Opening a Magic Academy at the End of the World [Yuri, Transgender, Book 1 Complete]

Aisha and Fazl (still flying) descended a dark flight of stairs and came across a shut, metal door—just a big old slab at the end of the flight. An equally metal handle jutted out from the left side.

No llumifruits or candle sconces had been generous enough to follow them down here.

Aisha stopped forward and yanked on the handle.

The door did not budge.

“How much longer can you even channel mana for? That flight spell and all those palace guards must have drained you,” Aisha whispered. She tugged on the door again. Even her strength could not force open a metal door.

“Give me a second,” Fazl said. “[Tailwind].”

A current of air pushed from behind them. Their robes fluttered forward. Thank goodness Aisha’s hair was always braided back, and had bangs cut over her forehead, so that her hair didn't brush into her face.

Fazl slowly drifted forward, even while trying to hover in place. Fazl sighed. He promptly dissipated his [Flight]. Was that because of his low channeling ability or because the whole floating forward thing annoyed him?

He fell to the floor on his one leg. He cursed, losing balance. He leaned backwards and sat on the steps with a particular lack of grace. Aisha almost snorted to herself. Male aeolian mages had no sense of movement.

Okay, she was being unfair to extrapolate that to all male aeolian mages. Fazl also didn't have a leg, so it wasn't really his fault.

Sorry Fazl, and the handful of graceful male aeolian mages.

Anyway, was that spell supposed to answer Aisha's question about his energy to channel? What was he trying to accomplish with this?

“. . . Was that it?” Aisha asked.

That [Tailwind] wasn't going to do anything against the door—if that was what it was for.

“Do you have enough to get the door open?”

“I'm getting to it.” Fazl had an impatient tone.

“Oh, okay. Sorry.”

“You might want to get down.” Aisha could feel his grin without even looking.

Aisha glanced back, Fazl's smirk was gone. “Get . . . down?”

Fazl nodded.

Aisha kneeled to the ground. The floor here wasn't fancy polished tile, but boring stone, as if this place was directly cut from the ground and they did not do anything to it after.

“Further,” Fazl said.

Aisha rolled her eyes, she fell against the ground, belly-first. There was barely enough room here on the landing for her to lay down straight, she was like six-foot-something. An absolute behemoth for a woman. Why did Fazl need her to get down? This was so weird. Was it necess—

“[Squall's Ultimatum].”

A storm rushed above Aisha. It brushed against her robes angrily, almost tearing them to pieces. It was like being shoved into the tempest itself, except without the heat.

Aisha didn't bother putting her hands over her head, they'd probably be lacerated into oblivion.

Aisha opened her eyes and risked a look at the door.

The wind put dents into the metal as it thunked and groaned. The whole thing bent and twisted backwards as the relentless wind assaulted it.

“Well . . . if they didn't . . . know we . . . were here already . . . they certainly do . . . now,” Fazl said, gasping for breath.

“Fazl!”

“It . . . okay . . . I'm . . . fine.”

Aisha snuck a glance back.

Fazl grinned, then continued breathing like he hadn't had air for an hour.

Metal clattered against the stone floor. The door had completely separated from its hinges, from the lock . . . and from itself.

“Ha . . . Ha . . .” Fazl panted. “There you go, Princess.”

Fazl collapsed, passing out. Both of his spells dissipated into nothing. The air became normal again. Yay, no more relentless cutting.

Aisha pushed herself off the cold floor and dashed to Fazl. “Fazl!”

She brought out a hand to shake him . . . This was pointless. He'd be back in a minute or two.

Should she bring him with her? She needed her hands free in case . . .

Actually, it was probably fine to bring him.

Aisha momentarily ditched her staff and picked Fazl up in both arms.

Who's the princess now? Aisha's eyes gleamed.

She bent down enough to pick up her staff with her very limited arm reach. She turned and entered whatever was beyond the door, making sure not to trip on its remains. Which was harder than it sounded now that the bottom of her vision was obstructed by a guy in big robes. Why did they use so much cloth for mage robes?

Not a single thing illuminated the darkness down here. Nothing! How did the Prince or his lackeys even sew down here? Did anyone other than the Prince come down here? They hadn't come across his retinue of mages yet. Were they in on whatever the Prince was doing here too?

Aisha stepped further into this place. Her eyes had trouble adjusting to the black.

She couldn't tell how big the room was or where the door was or if she was going to stumble onto anything or—

Aisha collided with a wall. Cold. Stone.

Maybe there was a door?

Aisha practically petted the wall looking for a door handle or knob. This task was extra difficult with a hundred and twenty pounds of man and cloak resting in her arms.

Aha! Aisha's hand came upon something, after her fingers brushed a vertical crack in the wall. Heliux be blessed! A door! With a handle!

Aisha tugged on it.

Her expression flattened instantly.

Not another locked door! Why? It was almost like the Prince did not want anyone getting into his scary, dark, basement compound place. She did not have time to go looking for a key. She doubted that she would find one anyway. Fazl was still out cold, and the moment he woke up he wouldn't have the energy to cast anything strong enough to break down the door.

Hmm. It was just stone this time. Aisha had one option that she knew would work in a timely manner.

Aisha set Fazl against the ground and stabbed the bottom end of her staff at the wall—specifically, the crack between the door and the wall.

Her blunt metal rod slowly dented and chipped the stone.

She eventually found the lock mechanism and beat it up too.

She tugged on the door. It parted from the wall for her.

Yes!

Small amounts of light shone from the new crack.

She opened the door fully.

A tunnel revealed itself, carved directly from the earth and sloped downward, heading deeper. It looked like it eventually opened up into some sort of room. Aisha couldn't see much of it from here. Llumifruits hung from the ceiling.

She glanced behind her. Fazl was still out. The fruits bathed the room behind in a faint light. It was completely bare. No crates. No furniture. Nothing.

Aisha stepped towards Fazl and set her staff aside, again. She reached out with free hands to pick up Fazl and then princess-carry him.

Her hands got maybe a foot—yeah, yeah, stupid measuring system—away from Fazl when he moved.

“H—huh?” Fazl rubbed his groggy eyes. “Aisha!”

Aisha held out her hands for a moment longer, looked down at them, then put one to her side. She left one hand out, offering it to help Fazl up.

Fazl held onto his staff with his left hand. He took Aisha's hand with his right. He had lost his crutches at some point, probably outside the palace.

Fazl stood, then nearly fell over. He put all his weight against Aisha to stay standing.

“Ah. Right. I'm going to have to fly.”

“Do you have the energy for that?” Aisha's face creased with concern. Fazl might not be able to follow her deeper.

Fazl shook his head. “Sorry.”

Aisha’s shoulders slumped. She would have to continue alone. Not that she was particularly worried . . . but . . . it was so dark! Not to mention atrocities were probably just out of sight.

“I'll stay here and watch. I'll cast [Flight] and venture deeper as soon as I'm rested enough.”

Aisha nodded once. It would probably take hours for Fazl to be rested enough. Maybe less if he could eat and drink. Aisha doubted his ability to raid the palace for food. Maybe he could intimidate them since he has wiped out the royal guard? . . .

“Good luck. Only Heliux knows what the Prince is doing down here.”

“I don't even think Heliux knows,” Aisha muttered. “They're not omniscient.”

Some people would probably consider Aisha's statement blasphemous. Yet, it was the truth. Things would be very different if Heliux wasn't all-everything—seeing, powerful, good . . . all of that.

“Well, I'll be seeing you,” Aisha grabbed her staff, turned, and headed into the tunnel. She waved at Fazl without looking back.

The tunnel opened into a strange room, illuminated by sparse llumifruits on the ceiling. The cave was square, carved from the earth and not a natural cave. A pathway rimmed the entirety of the room, as well as criss-crossed through the middle of the room like intersecting stone bridges. This left four depressions in the room—or one big one, with the bridges over it.

Water filled up the depression, like an underground reservoir of water.

Huh. This should have been used and drained a long time ago. Why was it still here? Did the Prince have the luxury of a pond for looks?

It made the whole room humid.

At each of the other walls of the rooms, directly aligned with the bridge walkways, was a doorway.

Choices. Aisha had enough choosing where to look already. Was there something she could do to reduce her choices? . . .

Aisha tapped into her mana-sense. Maybe the Prince's retinue was down here. Temporal mages had to be among them, and maybe they had put up bubbles. Aisha thought about temporal mages specifically, because she doubted the use of thermal or aeolian mana down here. They weren't as likely to be passively used—but maybe they had been used for something else. Also, maybe she could trace any necrotic mana from the Prince, if the librarian was correct.

Hmm . . .

There was maybe something beyond the opposite doorway. Aisha couldn't identify it. It was distant and foreign. Was it necrotic mana?

Aisha continued through the room, walking along the cute stone bridge atop the reservoir. How could this peaceful room be situated before death and dark deeds?

Aisha opened this door without issue. Another hallway carved from rock greeted her, a strand of llumifruits lit the way. Aisha moved through this hall.

To another door.

Aisha put her hand on the doorknob. She turned it, but did not open it.

Had the Prince given up on locking the doors? After a seemingly impenetrable metal door and then a stone door for good measure, perhaps he hadn't seen cause to lock any more.

Or maybe Aisha was stepping into a trap.

Aisha opened the door.

The smell hit her in the face harder than any punch could. She put her hand up to her face, pinching her nose.

The smell . . .

Decrepit. Dead. Decay. As well as other foul things. Human waste.

Aisha immediately wanted to turn around.

Llumifruits revealed metal cages—on the ground, on tables, hanging from chains on the ceiling.

What? . . .

This wasn't real.

Aisha was hallucinating.

Yeah, that was it.

She had used too much mana. She had a long day. A long couple of days.

She had just seen Rafiq's corpse the other day.

A great companion had died.

Murdered.

She was seeing things. She had buckled under her kills. She had fallen prey to the things eating away at her mind.

That had to be . . .

Aisha stepped into the room, legs shaking. She looked down at the floor. There was a path straight and clean, between the two rows of cages on the flanks of the long and wide corridor.

Of course, another door stood at the end.

Aisha did not see any children. Nor any older individuals. Nothing rested in the cages. Empty of people or bodies.

Nobody cried. Nobody called out. Nobody screamed. Nobody spoke in hushed whispers. There was nobody.

Just Aisha and the cages.

Tap. Tap. Tap.

Footsteps. Boots against stone. Echoing in the empty cavern rooms dug out from nothing.

Aisha whirled around, holding her staff in both hands like she wielded some sort of two-handed sword.

Aisha almost called out to Fazl. It couldn't have been him. He couldn't walk. Not like that, anyway. The stepping didn't sound like that of someone with one leg.

Nobody walked the hallway.

A chill rippled down Aisha's spine. She felt goosebumps rising on her skin. A shiver shook her already shaking body.

She turned and continued down the room.

Tap. Tap. Tap.

Stepping again. Faint. Behind her. Not near, though. Further back. Like in that reservoir-foyer room. Maybe even further elsewhere. Maybe not even physically there. Not close. Not far. Not from anywhere where Aisha should have heard.

Aisha hurried. Those footsteps urged her forward. She didn't want to stick around. What if they caught up to her? Were they doing that? Was that her goal?

She put her hand on the doorknob.

Tap.

Tap.

Tap.

Footsteps.

Like they were right behind her. Like someone was breathing down her neck. Like someone could lift a finger and touch her without outstretching. A presence far too close.

Please be nobody. Or at least, Fazl playing a joke on her. She would scream. Then she would maybe yell at Fazl. Then laugh.

At least it would be someone she knew . . . or thought she knew . . . enough.

Aisha turned, slowly.

Nothing.

Nobody.

Vacant air.

She once again faced the cages at the flanks. An empty path between them, towards the door she had come from. Nobody.

Aisha felt a breeze blow through the room. It brushed against her robes. It felt cold on her face.

Heliux!

Her heart beat like mad. Her breathing would not relent.

She hated this. She hated this. She wanted to run. To flee. To go back to Fazl. To have him come with her. For support. Or maybe to leave this place completely and never come back.

Heliux spare me. Heliux please save me.

Aisha turned back to the door. Hand on the doorknob. She turned and opened it.

Aisha's face went wide with shock. Her legs gave out, she fell to her knees.

She prayed to and cursed Heliux in the same thought.

She wasn't even religious.

The sight demanded at least as much.