Fools Paradise

A knock was heard on the door leading to the Headmasters room. Windson looked up from his work and replied.

"Enter."

Walking in was Steel followed by Wittorf and Nil. Apologizing for his interruption Steel quickly explained the situation to Windson. Who looked over Nil from his desk.

"Interesting, so he has no memory of who he was and he also contains no grimoire?"

"That is correct sir, I thought maybe you might be able to help."

"I do know quite a bit about Familiars but this is brand new to me. It would see we will need to make a pseudo grimoire for the boy until Nil's manifests."

A pseudo grimoire? Wittorf had never heard of something like that before. What kind of book was it? Question after question plagued the young boys mind and it seemed as if no answers were going to be given any time soon.

The Headmaster stood up from his desk and walked over to one of the many bookshelves that lined his office. He pulled out a plain white book with no defining marks on it and returned to his desk. Opening the book he turned it around and pushed it towards Wittorf.

"Sign your name here and use this for now."

There was a black line on the inside cover of the book that seemed to be the only thing on there. Wittorf grabbed a pen from off the desk and wrote his name in it. The book began to glow as his name disappeared from the line. Slowly the book began to take a new shape. A slightly blue cover with yellow pages.

"From this point forward you will use this book to record your spells. Any spells you currently know will be inscribed in this book. Take good care of it and be sure not to lose it. A mages grimoire is his life and history."

"Yes sir, thank you very much."

"Now onto what to do about your Familiar, Nil was it?"

"Yes."

"You don't remember anything at all?"

"No, nothing."

"For now I would like you to stay by Wittorfs side and work hard regain your memories. Maybe go for a walk. Fresh air always did me good when I was having troubles."

Wittorf and Nil give a slight bow and head out of the room. Steel closes the door and turns to Windson.

"Sir, This is unusual to say the least. What could this mean?"

"Nil huh, so it seems he even forgot his real name."

"Sir?"

"Oh it's nothing. I would keep a close eye on those two Steel. Keep him safe alright?"

"Yes sir!"

Walking down the hallways Wittorf and Nil are silent. This was new to him, he honestly did not know what to say to his new partner. Nil was looking around at all the classrooms they passed. Each one filled with students and some with familiars as well. He was amazed at all the different people and felt comfortable here. As if he had lived here before.

Continuing to the front gates Nil spots two familiar faces. He smiles and waves to them. Wittorf looks disappointed. He was not sure why but he always seemed to find this guy waiting at the front gates. Was his specialty just annoying people? Caiman and Dea are walking in from the front gates.

They notice Nil waving towards them and promptly ignore him as they continue walking by. Nil stops waving mid way as they pass him by. He looks at them confused and a little irritated. He looks at Wittorf who is walking way ahead of him now. Catching up to his master he is even more confused.

"Wasn't that one of your classmates?"

"It was."

"Why didn't he wave back?"

"Because he is pompous."

"Oh, I didn't know that."

"Where are we headed?"

"I was thinking we could go wander around town for a bit."

"Oh that's a wonderful idea, maybe it will help!"

They leave the academy and make their way into the city. Nil is amazed by all the people walking around. Each one of them seemed like they had somewhere to be. The buildings were beautiful, their slightly worn bricks and the dirty wood planks gave them a feeling of being homey. He felt so comfortable here. Why was that? he had never been anywhere like this before as far as he knew.

They continued walking around and after a few hours decided to rest at a cafe. Sitting down Wittorf ordered a simple lunch and Nil copied him. Not really knowing what he liked. As they ate Nil looked around the room and saw all kinds of people eating. Even saw some humanoid familiars eating with their partners. He looked over at Wittorf who seemed to be lost in thought.

He knew it must be bothersome to have to help someone like him. He wished he could give some advice to his master. He felt it was almost an obligation to give advice. But what kind of advice could he give when he knew nothing?

"Everything is going to be alright."

"I know I just can't stop thinking about what we could do to help you,"

He continued to eat his lunch quietly. When suddenly something pinged his attention. He looked around to see what it was. He looked at Wittorf who did not seem to notice anything. What was this feeling of dread Nil felt. There was someone watching them but from where?

Nil bent low and whispered to Wittorf.

"Somethings wrong."

"No, I am just thinking."

"No, I mean someone is watching us."

Looking concerned for Nil, Wittorf looks around and then back at Nil.

"What do you mean? I don't see anyone watching us."

"I feel it, something is off."

"Should we leave?"

"It might be best if we do."

They slowly get up, pay their tab and head out the door. Walking carefully as to not draw attention they start to make their way back to the academy. As they do so they both begin to feel an uneasy presence it takes them a second to realize that the world had stopped moving around them. The town was silent and the people were not moving. They looked around and saw a small hooded figure staring at them.