Chapter II Continued

The next day swam by pretty quickly, and Circe found himself having to endure a lot of blocks of cheese and moldy bread. He stayed in his tiny closet the whole day playing with his imaginary thoughts and before Circe knew it, it was the night of the fifteenth and he had donned his uniform. He wore his school ring, took the handbook and exited the Brixon's door for the last time. The Brixons hadn't sought to see him and Circe honestly preferred it this way. They hadn't tried to stop him from leaving because they feared Elven would come and destroy them.

Circe stood in the cold night air, eagerly awaiting for some strange vehicle to arrive. It was times like that he wished he had a watch with him. And he didn't feel like ambling all the way back to the Brixons just to check for the time. After thirty minutes had elapsed, Circe stood deflated in the middle of an empty lot of cars freezing and feeling duped. Why had he actually believed that some fantastical bus was going to whisk him away to an imaginary school? He'd have to trudge back to the Brixons amid seas of laughter. Circe turned around and slowly walked back.

"Grawwr!" An unfamiliar guttural sound scraped the air.

Circe whipped around and saw a large scaly purple decker bus with leathery batlike wings soar down to Circe's feet and land heavily on the road, slightly bumping one of the silver parked cars.

The purple scales on the bus were variegated and there appeared to be some small spikey teeth sticking out all over the body of the monstrous vehicle. It had the stem of an eye attached to its roof like an antenna and large, dinosaur-like teeth protruding out in the front where the headlights should be. The batlike wings shuddered and rested and the antennae eye rounded on Circe.

"Step on board the monster bus, commute for the nearest student to Avalium University," the scaly monstrous vehicle growled.

The doors magically swung open and as soon as Circe stepped into it the first thing he met was a bunch of faces staring at him. They were all kids, about the same age as him sitting on bloody red chairs that faced each other. The ones who had their backs to Circe craned to have a look. They couldn't believe their eyes. Some of the kids instantly began to whisper to themselves and point at Circe as if he was some kind of slug.

"Get out!" a boy from the front called out. "Who do you think you are?"

"Eew, why did they bring him?" A young girl muttered out loud to her friends. They all squeaked with laughter.

"You're a monster!"

"You don't deserve to live!"

"Whose idea was it to bring this creature?" A handful of kids in the back jittered with laughter. One kid with a unibrow had thrown a knife at Circe, but Circe had managed to dodge it.

There were about three chandeliers that hung on the roof, so it was very easy to see the clear faces that were mocking him. Circe found a seat in the middle with two kids sitting on it. One of them he knew, by face alone, and the other not so much. He was surprised to see that it was the girl with a long chin.

"D'you mind if I sit here?" He asked. His voice was very dry and hoarse.

"Sure," said the girl with the long chin. Her dirty freckles gleamed against the chandelier light and her brunette hair fell in waves. The boy who was sitting across from her was somewhat reluctant and he looked like he was about to get up. He had fiery red hair and wore large square glasses.

"Calm down Phineas, this was the boy who saved me. He's alright," said the freckled girl.

"Right," said Phineas pausing and then sitting back down. He appeared somewhat alleviated by the freckled girl's words. He stared at Circe apologetically. "Sorry."

"I'm used to it," Circe exclaimed. He was glad that they were nice. Even though everyone in the bus hated him, it was refreshing to see some calm kind faces.

The bus belted out a mighty growl, gulping the chilly night air. It stretched its humongous batlike wings and flew into the air. Pretty soon it was gliding into the billowing clouds.

"I'm Circe Chimer, but I'm sure you've already heard about me."

"I'm Avery," said the long chinned girl, grinning. "And that's Phineas. We were just talking about how we were going to be sorted for the Avaluation. Phineas thinks he'll be a Hero."

"I am going to be Hero. It sounds like a really friendly house."

"What's your power?" Circe asked, intrigued.

"Well that's the surprise, isn't it?" Phineas said smugly, as he tried to properly fit his glasses in.

"I think I can already guess," Avery said hotly. "It's telekinesis, isn't it? Or telepathy. You look like the type."

"It surely isn't, but thanks for trying." Phineas looked a tad bit downcast afterward.

Avery leaned in close to Circe. "Why did you save me out there? You didn't have to you know. You could've just kept on walking."

"I don't know, it just felt like the right thing to do, I guess," Circe whispered. He hadn't really thought about it since he had last seen Elven. Avery smiled nervously and looked out the window.

The monster bus flew all over Massachusetts. From Salem to Plymouth, to Framingham, then to Quincy, Cambridge, Lowell, and then to Boston. A black kid with dreads had quietly joined their seats after the final wave of kids had entered. He introduced himself as Zebulon.

Two girls had passed by them. One was an Asian girl with a black mole under her eyes and the other was a girl with a thin cheeky smile and a big forehead.

"So do all the first years drive in a bus?"

"I think so," said Phineas. "My dad says that there are different types of monster buses though and that it's not really common to drive them unless you're going out in a city."

"So what do the older students use for transportation?" Circe asked.

"Carriages." Avery and Phineas said at once.

"Did you not read the student handbook?"

"Well…yeah, just not all of it." Circe however was beginning to regret not having done so.

"How are the buses made then? I know it's not in a car factory," Circe said. Zebulon wheezed.

"I don't know," Phineas said. "According to my dad, he says the Mechas created them in collaboration with the Sorcerers. Others believe they are hatched into an egg."

"That last part's weird," said Avery.

"I know."

After what felt like an hour since their arrival in Boston, the monster bus arrived at a tall, sprawling gothic-like city. The imposing midnight skyscrapers nearly touched the black heavens, the fancy luxury cars beeped impatiently on the streets and Circe saw a lot of nicely dressed people. As if they just came back from an expensive meeting.

"We must be in the heart of Avalium," Circe muttered.

"Yup," said Avery.

He had never been to this side of the city before but he had a feeling that the campus must be very close by.

"Look!" Zebulon pointed at the silvery window.

Tall black banners with the strange icon of an A swallowing a purple eye began to stretch out into the light. A bunch of tall, Victorian, and Greek-like buildings began to twinkle into view by the orange lamposts. Some of them even resembled medieval churches.

The bus continued along the winding night road until it stopped at a paved green field. A tall black banner stood in front of the bus. It haughtily read Avalium University in big bold purple letters outlined in white. In the middle of the field, there stood a spinning golden sphere. Behind it postured a large bricked building with Greek columns. The building had a white bell tower erected on the top and many glimmering windows.

"It's the Grand Pavillion," Circe heard Phineas murmur nervously. "I think we'll be taking the Avaluation in there."

The first year students poured out of the bus. After the last kid stepped off, the monster bus growled and flew away. Out of nowhere a dark purple smoke crackled in front of them and a short lanky goblin with two red eyes and multiple sprayed pimples on his face was standing hungrily on the field. He carved the same roguish grin as Golluck, but he stood a bit more crouched.

"Hello dear students," he said in a deep chainsaw voice. "My name is Ulrik Redcap and I will be your tour guide for the night. Perhaps you've already met my cousin Golluck. Welcome to Avalium University."