No one moved immediately after that.
The words soon had been said, but soon was one of those dangerous words adults liked to use when they didn't want to explain anything.
William stayed where he was for a moment, fingers resting against the table, staring at the surface like answers might be hidden in the wood grain.
They weren't.
Kai broke the silence first.
"So… when you say soon," he said carefully, "are we talking five minutes soon or emotionally damaging soon?"
His aunt stood from the table and picked up her cup.
"Ten minutes."
Kai blinked.
"…That is much worse."
William let out a quiet laugh despite himself.
That felt strange.
Laughing now.
After last night.
After figures in the dark, impossible movements, and being told he wasn't supposed to be awake yet.
But maybe that was how people survived strange things.
They laughed at them until they became manageable.
"Pack what you need," his aunt said. "Only what you can carry."
Kai frowned. "That sentence suggests danger."
"It suggests movement."
"It suggests I'm about to suffer."
Jonah was already standing.
Of course he was.
No questions. No complaints. No visible emotions.
Just movement.
William looked at him.
"You ever think about reacting like a normal person?"
Jonah paused near the doorway.
"No."
"That tracks."
William returned to his room.
This time, it felt less like his room and more like a place he used to know.
The bed.
The desk.
The cracked corner of the wardrobe door.
The window that never closed properly unless you shoved it.
Normal things.
Small things.
He grabbed a bag and threw in clothes without caring what matched what. A charger. A notebook. Two pens. Then paused.
His eyes drifted to a framed photo on the desk.
His parents.
Older than he remembered them now.
Smiling in the way adults smiled when they thought life was steady.
William stared at it for a long second.
Then picked it up and slid it carefully into the bag.
"…Yeah," he muttered. "You're coming."
He zipped the bag and left.
Kai was in the hallway with three shirts draped over one arm and clear panic in his eyes.
"I don't know what to bring."
"You own six shirts," William said.
"That's not the point."
"It's exactly the point."
"What if this place has a dress code?"
"You've never cared about dress codes."
"What if they care?"
"That would be their first mistake."
Kai pointed at him.
"You're being very calm for someone whose life became illegal yesterday."
"I'm not calm," William said. "I'm tired."
"That… actually makes sense."
Jonah walked past them carrying one small bag.
Kai stared.
"That's all you packed?"
"Yes."
"You scare me."
Jonah kept walking.
They regrouped at the front door.
His aunt wore the same calm expression she always seemed to wear now—as if panic was a language she no longer spoke.
"Stay close when we leave," she said.
Kai immediately raised a hand.
"Question."
"No."
"You didn't hear the question."
"I know the question."
"That feels disrespectful."
"It's efficient."
William almost smiled.
"Can we go before he develops a speech?"
"I already have one prepared," Kai said.
"No one doubts that," William replied.
His aunt opened the door.
Morning light spilled in.
Too ordinary.
Birds somewhere nearby. A car passing at the far end of the street. A neighbor sweeping outside like the world had not become suspicious overnight.
William stepped out first.
And felt it instantly.
The house behind them was still the same.
But he wasn't.
They walked.
Not far.
Just enough to leave familiar streets behind.
At first it was normal roads and normal houses. Then smaller roads. Then fewer houses. Then open land with tall grass and scattered trees.
Kai kept glancing around.
"I need it officially stated that this looks like the start of a kidnapping."
"No one kidnapped you," William said.
"I was emotionally coerced."
"You followed willingly."
"I was pressured by circumstance."
"That's still willingly."
His aunt didn't turn around.
"If either of you becomes more annoying, I'm leaving you here."
Kai looked offended.
"You can't say that in a field."
"She just did," William said.
Jonah, somehow, looked more awake than everyone else.
That was irritating.
They stopped near what looked like nothing.
Just an old concrete structure half-covered in vines. Broken walls. No roof. The remains of something forgotten.
Kai stared at it.
"…No."
William folded his arms.
"No what?"
"No chance this is the magical school. If we're joining ruins, I'm going home."
"You don't know where home is from here."
"That feels manipulative."
His aunt stepped toward the ruined wall.
"It's a cover."
"Of course it is," Kai muttered.
She placed one hand against the cracked concrete.
Nothing happened.
Then everything did.
The wall rippled.
Not shattered.
Not opened.
Rippled—like stone had suddenly remembered it was water.
The air changed. Pressure shifting softly around them.
William felt the pulse in his hand answer it.
Faint.
Real.
His aunt glanced back.
"Stay close."
Kai took one step backward.
"I would like to file an objection."
"Denied," William said, grabbing his sleeve and dragging him forward.
"This is how trust dies!"
Jonah walked through the wall first.
Naturally.
Without hesitation.
William hated how expected that was.
Then he stepped through after him.
The sensation lasted less than a second.
But it was enough.
Like falling sideways.
Like blinking through someone else's dream.
Then he was standing somewhere else entirely.
Kai stumbled out behind him.
"Nope," he said immediately. "Nope. Absolutely not."
William barely heard him.
Because ahead of them—
was the school.
It stretched across a valley that should not have existed.
Buildings of stone and glass stood among trees taller than any he'd seen. Bridges connected towers. Wide courtyards opened between structures. Water ran in narrow channels along the paths, glowing faintly beneath the surface.
Students moved everywhere.
Talking.
Walking.
Arguing.
Laughing.
As if impossible places were normal places.
William exhaled slowly.
"…Okay."
"That's all you have?" Kai said. "Okay?"
"I'm still loading."
Jonah said nothing.
But even he looked impressed.
Slightly.
Maybe.
It was hard to tell.
They followed his aunt down a stone path toward the main entrance.
Now people were noticing them.
Not openly staring.
But glancing.
Whispering.
The kind of attention that moved in waves.
"They know we're new," Kai said quietly.
"You're carrying three shirts in your hand," William replied.
Kai looked down.
"…That's fair."
A pair of students passed them.
One of them looked directly at William's hand, then quickly away.
He noticed.
That was new too.
At the base of the stairs stood two guards in dark uniforms.
Not military.
Not school staff either.
Something between.
One stepped forward.
"State purpose."
Kai raised a finger.
"To learn?"
William sighed.
His aunt handed over a metal token William hadn't seen before.
The guard looked at it, then at William.
Recognition flashed briefly.
Not friendly recognition.
The kind that meant information had arrived before they had.
"You're expected," the guard said, stepping aside.
Kai groaned softly.
"I hate when strangers know things."
"You'll hate a lot here," the second guard said.
That was the first almost-joke any adult had made since this started.
Kai looked encouraged.
"See? He likes me."
"No," said the guard.
"That's fair."
Inside, the main hall was enormous.
High ceilings crossed with beams of dark wood. Sunlight poured through long windows. Staircases curved upward on both sides. Students crossed the floor carrying books, bags, or objects William couldn't identify.
One of them was floating.
Kai saw it too.
"…No one else is reacting to that."
"Because it's normal here," William said.
"That sentence should not exist."
A woman approached them from the center of the hall.
Tall. Sharp-eyed. Efficient posture. The kind of person who could silence a room by entering it.
She stopped in front of his aunt.
"You're late."
"We were attacked."
"That would explain it."
Her eyes moved to William.
Then his hand.
Then his face again.
"This one?"
William frowned.
"This one has a name."
"Good. Keep it."
Kai coughed to hide a laugh.
William pointed at him.
"Don't encourage her."
The woman ignored both of them.
"I'm Mara," she said. "Student intake and discipline."
"That sounds threatening," Kai said.
"It should."
Kai took a respectful step backward.
Mara turned.
"Follow me."
There it was again.
No explanations. Just movement.
William was beginning to suspect everyone here had attended the same school of conversation.
They followed her through corridors lined with doors and passing students.
Some stared openly now.
One whispered, "That's him."
William heard it.
"…I hate that sentence," he muttered.
Mara spoke without turning.
"You'll hear worse."
"Wonderful."
They stopped at a smaller building connected to the main hall by a covered walkway.
"Temporary housing," Mara said. "Until assessments are complete."
Kai frowned.
"Assessments for what?"
"Yes," she replied.
"That wasn't a proper answer."
"It was enough."
William rubbed his forehead.
"Why does every adult here talk like a locked chest?"
"Because you haven't earned keys," Mara said.
That one landed harder than expected.
She opened the door.
"Inside."
William looked at Kai, then Jonah.
"…Well."
Kai sighed.
"If I die in a school hostel, tell people I was glamorous."
"No one would believe that," William said, and stepped in.