Phantom Academy: An Education for the End of the World

[Shadell]

August 13th 2009 was an unusual day. Across the world things were happening. This in and of itself, was not unique. Things always seem to happen somewhere. Most of them were of little relevance to the fate of the world. Some were. On August 13th 2009 Astronomers all over the world were mystified to discover that all nine planets were lined up perfectly. No one had calculated this occurrence, yet rechecking prior calculations revealed that yes, this was definitely going to happen on that day. On August 13th 2009 Chicago experienced a few minor earthquakes as forces deep below the city began to move. UFO sightings reached an all time high. On August 13th 2009 13,666 tarot specialists revealed exactly the same reading, a reading that started with the tower. On August 13th 2009, 777 people dropped their toast and had it land butter side up.

Some of the strange happenings on August 13th went beyond odd and into terrifying. Five thousand coma patients, in otherwise perfect health, died unexpectedly. The United States Government found it had displaced several hundred Nuclear weapons. The country of Iran vanished off of every map for a split second, and thousands of its residents could soon be seen sitting in the streets and muttering strange things about prophets and apocalypse. The Pope, and five hundred thousand other catholics across the world dreamed of a rain of fire annihilating Rome.

On August 13th seventy thousand terminally insane patients recovered from their madness and over a million cancer patients would soon be delighted to find out that their cancer was in remission.

On August 13th 1/5 people living in areas that bordered the Gulf of Mexico had strange and terrifying dreams of the city that rose out of the ocean, and of the ancient horror lurking within.

But, as cosmically intriguing as all these events were, another, far more important event occurred on August 13th 2009. At least, far more important too several High School Students. Most other people would dismiss the event as trivial, even after the bit about the toast landing butter side down became common knowledge.

At precisely 8:45 AM in what should have been several different time zones, the Bells of St. Fantom's
Boarding Academy for Children began to ring. The old iron gates swung open for what seemed the first, and the last, time in eons. Then, in a slow trickle that gradually turned into a mildly fast river; students began to arrive.

Some knew where they were. Some thought St. Fantom's Academy was merely an elite school they had been invited to attend. Some had fallen asleep on a bus to another, infinitely more boring, school only to awaken as the bus arrived (Minus every other student) through the gates of St. Fantom's. Regardless of the method, those meant to attend arrived.

Very few students knew each other. Most thought the school was in different locations. Many didn't speak the same languages. A good deal had no clue what had happened to them. Those that wandered off into the fog that surrounded the drop off location were shocked to find themselves back where they started. Most importantly: it was the first day of the school year. Pandemonium.

Then, at 9:05 AM the last bus left Fantom's Academy's gates, and the large clock tower that seemed eerily reminiscent of Big Ben, the only building visible through the dense fog that surrounded the school's entrance chimed once more. The school's gate swung shut with an eerie finality, and the fog seemed to close in, blocking the only road leading to the school from sight.

School was in Session.

[Raleigh]

Sandra looked around her new school. She knew what it was, or at least enough to have some awareness, and therefore was very happy about what she saw. "This should help me quite a bit. Hang on dad, I'm coming for you." With that she begin to trek her way toward the school's entrance to see whether the assignments of classes or dorms was first on the list of what might be the busiest day of her new education.

[Haylie]

Amy walked stiffly through the pea soup fog with her white cane tapping rhythmically in front of her. Clean bandages covers her eyes, so she is clearly blind, cane or no. Every so often she stops, seemingly listening for something, or perhaps just frustrated, not knowing where she's going.
"An escort would've been nice. Maybe I shouldn't have left Cerie behind..."

[Shadowmaster]

Noah walked slowly into the school, taking in the sights. This place is something... he thinks to himself as he enters the building.

[Alissa of Someday]

/Carl stared into the fog with interest, and wondered briefly if it was somehow put there artificially, just to add to the mystique--real or not, the mist certainly did do that, which made for an impressive sight to see when entering the campus...
Still, he wished that it was a bit clearer--he'd been hoping to get a better glimpse of exactly what this place looked like, if he was going to be living here for the next few years...
It did no good to complain, though, he supposed. Hopefully the fog would clear up eventually--for now though, he stuck his hands in his pockets and walked forward into shrouded path to the school entrance.../

[Shadell]

As the last bell finished tolling, and the school's gates shut themselves, a man calmly stepped out of the fog.

He was older, perhaps in his mid forties; yet, his eyes had a sprightly twinkle that made him seem younger. His charismatic face bore the lines of smiling too often. and his neatly brushed black hair and immaculately trimmed goatee certainly gave him a handsome respectable cast. He seemed formal; but warm, respectable but friendly. His black suit complete with its simple blue tie only added to the effect.

Of more importance was that his face would be easily recognizable to many students, at least those who watched stage magicians or psychics on TV. The man was both, a rather famous magician and psychic who dabbled in most forms of hoax's. From speaking with the ghosts of the dead to card tricks, the man did everything.

"Hello." He called out in the charismatic voice of one used to speaking on stage. "I apologize for all the confusion; but everything will be explained if you just follow me." The man certainly seemed to have a gift for speaking. "I am," Indeed, there was no doubt about it, this man was, "Richard Meyners: Your Vice Principle."

That said, he gestured for the students to follow him and began to walk back off into the fog.

A startled gasp rose up from the crowd. Many that didn't recognize his face knew his name. Soon many began to follow their vice principle, confused into a rough semblance of order by the man's relatively large star power and the large minority of students that didn't know of the man were dragged along by their peers.

[Raleigh]

Hm.. I thought he was only a charlatan. Then again dad did always say that plain sight was the best hiding place. She follows along with the group to see what will be arranged today. She only hopped that she either didn't get a room mate or if she did that they would be easy to get along with.

[Mistress Guendolen]

Another figure listened to all this quietly. Yes, she had heard of the legendary figure; everyone had. She too had assumed he was a story. Granted, all of this felt like a story; it would be perfectly at home in a fantasy novel.
Except for me. Chione sighed a bit as she walked inside. Part of her wondered just what it was she was doing here.... She had not displayed any sort of definite magical ability. Okay, so some sort of testing had indicated that she showed "strong elemental magic capability." But what did that mean? Shouldn't she have had some inkling of her talents right now, if she had any?
Tugging her suitcases behind her, the girl made her way inside the building. Hopefully whatever abilities she possessed would make themselves known soon. Otherwise, being here would all be for naught.... I'll just have to work hard. Maybe it is like a story.... You start out with nothing and build up higher as you go. It would be nice to know where to begin, though.

[Shadowmaster]

He's the Vice Principal, eh? This just keeps getting more interesting. Noah thinks as he follows the man.

[Haylie]

Amy had nothing to do beyond follow the sounds of the crowd and hope she didn't fall off of a cliff or something.
"Definitely should've brought Cerie... I never did like using the cane... Ah!"

Before she can finish muttering to herself, she manages to trip on the feet of another student (whether NPC or not is questionable), causing both her, her victim, and several others to fall with her. She cursed under her breath, searching for her cane with a blind hand.

[Alissa of Someday]

/Looking at Meyners, a slight frown formed on Carl's face--He hadn't grown up in the biggest of cities, it was true, but he'd hear of the man, as had most people.
More importantly, he'd heard that the man was a con artist, to put it bluntly. A TV con artist, of course--that's the kind that made the money, the more outrageous the claims the better...And while he held no doubt in his mind that the man was intelligent...his faith in the stories that he had heard of this place had suddenly dropped.
Was this thing an elaborate hoax to lure students in, wallet first? Or the set-up for a reality TV show?
Carl hoped not in both cases, but he'd come this far already, so it seemed he was going to find out...He'd just have to hope for the best, it seemed, at least for now.
Sighing, Carl let himself be pulled in with the flow of students.../

[Shadell]

The rather unfortunate girl Amy spun frantically as she desperately tried to regain her balance. Alas it was a doomed cause and the girl collapsed comically next to Amy a few seconds later. Slowly she pulled herself to her feet, brushed a few strands of her curly red hair out of her face and glared at Amy through emerald eyes.

"Watch where you're going!" She snapped rudely. Then she took a second to glance at Amy more deeply. "Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't realize...." she trailed off, obviously embarrassed by her faux pas. Blushing brightly, she quickly offered Amy a hand up.

"Are you all right?" she asked, afraid to make eye-contact.

[Haylie]

Amy turns her head toward the girl, revealing the white (and now slightly dusty) bandages around her eyes. She continues searching vainly for her cane. Had she been able to see it, she clearly would have taken her hand.
"No, it's entirely my fault. I should be more careful where I step. I'm sorry, I'll be more careful, I promise."

[Shadell]

The girl smiled nervously as she handed Amy back her cane. "No. It's all right. I'm sure it was my fault. I'm Morgan." That said she grabbed Amy's arm and pulled the angel to her feet.

---

Richard Meyners led the soon to be students through the fog. Gradually a large building loomed out of the dismal gray. The building was grand: constructed out of what seemed to be a single titanic block of solid white marble, it resembled nothing so much as a Greek Acropolis. 13 Majestic pillars rose to support the ceiling on each of the building's four sides. A series of perfect steps led up to the main building, where a neat rectangle had been cut out of the otherwise solid marble to allow for people to enter.

Standing next to the building, the old woman was barely noticeable in the least. Short with graying hair and a face covered in wrinkles. Her clothing was professional, but nothing about it really stood out. Then she spoke, her voice wasn't raised to a shout, yet everyone present could hear her quite clearly.

"Hello. I am Ms. St. Fantom. I will be the headmistress for your stay at our academy. Now, I'm sure you have a great deal of questions to ask, and I'll be delighted to answer them shortly. Forgive me for not calling on everyone; but, I'm sure I know what most of them are and it will be far easier to just do the business this way and see if I missed anything." The woman paused momentarily, there seemed to be a mischievous twinkle in her eyes.

"Firstly, I would like to apologize to all of you that don't know where or why you're here. I can assure you that your parents won't even notice you're gone." That statement wasn't really all that helpful or conciliatory for the majority of those who didn't know where they were, much less why.

"As to where we are; this is St. Fantom's academy. As of today, it is the largest single institution for the instruction of magic in this world. You students will spend the next four years learning to use and manage whatever gifts you have. Or else.

To those of you who don't believe in magic: You're wrong, it exists, and it that most likely won't change whether you believe in it or not, though there may be a few exceptions. Deal with it.

To those of you who don't think you have any magic, which I presume also includes those who don't believe in magic: I have some wonderful news. You all have considerable potential for the manipulation of ether. Exactly what you can do is unknown, but you'll probably find out eventually.

Lastly, to all of those who think I'm an old loon..." Mrs. St. Fantom stopped speaking for a moment.

Immediately it happened. It wasn't the kind of thing that could really be described or explained. It certainly wasn't any effect of sight, sound, touch, taste, or smell. Rather, it was something that came from the same little part of the brain that makes people know when they're being watched, that helps people spot . It came from the same part of the brain that sent out those little signals that people don't always notice and often dismiss. Instinct; that was it. Every single student's instincts started screaming at them infinitely more noticeably then could ever be imagined.

For a split second the little old lady was suddenly far more terrifying, important, and awe inspiring than the building behind her. She was suddenly massive. Every student was filled with the inescapable dread a mouse faces when it realizes that the tiger in front of it could easily tear it limb from limb without having to go to much effort. Then, as abruptly as it came, the sensation was gone. Mrs. St. Fantom was once again a simple woman.

A few students fell down in shock. Many others were trembling. Very few were composed. Those from normal backgrounds where, quite expectedly, the most terrified.

"Now that we all agree magic exists, and understand why we're here; Any questions?"

[Mistress Guendolen]

Right now, Chione was wondering one thing and one thing only.... What do I have to do to never be alone with that woman? Just for that fleeting second, it had felt like... oh, she couldn't even begin to describe it. Even a life steeped in fantasy fiction hadn't prepared her for such a sight....
Though she wasn't as frantic as though around her, she realized. Yes, she had broken out in a cold sweat; her pulse had raised, breath quickening. But as the display ended... so did the feelings, except for a lingering sensation of being distinctly rattled and disinclined to try to speak in any way, shape or form. People around her were all but having panic attacks.... Perhaps breathing in all those adventures had done her some good after all.
Especially seeing as how this really was, more and more, like a story. Yes, the key characters end up in a new environment, make on initial discovery, and then get set on a road to develop themselves and subsequently impact the world.... One hand wandered into her backpack, pulling out her favorite stuffed dragon, a bright blue creature she'd had for years, named Morris. She hugged it to herself almost instinctively. Yes. Yes, I can do this.... Now she just needed to figure out what she was capable of... somehow.