The Door in the Bathroom

As they all went separate ways, Cirrus turned to Stollas who was still looking up the window from which they had just crawled down. He approached him and touched his shoulder lightly. He turned to him startled.

"Mmhm?" Stollas whispered.

"Can you come with me to my house?" Cirrus asked gently, almost begging. Stollas wondered if the smell he had following him around since earlier had anything to do with it.

They walked with the moon by their side. Their shadows climbed and slid cliffs.

When they arrived, the front door was open. Cirrus continued to enter without a word, the silence worried Stollas, why could he not put words onto what he was about to show him. He had never before entered the house, not him nor the others.

The lights were off and yet you could see the shadow of Sullen seating in the same old leather chair. Looking down like a dressed-up wax doll.

Cirrus climbed the stairs and led in Stollas who was behind him. It was a bedroom with a mattress in the floor. And by the side where the moonlight could not reach, a door.

"Is this where you sleep?" Stollas asked while entering the illuminated part of the room.

"Lately, only because of something."

The door seemed to swing in and out by the wind. It was tied shut by a string that kept it from opening all the way. The other side let in a cold breeze, not like the weather from outside.

"That is the door to the bathroom." Cirrus said letting out a sigh.

"Do you want me to go in?"

"Go ahead."

As he got closer, he realized what it was. The smell, it was magic. He turned to Cirrus in instinct. Frustrated, Cirrus walked towards the door and pulled the handle hard enough the string ripped.

"There's nothing inside, it's just a portal but I don't understand why it just appeared here. Look, it grows roots to the first floor of the house, at this point I can't hide it from her."

Stollas stared in disbelief.

"You said the only physical portals were in that cursed land with the monster's and the anti-magic"

"It's not anti-magic; it absorbs the magic from whoever steps on it."

"Right, so I'm guessing there won't be beasts here because of this?"

"No that's not how that works"

"Okay then tell be, can anybody cross this" His voice trembled.

"Of course, that is the whole purpose of a physical door, it has no restraint.

"How do I get rid of it?"

"You can't, it just is."

"Why is it in my bathroom"

" I don't know" Stolas walked away from it.

"You can't think of anything, I'm sure you know more than I do."

"The portals themselves are their own magic, they don't weaken or die, so it makes sense they won't fade in the conditions they are."

"What does that mean."

"If this is a portal like the ones in the cursed forest, you will die...well, everyone with a drop of your blood will be long gone before this door falls apart."

"They can break?"

"I have seen one break, the realm that the portal led to was completely erased." Stolas had a thought. " A realm is not a town or anything, you couldn't possibly think of.."

"Of course not." Cirrus interrupted and continued to keep silent for a minute. "But if there is nothing that keeps them from crossing this portal, they'll get comfortable.

"What are you thinking?"

"I think we should cross it, figure out whether it'll be a problem. I did so yesterday, and it seems the other side is blocked in a cave."

"Then just leave it"

"No, I won't risk it, besides, a cave won't keep them out, it certainly won't keep me out."

Stolas, with his hand on the door handle, held in his breath. "If something bad happens, what will you do?"

"What will happen?"

"Someone could have made the portal, someone from that side. Someone powerful enough to make something that will stay after their death. If their purpose is to be here, even more specifically to be in your house. Then they are probably looking for a portal person. If they want you, they will either get you or not." Stolas shut the door gently. " So, what I'm saying is either we kill it, or we die.

The night went by and by the morning Cirrus had made the decision. He knew Stollas was willing to go with him.

Like always he arrived the main street where stollas was waiting for him. He was as usual fidgeting with whatever he found in the ground.

"We'll be there tonight; you said time shouldn't be an issue." Cirrus said as he walked past him.

"I didn't say time stopped, I said you would return to the moment you crossed as if no time went by." Stollas paused. "As long as you are alive."

Cirrus watched the clock tick its way to the end of class with nervousness. What would they say to that. Would they be willing to go with him, if Stollas was right, in a magical world they would be at disadvantage.

When the bell swung back and forth, and the students began to run towards the gate, Faolan walked towards Cirrus' seat where he was. His arms under the desk and eyes out of focus. He was unusually worried.

"Another adventure?" Faolan asked with a smirk.

Cirrus' eyes glittered, he was pleasantly surprised by his facial expression. "Can you gather them around the stable of Bougainvillea."

Faolan smiled. "Sure."

Stollas leaned on the concrete base of the gate. He was sure they would all go, but wondered if it was fine to not interfere, at the end, his life was not as precious as theirs. He turned to the fogged-up hills where his willow tree was. "Is this what you meant with a well-deserved death?"