Chapter 3 Welcome to Fortune Academy
WELCOME TO FORTUNE ACADEMY
Nothingness. It’s not what I expected when stepping through a magical portal, but that’s the only way to describe the sensation of floating and emptiness as I drifted alongside the hunter.
He marched forward with purpose, seemingly unbothered by the void that closed in all around us. I opened my mouth to speak, but no words came out. It seemed that there was a “no talking” rule in the world of nothing.
This was a place of in-between. It didn’t feel like Earth, but I knew we weren’t at Fortune Academy yet either. The portal bore a tunnel to our destination and it seemed like a safe, although creepy, method of transportation.
Minus the gaping hole with glowing red fire at the bottom of it. Details.
My hunter paused in front of the chasm and frowned. He glanced at me, his eyes glowing brighter than ever with their metallic hue. I didn’t like the sweeping resolve that settled over his features.
He backed us up and crouched as he nodded towards the chasm.
No. Fuck no. We were not going to jump that—
I tried to scream, but the void swallowed up any hint of sound as the hunter launched us towards the pit. He bent his knees right at the edge and sprang with me behind him.
I knew that resisting would only increase our chances of falling into the chasm, so I put all my effort into my legs to propel with him.
It made our flight easier, to my relief, as we sailed over the roiling sea of molten lava.
I didn’t want to know what that thing was and I certainly didn’t want to fall into it and find out.
The edge of blackness welcomed us on the other side and the hunter landed first. My foot caught the rim and I went tumbling backwards, but he wasn’t going to let me fall. Strong arms hauled me into his chest and we collapsed in a heap on the other side.
We fell into the safety of the blackness and a veil swept over me with a tingling promise that everything was going to be all right.
My ears popped and the dull sounds of a living world made me let out the breath I’d been holding.
“Holy shit,” I said and rolled onto my side, finally unclenching my fingers from the hunter’s arms. I expected the cold to rush back into me when I let go of him, but I felt okay.
I thumped my head against the ground and sprawled out, not caring what I was lying on.
I stared up at a foreign sky that would have looked familiar with its sprinkling of stars if it didn’t have two moons.
“You rushed those last few lines,” I complained. “I told you they weren’t straight.”
He shrugged. “The tunnel was pretty solid minus that last obstacle, but it was kind of fun, don’t you say?”
I rolled my eyes. “Yeah, fun. Let’s go with that.” Sighing, I let my gaze sweep over the dual moons that glowed down onto us. “Where are we?”
The hunter knelt and wrapped his knife in a cloth. It pulsed with angry red flashes of light. “We’re here.”
I rolled my eyes at him. “I can see that, but where is ‘here?’”
He shrugged. “I don’t think I could answer that even if I wanted to.
” He tucked his wrapped blade into his cloak and settled onto his knees.
He watched me, his glowing eyes searching mine as his lips ticked up on the side.
“I figured bringing you to Fortune Academy would make you feel better. There’s color in your cheeks. It suits you.”
I blushed at the compliment, which made me blush even more.
I didn’t... blush. Blushing was for people who didn’t get cold like I did or have any control over their basic biological impulses, which I was usually pretty solid on.
I rubbed my fingers against my cheeks, hoping that the icy appendages would steal some of the heat, but to my surprise my fingers weren’t cold like they normally were.
Instead I felt warm all over... and I wasn’t sure I liked it.
“What’s wrong with me?”
His smirk grew into a full-out grin, making soft dimples form at his cheeks. “There’s nothing wrong with you, but I think it’s best if we get you to Kaito. I promised him that he’d get to fill you in on things.”
I shot up, which I immediately regretted as dizziness swept over me. I rubbed my temples with slow, deliberate circles. “Who’s Kaito?” I squinted one eye at him. “Actually, you never even gave me your name.”
The hunter grunted and got to his feet. He offered me his hand, the one still slightly pink with a new scar that ran completely around his wrist. “Dante.”
Of course, my hunter would have a name like Dante. “I don’t know,” I grumbled, taking his hand and allowing him to help me up. “That sounds kind of intimidating. How about Danny?”
His eyes flashed. “It’s Dante.”
With that apparently decided, he dragged me down the smooth streets that were lined with impressive gardens and even more impressive buildings.
“I bet this place looks amazing in the daytime,” I said, unable to resist the urge to marvel that I was actually in Fortune Academy.
“It looks even more amazing than the photos on the website.” There weren’t many, just enough to hint at a stunning infrastructure that would put colleges like Yale or Harvard to shame.
While prestige on Earth was built on history, architecture, and tradition, Fortune Academy was built on magic.
Each building glowed with a life of its own, emanating power that sang through my veins. It was as if I’d been suffocating all my life and this was the first time I’d had a breath of fresh air. I drew in a long gulp and sighed.
Dante chuckled and twined his fingers through mine.
Maybe that should have felt weird that we were holding hands, but I had a feeling that he didn’t want me running off.
I was still his bounty and holding hands was better than him holding me by my scruff like a mutt he’d tracked down in the streets.
Whether it was intended to be friendly or not, I decided I liked holding hands with him.
There was the faintest trickle of essence that fueled him and seeped into me through our touch.
Even if I didn’t completely understand it, I knew this had to be something to do with my supernatural powers.
The only way I was going to understand them was if I just went with it.
“Kaito said you’d feel better once I got you here.” Dante straightened as he led me to one of the shorter buildings that glowed with the same golden orange as his eyes. “As much as I hate to admit it, he’s normally right.”
I gave the building a wary glance. Minus the light from its magical aura, I couldn’t see any signs of life through its windows.
We reached the doors and they opened with a mechanical swish that sent my hair unfurling over my shoulders.
Even though I knew we were in a magical realm, it all felt oddly. .. normal.
I never liked walking around places at night.
It was too quiet, too undisturbed. I like bustle and business, which is why I felt at home at Cindy’s bar.
The pang of regret that surged through my chest surprised me.
It’s not like I owed Cindy anything. Sure, she took me in, but she’d had her own agenda and plans for me.
Never mind the fact that she’d tried to kill me. .. Jess too.
But without my memories, that bar had been the closest thing I’d had to a home. It had given me Cindy, the only person who knew what I’d been through, and Jess, the only person that I could talk about… anything with.
“Hey,” Dante said, softly bringing me back to the present. “I know this is a lot to take in, but Kaito is a lot better at this sort of thing than I am. He’ll make everything okay. That’s what he does.”
To be honest, Dante was doing a pretty good job of making me feel reassured, even though alarm bells were going off telling me that this Kaito guy was probably the person who was supposed to pay off my bounty.
For now, though, I would play along. “You sure he’s going to be here?
” I asked. “It seems like the whole place is sleeping.”
Dante tugged me along with him and I followed. “He’ll be waiting up for us. I don’t think the guy ever sleeps. He’s such a workaholic.”
I snorted at that. “And you aren’t?” I eyed the plethora of scars that disappeared under his collar. “Seems like you bring a lot of bounties in for the Academy.” I winced as I said the last bit a little too harshly. Assuming he wasn’t a moron, my tone only said one thing.
Bounties like me.
If he caught on that I didn’t trust him, he didn’t react to it.
His utter confidence in bringing me to this Kaito guy made it clear that he felt like everything was going to be okay once I met him.
I wasn’t sure what to make of that, but I also was more curious to find out than scared about what might happen to me.
If I felt like I was really in danger, then I had a trick up my sleeve even Dante wouldn’t be prepared for.
I slipped my free hand into my pocket and turned over an artifact I’d stolen from Jess.
She constantly pilfered magical charms from our supernatural guests when they were too busy ogling her breasts.
She was so full of herself that she thought I wouldn’t take one from her.
It’s not that I’d wanted to steal it, but I didn’t trust Jess with anything more powerful than a toaster oven, so when I found out that she’d swiped a conjuring charm from a warlock studying the demonspawn, I knew I had to make sure to take it from her.
She had no business being able to summon a demon from hell, and neither did I, frankly, but if I really needed to make a getaway plan then I was pretty sure summoning a real-life demon would throw any attackers off guard long enough for me to escape.
There was the minor issue about how to get back to Earth when I needed to, but I would tackle one problem at a time. For now, I was in a position of power and I’d be getting answers soon. It’s not every day someone finds a back door to Fortune Academy.