Fable - Ask The First Rule . . . (Elbion)

[Aiko]

It was a strange sensation to go to sleep in one place and awake in another. Aiko had fallen asleep in the comfort of her bed and awoken on a metal slab in pitch darkness. Light was thankfully easy to summon, with a simple incantation providing a ball of purple light to the room. The slab which she awoke from was revealed to be a black-gray iron, the same material as the floor, ceiling, and walls. Looking around the room was simple with no decoration and two doors at opposite sides. Quick tries on both sides revealed they were locked. Next was the forceful approach, pushing magic into the purple sphere of light and throwing it at one of the walls. The sphere bounced rather than deforming the wall as a flash of red lines went over the wall. Aiko could not make out the full inscription, but it was an elaborate rune warding the walls. It was then despair began to set in. If this room were warded there was little Aiko could do at this stage of her magical career to escape.

Creeek

The sound split through the room as one of the doors opened. In walked a upperclassman, a woman with red hair tied into a neat braid. She wore a tight crop top, shorts that stopped just below her hips, fingerless gloves and simple white shoes with blue streaks. Her nose crinkled as she looked up at Aiko.

"You're not Lissa." She said as her eyes scrunched together to examine the elf.

"I'm her roommate Aiko." The elf responded.

"Kress, somebody fethed up then." The girl responded. "Still . . . this'll work." A devilish smile went over her face. She looked the girl up and down. "Are you really going to wear that?" Aiko instinctively pulled her arms around her chest.

"This is my nightgown!" Aiko protested.

"I'll get you some other clothes." The mystery woman responded.

"I will not have my gown taken by some ruffian!" Aiko fought. The girl chuckled.

"I won't take your gown, promise. Trust me, you'll want different clothes. I'll bring some options." The girl said and left before Aiko could say anything in response. The elf paced for a few more minutes before the girl came back.

"What is going on?" Aiko asked. The girl grinned, but gave no information on her face.

"Call it a test. It was supposed to be for Lissa, but you're stuck with it now." She said, and dropped off a small wooden chest. "This has some clothes for you inside. You can put your gown in there. If you cast a grade two ward on the lock it'll personalize to your touch, and it'll be tough as a grade five ward to break. No one'll get your gown. The other door will be opened in about ten minutes. Walk through it when you're ready for your test." The girl said. Aiko gave her a scowl, but the girl was gone as soon as she came.

She had two options for clothes, one of which being the crop-top shorts combo the upperclassman had worn, the other being a similarly tight leotard. There was an option of showing her stomach or her legs. After a moment of deliberation she chose the leotard, putting her nightgown in the chest and placing the ward on lock. She could feel the additional magic brought from the lock to her spell. At least that was the truth. Aiko let out a sigh, a bit uncomfortable showing so much of her legs, but walked out the other door with her bare feet.

She was mortified to learn that she had entered an arena, surrounded by a giant spherical ward made of magical hexagonal tiles. The borders of the tiles could be seen, but the centers of the hexagonal tiles were as blurry glass. Beyond it Aiko could see students in a crowd, but nothing definitive enough to make out a face. Across her was a similarly tall young elf, with short white hair and striking eyes of purple.

Feä Mindalië

 

[Feä Mindalië]

A dagger unseen had been plunged into Feä's back, and she as yet knew it not.

In the case of Aiko and Lissa it had been an accident; with Feä, more of a "planned" accident, as it had been the very upperclassman, Rico, whom Feä (perhaps naïvely) had taken to be a spontaneous friend, who arranged for her to be taken as she slept.

A similar confusion happened, as it had been with Aiko, when the same upperclassman woman with the neat red hair came into the secret room which held Feä.

"And you're not Mariam."

"Where am I?" asked Feä, clinging clouds of sleep still at the edges of her eyes, for only had she woken less than a minute ago.

The red-haired girl sighed. "Very well," she said dramatically. "This will just have to do."

"I do not understand."

"You will. In a moment."

And as it had been with Aiko, so too did the red-haired girl explain (however vaguely) and offer the same choice of more suitable clothes for the enigmatic "test". And when the girl left, Feä begrudgingly (though she had little choice) resolved to play into this game as it had been presented. She choose for her garments the small shirt and shorts, and sealed her own nightgown in the chest given her.

Mirrored, then, on the other side of the arena as Feä emerged through her own door, was Aiko. Both elves had by misfortune and mischief found themselves in this strange and worrisome predicament. Each of them had stepped into what could only be called an arena, geometric tiles enclosing the space about them, figures obscured peering through and in.

Feä's breath stole away from her chest for a moment, and confusion abounded. But she overcame, and she said, "Ai...Aiko?" She knew her not so well, only a name heard and face seen in passing. "What happened? What is this?"

Aiko