Unus Putesco pro Paradiso

[Nayt]

Preparing . . . for the End . . .? What End . . .?

Eilert Draugr, twenty eight years old, married, professor. He had many areas of specialty, all of which he was more than competent to teach: history of ancient civilizations, numerous dead languages, archeology (although it was believed by his colleagues that he was rusty in this field, considering his lack of physical activity over the years--he was at least more than capable of teaching the history of the subject), geology, geography, and numerous other social sciences--even a few subjects that crossed into entirely different curriculum. He had only taught for a few years, but he was still rather exceptional at it, albeit quite a bit reserved--recently, that is. Something had happened, something that had him acting a bit off--something the students of Worcester Academy, a preparatory school with a rather rigorous curriculum for its students.

The truth of the matter was that Eilert had been sick for a fairly expansive amount of time, and he was under the impression recently that he was going to die--and by the end of last semester, he had prepared himself for that. It must have been a shock for him when penicillin treatments finally started to take effect, and though he still looked pale and deathly, he was alive--but weak.

His physician had told him some time ago that there would be side-effects with his new treatment, some debilitating effects that would only last for a little while, only during the necessary amplified treatments. A new method had come about, a new synthesis of penicillin that, combined with a group of particular drugs (referred to as "antibiotics"), could reverse his condition, but allotted somewhat bothersome side-effects when taken in large doses, and it just so happened that his treatment called for large doses daily for the next six months, after which he could cut it in half for the next few years, and though he was still scheduled for checkups on a biweekly basis, it had been declared that if he was perfectly fine after an expansive checkup after the next few years, he'd be off of the medication entirely.

"M-Mr. Draugr~!" a young girl called out to him, a stutter in her voice.

One of those side-effects was an occasional blanking out. An even rarer side-effect was lucid dreaming, be it a waking or a sleeping dream.

Eilert's main room was a large lecture hall with a path of steps leading up from the desk and "stadium seating" with long desks and drawn chairs all lined up, totaling sixty chairs. Worcester Academy, as an independent school, accepted students of all ages, but subjected them to different levels of curriculum based upon the average intelligence of their age. Eilert's classes were more geared towards upper level students--those close to ready to move on to a university. Most students even went on to prestigious schools, although most of which were purely religious.

This wasn't an hour during which he had a class, but he had one to teach soon enough. Two of his students were in the room, both of whom had been trying to get his attention for some time. Zenos Williams, known to many of his peers as "Taint," was nearly ready to graduate and a student in Eilert Draugr's dead (and dying) languages class. He was a tall young man with chin-length brown hair and European lineage--though his accent was modest. He often found it difficult to smile, and looked either serious or confused at all times--usually the latter. He could grow no facial hair and had a somewhat long face . . . and despite this, looked a few years older than he really was. Like all other men (and boys) in the Academy, he wore the traditional uniform of a dark blue sweater, a white button-up undershirt, and slacks. Zenos Williams was six feet tall and hadn't an ounce of extra fat upon him at all.

Standing by Zenos Williams was an oriental youth far from graduating, yet an absolute treat in Eilert Draugr's dead languages class. Mayako Takamine, fourteen years old, female, single--close friend to Zenos, and one of the few who could sit by him and still get a semi-decent grade. Mayako Takamine was amongst the few oriental students in the academy, and truthfully looked much younger than she really was; she was far less developed than most girls her age, possibly just because of her lineage. She had hair that was almost purely black, albeit a hint of violet in extreme light (a trait not unusual amongst those of the orient), and stood no taller than four feet and eleven inches tall. Despite her heritage, she spoke English perfectly, completely without an accent--though, this had more to do with her being raised in this country than anything else. She, too, wore her uniform--like all girls: a dark blue sweater over top a white button-up undershirt, a knee-length skirt, and dark stockings underneath of this. Mayako, was looking up to Eilert, just before his desk, with a concerned expression and a book held close to her chest.

"Hey, I think . . . I think I should get a doctor," Zenos whispered.

[Zach Kaiser]

The two students who were trying to get Professor Draugr's were rewarded for their efforts with two things. The first was a look of complete bewilderment on the his face--he scanned the room, and though he had been there many, many times before, one also got the impression he was seeing it for the first time. I made him seem like an aged man for a moment, far removed from his relatively young twenty-eight years old.

After regaining his bearings, he finally rewarded them with what they actually wanted: his attention. "Ah, that won't be necessary Mr...Williams," he recalled. "It is just a side-effect of my medication. I apologize for concerning you, and you as well, Miss Takemine."

He took a more focused look at his surroundings. He was...preparing for class, yes. Which class? Latin? He wasn't sure. He looked at the papers on his desk, trying to figure it out. It was rather embarrassing--he knew that lucid dreaming was a potential side effect, but he was unprepared for how truly disorienting it was.

And what a dark, bizarre dream, as well...

It might be something worth writing down later, but for now he had other things to attend to, such as the two students waiting patiently for him. "Forgive me, but was there something I can help you with?" he asked with a puzzled tone. He couldn't recall if he'd been in the middle of doing something for them already or if they walked in while he'd been out of it.

[Nayt]

"O-oh! H-he's okay!" exclaimed Mayako, instantly cheered up once she saw that her professor was, in fact, not brain dead from a stroke or something awful like that.

"A s-side effect of the medicine?" Zenos Williams asked to himself.

There was a reason that the two were friends. Their age differences actually mattered very little, too . . . so, the rumors spreading around the halls that they had eloped were not entirely unfounded. Taint was nineteen and Mayako had only just turned fourteen. If her parents saw no problem with it, then it was perfectly fine. Even here in America, Victorian concepts held strong. The parents of both families had to agree, and in some cases, the two who were wed didn't have any say in the matter at all. Needless to say, Mayako and Taint weren't actually engaged, or even dating at all, but they got along fine enough that many thought they were (engaged, that is). Nonetheless! The first thing that got the two of them talking to each other was the fact that they both had a clinically diagnosed stuttering problem. In any situation of social anxiety, stuttering was expected, sometimes to the point of making everything else either of them was saying at the time unable to be understood by anyone whose field of study wasn't English.

Both were also extremely socially awkward and didn't have many friends. Mayako, as an oriental, was seen as sub-human in some cases, while Taint received his "nickname" (which he eventually accepted) due to several different social habits that "brought down a group," such as mental and emotional innocence, a lack of drive to indulge in alcohol of any sort, and as he often got near perfect scores in all of his classes, the very fact that everyone around him got average scores was somehow blamed on him pulling them down. Likewise, Mayako didn't like to drink and was unnervingly uncomfortable with topics such as marriage, sex, and children, and the very, very few girls that were here often liked to talk about potential romantic prospects, while she preferred not to.

"U-umm, w-well, I-I . . . I was--w-we were having a p-problem . . ." Mayako whispered, suddenly looking down to the floor, her cheer all but reduced to nothing.

"You s-said that we have a s-somewhat large test today, a-and, er, um, well--M-Mayako and I studied all night l-last night, a-and, w-well . . ." Davis continued with Mayako's thought, having the same problem, but trailed off soon after.

"W-well--y-you said that p-part of it would be t-translating a whole canto from Dante's Paradiso . . . b-but . . . w-we can't . . . w-we stayed up all night trying! A-and . . . and . . . w-with us both working together, it takes us as long as th-the entire class period . . ."

Taint got to the question: "A-and, er, we were wondering if you happened t-to, y-you know . . . h-have any advice--i-is there an easier way to do it? N-nothing is in th-the nominative form and it threw us off every time . . ."

[Zach Kaiser]

"I see..." Eilert frowned. If his two brightest students were having trouble with it, perhaps what he put on the test was a bit more difficult. But of course, he hadn't told them which canto it would be, so he wondered how they decided what to study. Actually, he already had a nagging feeling he knew the problem.

"Do you mind if I take a look?" he asked, stepping down from the raised platform he taught on. Lecture halls allowed him to teach the most students at once, but the downside was that he rarely got to know more than a handful of students in any class. Zenos and Mayako (as a teacher, Eilert wasn't going to refer to a student by a nickname no matter how well known unless specifically asked by the student to) were exceptions due to their high level of intelligence--the latter in particular was remarkable due to her age.

[Nayt]

Truthfully, Mayako was not of the same intellect as Taint: she exerted just about the same ability as that of her peers, at least in things like this--mathematics, language, and the like (though, she was much better at languages than mathematics). Interpreting and understanding, on the other hand, were her strongest abilities, and for that reason alone she was able to be on par with students four years older than herself. That said, she wasn't far above the average student in Eilert Draugr's dead languages class, but the very fact that it was an upper level class and she was doing extremely well definitely had her standing out because of her age.

Zenos "Taint" Williams, on the other hand, was just remarkable in his own right. Were he not so shy around groups, he could teach some of the classes he was currently taking. He wasn't a genius at certain things, but in classes like this, he excelled beyond the levels of most others.

"O-okay, w-well . . . th-this is what we had worked on . . ." Mayako replied as she loosened her grip upon her book and took it forward, opening it up and drawing out a sheet of paper.

When she handed this to him, Eilert Draugr would find that they were having trouble for a reason. The Latin, written on the top of the page, obviously corresponded with the English translation on the bottom of the page, and was a fairly decent translation, all things considered--the only problem was the fact that it was from one of the single most difficult passages of Dante's Paradiso--the canto in which Dante observes and attempts to (and fails to) explain the face of God, a series of cantos which were inexplicably long, and unnervingly difficult to translate. The reason for such was the jumbled, botched, and awkward language; the narrator simply broke his thought process in mid-sentence often as soon as he realized his failure to explain and tried again, usually within the same line, with seemingly no punctuation to suggest this in the slightest. They had only taken one of those cantos to use, but still . . .

[Zach Kaiser]

An amused look crossed Eilert's face as he looked over their work--it was as he thought. "I would not be concerned," he told them once he finished looking it over. "You chose possibly the most difficult passage to translate in the book, and translated it acceptably, which is remarkable even if it took you as long as you say. The narrator tries to describe something indescribable, and thus a jumbled mess of language is the result." He always tried to maintain something of a sense of humor about what he taught. That was the trouble he had with some of the teachers in his time: they thought the world of their subject, and accepted all their students to feel the same way.

He gave them an encouraging smile as he handed the book back to them. "You should have no problems with the canto I've assigned for the test, I would imagine." As a teacher, it was always rewarding to see those who took interest in the course, doubly so if they also excelled at it.

"What, indeed, would the face of god look like? I always found it odd that it was such a difficult question; if god created us in his image, then his face would like ours, would it not?" he proposed, half to himself and half to the two students. "But then again, religion is not my strong suit."

"Was there anything else I can help you with?" he asked amiably, happy to see students of his with such promise.

[Nayt]

A sigh of relief escaped Mayako and Zenos both, who had been duly concerned with the subject matter of the upcoming examination today. If the canto wasn't going to be this hard, then they'd be fine! It was also nice to hear that they had done a good job in translating that particular passage. If that one happened to be one of the hardest in the book, then they'd definitely be fine with something easier! This also showed them that they could translate something of that difficulty, albeit not perfect--this was a preparation school for universities, but upper level university classes weren't offered here, so the Latin language was simply glossed over to an extent--speaking it wasn't as important as reading it, for example, and reading it was only important when it came to understanding. If a phrase could be generally understand, then all was well--and that was the skill that was emphasized.

"Z-Zenos d-did most of the work," Mayako remarked with a nervous smile, giving her friend the credit and taking none for herself. "I-I j-just--I w-was just helping a little, th-that's all!"

Taint just blinked, a look of confusion upon his face. He didn't really say much, not saying if he did, in fact, do much of the work and that Mayako just helped a bit, or if she did an equal part--or if she did most of it, rather. He didn't mind either way--he understood it, and so did she, so all was well. This wasn't a grade for them or anything, so it wasn't too important for credit to be given to anyone . . .

"W-well . . . th-that was all we wanted to ask you, a-actually," Taint replied, "W-we'll leave you be--a-and, u-um, w-we'll see you in a little while!"

"Mm! Th-thank you, Mr. Draugr!" Mayako proclaimed cheerfully before leaving with her friend. They still had a bit of time before class.

[Zach Kaiser]

Judging by Zenos's surprised look, Mayako's claim that he'd done most of the work was probably just her being humble. They were both very bright, and he had no doubt they'd each done their fair share of the work.

"It was my pleasure," he responded; he always more than willing to help any student who sought it. "I will see you then."

With them gone, Eilert was the only one remaining, alone in the lecture hall. Now, what was I doing? He must have been getting ready for his class, but if they had a test it would take the entire class, so there wasn't much to prepare. He double checked to ensure he had the written portion of the test, but that was all he really had to prepare.

There was still time before the class began, but he supposed it would be best to remain here in case any more students came in with questions. Until then, he went and made himself comfortable at his desk, idly looking through the papers he had.

[Nayt]

After Mayako and Zenos left, the two of them chatted a bit as they walked down the hall leading from the lecture hall. Something had inspired a bit of intellectual discussion between them: the face of God. Eilert had given them something fairly substantial to think and talk about.

"Wh-what do you think He would look like . . .?" Mayako asked up to Zenos.

Zenos shrugged his shoulders, "W-well, like Mr. Draugr said, w-we were made in His image . . ."

They continued talking down the hall, ignoring those that looked at them strangely for the discussion they were having. That was just how the two of them were, socially awkward in their own rights, as if they both shared the same little world that no one else really understood.

Not long after--no more than a half of an hour, in fact--there was a slight knock on the door of Eilert's lecture hall. At his door was another familiar face, though this one not that of a student's. Dressed down in a casual jacket and slacks, Eilert's elder by no more than ten years leaned inside of the room just a bit, at least until he had Eilert's attention. He was cleanly shaven, wore a pair of thin framed glasses, and his hair was short with a right side part--making him look younger than he really was. Tyrian Sturm was an educator that Eilert knew very well, even as far as to be considered a friend.

"Tag, Draugr--are you busy at the moment?" he asked.

[Zach Kaiser]

While initially looking over his own materials, it wasn't long after Zenos and Mayako left that Eilert began to space out. His mind drifted to the dream he had, a world where he studied an ancient magical art rather than just all other things ancient. It seemed absurd--he'd researched cultures that had used similar symbols, and while they believed them to hold mystic powers he'd never seen any real evidence to suggest they were more than drawings and/or carvings.

It was a welcome interruption when Sturm came in; he was beginning to wonder why he chose to go to the lecture hall so early.

"Not at all, Sturm. Do come in," he implored. Now that he thought about it, Tyrian was present in his dream...and still a doctor, no less. Except he's not trying to save the world, he's trying to give teenagers an education. I wonder which is the more difficult task?

[Nayt]

Not to mention, in Eilert's daydream, Sturm had looked much different: not clean cut in the slightest, with bushy hair and a beard unshaven for weeks, dark circles under his eyes from sleeplessness, and the potential that he had not bathed in several months. Granted, it was commonplace of the time for bathing to occur once a week to once every couple of weeks, if only due to the significant difficulty in preparing a bath. Regardless, he was far from what Eilert knew: clean cut, well dressed, well taken care of. He had a gruff, deep voice, but he could still go on a rant about a topic of biology (both regarding plants and animals) that blew even the minds of fellow experts of the field.

Sturm had been teaching for thirteen years, since the age of twenty four, when he graduated with a doctorate degree in biology and life sciences. He focused primarily upon two subjects: the study of the anatomy and functions of plants and the anatomical studies of René Descartes, a Frenchman long since deceased. Sturm was certified to conduct anatomical dissections of the deceased who willed their bodies to the cause (and in some cases, dead prisoners who were provided by the United States government--better to put them to use rather than have them take up perfectly good space underground), and had done so several times for his anatomy and physiology classes. This had notably made one of the students in the room earlier, Mayako Takamine, cry and have to leave, otherwise risking nausea. That was one of the difficulties with being so young in upper level classes . . .

He stepped in just a bit, only standing in the doorway. "I just have a quick question--I have to teach a lecture on the other side of campus in fifteen minutes, after all. Anyways . . . I have not been to your house for some time, and Icsorue and I are supposed to be coming over for dinner as per your and your wife's invitation--correct? I cannot remember for the life of me how to get there . . ."

[Zach Kaiser]

"Hmmm? Oh, right, yes..." Eilert had actually forgotten about that, and was grateful Sturm asked, lest he end up staying late at school for some reason. Given that his medication was making him a tad forgetful he was fairly certain he'd be forgiven, but it would be embarrassing nevertheless.

"We live on the north shore of Indian Lake. It's the house flying a German flag in addition to an American one," he told him. That was, at least, the easiest way to remember it in his opinion. It was also quite large, far too much for just two people living in it. Which is why they rented out rooms, though that was mostly taken care of by his wife. It was what allowed them to continue getting some level of income when he'd been too ill to teach.

[Nayt]

Large house at the north shore of Indian lake with an American and German flag out front. Indian lake wasn't too far from where Sturm lived--truth be told, he lived near the center of Worcester. By stagecoach, it wouldn't take much longer than forty minutes or so to get to the Draugr household.

"Ah, all right," Sturm made a mental note of this.

Coincidentally, both men were German born, but came to America for different reasons. Sturm was here to teach without the boundaries instilled upon Munich schools by Roman Catholic doctrines. Other cities around the country were predominately Roman Catholic, as well, with spots of Protestants--who didn't run their schools much better than the Catholics did. Both were too extreme, in Sturm's opinion. He had a sullen distaste for them, especially with the bloody history that they had in Ireland . . .

Sturm himself was a deist--an unpopular "faith" in Germany. In America, though, it was seen not as a traitorous belief, but an upper class way of life. Deism fell out of popularity almost thirty years ago, but the well learned few who subscribed to the philosophies of it were seen in an intellectual light, whether their beliefs were respected or not.

"We should arrive by stagecoach near evening--seven o'clock, perhaps," Sturm thought aloud, "Thank you--and now, I've a lecture to run to."

[Zach Kaiser]

"You're welcome. Now go--you wouldn't want to get lectured by your students on tardiness," he responded with a wry smile. Quite the opposite of him, who was now sitting in his classroom with little to do before his next class.

"Seven o'clock," he murmured to himself as a reminder. With his memory acting up due to his medication, he found he had to audibly remind himself to get bits of information to stick...sometimes several times. He was lucky that he was dealing with it now, as opposed to his own school days.

Left alone again, he found himself drifting off once more, thinking first about the strange dream he had, then not thinking of anything in particular at all...

[Nayt]

The day went by without a problem. Soon enough, Eilert's Latin class met, and they had their test ahead of them. Zenos and Mayako sat together, as usual, but spread out for the sake of the test--they didn't like the notion that they might be cheating off of each other's papers. Such would ruin their grades for the entire course, and get them into serious trouble with the rest of the campus. Academic dishonesty was severely looked down upon--worse than most any other crime on the campus, and either resulted in the failing of a class, a disciplinary committee, expulsion, or (in the worst case) public flogging. It was legal here, but not used in any frequency--and when it was, it was extremely mild, used mainly just for the sake of embarrassment.

Mayako was duly worried about her scores shortly after she finished, and though she was able to leave (like all other students) after finishing it, she waited outside for Zenos, nervously pacing a bit. She didn't say much to Eilert when she turned it in, just smiled nervously and left as if she were light headed and trying not to have a hard time standing. She had finished with her exam when there was about half of the class left taking it. Zenos, on the other hand, took the most time--he spent quite awhile on his exam, until he wound up as the last one done, with Mayako still waiting outside for him. She was patient about it, though . . . albeit extremely nervous about her test, but too much to go in and ask--and maybe a bit nervous about other things, too. Namely Zenos. The only proof of such was her glancing in every so often, only to check on Zenos, rather than anyone else, and quickly dodge back out of the classroom--just as quickly as she had peeked in.

When Zenos finally turned his paper in--which, though he didn't admit it outright, was superior to Mayako's, whose was average at best, but still impressive because of her age--he was able to leave with Mayako, who walked a bit closer to him than normal. Maybe there was good reason that those who gossiped about them thought there was more than just friendship between them--and maybe they were right, but neither of them seemed to care about that . . .

Once Eilert was finished with his classes for the day, he'd be able to head back home and possibly help his wife prepare for guests.