The Second Parchment-
Outlander Lingers within the Labyrinth.
Prince(ss)_out_of_Water.
1
(November 17, 7:03 PM)
Near the Bond Street station for London's underground rail system stood a single young girl in a hoodie and capris who almost blended into the crowd too easily. The girl, fidgeting with her long blonde hair and loose hoodie, scowled as she tried to adjust the clothes and the way they were riding up around different parts of her body.
As she stood to the side of the entrance, she watched as multiple groups ranging from couples to families to friends would walk in and out of the station. Though, as the night had crept over the sky, the amount of people moving around the station had thinned. One could attribute the current movement of people to the presence of both the Central and Jubilee Lines that ran through the station.
"You seem a bit nervous. Is this your first time entering the London Underground?"
The girl, with a messenger bag strapped around one arm, picked up a small flip phone out of her pocket and placed it in front next to her ear.
The voice she had heard was clearly not coming from that phone. Instead, it was something she was hearing directly from her head. Unfortunately, responding to the voice normally would have garnered some crazy looks at her as she was not wearing any sort of headset. The presence of the device, even if it was turned off, would be enough to delineate a schizophrenic from a normal person.
"Realistically, why would I ever come to the city where the headquarters of Necessarius lies?"
The blonde girl gave an exasperated sigh. Despite her origins from France, not a single trace of it remained as she rattled off flawlessly in English.
"You have the Oyster card we gave you, right, Miss Cendrillon?"
Reaching into the pocket of her hoodie, she pulled out a cash card that was meant for use at the turnstiles for the train system.
"It's right here."
"Good. Now go into the station, go through the turnstiles, and we'll guide you towards the site."
Taking a deep breath, she walked in through the multiple doors of the station and made her way to the turnstiles. After tapping her card, she walked through the opening left behind as the plastic partition folded away.
"Keep following the crowd downstairs. If anyone questions how you still have service, just say you have a private plan from corporate...or something along those lines."
The girl didn't reply as she continued to walk down the stairs.
"By the way, I know I called you miss, but do you prefer Madamoiselle? Necessarius really takes recruits from all over the world, so we've adapted well enough to be more culturally appropriate to various groups, be they European, Indian, or even Japanese."
"Miss is fine."
After sauntering to the first escalator, she sighed.
"I come from France, but hearing myself called Madamoiselle by someone who isn't even from my motherland just irks me to no end. I'm not so sensitive that being called Miss would irk me more than that."
"That's fair. In that case, Miss Cendrillon, keep going down until you reach the end of the second elevator. Once you get there, that's when you'll diverge from the public path."
From then on, the sound of their conversation had come to an end while the whirring and hums of the escalator completely dominated the atmosphere. The chatter of the occasional people a few steps above her and a few steps below seemed to blend into the background as the content of their conversations was hollowed out, leaving behind nothing more than weak murmurs.
"Ah, there you are." The one clear voice she could hear rang out inside her head as it seemed to be beckoning to another person. "Come, take a seat. She's almost at the starting line. Well, assuming she can get there."
2
(November 17, 7:09 PM)
What stood before Itsuwa was not what she had expected when she was told what she was meant to do. After quickly checking the address she was given and matching it to the tarp of the building she was looking at, her face passed through a multitude of expressions.
Perplexity.
Disapproval.
And finally, acceptance.
"Right, if it's a mistake, they'll just kick me out and I'll make contact again."
The girl dressed in a purple cardigan, pink t-shirt and white pants who seemed to almost embody the concept of normality stood before the door and sighed. She was a professional. Yet, as much as she was a professional, she was still apprehensive about stepping into the pub that matched the address she was given.
With a deep breath, she turned the doorknob and swung the door inwards.
"Ah, there you are. Come, take a seat. She's almost at the starting line. Well, assuming she can get there." From within the pub, a young-looking lady beckoned out to her, signaling that she was, indeed, in the right location.
Clutching at the bag strapped over her shoulder she walked up to the high table the owner of the voice was sitting at. Upon a high wooden table and a matching wooden stool sat a young looking girl who was even shorter than Itsuwa. She sported blonde hair tied up behind her and a red dress that seemed to look like a halfway point between a party dress and suit in what looked like two pieces. Multiple pieces of jewelry adorned her wrists and even her hair. Her legs, adorned in what seemed to mark the halfway point between sandals and dress shoes, dangled half a meter above a floor she would never touch from her chair as she swung them.
She was a girl who looked too young to be sitting in the middle of a pub where the lights had dimmed and which was decorated with various photos of the employees in the nearby areas. It probably helped that she was a few tables away from the bartender, but her placement was rather conspicuous.
She was Freadia Strikers. Like Itsuwa, she was one of the magicians from the magic hunting organization named Necessarius.
"Is this your first time in a pub? I highly recommend the shrimp paella. It goes well with a lot of the pub's craft beers and even with some of the soft drinks." She asked Itsuwa, while sporting a subdued, almost business-like smile.
"I just didn't expect this…" The girl's head pivoted across an 180 degree arc as she placed the large bag she was carrying atop one of the bar stools next to Freadia before placing herself on the seat directly across.
"Ah, you mean administering the exam from a pub?"
"Was this where you were when you were administering our exam?"
Despite how much had happened since then, the Amakusa had only been part of Necessarius for just barely over two months. Much had happened during the night that they had taken the Special Entrance Exam for the organization, but at that time the same girl was the one who was supposed to supervise the group as they cleared the exam.
"No, no." Freadia waved her hand back and forth quickly dismissing the thought, as if a pub was not a normal location. Clearly a pub was not an avid location to keep watch over an examinee from.
"I was in an entirely different pub."
Though Freadia Strikers didn't think so.
"Though it's not like you had any idea since you were talking to a fake administrator and I to a fake Amakusa Church. But I tend to do this from pubs or nice little hole-in-the-wall restaurants. I find it helps the examinees feel somewhat relaxed."
"Casse-toi!" A voice rang out from the radio sitting at the center of the table. "You're sitting and eating food while I have to take this stupid exam or face imprisonment!"
"Unfortunately, that's the best I can do for reassurance here." Freadia shrugged before turning down the volume from her crystal radio to muffle the girl who was now throwing out insults in French.
"I admit this is a bit awkward for a first experience with this, but it's a good idea for you to see how this work is done since you may someday be called for it, as a member of Necessarius."
Itsuwa sighed.
While she had always had to deal with the weirdness that the day to day in Necessarius had led to, she never thought she would be brought into proctoring the exam. She heard that the exam became much more manageable and less fatal in order to prevent promising talent that the organization had scouted from being wasted. So, she had to wonder whether Necessarius was actually incredibly short-staffed if they were pushing members to try and accrue skills in a myriad of its duties.
But, as many reservations as she had about this, she couldn't do much aside from go with the flow.
"That's right. You're part of the organization anyway, so just go with the flow. Learn it now and you won't be caught off guard when you're assigned to do this on your own down the line. People often say 'don't teach your replacement', but we're encouraged to be jacks of as many trades as possible so it helps mitigate all the annoyance."
"So you don't normally do this?"
"It's just one duty. Hell, the only reason I'm teaching you now is because I was the one who administered your exam, even if there was a monumental screw-up and series of errors that came along with it."
Admittedly, that was probably not the best vote of confidence the girl in a dress could muster, but she shrugged and winked with a defeated smile on her face.
"So, pick an order. It's best to keep some food in the stomach for times like this."
While saying that, she turned the dial back up to hear that Cendrillon had ceased what was likely a tantrum.
"Are you calm now?"
"As a still lake." Itsuwa could hear a curt growl coming from the other end of the communication, but Freadia seemed to be paying it no mind. This was relatively better than being cursed out in a language she was less familiar with.
"Good. So, where are you now?"
"I found the entrance before the final escalator and am making my way through the passage. It's super cramped though."
"Keep going and you'll reach the location in 15 minutes. I'll know when you make it there."
With that, Freadia turned the dial again.
"That will mute us on her end for now." After pulling her hand off the dial on the crystal radio, she picked up a spoon and pointed down to her food. "So, order something. We have a lot to talk about, after all, so it will take a while. Plus, Necessarius does a good job of covering these little expenses. The food is on them."
3
(November 17, 3:00 PM)
"In short, the Archbishop has agreed to Cendrillon joining Necessarius." Standing next to a water cooler within the girls' dormitory of Necessarius were two of the building's residents. The first, Itsuwa of the Amakusa. The second, the organization's saint, a woman who could be equated to a tactical nuclear weapon, Kanzaki Kaori. "Stiyl would have probably been the more appropriate person to relay this information to you since he was with you on the mission yesterday, but he's already moved out on his next assignment. Something about a cabal of Scottish Highlanders."
If she had to be frank, he didn't relay any details. As abrasive as he was, Stiyl was generally a stickler for maintaining professionalism with his colleagues—or at least, attempting to maintain it given his past interactions with the archbishop.
"The top brass let her go that easily?"
"According to Agnese, she was actually surprisingly forthcoming in the interrogation. She never lied once so no special interrogation techniques needed to be used. There was apparently something about the information that bothered even the Archbishop."
Supposedly, the archbishop had frowned upon hearing the results of the interrogation—not due to disappointment in a lack of information but due to the contents themselves. But that was only a rumor and Agnese, being the professional she was, was not one to spread rumors, herself.
"Wait, how did that rumor even start?"
"I have no idea." Kanzaki shrugged before taking a sip of water. "In any case, Cendrillon was offered to join Necessarius or stay within the Tower of London indefinitely. As one would expect, she chose the former."
Given the options laid out to her, it was only natural that she would pick the one she did. While it would naturally be considered extortion by any outsider, such a methodology was far from the most heinous used by the organization of witch hunters.
"So, it was decided that she'll be taking the Special Entrance Exam, administered by you and the person who had administered your exam."
"Freadia-san?"
Kanzaki nodded.
"Even if it was impromptu, you two did work together during the incident surrounding your admission test. The top brass figured it would kill a few birds with one stone if they had you and her were the ones to do the job?"
Itsuwa raised an eyebrow and gave Kanzaki a quizzical look. "What do you mean?"
"On the surface, it would seem that they want to keep you two together for this because you've worked together and because they want to try to make sure the members of the organization are trained in a variety of tasks." Kanzaki took a quick sip of water before continuing. "But there's likely more to it. I'm sure the Archbishop is expecting something else entirely to happen during the exam."
"Was there any particular reason?"
Kanzaki's eyes narrowed. Her fingers slowly pressed harder on the plastic cup of water in her hand. "I've never been particularly good at catching onto the tricks she uses for her own ends."
For example, the Archbishop had created the fake story about Index's memories to keep a collar on her.
For example, the Archbishop had used bringing in the Amakusa as a chain to keep Kanzaki tied even further to the organization.
"Regardless of what happens, the Archbishop finds a way to bind people underneath her."
Though she couldn't say it out loud, she had a pretty strong guess as to who the current and future events were meant to bind.
"Things are moving too quickly. Cendrillon was only captured and interrogated yesterday and yet, she is taking the entrance exam for the organization the following day."
The more she thought into it, the more things seemed to be out of place by virtue of the pace of events.
"And the more pressing point: both you and Freadia Strikers have experienced some form of interference during an Entrance Exam you were involved with. In other words…"
4
(November 17, 7:24 PM)
"It's safe to say that we're expecting some form of interference during the exam. I imagine that's why the entire process was expedited."
Itsuwa spoke of the conclusion that she and Kanzaki had come to when she was informed of this job.
"That about sums it up. Though, all we have is the vague prospect of interference from an unknown source. We don't have any information about what will be interfering. Though, I get the feeling that was something the higher-ups did to prevent any leaks, at least beyond what they want to leak."
The same principle applied as the radio they were using to communicate with Cendrillon was muted on their end.
The bait was being strung along for the purposes of someone else.
The bait was kept out of the loop of her position as bait.
The bait would simply continue its course, blissfully unaware of what might be targeting her.
"It feels so disingenuous, though."
"That's how things are for us." Freadia sighed as the naivete of the other girl placed itself on full display. "It would be nice if we could cue her in on the danger she's walked into, but please don't draw your sympathy towards her yet. She's a dangerous magician, despite her young age. Hell, she's your age and you're a dangerous magician yourself, so you should know full well both from your experience with her and from your own skills just how little sympathy or worry she needs from you."
As Freadia dug her fork in, she glanced back to Itsuwa, whose mouth had curved slightly downward and whose gaze could almost burn a hole in her.
"This kind of cloak and dagger nonsense is what Necessarius does best for its purposes. It's hardly pleasant for anyone. But that methodical calculation and planning that seems to run roughshod over the emotions of those involved—well, perhaps it does worse than that and leverages them while trampling over them—that's how the organization functions. It's quite a vile form of pragmatism."
Itsuwa had been a part of Necessarius for not even three months, but even she was fully aware of just how cold and manipulative it was as an organization.
It was an organization that had created chains so strong that it was able to manipulate the saint that the Amakusa Church had deeply loved. It was an organization that was so expansive that it could coldly use the loving feelings of people to bind them as they were doing with Kamijou Touma and the Index Librorum Prohibitorum.
At the end of the day, the Amakusa Church had accepted the good graces of the Anglican Church, but that still didn't change the ever present worry that they may have unwittingly made a deal with a devil they could never break free from.
The organization they were a part of was indubitably a mesh of good and evil.
The work was bloody.
The higher-ups were likely corrupt.
And yet…
"But that doesn't mean the people are like that."
Since Itsuwa had joined Necessarius, she had met a vast amount of people. From the terse Stiyl to the light-hearted Orsola. From the no-nonsense Sherry to the tiny Angelene. From the straight-laced Lucia to even her own priestess Kaori. Even to Freadia who had once been her enemy.
Despite being in Necessarius, each of those names belonged to a magician with their own story, their own lives, and their own personalities, all of which intersected with her own path. Regardless of the sins of the organization, those many individuals were not horrible people.
They were people worth being with.
"And the same may go for Cendrillon. It doesn't mean we have to treat her the same."
The girl played her part in what was one of the largest scale invasions onto US soil in the modern era. She may have been a part of a grand terrorist organization that was operating on a global scale. But she was still a magician.
She, too, was one of many children with knives—crying and trembling, forsaken by the God they prayed to and left with no other recourse but to sink their feet into the world of the occult.
With an exasperated sigh, the blonde girl dug her fork into the shrimp and spun it around.
"And things can easily go just the other way. The world and people may not be what they seem at first glance and she's no different. Whatever she's a victim of, she's committed her own crimes that led her here."
After picking up the fork and glancing at the shrimp that was now stuck on its teeth, she rested her chin on her hand and tilted her gaze over to Itsuwa.
"Honestly, with that naivete, you're starting to sound like what I've heard about that boy, Kamijou. Has your time working with him caused him to rub off on you?"
Almost mechanically, Itsuwa's head locked into place and her eyebrows opened wider as she looked to Freadia. What was obvious to anyone who was looking at her was that a bright red blush had formed across her face to the point where she wasn't even making any attempts to hide it.
"N-no! It's not that! I mean, I do...B-but it's because...I mean he is really amazing, but that's not really. I'm nowhere near someone like him!"
The girl waved her hands in front of her face in a frenzy as she continued to stumble over her words and speak out what wasn't even a fully coherent thought. The image of the spiky-haired boy permeated her mind as her mouth continued to utter word after word.
"There's no way someone like him could rub off on someone like...that heroic form can't—"
But her rambling was cut short as she felt something landing on her head. As she gathered her thoughts, she realized that Freadia was placing her hand on her head while smiling and petting her.
"It's alright. Regardless of what you've become, you're still one of us, so don't let a little ribbing from me get to you, alright?"
For a moment, her thoughts froze. Then the images of him that had been saturating her mind like a tsunami had begun to reverse flow as they once again were packed away and her focus began to return to the young lady who was now petting her head.
"Yeah. Alright."
As if the blush that had ruled her face was nothing more than a recent memory, the girl smiled as she acknowledged what she had heard.
As she had, the sound of a quick snapping sound reached their ears.
"Ah, I guess it's time. She took longer than I expected."
5
(November 17, 7:30PM)
"Alright, Miss Cendrillon. You've reached the location of the test."
"Tch. So you really did know when I arrived." The blonde girl in a hoodie clicked her tongue as she responded to the voice in her head.
After diverging from the public path, she had found her way into what seemed to be one of the tunnels of the London Underground. But, despite the presence of rails and despite the occasional lights along the walls, she had come to realize that electricity was hardly flowing. In fact, as she looked at the lights, she noticed there were the same symbol engraved upon each and every one of them—something the untrained eye would have never spotted.
It was plenty clear that no trains were even going to be running through there. From where she stood onward was within the dominion of magicians.
But she had no further instructions, so she simply pressed forward. After using a makeshift spell that combined a drawing of a compass with the runes 'laguz' and 'raidou', she followed the flow of magical energy through all of the twists and turns in the dimly lit tunnel until she was led to a single location.
Standing in front of a single door, she gritted her teeth.
"Come on, with how we hid it, of course we would know when it was revealed."
Upon it, there was what remained of a red symbol—the one that she had been led to from the flow of mana. It was once a gratuitous symbol that sat on what looked like a normal tunnel wall.
"Hulinhjálmur."
"Oh, so you do know."
It was an Icelandic magic staff known alternatively as the 'helmet of disguise' that rendered its wearer invisible.
"Though the real symbol and its grotesque methodology for its creation have faded in the modern era, we managed to retain the disguise capabilities and the shape of the original symbol while whittling away at the more disgusting aspects of it for things like this."
Icelandic magic staves were still prevalent in modern pop culture though the images that circulated around the internet could be inaccurate. Hulinhjálmur as seen on the internet was missing parts, but the one that Cendrillon had wiped away was supposedly the correct one. She had so quickly wiped away what had seemingly been lost to the masses without a hint of hesitation.
"But seriously, couldn't you have used some other method to negate it? Reconstructing the symbol and reactivating the damn thing's going to be a pain. This site's going to be totally unusable for a while now."
Cendrillon did not let herself respond to that prodding as she crossed her arms and continued to stare at the door with a prevalent disgust.
"Ah, it's because it's Norse, isn't it? You really can hold a grudge."
The girl who could easily let go of grudges chided the girl who could hold one indefinitely.
"Can we move on?"
"Right, right. You cleared the first part of the exam by finding the location in that labyrinth but I can't congratulate you just yet. Go through that door and then note the GM position."
"Wait. The what?"
"Just go in. You'll see when you get in and close the door behind you."
Quizzical, the girl turned the knob and opened the door. From within, a bright light shone through. As she walked in, Cendrillon came to wonder why a school classroom-sized area was sitting here within London's train system and how someone even managed to hide something like this without it draining resources.
But beyond the size of the area, the biggest source of dissonance between where she was before and where she had just entered was the room itself. After closing the door behind her, she saw the room for what it was—a cube of pure white. It was not like marble which had its many visual imperfections but an area of unblemished white.
Sitting in the room on two ends were two specific sets of objects.
On one end, a book with a brown leather-like cover sitting open with its pages facing the wall.
On the other, an object which looked like a hardened clay doll, numerous parchments, pens, dice, and a smaller, closed book.
"So, which do you think is your side?"
"The one with more objects?"
"Correct. I'll let you take a look at the instructions in a bit. But first, open the bag, put what's inside on and then drop those casual clothes and bag into the corner."
As she opened it, within she found her usual dress, a pair of glass slippers, and her usual adornments—a familiar set of objects for the girl in an unfamiliar area. Without hesitation, she began to strip off her hoodie and her capris.
"Are you really sure about giving me these? What about the possibility of betraying you right here if I have my usual belongings?"
"You and I know better than that about the possibilities." As she began to put the membrane-made dress onto her slender and now bare body, she raised an eyebrow to Freadia's words. "We've caught you once before and the fact that you're now within one of our testing and training facilities means you're in our home base. Even if you betray us, you already know about how impossible it will be to escape us."
While pressing out the more skintight portions of her dress, she sighed.
In other words, there was no point in doing anything other than complying.
Rather than trying to ruminate over any possible claustrophobia, she put on her slippers, put on the crown, and twisted her body around to check herself before dropping the bag and clothes she had walked in with at the designated corner of the room.
"It's done."
"Alright. With that, welcome to the meat of the special admission test. In an older time, the test would put prospective magicians into dangerous situations with a single win condition. But, we had lost a bunch of good potential talents with that process so the exam was given more and more cushions until it became what you see in front of you. Nowadays, it functions more as a type of role play. I can elaborate as we go on."
Cendrillon tilted her head as she walked up the objects that were not the 'GM' side.
"If you haven't guessed, that book you see contains instructions. Read only the first step listed and follow it before reading any further."
Once again quizzical, she sat down and picked up the aforementioned book. Within it, the first page had only one instruction.
"Take a strand of hair and wrap it around the clay doll?"
"The concept is similar to certain curses used in the East or within Africa. To put it simply, it will cause part of the magical energy you refine to flow into the doll and syncing you to it. It will be your an avatar of sorts for you. Any injuries you would face during the test scenario will be represented on it while you feel the pain and effects. Initiating that ceremony will also start the exam proper."
Picking up the clay doll that was sitting on the ground, she flipped it around and rotated it to examine its many nonspecific features.
With her free hand, she pulled out one of her many long flowing blonde hairs, wincing at the moment it separated from her scalp.
Cendrillon took a deep breath as she looked at the doll in her hand, then back to the hair, and then once again, back to the doll.
(Everybody chases happiness. Everyone has that desire and that right. Even after many twists and turns, that is still the road that people walk. In that case, are you even aware what's at the end of that road? Sometimes...)
She winced as those words passed through her head. As much as she thought, the owner of the voice and the source of those words nagged at her.
But perhaps they still had meaning.
Sourceless though they were, those words still could be a guiding light.
"Alright. I'm starting."
The girl wrapped and tied that lone strand of hair around the doll.
And then…
6
(November 17, 8:05 PM)
"Ahhh! WHY IS IT CHASING ME?!"
The shouts of the girl who was shrouded in the concept known as a winner's aura reverberated near Itsuwa and Freadia. Though, given their public location they had to minimize the output volume for the crystal radio but they could still hear the panicked shouts.
"How often is it like this?"
Itsuwa really only had the exam she went through as a reference but during the actual exam, and while jabs and moments of panic flew around during it, they never went this far.
"Well, individual exams tend to vary and are calibrated for the person or people taking it." Freadia gave off a momentary wry chuckle. "And your exam was an exception in too many aspects to properly judge. Even if the exam isn't fully standardized, it can still be a scary experience depending on your skillset."
"TAKE THAT, SALOPARD!"
"Well, at least she's lively." The two girls stared back at the crystal radio, hoping that nobody heard what she had said. For someone emulating a fairy tale princess, she had quite the tendency to let her language slip into vulgarities.
"Plus, the whole exam can still be fatal if the roll of the dice create an unfavorable situation. I count this as completely justified stress to be honest."
The girls had long since finished up dinner and were now on dessert. On Freadia's plate, a sticky toffee pudding that was already half eaten. On Itsuwa's, a fruit crumble made from blueberries, strawberries, and vanilla ice cream already three out of five layers deep.
Despite the seeming high-alert that had surrounded this particular exam, very little seemed to be going awry, aside from what was a created obstacle or puzzle within Cendrillon's exam itself.
"But, seriously, Itsuwa. Can you let me try a bite of yours? I promise you can have a bite of mine."
Instead, the proctoring had ended up boiling down to a few simple things.
Sweets.
Exchanging sweets.
Small talk.
All else seemed to fade away as the exam progressed within the normal flow.
It was almost like time would speed up its run on an unending treadmill.
A comforting calm, just ready to…
CRASH
"Wait, why are—kzzzt—France!"
Within an instant, the heads of the two girls turned from their pleasant desserts and locked in place as they stared at the radio.
Kzzzzzzzt-kzzzt.
In an instant the entire transmission cut off.
"Cendrillon! Can you hear me?!"
Freadia fiddled with the dial to the radio and kept asking to no response.
"Bond Street station is a few blocks from here. I'll start heading down there."
Itsuwa had already dropped her fork, grabbed the bag which she had set, and placed it around her shoulder.
"I'll start to command the perimeter."
Was it betrayal or was it an external factor intervening? At this moment, they couldn't say for sure and the last words they had heard on the radio could just as easily be a quick obfuscation to create plausible deniability.
But that still meant one thing.
"If we act now, they'll be limited to where they can move. Even if Cendrillon has moved out of the examination room and broken the spell to initiate the exam, she'll be confined to the underground."
Freadia came to a quick conclusion before tossing Itsuwa a small device the size of an early MP3 player.
"Use that for communication. It's preset to the proper line to keep in contact with me."
"Right. I'll make sure to bring Cendrillon back."
With that, Itsuwa dashed out the pub door and towards the London Underground.
That night, the hunters of Necessarius once again spread their claws in the British Metropolis. When the dust settled, blood would inevitably spill.
Interlude
The girl sat atop a single hill.
Though she was wearing a dress, she still knelt on the grass with her legs spread as she overlooked the dirt road in a small village.
In her hand was a stick with a freshly frayed end—one likely pulled from a low-hanging branch of a nearby tree.
With one the pointy end of the twig, she was engraving letters within the soil in front of her while bending forward.
...E...T…I…T…
"Does it even have any meaning like this?" She muttered, gazing at the letters she had scrawled out.
"I honestly can't say." The older boy with shabby clothes with her rubbed at a bruise on his neck.
"You too, huh?"
The word before her was simple—a concept even a child could understand.
Such were the words that were carved into a magician's soul. At times, they could be a word that defined a narrow concept or a specific act. At times they could be a simple word that could project a plethora of meanings upon which a magician could act.
But, in simple terms, they were a raison d'être.
That was reality for the girl.
That was reality for the boy.
No matter what, she would strive for the meaning behind that name if she carved it into her soul.
"But, that's only because I don't know what your meaning is."
The girl looked to the boy who had stopped rubbing at his neck and smiled at her. Her head tilted as she tried to comprehend what she had heard.
"It's a beautiful word and if that's what your soul seeks, then I think it's wonderful."
The boy ruffled the girl's hair.
"But that meaning is for you to decide."
Picking her hand off her hair, he offered it to her.
"********."
Like clockwork, in response to her name being called, she took his hand and picked herself up.
"In your mind's eye, what is the image of that word? What form does it take?"
…
…
Crackle…
…
It was almost suffocating, standing within those flames. The smoke had entered her nose and throat. It had covered her long locks of blonde hair and her dress in soot.
As those flames dyed the black of the night sky in an orange so brilliant it could snuff out the light of the stars, she stood.
And yet, those glass slippers on her feet were stained in a dark red as they had splashed up a shallow pool of red liquid that was beginning to dry out.
Within that encircling inferno, there was not even a single shred of panic. There was not even a sign of a rush as she simply walked step by step through those burning halls, surrounded by the recurrent crackles and flying embers.
An ephemeral feeling of something wet seemed to run down her cheek before that sensation was completely lost to her.
"Really? What form does it take?"
A/N: And thus, we enter the second chapter of both the story and of what I am calling the False Cinderella Arc.
With Cendrillon, thanks to the fact that she has never returned to the front stage since NT6, I have a lot of leeway with what I can do with her. And that doesn't just go for her. The best part of playing with the magic side is that Kamachi has left us with a world rife of magicians that are there to play with as far as writing is concerned. In that way, Freadia is one of those many facets that Kamachi has left behind.
While Cendrillon is kind of being set to be in the place where the heroine in a normal Index story would be, I want to try to fix that preconception a bit for this. The world seems to work for the better around Touma's acts of selfishness in Index proper, but we're not surrounding Touma and the magic side is one with a fairly bloody and repulsive history. As such, I want to try and start to match that by showing the magic side's more ugly sides.
For someone like Itsuwa, I want to force that repulsive nature in front of her face as the story picks up steam, so I hope you'll all be there when things can no longer simply careen to a halt for better or worse.
For that, I've temporarily had Stiyl exit stage right. Originally, he was supposed to be a deuteroganist to Itsuwa, but things ended up changing that someone else took that status entirely.
I hope that playing with a different set of pieces will continued to tickle your fancy as the reader.
And so I shall lay down my pen until next time.
With magic and mystery being a drawing point, I wonder if Itsuwa is functionally the detective of the story.
EDIT (5/25): So, due to some mix-up on my end, I missed a lot of my editor's comments and as such had to go through and fix things. Thanks to HelixPenn for taking up the role of editor for this chapter.