1 Dantalian

Within the calm azure winds and pearly white clouds of the first layer of the sky a tall spire pierced through the smog to rise up into the heavens. The spire was fortified by a gigantic castle and towering walls that were covered with tessellations of quartz and emeralds, reflecting the brilliant light of the sun shining from above the horizon.

Alex stood underneath the towering gates that seemed to be mountainous in scope and fit for giants, observing this new world in front of him in wonder. On the arch of the shining black granite pillars were words inscribed in a foreign language that seemed like heiroglyphics or runes of some kind. Alex couldn't understand what the words or symbols meant, but he could feel an overwhelming mixture of emotions pressuring down on him like radiation. Encouragement, wariness, hope and an overwhelming sense of duty.

A month earlier, in the crowded burroughs of the New York Bronx. Alex received a simple package from his travelling parents via the post. The letter left inside the package contained the biggest bombshell of Alex's eighteen year old life.

He had just been preparing for life in university. Fraternities, sports clubs and partying awaited him. Or so he thought, until he read this cursed letter.

"Dear Son of ours. I hope you are doing well! We learnt of your exceptional performance in the high school examinations. We know that you are eager to begin a life of independence, but there are some things you need to know about us. And about yourself..."

Alex grit his teeth in frustration as his eyes cleared and he returned from his memories to this absurd and foreign new world in front of him. Who among his friends would believe him if he told them that his parents were actually people from the first sky? Who would even believe that there was a world in the sky above the earth? People would declare him lunatics!

"Hey there kid!" An old balding man with frazzled side hair and an unkempt moustache covering his wrinkly face oddly walked over to where Alex stood in a daze. "You movin in or planning to camp out on the gate forever? Shoo!"

Alex's face turned scarlet from anger but unsure of the etiquette, he decided not to retaliate with his verbal diarrhea of abusive language. "I'm new here. Care to guide me old man?"

"Even a donkey can see that you are an ignoramus from the mortal world below." The old man snorted as a stick suddenly appeared in his hand, which he used to smash Alex's shoulder. "Head to the administration office down that way... I can't believe they let ignoramuses like this enter Dantalian these days." He mumbled to himself.

Alex solidified his intent to ignore the old man's grumblings and followed the directions until he found himself in an administrative hall. There was but a single receptionist fiddling with her monocle as a silent queue waited for their turn at registering.

Alex took the opportunity to observe the presumably fellow students. They looked eclectic in both costumes and behavior. A lot of them seemed to be discussing matters of esoteric philosophy that made little sense to Alex.

"At least they speak human here." He thought to himself. The foreign sbols he had seen on the gate had put the fear of God in his heart. Learning and conversing in a new language was the last thing he wanted to do. He once again had the severe urge to curse out loud at his parents. Everything they had taught him since childhood had been a lie.

Apparently, the so called real world was just a simple illusion. Most humans on earth lived in blissful ignorance of the supernatural world existing in a dimension above. The so called First Sky. From his parents letter, Alex surmised that there were more than a few of these skies.

Apparently stuff like magic, curses, alchemy and the like were real too. So were ghosts and bewildering ideas of that sort. The Loch Ness monster? The wayward child of a hydra that fell into the mortal world. The chupacabra? Rabble rousers from the bad side trying to have fun at the expense of unsuspecting farmers. The Bermuda triangle? Well, let's not get into more complicated stuff at the moment.

And now Alex found himself at Dantalian, this school of the esoterics at the advice of his parents. Who conveniently shielded him from this truth so that he could grow up as an ordinary person.

Alex soon found himself in front of the queue and could feel the piercing stares on his neck. He felt like he was being treated like an animal at the zoo.

"Where's your admission form, kid?" The lady at the reception adjusted her gold plated monocle and raised an eyebrow in exasperation at her monotonous job.

Alex quickly passed out a crumpled up letter. He had tried to crush the so called admission letter and throw it into the trash can a multiple number of times. Yet it seemed to have the uncanny ability of unfurling and then floating back to his study desk. The so called magic, without doubt. He wondered if his parents wee flexing on him.

The receptionist saw the crumpled admission letter, frowned and then tapped it with her finger. A delicate glow emerged from her fingertip and entered the paper, straightening it out, as good as new.

"You kids are always so irresponsible! Stop making more work for me!" She grumbled as she began to enter the details into the register using a quill.

"Don't you have computers or something?" Alex asked the receptionist. "Why do all this stuff by hand?"

"You tell the administration, boy! They are averse to mortal 'technology', even when it makes life easier for us grunts. Stupid bureaucrats!" The receptionist grumbled, but became friendlier when she realized that the boy was suddenly more likeable.

"Okay, Alex Moore, welcome to Dantalian. Hope you have a good four years here kid. See yourself out." The receptionist shooed him away.

Alex picked up the scroll the receptionist had handed him, and it glowed upon his touch. The ink surfacing out of thin air and formulating images and words for his pleasure. The scroll was like a digital tablet that seed to adjust based on his thoughts.

Right now, it showed him a map, directing him to his own personal quarters. The path ahead was empty. The students ahead of him in the registration queue hadn't loitered in the corridors, so he made his way to his own room.

The architecture of Dantalian was very rustic. It gave him the feel of a mixture of Victorian and gothic styles, yet at the same time he could see signs of minarets and gondolas. It was a mixture of different styles from all over the earth, yet all of them ancient styles. The walls seemed to have a lot of granite and black marble, which were notoriously difficult to work with. The scale of the buildings and the rustic feel made Alex feel like he was in a surreal dream.

Perhaps, coming to the first sky to explore this new world wasn't a bad idea after all.