Chapter One
Teagan opened the first of her boxes of books and began placing them on one of the two bookshelves near the closets in her new dorm room. Behind her, she could hear Olivia, her new roommate, unpacking clothing. Teagan had already finished putting away her clothing. This could have been due to the fact that Teagan had arrived earlier, but possibly had more to do with the relative size of their wardrobes. Teagan felt a little underdressed after seeing Olivia in her beautiful yellow sundress and high heeled sandals. The feeling was increased by Olivia's perfectly applied makeup, and her curly mahogany hair, artfully styled to frame her face. Teagan's own waist length dark red hair was simply pulled back into a ponytail and she wore no makeup.
Deciding text books, both new and old, had priority for the bookcase in her room, as that was where the desk was, Teagan attempted to concentrate on the task at hand rather than her insecurities. It was difficult, and she found herself wondering what the two girls who would share the other room in the suite would be like. Staying in the dorms hadn't been her idea, and as her nerves started to get the best of her, Teagan reminded herself that she had promised her Grandfather that she would try it for at least a year. She further reminded herself that she should be grateful that she had a space in one of the suites in McNamara Hall. Only available to juniors and seniors, someone generally had to have applied before their freshman year to get in, but when Teagan's Grandfather's health had begun to fail in her sophomore year, he had called in favors accumulated in his over forty years as a literature professor at Addison to get her a space, saying that he wanted her to start forming closer relationships with her peers so that she would not be alone when he was gone.
"Hey, what's that?" Teagan's thoughts were interrupted by Olivia's abrupt question.
Teagan looked at the book Olivia was pointing to. It looked old, worn, and possibly bound by hand. The dark brown leather of the cover had odd swirling symbols dyed in a dark green all over it. There was no title, and Teagan stared at it blankly for a moment, before remembering that she had seen it on her grandfather's desk several times in the months leading up to his death. "I'm not sure... I think it was my Grandfather's, but I don't know how it ended up packed with my books." Teagan took the book out of the box opening it to the title page curiously. "Fae and Bards: An Instructional Manuel for Future Heirs of Riordan... There's no author listed, though." A closer examination revealed that it was indeed hand bound, and it looked to be hand written, not printed.
Olivia looked startled. "How odd... do you know where your grandfather got it?" She asked, her voice strained.
Teagan shook her head. "No... I just remember seeing it a few times..."
Before the book could be further investigated, the girls were distracted by the sound of the outer door to the suite opening and closing, followed by the sound of voices in the main room, which had a kitchen area and a table on one side and a couch, plush chairs, a TV stand and a couple of bookshelves on the other side.
Olivia gestured for Teagan to proceed her as they went out to greet the newcomers. When they got out there the saw two women standing by a few boxes. One, whose honey blonde hair was cut in a chin length bob, increased Teagan's sense of self consciousness with her dress pants and fancy purple blouse. Teagan recognized the taller woman, whose short black hair, looked uncombed. Marion had been her lab partner for the Chemistry class that Teagan had taken to fulfill the general education requirements of the college. Teagan was relieved to see a familiar face, and also that Marion was also in jeans and a t-shirt.
Introductions were made, along with a little general 'getting to know you' small talk. Teagan already knew Marion was majoring in theoretical math, but she discovered that Sally (the blonde) was majoring in science education, and that Olivia was a history major. Teagan decided this was why Olivia had been so interested in the book.
Teagan had begun to relax when Marion asked "Hey, Teagan, isn't your birthday sometime around now?"
Teagan nodded. "Wednesday, the first day of classes."
"How old will you be?" Olivia asked curiously.
"I'll be 21." Teagan replied.
Marion grinned. "That's something to celebrate! We'll have to take you out somewhere and get drunk together!" She paused f or a moment the continued "Unless you have plans to do something with your grandfather?"
Teagan shook her head, grief assaulting her. "No, he passed away in June."
Marion's face fell. "I'm so sorry. I know the two of you were very close."
Teagan just nodded.
Sally spoke up. "All the more reason we should take you out. We'll make sure you have a good time, instead doing nothing but missing celebrating with him."
Olivia nodded. "I agree, although I'll have to be the designated driver, since my birthday isn't until November."
Marion smiled. "So that's settled, then."
Teagan nodded, although she wasn't sure if her consent was actually necessary at this point. As the discussion moved on to chore distribution and allocation of cupboard space, Teagan decided that she might not regret her promise after all.
----
Teagan settled herself into the booth on the first floor of Sam's. Although the first floor was the restaurant section, they did serve alcoholic drinks, at least according to Sally. The restaurant section had a rustic feel, with brick walls and wooden booths with padding covered by dark green naugahyde. Teagan was glad they had been seated at a booth in the center row, as it meant that no one was trapped against the wall. She listened to the conversation going on around her as she opened the menu.
Sally was complaining about the fact that her Physics professor had assigned homework that was due Friday. "That means I have to read the chapter, first, and it's fifty pages of small print!"
Marion looked a little amused, but said sympathetically "I took an AP Physics class in High School, so if you run into trouble, I might be able to help."
Sally looked relieved. "Thanks. How did the rest of your first days go?"
Olivia, who had already closed her menu, answered first. "Mine was okay, I guess. Two of my professors just handed out syllabi and gave us our reading assignments for Friday. Of course, the other class was incredibly boring, as we went over basic things people should have learned in High School."
"Like what?" Marion asked.
"Like what a feudal system is."
Teagan and Marion both winced a little in sympathy. The conversation lagged for a moment, then Marion spoke up. "I'm actually really excited about my classes this semester. It's great to finally get to the point where all my courses deal with theory. " She paused, then continued. "I'm a little worried about Set Theory, though."
"Why? Do you think the material will be too hard?" Teagan asked as she closed the menu, having made her selection.
"No, but the Professor speaks in a totally monotone voice, and it was hard to pay attention, even though the material was really interesting." She paused, then elaborated "We went over Russell's Paradox, which is really neat."
"Russell's Paradox?" asked Olivia.
"It's a little complicated to explain the mathematical version, which proves that saying a set can be defined as all x such that a definite condition hold for x causes a problem, but there's actually a non-mathematical version that's a little easier to explain." Marion looked delighted to be able to do so. "Imagine a town where the barber shaves exactly those men who do not shave themselves."
"Why is that a paradox?" asked Teagan, curious now.
"Who shaves the barber?" said Marion with a grin.
There was a pause then Olivia broke out in a grin as well. "I get it. If the barber shaves himself, then he shouldn't be shaving himself, but if he doesn't shave himself, then he should be shaving himself. Either way, it contradicts the condition that he shaves exactly those men who don't shave themselves."
"Exactly." Marion sounded delighted that someone else had figured it out.
The waitress came to take their orders at that point, and the conversation paused. Olivia ordered a grilled chicken and cranberry salad, Marion ordered a burger with mushrooms and Swiss cheese, Sally ordered a BLT club, and Teagan ordered chicken strips. The only hitch came when Teagan went to order a soft drink, and Sally interrupted her. "Oh, no you don't!" Turning to the waitress she said "She'll have a glass of whatever beer you have on tap."
The waitress looked to Teagan who sighed, and nodded. "I'll have to see your ID."
Teagan nodded, and took out the new license that had arrived in the mail the day before. She was a little surprised, as she had expected that it would be at least a week before she got it, given how the mail tended to work. The waitress took it from her and looked it over before handing it back and giving Teagan a list of the beers they had on tap. Teagan chose one that was locally produced, and the waitress left to put in their orders.
"What were your classes like, Teagan?" Olivia asked once the waitress had gone.
"Shakespeare looks like it will be interesting. We're starting with the sonnets, then we'll look at two of the comedies, and we'll finish with a tragedy. We went over Sonnet 116 today, which is one of my favorites."
Sally interrupted "Which one is that?"
"It's the one that starts 'Let me not to the marriage of true minds admit impediments. Love is not love which alters when it alteration finds...'" Teagan smiled, clearly unperturbed by the interruption. "The other two Professors just passed out syllabi, but going by that, there is going to be a ton of reading for "The Modern Age Through Contemporary Literature.'"
Olivia and Marion nodded sympathetically. Sally winced and stated "Which probably means extra books to buy."
Teagan nodded. "Fortunately, they're mostly available as paperbacks, so it's not going to cost too much. In fact going by the cost of my calculus books freshman year, I'll bet Marion will have to spend more than I do, even if she's only buying one book per course."
Marion laughed. "It's possible. Not one of my books is less than a hundred dollars, this semester. It's totally worth it though."
The waitress brought their drinks, and Teagan tentatively took a sip of her beer, frowning a little. "It's a little sour..."
Marion smiled. "It grows on you."
The conversation moved on, a little sporadically as the food arrived and was eaten. Hometowns and families were discussed. Sally was from the town of Addision. Marion was also relatively local. and Teagan could see how much she loved her family even through her current aggravation with their nagging her to pick a more practical major, one that would make her more readily and immediately employable, like accounting or computer science. Teagan and Olivia both sympathized. Teagan's mother had the same complaint of impracticality, and Olivia's parents wanted her to go into the "family business," although Olivia was quite vague about exactly what that was.
From there the conversation turned to interests. Sally was a member of several clubs, including Student Activities, and she tried to recruit her roommates to one or all of them. Marion said she had enough to handle as Vice-President of the Anime club. Sally was confused as to what that was, but Marion explained that Anime was Japanese Animated TV shows and movies, which were not limited to children's shows and comedies as American animation tended to be.
All four girls were fond of reading, although their preferences were for different genres. Olivia favored, not surprisingly, historical novels, although she admitted to a weakness for speculative books set in alternate universes where one historical event happened differently. One of her favorites was set in the modern day of a world where the Roman Empire never fell. Sally preferred romances, dramas, and mysteries. Marion and Teagan both favored Science Fiction, fantasy, and paranormal romance.
The conversation paused for a moment, before Olivia spoke. "Did you ever figure out what that book of your grandfather's was about?"
Teagan shook her head. "No, not really. It starts out like it's supposed to be a fantasy novel disguised as a history, but the last half of the book is all different meditation techniques and exercises that are supposed to 'strengthen one's will.' What's worse, the plot that's developed in the first half never really resolves."
Olivia had an odd expression on her face, and she was trying too hard to make her question sound casual. "Would you mind if I took a look at it?"
Teagan wondered why it was so important to her, but nodded. "Sure, go ahead, just remind me to give it to you when we get back."
Marion asked what book they were talking about, and, after Teagan explained, asked if she could see it too. Teagan agreed, a little unsettled by the degree of interest in the book. She still hadn't figured out how it had managed to get packed with her things.
"Much as I hate to be the odd one out, I'll leave it to the three of you. Fantasy never makes too much sense to me, so I doubt I could help you figure it out. " Sally stated.
"What do you mean?" asked Olivia.
"It's just so unrealistic! I can understand magic in fairy tales and other stories intended for kids, but having serious books intended for adults involving it always strikes me as silly. I know it's fiction, but I can't get into something that just isn't even plausible."
Marion looked a little flabbergasted and at a loss for words. Teagan was still trying to figure out how to phrase her argument for one of her favorite genres when Olivia spoke. "What makes you think magic couldn't be real? People have believed in it for more parts of history then they haven't."
Sally laughed. "Sure, but that was because they didn't have science good enough to explain natural phenomena any other way. We've gotten past that kind of superstition. Besides, if magic were real, don't you think there would be some proof in this day and age? A YouTube video or two if nothing else."
Olivia shook her head. "Not if the people who could actually do it made an effort to keep it a secret and discredit any evidence as faked."
"And why would they go through the amount of effort that would be necessary to completely keep any evidence from turning up?" Sally asked, sounding irritated.
"Oh, I don't know, maybe they got tired of being burned at the stake?" Olivia said, anger evident behind her sarcasm.
Sally looked to have progressed from irritated to angry, and opened her mouth to reply, but Marion beat her to it. "Calm down guys! Olivia, it's not a personal insult to you if Sally can't suspend her disbelief enough to enjoy fantasy. She's allowed to not like it. And Sally, Olivia is allowed to enjoy it." Sally and Olivia looked a little embarrassed, but Marion continued before either one could say anything. "I think a better argument for fantasy is that most of the time it's the same kind of exercise in what if as science fiction is, just going in another direction. Faster Than Light travel is not possible by the laws of physics as we understand them, but Science Fiction writers frequently use it in their works, so why not explore what it might be like if some of that historical belief in
magic was right?" She grinned a little sheepishly. "I have to admit, I kind of wish it was real, sometimes."
Teagan nodded her agreement, and after a slightly awkward pause, the topic was changed, and the girls continued their conversation. Other than that slight hitch, they found themselves to be compatible enough that Teagan's worries about getting along with her roommates were, for the most part, assuaged.
----
Teagan opened her eyes, and sighed. She once again found herself in a moonlit clearing in a deep foreboding woods. She stood up, brushing grass and dirt off the cotton of her night gown. She was getting tired of this dream, which she'd been having since her grandfather's death. It was boring, for all though the surroundings were interesting, nothing happened. Well, there had been that one time Teagan had thought she heard a voice, but that had only been the once and she was fairly sure she had imagined it. Teagan laughed a little at that thought. It was her dream, the whole thing came from her imagination, so the voice had been no more or less real than the clearing.
Teagan became aware that something felt different, and she tried to pin down the source of that feeling. While things were always eerily quiet, there seemed to be a new note to the silence, almost a sense of waiting. Teagan found herself becoming unnerved by it, and reminded herself once again that this was only a dream. Still, when she heard the sound of a small stick breaking behind her, she startled, and tripped herself turning to see what had broken it, falling painfully on her backside.
As Teagan tried to regain her bearings , she heard the sound of soft male laughter and footsteps moving closer, before a hand entered her field of vision clearly being offered to help her up. “My apologies, my lady. I had not meant to startle you so. “ The voice, while obviously amused, seemed to hold no malice.
Teagan took the proffered hand pulling herself up before looking towards the man it belonged to. Standing before her was a man who seemed to have stepped off of the cover of a trashy romance novel with his long, wavy black hair, v-necked poets shirt that revealed a toned chest, and tight leggings tucked into knee high boots. Teagan had to look up to meet his gaze, and upon doing so, she was struck by how handsome his features were, and that he looked to be only a few years older than her. She decided the eye candy was definitely a positive addition to the dream. Then she registered that his eyes did not look quite right. Blinking at the cat like pupils, she remembered her grandfather's book, and looked to his ears. Sure enough, the tips came to long, graceful points. Teagan flinched a little realizing that this wasn't a simple wish fulfillment dream created by an overactive libido, that this was meant to be the Fae described in the book, Drysdan.
Drysdan followed her gaze and winced slightly, his face emptying of emotion. “I see you have already read at least part of the 'guide'.” A cold note had entered his voice and disgust filled the last word. Teagan started to try to pull her hand out of his, but he didn't let go. “I had hoped to speak with you before it found you.”
Teagan stared at him for a moment, giving up on getting her hand back, at least for the time being. Drysdan's grip gentled after a moment, and he began to move his thumb, gently caressing her hand. After a minute or two of silence, Teagan finally found her voice. “That would be difficult, since you're a manifestation of a character from the book. If I hadn't read it, you wouldn't exist.”
Drysdan blinked. “You do not believe what you read?” Teagan thought she heard a hopeful note in his voice.
“Don't be ridiculous, of course I don't believe it! I know the difference between fantasy and reality. Much as I might wish the real world was a little more magical, there is no such thing as a mystical race of shape-shifting faeries, except in fiction and dreams.”
“And what if it wasn't fiction? Would you take the information in the guide at face value, or would you give me a chance to prove that I am not your enemy?” Drysdan's voice was carefully modulated to only reveal a mild curiosity, but Teagan felt the urgency behind the facade.
Teagan sighed. “I don't know. If you were real, a point that I am not conceding, then the book was written for a reason, and if you were a pleasant companion, I highly doubt that someone would have felt the need to include all those exercises to practice keeping you under control.” She paused, very aware of his hand holding hers. “Further more, you aren't winning any points by refusing to give me my hand back.”
Drysdan instantly let go, with a softly murmured apology. Teagan found herself remembering that she was wearing only a much too thin cotton nightgown with no sleeves and a hemline that seemed much shorter than it had when she went to sleep, and instinctively covered her chest with one arm, while trying to pull the hem of the night gown down with the other hand. This was somewhat counterproductive, as the movement drew Drysdan's gaze downwards. The smile that graced his face was not quite a leer, but it did convey a strong sense of approval, and Teagan felt the blood rush to her face in embarrassment.
Drysdan's smile became a mischievous smirk. “My lady, while I would obviously prefer to continue to enjoy your beauty, if you are uncomfortable, you need only imagine yourself in other attire. We are, after all, within your subconscious.”
Teagan glared at him for a moment, before closing her eyes and attempting to imagine herself into a pair of jeans and a sweatshirt. After a minute or two, she could feel the night gown trying to change but she couldn't quite get it to do so. After a few more minutes she felt a weight settle about her shoulders. She opened her eyes, startled to discover that Drysdan had draped a cloak around her. “Thank you. I will point out however, that your belief that I could change my clothing by thinking it so supports my supposition that this is a dream.”
Drysdan laughed. “Not really, for if you recall my prison is created within your subconscious mind, so it is very close to being a dream, but quite a bit more real. Going back to your earlier argument, I will admit that at first I was quite angry at being unjustly imprisoned, and took it out on those I viewed to be my captors. By the time I had calmed down a bit, my keepers had a set idea of what my behavior would be, and they passed it from one to the next, thus any attempt to communicate was viewed as malicious. I assure you, I view you as being as much a victim of this curse as myself, and if you give me a chance, I will prove to you that I am not the monster that book makes me out to be. ”
Teagan thought for a moment. She found herself thinking that it couldn't hurt to give him a chance before realizing that she was acting as though he were actually real. “It's a moot point, since this is a dream, and you'll be gone as soon as I wake up.”
Drysdan's eyes narrowed, and he muttered under his breath. “I do believe, my lady, that you may be more stubborn then your grandfather.
Teagan had had enough of this, and closing her eyes willed herself to wake up. To her surprise, this time it worked, and she found herself safely in her own bed. Looking at the clock, she realized it was far too early to get up, so she rolled over and went back to sleep.
---------- Post added 11-03-2013 at 01:36 PM ----------
Quote:
Originally Posted by SuperZombiePotatoe
Oh my.
I am so bloody serious, this is going to be one hell of a novel! I really don't know what to critisise, although Erasmus and Drysdan's relationship is a bit confusing. Will you elaborate more as it continues?
Riordan and Drysdan, huh? Nice names :3
Other than that, I want to read it!
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Thank you, it encourages me to write when I know people at least find it interesting to read.
What did you find confusing about it? I wasn't planning on elaborating on it. Maybe I need to make it clearer that Erasmus is a descendent of Riordan, and has inherited Drysdan's prision. Is that what was confusing?