The Adorable Disaster Case

Rome didn't know where he found the energy. Maybe it was pride. Maybe it was the fact that she was climbing in heels and he refused to be shown up that badly. Maybe it was just pure spite.

He pushed through the burn, through the exhaustion, through the voice in his head screaming at him to give up and live on this random landing forever.

The stairs opened onto a wide platform. He stumbled onto it, dropped his bag, and collapsed against the stone railing, heaving for breath. His vision swam. His legs were jelly. He was pretty sure he was dying.

Then he looked up.

The city spread out below like someone had spilled a box of stars across the valley. New Pacifica glittered in the twilight, millions of lights coming to life as darkness crept in from the east. From up here, it looked beautiful. Impossibly beautiful. All the grime and danger and chaos compressed into something almost magical.

"Nice, right?" Amelia set down the carrier and leaned against the railing next to him. "I never get tired of this view."

Rome couldn't speak. His lungs were still trying to remember how oxygen worked.

"Turn around," she said softly.

He did.

His brain stuttered trying to process what he was seeing.

The campus sat on a plateau carved from the mountainside, a collision of eras and aesthetics that somehow worked. Traditional Japanese temples with sweeping tile roofs and paper screen walls stood beside structures of glass and steel that reflected the sunset in shades of gold and pink. Covered walkways connected the buildings, some made of ancient wood, others of modern concrete and metal, all of them winding through gardens that looked like they'd been designed by someone who understood beauty on a spiritual level.

An infinity pool stretched along the western edge, its water so still it perfectly mirrored the sky. Zen gardens with carefully raked sand sat next to what looked like a state-of-the-art combat arena. Stone lanterns cast warm light along pathways that curved between buildings. Everything was positioned to take advantage of the view, the architecture framing the city below like it was part of the design.

It didn't look real. It looked like concept art for a movie, too perfect to exist in three dimensions.

"Welcome to New Pacifica Shaman College, Rome Angelo." Amelia's voice carried genuine warmth. She gestured to the impossible campus behind her, the setting sun turning her hair into a crown of light. "Welcome to your new home."

Freya chose that moment to let out a plaintive meow.

The spell broke. Rome started laughing, still gasping for breath, the sound coming out half-hysterical. "My new home. Right. The magic boarding school on top of a mountain accessible only by the world's most sadistic staircase."

"There's also a service elevator for supply deliveries," Amelia admitted.

"You're insane."

"I prefer 'unconventional.'" She picked up his bag and slung it over her shoulder with zero effort. "Come on."

Rome grabbed Freya's carrier and followed, because what else was he going to do? His legs protested every step, his body screaming that it had reached its limit hours ago. He walked though.

"Questions?" Amelia asked without looking back.

"About a thousand."

"Pick your top three."

He thought about it. "One, what happens if I can't control this thing inside me?"

"Then I teach you until you can. Next."

"Two, what's stopping those Higher Ups from sending someone else to kill me?"

"Me. Also, basic self-preservation instinct on their part." She said it so casually. "Next."

"Three." Rome paused, trying to find the right words, his brow furrowing as he shifted Freya's carrier to his other hand. "What do you actually want from me? Why go through all this trouble for someone you just met?"

She stopped walking. Turned to face him fully, her silhouette sharp against the amber glow of campus lights beginning to flicker on. The playful mask slipped away, the casual smirk and teasing eyes giving way to something older and infinitely more complex underneath—an expression that carried the weight of centuries of knowledge.

"I want to see what you become when you stop being afraid of yourself," she said simply, her voice softening to something almost reverent. "I want to see what happens when that seal comes off completely and you actually learn to use what you are instead of running from it."

Her eyes flickered to the obsidian necklace, then back to his face with an intensity that made him want to step back. "I want to know if my theory is correct."

"What theory?" Rome asked, unconsciously touching the cold stone at his throat.

"That you're exactly what the shaman world needs, even if they're too stuck in their ways to see it yet."

Then Amelia's grin snapped back into place. "Also, you're going to make watching those old fossils squirm incredibly entertaining. That's a solid bonus."

She turned and continued down the path. Rome followed, his cat swearing softly in her carrier, his body exhausted, his mind reeling.

The sun dipped below the horizon. Lanterns flickered to life along the pathways, bathing everything in warm golden light. Through a gap in the buildings, he could see the city far below, all those lights representing normal people living normal lives, completely unaware of the world that existed just above their heads.

He was one of them yesterday. Now he was something else.

Amelia's voice drifted back to him as she walked. "Oh, and Rome? First impressions matter, even for adorable disaster cases like you."

"I hate you."

"No you don't. You're just tired and cranky. You'll feel better after a shower and some protein." She waved without turning around. "Your room is in the East Wing. Single occupancy, like I promised. Your cat will love the window seat."

Freya growled.

"Or not. We'll work on it."

Rome took one last look at the view, the impossible campus, the glittering city below. Somewhere down there, Jake's family was probably making funeral arrangements. Somewhere down there, his old life was being erased, covered up, explained away as a tragic accident involving a gas leak.

Up here, he was Rome Angelo, student of New Pacifica Shaman College. Ward of Amelia Beleth. Walking contradiction. Potential weapon of mass destruction.

The weird part? He was okay with it.

He hitched the carrier higher, ignored his screaming muscles, and followed the white-haired woman who'd somehow become his entire world in the span of a single day.