~Callie's Point of View~

Song: "Viva la Vida" by Coldplay

******

"That's stupid." I say in indignation, tossing my pencil onto the desk as I stared incomprehensibly at the list in front of me.  "He cannot possibly be him."

Anna nodded. "Well, he is." She shifted a literally uncomfortably where she perched on her bed. "We don't usually discuss out True Names. It's dangerous. We just go by our Earth names."

I looked at her as if she had sprouted horns. "You talk is if you're not a human." She clenched her jaw and just pulled the blankets of her bed down.

"If you haven't noticed this school is different by now, then you're going to be in for a huge surprise. We all see our real selves while we are here- the only one who doesn't is you for a reason none of us quite understand yet."Anna said and slid under the blankets then clicked off her lamp. "One more thing, Callie."

"What?" I asked, frowning.

"Don't walk around campus at night."

Before I could ask anything more, she rolled over and went to sleep. True Names? True selves? What the hell did that mean? Was I actually surrounded by the characters I grew up reading about? Seriously?

******

I stood at the library desk, shifting uncomfortably as the guy who sat behind it just stared at me. He had curly black hair and eyes so blue, I thought they were made of sapphires.

He looked from me to the books on the Ancient World of Mesopotamia and raised an eyebrow. "You can't be serious."

"I am." I say stiffly.

"You do know this college teaches M-"

"Yes. I know. Just check out the book, please, and quit staring at me."

He scowled, then jumped down from his chair and I stiffened a bit as he came around the desk, holding my book, to look me up and down. "Freshman?" He asked.

"No, transfer, but-"

"Exactly. Follow me."

I was startled that not only was this guy shorter than me, but he also wore no shoes.

"What's your name?" I asked.

"Fitz." He simply tossed over his shoulder. "And yours?"

"Callie." I mumbled and just followed him downstairs to the lower levels and he pointed me to a row of shelves.

"Well, Callie. Those aren't the history books you need. That earthly trash can be tossed aside. It doesn't matter." He waved a hand dismissively, and before I could protest, he was gone.

I shoved down my anger and frustration and just shoved my earbuds into my ears. I looked at the shelf that Fitz had led me to and scowled. The shelf was lined with tomes and scrolls certainly not from the 21st century. Apparently not from this world, either. Why was everything and everyone so vague?

I pinched the bridge of my nose.

This wasn't happening. This wasn't real. I was dreaming and I was going to wake up soon. I just knew it. I squeezed my eyes shut, hit my head, and pinched my arm, but when I opened my eyes, that shelf of ancient books and manuscripts still sat there.

I clenched my jaw and felt my eyes begin to water and a tear slipped down my cheek. I slowly sank to my knees and wrapped my arms around my head, knees tucked in to my chest.

Why would my parents send me here? Why wouldn't they talk to me? Why was I always sent away? What was this place- really- and why was I here? Did they know what this place was when they picked it and shipped me off?

Why was I-

"Callie?"

The voice made my whole body stiffen.

It was close enough that I could hear the voice through the music playing in my headphones, and I looked up.

I furiously wiped at my eyes and stared at Brandon. He was crouched in front of me, his eyebrows furrowed in concern. He wore a green sweatshirt and his blond hair was a bit of a mess. Did he get a haircut from the last time I saw him? I remembered his hair being longer...

"Callie? What's wrong?" He asked.

I shook my head and wiped at my eyes. "Nothing. I'm fine."

He tilted his head to the side, eyes softening, then he said gently, "I was headed to the archery range. Have you ever shot a bow before, Callie?"

I shrugged. "No." I mumbled.

He held a hand out to me. "I can teach you."

I stared at his hand a bit blankly for a moment, then took it after a moment's hesitation and allowed him to pull me to my feet. He furrowed his eyebrows in concern as he looked at me and asked gently,

"Would you like a hug?"

I didn't even hesitate and just wrapped my arms tightly around his waist and shoved my face into his chest. He wrapped his arms around me and rubbed my back. He smelled like pinecones and cinnamon.

"If you ever need anything, Callie, I'm here." He whispered and rested his chin on my head.

"Thank you." I said quietly and pulled away and rubbed at my eyes. One of his hands remained on my back for support. "You mentioned archery?"

He nods. "Yeah. Leland and Aaron are already there. I said I'd be late because I needed a scroll for one of my classes. Then I found you." He looked at me, those blue eyes dazzling and if my face hadn't already been red from crying to hide my blush, I would have been throughly embarrassed.

"Yeah. I'm just having a hard day, that's all." I grumbled. "No one seems to want to give me any straight answers about this place or the people here, either, and I'm starting to feel uncomfortable. It's not my fault I'm related to Tolkien."

He flinched a little at the name, then said, "If you would like, Callie, I can do my best to try and answer your questions as they arise."

I nodded. "Really? You would? Anna made it sound like it was a taboo topic here. Thank you. Archery range first?"

He nodded once then motioned for me to follow him back upstairs and out of the library and out into the bright sun. I walked next to him with my hands stuffed into my paint-splattered sweatshirt and allowed him to lead me to the field.

I didn't know exactly what I expected, but...it wasn't this.

It was as if a renaissance fair met the 21st century. There were traditional fighting rings where a few students fought with swords and shields. Archery targets stood in a line and a cluster of taller people stood there, while shorter more stockier students tossed axes and knives at a spinning target, letting out boisterous shouts.

Elves and dwarves, the stereotypes, I mused to myself.

Brandon chuckled. "Yeah, last year I was surprised about it, too, but don't worry. You'll learn how to fight."

I looked at him. "Why would I need to learn how to fight?"

He hesitated, then said, "Its better to talk about these things where there are no prying ears or eyes, if you understand me."

I nodded despite not understanding at all, and just motioned for him to lead on again. I saw Leland and Aaron seeming to be having a heated argument about something near one of the targets. Aaron has a sword strapped to his waist and looked angry, and Leland had a quiver of arrows strapped to his back. Gabby was sitting on a stool, a giant war axe resting on her lap, and munching away at a bag of chips as she watched them argue.

"Gentlemen." Brandon said and coughed. Their attention spun to us and Leland grinned and waved. Aaron just huffed and crossed his arms. He offered me a small smile.

"Oh, hey, Callie! You here to train?" Leland asked.

"Uh, I've never used a bow or a sword. I have fired a gun, but I haven't seen any around here."

"You won't find any of those around here, lass." Gabby says through a mouthful of chips. "Anything from this world, no."

I rubbed my temples. "You talk about earth as if we aren't on it." I gritted out.

She grinned broadly. "I still think it's funny that you don't See us yet." She looked at Leland. "What do you think she sees me as?" Before he could reply, I said agitatedly,

"I see you just fine, thank you." I said stiffly and she only shrugged and ate more chips.

Brandon, with a hand on my elbow, led me to a different target and asked, "Are you a lefty or a righty?"

"Righty."

"Alright. Hold the bow with your left hand and pull back with your right. Like this." He handed me a bow and positioned my hands on different points and then he stood close behind me.

Very close.

His breath sent shivers down my spine as he held his hands over mine and instructed me to pull back the string. I tried to, but it wouldn't budge.

"Use your core. Not your shoulder." He said and moved a hand to rest on my stomach. "You'll hurt yourself. Try again."

Face a fine shade of red and heart beating spastically, I tried again, drawing back and lifting the bow at the same time. I was glad I was able to pull back the string, but I was also very aware of the fact that his left hand rested over my bow hand, and his right right still on my stomach. If I moved at all, I would have been leaning back against him.

"Very good. Now for an arrow." He said and moved away and I suddenly felt very cold. I gripped the bow tightly and when I looked up, just across the field under the shade of a tree, someone was watching me.

But when I looked up in their direction, they turned and disappeared into the shadows.

Literally.