”DANG IT!”
A blinding flash and a sparkling whirl of light later, and suddenly a skinny teenager appeared on the far end of the entrance hall, chest heaving and fingers curved into claws as he staggered across the teleportation platform, clearly having been through it. Instead of facing the main hall, Klarion glared furiously at some random point on the inside of the teleportation chamber, blinking hard to regain the use of his eyeballs.
Ugh! What had Snipe called that stuff he’d injected him with— parabolas? Well, whatever it was, it sucked! At least the teleportation seemed to have cleared off the worst of the drug’s numbing effect, though a hint of nausea now churned in his gut. Magical teleportation was much easier on the senses, that was for sure.
Dimly, Klarion became aware of the awkward, echoing silence that seemed to follow his arrival. Breathing hard through his nose, the kid slowly craned his head around, squinting as he struggled to make sense of his new surroundings. Why was everything still so stupidly bright? Seriously, it was like standing on the surface of a freakin’ star!
The lobby appeared unassuming enough, at least. It looked sort of like an opera house, really, with a soft velvet rug leading off from the teleporters and spilling over glistening white marble floors. Tilting his head back as he cautiously edged off from the platform, Klarion sneered up at the detailed depictions of cherubim and nymphs scattered all across the wide, sparsely-illuminated ceiling, the whole of it richly painted in gold leaf and luxurious gemstone hues.
What was that saying? Living in the labs of luxury? This certainly looked like it.
“Sir?”
Klarion startled, his black dress shoes scuffing loudly against the polished tile floor. He cringed as the sharp squeak echoed down the corridor, bouncing off the various other examples of Baroque interior design tastefully littered about the space. Looking down, Klarion realized that he’d actually veered sharply away from the rug leading down the main corridor, instead creeping along the furthest edge of the wall like a house spider hoping to escape a slipper-wielding arachnophobe.
Turning to look behind him, Klarion was mildly irritated to find an attendant in uniform standing there, clipboard in hand and giving off the most patiently helpful vibes. Their long blonde hair was tied back in a smart braid, a pair of thick black spectacles perched precariously on the end of a round button nose, and their light brown skin was about as sallow and washed-out as his own— the sort of color you’d expect to see on a corpse, not a living, breathing person. They were also painfully short, the top of their head just barely reaching the bottom of his chin, something the witch boy became dreadfully aware of when the well-dressed attendant bounced up onto the tips of their toes to look him in the eye.
Glancing down at their breast pocket, he noted a little glitter-lined tag, the name ‘Coda’ scrawled across it in cheerful bubble letters, along with a helpful set of pronouns. Eugch. The glitter was too much. It was enough cutesy nonsense to make any witch boy sick.
“You’re Klarion the Witch Boy, aren’t you?” Coda asked, reaching up to primly adjust her glasses. Her bright yellow eyes flicked over him from head to foot, a slight grin brimming on her lips. “Congratulations, you’re the first contestant to arrive at our handsome facility! I’m Coda, it’s lovely to meet you. Would you like a quick welcome tour? Maybe a rundown of what to expect from the main event?”
Naturally, Klarion didn’t say anything in response to that. The girl’s chipper voice did things to his head. Instead, he just staaaared at her… and began to slowly sneak away, keeping his back firmly glued to the wall as he went. Like hell was he going to expose any weaknesses to these… these… weirdos!
“Um? Are we starting the tour?” asked Coda, doggedly following along behind him, strait-laced even when pursuing an irritable witch boy. “Please watch your step, sir, there’s a— oh, okay, you’ve got it…”
Glaring as he continued to edge away, carefully side-stepping around a few decorative potted plants and cushioned, velvet-lined benches, Klarion managed to reach the end of the corridor leading to another, much longer hallway. A narrow-eyed, hunted look on his face, he cast a quick glance over the rest of the main entrance that he’d been ignoring up until this point, and noted a main desk with a whole crowd of additional attendants standing there, all of them also staring at him.
He looked back at Coda, trying to think of what to say. Something biting, for sure. An insult that would cut her right down to the bone! Except, all that came out was—
“Noooo thank youuuu,” Klarion said slowly, his pupils darting around her face, his mouth oddly enunciating the words like they were completely foreign to him. “Excuse me.”
As he turned and skulked off in a random direction, Klarion’s face assumed a pinched expression, like he’d just bit into something sour. ’Thank you? Thank you?!’ What was he thinking?
Meanwhile, Coda merely watched him go, a mildly bemused expression on her face. “Maybe I should’ve told him about the elevators…”