The palace gates were enormous. From the hill they looked impressive. Standing beneath them, they were overwhelming. I tilted my head back until my neck started to ache. They just kept going. Their width was somehow even stranger than their height. For a moment... They reminded me of a highway. ... Highway? The word slipped into my mind as naturally as breathing. Cars, traffic, streetlights, televisions. I knew exactly what they were. Yet I couldn't remember my own name. I looked back toward the road we'd come from. There were no cars, or telephone lines or anything modern. Only people walking between stone buildings. Then, in the distance... A horse pulled a wooden carriage across the cobblestones. The wheels rattled loudly enough that everyone turned to look. Where was I? What kind of world was this? Lynne glanced over her shoulder. "You coming?" I hurried after her. Don't panic. Panic never solved anything. There had to be doctors here. Someone who understood memory loss. Someone who could explain why I remembered highways... ...but not my own face. The entrance hall stole the thought from me. It wasn't simply large. It felt impossible. White marble pillars stretched toward a ceiling so high I almost lost sight of it. Sunlight poured through stained-glass windows, washing the floor in patches of blue, green and pink. A grand staircase curved upward in two sweeping flights around a fountain. Beyond it... Students stood in several orderly lines. Each line ended beneath a crystal sphere suspended over a circular platform. The spheres rotated slowly. Blue light drifted inside them like smoke trapped beneath glass. What were those? One student stepped onto the platform. The crystal brightened. Three colors appeared inside. Blue. Red. Yellow. They twisted around one another before settling into different proportions. An instructor glanced at the reading. "Thirty-four percent." He smiled. "Fairly balanced.You'll do well." The boy grinned and hurried toward a doorway beneath a green banner. The next student stepped forward. Then another. Then another. The process reminded me of airport security. Everyone moved without hesitation. Step forward. Wait. Get examined. Move on. Airport... Another word I understood. Another memory that belonged to someone... But apparently not to me. We shuffled forward. The closer I came, the more fascinated I became. Crystal balls? No... Not exactly. Crystal balls belonged to fortune tellers. These felt like engineered Machines. Well no, magical machines maybe? Strange. I don't know how I know the difference? Lynne stepped onto the platform. The crystal awakened, a swirl of blue red and yellow glittered in the orb The colors swirled before settling into three nearly equal portions. The instructor blinked. "Thirty-seven percent magical aptitude." He looked again. Several nearby instructors leaned over to see. "Remarkable." Another instructor smiled. "As expected of Miss Daniels." "The daughter of Victor Daniels." A few teachers nodded respectfully. Even instructors who hadn't been paying attention looked up for a moment. Lynne simply smiled politely. As though she'd heard it a hundred times before. She stepped toward the blue doorway. Then paused and looked back me. For a second, our eyes met. Then she continued inside. "My turn?" The instructor nodded. His eyes drifted briefly to the name pinned to my chest. Xu Xiaoxing. Something flickered across his face. Confusion. Only for a moment. He gestured toward the platform. I stepped beneath the crystal. Nothing happened. For one long heartbeat. Then... Blue. The other colors appeared for only an instant before the blue swallowed them completely. The sphere shone like a tiny blue sun. The instructor frowned. "...That's odd." He adjusted his spectacles. Looked at the crystal, looked at me, then back again. "I believe this one requires recalibration." His voice sounded calm. But his hands moved much faster than before. I stepped beneath a second crystal. It was all blue again The instructor stopped writing. Another teacher joined him. Then another. Whispers began spreading through the hall. "Did it break?" "No..." "Move him." "Try the third crystal." Students in nearby lines stretched their necks to watch. Even I knew something wasn't right. An elderly professor approached. His beard reached nearly to his waist. Deep blue robes swept softly across the marble floor. He didn't look at me first. He looked at the crystal. "Again." I stepped beneath the third platform. Silence. Nothing but blue. The glow filled the crystal completely. One instructor stared in disbelief. "A hundred percent..." His voice barely escaped his lips. "Impossible." "No living person has ever recorded a perfect affinity." "You would have to be made entirely of mana." The old professor remained silent. He continued watching the crystal, Finally he spoke. "The crystal has never produced such a reading." One of the younger instructors nodded nervously. "Exactly, Professor." The old man slowly shook his head. "No." His eyes never left the glowing sphere. "It has never reported such a reading." The younger instructor frowned. "I... don't understand." "Neither do I." The old professor admitted. "But there is a difference." Silence settled over the hall. No one seemed willing to argue with him. "What should we do?" asked the bespectacled instructor. The professor finally looked at me. Then at the glowing crystal once more. "What else? The crystal has placed him within the magical faculty. We should teach him accordingly." "But Professor...This has never happened. Shouldn't we investigate him?" The old man smiled faintly. "We shall. By teaching him." He looked down at the name pinned to my shirt. "Mr. Xu..." "I suspect this academy is about to learn as much from you...as you will from it." He stepped aside. Beyond him... The blue doorway stood open. The same doorway Lynne had entered. Relief settled quietly in my chest. At least I wouldn't be completely alone. I took several steps toward it. Then stopped. What was I doing? I didn't know these people, this country or if I was even from this world. For all I knew I was walking willingly toward my own execution. I looked around. Students laughed, teachers chatted, older pupils patiently helped younger ones find their way. It looked... Normal. Like the first day of school anywhere. I took a slow breath. If there were answers. They were waiting beyond this door So I stepped through.

Chapter 3