A/N: Um...guys. When I said I was expecting reviews last chapter I was joking, in case you didn't get the notice.
Like, WHAT. The review count went from 101 to 119. The first four-ish reviews were within an hour. I'm serious. Dead serious. I was doing some other stuff, happened to pull out my phone, and choked when I saw that happen.
Oh, by the way, if any of you read my Akatsuki no Yona fanfiction Soar, I'm currently working on a collaboration for Christmas with two other prominent fanfiction authors in the fandom.
Also, I'm planning out a fairly large group collaboration on a story, so I'll get back to ya'll with more information when that's finalized. Ya'll should check it out. ;D *hints non-too-subtly*
More notes at the bottom of the chapter.
"Hi, it's Elliot. I'm not available right now, so please leave a message after the beep and I'll get right back at'cha…"
"...yo, El? El, it's me, Alex. You haven't been replying to all of my calls and texts for the past week, and I'm really worried. I tried going to...to your dad's place, but they wouldn't tell me anything." A ginger haired boy sighed frustratedly, running his hand through his hair hurriedly. His voice was a bit hoarse as he tried to muster some words that could convey his feelings. He wanted to say more...so much more, but he didn't know how to express himself. "El...I'm your best friend. And I know that...that things have been bad recently, but I'm always here for you. So please...please pick up."
"Alex!" A girl approached the boy on his cell phone, her face a pallid white. "Oh, God, Alex, have you heard?
Thump.
Thump.
"...heard?" His heart was thumping, and somehow his instincts screamed that something was wrong. The girl suddenly burst into tears, uncontrollable sobs racking her entire body, and he rushed over to pat her on the back comfortingly, shutting off his phone. When her tears had significantly stopped, he asked urgently, "Clara, what's the matter? What happened?"
Thump.
Thump.
She burst into tears again, but through her sobs he could understand what she was trying to say.
Thump.
Thump.
Thumpthumpthumpthump-
They found her under the bridge. She was gone.
And the world suddenly felt surreal, everything spinning and disappearing in front of his eyes as he fell to the ground, clutching onto his cell phone tightly. "It...no...she's not…" he gritted his teeth before dialing her all-too-familiar number again, his fingers shaking as he desperately tried to deny the truth.
"...hi, it's Elliot. I'm not available right now-"
The sound of her voice drove Clara into a fresh round of tears.
"You cheated," Alyasa accused, slamming the door behind the two of them once they had entered the room. "There's no way someone can get a score that high, lest of all someone like you."
"I'll take that as a compliment," Yamuraiha replied breezily, choosing to ignore the girl's accusation. She let herself lie down on the bed and stared at the white ceiling disinterestedly. Her mind was already racing with plans for the next few days.
She had proved herself competent in regards to magical theory, which was good. Yamuraiha had studied her ass off for that, and she would've been more disappointed if she didn't achieve a high score. And she even got a higher score than Lynn, another bonus. She'd rub that in his face later.
It was interesting that they didn't encounter whatever the 'mental trial' would be. Sera had told her that after the second part of the preliminary test, aka the whole stamina thing, they should've had a mental test. But instead they skipped it and did a theoretical test...the thought that Magnoshutatt was making changes to its testing system was not comforting. She thought she had everything planned out thanks to Sera's many attempts at getting in and broad knowledge about Magnoshutatt.
She still wouldn't put it past Magnoshutatt to conduct the mental trial next. Whatever the case, she had to be prepared for all possible scenarios.
"Alyasa…" she called, stopping the girl in mid-rant. "What can you tell me about those groups they were talking about earlier?"
"You got a score that high on the test and don't even know?" Alyasa asked scornfully, but when Yamuraiha just neutrally shrugged, she rolled her eyes and indulged her question. "Each year is divided into groups depending on your talent. The most revered and elite is Group A, which only takes the top ten magicians. Next is Group B, which includes the next twenty five. Group C is the largest, with all the leftovers who passed. There are even different teachers for each group."
"Can you switch groups once you've been sorted?" Yamuraiha asked curiously.
"At the beginning of each year, there's an opportunity for people to try out for the group higher than their current group. But those in Group A stay, unless the teacher says otherwise. Group B members can move down if they're not careful, though, because they always keep a quota of twenty five," Alyasa informed importantly. "My father's the Magical Theory instructor for Group A, third years."
"Interesting," Yamuraiha nodded at the influx of information. She filed that away for further use. This all was definitely not a part of the original series, but she chalked it down to time differences and renovations in how the Academy worked.
"I guess…" Alyasa said reluctantly, obviously not finding the intricate structure of the school system the least intriguing. At times like this Yamuraiha wished she had Nick to converse with: he'd definitely be pointing out the flaws of such a system beside her. After all, the glaringly obvious point was that eventually groups A and B would outnumber those in group C, and with (probably) less talented instructors in the lower groups, they probably didn't stand that much of a chance for promotion unless they did outside studying.
She heard knocking on the door and sighed, lazily getting off of the bed and creaking open the door slightly. "Oh, Sera! And Lynn," she added the second name as an afterthought, her easy dismissal obviously annoying the blonde haired boy.
"Hi, Raiha. Congratulations on your score," Sera said kindly, smiling at her. She beamed at him and returned the congratulations, making the white haired boy blush slightly. "I could've done better," he admitted. "I was speaking with Lynn earlier about some of the questions and realized that I was a bit too focused on some sub-points and realized I missed explaining the most important points."
"As always, you have to take a step back," Yamuraiha shook her head half in amusement and half out of exasperation. "But I guess I can't speak. I was rambling a bit too much on that one essay question about the uses of magic that I didn't have time to finish my paragraph about the evolution of magical items."
"You nerds," Alyasa deadpanned. "Get out if you're going to talk about the test. All you do is study all day, I swear."
The three of them exchanged looks before stepping out of the room with a cheerful wave, which obviously annoyed Alyasa. "You too, Lynn?" Alyasa called, sounding somewhat disappointed.
"It's interesting," Lynn shrugged nonchalantly, keeping a straight face until Yamuraiha closed the door. Once she closed the door, however, the blonde immediately returned to his normal scowl. "I can't believe you room with someone like that."
"She's...interesting," Yamuraiha chose her words carefully, shrugging with a look on her face that clearly spelled 'what can you do?'. "She has some interesting things she talks about."
"Rather than make-up, her awesomeness, and the awesomeness of females?" Sera questioned, obviously having heard some of the girl's ranting. Probably during the time periods where Yamuraiha and Lynn had been separated for their citizenship.
Yamuraiha waved the matter aside. "Anyways, so what do you two know about the next test?" she pressed, eyes sharpening. "Have you heard anything?"
Lynn looked unenthusiastic as he shook his head, but Sera lit up. "I heard from one of the guys in my testing session that the mental trial's next," Sera informed. "It's not like Magnoshutatt to suddenly take out something as big as that anyways."
"Any idea on what it might be?" Yamuraiha asked, keeping her voice casual and lighthearted. To her disappointment, Sera shook his head. Oh, well. That was a whole lot better than her musing and guessing from before.
There really was no way to prepare for it, then. Yamuraiha frowned, but she shook off her disappointment and instead nudged Sera when she saw his downtrodden face. "Why don't we head out and check out the district for now, then? I already know some places that seem a bit interesting."
Sera brightened. "Right!" Glancing at Lynn, who was strangely silent for once, he addressed the blonde. "Lynn, would you like to come as well?"
"I guess," Lynn said uncomfortably, shoving his hands in his pockets and following the two magicians out of the dorms.
The three of them walked in an amiable silence, each musing and off in their own thoughts as they made their way through the town. They were beginning to enter the area with plenty of shops, and Yamuraiha's eyes skimmed over all the names (clothing...food...more clothing) before she found something of interest.
"Ah, a book shop!" The three exclaimed at the same time in exact synchronization. They all blinked and stared at each other for a moment, not sure of what to make of having other friends who were as interested in magic as they were.
"Uh…" Yamuraiha said hesitantly after an extended moment of silence. "Shall we all go in?"
"Sure!" Sera beamed while Lynn gave a more muted response of a shrug and an "I guess".
They entered the shop and immediately the three zoomed off to different sections. Yamuraiha herself was examining the wide section of philosophy books, her eyes particularly scrutinizing the books dealing with reincarnation. She picked out an interesting looking one before glancing over to see where her other companions had went. Spotting white hair, she made her way to Sera. "Didn't take you for one to be in the fictional story section," she observed. "I would've thought you'd be over at the publications of recent scientific advancements over there."
"I just thought this was interesting." Sera showed her the scroll he was looking at. "It's gotten really popular in the Reim Empire recently."
Yamuraiha glanced curiously at the title and almost choked.
The Wonderous Adventures of Sinbad, the Dungeon Capturer.
"CanIseethis?" She spouted quickly, grabbing the scroll and literally throwing the book she had before to Sera. Before she knew it she was already skimming through the scroll, the tales of Sinbad and the former assassin Ja'far...their first dungeon...Drakon…
For the first time in nearly...forever, Yamuraiha realized that this was actually happening. That this was actually Magi, and the plot was already moving. That if she didn't hurry her ass up and get stronger, she might be sucked into the whirlpool of the plot, and she knew that once she was in she'd never be able to escape its clutches.
"Uh...Raiha?" Sera asked cautiously. "Are you...alright? What's the matter?"
Oh, for Solomon's sake. Was she alright? Of course not! The plot was already moving and it was so close, so exhilaratingly and terrifyingly close, and if she didn't do something about it she'd be shackled by the work of fate as well-
Yamuraiha swallowed all of the bitter words that itched to come out of her mouth and instead plastered on a bright smile. It wasn't Sera's fault that she was reborn as Yamuraiha. "Yeah, fine," she answered vaguely. "Don't worry about it. Now, where's Lynn?"
The fact that she had invoked her not-really-sorta rival's name must have made Sera even more suspicious and worried, but the white haired boy was kind enough to let it go. "He's over in the magical theory section. We're not students yet, though, so I don't think we can buy anything yet. We should probably head out before it gets too dark."
After finding Lynn and nearly having to drag the blonde away from a particularly engrossing text about the practical applications of magic to trade routes (Yamuraiha honestly couldn't understand why the guy was so interested in trade routes, of all things, although she admitted that they did have their uses and her old life's history teachers probably would murder her for not acknowledging their importance even by a bit), the three of them returned to their dorms, bidding each other goodbye at the second floor.
Yamuraiha sighed, re-entering her and Alyasa's room after finding it unlocked, and after preparing herself to go to bed she fell promptly asleep.
.
.
NEXT DAY, MENTAL TRIAL EXAMINATION
.
.
"You have been given a piece of paper with a secret message on it. Our magicians have been given the task of trying to extract the information out of you, and you must resist for as long as possible. The amount of time that you resisted them will factor into your acceptance, although please note the practical and theoretical test are worth more."
Yamuraiha knew what her code word was: she had memorized it and burned the paper with a Halhar spell. Approaching bridge: drown target.
It seemed like Fate had a twisted sense of humor.
"You will be paired with one of our senior magicians. They'll instruct you on where to go next," Feiste droned. "Don't piss them off. They'll be the only person evaluating you."
He began calling names, and after they went up to Feiste then a different magician would step up and escort them to somewhere else.
Yamuraiha prayed she would get a merciful interrogator.
Of course, Murphy's law had something against her.
"Raiha," Feiste called, and she made her way up to him. He lowered his voice. "Your theoretical score was quite noteworthy, with higher ups were hoping that you'd be able to handle your interrogator. He's a bit of a...sadistic sociopath if I must be honest. If you show that his words affect you he'll press the point, but otherwise he'll eventually get bored."
"Alright." Yamuraiha nodded dutifully. As soon as she said so, her instincts took over and she ducked, narrowly avoiding catching her hair on fire from the fireball sent her way.
A figure walked lazily towards her, his wand still brandished forward dangerously. "At least the kid's got some instincts, I'll give you that much, Feiste."
"Careful where you're brandishing that wand. We aren't supposed to hurt any of the recruits," Feiste warned. It felt like the entire rest of the magicians waiting for their names to be called were watching the exchange with wary eyes, which they probably were.
"Mogamett said no permanent damage. And what he sees can't hurt nobody," the man shrugged. "Didn't expect the kid to be so small."
"I'm nine." Yamuraiha shrugged, noticing a few of the shocked-numb looks in the crowd. She spotted Lynn: his lips just twitched upwards a fraction in a half amused smirk at their reactions.
"Hey, hey, you're letting kids into the Academy now?" Her interrogator rounded back around at Feiste, his expression unnerving many in the crowd. If Yamuraiha were to compare the man to the animal, it would be a serpent: cold and ruthless. He let out a dark chuckle. "What's wrong with you, eh? That despite for new recruits?"
"She scored a near perfect score on the theoretical test and bested all the other recruits. I think I am entitled to say that she can hold her own," Feiste deadpanned. "And if you have a problem about how I run things, Erik, you can take it up to Lord Mogamett."
"Tch." The man momentarily acknowledged his loss before whipping around and facing Yamuraiha. "Come on, kid. Let's go have some fun." The way that Erik's eyes glinted in excitement sent a chill down her spine. She knew that several were sending her pitying looks behind her, but she ignored it and instead chose to levelly meet the man's eyes.
Her past life had conditioned her to put on a polite smile.
"Very well. Shall we go?"
"You're interesting," Erik noted as he escorted her along. "Not begging or screaming yet."
"You haven't even done anything yet," Yamuraiha replied dryly, her body still tense and ready to defend herself at a moment's notice should something go awry. "Anyways, where are you leading me?"
"My secret laboratory where I'm going to torture you to death," Erik deadpanned. Yamuraiha was finding that she actually liked the sadist's dry sense of humor, despite the fact that he was exhibiting several warning signs of a sociopath. He actually reminded her of herself in a way, which probably wasn't the best thing.
Without warning, he spun around and shot another fireball straight at her head, and she couldn't help but flinch as its trajectory stopped right in front of her face, only inches away from her face. She could feel the heat of the glowing orb scorching her face, the flames reaching out greedily towards her. Her eyes were almost transfixed by the ever shifting colors of the flame, from blue to orange to red…
"Play time's over, kid. Your examination starts now," Erik stated, his voice smooth and eyes glinting as he snapped his fingers. Before she knew what was happening, she was being lifted into the air, higher...and higher...and higher...and higher…
It was a good thing that she wasn't afraid of heights, for she probably would've fainted out of fear. She could see other examinees glancing upwards and noticing her, their jaws dropping in shock. Their figures began to shrink as she was lifted to even higher elevations. She wasn't afraid of heights. She wasn't afraid of heights. She wasn't. Even so, it was unnerving to be at such a height, especially she knew what was going to happen next-
The magic that had been lifting her into the air suddenly disappeared, and she could feel the air whooshing past her as she fell.
Her body was like a stone without the magic supporting her, and she shut her eyes because she knew she wasn't supposed to be using any Air Magic to stop her descent because this was a mental trial for Solomon's sake, and they were supposed to see how much she could withstand before giving up.
She was approaching the ground now, she could feel it, and she forced her body to relax as she plummeted head first towards the ground.
There were several alarmed cries that called out, the wind still rushing past her at exhilarating speeds, but just when she was about to hit the ground she felt a wave of magic stop her descent in mid air.
"That was one of the most boring reactions I've had yet," Erik deadpanned, a disappointed frown on his face. Even so, she could see that there was a glint of respect in his eyes that wasn't there before, and she counted that as a win, at least. She was lowered to the ground, and for a moment just savored the feeling of earth beneath her feet before standing up and facing him. "Don't you know Air Magic?"
"It's a mental trial, I doubt you'd actually kill me, and yes, I do," Yamuraiha confirmed, dusting off her robes. "I decided to take a leap of faith."
"Interesting," Erik purred. "But we've just started."
.
.
"I think this is child abuse!" Yamuraiha called, trying to keep her voice from wavering. She was dangling off of a cliff with a single rope tied around her left ankle keeping her from plummeting down to the rocky waters below. "I'm going to sue you!"
"Tough luck, sweetheart, but I'm being authorized to do this," Erik sneered, lighting the rope on fire. She screamed as she fell, but felt a tug on her ankle that was definitely magical and she was being lifted up again.
"Your passcode."
"Helluva no," she managed, her world still spinning.
Erik's expression suddenly shifted to one of glee, almost as if he was happy that he could continue mentally scarring her. Probably. The sadist. "Ready for round two?"
She didn't get the time to reply before she was thrown downwards again.
.
.
"Sadly I'm not actually allowed to do things like play with your fingernails," Erik mused, looking down at his singed and harrowed looking interrogatee. "Or stab you."
"Damn, I always aspired to be stabbed," Yamuraiha deadpanned, any of her politeness having seeped out of her long ago. All that was left was her dry humor, and even that was waning. "I've been shot at with fireballs, thrown up and down a cliff several times, had to run through a freezing arena, and have lost the ability to breathe. Several times. To be honest, I'm basically ready for anything you throw at me."
"You know, Raiha…" Erik smirked. "Though I can't use certain interrogation techniques, there's always others."
"...and that may be?"
"Water." Erik was delighted to see the teal haired girl's face finally turn a pallid white.
.
.
"Tell me the passcode."
"Go to Hell," she spat, and her head went underwater again. The water was making it hard for her to breathe, and even though she knew this was just an examination and there was no way that Erik could actually kill her, her heart was still pounding loudly and oh god she couldn't breathe somebody help-
There was a sharp tug on her hair and she was suddenly above water again. Yamuraiha was tied upside down by rope, dangerously hanging from the ceiling of a place that resembled a laboratory. Below her head was a trough of water, which she was lowered into every time she refused.
"The passcode."
"No," she threw back, her voice hoarse. "Son of a bitch."
Down she went again.
Up. Down. Up. Down.
She could feel her sanity slipping away, and knew that Erik's patience was probably dwindling as well.
Stop it...stop it...STOP. STOPSTOPSTOP-
"Bridge," she croaked, and as soon as the word slipped out of her mouth she mentally slapped herself.
There was a blessed moment of silence before Erik cooed in a sugary sweet voice, "Go on."
"..." Yamuraiha refused to give anything further, and when Erik realized this his expression darkened.
"You don't want more, do you?" He demanded. Then his voice changed into a more alluring one. "If you tell me, then I can let you go...you can go back to your dormitory...your sweet, soft bed…"
"And fail? I think not," she managed, trying not to puke.
"Hm...well…" Whatever Erik was going to say was cut off by someone else's voice.
"What is going on here, Erik?" Feiste asked dangerously, and if Yamuraiha's vision wasn't so blurry she would've noticed Lynn trailing behind the tall magician. "I've heard several reports of your interrogatee plummeting to the gro-" his voice abruptly cut off when he fully stepped into the scene and took in everything.
"You stupid fool," Feiste hissed, and Yamuraiha felt him hurry over to her and some kind of warm feeling overtake her. Healing Magic? Probably. She was being untied and lowered to the ground, which was a plus. The blood that rushed to her head while she was upside down made it hard to think. "She's nine, you idiot, not an adult like most of the people here. Even if she was an adult, this is unethical. What the Hell did you think you were doing?"
"Testing her," Erik replied coolly, his voice darkening. "And from what I've seen you've gotta good one here, Feiste. She hasn't cracked yet, although she did give away one word. She actually didn't show any signs of breaking until I began drowning her."
She was still zoning in and out but could faintly hear in the background Erik list off her strengths and weaknesses with the voice of a professional.
"Physically wise she has a lot to go, but that can be factored into her age and current body frame. She can use Elemental Magic, to what extent I haven't tested yet, and is either extremely stubborn to not fail, determined to pass, or both. She tends to run her mouth off too much, something that'll get her in trouble with the wrong sorts of people. Also has way too much confidence for her own good, you gotta kick it down a notch. Although some of that self confidence is warranted," Erik acknowledged.
"Erik, you know Mogamett said…"
"He's getting soft in his old age," Erik dismissed. "She's an interesting spec…magician. I'd definitely keep a close eye on her, though, or the kid might start picking a fight with every single jealous wuss who tries to insult her. Watch."
Erik swaggered over to her still convulsing body and kicked her in the ribs. "Oi, kid," he drawled. "Had enough yet?"
"Just...just try me you bastard," a half crazed laugh slipped out of her mouth as pain exploded in the area where he kicked her. "You can't break me even if you try your hardest."
Her eyes met Erik's, and a sardonic smirk spread over her face.
Because I'm already broken, dumbass.
"Lynn, bring her outside and go ask someone to escort you two to Shinya. She'll fix you two back up," Feiste ordered his interrogatee. The blonde, who she barely noticed had been silently hovering beside her, nodded and pulled Yamuraiha up to her feet.
"Come on, you moron," he grumbled, positioning her arm over his shoulder. "You just have to always get into these kind of unique situations, don't you?"
"Life...wouldn't be...as fun, now, wouldn't it?" Yamuraiha laughed, her world still spinning as she allowed for herself to have a moment of weakness for once. It was humiliating for Lynn to see her in such a state: Yamuraiha was a prideful person by nature, and being that kind of person, she hated having to rely on other people in times like these. But as prideful as she could be, she had still retained enough of her intelligence to realize that trying to heal herself when a readily available healer was present nearby probably was stupid.
"Now, apologize," Feiste said to Erik in a low voice. The two had been talking while Lynn had helped her to her feet, although she didn't catch anything they had said.
"Oi, kid!" Erik called, not the least of remorse in his voice. Lynn and her stopped walking, and she turned around. His eyes were an olive green, she noted absentmindedly. "If you ever need a favor, come by my place. We can bargain with some favors here and there, and both of us can benefit."
"Erik," Feiste scolded, his tone wavering between serious and half exasperated.
Yamuraiha's lips twitched. "I'll hold you to your word," she called before she continued along with Lynn. A senior magician offering her help? Yes, please. She could figure out how to work that to her advantage later.
The two of them walked in silence for a little, only for the peaceful reverie to be broken by the blonde magician. "You look...terrible."
"Gee, thanks." She rolled her eyes, attempting to push a stray lock of teal hair behind her ear but failing miserably because her arms refused to cooperate.
"No...but…" Lynn trailed off, not able to find the words before finally just giving up and returning to his usual sulky self. Suddenly, he changed subjects. "You're not seriously going to return to that guy, are you?" He asked cautiously, and although she shook her head, there must have been something about Yamuraiha that belied her because his aquamarine eyes narrowed. "Are you stupid?"
"I don't think so. Are you?" She shot back, but it seemed as if Lynn wasn't in the aggressive mood because he just simply shrugged.
"Maybe I am."
Trying but failing to come up with a response to that, she instead chose to focus on the task at hand. "That person looks like a senior magician, we can ask them," she nodded in the direction of a man with dark blue hair.
"Ah, yeah. His name was Marth, remember? He read off the guys' names for the dorms yesterday." At Yamuraiha's blank look, Lynn rolled his eyes and sighed. "I have no idea how you got first place if you can't even remember that."
"I just remember what I need to remember. The lady's name was Edith or something, right?" Yamuraiha shrugged, still trying to push back that one annoying strand of teal hair that kept falling in front of her face and covering her eyes. To her surprise, Lynn absentmindedly reached over and pushed the strand of hair behind her ear, the action making her face blush a scarlet red (curse her genes, or this body's genes, or whatever for making it so easy to see when she blushed-).
Lynn quickly withdrew when he noticed what he was doing, his face probably turning a similar shade of red, although it was hard to tell because he immediately turned away to hide his expression. "You just looked uncomfortable," he mumbled the excuse quickly. "Don't think too much of it."
"N-not like I would," Yamuraiha sniffed, and she fell silent as they approached Marth (was it?).
"Um, are you Professor Marth? Feiste told us to find someone to help us get to...Shinya, was it?" Lynn asked, and although the last part of his question was a bit more hesitant, he didn't show any fear or shyness like most other new recruits did when talking to a senior magician.
"Ah, yes…" Marth trailed off when he saw Yamuraiha's condition, and although his eyes widened a fraction he regained his composure easily. "I'll bring you to her. She's our best healer, and one of my close companions. If I remember correctly...she's probably teaching right now."
They were lifted into the air, and before Yamuraiha knew it they were standing in front of the entrance to a classroom. Marth peeked his head in, exchanging a few words with someone inside before a woman with short, chestnut brown hair exited the classroom. "Critical condition, you say, Marth?" She asked skeptically, but once she saw Yamuraiha her expression changed. "Stupid Marth, how did this happen this time? A duel? Another lab accident?"
The woman hurried over to her, a green light emitting from her hands as she placed them over Yamuraiha's ribs.
"She's an examinee, actually. Erik did quite a number on her during the mental trial," Marth replied quietly.
"Why are you, Edith, and Feiste giving children over to him now?" She hissed, mainly concentrating on healing her.
"She scored the highest on the theoretical test. Four questions wrong, Shinya. There's only a few others who have gotten that high. Ever."
Yamuraiha couldn't see the woman's reaction, but by the way she felt Shinya stiffen she knew that his comment probably shocked her a bit. "I see…" the woman mumbled, still sounding disapproving although most of the anger had seeped out of her voice by then. "Cover my class for me. These third years have no idea what they're doing."
"Gotcha." Marth nodded, pausing a bit before entering the classroom. "Thanks, Shinya."
"What would you ever do without me, idiot?" The woman rolled her eyes, grumbling this statement under her breath although there was slightly fond tone in her voice. Turning to Yamuraiha the woman said sternly, "Now, listen here. I don't want you doing anything that might hurt your lungs or ribs for the next day. Although...I know that as usual you reckless magicians are just going to ignore my advice...at least can you promise me not to try straining yourself too much?"
"I'll try," Yamuraiha agreed, careful with her wording. Honestly, with her luck, she'd probably get into some kind of trouble soon enough.
"...that's the best I'll get, huh?" Shinya sighed, but she ruffled Yamuraiha's hair. "Just...don't try to grow up too fast, kid. It's not worth it."
"But sometimes necessity calls for it," Yamuraiha said cheerfully. "Thank you for fixing me up. I'll be going now."
"Not so fast." Shinya grabbed her and Lynn's sleeve, and the brunette gave the two one long, serious look. "You. Blondie. Make sure you watch over your friend: I don't want her becoming my regular visitor."
Lynn looked like he was about to protest at the title but ultimately decided against it and just nodded. Shinya's lips twitched upwards and she raised her staff, a flying magic carpet whisking them away and back to the dorms. They both stood in front of the dormitory entrance awkwardly.
Hands shoved in his pockets, Lynn mumbled, "I'm going to walk around for a bit more. You should go inside."
"Ah...yeah. See you." She nodded, and the blonde began walking off. Before he could walk several paces, she called, "Lynn!"
The boy turned around questioningly.
"I...uh...thanks," she said lamely. "For today."
Lynn stared at her. "You're creeping me out."
"Oi, I really tried to be sincere," she protested. "At least try to accept my gratitude."
The blonde walked off, lazily raising a single hand in a gesture of goodbye. "Yeah, yeah. Just get back to your normal annoying self soon, moron. Acting girly doesn't suit you."
"Go die," she deadpanned, but she knew she was smiling anyways.
Yamuraiha grabbed the door handle and twisted it.
Clink.
Her eyebrows creased in confusion. She tried again.
Clink.
Searching herself to see if she had brought her copy of the key, she realized that she had left it inside of the room. Yamuraiha mentally facepalmed. "...Alyasa?" She called. "Can you unlock the door?"
She heard the sound of a shower stopping, and after a few moments she heard footsteps approach the door. Relief flooded her: all Yamuraiha wanted to do was sleep, god damn it all. She was so tired.
The footsteps stopped in front of the door. Then, to her slight surprise, they started moving away again. "...Alyasa? Alyasa," she called, knocking. "Um, it'd be really helpful if you opened the door."
She heard a sniff from inside the room, and pressing her ear against the door she heard some kind of mumbled insult.
...she waited a few more minutes, knocking and listening for a response in intervals. Yamuraiha's patience was already worn thin because of Erik.
...that bitch.
Yamuraiha glowered, kicking the door for good measure before finally giving up and turning away from the door, making a beeline for a certain room.
.
.
Knock knock.
Sera sighed, getting up from his desk and setting down the scroll he was reading. It was probably Lynn again, considering the blonde always stayed up late training and never brought his key. Sera had curiously followed his roommate once secretly, and found the blonde practicing spells in a small empty pavilion over and over again.
Sera hadn't been sure about what think of his roommate before. He had known that Raiha had practiced and studied so hard to get here, but Lynn had always seemed like he was a natural genius. Seeing his roommate working so hard at magic made him respect Lynn a lot more, and when he tried to talk to him, Sera found that Lynn was similar to Raiha in a way. Both of them were prickly and somewhat stuck up to people, but if you looked past the exterior, both of them were extremely nice people.
He doubted that if Sera said something along those lines to the tealette and blonde, they'd agree. They'd probably eagerly deny the observation like the kind of people they were.
He opened the door and blinked in surprise. 'R-Raiha? Why are you here?" Realizing his tone of voice he began speaking extremely fast. "Uh, I mean, not like I don't like you being here. It's just that I was expecting Lynn and all. You look...tired."
"Can I borrow your bed for a bit?" Raiha asked tiredly, and Sera nodded quickly.
"I'm just studying, so I won't be going to sleep for a while. Go ahead." As soon as he said so the girl rushed past him and nearly threw herself on one of the two white beds. But that was...
He blinked, opening his mouth to say something, but heard her quiet, deep breaths and knew that she had already fallen asleep.
...what kind of mental trial did she have?
Sera shrugged and returned back to work.
.
.
.
.
"...ah, morning already?" Yamuraiha mumbled. Then she registered something. Blonde hair.
Blink.
Blink again.
…
No. Way.
"WHY THE HELL ARE YOU SLEEPING NEXT TO ME?" Yamuraiha screeched, scrambling out of the covers as fast as she humanely could. Unfortunately for Lynn, the sudden movement basically made him roll off of the bed and onto the floor.
"...ow...what the…" Lynn glanced up and choked. "WHY THE HELL ARE YOU IN OUR ROOM?"
"I ASKED SERA," she shot back.
"WELL, WHY WERE YOU IN MY BED?"
"I thought…" Yamuraiha glanced over to the side and saw Sera sleeping peacefully in the other bed. Oh. Whoops. "Well...even so...why didn't you at least sleep on the floor? Do you have no shame?"
"It was dark by the time I got back, I didn't even know you were there!"
"So? You just slipped into bed and didn't notice me?"
"It's your fault for even coming here! Why are you even here?"
"Alyasa locked me out," she snarled.
"Well then, what about your key?"
"Both of you stop it!" Sera intervened between them. Sending the two a sour look, he folded his arms and scolded, "You two are being way too loud. Stop being so childish. Raiha, you should try returning to your room now. Lynn...for once in your life, just shut up and deal with it. No harm done. You both got a lot of sleep. And...and…"
The two sent a questioning look at the white haired boy. "You guys are going to kill me for this, but...well, you both looked a lot more comfortable and peaceful in your sleep like that so I didn't want to disturb you two."
Yamuraiha blinked, not sure how to take that statement. Eventually she shrugged it off and mumbled, "I'm heading back to my room. See you."
(She ended up manipulating the Rukh to open up the door from the inside and wondered why she didn't try that in the first place. Alyasa's surprised look when she woke up was a plus, though.)
A/N: Omigod help me I don't even know why that fluff slipped in there. My adorable precious babies. These characters are so cute and fun to write.
The beginning scene in italics, in case you haven't figured it out, is from our world. :D Let's watch adorable Alex start figuring out why Raiha, now revealed as "El" or "Elliot", killed herself. He's so cute. I hope you guys like (or learn to like) him haha.
But anyways OMGSGHJSGLKHSFLIS the response for the last chapter was phenomenal. I can't even...bro, you guys increased the review count by like 20%. O_O I knew there were a lot of lurkers out there.
In honor of these reviewers I'll answer/respond stuff here. Important stuff is bolded.
(By the way, thank you to basically all of you for the ship inputs LOLOLOL. It helped me see how everyone's taking things. :D)
response to xenocanaan: welp you guys definitely will be seeing more AUs in the future haha. Personally I support all the ships (though I personally can't see much of Sinbad/Raiha yet but that's because I'm a biased Sinja shipper) but Lynn's suddenly swept me away the past few chapters. Before was Sharrkan. And before that was Nick. Nontypical pairing, eh? Well at the very least I can say you'll see Muu. And Judar. And the Kou royalty peeps. I can't promise how those relationships will go yet though haha.
response to lizyeh2000: Thanks so much~ :D But it's only because of all of you that this happened. ^^
response to Mystic Wing:LOL there is another Sharrkan shipper. ;D I think I converted everyone with the heavy fluff from the karaoke AU LOL.
response to TheRandomGirl: WHAT YOU POSTED TWO REVIEWS YOU AMAZING PERSON. I must say that everything you said was very thought provoking and it really helped me, so thank you very much. ^^ Ahhhh just choosing one love interest makes me feel bad so that's why I just have ship teases. :D Lynn and Raiha will have a very interesting relationship, as this chapter kind of showed. LOL. They're so adorable. Nick and Raiha well...they will meet again if things go the way I want them to. But the story writes itself. I must say you worded every relationship beautifully *claps*. I'd say, to go along with your analogy, if Nick is the past and Lynn is her present, then Sharrkan is a representation of a possibility of her future. I can't see Sinbad/Raiha that much either rn too tbh, but I feel like he'll be an interesting character to write because OMG SINBAD IS BAE. So...yeah.
response to Shinonome Sakuya: LOL don't worry we'll see more canon interactions with Sharrkan/Raiha and Lynn/Raiha. Eventually. Right now, mainly Lynn, but if things go as planned you'll see Sharrkan too. And Nick. And...well...Sinbad is basically going to be that one "half flirt half serious" character who you never really can figure out if he's serious or not. If things go as planned he'll probably use cringey pick up lines LOL. That's all I'll reveal.
response to Kirei Ao Tori: Well LOL my ships...all of them are undecided. :D So basically I couldn't choose between any of those three haha~ *salutes* Good job soldier.
reponse to MonochromeSky4814: LOL if you'd like nice, easily shippable OCs I recommend you read Marshmellowtime's works. They're a work of art. Trust me man plenty of stories have confusing ships. :D You can check my profile for good stories, because I always favorite good ones that way everyone can see them.
response to Nights of Fire: AHHHH YES I WAS HOPING SOMEONE CAUGHT THAT ONE RING SENTENCE. Gosh that was like, me being sadistic with overdoses of fluff LOL. HIGH FIVE MAN.
response to Anime no Akuma: AHHH there you are my first Sharrkan shipper LOLOLOL. *high fives* And in the end...she choose...JA'FAR! (Lol jkjk) (she obviously ran in the sunset romantically with Mogamett)
response to musicisalifestyle: Annnnnd as always here you are reviewing again. :) AHHHH YES THAT'S ME EXACTLY LYNNNNNN WHY MUST YOU BE SO CUTE AND SHIPPABLE DARN IT? All I wanted was a rival...just a rival... Oh yeah LOL I didn't do that badly on my test so thanks to you (and all the other reviewers who noticed and commented about it lol)~
response to Guest (1): YES STAY LOYAL TO YOUR NICK/RAIHA SHIP MY CHILD. Don't be a bad person like me and attempt to stay on all the ships at the same time or you'll fall in the water. XD
response to Nanbaka: Um...yeah. Whoops lol there goes Alyasa's popularity. More AUs are great haha. And as I've expressed before I'm for all the ships soooo ;D But I definitely see what you mean about Nick.
response to iluvfairytail: Nice penname LOL~! I actually wrote a fanfiction for Fairy Tail awhile ago but I haven't been able to keep up with the series basically after the GMG arc. *sweatdrops* I'm sorry for being such a cruel author and leaving it like that. LOL. I love you all I swear.
response to Guest (2): I will do my best at not making things weird then haha. ;D Nice to see a multi-shipper here. :D
response to ShinaDark: OMG I didn't even realize it seemed otome-ish lolololol. Amnesia's amazing, and I got to admit that the opening...ending? Zoetrope was what got me into it. XP
response to a: I must say I checked out your profile and for the life of me I can't figure out this mysterious code of yours for your username. ;P I actually analyzed the Road Not Taken a few years ago too haha, and I have to admit that it was the first thing that popped into my mind when I was like "I NEED A POETIC SOUNDING LINE ABOUT CHOOSING STUFF". Yep.
response to Kreuz13: Ahhh a theorist~! Well, the italicized scenes in the beginning of the chapters will start giving more clues. ;P Got the FMA reference. I'd say theory 1 is closest, but you still have a lonnnnnnnnng way to go (*cue Mulan music*)
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Ah yes, on a side note, there were two references in this chapter to past omakes and stuff. Can you find them? ;P
I'm also planning a Mystic Messenger inspired Christmas special. Not sure how that's going to work but I got obsessed with it so...so... (feel free to rant to me, fellow MM fans~)
(AHHHH WE'RE IN THE TWO HUNDREDS FOR BOTH FOLLOWERS AND FAVORITE-ERS YOU WONDERFUL PEOPLE GIMME A HUG. GROUP HUG. NOW.)
Yeah, so um tell me what you think of everything. ^^ A lot of stuff in the author's notes are helpful and cool too if you've read that far. Thanks for reading~