AoF Age of Fantasy Online

Chapter 29: Stone

When he hit the exit button, his vision went black. His stomach spun like  he was on the descent from the apex of a rollercoaster. He felt squishy and suddenly the weight of his body was natural and he was lying in bed. His eyes opened from total dark to the soft light of his room, the room he was given when he first arrived at the Garden. Stone threw off the sheets and swung his legs over the side of the bed. His wheel chair was close by, brakes on, and turned so that he could slip into it, the machine had thought of everything, like a five star hotel, but one that wanted to kill you. Stone stayed half in the bed, sitting up. He ran his hands over his head. Smooth. Bald.

"No." He already drew attention being in a wheelchair and now he was adding bald to that. He had to see. He reached out and palmed the chair's armrest and used the bounce of the bed to propel himself into a 90 degree spin. His bottom hadn't hit the seat before he unlocked the brake and was pumping the wheels to the bathroom. He instinctively reached for a light switch but there was none, the lights came on when he entered. A few recessed lights ran along the ceiling and the frame of the long mirror hovering above the double sinks was also glowing a soft white. He didnt know he had a clawfoot tub and walk in shower until this moment, he barely registered them in the periphory as he looked in the mirror.

There he was. He actually smirked. He wasn't sure what he expected, maybe a sickly emmiciated version of himself. Instead he kind of looked like a supervillain. Lex Luther. The Kingpin. He didn't know what a face needed to make the bald look work, but his face had it. It was the jaw, square and hard, and the cheekbones. He only knew he didn't look bad or underfed, and that was enough.

A melody played from the living room, it was classical and whimsical in the vein of John Williams. He wheeled into the room and saw writing scroll across the wall opposite his bed. Welcome Stone! Your Histories of Avondere begins at 7:00 p.m. room 377 of the West Building. Your schedule and other noteworthy events, times, and hours are listed in your Enotes.

Was this even real? The room seemed like the same room he was ushered into after the helicopter ride from his front lawn. Had he been trapped in AoF just minutes ago? Maybe he was still on that operating table and his skull was being cut open and god knows what was being put in his brain. How could he know anymore? He shuddered and the urge to cry overwhelmed him. Stone focused on his breathing and uknkotted the ball which had formed tightly in his chest. The tears didn't come. He would be better off to let them come, but he shouldered the emotions rather than channeling them.

He was going to have to go to this class with other students and pretend this place was the greatesf gift to mankind. He would have to look them in the face and know the dark experiment which was going on all around them, was just a game to them, was life and death for him. Not that it mattered for him. Death was a known commodity, a constant shadow over his life. No teenage invincibility for him.

Stone did some routine grooming and switched into a hooded sweatshirts and shorts. Halfway to the door and already halfway to the class in his mind, Stone realized he could (possibly) do magic in the real world. He froze the wheels of his chair and lifted his right hand in front of his face. He called forth the familiar flame spell, focusing on his fingers. His hand didn't feel the warm tingles. His fingers started to glow with an eerie yellow bioluminescence like a deep sea fish. It tingled like his fingers had been numb and were gaining feeling. He stopped the spell and after a few seconds his hands stopped glowing. The magic wasn't the same, or maybe the spells were different. Something wasn't right, that was the only sure thing.

He reached for the wheel of his chair and he felt energy flow out from him; the wheel suddenly glowed and became charged. Stone could feel the energy wanted to explode with incredible force, something like dynomite. Instinctively, he placed his hand back on the wheel and reversed the spell, absorbing the magic into himself. It hurt. His head pounded in tune with his heart beat and a thousand stars lit up his vision. Darkness crept from the corner of his eyes and he passed out. When he came to, drool was pouring down his chin and the right half of his body was numb. He looked at the wall clock. Fifteen mintues had passed.