A World Unknown
Chapter Thirteen
The Wissenbark Tree

Gage's interrogation continued for what felt like two hours more. We all left feeling a mixed range of anger, tiredness, and frustration. I don't think I'd be wrong to have believed that everyone there would have rather preferred Hayden to have done the questioning.

"He's so entitled!" Vlad huffed out as we walked with Lukas back to the Ians dormitory. Amber and Antonio however, had gone in the opposite direction in order to get to their own dormitory.

Lukas, though he looked as if he wanted to agree, bit his tongue, "Noir has humiliated them all enough, he's just very frustrated. They all are, even Allistor. Did you see how he reacted to the idea that Noir could be amongst them?"

"I don't think anyone really wants to believe a friend is actually an enemy working for some loony politician out there," Vlad began, "but that also doesn't excuse his horrible behavior. He's a barley a fifth year for Jupiter's sake!"

"Well we're barley third years—" Lukas tried to say,

"That's the point! We're all just kids! I don't understand why he thinks he's so high and mighty because of that! It's so stupid! He's so stupid!" Vlad continued ranting.

I remained quiet, unsure whether I should tell the two that perhaps it was Gage who was controlling me earlier. As I continued to ponder it, I felt as though I should keep it to myself since it didn't sound like something Gage would do. After all, if he didn't like Vlad as much as he shows, then why would he help him get into the Talian dormitory by using me? I know if he had controlled Vlad or Arthur, they would be able to tell that they had lost control of their bodies and that someone was out there.

"Is that meant to be a dragon?" Vlad asked, tilting his head. I looked up to see that we were now standing before the large canvas that lead into the Ians dormitory and in front of us, Lukas stood with his wand slightly raised. He had indeed painted a dragon, a blue one with white dots for eyes.

Like the time before, there was a bright light behind the canvas, then it begun to move to the side, allowing us in.

"It's quite late out. Vladimir, ________, I'll meet you both for breakfast tomorrow, goodnight." Lukas said, waving at us both before making his way to the boy's dormitory.

Once Vlad saw we were the only two in the room, he turned and grinned at me, "We're going to have loads to discuss tomorrow. From Noir to even Gage and Antonio's hidden hatred towards each other."

"It was strange, that was." I responded lamely.

"I'll say. I've never seen Antonio that upset. I'm sure Amber's getting all the information she can, so she can tell us tomorrow morning."

"Is that really the biggest concern right now, though? With Noir and all."

"No, I suppose not... Hey! Maybe after breakfast though, we can see if we can go to town. I'm quickly realizing how useless I am without my wand." Upon finishing his sentence however, his eyes widened as his eyes met mine which were frowning right at him, "N-Not that you're useless! You're just a nongifted! That's completely different! You have you're ugh... what did Amber call it? Oh! Electricity!" He grinned like an idiot.

Seeing I was still frowning, his eyes shifted uncomfortably around the room, he looked for a way to change the topic, "Hey! Nice – ugh – eyes! They suit you!" He said, avoiding any eye contact, "Ah—" He let out an exaggerated loud yawn and took a few steps backwards, "but I am tired, so I'll see you tomorrow morning! Goodnight!" and with that, he skidded into the body's dormitory and out of sight.

I stayed standing there for what felt like ages as I let the soothing sound of the ambience in the room flood my ears, when I finally knew that I wasn't going to be able to get much sleep that night. I turned towards the door and knew that if I walked out, I wasn't going to be able to get back in since I don't have a wand, however the alternate option of remaining in the room wasn't as charming as wandering the large school.

I held my breath and walked out the door, entering the large hall again. Like the room, the entire school was quiet and felt slightly colder than during the day. I walked down many different corridors, taking note of where I came from just in case I wanted to turn back, but as I continued walking, I found myself before the entrance to a large field. Or perhaps, it was an exit to leave the school? There were no doors however, so I assumed that it led to a field that remained inside the school walls, sort of how the school seemed to surround the gardens where the Talian house was located.

There was no one around, just a weird chirping sound from what I assumed to be the equivalent of a cricket that this world had. Unphased, I continued my way further into the field until I heard a small waterfall in the distance. I made my way towards it and saw a large white tree and in front of it, a small pond with water flowing upwards, a foot into the sky, only to splash gently back into the pond. It looked so peaceful and beautiful. I approached it and sat on the cool grass beside the pond and tree and calmly stared at the water as if in a trance. I let my mind wander with thoughts of what all I had gone through in the past two days. I was shocked to think that it was only two days however as there was just so much to unfold.

From appearing before the terrifying Illendotter which could have killed me – had it not been for Vlad's quick thinking – to getting my mind erased and taken back to my home, which had turned out to have not even been my real home, but a false memory I was given by someone unknown. I began to wonder if perhaps whoever erased my memories was aware that I was here, then my mind drifted to the meeting with the Protectors then Gage's horrible interrogation and I began to wonder if perhaps it was Noir who erased my memories? But it couldn't be, could it?

Vlad had mentioned that Noir was probably working for some politician which led me to believe that Noir was perhaps someone interested in politics. Well, in any case, they had to be smart to have remained uncaught thus long.

I tuned back in to the sound of the water splashing and though I felt a smile spread slowly across my face, I didn't exactly feel happy. It was more of a sense of dread since I still couldn't remember anything about my real self, conspiracies of Noir had flooded half of my mind, and Gage had performed a sort of body controlling spell on Antonio, one of which looked awfully familiar given I too, was suddenly creating potions without having any memory of ever having created any in my life.

"What brings you out here this late at night?" I heard a voice suddenly call not too far from me.

My head quickly jerked up and I saw none other than Hayden Gold staring down at me with a brow raised, "Pretty suspicious given what all what talked about today with Noir and you." He commented.

"But I'm not working for Noir." I replied hastily with a hint of agitation.

"Of course not, I believe you," he added quickly, now raising both brows as he took a few steps forward. "I'm simply stating that had anyone else caught you out here, you'd definitely be put under a closer radar."

I furrowed my brows as I stared at him, "You... believe me?" I asked.

"Of course." He looked around the area for a second before frowning back at me, "Where is your friend Vladimir?"

"Er—" I paused myself, unsure if I should tell him the truth or lie. "He went to the restroom, he said he'll be right back."

"Oh, alright! I'll wait here with you until he does get back, then." He said cheerfully. I felt something turn in my stomach as I knew that Vlad wasn't going to be coming at all since he didn't even know I came out here in the first place, "Y-You don't have to!" I forced a smile, but he didn't notice as he had turned around to look towards the entrance to see if Vlad was coming.

"No, it's fine, I insist. With Noir perhaps running around, I can't just leave you here, unprotected." He explained.

I took in a deep breath and pressed my lips together, I guess we would both be here for a while. So, I went back to my original question towards him, "Why do you believe me?"

Hayden's bright purple eyes met mine again as he turned to face me, "Oh, well. See, I have a theory of sorts. I'm honestly not entirely sure if it's right or wrong at the moment, but the evidence is just so... overwhelming against a certain individual."

"Who?" I asked eagerly, wondering if perhaps he too thought Gage was Noir.

He scratched the back of his head and suddenly looked uncomfortable, "See, I'm not sure if I should say right now, I mean, it is just a theory. I'd feel so ashamed if you went around and let it slip—"

"I won't! You can tell me, I promise I won't say a word!" I exclaimed.

This seemed to enthuse him as he walked over and sat at the opposite side of the pond, "Alright, well I didn't want to believe what Bliss said in the meeting, about Noir being amongst us... but, as I've continued looking into it... I've found someone who's awfully suspicious, I think."

"Who?"

"Well, who else but Gage Noxx?" He said, purple eyes widening, "I don't expect you to remember, but that day when Bliss told him to contact the professors for help, he went alone, remember? And how many days has it been and there's still no contact from any of the professors...

On top of that, I had given precise orders so that he could try to make another attempt to contact the professors while I was question all of you, but isn't it peculiar how he wanted so badly to interrogate you all himself?" Hayden added.

"It wasn't a very good interrogation," I cut in, earning his attention, "I'm sure he'll be telling you all, but he did get Lovino to admit that Alfred used the explosion jinx."

"No!" Hayden exclaimed, eyebrows rising, "I haven't even mastered that one, and he's two years behind me!"

"There's more," I added, "I saw Gage cast a spell... it was strange, see, it was a spell indeed, but I'm sure I didn't hear him say anything when he cast it."

"Ah yes, well I don't expect you would've heard a thing, during our last school year, the old Etals Prefect would teach Gage how to use unspoken magic, it's more advanced and can't be preformed with just any spell, but a majority do allow it. As I understand it, he and Bliss practice nonverbal magic together, I don't know if the other current Prefects understand it as well as those two." He paused and glanced up at the tree behind me before looking back at me, "oh, but what do you remember that spell doing?"

"It, well, he controlled Antonio's body for a while, he forced him to sit back down. I was surprised the entire time, but Antonio shouted at Gage and then he said something about Gage and his friends and how they used to bully him, Antonio. After that, Gage forced him to sit." I explained with as much detail as I could. Hayden grew with interest in his eyes.

"I'm thinking Gage cast the legal version of a body controlling spell. There are two, but the legal one doesn't hurt the person at the opposite end of the wand, and that person can only be kept under the control of the caster so long as the caster maintains eye contact." Hayden spoke.

I was afraid to ask but did anyways, "And the other one?"

"The illegal one might as well have the same name, but it requires more concentration and a higher level of understanding of dark magic. You don't have to have eye contact, but you must be near the other person. This spell, unlike the other one, also can cause a great deal of pain to whoever it's being cast on if the caster wishes it to." Hayden answered, "I think he cast the legal one on Antonio so that you all wouldn't hear Antonio say something too damning."

"About Gage bullying him, you mean?"

"Yes. See, before, I was never close to Gage – not that I am now, but we never exactly met eye to eye. He's got these radical ideas that the gifted shouldn't have to hide their powers from the nogifts. Course that's not bad on its own, but, well... It's how you go about things, ________." He sighed deeply then continued, "As I was saying, Gage was quite close to the previous Prefect, a girl by the name Lin Choi. She must have seen something in him that she never saw in the others.

Well, in our second year, Gage and his other two friends, Pollux and Osiris, they were an especially cruel group – still are. I'm not sure if they had specific targets or were mean to everyone, but I know one day, Antonio tried to stand up to them. After that, they never quite saw eye to eye."

"Wait, but if Gage is so cruel, how did he become the Etals Prefect?"

"Lin. Choi. She took him under her wing and gave him a stupendous recommendation to the headmaster. Besides, Gage, as mean as he is, he's not stupid. He never acted up before a professor or in class, his grades are to prove that. I knew no one else was going to become a prefect, he was destined for that role."

"She was here last semester so what I'm getting is that you're all barley in your fifth year, and barley becoming Prefects then?"

"Yes, basically... Wait now, how did we even get on this topic in general?" He asked, laughing awkwardly as he glanced back up at the tree.

"Well, your theory about Noir, I asked you why you trusted that I wasn't Noir or even helping Noir." I replied, lamely glancing at the tree as well.

"Right," he said quietly, "wait, but why did you care so much about that spell, what happened?"

"See, I... Earlier, when we were trying to find the entrance to the Talian dormitory, Arthur and Vlad hadn't the slightest clue where they were going. Then, all of a sudden, it was as if something took control of my body and it just led me into the gardens, then whatever it was, it helped me enter the Talian dormitory by creating the potion... I didn't think anything of it until I saw Gage casting that spell on Antonio."

"Did you see him?" Hayden asked.

"No, that's why I didn't think anything of it at first."

Hayden nodded and turned away as if he was taking that information in, then finally, he turned back towards me, "Wow, Vladimir is sure taking his time, isn't he?

My eyes widened and rather than coming out with the truth, my mouth began to move before I could think, "He must have thought I went back to the dormitory! Ah, I guess I'll go knock on the canvas until he opens."

"There's no rush really, let's give him a few more minutes to come back. He's rather bright, I'd be shocked if he actually didn't show back up here." Hayden said soothingly, unknowingly to him however, Vlad would not be arriving here.

I pressed my lips together and looked back down, which led him to speak, "however you two did come out here rather late, mind if I ask why?"

I answered honestly this time and explained to him that I couldn't sleep, so now lying, Vlad and I came out here for some fresh air. I'm not sure if Hayden was convinced since his tired expression didn't change throughout my explanation.

"I know Bliss loves this part of the school, she says it's more private than the gardens since there are always students entering and leaving the Talian dormitory over there." He spoke.

"Where... Where are we?" I wondered aloud, taking note that we were indeed not in the gardens.

"It's the side of the school, between the Etals and Ians houses, mainly used for students who like the fresh air or whatever. It's peaceful during the daytime as well, that's when Bliss is usually here. She says that Wissenbark tree helps her concentrate."

"Wissenbark?" I asked, recalling I had heard that word before, he nodded calmly, "It's a beautiful but rare tree, the school is fortunate to have one on campus."

I turned back and glanced at the tall white tree, this must be the wood that was used to make Vlad's wand then.

"Alright then, I suppose this will do, I'm exhausted and you must be too," Hayden spoke, standing up and stretching his arms behind his back, "I'll walk you back to the Ians dormitory since Vlad is sure taking his time."

I suddenly felt bad for lying since I hadn't realized that perhaps he was heading to bed only to see me sitting out here all alone. I stood up as well and followed behind him as he led the way out of the fields and back into the school building, then before I knew it, we were in front of the giant canvas. I stood back to see what Hayden was going to draw, but instead, he approached it closely and whispered something to the canvas, that caused it to open up like before.

He grinned proudly as he glanced back at me, "Perks of being a Prefect. You get a password to bypass the entrance tests to each house."

As I made my way passed him, Hayden reached out to grab my shoulder and in a low whisper so that only I could hear, he warned, "If you see Gage doing anything suspicious, run and find me, I'll try to help you as much as I can, but do be careful around him, okay?"

He made sure I entered the dormitory before he closed the door and walked away. Having had talked about how I was feeling so openly with him, I felt better but the warning he ended with gave me a strange feeling. I went off to the girl's dormitory where I saw the other two Ians girls were already asleep. I laid down in the spare bed and stared up at the dark ceiling in the room.

Learning that I wasn't alone in believing Gage Noxx, the Etals prefect and one of the school's protectors was also causing trouble as Noir, was alarming. What could he possibly be planning by asking for the school's defenses to be shut down? And with Lovino telling Gage about Alfred, was Alfred still safe? Although I was uncertain about a lot of things, I knew I'd have to wake up early to go and visit Alfred before breakfast tomorrow.

With the dedication in my head, I shut my eyes and slowly, went to sleep.

-

Morning came quicker than I imagined. Though, I did find myself awaking to the large wailing of what I could only imagine was a mix of an elephant and a lion. I sat upright and approached the window in the room to look out, however I could only see the side of the school. There was nothing there.

Without thinking, I pulled a long blue sweater off the trunk at the end of my bed and slipped it on before leaving the room to enter the commons rooms. As I did so, Lukas had left his room as well, we both stared at one another blankly before he spoke, "You're up early."

"As are you," I responded, "I just heard a strange sound—"

"Yes, a detinkeller, I'm afraid." Lukas said quickly, "Some of these prefects are working me to my wit's end." He let out a yawn and proceeded towards the door but stopped, "Ah, Vlad is still asleep, but he should awake soon... The entire school might be awake soon given how loud this creature is being," as if on cue, there was another loud bellowing sound that came from outside, "When Vlad wakes up though, tell him to go to the Hets southernmost garden, he'll be wanting to see them."

"Alright." I replied as I watched him leave. I turned back to glance at the boy's dormitory door for a second as I awaited Vlad, however it wasn't until I heard the creature for the third time that the door slammed open. Vlad's long brown hair was flying everywhere, and his shoes weren't even on, but he was wide awake, "Did—Did you hear that?" He asked breathlessly.

I nodded, "Het's southernmost garden."

He must have understood what I meant as he dashed to the door, "Come on then, let's go see it!"

"I'll catch right up! I need shoes!" I said, taking a few steps back to hide behind one of the sofas.

He shifted in his spot for a second, he looked to be pondering whether to wait or go on ahead, so I smiled, "Go on now!"

He grinned ear to ear then sprinted off, shutting the door behind him.

Recalling the conversation with Hayden from last night, I quickly made my way to the canvas and glanced around. It was still early, but thanks to the detinkeller's wails, there were some confused students walking around outside as they searched for the source of the sound. I left the Ians room and walked down the hall, from the past two days and from what I could gather from Vlad and the others, I knew where most places were in the school, but as I thought about it further, I only knew where the library, dining hall, and all the house dormitories were at. I hadn't yet learnt where the hospital wing was at.

"Don't worry about the noise, ye can all go back to your rooms to sleep, there's nothing going on!" I heard someone shout. I recognized the voice immediately though as being that of Allistor, the Ailat prefect. He was walking through the hall and answering questions that the complaining students had about all the noise.

"It'll be put to rest soon enough," he said to an exceptionally small blonde boy with big blue eyes.

"I didn't ask if it would be put to sleep though, I asked why's it crying?" The boy said, sounding frustrated.

"Don't reckon it's any of your business. Now run along, see if ye can find Dylan or the twins." Said Allistor, but the boy continued to shadow him. His tired eyes met mine and he approached me with his brows raised, "Vlad's stopped babysitting you? Bout time I say."

I smiled, "I just wanted to visit Alfred, I'm worried about him since I haven't seen him for three days now." I didn't even have to lie since I was being sincere.

Allistor looked passed me at the other confused students and sighed, "I've still got to calm everyone down, but my little brother Peter can take you to the hospital wing, can't ye Pete?" He said, pushing the small blonde boy towards me.

"Y-Yeah! I won't let you down, Al!" Peter shouted enthusiastically.

Allistor took a step closer to me and put his hand on my shoulder, causing me to stumble slightly, "He's barley goin to be a first year come this fall, so be careful with him. Yer not supposed to bring kids here before they're even enrolled, but mum's outta the country and he had no where else ta go. Got it?"

"Got it." I replied, glancing at the small boy.

"Pete. Behave." Allistor said before a yawn could escape his mouth, and he turned and walked off to continue his prefect duties. Meanwhile, Peter reached up and grabbed my arm tightly as he began leading the way towards the hospital wing.

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My fatal flaw: I always mess up on names. And spelling names. And coming up with new and creative and original names.