Death's Door - Jay's '15 NaNo

[Jayeee]

Yun always thought himself an ordinary boy, having failed to prove any innate magical ability in order to qualify for Elustria's most prestigious Mage Academy. Even when people started dying in his general vicinity, he wasn't too concerned. So what if a classmate or neighbour down the street had passed away, that was certainly no business of his.

Except that when Yun falls asleep in class one day and wakes up at Death's door itself, it becomes not just his business, but his entire life.

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This is probably the least prepared I have been for any NaNo that i've ever done! XDD Usually I have a lot more planned out, but I just haven't had the time. And who knows, maybe this is a good thing for me. I suppose this will be a good test to see what works better.

Anyway, that little summary I wrote is pretty much the extent of this story so far! XD; I always start my NaNos with one idea or concept in mind. Previously it was Magicians, or brotherly bonding. And then I work my novel around that one idea. This time it was more of a scene that stuck in my mind. A character walking through Death's literal door and meeting him. That was how this began. I want Death as a character to be pretty quirky, and I have some scenes and personality traits in mind for him. And so I built it around that. I'm not usually too good at writing fantasy within this world, so I hastily decided to make it into another one. And decided to have a non-magical MC for once! 8D

I don't have much of Yun's character figured out yet, but that might be something I discover once I start writing. What I do know, is that he will end up working for Death. Death is almost like an organisation, and he has his underlings help him out. They get the delightful task of delivering souls to Death. Death isn't just one singular person, but more like a board of directors, who control the 'business of death', and the Death of Elustria deals with Yun. And Yun becomes one of these underlings. I guess it's a little morbid, but i'm hoping that humour and whatnot will lighten it up, and obviously there'll be more than Yun just obediently following orders and taking people's souls! XD

[Ginz ❤]

That is such a cool concept! I'm so excited to hear more! 8D

I'm rooting for you! <3 GO JAY!

[Jayeee]

I did not have a smooth start to NaNo this year! XD It seems that it's not November without me having some sort of computer-related problem! XD I can't remember the last time I managed to begin NaNo with a working computer!!

This time, I couldn't get word to work. I get it free from work, but I can't manage to get it working when I download it. It's okay at first, but then eventually it just completely stops working. So I couldn't use word. And I didn't think to check any of this before midnight!! XDDD

So i've ended up using google docs because I didn't want to waste time looking for another program that would work for me. It's working fine, but something about google docs just worries me that it'll somehow just disappear or something! XD I'll definitely be saving it in other places when i'm done!

ONTO ACTUAL NOVEL!!
Story is going okay! I'm not super into it yet because nothing has really happened so far. Just a lot of setting up and foreshadowing. Today's writing went really well though, I ended up getting really into writing about the school that Yun is going to.

I have written 5,555 words so far. About time for an excerpt, maybe!

SPOILER: Click to show

“Ah, you must be Yun,” said a man as he walked over a small bridge, his hand proffered in front of him. Yun cocked his head and stared at him blankly. “I didn’t mean to keep you waiting, my name is Dr. Landston - the social anthropology professor. I’ll be handling your induction today.”

Yun’s face lit up in surprise. “Oh, professor, i’m sorry! You didn’t keep me waiting at all, I was just shocked at this place.” He gestured to the City around him.

“Yes, it’s quite fascinating, isn’t it? I take it you’ve never left Elustria before?” Yun shook his head. “Well, you’re currently standing in Stalmaria, or at least a replica. The City across the Sea, as they call themselves. They so gracefully allowed our mages to recreate their landscape for my suite. It’s quite the display, don’t you agree?”

Yun could only nod dumbfoundedly.

“And that desert you walked through lies a long distance to the west - the Hominis. We haven’t quite mapped out the exact desert itself here, but we were able to get a sampling at least to present to the students. Those are just two of the landmarks on offer here, and there are many more the longer you walk through. Makes midday strolls quite enlightening, if I do say so myself.”

“I didn’t realise that magic could do such things,” Yun muttered, almost more to himself than the professor.

Dr. Landston laughed. “Yes, our mages are quite gifted. A great number of our staff are talented mages, i’m sure you’ll meet some of them soon. I myself have no aptitude for such things, but what use is magic in the study of anthropology, really anyway?”

Yun had no answer to this question so he simply looked at Stalmaria around him.

“Well, my last induction session went quicker than expected - the applicant failed the entrance exam, so I can see you right away.”

Yun nearly choked as his eyes widened in shock. He’d heard nothing about an entrance exam - Elustria Academy had always prided itself in letting anybody with a passion to learn enter, at least from what he’d heard.

“Just a joke to lighten the mood,” Dr. Landston added and patted Yun on the back. “Any landmark requests? We can sit and have a chat about your life here at Elustria Academy anywhere you’d like. Although between you and me, the Hominis desert is probably not a wise choice.”

Despite possessing a basic understanding of the world, Yun’s mind brought him nothing when he thought of possible places to go to, so instead he simply offered, “Here seems like a nice choice.”

Dr. Landston nodded, “A wonderful idea. I often take my coffee breaks in Stalmaria, the peacefulness of the river and sea certainly calm the mind.”

The professor led Yun back over the bridge and they walked through a little side-street of houses until they arrived at a desk with chairs either and a stack of books on top.

Dr. Landston sat at one side of the desk and motioned to Yun to sit at the other, which he did.

“While not an exact recreation, I had the mages add some desks and offices to each of the areas so that I could teach in a variety of locations. I find the study of culture is helped immensely when you are immersed in that very way of life.” He paused to let this sink in for a few sections before continuing, “Now, I just have to go through some of the formal paperwork and guidelines with you before we get down to choosing your classes, so please bear with me here…”

Yun nodded, but it felt labored and stiff. He hadn’t quite noticed it in the excitement of discovering such a strange atmosphere, but he had suddenly started to feel lethargic as he tried his best to listen to the professor’s voice and nod at appropriate moments.

Sitting under the blue sky of Stalmaria, and surrounded by stone houses that rose up around him, Yun could only feel a certain darkness closing in around him. His eyelids began to flicker, and try as he might he could not shake off the feeling that this was more than simply the magic of the Anthropology Suite.

Yun started awake suddenly and jerked his head up, just in time to see the shimmered visage of Dr. Landston disappear before him. Even the landscape of the city by the sea had faded away, replaced by an intense fog that left him unable to see two feet in front of him.

“Professor, is this part of the atmosphere?” Yun called out. He could hear his voice echo into the nothingness. Even the ground below him seemed to be composed entirely of mist, swirling around and under his feet.

“Hello?” Yun tried again, before taking a tentative step forward. His foot found ground even where it looked like there was none, but it still made the boy reluctant to put any weight on it.

“Hello, Yun,” came a voice. The second he heard it, Yun knew that it was that whispered voice from the swimming pool that he had almost heard. This time it was as clear and cold as ice down the back of his neck. He shivered.

“I came to invite you for a visit tonight,” the voice continued. Yun looked around him, trying to pinpoint the source or at least the direction of the voice. There had to be somebody playing a prank on him - maybe some of the older students as a hazing ritual. But the longer he stood in the mist, the more that same feeling of dread and unease that he’d been feeling so often as of late returned to him, and increased until it was a crushing weight. This was something bad, he could feel it.

“I will collect you tonight, and we can meet properly, Yun. I’m going to need your assistance with a few things.”

Yun suddenly jumped awake, almost falling out of the chair and knocking the stacked books off of the desk.

Dr. Landston raised an eyebrow. “I didn’t realise that office hours could receive such a strong reaction.”