Would you look at that. The day was boring. Unforgivable boring. Besides bits and pieces of magical events, despite more than half of my classmates being monsters, despite our teachers being anthropomorphic talking animals - this day was absolutely gray.
Just like in real life! Brains, what the actual heck!
Dreams are supposed to be fun and entertaining… Not whatever the heck was that!
I literally sat the whole math class dozing off… While supposedly dreaming already!
With each passing minute I believe that this world is a dream less and less and it doesn't help my rising panic!
After the bell finally rang I just went with the flow of my mentally half-dead-just-like-me classmates, to the next class subject. It was botany. And it wasn't fun. We all literally watched grass grow for half an hour. It was a fast-growing grass, but it also was the same grass I see everyday in the real world!
After that, it was supposed to be an Ancient Language lesson, but the teacher of that class got sick so we had just another math class… And this time the frog gave us a test, not wanting to deal with us either.
When this dreadful day was finally over everyone went to the school cafeteria. This is where the world finally regained its colors and the metaphorical rays of sunshine shone upon this world.
The cafeteria was great. It was magical, it was big and it was, surprisingly, not very popular. Before entering I saw that some of my classmates, the more feral looking (and I mean not the ones who look like animals) simply left to eat somewhere else. They were also talking about fishing… Hm. Wonder what it means, it can't be real fishing, right?
But, enough about that! We have more important matters at hand. I grab a tray from the pile and stand up in the queue line. And today's menu is: Blue Apple Pie (Smells delicious! I'll take three pieces please!), Pink Milk (Not strawberry milk?), Grilled Meat of an Unknown Animal (I probably shouldn't eat it with Not-Strawberry milk), Steamed Beetle (wait wha-), and raw uncooked Salmon (No… No thank you…)
Well, what else should've expected from a magical school? I take a free table and take a bite off my Blue Apple Pie. Tastes nothing like apple… Not a bad thing! I was actually astonished with how much I took on the tray (They gave me salmon even when I refused) and I am shocked with how much I ended up eating. I didn't even notice when I wolfed down the entire salmon. And it tasted great!
Oh, finally, a dream feels like a dream! I take the tray with scraps and leftovers away and head out of the cafeteria. I wonder what I should do for the rest of the day since it seems all my classes are over for now. Hm… It would be nice to take another look around the school, this time without any rush or without being bothered. Yeah, that sounds like a nice idea - after all I didn't even had a good look at the school courtyard!
I walk around the school without a clear path ahead of me. I just wander around, hoping to stumble upon the school exit. There are, however, a few things that help navigate - wooden tablets and nameplates on classrooms and hallways. They are not written in English but are in an unknown language to me… and yet I somehow understand them perfectly. I see directives for various classes, fight halls (whatever the heck that is supposed to mean), magical laboratories and general library (something tells me not to forget where that one is).
Sometimes, I see paintings on the walls. They depict humans, animals and monsters. All of them look mighty and strong and very important. Especially that big scary man with a crown who has the biggest portet I've seen so far.
"Hey Zofis!" Someone calls not-my-name but I turn my head regardless. I see a panther in front of me. Wait, isn't that my classmate? What was her name again?
"Ah, Baransha, nice to see you!" I say, hoping that I got it right. I heard her name only once but it kind of stuck on my mind for a while. The panther doesn't look displeased by my words… Only a bit surprised. Maybe I did get her name wrong…
"Is something wrong?" I try to pry carefully.
"Er… Nothing. I was just curious about your wellbeing. You know, with how you suddenly passed out in the middle of the Telekinesis class." She gracefully jumps up on the windowsill in front of me. "Danny sure did a number on you" She adds and I need a second to remember who the heck Danny is. Wild white hair that looks like he survived an explosion, brat attitude, a total douchebag… I know his name because the math teacher kept yelling at him for putting his legs on the desk and acting overall like a jerk. But what does Baransha mean by 'did a number'?
"Wait. Are you saying I've been off the chart on the med bay because of him?" Pantera gives me a slow blink. Alright, in cat's body language it means 'Yes'. "Wh-what happened? Please tell me - I hardly remember everything that happened back then." I plead as Baransha looks at me first with interest, then with teasing expression.
"Well… Maybe it's a good thing you do not remember…" She jumps down on the floor and starts walking away. Oh she's playing me! She definitely does!
"Baransha…" I call to her, crossing my hands on my chest. "What happened at Telekinesis class?" I ask again. She turns her head and looks at me with an amusing expression. That cat!
"Hm… Alright," Good, I guess she isn't really in the mood to play mind games with me "Danny threw a table at you." She says calmly. Too calmly. Like she's talking about the weather.
"W-what? Why?" Maybe it's not true? Maybe she's still playing with me. Wait, why do I even care if it's truth or not? It's all just a dream…
"He actually was aiming for Brago but his aim is horrible!" Why is she so happy about it? "Don't worry, he got Brago with the second table. And then they both fought until the teacher came into class! In the end Danny just healed himself while you were taken to the nurse's office. Oh, and Brago, he got his arm twisted but he was too stubborn to accept that right away. In the end he was sent to the nurse by the vice director. She was so furious!"
Huh, who'd thought that this cat was such a chatterbox.
"Ah, I see. Well, glad that in the end nobody got hurt… much." I exclaim as pantera eyes widen a bit again. What's her deal? "And, to answer your previous question, I do feel myself good"
"Are you sure? You started acting weird after that table flip, you know" Act weird? What does she mean by that?
"Well, I do feel a bit lightheaded at times. But I promise it's nothing serious. Should go away on it's own after I take some rest" I try to reassure her. She looks at me for a long moment before walking away. Huh, she didn't even say bye in the end. Weird.
I shrug it off and continue my nonlinear school tour. After some time of venturing, eventually I find myself in a school courtyard. It looks… Normal. Overall.
The grass is green, the sky is slowly turning orange due evening sun and the clouds are white. Almost disappointing. Almost.
The giant flying turtle right above the school tower's rooftops reminds me that this place is not my good old "awake" reality.
I wonder what's now. Somehow, even after half a day of "sleeping" I am still dreaming. This dream is too long to be just a dream… But to think that all of this crazy magical stuff can be real is… Terrifying, in a way. But what other explanation do I have?
How did I even get there?
I go through my last memory of my "old" self. I remember black cat, the bridge, the fall.
With a spike of anxiety I realize that I don't remember my name. What was my gender? How old I were? How did I even look like before all of this? What do I look like now?
When I first saw "my" hands I thought that it looked weird. But even back then I couldn't remember how my skin looked before that. To be honest, I still haven't seen "my" new face.
Am I thinking too hard over it all?
Is this still just a dream or is this my new reality? What happened to the owner of this body? They clearly had their own life before I appeared. Why am I here? Do my parents know I am missing? Am I even missing? Wh-
My head hurts and my eyes flicker on their own for a second. Alright, that's… Too many thoughts for today. No need to panic. I take a deep breath and feel my headache dulling out.
There's still a chance that all of this is just a dream that I have slight control over. What are those ones called? "Lucid dreams"? Yeah, that's probably it. Whatever helps me keep my sanity in check.
The sky is red, the sun is setting. It's calming.
"Zofis!" Someone calls out. Oh, wait, that's my name now, is it not? I need to get used to that. I turn around and see a spider. A big spider. In a maid outfit.
I have so many questions but I am not sure I wanna know the answer to the "why this giant 9ft tall spider wears a maid outfit" question. Anything but that.
"Oh… Hello-" I say, trying not to show my fear toward the giant maid spider who moves towards me (Despite the spider's maid outfit I feel like a horror movie character). They… She seems to ignore my mumble-like greeting, she just grabs me with her front legs (yep, that's how I'll die-) and raises me on her back.
"Oh Zofis! You're such a rascal! We were so worried about you!" Spider says as her legs start moving with a ridiculous speed, moving through the school courtyard and then the whole first floor, navigating like she's been there hundreds of times. "Your sister was so angry when she found out you got in a fight!"
"G-got in a fight?" Talking at such speed is not an easy task, somebody please stop this spider!
"I did not fight anybody!"
"That's the problem, dear Zofis! She was so frustrated!" What?
"She said that if you're such a weakling you shouldn't have attended this school! How are we all supposed to expect you to become the new Mamodo King if all you can do is take punches and give none?"
Who-what-why-ah?
"I am sorry?"
"Don't be!" Spider says happily as she opens the main exit door with her head. That was… way too much information dumped all at once for my taste! My head is filled with bees as it is, there is no need for even more fuel to the fire!.. and yet, I get no rest.
"So, uh, where are we going, exactly?" Better change the topic of the conversation before my head blows up.
"Why, to your home, of course! Thankfully, your sister seems very tired after a hard day at work so she won't rip your head off your shoulders when she sees you!" And again a happy tone of voice. I wonder if it's just her default tone of voice or if she's genuinely happy that my head will stay on my shoulders. Well, I'd like my head to stay on my shoulders as well… Dying on my first day of "new life" is pretty lame.
Spider comes to an abrupt stop before an angsty looking castle. It's… Big. That's all I can tell about it. It's big and spooky.
I slip down from the spider's back and, gosh, it's so nice to feel the ground under my feet after such a ride!
Spider leads me inside the castle, prompting me to hurry with one of her legs.
"You should take a shower, change clothes and then I'll bring you dinner to your room" She says quietly as if she's having a conversation with herself. "Then, sadly, you'll be locked in your room for the rest of the evening and night. That was your sister's order - you're grounded from leaving your room outside of school hours."
Huh, she sounds sad about it. I hardly understand why - being locked in your room is pretty depressing but it's not the most vicious punishment. Maybe she's more sensitive to this than I.
"It's alright, I wasn't planning on leaving my room anytime soon anyway." I try to make her feel better. Even though I know her only for 10 minutes and a half I don't want to see her sad. "I, uh, know that my sister doesn't wish me harm." Arachnid seems to brighten up a bit at that. Alright, we're going the right route. "I understand that her punishment is harsh but needed." Well, not really, but I'm just talking for the sake of talking at this point.
Spider nods with her entire corpus.
"Ah! I knew you'll understand Zofis! I was afraid you'll get angry and mad at your sister. I'm so happy you're so kind and understanding for your age!"
My age? How old am I supposed to be again? Hmm… If I remember school correctly, it had math for 8 grade? So I am around 14 years old? Well, at least one mystery is finally solved.
We reach, supposedly, my room and I enter after bidding short goodbye (I probably should learn her name. It'll be rude to call her Spider next time we meet).
The room is average. Not small, not big. Just average. The wallpapers are colored lavender and the whole room has a purple/white color theme going on. There's a few posters on the walls, a big bookshelf, hasty filled with various books, a purple plushy that looks like a fish (I feel like this world has an obsession with seafood) and a table with more books on it.
It… Doesn't feel right to be here. The weird sense of unease grows in my chest. This is not my room. This was someone else's room but that person is… No longer here.
I locate a bathroom door on the side and head on, not wanting to be in this room more than necessary. I close the door behind me and come face-to-face with another monster.
It's face is grayish-blue just like my hands. Their red eyes filled with feral fear and I need a few moments to realize that this, in fact, not a monster but my own reflection. Yep, I'm staring into a mirror and I got half-death scared by my own… face.
I take a closer look into the mirror. Red markings on the face only look like make-up but in reality they're not. The bright purple lipstick, however, is… Therefore I wash it up first.
My eyes are weird. If I'm calm they appear to be completely black but If I am frightened the pupil shrinks in size and the eyes change completely, turning into bright red scary looking things with yellow middle for extra effect.
Well. This sure is quite a change from my human self… I think. (I'm pretty sure humans don't have weird scary cat-like eyes!)
It doesn't feel right. I still feel like… an imposter. Like I've stolen their body. This is not me.
Ah, head hurts again. Enough of angsty thoughts. There is still a chance that this, all of this, is just some elaborate nightmare! Alright!
I bump my fist in the air, filled with energy once more. Let's wash away all the sadness and get rolling!
The clothes that the spider maid (what's her name? what's her name?!) left for me are comfy. It's another dress (I understand the appeal of dresses but I sure miss a pair of pants), this time it's lime green with some light ornament. Pretty cute.
I need to tie my hair with something, though. Can't come out with such wild golden locks (At school they were hidden under a hat so they weren't a bother back there).
I locate it on the table and tie my hair into a puffy ponytail. If any of my classmates saw me they'd probably laugh at me but, thankfully, they're not here and I myself am not planning on breaking out of my room.
It looks like it's not dinner time yet as Spider didn't even peeked into my room.
I sit onto the bed, then lie down onto it. Damn… I really needed that. The bed is so soft and my legs hurt like I've run a marathon for 30 miles. They did hurt before but only when I truly relaxed do I feel the real pain. I turn on the side and slide my hand under the pillow to get into a more comfortable position.
Huh? There was something under it? I take the weird object from under the pillow. It's a book. A personal diary. A diary of a person who is no longer here.
Part of me knows that I shouldn't open it. I'm a stranger, I knew nothing about the guy who was before me.
I get back into a sitting position with their diary on my lap.
This small book could have the answers to my questions, the thought comes to my mind.
What if the previous owner of this body is relatable to what happened to me? But… They were just a teenager, were they not?
Curiosity takes hold before common sense. I open the book on the first page.
[haha hi
dis is I, the author, I forgot to tell y'all in my previous chapter that this fic is gonna be filled with headcanons and some background OCs.
haha.. should've probably told ya all that beforehand, ey?
aha...]