In the crowded queue of students, I stood on my tip toes anxiously in hopes of seeing the other side of the line.

The line was moving slowly, perhaps too slow for my liking. The excitement and the butterflies in my stomach were urging me to break the line and just run forward.

However, as we do with any impulsive thoughts I pushed it to the back of my mind.

Finally, after waiting for what felt like hours, the line began to move and I stood on the grass of the lawn that was in front of our school.

I tried to look at what was in front of me but unfortunately, the head of a taller student than myself blocked my path.

'I mean seriously there should be a rule that tall people are not allowed to stand in front of the short ones, like you can already see everything even if you were at the back of the line so why are you trying to rob me of the blissful joy that is seeing?'

Since I couldn't look in front of me any more thanks to a certain someone I looked around to where I was currently standing.

The school grounds were big and spacious as always and the wind was quite strong today.

As I gazed at the green grass and tall trees. Something came into focus.

I saw the headmistress of our institution talking to a group of people just in the small clearing between the trees.

'Huh,' I wondered as I squinted my eyes to try and get a better look.

Of course, squinting one's eyes doesn't mean that they suddenly get granted the vision of a hawk, so I could only make out their silhouettes.

Out of curiosity, I tried to take a better look but then.

"ugh"

A sudden pain arose in my head causing it to spin. The floor on which I was standing started to contort and it felt like the space around me grew cramped as if it was trying to swallow me whole.

The voices grew faint as my ears began to ring. I looked around in sheer panic but my eyes still landed on the direction I was looking at.

However this time the only thing visible were the trees.

My breathing grew heavy as the world around me shifted and moved, my vision hazy. I clenched my chest and tried my hold my tears that were trying to burst from my eyes when.

"Pearl Sandek!"

"ugh, haaah"

A voice called out to me. And just like that, I was back to reality, still clenching my chest and gasping for air.

I looked up and was met by a staff member, who was dressed in robes, glaring at me and yelling my name.

"Pearl Sandek is that not your name?"

Though still shaking and scared I answered.

"Um... yes."

"Well glad to know that you are capable enough to remember your own name however, you are not capable of answering when it's called out am I correct?"

"uh"

In utter confusion as to what is happening, I looked around to grasp the situation and I saw some students whispering to each other.

"ugh, what is wrong with her why isn't she moving? does she want the teachers to get mad at us?"

When I looked in front of me I saw two people with books floating in front of them standing near a glowing circle.

I instantly realized I messed up.

The person in front of me is probably one of the other people responsible for teleporting us to the destined location.

"Pearl Sandek!"

I flinched at the loud voice that pierced my ears.

"Answer!"

"uh ye.. yes.. yes sir I uh .. apologize" I said meekly.

"Haah" sighing and rubbing his temple with his fingers he pushed me forward into the circle.

"Just get in there and hold tight and if you get motion sickness..." He stopped and it looked like he had no intention of completing his sentence so I asked.

"Yes, if I get motion sickness?"

He smiled."Just bear with it."

"Huh? Bear wait what do you mean bear wit......"

Just before I could finish my sentence a huge gust of wind blew from underneath my feet forcing me to close my eyes. I felt the wind lift me off my feet and a strange yet familiar feeling wrapped around me.

When I opened my eyes I found myself in an unfamiliar environment. I looked around and the grass beneath my feet felt different it was still green but longer. There were some wild flowers growing in it.

When I looked up the scenery took my breath away.

I was standing surrounded by a big lush forest with trees so tall they could reach the heavens.

The students that came before me were scattered around the forest exploring.

Sunlight that found its way into the leaf spaces and shone on my face felt majestic.

I could hear the chirping of birds and the skittering of the fairies that flew from one leaf to another to hide from the guests who had just arrived.

In the middle of all this lay an enormous tree with its trunk spacious enough to fit a whole group of people inside. Its vast branches spread throughout the forest.

Its leaves sizable enough to be made into a hat yet transparent and clear as a lake.

The sunlight that shone through its leaves displayed different colors on the ground making the land beneath it overflow with colors. It was as if it was mocking the other trees for having the beauty only it could display.

As I was awe-struck admiring the scenery. A loud voice echoed through the forest.

"All students please make your way to the elder tree, we will begin shortly"

I followed the sound of the voice and saw a very familiar face.

It was one of my professors standing under the tree greeting the students with a smile on his face.

I joined the students as more hurried to the tree and listened as the teacher began his lecture.

"Hello everyone and thank you for joining today. I know you all must be excited about our agenda."

And just like that the students began cheering and started to applause. The teacher calmed the rowdy students down and began from where he left off.

"I know you're all very excited but please keep your voices down as I'm sure you're well aware the forest doesn't like to be disturbed and I hope we can respect that."

He gave everyone a quick glare and everyone was quick to shut their mouths up. Satisfied with himself he began to explain the purpose of our visit today.

"Now as we discussed before today you're going to be looking for your familiars, your partners who will help you in the future and stabilize you as you take on more hard and ruthless tasks. Of course, by that, I mean my upcoming classes." He said in a cheerful tone while giving us a smirk.

The students around me groaned but a small chuckle escaped my lips despite my best efforts to keep it in.

The teacher gave a quick glance in my direction, I held my breath thinking that he must have heard me but thankfully for me he quickly looked away.

"The rules are simple if you find a spirit that you like that also works with your medium and by happenstance if the spirit likes you too and accepts your request then find me or other teachers scattered around the place who will provide you with help and give further instructions."

"However" His tone changed and he looked at us again sternly.

"Please choose carefully, a familiar once chosen is a partner for a lifetime, so I would recommend you be wise and listen to your instructors."   He took a deep breath" And for the love of all that's mighty. Do Not.. I repeat 'do not' try to force ooor intimidate any spirit or creature if you don't wanna die a gruesome death."

 Hearing this all the students got shocked and murmured amongst themselves.

The professor seeing that he had sunken the fear deep into these poor children's souls smiled and gestured at us to leave by waving his hand.

And just like that, we were off.

The students formed groups and started heading deeper into the forest

I on the other hand wanted to ask the professor a few questions. But before I could even walk in his general direction, I felt a hand as it grabbed my shoulder and flung me backward.

I stumbled back and as I was about to cuss at whoever it was I was greeted by a big ominous smile.

" Cat!" I yelled in surprise. " What are you doing here?"

" Oh come on, where else would a student be if not with their class"

She said happily, still grabbing my shoulder and grinning from ear to ear.

" But I thought you wouldn't be able to make it" I replied.

" Hehehe, there is no way you thought that I was going to miss out on our first-ever familiar hunting would you"

" I wouldn't exactly call it hunting"

I said as I threw her hand off my shoulder.

I glanced back at the place where the professor was not a second ago. But unfortunately, he wasn't there anymore.

"Ugh," I groaned and shook my head in disappointment.

"Oh! why the long face pearly I thought out of all the people out there you would be the most excited about today's event"

" Well..."

I went silent, seeing this she said.

" Ahh, this wouldn't have something to do with today's glorious events right?"

I looked at her with eyes wide with shock wondering about how she could possibly know about what happened.

" Wait you heard about that?"

"Who hasn't? that's all our peers have been talking about since I got here"

"Ugh," I groaned again and started walking ahead.

" Hey!" Cat with a smile on her face followed behind me still teasing me along the way.

We ventured deeper into the forest like everyone else and were blessed by seeing many different creatures huddling about and running away from us.

There were pixies, fairies, trolls, and many others who were analyzing us as we made our way deeper but no one approached us.

We were following a small path that twisted and turned and led the way between trees and rocks the more we ventured in the more the forest around us got thicker and after a while the track that we were on disappeared leaving us stranded.

The grass was reaching our knees and the trees weren't getting any lesser.

I looked around hoping to find any other path or some space between the trees for us to rest cause at this point walking in this grass started to feel like walking in mud.

"Haaah...... Do we really have to find our familiars this way?"

Cat exclaimed.

I looked at the Cat who was pouting and couldn't help but chuckle.

"Why? Is our pirate princess having a thirst for adventure,"  I said while hitting her lightly with my elbow.

Cat who was not a fan of our current situation grumbled and frowned.

"Yes, but it's more than that," She said still pouting and crossing her arms " And that name is getting old by the way. Just because I always wanted to play as a pirate doesn't mean that that nickname can stay forever"

She turned her face away from me in a fit but all the while I couldn't stop finding her adorable.

"True, but the reason I call you that is because you would always make me the princess, which is okay," I said hesitantly "But what isn't is that you would kidnap me every time we played!"

She burst into laughter with one hand on her knees while the other holding her stomach, She was laughing so hard that I could even see the tears beginning to form in her eyes.

"Yeah, yeah all I'm hearing is that your petty, Ooh!" she said while raising her index finger and pointing it at me "Maybe I should call you the petty princess then."

I glared at her and she went silent but after a few seconds, we both burst into laughter and continued on our way whilst giggling and hitting each other.

Though it got harder to walk the more we refused to stop the scenery got more majestic.

The creatures that we saw were starting to double, and I was starting to see more exquisite species too. The trees were getting thicker and even the light wasn't able to make its way into the forest.

But just because there was no sunlight doesn't mean that it was dark, the forest had its own ecosystem that thrived in the shadows.

While walking in the grass that was getting higher and higher the more we went on. I placed one foot in front of the other when suddenly a butterfly flew from underneath the grass.

The butterfly was glowing green and the darkness around us was magnifying her glow, the butterfly elegantly flapped her wings leaving a trail of glowing dust.

Cathy rushed past me and jumped into a bush sending a bunch of butterflies flying.

I followed in her example and started running across thick patches of grass causing more butterflies to fly as I ran through each one.

Yelling and laughing in excitement we both clasped to the ground next to each other admiring the butterflies that were flying around us displaying the beauty of the night sky.

 Still laughing and gasping for air we looked at the scene in front of us. The butterflies surrounded us glowing at their grandeur fluttering about. The trees were blocking the light so the only source of light were the butterflies but the glow of the butterflies was bright enough to cast away the darkest shade with its light.

 Whilst I was trying to take it all in a butterfly grew tired from being forced to wake up from its slumber and landed on my nose to take a quick rest.

Cathy gasped and I went still trying not to make it fly away by sudden movements but since my breath was still unsteady it found its resting place uncomfortable and flew away in search of another.

We both decided to take a quick rest before making a decision and quietly lay next to each other admiring what was in front of us.

It wasn't long till all the butterflies went back to their homes and the magnificently lit up space became dark again.

Seeing that it was time and we couldn't just be lazy anymore we picked each other up from the ground and decided to head further in to see if moments like this would again transpire.

I looked as if this part of the forest was untouched.

And it could go back to being like that not long after.

Not long after we managed to find a little space with small pebbles scattered around.

I was glad that I no longer had to walk through knee-deep grass.

The area that we managed to find was small. The grass was gone, which was strange, but now instead of grass we have sand, but I was not going to complain. I would accept anything right now if it meant not being buried alive by grass, which was also getting extremely itchy at this point.

I waved my hand in defeat and sat down in the sand. Cathy however showed no sign of being worn down and was energetic and ready to go on.

"Wait .. wait. Let's haaah take a little break."

Cathy looked back and saw me sitting on the sand recollecting my breath.

"You know this is why I tell you to get out of your books and exercise," She said in a snarky manner.

"Excuse me" I replied in the same tone. "I don't know why I don't have the stamina of an idiot, but I don't have it, okay? "

Cathy scoffed but agreed to let me rest for a few minutes. She however didn't sit but kept looking around.

I breathed a sigh of relief. I looked around the place cause I was curious about the sand but there didn't seem to be anything special about it other than the fact that a literal dessert was in a forest. It was now possible to see the sun, which had been completely obscured by the trees prior to this point, and the sunlight was making the atmosphere as hot as possible.

As my thoughts were running wild a cute creature named Moss came into view. It was small barely the size of my hand, jumping on the sand.

This creature got its name from well moss cause it looks like a clump of moss but has the intelligence and functionality of an animal.

For some reason walking is replaced by jumping so they just jump around and look absolutely adorable when doing so.

Cathy still seemed to be surprised about the sudden sand and hot weather. How could she not be? Yes, where we were sitting it was hot but not a few steps away from us were trees.

But I pointed at the little moss who was bouncing away from us. We looked at each other, nodded, and began following it.

It came to realize that it was being followed and turned up his pace.

But we weren't going to give up either! Heck, we made it this far and we'll stick to it to the end.

Walking turned to running in a matter of seconds as we raced the cute moss that was trying its best to shake us off its trail.

Just as we were catching up we were stopped at what looked to be a dead end.

We were confused. I didn't understand how a dead end was even possible because it's a floating island! if we did run into a dead end we would see the ground ending not a giant wall!

The moss that we were chasing showed no hesitation and just when it looked like it was about to hit the wall he went inside it. It was as if it phased into the rock.

"Um, Cathy"

"Yes"

"I just saw a moss go into a wall right?" I said shocked.

"Gulp, Yes yes you did," She said hesitantly.

A rock wall huh of all the things I was expecting to find in this forest my familiar being one of them. A giant wall in the middle of the forest wasn't on top of my list. But I won't put it past this forest as well.

But what surprised me was that the creature went inside the wall without a hitch. Could this wall be an illusion? I began thinking, like I said I wouldn't put it past this forest.

But even before I could say or do anything someone also had a similar idea and decided to act first.

'Thud'

The noise pulled me out of my thoughts and I instinctively looked at it.

"Ugh"

"Cathy!" I yelled. "What in the mellis(world) are you doing?"

"Ouch... it hurts" she groaned.

"Of course, it hurts you idiot you freaking ran into the wall head first! what did you expect"

I ran towards her who was crouching on the ground and holding her head with both her hands.

" I thought it was an illusion Okay!" She murmured in pain.

I sat down near her and turned her head toward me.

"You of all people should be able to know if the wall was fake or not," I said whilst i monitored her condition to make sure she wasn't badly hurt.

"Well, that's the point!" She said.

"Huh?"

"I couldn't feel it it didn't seem like a wall to me"

"What?" I was confused.

How could she not be able to feel if the wall was real or not? It's her we're talking about.

"Hmmm," I went silent for a couple of minutes. "It could be that it's made of something else."

"oww yeah that could be it but if that's the case how could the little guy manage to go past it but not us"

"Yes, but we also have to understand that it was a part of the forest however we are not we are merely guest visiting for a short while."

"Yeah, so what do we do now should we head back then?" She asked.

"No, there is no way you want to give up do you?"

She smiled and hurriedly got up " Well then I guess we should start searching for a way then"

I couldn't help but smile as well.

"Hahaha well then we better start"

I stood up from where I was sitting and she followed after me. i touched the wall and it was just as it looked, it felt like stone.

" Haaah this is weird," She said rubbing her head.

She was as confused as I was. How could something that looks and feels like a rock not be a rock? And what's more surprising is that she can't feel its presence as if it doesn't exist.

I looked around and walked along the wall to see where it ended but it seemed it went on for a while. I looked up and the wall was the same height as the trees.

"Do you think if we climb the trees we can see the other side?"

"Hmm" Cathy nodded. " I'll take the trees you try to see if it ends"

I agreed.

"Hooh" Cathy took a deep breath gathered her strength and lept forwards.

As Cathy's jumped from the ground the land itself followed after, creating a pillar for her to step onto.

Though I have seen it many times I still find it captivating as the land beneath her feet rises allowing her to move as she wishes.

Cathy steadied herself on a piece of land that was following her feet and kept jumping till she landed on a tree.

She looked at me and I nodded as a form of okay and In a matter of seconds she was out of my sight.

"Ah, be careful not to mess with anything" I yelled.

But it seemed like she was already in a place where my voice could not reach. I sighed and began walking.

"This much walking is killing me" I grumbled. " I was not expecting this day to be this tiring... First this morning and now this"

I shook my head and kept walking while touching the wall as I went along.

This place was different than the forest, well I guess I shouldn't say that since this is a part of the forest. But man is this getting tiring after getting out of the forest I thought I could find some land but now I have Sand.

"This place just feels like a dessert"

I was starting to lose hope. The wall didn't show any signs of ending and there was nothing but sand no matter where I looked. When we found the wall only the path was covered in sand but it was still surrounded by trees but now I can't even see one.

"Did the forest suddenly change itself?"

Considering all that's happened that would be the most logical explanation but the problem with that conclusion is that the forest usually takes a few days to change and doesn't allow anyone inside it during that time period, but the fact that we're here means that that is not the case.

"You should really give me a break you know" I yelled in anger.

Who was I yelling at? The forest itself of course, i'm pretty sure that it's watching and listening to us. But when I yelled all I was met with was silence.

Ugh, this makes it clear that it had no intention of helping us.

"Ahh, I can't anymore"

Not being to take it anymore I sat down with my back against the wall.

I flicked my wrist and cupped my hand, the palm of my hand which was empty and dry was now filled with water. I drank the water and got rid of the thirst which was troubling me for a while now.

But while I was drinking it a few drops of water fell from my hand onto the sand near the wall. That's when I heard.

'Crack'

"Huh," I looked back and saw a crack in the wall. "Was this here before?"

I touched the wall but when I did another crack appeared under my hands. I was taken aback and withdrew my hands.

Wondering what caused the cracks to suddenly appear I looked down at the hands resting in my lap. I raised them and they were still wet.

"It can't be right?"

I had my suspicions and in order to confirm them I placed my hand on the wall again and just I expected a small crack happened.

"Aha, I was right"

I got up moved a few steps back and took a deep breath.

I placed my hand on my heart and began concentrating.

I called out and my call was received.

I cupped my hand and the hand which was empty was now overflowing with water which was dripping from my hand constantly the water falling, clumped together to form a giant ball of water in front of me.

As water kept overflowing in my hand, the water ball became wider and larger.

It wasn't long till the giant clump of water became larger than me. It looked like that was its limit. There were some droplets escaping the large body of water but were sucked back in.

"This should be enough I think, but is this gonna take a lot"

I touched the massive ball and it felt wet.

"Not surprising, I guess"

I pushed the water with all the force I could muster and it collided with the wall.

When it hit the wall it was like a water balloon hitting a hard surface and popping.

The water covered the wall making it wet, well at least that's what it looked like from where I was standing. There is no way I would have been able to cover the entire wall not since I'm sure it goes on for miles.

I waited for a while but nothing happened. Disappointed I said.

"Did I get it wrong?"

I started walking towards it when I heard the sound again.

'crack'

But this time It was louder.

"Eeek" I flinced and covered my ears."The wall it's ...... Ahgh!"

The wall cracked even more.

But this was different from before. The cracks before were babies compared to this.

The sounds were loud, loud enough to shake the entire forest and the cracks that kept appearing were getting larger and larger.

The ground under my feet roared and shook.

I tried to maintain my balance when.

'Boom'

The wall exploded causing debris to come flying at me at high speed. The effect of the explosion sent me flying and I hit the ground rolling.

My vision became hazy.

"No, not this again"

I started losing focus and the scene in front of me became blurry. My eyelids grew heavy, I slipped in and out of consciousness till finally succumbing to the warm embrace of sleep welcoming me with open arms.

The crumbling of the wall being the last thing I see before I lose consciousness.

"Zemres( ****) Go to Scollios ( hell) "