The Knights of Osculum High

"I just hate burdening your staff with him. He has become so difficult since his --," Mr. Forrester leans forward pushing up on the bridge of his glasses and covers his mouth with a hand, "-- a certain Grandmother Willow passed away," says Mr. Forrester as he retreats to his perfect posture.

Cole, his mouth in awe, follows his father's posture to its unbelievable position, "I'm right here."

"I see," says Dean Fafnir as she leans forward and opens a manilla folder and pulls from it a packet.

She flips through a few pages as Cole roll's his eyes. His father taps him on the arm. Cole coddles the strike with a timid look of frustration and sinks into his chair. Dean Fafnir flips a few pages over the staple, "Interesting," she says, as she puts the packet on the desk and gets up from her seat.

Dean Fafnir walks over to Mr. Forrester and mildly smiles, "Mr. Forrester you have nothing to be concerned about. Cole is like many others here at Osculum. In a few weeks, you won't even recognize your little Cole here."

Dean Fafnir leans on her desk her arms folded. A calm and subtle woman walks in. The slit of her eyes only showing enough iris to admit to her intentions. She smiles the whole walk over to Mr. Forrester as she gradually pulls him up by her chair.

"Counselor Ryu, will take you to complete the registration and answer any remaining questions while I and Cole here have a little... chat," says Dean Fafnir giving Cole a gristly smile.

Cole's finger danced through the whole bit to the beats of conventional hip-hop all the while Dean Fafnir leans against her mahogany desk of mystery. Counselor Ryu finally gets Mr. Trent out of the office and peacefully closes the door. Dean Fafnir watched closely as the murky shadow of Counselor Ryu changes into a haunting unrecognizable figure.

Mr. Forrester screams loudly for a brief second.

Cole takes out his air pods. "What was that?"

Dean Fafnir smirks at Cole and bends toward him getting really close to his face.

"This institution is named in honor of the function of a sponge," says Dean Fafnir, "We take adolescent troublemakers like yourself and absorb them into the fold. You will pass through any loop, hoop, whole, a ring of fire, and trial presented to you or there won't be a next place for you to go," Dean Fafnir sternly says, as she walks back to her desk and reaches for several medium-size books.

Dean Fafnir hands them to Cole.

"Was that a threat? Like can't I call the cops on you? Where is my Dad?" asks Cole as he shifts uncomfortably in his chair toward the door.

"Mr. Forrester! You will adhere to the rules here at Osculum High, and you will not question any enforcer, administrative personnel, professor, or... me. Is that clear?" asks Dean Fafnir firmly.

Cole tosses up an eyebrow with a concerned look on his face as he grasps the collar of his exotically colored windbreaker, "Yeah, I guess."

Dean Fafnir sighs dropping her before falling back into her chair and presses her fingers together in an observant manner.

"We'll work on your manors later, but for now meet with our student valedictorian and student liaison miss Matty. She is waiting for you in the hall. No distractions" says Dean Fafnir as she squints toward Cole projecting her concerns onto him so strongly Cole turned away.

Cole closes the door to the dean's office and is shoulder-struck by a certain strong, well-dressed, and stylish red-haired girl. Coles books, bags, and air pods hit the floor rolling away from each other.

"Dude, are kidding... me," says Cole, as his tone turns mesmerized by her appearance.

"Sorry, things are busy in these halls so it's good to know where you're going. Wait. Are you -- Cole Forrester?" asks the red-headed firecracker.

"Huh," studders Cole as he races and scrambles to get his things.

Among his hand searching, he picks up a phone and dispels from one woman's eye concert and looks down at it.

"This is my dad's phone? Why --," says Cole as the offensive line girl interrupts.

"The first rule at Osculum High, noobie is no cell phones, sorry. They are nasty energetic emitters that completely harm the vibes around you. We use hardlines in the student call center through that door," says the female student.

"I'm sorry what is your name again? Also, nobody tells me what I can't have or do. It messes with my vibes," snaps Cole as he picks up that last of his books. j

"Of course I'd love to formally introduce myself with such manners because you were so chivalrous upon running into the Osculum valedictorian and maiden of ceremony for the Merlin Historical Trivia team," she replies, as she firmly places her hands upon her hips with lush style. She poises forward and extends her hand.

"Merlin what now?" asks Cole as he takes her hand slowly.

"My name is Matty Galahad, and now you've made me late. I hate being late. You will find that at Osculum being late is a matter of life or death," says Matty as she pulls Cole up to her level, well almost her level. Matty and Cole share an awkward look. Psssh, scoff's Matty as she stomps forward.

Cole turns toward the door to see what looks like Counselor Ryu sucking in a lizard tongue before slamming the door shut. Cole cocks his brows and clings to the strap on his school bag and rushes off.

"Hey, wait up," shouts Cole.

Cole bumps into a shorter student with slick back hair that looks more like spikes, a pointed soft nose like a marsupial, and a chattery laugh which is paused by Cole's undeniable gawking. Cole is shoulder-swiped by another student, a female, with a fox-like ambiance about her giving him weird stares. Her lizard-like friend walking with gives him a really aggressive resting-fang-face.

"What is he looking at," grumbles another student the size of two grown men.

Cole looks around to realize the halls have become twice as large, the lockers are dark and contemporary medieval, and the students were all, "Monsters!"

Cole runs down the hall right as Matty punches between a few Centaurs butting horns grabbing him by the collar of his windbreaker. She throws him up against a locker next to Nurse Soarheart's door. Matty gives him an empirical glare.

"There are monsters in the hallway's," says Cole as he hyperventilates, then, suddenly his eyes grow wider, "the hallways are so -- Why? The girl with lizard face. Oh! The giant Gerber baby with his cheeks hanging out of his obviously sown together overalls," says Cole panicking.

Matty shoves her hand with a tissue she pulled out of her chest pocket over Cole's mouth. His mumbles finally fade.

"Like I said cell phones, conventional technology, and other connected human devices are like realities make-up to the world outside the veil you came from. Now where are you from and what you're made of that is a real question that needs to be answered," says Matty as she removes the tissue covered grip on his breathing hole.

"I said where is my pixie dust, Merla. You promised that my Shefling nails, Cobble toad skulls, and butterfly wings would make a bag of genuine pixie dust," screams a large tombstone headed teen in sweatpants and a plain white shirt.

Merla stands calmly under the upset boys' inferior tantrum, "Well, yes, but I also said the measurements had to be right. You said you brought several pounds of nails, a few Cobble toad skulls, and a handful of butterfly wings, but you brought me Hobblet toad skulls and Flutter Moth wings," she replies her eyes dancing invisible data in her mind.

Cole knocks Matty's hand away and drops his bag.

"Hey, leave her alone," says Cole.

"Cole?" screams Matty as she rolls her eyes, "I'm going to be so late for fencing class, ugh," she mumbles to herself. She grabs his bag and walks after him.

"Kick his human butt, Pete," says a ratty little kid dressed like a railroad worker and big buck teeth that make a whistling sound when he speaks.

"So, you're name is Pete. Leave her alone and pick on someone your own size," says Cole as he shoves Pete away from Merla.

"It's really not a problem. I do his homework for Coach Bloodstones herbology class so he can't hurt. I just haven't succumbed to playing that card yet," whispers Merla in Cole's ear.

"Right, so you're good then?" asks Cole as he leans on the locker behind Merla.

Merla leans back over to him, "Yeah, but you might not be."

Cole looks a Merla with a deep-seated smirk of disapproval as Pete smiles and grows in size on command. His muscles become more toned as his ligaments extend causing him to grow taller and wider. Pete's eye turns yellow then the craziest thing happens that makes Cole turns white. Pete's skin changes into a sandy cement grey.

"I take it you're that new nobody all the teachers been crying about since last week. I guess I'll have to introduce myself... for the last time. Nothing personal," says Pete as he effortlessly grabs up Cole by his windbreaker.

"Mr. Goyle. That is hardly the way to treat a new student and on his first day," says a cute petite woman with an angel voice in a conservative pair of scrubs.

Pete melts at the sight of her as she stares into his meek yellow eyes shimmering exuberance into his angry tunnel vision. Pete drops Cole and walks gently off in a state of bliss and hypnosis.

"Do you need medical attention Cole," asks his sweet petite savior.

"I'm sorry who are you and what the hell did you just do to that... that thing," asks Cole as he clutches tight to the lockers behind him in an act of desperation to escape this nightmare.

"Oh, Cole is harmless at his core. Just misunderstood as are a lot of us --," says the sweet lady before Cole injects.

"I found my Dad's phone in the hallway that half-English speaking Counselor with a lizard tongue was sniffing me in the hallway, giant Gerber babies, a -a gargoyle, and what are you some type of mind-bending witch?" says Cole.

The whole entire hallway including Pete laughs hysterically at Cole as he pushes himself down into a kneeling position. He looks around frantically. The voices don't stop in his head. The laughs they ping louder and louder jumping from synapsis after synapsis like vines taking hold of his brain. Cole lifts his head in a fit of rage and shouts with incredible ferocity he lurches his arms forward as they turn to giant vines fling toward the angelic witch-lady. She smirks.

"Cal'vine Re'o'flec'teos!" shouts a mysterious person from the crowd.

Everyone in the hall flinches but opens their eyes admonished at the sight of Cole's transmogrification. The sap-covered opacity of his vine-like biology manifesting. Matty, in total awe, alongside Merla walks a little closer toward Cole.

"Whoa," says Matty.

"It is unbelievable. An actual tre-," says an excited scholarly Merla.

"That will be all girls," says Dean Fafnir as she walks through the crowd Mr. Forrester at her side.

"Hello, son," says Cole's father as Cole remains stuck from the incantation spoken moments earlier. "I apologize for the theatrics, but I had to be sure you had the gift of a real Osculum student before leaving you here alone. By the way, this isn't a typical private school. I have to say I'm so proud right now," says Mr. Forrester as he snaps his fingers.

The vines disappeared as Cole resolved to his old form. Cole grabbed his throat, his hands, his arms, head, buttox, and looked in his jeans, "Dad what the hell was that?"

Mr. Forrester walks over to Cole and places his hand on his shoulder and says, "son you're the sacred tree of magic."