Tucked in Terran Heights

~Welcome to Terran Heights~

I had all three of my bags in hand before the train even slowed to a stuttering halt, the excitement threatening to suffocate me. I practically bolted the moment the conductor's voice came over the intercom in a muffled, monotonous static, sounding robotically animated. I was one of maybe fifty people who exited the train at Terran Heights, all shouting and pushing each other out of the way. The city was a jewel, a beacon for those who wanted to or already had hit it big, or for those who were wealthy and extremely fortunate, with tall buildings and businesses that could only be found in the big city. I felt extremely blessed to have made it here.

I had always dreamed of making it into an Ivy League college, but the one I managed to get into, the elite Institute of Mythical and Worldly Arts, or IMWA, was extremely limited, taking only the best of the best into their facilities as both staff and students. It was said to have dorms the size of a starting apartment, which you didn't have to share with anyone, and teachers who actually knew the material they were teaching, unlike most. They had even assigned me a personal guide to take me around the city and school to help me get settled in.

"What's your name, ma'am?" A tall woman in a tight navy-blue suit jacket and pencil skirt adjusted her glasses as she looked between me and a tablet in her wrinkled hands.

"Carrina Daragine." I tried to sound calm and confident, making it look like I wasn't about to burst from excitement or cower beneath the massive city.

"Your guide is over there, standing against the wall, Kainihi Lee. I'd be careful with him, Miss Daragine. He's got somewhat of a record." She gestured in his general direction and I took off, weaving in and out of the crowd who was mumbling in hushed, indistinct tones.

"Are you Kainihi Lee?" I asked sheepishly as I approached a guy with his back to me, headphones on. I felt a sharp tap on my shoulder blade.

"No, but I am." A guy who wasn't much taller than me gave a subtle smirk at my mistake. Luckily enough, headphone guy didn't even turn around.

"Hi. Hey. Yeah, I'm Carrina Daragine, but most everyone calls me Carri," I stuttered awkwardly. "I'm a college student at IMWA now."

"Yeah, cool. I've been a student there for, like, a year now. Heard they were looking for someone to lead around the newbies for extra credit, so..." He gave a gallant bow. "Here I am. Kainihi Lee, at your humble assistance."

I rubbed the back of my neck and looked him up and down, my eyes trailing his entirety. He was tall-ish, tanned to a point where I couldn't quite place his nationality, with curly brown hair trimmed short on the sides. His arms and legs were muscular, but the rest of him was a bit lanky, or at the most, average. His eyes were a piercing green, abnormally so, and he appeared to be cold and calculating, just based on those eyes. His face was squared, jawline cut sharply, a scar running from just beneath his right eye to the middle of his upper lip. When he smiled, I saw that his teeth were strangely pointed, especially the canines and molars. He had black gauges in his earlobes, relatively small ones, and his ears were slightly pointed.

"So, are you done gaping at me, or do you want to stand here all day and never get to IMWA?" He gave a sympathetic smile, like all the newbies did this sort of thing.

"Let's go to the school, I guess," I said lamely.

We walked mostly in silence, pausing occasionally as he pointed out different landmarks I could attempt to navigate through the city using. He didn't seem to mind that I gaped at a woman who is dressed entirely in black, a stark contrast to her fair skin, pale as snowy owl and twice as calculating, a black lace umbrella shading her from the nearly nonexistent sun. He effortlessly led me around, his pointed ears twitching randomly.

When we got to the collegiate campus, entering the reception hall. At the desk was a lady with stark black hair, a scarlet dress, and features that seemed to sharpen her face. She had a huge plush chair, yet she stood strangely. Black-rimmed glasses were pushed up along the bridge of her rodent-like nose framed her intense gray eyes. Her appearance practically screamed effortless integrity.

"Name and dormitory." She gave me a monotone glance to match her monotonous voice.

"Carrina Daragine, and, uh, I don't know." I gave an embarrassed shrug.

"Okay, Daragine." The receptionist ran her finger down a list of names and paused on one. "Room 452."

"Thanks, Setta." Kainihi nudged me in the side. "Let's head to your room, Carri."

The receptionist rose up off the ground as she unfurled her huge wings, careful designs etched into each of the four. Setta, Kainihi had called her. I committed the name to memory.

"Wait, you're messing with me, right?" I couldn't help but ask. "Fairies don't even exist."

"Then call me an optical illusion, too incomprehensible for your mortal mind." Setta flew to the wall.

"There must be something about her to have her accepted here, Set." Kainihi muttered, as if stage whispering.

"We'll have to find out, won't we?" Setta gave a tight skeptical smile amd turned away, throwing a set of keys off a high rack down to me. I barely caught them. "Room 452 is on the fourth floor, second corridor and a left turn."

"Thanks...." I muttered, still gazing at her iridescent wings.

"One more thing, Daragine." Setta turned to me once more. "Welcome to Terran Heights."