The Gate

Selena Whiteleaf, one of Jacobs only real friends and one of the few people he would actually have missed after leaving. They had been friends since the second grade, the poor girl could never understand why those around her acted so odd when she would want him around, she was popular and he didn't want to be. Selena immediately took a seat next to him "surprise! sorry I didn't tell you but I wanted to see the look on your face, we're going to be classmates isn't that great!" Her excitement was a little infectious to those around her with jacob especially happy, "i hope we're in the same class but if not we can always study together. Do you want to apply for a shared dorm room?" he was looking her in the eye but at the mention of the rooms she got bright red and even the other girls looked a little flushed. Only Laia seemed like she was as confused by this reaction as Jacob was and as for the boys most of them were just staring at jacob like he had cursed them all. "Sure Jay, if we do that they might want to pair us in class too" she paused for a moment then looked him in the eye again "do you think you'd help me practice my magic again?"

Ice magic the Whiteleaf clans element usually passed by blood. Her family taught her to use her magic but she still has trouble controlling it, her biggest weakness is her control over a spell her father called the Ice Prison where a target is restrained using ice magic and the level of the restraint depends on the level of the spell cast. On the lowest end the prison is little more than frost on the limbs slowing them, all the way to a block of ice around the body. The spell has danger though because should the caster use a spell that will be to strong for the target to handle it could shatter their limbs or even their whole body, a fatal spell if used incorrectly. Ever since they were ten years old jacob had helped selena control her magic because he was unique, Ice magic didn't harm him the way it did to others. Spikes and blades would still be sharp but the ice itself? Nothing more than a pleasant chill.

They say time flies when having fun and this was the case for the rest of the ride as the more talkative freshman discussed their expectations for the next few years. Eventually the vehicle made its final stop and their demonic escort opened the door for them revealing the the structure that many of them had never been inside, the Gateway, built around a space where the worlds converged and within a specific gate was the path to Evergreen academy. Named for the trees that were found at each world the gate connects, secure in a space within the gate Evergreen Academy was a rare instance of a gate that connected three of the five worlds; Earth, Heaven and Limbo. Jacob didnt know much about the other worlds aside from the basics like the races that called them home. Once inside the building Jacob noticed that on both sides of the gate practically hiding in the shadows there were strange figures that looked so bizarre and unnatural that even with the magical beasts and the literal demonic beings around them daily he still felt that nothing so unnatural could be more than a statue.

Looking around to see what the others thought about them jacob realized the other children appeared to have not noticed the statues and then he realized why, everyone was to busy looking at everything they could from the building itself to the gates but most of all they were staring at the multitude of races going between gates. Vampires, Ghouls, Ghosts even an Undead Lord (more commonly called a lich) were all present from one gray gate, the connection between earth and limbo, another gate appeared to be processing those from a green portal leading to the world of magic Elysium and although most appeared to just be mages there was one woman who had caught the eye of many because she was a member of the Fair folk but the final two gates had no travelers to process at all, a white gate and a red gate heaven and hell.

This city had practically boomed in the fifty years since portals began to open across the world and this portal was a special place because it was able to connect all five of the worlds one of the few portals on earth that could do so and this was what made Evergreen so exciting, as one of only ten academies to exist across the five worlds that served as a place where they all came together it was an exclusive place that did not accept all applications. Most likely the children in jacobs group would be the only humans born on earth in the freshman class.

Selena was attempting to drag jacob closer to the center of the massive building where a single massive arch stood open on both sides with a swirling colorless gate within. It was possible to see through to the other side but the view was like looking at the bottom of a rippling lake. Their guide led them forward to this central gate "Now students i know that for all of you this should be the first time you have entered a gateway, if you have been through one consider yourself lucky because of your families position now i want each of you to line up and step through one at a time. When the last one has safely passed through i will enter" he looked over each of us and waited. "What are we supposed to do on the other side just sit and wait?" Nathan asked this while he was stepping up with the rest. "Once through another of the evergreen faculty will be there to direct you and wait with you for the rest of us. The only rule that you must follow at all times is to never show physical hostility towards anyone," The tone of the guide made the children shuffle in place "Another piece of advice i can give is that you shouldn't focus on what you see in the gate just keep walking forward and you'll be fine." Each child began to step through one at a time some looking nervous others excited. Selena stopped right before she went through to look at jacob and smile then stepping through herself. Jacob being the last one took a step forward, his body taking an involuntary breath like he was going underwater and on the other side he found.... nothing. A black void with no sign of the other side and absolute silence, the kind of silence that begins to smother those used to the noise of the city. Within this void jacobs heart slowly picked up speed anxiety grew and each step felt like it only made these things worse until he was racing through, his heart beating as fast as his feet pounding on the featureless black surface beneath him. Eventually he saw a speck of light but this did not give him the hope he thought it would 'did i die? a light at the end of a dark tunnel i dont like this at all' jacobs thoughts swirled around until a voice pierced the silence "my beloved boy" he stopped dead in his tracks listening and spinning around to find the source of the voice but the void was beginning to brighten and he saw figures around him. His panic only skyrocketed as he fell to his knees "Stay away!" he screamed shielding his face, the warped sounds and sights slowly becoming clearer until he saw the other children and the guide with selena holding him in the ground. "What happened? Where's the room" he was completely confused and the looks he was getting were becoming embarrassing so he stood up. "You came out and you had this glazed look in your eye, you wouldn't react to what we said and he told us to make sure you didn't hurt yourself. Are you okay jay?" Selena was very worried for him but he was more focused on the other adult standing with their original guide, a woman with white skin black hair pulled into a braid and deep red irises, a vampire. "What you experienced was a gate hallucination, the gate will create a path that the individual can understand because the true path is very confusing going directly through the barrier between worlds. Think of a gate as an underwater tunnel."

The group was interrupted from their conversation by a sudden yell across the changer, "how dare you touch me you filthy halfblood! i should kill you for that!" across the room from a gray portal was a vampire looking down at a cowering girl, he appeared to be fifteen or sixteen meaning he was in his second semester, the girl looked like a pretty typical vampire aside from one feature and that was her pointed ears. "Where are his handlers? that boy will get himself in serious trouble for acting out in a gate zone" the female vampire began to walk to the others of her kind to correct the young man but jacob had seen something that chilled him to the bone and he ran forward to grab her. "Wait! the statues are looking at him dont go over there i have a bad feeling!" Jacob had watched as suddenly every strange statue by each gate suddenly turned their heads to look at the the shouting student. The vampire looked at him strangely because she was confused by these words, "what statues?" and this left Jacob so shocked he lost his grip on her "do you mean you can't see them?" but as he was about to say more a loud smack was heard from the young vampire striking the girl to the horror of every adult in the room. "you idiot boy!" the female vampire with jacob screeched fighting back tears as everyone witnessed the reason for the one rule in a gate zone, for the first time in nearly thirty years an act of violence had been done and the hundreds of students witnessed a young vampire collapse to the ground with his head a few feet away the severed neck writhing with ghostly black flames and standing over the body was the glimpse of a tall figure as black as night, but one boy saw everything. Jacob had witnessed what he believed was a statue of grotesque art suddenly move simply walking to the boy and a bladed tail casually slid through his neck. He ran over to the halfling vampire who was staring down at the body in shock before releasing a piercing shriek collapsing to her knees "damian no! please brother dont leave me!" she was trying to shake the bodies arm when jacob pulled her away staring the beast straight in the eye, to the others it was simply a concerned student but to the beast it was a young man who could do something it hadnt expected, he saw it and this brought a smile to the beasts face. Fear making him feel like ice had been dumped into his veins prompted him to pull her to safety with more urgency "come on before it kills you too!" Throughout this entire event the female vampire stood with her fellow teacher the demonic guide and for the first time she felt shock "zathar, can that boy see the hunters? who in the hells is he?"