiped his shoes on the welcome mat. He sat down beside Silvio.


    ¡°There has been a bit of a conspiracy theory that the DTCA did this,¡± said Cole


    Silvio closed and scrunched his eyelids, like a tired cat. After they were done eating, Julia walked across the muddy field and observed the flowers. She was ahead of those two, as she overheard their conversation.


    ¡°I¡¯m worried,¡± said Silvio


    ¡°Why?¡± said Cole


    ¡°She was able to change the campus overnight according to her liking,¡± said Silvio


    ¡°Maybe others are involved too.¡±


    Julia walked under the arch, and her outfit changed into her Strawberry Witch outfit. Birds flew and sat down on the arch.


    ¡°I see what you mean. I have to do research on this,¡± said Cole


    The two guys sat on the grass while Julia picked a flower and put it in her hot pink hair. She sat under a tree and was half asleep under the shade.


    ¡°Extreme use of her powers must have exhausted her,¡± said Silvio


    She felt the presence of others nearby.


    She opened her eyes and found herself sleeping on her satchel while Silvio, Sunny and Cole were sitting next to her.


    Julia woke up and found that they were still there.


    ¡°How long have I been sleeping for?¡± said Julia


    ¡°About thirty minutes,¡± said Cole, looking at his watch


    ¡°Ugh, why didn¡¯t anyone wake me up?¡±


    Julia got up and brushed her clothes with her hands. Sunny got up.


    ¡°I almost forgot, we¡¯ve got a quiz tomorrow on Basic Transformation Science,¡± said Sunny


    Silvio and Julia¡¯s eyes met. Silvio face palmed.


    ¡°How could I forget?¡± he said


    Julia yawned. She had a pain near her forehead as she felt that the world was blurred, since she felt dizzy.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it Silvio, we have time,¡± said Julia


    ¡°That is true¡­¡±


    Cole chimed in and said, ¡°The quiz for Witchcraft 101 is the day after tomorrow.¡±


    Julia got up, wore the satchel and said, ¡°I will worry about that tomorrow.¡±


    The others got up.


    ¡°How about a group study tomorrow? What do you think?¡± said Cole


    ¡°Sure, will Lindsey be coming?¡± said Julia


    ¡°Oh goodness, no,¡± said Cole


    They all left to study.


    Julia did her last few minutes of revision at midnight. She texted Cole, not being able to hold back on her questions.


    Julia: How do you know Lindsey?


    Cole: Oh, we were from the same dream. Did I say dream? I mean nightmare. I was drowning in the sea, and Lindsey tried to rescue me, but the tidal force made her drown and die before I did.


    Julia: I see.


    Cole: Yeah.


    Julia then wondered for a split second how he looks without his glasses. So she sent him a text.


    Julia: I¡¯ve always wondered what you look without your glasses.


    Cole: Really?


    Julia sent a nervous sweat emoji.


    <Cole sent a photo.>


    Julia was expecting a picture where he looked drained, with dark circles. But instead, he looked different from usual, but she could still tell it was him. Julia couldn¡¯t help but think his sea green eyes were so beautiful. Along with his messy blonde hair, he looked good.


    Julia sent a heart reaction, texted good night, brushed her teeth and went to sleep.

 16: DTCA leading them astray

    Chapter 11: DTCA leading them astray


    Julia had a dream that someone whispered to her to find the truth of the DTCA.


    Soon, Julia turned the pages of her guidebook to see if there was a spell that allowed her to see what the DTCA actually is. However, there was no spell to gain insight. It was the middle of the day and the guidebook was resting on her lap as she sat on the wooden bench. Julia looked at the sky but her vision was obscured by the branches of a tree that had almost no leaves, and the bark was peeling off.


    ¡°Hi, what brings you here?¡± said Cole


    ¡°Oh hello, sit down,¡± said Julia


    Cole sat down and turned to face Julia.


    ¡°I miss you,¡± he said


    Julia turned her head to face Cole.


    ¡°But I¡¯m right here,¡± said Julia


    ¡°Yeah¡­ so what are you doing? Studying?¡±


    He smiled and patted her head. He was wearing a shirt with sweater vest and corduroy trousers. Julia was wearing a long-sleeved black sweater with white stripes on the sleeves.


    She said, ¡°I¡¯m trying to find out about the DTCA.¡±


    Cole¡¯s tone changed as he said, ¡°What? Why? That¡¯s dangerous.¡±


    Julia began to tremble as Cole¡¯s eyes grew watery. She never expected him to behave in this manner. He turned away and looked at the ground.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry. Didn¡¯t mean to frighten you.¡±


    He ran his fingers through his hair.


    ¡°It¡¯s okay, Cole.¡±


    He looked at her again, with a frown and low eyebrows. Julia faked a smile.


    ¡°You¡¯re right, you need to know,¡± said Cole


    Cole rose and offered her his hand. Julia got up with his help. She stuffed the guidebook into the satchel.


    Cole said, ¡°Come with me, I¡¯ll show you the DTCA. Hold my hand, and prepare your wand with your other hand. We will do a restricted spell.¡±


    Julia gasped. She didn¡¯t want to have a bad track record.


    ¡°Relax, you¡¯re acting like it¡¯s a prohibited spell.¡±


    Julia took her wand out of the satchel that she was carrying. She held Cole¡¯s hand using her free hand. He whispered a few words that she couldn¡¯t comprehend.


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    There was music in the air that sounded like chimes. A ring of purple light appeared on the ground, circling them. The ring formed into a column of light, and Julia had to shut her eyes. She didn¡¯t know what to do and when she opened her eyes, there was a dark room, with a door open just a little bit. Cole ran across the door while holding Julia¡¯s hand. She almost tripped over the steps leading to the door, which she just noticed now.


    There lay a world with a dark sky, and thousands of white lights within bubbles. In the centre, there was a tree the size of a small mountain whose leaves kept falling and transforming into the bubbles of light. Julia looked up, and the tree never seemed to end, it surpassed the clouds. They were standing at the edge of the ground, and the tree was planted within a valley. If anyone were to fall, there would be no chance of survival. Every time Julia tried to find the base of the tree, she shuddered.


    She reached her hand out and touched a bubble of light. She saw her reflection on it. The bubble burst and a ball of hot light almost scorched her skin, so she dropped it.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, it¡¯s harmless,¡± said Cole


    ¡°I doubt that,¡± said Julia


    She almost burned her hand, and it made her trust decrease.


    All of a sudden, a black circle appeared on the ground, followed by an inner red circle.


    ¡°Let¡¯s get out of here,¡± said Cole


    He ran away from the circle. However, Julia couldn¡¯t step out of the circle fast enough. There was the sound of drums coming from afar. Julia couldn¡¯t move. She watched as Cole cast a spell.


    ¡°Neutral transfer!¡± said Cole


    The circles shattered.


    ¡°Quick, get out of here! I¡¯ll come back soon,¡± said Cole


    The broken pieces of the circles formed around Cole.


    ¡°I¡¯m not going without you,¡± said Julia


    Cole froze. A series of grey, white, black and red shadow-like people came forward from the tree and dragged Julia and stationary Cole.


    Julia thought she must do something. They got a strong grip on her arms. They were about to take her wand away. It was the time to construct a spell.


    ¡°Goodbye to the shadows that bind me, send them off to the tree.¡±


    The shadows got erased, and they let her go. She was falling, and she thought it would be the end of her.


    ¡°Broom of my spirit!¡± said Julia


    She hung onto her broom with one arm and somehow navigated out.


    ¡°Cole? Unbind Cole from the shadow realm¡­¡±


    And all of a sudden, her wand stopped having light within it. The magic sparks vanished. Julia landed on the ground.


    ¡°Oh, no! How did I lose my magic?¡± she thought


    She turned to face the tree. Cole was tied to the tree, and his eyes were closed, and he was breathing. Then, a huge crowd of shadows was coming towards her. Julia knew that if she stayed there without magic, she would be killed by the stampede. She had no choice but to run out of the world and try to leave through the door. She ran out and the door slammed itself shut and a lock appeared out of nowhere, and locked the door.


    She promised she would come back to try and save him. A purple light circled her again, and the light engulfed her until she opened her eyes, and appeared in the university world again. She kept fidgeting and walking back and forth with her arms behind her back.


    ¡°Hi Julia, what¡¯s up?¡± said Sunny


    ¡°Sunny, something¡¯s wrong! Cole is captured in the DTCA world,¡± said Julia


    Sunny covered her mouth and gasped.


    ¡°We should let the authorities know about this. And tell Silvio,¡± said Sunny


    Julia nodded. She hid her face while shedding a tear.


    ¡°Aww Julia, don¡¯t cry. Everything will be fine,¡± said Sunny


    Upon hearing this, Julia began to cry louder. Sunny gave her a hug and said she must let the authorities know. She left but she gave Julia a tissue before leaving. Julia hoped that nothing bad will happen to him.


    She dialed Silvio¡¯s number and called. She told him the whole situation while struggling to hold back her tears. Silvio said that they¡¯ll figure something out, and that there was no need to cry. Julia let out a deep sigh, and felt a knot in her throat.


    The next day, she couldn¡¯t wake up while the alarm sounded. She got up in a half-asleep state and fell asleep in class.

 17: Attempt to Rescue

    Silvio remembered how he was staring at the ceiling last night, before falling into a fragile sleep, and he woke up before feeling rested. Thoughts of how unimportant he must be to everyone were the same thoughts that woke him up. He knew he was no one¡¯s priority, and it made him want to sleep and have an endless dream. However, he was born from a dream, and he started to wonder about the truth about the dreams. It was a big waste of time, and they still had to save Cole.


    Silvio got up and stretched. The guy seemed to be a decent fellow, but Silvio doubted he would do the same for him. While it was true that he was doing this for Julia, he was unsure how she felt about either of them. Maybe it didn¡¯t matter, but it was a feeling that he couldn¡¯t brush off.


    Silvio walked into the bathroom and rinsed his toothbrush. He hated to look at his own reflection. It was always distorted in his view, with his reflection looking back with a frown, a pair of unmoving eyes, and furrowed eyebrows.


    He got ready, got his sword and license, texted Arthur and then called Julia. Her voice was still shaky, and she sneezed once. She must have cried so much that she caught a cold. All those tears were for Cole.


    He went downstairs, and found Arthur fumbling with his hands and looking left and right. Silvio told Arthur to wait so that he can go get Julia.


    Silvio went in front of her dorm building. Julia descended the steps.


    ¡°Good morning, Silvio. I got my wand charmed again. I was told not to go in front of DTCA. Oh well.¡±


    Silvio faked a laugh and said, ¡°Yeah¡±.


    The two of them walked.


    ¡°How are you, Silvio?¡± said Julia


    ¡°If I¡¯m being honest¡­ not good.¡±


    Julia looked at his face. Her eyes were kind of swollen.


    ¡°Why, what¡¯s wrong?¡± she said


    ¡°It¡¯s nothing.¡±


    Nothing important, at least. Julia was wearing a dress with a shirt, and socks. Even in this state of hers, she caught his eye. There was some sort of aura of virtuousness about her, which he wasn¡¯t sure she possessed. It made him want to know her better.


    ¡°I need a hug,¡± she said


    At once, Silvio came close and wrapped his arms around her. It was an unusual coincidence that she smelled sweet, just like a strawberry. He could feel her long hair against his arms, and the gentle warmth of her clothes and body. He let go.


    ¡°Arthur is waiting for us,¡± said Silvio


    She walked alongside Silvio. He saw Arthur was no longer in that spot. Silvio scanned the area. There were benches, bushes, and signboards from various clubs.


    ¡°Arthur, over here,¡± said Silvio


    Arthur wore his backpack, and ran towards Silvio, almost crashing into him.


    ¡°Slow down!¡± said Silvio


    Julia giggled. He gazed at her, and for a second, the liveliness in her face was back. After a few seconds, her expression displayed sickness again.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go,¡± said Silvio


    The three of them walked toward an area with a DTCA warning sign. He saw how Julia was fixated upon the sign. Arthur got his magic wand out of his bag. It was the shape of a kingfisher bird attached to a stick.


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    ¡°Deep-sunken thought chaotic aggregation, start in motion.¡±


    A few birds appeared. They circled around the trio. A circular pattern lit up on the ground which surrounded them. The orange light flowed through them as Silvio shut his eyes with little pressure.


    Silvio opened his eyes after he heard Arthur mumble something. They were in a dark room. Silvio told them to follow him. They walked into a place with bright yellow lamps, an evening sky, and various evergreen trees and shrubs.


    He watched as his two companions were surveying the place.


    Julia said, ¡°This isn¡¯t where I last saw him.¡±


    Silvio looked at Arthur who was fiddling with his magic wand.


    ¡°Doesn¡¯t matter as long as you cast the correct spell,¡± said Arthur


    The trio was silent while Arthur looked through his book.


    Silvio crossed his arms.


    ¡°Umm, let¡¯s see¡­¡±


    He waved his wand that left orange sparkles behind.


    ¡°Seeping and sinking into deep chaos¡­ let our hearts be one with our minds,¡± said Arthur


    The orange sparkles surrounded them. All of a sudden, there was a loud pop followed by a crash. Silvio checked and saw that he took no damage, and then checked the others.


    ¡°Julia? Julia?! Arthur?¡± said Silvio


    ¡°I¡¯m fine,¡± said Julia


    ¡°So am I,¡± said Arthur


    Arthur sighed. The sky was grey with clouds. The three of them were standing at the edge of the ground and the tree stood in the centre. Cole was right there in front of their eyes, tied with vines to the trunk several feet above, and had his eyes closed.


    The bubbles gave off colourful reflections as they floated towards the three of them. Cole¡¯s face showed no sign of discomfort. Instead, his face had a soft smile and he looked as if he was in a deep yet gentle sleep. His glasses were gone.


    ¡°Cole?¡± said Julia


    He opened his eyes and blinked. He turned his head towards Julia. His expression changed to widened eyes.


    ¡°J-Julia? It¡¯s dangerous here¡­ go back.¡±


    Cole closed his eyes again and fell back asleep.


    ¡°My goodness. The tree hasn¡¯t absorbed him yet,¡± said Arthur


    Silvio did nothing but stare at Cole. He couldn¡¯t help but feel that he had seen this scene somewhere before. The feeling of d¨¦j¨¤ vu couldn¡¯t be erased.


    ¡°Silvio! Just don¡¯t stand there,¡± said Arthur


    He grew holographic dragonfly wings and flew towards Cole.


    Silvio saw that Julia got a broom from somewhere.


    ¡°If I sit on your broom, it¡¯ll snap,¡± said Silvio


    ¡°Don¡¯t be silly.¡±


    She was in her strawberry witch outfit. Julia was floating six feet above the ground.


    ¡°I¡¯ve been practicing,¡± said Julia


    She lowered until Silvio sat on the broom sideways with caution. Julia struggled to fly faster.


    ¡°You¡¯re heavy,¡± said Julia


    ¡°What did I tell you?¡±


    He heard a shriek from Arthur. Silvio saw that Arthur was falling as a part of his wing cracked off.


    ¡°Arthur!¡± cried Julia


    She somehow got to land, commanded Silvio to get off, and followed Arthur until she caught him.


    The harmless bubbles were no longer there. Instead he heard a loud boom followed by a flash of light, and a series of flying bullets and arrows that pierced through the various trees as Silvio ran.


    ¡°Julia, let¡¯s get out of here,¡± said Silvio


    The three of them raced off, with Silvio running and the others flying. Silvio took one last look at Cole who had a tear stained face, and pursed lips. Something about it made Silvio feel bad. Cole must have been suffering. But he looked unscathed and healthy until now.


    The two of them rushed Arthur to the emergency.


    Silvio sat on the bench where Julia was sitting with watery eyes as she stared at the ground.


    ¡°This is all my fault¡­ I shouldn¡¯t have involved Arthur,¡± said Julia


    ¡°Yeah¡­¡±


    Julia sighed.


    ¡°I just hope he gets conscious soon,¡± said Julia


    ¡°He will, I hope. I had a similar attack happen to me once. I was up in an hour. But¡­¡± said Silvio


    ¡°But what?¡± said Julia


    She faced him. He wished he could make her stop crying. It made her look broken. Silvio wanted to hug her, and tell her that everything will be alright. But he chose not to.


    ¡°Do you wonder why we got attacked all of a sudden? Now that the core tree has attached itself to Cole¡­ I¡¯m afraid that the two of them share the same mind. If not, Cole would be fully absorbed by the core tree by now,¡± said Silvio


    ¡°What? Do you mean he meant to attack Arthur? He wouldn¡¯t do that, would he?¡±


    Silvio watched as the doctor approached them.


    ¡°I don¡¯t think he meant to, but it was he who attacked us,¡± said Silvio


    The doctor said that Arthur was fine and they could take him home.


    They took him to the back of Silvio¡¯s friend¡¯s car.


    ¡°Julia?¡± said Arthur


    Julia sat beside Arthur and Silvio sat in the front with Cliff driving.


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong? Do you need anything?¡± said Julia


    ¡°Cole whispered something weird to me before the attack started,¡± said Arthur


    ¡°What was it?¡±


    Arthur coughed for a bit.


    ¡°Give up, there are infinite copies. That¡¯s what Cole said to me.¡±


    Julia wiped her tears away and said, ¡°What could that even mean?¡±


    Silvio watched Julia in the rear-view mirror. She was so close to him at the moment, yet she felt so far away.


    Afterwards, Silvio waved goodbye to Julia and left for his room. He fell asleep at once.

 18: A Sad Birthday

    After the damage had been done, Julia thought that she won¡¯t put anyone at risk anymore. The Cole of yesterday was no more. Even though Silvio said nothing, Julia knew it was her fault.


    Julia pursed her lips together, and checked her phone. A notification popped up.


    ¡°Silvio¡¯s birthday is today! Wish him well¡­¡±


    At that moment, Julia was tired of crying, so she didn¡¯t cry again. She shut her flip phone, and clenched her fist.


    Julia recalled when Silvio told her about how he first died on his birthday, in front of his mother. She sighed and got dressed. She needed to go on a walk.


    She put on a white blouse, brown paper bag trousers, and a black sweater vest. She locked the door behind her, and went down the staircase.


    The air was cool and fresh, and the sky was bright, and free of clouds. However, to Julia it was neither hot nor cold, and she couldn¡¯t concentrate on one part of the scenery. The stones on the ground, the stale and wilted grass, and the random flyers that were all over campus, it all seemed pointless.


    Julia went in front of the campus, and was about to leave.


    ¡°Julia Blossom.¡±


    She turned and saw the chairperson of the magic department.


    ¡°I saw you with them. You¡¯ll go unpunished¡­ for now,¡± she said


    ¡°Thank you, Dr. Ice,¡± said Julia


    ¡°But that is the least of our concern. Your attempt to rescue your friend has uncovered information.¡±


    Julia blinked and saw she was no longer there. For some reason, Julia returned to campus.


    She walked inside and sat on a bench. She looked at her long nails.


    There was someone in front of her, blocking her view. He was dressed in a suit and holding a bunch of flowers. At first, she couldn¡¯t believe that it was Silvio.


    ¡°Silvio¡­¡± said Julia


    He turned and faced her with widened eyes before his face became natural again.


    ¡°Oh, it¡¯s you,¡± he said


    ¡°Yeah¡­ I¡¯m sorry,¡± said Julia


    ¡°Sorry for what?¡± said Silvio


    Julia avoided eye contact.


    ¡°For hurting Arthur.¡±


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    Silvio came closer.


    ¡°You should tell that to Arthur.¡±


    Julia nodded. She wondered what the dress up and flowers were about.


    ¡°I am going to the land of remains. Will you join me?¡± he said


    ¡°Sure.¡±


    For a second, she was going to assume something else. What a horrible mistake. It made her heart patter.


    The two of them walked alongside.


    ¡°My mother passed away not long ago, and I¡­ well, she¡­ is not young enough to be resurrected.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m so sorry to hear that,¡± said Julia


    He was almost shaking and exhaling with heavy breaths.


    They walked and Julia asked to hold his hand. His hand was warm, and hers was cold. They reached the cemetery which had a black iron gate. He let go of her hand.


    It was a long walk. On the way, they passed many buildings and pedestrians.


    The two of them entered. It was a lake with white and black swans, and ducks. There were various types of trees and flowers planted.


    ¡°I¡¯ll be back,¡± said Silvio


    He entered what seemed to be a far-off small office. It was more of a large cottage though, with a rustic brick base, and white walls, along with a tiled flat roof.


    So, she waited, and couldn¡¯t help but feel that it was unbelievable that this was where they¡¯d all end up after death.


    ¡°Julia, here,¡± said Silvio


    He came back with a small clay jar with handles. His mother¡¯s ashes must have been in it.


    ¡°I hope you are at peace¡­ I wish I could say goodbye,¡± mumbled Silvio


    Silvio was silent as Julia stood a bit far away and was quiet as well. She didn¡¯t know what to think.


    There was the sweet music of birds. A sparrow landed on a branch near Julia.


    Julia watched as Silvio¡¯s eyes followed the ashes as they sunk to the bottom of the lake. He looked like he was struggling to contain himself as he had watery eyes. Silvio turned away and wept. Julia placed her hand on his back.


    Amidst this misfortune, there was an uncanny emotion of tranquility. The lush green trees swayed in the calm and soothing wind. Julia wasn¡¯t at peace since she was choked with the restless emotion known as regret. A moth fluttered and landed among the dead leaves and they camouflaged it. A group of ducks came out of the water and waddled in a line.


    ¡°Julia, let¡¯s go back,¡± he said


    ¡°You sure?¡± said Julia


    ¡°Yes¡­¡±


    He still didn¡¯t face her. He took a tissue out of his pocket and dried his face.


    They walked back to campus in silence.


    ¡°See you in the afternoon,¡± said Julia


    ¡°Oh? Alright,¡± said Silvio


    Julia went back to her room, and got a sheet of plain paper. She then took out her phone to find a photo of Silvio. She folded the sheet in half, and proceeded to sketch him as best as she could. It was done soon, so she used coloured pencils. Then, she wrote ¡°HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU¡± using a marker. She did her best to write a heartfelt message inside with neat handwriting.


    ¡°Dear Silvio,


    You shine brighter than a star


    And you cast your radiance miles away


    HAPPY BIRTHDAY


    Julia Blossom¡±


    She took a short nap after lunch and changed into a long dress.


    She called him up.


    ¡°If it¡¯s a surprise party, I¡¯m sorry I can¡¯t,¡± said Silvio


    ¡°Well, it¡¯s not,¡± said Julia


    ¡°Oh¡­¡±


    ¡°Come and meet me at Learner¡¯s Square,¡± said Julia


    She stood at the fountain for a long time until Silvio appeared in his regular clothes and with dark circles.


    ¡°Silvio!¡± she said


    He came closer.


    ¡°What is it?¡± he said


    ¡°Happy Birthday,¡± said Julia


    She handed him the card.


    ¡°Thank you¡­ you made it yourself. I wish I could thank you properly,¡± said Silvio


    ¡°It¡¯s enough for me,¡± said Julia


    He went to the nearest bench and looked back at Julia. Both of them were quiet.


    Julia opened her mouth to speak, but only a sigh came out.


    ¡°Thanks for staying by my side,¡± he said


    He got up, gave her a head-pat and waved goodbye before leaving.


    Julia knew how horrid he must have felt, but at the same time, she felt so alone.


    Julia walked away with her head drooped.

 19: A Letter from Mr. Letter

    Julia went to her room, and began to make a note of what she needed to study. Her phone beeped.


    "We found 2 job matches for you."


    She wondered if she could balance work and study. However, there was a need for money. So, Julia checked the job advertisements.


    The first was "Night shift at Jessica''s Fast Food."


    Julia couldn''t imagine staying up for so long, for shifts throughout the months. Just thinking about it made her stretch her arms and yawn.


    The other job offer was "Magical Performance internship".


    She skimmed through the details. The timings seemed alright, and the pay was good enough. So, she clicked on "Apply Now".


    After revising her guidebook for about ten minutes, she brushed her teeth and prepared to sleep.


    Before falling asleep she mumbled, "Cole, I wonder where you are now, and how you are doing."


    She had a dream where he gave her a strawberry lip balm and said, "You lips are too chapped,"


    What was up with her and strawberries? They were somewhere between sour and sweet. She wondered if she could ever tart or sweet. For now, she was just expressionless and tasteless. She was afraid of saying anything.


    The next morning, Julia walked past a wall and thought she saw something unusual there, so she stepped back. The girl was like an image, as her presence kept flickering. This gave Julia a chill. Yet, Julia kept herself rooted to the ground and watched.


    ¡°Oh, hello,¡± she said


    ¡°Umm, hi,¡± said Julia


    ¡°Sorry, let me get out of this state,¡± she said


    Julia¡¯s right leg kept shaking and she tried to stop it.


    The girl appeared in front of her with a side curly ponytail made from her jet-black hair, icy blue eyes, and wearing a dark pink dress with organza puffed sleeves.


    ¡°Nice to meet you. Thanks for spotting me,¡± she said


    ¡°Who¡­ what are you?¡± said Julia


    She walked closer to Julia and grew a pair of small white wings.


    ¡°I¡¯m Diana¡­ a fairy friend all the way from the land of the DTCA,¡± she said


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    Upon hearing this, Julia started running away.


    Diana appeared in front of her and Julia halted, then turned.


    ¡°Stop! We aren¡¯t all evil you know. There are also fairy-type and witch-type DTCA.¡±


    Julia said, ¡°Really? I don¡¯t believe you.¡±


    The sunshine was bright and it made Diana¡¯s dress reflect glitter. For some reason, the situation made her think of Cole.


    ¡°Why are you here?¡± said Julia


    Julia itched her forehead behind her bangs. The air smelled sweet like vanilla cake. The wind made their hair flow.


    ¡°A certain warlock has sent me here,¡± said Diana


    ¡°Who? Cole?¡± said Julia


    ¡°Yes!¡±


    Julia sighed and said, ¡°I¡¯m not going to the land of DTCA again.¡±


    She didn¡¯t know what became of Cole, but she had a feeling he was alright. Going near him would aggravate him. Their classmates seemed to stop caring about him after so much time had passed. The lecturers and professors didn¡¯t even seem bothered by his absence from day one.


    ¡°Oh no, he just sent you a gift,¡± said Diana


    Julia didn¡¯t know what to do. It wasn¡¯t right to trust someone like that.


    ¡°Here,¡± said Diana


    It was a charm bracelet in a sheer fabric bag, along with a folded note. Julia took it.


    ¡°Someone¡¯s coming! Bye,¡± said Diana


    And she disappeared. Julia looked behind and saw Silvio.


    ¡°Julia!¡± said Silvio


    ¡°Y-yes?¡±


    ¡°I saw Cole today near the land of the dead,¡± he said


    The breeze was calm and soothing in the spring.


    ¡°I thought he¡¯s in the DTCA,¡± said Julia


    ¡°He¡¯s back. I don¡¯t know how.¡±


    Silvio looked like he was at a loss of words.


    ¡°Julia, I¡­ am in love with you and I don¡¯t want to lose you.¡±


    Something felt off. It made Julia more agitated. She wanted to celebrate. But instead, she was left with an unknown feeling that she couldn¡¯t shake off.


    ¡°Why do you only say that when Cole has come back? If Cole wouldn¡¯t have come back, you wouldn¡¯t have said anything! He was gone for so long, and you treated me like a stranger,¡± said Julia


    Silvio¡¯s eyes widened and he clenched his fist.


    ¡°I have nothing more to say,¡± he said


    And he left. Julia never felt so alone before. She wanted to cry. While holding her tears back, she wondered if she was too harsh.


    ¡°I guess it¡¯s over, huh?¡± thought Julia


    She went and sat on a bench. Julia opened the drawstring bag to take a look at the note.


    ¡°Dear Julia,


    Even if I could gather every word in history, I don¡¯t think any of them would be able to express my guilt, loneliness and regret.


    I will come to see you very soon. In the meantime, I leave this behind¡­ a trinket. You can add charms onto as you cross every milestone. I have already added three charms. A strawberry, to represent the start of your life. A crescent moon, to represent my rival for your love. It¡¯s there for a reason, otherwise I would have omitted it long ago. And lastly, a flower, to represent my withering heart as I try to get your attention.


    Goodbye,


    Cole Letter


    It had with a red strawberry, a silver moon, and a golden flower. Without much thought, she wore the charm bracelet and headed off to the class that would start soon. Silvio was already there, sitting in the front. Julia sat beside him while being distracted by the bracelet. Silvio kept looking at her in the middle of class. Well, no one said that Silvio had to be absent from Julia¡¯s life. She wrote her notes with care.


    At the end of class Julia told him, ¡°It¡¯s too soon for trivial matters like love, for now let¡¯s just enjoy each other¡¯s company.¡±


    ¡°If you need time, I can give you time,¡± said Silvio


    Julia''s pink hair waved in the wind and she held back smiling. It didn''t feel right to smile.

 20: Almost There

    Julia had just submitted one of her assignments. The air was chilly yet stuffy, and the sky was grey and full of clouds. She walked away from the building, and stopped in her tracks when she saw a trail of flowers. Some of these flowers were being carried by the wind towards her. Julia wondered how the wind left such a trail behind. The flowers were small sunflowers, orangey-red roses, and white jasmines. The petals floated upwards and away, until they vanished, and a person¡¯s silhouette emerged. The silhouette¡¯s image became clearer, until Cole showed himself.


    Julia came forward and gave him a hug, and he was unmoving. He looked the same as before, but his expression was blank and without any trace of emotion. His eyebrows were still, and even though his glasses contained her reflection, his eyes didn¡¯t follow her movements. His lips neither curved into a frown or a smile.


    ¡°Are you okay?¡± said Julia


    Then he hugged her.


    ¡°N-not at all.¡±


    He sighed, his voice was shaky and his breaths were short as he let go.


    ¡°Did you like the bracelet?¡± he said


    ¡°Yes, I¡¯m wearing it,¡± said Julia


    He took her hand as she showed him.


    ¡°Just as I thought, looks beautiful on you,¡± said Cole


    ¡°Thanks¡­¡±


    Something wasn¡¯t right. Her wand began to malfunction, and transformed her dress into her strawberry witch outfit. Her wand also wouldn''t stay in her hand, and it fell on the ground. She got a hold of it and put it in her satchel.


    Cole wiped his face with the back of his hand, turned around and looked at Julia from behind.


    Julia who was observing his movements thought that there was a lack of words exchanged. Before she would be satisfied with pleasant words, but now she felt like he was hiding the truth. There was no way anyone ordinary would be able to escape the DTCA with such ease.


    ¡°I have come to tell you the truth,¡± said Cole


    ¡°Go on,¡± said Julia


    Cole blinked, pressed his lips together, and placed his hand on his chin.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know if you¡¯ll believe me¡­ but there are infinite copies¡­¡±


    Infinite copies of what? The DTCA? That would be catastrophic. Or maybe it was even some sort of weapon of mass destruction.


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    ¡°Infinite copies of me.¡±


    Julia didn¡¯t know how to react to that. How was that even a problem? Even if there were so many Coles, what would be the problem? Unless there was something seriously wrong with Cole.


    ¡°You ought to know that are infinite timelines through which you and I, and mostly everyone has been travelling. One of the reasons is that we have been dreaming actively,¡± he said


    Julia stretched her arms.


    Cole took in a deep breath and let it out.


    ¡°Silvio comes in limited copies, Sunny even fewer, you come in nearly infinite copies and I am infinite.¡±


    Julia flexed her right arm and said, ¡°Okay¡­? Does this mean that you can¡¯t be killed?¡±


    Cole cracked his knuckles and said, ¡°I can be killed in every life, only to reappear in the next life. I am the error in the program. A bug, a mistake. Sure, there are other problems and errors, but I am the worst. Because I am not good enough. I could never maintain the balance. The programmer created me to serve the DTCA, but I was too curious and I wandered into the land of the IDSO.¡±


    Julia kind of understood what he was saying. She was confused nevertheless.


    ¡°There are so many other things I must tell you. But not now.¡±


    Julia held his arm and said, ¡°But why?¡±


    ¡°Telling you now would only disrupt the timeline. Long story short, whatever I did was to protect you.¡±


    Cole vanished, leaving behind an empty fist and a few plummeting petals.


    Julia thought she understood everything yet nothing at all. And she wanted to believe him but couldn¡¯t.


    It began raining after so long. The trickles turned to downpour. But it usually doesn¡¯t rain there.


    ¡°Julia!¡± she heard


    Silvio came running with an umbrella. He sheltered her with it.


    ¡°Where were you? I was so worried. The DTCA meter was going on and off like crazy.¡±


    There seemed to be something trustworthy about Silvio.


    They walked together in the rain. It was now confirmed that Cole was part of the DTCA. He couldn¡¯t be trusted.


    The rain made the earth soft and left puddles everywhere. The light from the lamp posts reflected off of Silvio¡¯s hair and bright eyes.


    She put the bracelet in her pocket. She held Silvio¡¯s hand and he grasped it. When they reached the dorm building, he let go.


    ¡°Wait,¡± she said


    He turned and stood there as his greenish eyes reflected the white light of the street lamps.


    ¡°May I?¡± said Julia, holding his face


    ¡°Go ahead,¡± said Silvio


    Julia planted a kiss on his cheek.


    Silvio grinned. He came forward and gave her a gentle kiss on her lips.


    ¡°Good night,¡± he said, waving bye


    ¡°Yeah,¡± said Julia


    She was smiling like an idiot.


    She spent most of the night daydreaming about Silvio.


    However, she was also worried about Cole. He wasn''t the same as before. He was so different. Did something happen? He should''ve told her by now. Waiting for an explanation from Cole made her unable to do anything properly. She couldn''t think right, and the only distraction was Silvio.


    Julia hoped that if Cole was bad for her, that he would be removed from her life. Julia changed her clothes. She went to bed, unable to sleep. In the meantime, Silvio sent her various music video links. She was listening to each of them. The last song was a piano and cello duet, and it sent her fast asleep.


    She dreamed of Silvio. She wasn''t sure what she dreamed, but she remembered seeing him.


    Julia tried her best to wake up on time. But she didn''t want to wake up from her wonderful dream.

 21: Magic Trees

    Julia was printing her final assignment for the first year, when she noticed Lindsey standing behind her, holding a stack of books. Perhaps she wanted to photocopy them.


    Upon seeing Lindsey, she stapled the papers fast, and left the room.


    She heard footsteps behind her. Julia didn¡¯t want to talk to her.


    ¡°Hey you, wait!¡± said Lindsey


    Julia stopped in her tracks and turned around.


    Lindsey had her usual grey bob and was wearing a white top with a black sweater and brown shorts.


    ¡°How come Cole didn¡¯t contact me?¡± said Lindsey


    ¡°I don¡¯t know. You ask him.¡±


    Lindsey looked back and forth between Julia¡¯s wrists. It made her uncomfortable. Then, Lindsey drew her wand, and after seeing this, Julia did this too.


    ¡°Turn you into your true self! The truth awakens the hidden curse within the wilderness!¡± said Lindsey


    The magic sparks sped up to Julia.


    ¡°Transient shield¡­¡±


    Before Julia could finish the spell, the world around her changed. The buildings got erased one by one. Her assignment disappeared too. Julia clutched onto her wand and told herself she mustn¡¯t be a coward.


    The land turned to lush grass that was reminiscent of the meadow. Plants sprouted and turned to trees within seconds. The first tree had vines that wrapped around books. The second grew a ladder made of vines which led up to the clouds. The third tree was a short tree which grew several wooden instruments, like a violin, a harp and a guitar. The wind was so strong that it began to shake the trees with brute force.


    Julia casted a spell, ¡°Transient shield to protect the trees.¡±


    A glasshouse kind of like a greenhouse encased the three trees. Julia knew they were no ordinary trees, so she must do something.


    The sunshine peeked out from the clouds and the glasshouse disappeared.


    The wind was mostly gone. So, Julia summoned her broom.


    ¡°Thank you miss witch,¡± said the third tree


    Soothing music played as the instruments played by themselves.


    ¡°Thank you,¡± said the second tree


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    The music got louder and the second tree made the ladder untie itself and turned into circlets around Julia. The vines sprouted and gave life to strawberry blossoms and fruits.


    Only the acoustic guitar was playing now. A small bird sat down and pecked on the strawberry. The first tree¡¯s vines came forward, and dropped a heavy book onto Julia¡¯s hands. The bird flew away.


    ¡°Thank you for your kindness,¡± they said in unison


    Julia opened the book and found a tree charm in it. Julia took the bracelet out of her pocket and attached to the bracelet and then wore it.


    ¡°Goodbye,¡± said Julia


    She stepped out of the circle. All of the instruments played together.


    ¡°Don¡¯t leave without a snack,¡± said the second tree


    Julia plucked a strawberry and said, ¡°With the wondrous world¡¯s help, I create.¡±


    The magic sparks flew and turned the strawberry into strawberry shortcake.


    Julia took a bite and it was the perfect ratio of tart and sweet with light whipped cream.


    ¡°Thank you, I hope to see you again,¡± said Julia


    The trees bowed and were upright again.


    Julia wandered for about an hour. Being unable to take it anymore, she sat under a tree and tried every spell she knew. Nothing worked.


    As she laid down, and tossed around, her charm bracelet was jingling. She wondered if the damn bracelet could do anything at all.


    It was dawn, and Julia woke up. She had aches all over, especially around her shoulders. It was difficult to turn her head.


    She got up after several attempts, and then found that the path was filled with flowers.


    So, Julia followed the delicate blossoms. They were of three different colors, peach, red, and orange.


    It would be peaceful, if she wasn''t trapped in it.


    Soon, she came across a series of floating bubbles. She shuddered as one of the bubbles touched her skin. However, nothing happened.


    The core tree had no one tied to it. Julia gasped, and hoped that Cole was around somewhere. What if it had swallowed Cole?


    "Cole..?" muttered Julia


    She heard footsteps behind her and was afraid to look back.


    "What are you doing here? Did you come to fetch me?" said a voice


    The voice sounded so familiar. So, she turned around.


    He looked fresh and the same as before, only he was donned in new clothes and a hat. He held a bunch of flowers.


    "What happened, Cole? I thought you were out of here already," said Julia


    Cole shrugged his shoulders and came closer.


    "I have a lot of explaining to do. But first, let''s get out of here," said Cole


    Julia said nothing and stood in one spot. Something felt off.


    He dropped the flowers on the ground.


    "Your hand, please."


    Julia gave him her hand even though she didn''t know what would happen next. His hand was the same temperature and was much larger than hers.


    "Don''t let go," he said


    Cole closed his eyes. A cold wind came and blew Cole''s hat away.


    "Take me far away, to where she belongs. Set me free, and let me breathe," said Cole


    A sweet fragrance engulfed the air. A cluster of dead blossoms circled them, until she felt like she was being carried away by the wind. She felt like she was floating. She couldn''t see much, other than Cole and the flowers. She closed her eyes.


    The scent was gone, and she heard birds chirping.


    "Open your eyes, and you may let go," said Cole


    She saw the building of their university.


    "Julia! Why?" said Silvio


    "What?" said Julia


    She turned around and saw Silvio. His fierce green eyes weren''t prominent when all of his facial muscles were tense. Julia wanted to explain. However, Silvio had not yet made their relationship official. So, it was a mess.


    "Lindsey trapped me in the DTCA world and so Cole brought me here."


    Silvio''s breaths were so loud that she could hear them.


    "I see." said Silvio


    He walked away.


    "Wait! I''ll explain," said Cole


    He ran after him.

 22: Family

    Cole figured that Silvio was fast, but he didn¡¯t know he was this fast.


    ¡°Silvio, slow down!¡± said Cole.


    Silvio stood still but didn¡¯t turn around. The campus building was gleaming, and had no dust but the cleaners continued to clean every corner while hanging onto rope ladders. A guy was playing the ukulele by himself in a corner of the field. It was a cheerful and high-pitched melody. At this point, Cole caught up to Silvio, and was close enough to smell his cologne. Cole wondered if he should start wearing cologne too. The students chattered across the field. Cole gripped onto his soft leather satchel strap to prevent it from sliding away.


    ¡°What¡¯s up? Why¡¯d you get so mad? You are aware that some spells require holding hands, right? I didn¡¯t know you¡¯d get so jealous just because of this,¡± said Cole.


    Silvio turned to face Cole.


    ¡°I don¡¯t want you in my life,¡± he said.


    ¡°Ouch¡­ why can¡¯t we be friends? I know that we¡¯re two men trying to impress the same woman, but that doesn¡¯t mean we can¡¯t be friends.¡±


    Silvio grabbed Cole by the collar. Cole didn¡¯t want to fight. He breathed heavily. Either that, or he¡¯d have to run away.


    ¡°You¡¯re weird,¡± said Silvio.


    ¡°Okay, I already know that,¡± said Cole


    He let Cole go. The two of them were at the same eye level.


    ¡°How can I be friends with a member of the DTCA? Moreover, you¡¯re trying to drag Julia into this.¡±


    A sharp breeze flowed between them.


    ¡°I was against it. She was the one who wanted to go,¡± said Cole.


    ¡°Fair enough. But I can¡¯t trust you. Why are you so hellbent on befriending me?¡± said Silvio.


    ¡°I am just trying to set everything right.¡±


    Cole walked away with swift steps. He reached a faraway spot, and disappeared into the fog and flowers.


    He was back in the land of the DTCA. He took a pebble, and tossed it straight at the core tree.


    ¡°Why did I have to be a part of the DTCA? Damn it. No one even gave me a choice.¡± he thought.


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    The core tree sent the pebble back at him, and it hit his shoulder.


    ¡°Ouch.¡±


    Fifteen minutes passed, but his shoulder still hurt.


    As he walked deeper into the forest, he felt alone. The fairies, zombies, and what-not only became active upon summoning. He spent all of his childhood summoning them because he felt so lonely.


    One sentence always reverberated in his mind.


    ¡°I was lonely, I am lonely, and I will be lonely for infinity.¡±


    Cole sat down on a tree stump. It was once home to many fairies, but now those defenders destroyed their home and source of magical power.


    He went to the secret place which he could only visit once a year. It was a grave, a memorial and a promise for wishes to be granted in exchange for the misfortune. He dragged the vines away, until he reached the wishing pond. The water was murky and green. There were no boats unlike in the past.


    Cole remembered how he once dropped a coin, and wished to leave the DTCA land, even if it was temporary. One of the monsters, Lindsey, dreamed of the two of them before she died. The DTCA monsters all had the same fate. They all died one to three days upon activation.


    He grabbed a coin out of his pocket, and clenched onto it. For years, he had wished for no more loneliness, and it would always backfire. He did, however, feel less lonely. He was about to drop the coin, but stopped himself. The surroundings smelled stale.


    Cole contemplated on the wish. What if Silvio loved her more? Even more than Cole did? In that case, it would be unfair. But he also needed to know Julia¡¯s feelings.


    The water spoke.


    ¡°What are you waiting for?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know what I should wish for,¡± said Cole.


    ¡°Are you sure?¡± said the water god.


    ¡°Well, I have some people in my life now. Even though they give me nothing but pain.¡±


    ¡°People always cause pain, my dear son,¡± said the water god


    ¡°How dare you call me son?! After all you did to my parents.¡±


    Cole¡¯s head was hurting as he gritted his teeth and stepped backwards.


    The water god formed the shape of a man. He didn¡¯t see his form since the last ten years.


    ¡°Slip of tongue, but it¡¯s the truth.¡±


    ¡°Wait, what the¡­¡± said Cole.


    The water god narrated his story.


    ¡°You see, I am not a god. Your mother was in love with someone else while the two of us were still together. Shortly after giving birth to you, she vanished one night along with you. I thought the two of you had gotten kidnapped! I searched the whole DTCA land when it was known as the main land. When I found the truth, your crooked mother trapped me in this body of water. However, she left all the power with me. She wanted all three of you to get the powers, so that¡¯s why you were on the boat too. So, I drowned them. I still don¡¯t know whose son you are. But I knew it wasn¡¯t your fault. I spared you.¡±


    Cole took another pebble and threw it at the man¡¯s water form, but it passed through.


    ¡°Then what about the thing about meeting once a year?¡± said Cole.


    ¡°I felt guilty. Being trapped in the water, I had no way to raise an innocent child soon after I killed his greedy parents.¡±


    Cole struggled not to cry. He whimpered until he felt a hand on his back. Cole gasped, and tripped but didn¡¯t fall.


    ¡°Relax. It¡¯s just me,¡± said Silvio.


    ¡°What? You followed me here?¡± said Cole.


    Silvio continued to pat him on the back.


    ¡°Who is he, Cole? Your friend?¡± said the water spirit


    ¡°Well¡­¡± said Cole.


    ¡°Yes,¡± said Silvio.


    ¡°So your wish came true after all. You¡¯re not lonely anymore. What if I¡¯m an actual god?¡±


    Cole looked at Silvio, who smiled at him. He urged Cole to say goodbye to his dad while they left, which he did. Even though he didn¡¯t want to.

 23: First Practical Exam

    It was seven a.m. when Julia woke up to revise her spells for the first practical exam. She and Cole had been revising practical spells since the last three days. She took a quick shower, and got ready. She carried her guidebook and revised as she bumped into Arthur.


    ¡°Please look where you¡¯re going, Miss Witch,¡± said Arthur.


    ¡°Oh¡­ I¡¯m sorry Arthur.¡±


    He said nothing and walked away.


    ¡°Wait, Arthur. I¡¯m also sorry for everything else, for dragging you where I shouldn¡¯t have,¡± said Julia.


    Arthur turned to face her.


    ¡°I¡¯ve been waiting for this for a long time now. Well, good luck for your exams,¡± said Arthur.


    At that moment, Julia wondered if he forgave her or not. Her bracelet made a ting sound, and a silver dove charm appeared on it. She assumed it meant peace.


    After walking for about fifteen minutes, she saw a huge shadow on the ground. She looked up as she felt a soft and cool breeze. It was Cole on his broom, dashing across with his eyes glued to his guidebook.


    ¡°Watch out!¡± said Julia.


    He was about to crash into the building, when the turned the broom with a smooth curve, and had a soundless landing, all while his eyes were fixed upon the book.


    ¡°Good morning Julia,¡± said Cole.


    He was still reading as he hugged Julia.


    ¡°How do you do that?¡± asked Julia.


    ¡°Do what?¡± asked Cole.


    He flipped a page.


    ¡°Never mind. Good luck for your exam.¡±


    ¡°You too, Julia,¡± said Cole.


    Julia impulsively checked her satchel for the wand. It was there. She walked inside and searched for her seat, and sat on the assigned seat with her ID, name and random number.


    There, she checked for her wand once again. She breathed a sigh of relief.


    The exam would start in five minutes. Lindsey came running, and panted as she sat down. She sat in the only remaining seat. Julia¡¯s right hand was shaking. She was number 35, and Cole was too far away for her to discern his number. Lindsey was number 1.


    ¡°Okay, Witches and Warlocks, we will commence the solo test first, and then the relay test. Please only bring your wand with you. Number 1, please go the next room,¡± said the examiner.


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    Lindsey went with her plain golden wand.


    After about five minutes of talking, Lindsey came back. Everyone bombarded her with questions. But all she said was, ¡°It was good.¡±


    Julia waited for quite some time.


    ¡°Number 24, please come forward.¡±


    Cole left his guidebook behind, and took his wand.


    He came back, sighed and settled onto his seat.


    ¡°What a horrible exam. The question was so weird. They asked me to build a freaking bridge!¡± said Cole.


    Julia heard this, and didn¡¯t know what he meant. She trembled.


    ¡°Calm down, Julia,¡± said a classmate.


    At last the time came.


    ¡°Number 35.¡±


    ¡°Oh, that¡¯s me,¡± said Julia.


    She removed her bracelet in case it was charmed. She took her wand with her and entered the room where she found Mr. Penn.


    ¡°Now Julia, make a set of stairs. Make a set of stairs. It can be as grand or as bland as you wish,¡± said Mr. Penn.


    Julia nodded. She fiddled with her wand, which was trailing behind sparkles at the moment.


    ¡°Let me dance my way on a stairway to my heart,¡± said Julia.


    ¡°Spell modification,¡± mumbled Mr. Penn.


    His mumbles made her wonder if she was doing it right or wrong. Well, there was no turning back now.


    A reflective floor replaced the floor of the exam room. She thought that she should¡¯ve created a staircase, not a floor. She had no control over her magic¡­


    A marble set of stairs rose step by step. Alongside that, there was an iron railing. As she ascended, the steps were covered with a red strawberry printed carpet. Vines with strawberries wrapped and grew along the railings. She continued climbing, often skipping steps. At the top, she didn¡¯t see a heart. What she was a cluster of dead plants, and even a transparent person. The two girls stared at each other.


    ¡°Come back before the spell is done,¡± said Mr. Penn.


    So, she descended as fast as she could.


    ¡°A light-type witch with a dark-type heart¡­ Thank you, you may leave.¡±


    Julia drooped her head down as she re-entered the room. She kept the wand inside the satchel, and wore the charm bracelet once again.


    ¡°Julia, how was it?¡± said Cole, from a distance.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡±


    ¡°Same,¡± said Cole.


    The rest of the solo exams took place. Meanwhile, Julia placed her head on her desk, and fell asleep. She dreamed of coming near the scoreboard, and finding her name at the bottom of the list. She didn¡¯t know what to do.


    ¡°Excuse me, wake up¡­ Someone please wake her up.¡±


    ¡°Julia! Wake up, you¡¯re dreaming,¡± said Cole.


    ¡°Huh?¡± said Julia.


    She woke up, and her eyes met Cole¡¯s. He burst out laughing, along with everyone else except for the examiner. The examiner faked a cough, and told Cole to return to his spot.


    Mr. Penn came and began writing topics on the whiteboard.


    Group 1: Series of animated objects.


    Group 2: Series of still images.


    He then wrote that 1-20 were in group 1, and 20-40 were in group 2.


    They split themselves according to the numbers, and went to the next room. Julia read the door label as ¡°Imagination Zone¡±.


    Mr. Penn explained the rules.


    After that, Group 1 came forward. Half of them were supposed to transform inanimate objects, and the other half were supposed to animate them. The first person would turn the object into something new, and the next person would animate it. Then another person would catch it, and turn it into something new once again. The idea was that the object would turn back to its original form once it got to the last person. Lindsey came forward and grabbed a sphere out of the box.


    Julia watched with patience.


    Lindsey turned the sphere into a lollipop, and then the next person turned it into a birthday card. It continued like this until the last person said that he didn¡¯t remember what the object was supposed to be. The spell chain broke.


    ¡°You get 6/10.¡±


    Lindsey dropped her wand and yelled out.


    It was Julia¡¯s turn. Cole was first. He made a simple stick figure on a piece of paper. The next girl turned it into a cartoon figure of a girl. Julia added walls. It continued like this until the last person turned it into a stick figure again with an amateur-looking background.


    ¡°9.5/10.¡±

 24: Result

    Julia didn¡¯t sleep the whole night, she¡¯d sometimes wake up and listen to music with headphones. It was the playlist that Silvio made for her. The music was instrumental, with acoustic guitar and beats. The bracelet made her arm itch because she was wearing it for so long. In her half-awake state, she took the bracelet off of her arm, and placed it on the bedside table.


    She had a nightlight which was the shape of a heart. Julia won it via a giveaway not long ago. She couldn¡¯t believe that the last exam was over, and that the result would be published the next morning.


    Julia awoke with a headache. She brushed her teeth and freshened up. Then she changed into a shirt, a jumper, and trousers. The morning air was fresh but chilly. She took her satchel. Julia dragged her feet towards the cafeteria and ordered a coffee.


    As she sipped on the hot and bitter coffee, she rubbed her eyes and yawned. There was almost no one else in the cafeteria.


    She walked towards the result board. It was so crowded that Julia couldn¡¯t even see the board, only people. They were chattering among themselves. There were some people who had bright smiles, others had teary or blank faces.


    Cole returned from looking at the board. He shuffled his feet.


    ¡°What did you get?¡± asked Julia.


    He turned his head towards her and said, ¡°I did good, but¡­¡±


    Cole shook his head. He turned but didn¡¯t leave. Instead, he was frozen in place.


    ¡°Something wrong?¡± said Julia.


    ¡°I will tell you later.¡±


    Julia squeezed through the crowd. She found the board for witchcraft. She was no. 17 out of 60 students of her batch. Her score was around 85%. Julia sighed in relief. Cole was there at no. 2. She wondered how he did so good. At no. 1, there was someone named Whitney. Well, she never heard of anyone of that name.


    She then shifted her gaze towards the Defense and the Art boards.


    Sunshine got a total of 60% overall. And Silvio got a total of 89%, and secured 3<sup>rd</sup> place. Neither of them was around, so Julia thought of going back to her room.


    Her phone rang.


    ¡°Hello?¡± said Julia.


    ¡°It¡¯s me, Silvio.¡±


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    ¡°Yeah, I know. I have your number saved.¡±


    ¡°Come meet me at the cafeteria,¡± said Silvio.


    Julia cut the call and went to the cafeteria. It was full of students now.


    ¡°Julia.¡±


    She found him there, wearing a sweater vest, and a shirt with grey trousers.


    ¡°How did you do?¡± said Silvio.


    ¡°I got eighty-five percent. That leads me to rank 17.¡±


    ¡°Hey, that¡¯s pretty good,¡± said Silvio.


    ¡°Congratulations. You got third place.¡±


    ¡°Thanks. I saw that Cole got second place. He sure does know a lot. Nerd.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re just jealous,¡± said Julia.


    ¡°True,¡± said Silvio.


    Julia got up and ordered French toast and water. Silvio got up and did the same.


    The two of them began eating. Julia observed Silvio as he ate. He relished every morsel of the toast. He dipped the toast into the side of honey. He closed his eyes as he ate it.


    ¡°You know, this tastes almost the same as my mom¡¯s toast,¡± he said.


    Julia started to eat her toast. She was struggling to cut it into bite-size pieces. She lifted her head and saw Silvio smiling at her. She smiled back.


    She saw Cole in the corner of the room. He sat down a table away from them. She was sure he saw them, but he still chose not to sit with them.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go for a walk or a run,¡± said Silvio.


    Julia nodded.


    ¡°Wait,¡± said Cole.


    He stood behind Silvio.


    ¡°Oh, it¡¯s you,¡± said Silvio.


    ¡°Forgive me for all I have done, I fear that I will soon leave,¡± said Cole.


    Silvio faced Cole.


    ¡°Stop being so overdramatic,¡± said Silvio.


    Cole¡¯s expression grew dark, and he flinched.


    ¡°Cole, I¡¯m sorry,¡± said Silvio.


    As soon as he said that, Cole turned away.


    ¡°Goodbye to you. And goodbye Julia, we may never meet again,¡± said Cole.


    ¡°What the hell, Cole?¡± said Julia.


    He walked away. Silvio chased after Cole, and Julia followed. She wondered why Silvio appeared to care more than Julia.


    Silvio came back.


    ¡°Julia?¡± said Silvio.


    ¡°Did you find him?¡± said Julia.


    ¡°He gave me his glasses, and a note, and ran for the hills. For a second, I was worried there¡¯d be another untimely death. But the note says something else,¡± said Silvio.


    ¡°By the time you¡¯ll find me, I will be a changed person. Cole Letter is not the person you knew. If you wish to fight me, please do so before I do something terrible. I am returning to my place of origin.¡±


    Julia took Cole¡¯s glasses and wore them. At that moment, she felt like strings were being tied to her limbs, and she began to move without her own consent.


    ¡°Take the glasses off,¡± said Julia.


    ¡°Okay.¡±


    Silvio took the spectacles away, and she felt alive again.


    ¡°My goodness, these glasses can control people!¡± said Julia.


    ¡°Wait, what?¡± said Silvio.


    Silvio observed them and said, ¡°They have the symbol of Puppet type DTCA! He must have been controlled this entire time. We gotta find him and do something. Quick, call him.¡±


    Julia nodded and dialed Cole¡¯s number and put it on the loudspeaker.


    ¡°Sorry, the number you have dialed is no longer in use.¡±


    ¡°This is bad!¡± said Silvio.


    They searched for him in his room, which was left open and with nothing inside.


    Silvio walked back and forth with his hand in his chin. In the corner of the room, there was a flower pot. There was a dying lily. Julia touched it, and it fell to the ground.


    Cole came out from under his bed and said, ¡°Looking for me?¡±


    ¡°Aren¡¯t you too old to play Hide and Seek?¡± said Julia.


    Cole dragged himself out, only to be dragged back inside by a series of hands. He had no emotion on his face.


    ¡°What have you done Cole? Sold yourself to the Puppet Master and then tried to escape?¡± said Silvio.


    ¡°I have been hiding his influence in the depths of my mind and soul,¡± said Cole.

 25: Return to the DTCA Land

    Julia and Silvio followed Cole into the meadow next to the university. They held hands in a circle as Cole chanted something indistinguishable. The sky went dark, and the clouds approached nearer. She saw that there were raindrops on the ground. A host of sparrows flew across the sky and downwards, and then circled them. Julia blacked out for a few seconds and when she opened her eyes, she was back near the core tree. It was raining there as well, but the bubbles still persisted.


    ¡°I should¡¯ve brought an umbrella,¡± said Silvio.


    ¡°Follow me to the Puppet Master¡¯s house. It¡¯s a long way,¡± said Cole.


    The rain was so cold, and Julia sneezed while shaking.


    ¡°Let¡¯s wait for the rain to end. In the meantime, let¡¯s take shelter elsewhere,¡± said Silvio.


    ¡°Okay, we¡¯ll go to my house. It¡¯s right behind the core tree,¡± said Cole.


    He recited the spell for a broom, and Julia did the same. Silvio sat behind Julia as she wondered how she would maneuver the broom with the two of them. He held onto her shoulders. Cole looked at them for a few seconds, rolled his eyes, and then they flew in the rain. It was worse because the bubbles would often pop and be an obstacle for her sight. Silvio must have noticed this, since he moved the bubbles away as she controlled the broomstick.


    ¡°We¡¯re here,¡± said Cole.


    It was a blue house that had a black roof that looked more like a witch hat without the brim. There were several orchids hanging there, and an orange tree. Julia walked inside after wiping her shoes on the welcome mat. She made the broom disappear again. Cole handed them towels and left for the kitchen.


    ¡°Where are you, Cole?¡± said Silvio.


    ¡°In the kitchen!¡±


    ¡°Why man?¡± said Silvio.


    Julia sneezed again. Cole brought three cups of coffee in a minute.


    ¡°Thank you,¡± said Julia.


    Cole said, ¡°It¡¯s time I told you.¡±


    The Puppet Master came forward and grabbed Cole by the collar, and punched him down.


    ¡°Stop! What do you want?¡± said Cole.


    ¡°I want your power,¡± said the Puppet Master.


    ¡°You wanna be a warlock?¡± said Cole.


    The Puppet Master cracked his knuckles and took off his mask.


    ¡°Don¡¯t play dumb. I finally found out who got the power from God and received infinite reincarnations. It was supposed to be me from the very beginning! Give it up or I¡¯ll kill that pink-haired girl.¡±


    Cole was a bit slow in finding the seal and the book that would remove his power if they were robbed. It had such an extensive password that even Cole had trouble remembering it. So, he captured Cole, made him his puppet, and tied him to the core tree. People feared the DTCA Land because the Puppet Master was its leader. Cole somehow escaped. The bracelet was meant to protect Julia.


    The rain had stopped.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go,¡± said Silvio.


    They travelled by broom, and this time Silvio was behind Cole so that it would ease Julia of her suffering.


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    It took almost twenty-five minutes, but they arrived in front of a wooden palace. There were large eagles as tall as Julia who were guarding the palace.


    ¡°Umm, Cole, you should have told us to come with an army,¡± said Silvio.


    ¡°Oh,¡± said Cole.


    ¡°Who are you? Reveal yourself,¡± said the guard.


    ¡°Cole Letter, keeper of the Holy Seal and the Book of the Ancients and the Future.¡±


    ¡°Do you think he has a plan?¡± said Julia.


    ¡°Isn¡¯t it obvious? No,¡± said Silvio.


    ¡°Bring forth the Puppet Master¡¯s new body,¡± said the guard.


    Julia wondered what they meant by new.


    A group of four brought a large statue which was part man, part snake, with bird wings and a mace.


    ¡°We¡¯re screwed,¡± said Julia.


    It was weird how Cole didn¡¯t even flinch. His lips were moving with no sound. The statue moved and glided along the ground with its snake body.


    ¡°So, you have come at last! Give me my seal and book,¡± said the Puppet Master.


    He swung the mace and Cole dodged it.


    ¡°Julia, the exam transformation spell!¡± said Cole.


    ¡°Still image¡­¡± said Julia.


    ¡°The other one, stupid!¡± said Cole.


    Cole was running for his life. Meanwhile, Silvio brought forward his sword, and made deep cuts into the snake part¡¯s body. He dodged the mace and the Puppet Master flew away. The Puppet Master came forward while flying. Drops of blood turned to puddles and there was a foul stench.


    ¡°Transformation into a newer form, no more flight!¡± yelled Julia.


    He lost his wings, and crashed into his own blood, leaving drops of blood on Julia and her clothes. He dropped his mace.


    ¡°There needs to be reinforcements!¡± said the guard.


    ¡°Just a wooden box, trapped you will be as you¡¯ve trapped others!¡± said Cole.


    The palace came apart, and formed a box around the Puppet Master before he could reach for the mace.


    Armoured men and women came forward. Silvio warded them off with his sword, but didn¡¯t kill any of them.


    ¡°Allegro disintegration!¡± said Cole.


    It disintegrated the enemies, but also made the box break into pieces. The Puppet Master came forward with a sluggish movement.


    ¡°Allegro Disintegrate!¡± said Julia.


    Nothing happened. Cole shouted that it doesn¡¯t work on such large objects. While Julia and Cole were trying various spells, Silvio climbed onto the Puppet Master, and sliced his head off. Julia cheered.


    ¡°Don¡¯t just stand there! Take care of the new guards,¡± said Silvio, panting.


    Alas, the guards captured them. As soon as they tried to get the seal and book from Cole, he opened the book and murmured while the page was open. Cole and his belongings vanished into petals and leaves.


    They locked Silvio and Julia up.


    ¡°Did he abandon us?¡± said Silvio.


    An hour later, a key turned in the lock as Cole appeared in front of them. He signaled Julia and she woke Silvio up.


    They snuck out of the prison.


    As soon as they were out, Cole said that he had a talk with the council of IMSO and that they were glad that he was able to free the DTCA land, and that they¡¯ll send troops to recapture if needed.


    ¡°We need to go home for vacation!¡± said Silvio.


    ¡°Yeah, let¡¯s meet during vacation,¡± said Cole.


    A zombie-type DTCA organism appeared at the end of the road. They cast one last spell and Silvio did one last strike before they could go home.


    Julia took her belongings and received a text. Julia didn¡¯t know if she had a family or not.


    She was taking the suitcase out, but then wondered where she¡¯d go.


    Someone rang the door. Julia saw through the keyhole that it was Silvio.


    ¡°Come in,¡± said Julia.


    ¡°Where are you going?¡± said Silvio.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡±


    Silvio chuckled and handed Julia a note.


    ¡°No wonder his surname is Letter,¡± said Silvio.


    ¡°What¡¯s this?¡±


    ¡°He got all of his control powers back, so he wants you to recover your full memory,¡± said Silvio.


    ¡°Okay,¡± said Julia.


    ¡°He refused to come here, but I guess that isn¡¯t a bad thing. We get some time to ourselves,¡± said Silvio.


    This made Julia wondered why he refused to come.


    ¡°Dancing in a sea of forget-me-nots are your memories, they will come back like a breeze,¡± said Julia.


    Her vision went black for a while. When she woke up, she saw Silvio¡¯s face. She remembered every moment that she had with Silvio. It was then she remembered that it was a silhouette Cole who watched Julia¡¯s soul after she fell, and then turned and left and did nothing to help her. Soon after, Patricia jumped from the cliff. There was no one to save them. She was already dead when someone dragged her body into the haunted house. The person who called Julia¡¯s name was Patricia. There was a bit of hope left in Julia, which is why she escaped and went into the cottage.


    ¡°Julia! Julia!¡±


    She was able to hear his voice again. Silvio was different after all.


    ¡°Silvio¡­¡± said Julia.


    ¡°You¡¯re awake! Let¡¯s take you to the emergency¡­¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m fine, I remember everything,¡± said Julia.


    ¡°You do? Well, let¡¯s go to the doctor anyway,¡± said Silvio.


    ¡°Patricia is my sister, I can¡¯t believe it. The one who pushed me off the cliff,¡± said Julia.


    ¡°Well, we have no control over our dreams most of the time. Maybe you¡¯ll forgive her,¡± said Silvio.

 Epilogue

    Julia decided that the time had come.


    ¡°Silvio¡­¡± said Julia.


    ¡°Yes?¡± said Silvio.


    ¡°You are like a soothing glow at midnight,¡± said Julia.


    ¡°Okay¡­?¡±


    ¡°You are my greatest support and more than a friend to me. For you, I am willing to leave everyone else behind,¡± said Julia.


    ¡°Really? I love you,¡± he said.


    ¡°I love you too,¡± said Julia.


    Julia came forward and so did Silvio. He closed his eyes as her lips touched his.


    Silvio had a grin on his face. The two of them packed up. Before heading home, Silvio texted her his contact details and address.


    Julia went in the direction of Patricia¡¯s house by bus. Cole¡¯s silhouette boarded the bus. He had no glasses on.


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    ¡°I wish you two good luck in the future,¡± said Cole.


    ¡°Thank you,¡± said Julia.


    ¡°Goodbye, we¡¯ll meet again as friends.¡±


    The house looked familiar. It had off-white walls and creepers and etched glass window.


    Julia rang the doorbell and stepped back. She sighed and shuffled her feet as she started at the ground.


    ¡°Aunt Julia, you¡¯re home! Mommy, you were right, she looks just like you,¡± said a kid, opening the door.


    Julia smiled and walked in.


    ¡°Welcome home,¡± said Patricia.


    ¡°I made this for you,¡± said the child.


    She pointed at the banner on the door scribbled in crayon.


    ¡°Welcome home, Aunt Julia.¡±


    ¡°Aww, thank you,¡± said Julia.


    It was midday when Julia was at the park. Silvio brought forth a large box in front of Julia.


    ¡°I made some chocolate covered strawberries, I have no idea how they turned out,¡± said Silvio.


    Julia laughed, thanked him, and sat on the bench. She opened the box. She plopped one in her mouth, and so did Silvio.


    Julia and Silvio came to visit Cole a few days later.


    Cole sat in front of the pond on a chair while observing the rest of the world with the screen on his new glasses. He put the glasses back in the case.


    ¡°Are you okay?¡± said his father


    ¡°I will be soon,¡± said Cole.


    He put his glasses back on and saw Sunshine had sold a painting for a large sum. Arthur was flying around chasing his younger siblings. He put the glasses back in its case.


    On the last day of summer vacation, they all went to a karaoke night together. Cole wondered if Julia knew that none of her reincarnations had been used up, so her days would continue for quite some time. Silvio, on the other hand, had already used up one of his soul copies.


    THE END