Manaka knew how to defend herself from the world.
She literally had the knowledge of every magecraft technique created in her circuits, from a measly Gandr shot to some esoteric sound curse constructed by a mage 300 years ago to make those listening within a five mile radius shit themselves. It's not that hard to come up with something nasty so long as it works within what reality allows. But alas, for all her wisdom, Manaka could only fire off so much magical energy at once. It was a mild annoyance to her, it was a pain to her father, and it was a major pain with the professors in the Clock Tower who first cherished her as a bright student, then gave her the cold shoulder once they realized there was little they could teach and not much they could ask of her to do.
How annoying.
Manaka stood up and looked over at herself- at the sleeping body lying on the floor of some kind of large aircraft, headed for Antarctica. Yeah, she overheard the pilots barking coordinates and orders at each other. She felt the frigid wind as if the metal wings of this manmade beast were her own. She could see the cloud sea that lazily cruised beneath her with eyes that perceived metal as glass. Astral projection had its benefits, she guessed.
In any case, Manaka had fallen asleep at some point and had been kidnapped.
Oh well.
In this state, she could do nothing to the world but observe it.
And so with the grace of an angel, unlike the hulking beast that housed her true form, her dream self descended upon the facility known as Chaldea. Not a single security measure paid attention to Manaka, no Bounded Field could sense her presence. She was truly as light as a feather, leaving no significant mark or pressure on the world. The wintry gray cloudy sky gave way to the clinical, teal-silver walls of the facility. Allowing the floor to become solid to her feet, Manaka walked around without any care for her surroundings.
Magi and other uniformed people scurried like ants through the halls, diligent as Santa's elves on Christmas Eve. They weren't interesting. Mages and others in the Moonlit World may seem whimsical and mature, but deep down they're all diehard idiots who want something that really isn't a big deal or that amazing to change the world with– but who was Manaka to say such things? None of them were born with what they supposedly wished for at birth.
Not…even…her.
Manaka kept walking. There were empty rooms for humans that had yet to arrive, who were here but not currently resting, and for doctors enjoying an unauthorized coffee break. She crept into the last room, eyeing the strawberry shortcake slice resting innocently on a plate. The plastic fork beside it had yet to be used, since the squatter of Master Candidate #48's room was busy brewing coffee.
Without hesitation, Manaka approached the strawberry shortcake and plucked the aforementioned fruit from its frosted seat at the top of the cake slice.
Nom nom nom.
Ok, she lied. With enough concentration, Manaka discovered she could physically interact with the world in her dreamlike state. Only for a few moments, though. But little by little, she could extend that time by a second more.
The strawberry was cold and sweet with a hint of sourness. She left the room satisfied–
"M-my strawberry…"
The orange-haired man was looking right at her.
Sucks to be him. She'll just leave him be.
She walked some more. The halls were the same everywhere. At some point there was a storage room with a locked door that no one paid attention to. Manaka phased through the door and came across an empty space.
There's nothing here. There should be nothing here. But maybe in the future, there will be something here. Something lost forever. Something important. That was the vibes Manaka got from the room. The silhouette of a high-strung heiress who claimed to be important ran her paces here. The distant clanging of swords against armor beckoned Manaka to go deeper inside, but she stood still.
She swore she saw the sky-silver glimmer of shining armor and the golden light of hope from a mighty sword. But those things are not real. They are rejected. Cast aside. Not lost.
Manaka left without looking back. She had nothing to lose investigating the room and came out a loser all the same.
Back in the halls again. This time, they're devoid of life. No one's running around, and all the doors are closed. Was there something going on here? Was it almost time to wake up?
"Fou!"
A tiny furry creature with pastel-colored accessories bounded down the corridor. Not quite a squirrel, and not quite a rabbit either. It ran like a dog, but that bushy tail and fluffy coat could have been mistaken for a white fox, too. Manaka followed the creature, lagging behind by a few paces.
"Fou! Kyu!"
The strange creature picked up the pace, and Manaka accelerated accordingly. The firm hard ground of the facility started to get rougher, no longer smooth and artificial. It felt bumpy, like untamed soil. Grass started to sprout from the floor, growing more and more until the hallway expanded into a springtime plain. The walls disappeared into the glare of increasingly bright lights, and the white not-rabbit Manaka was pursuing seemingly vanished into the ether. The gray ceiling gave way to a beautiful blue sky, the kind that seemed to exist only in photographs and on the canvas of landscape artists.
There was no point in running anymore. Manaka stopped and took a good look at her new surroundings. Hills of green marked the distant border between the land and the sky, with the occasional tree. The grassy plain had splotches of exposed dirt, dry and unwilling to host plants. The blue sky had wispy clouds pass by the sun, coasting on a lazy breeze. It all looked so plain and ordinary, yet unlike any place she had ever seen before.
Well, she was still dreaming. Maybe it's a memory. Or…
Manaka turned around as the ground rumbled beneath her. A rock golem was approaching some plain-looking idiot magus who had nothing but panic registered on his face. He looked around confused, then wildly staggered back when he noticed the monster.
"Aaaaugh! What the hell?! This isn't Denny's!"
Ah. A lightbulb clicked in her head.
She's in someone else's dream.
Three golden bursts of light manifested protectively in front of the mage, solidifying into humanoid shapes of an archer with dark hair and a crimson bow, a spearman in blue, and a swordswoman who held a sword made of invisible wind. Manaka cocked her head in interest. This fool summoned three Ghost Liners and all he has to show for it is fear? Three is more than enough to handle a simple rock golem! What kind of spirit evocator does this guy think he is?
No, wait, there's another presence here. Less human, more sterile. More like pressure.
[We are very sorry. Another 180 seconds is needed to complete the expedited admission process. In the meantime, please enjoy a simulated battle within the Spiritron Dive.]
[Heroic Spirit Summoning System FATE is now activated.]
Ohhhhh. Interesting! A simulation with spiritrons! That explained the dreamlike nature of the place.
Manaka stared at the other person present, who was still freaking out.
Why did it come with an NPC, though? Was this guy some sort of test?
Manaka walked over to the NPC and his familiars, taking her time. The rock golem was patiently waiting for them to attack, and the Ghost Liners awaited a response. Neither side was going to make a move unless an outside force acted on it. Newton's Third Law.
"Well? Aren't you going to do something about them?"
"I- uh- wha?"
The NPC blanks out for a second, but it's too much time for Manaka's patience.
"If you won't…"
She held her left hand out, activating her magic circuits. The spiral of the Root flared into existence within the void of her mind's eye, and a myriad of miracles made themselves known to her. A deluge of water. A hellstorm fire tornado. The undoing of rock and stone via earthquake. A wind that could tear down a city's worth of buildings. All wonderful magecraft, but Manaka didn't have enough Od to fully unleash something of that caliber at the moment. Settling for less was a thorn Manaka grew to live with.
Something simple…a Gandr shot, then. She'll give it everything she's got, so it's more of a Finn shot than a simple Gandr.
"...then I'll just do it for you."
With calm, steady precision, she aims her index finger straight for the golem's chest. The monster perks up in response to her offensive stance, but it's too late. The glowing ball of red and dark purple light pulsates with unstable energy, crackling harshly like thunder as it fires away towards its target. It slams against the monster's rocky chest with an equally resounding ka-boom, sending big chunks of stone flying with contrails of dust and smoke.
The debris cleared to reveal lifeless rocks and a crater where the golem once stood. Manaka sighed, bored. She turned around to look at the NPC.
"Is that it?"
Ritsuka Fujimaru cannot believe his eyes. He's dreaming, right? First he leaves the blood donation at the train station, then suddenly he winds up in the middle of nowhere with no information and in complete isolation. Then there was the monster carved from a rock formation, and those three random ghost-people that looked like they all came from a foreign nation.
Damn, that rhymed. Argh! Not important!
And then this girl showed up and literally started blasting. She had a lot of firepower for a cute girl.
She turned around, and the world slowed down to a runtime of molasses as her impossibly platinum blond hair swished to the side, revealing pale blue dots for eyes. The smoke and debris did nothing to take away her ethereal aura. If anything, it only made it more bizarre.
"Is that it?"
Ritsuka gulped. "I uh…think…so?"
As if to confirm this, the three ghosts vanished into golden sparkles. Good riddance, he thought. They didn't even do anything.
He shook his head, forcing himself to snap out of the brain fog. "Wait a minute! Who are you? Where are we?"
"You're dreaming," she said, as if stating the obvious. "You're kind of dumb for a mage, though. Are you some kind of homunculus?"
Homuncu-whaaaat?
She narrowed her eyes. "No, you're too plain-looking to be a work of the Einzbern. Perhaps the Riedenflaus? Maybe even the Yggdmillennia? Hmmm, not them either. I think it's rather insipid and too ethical to have a walking mana battery when you can just use magecraft to- ah. I've lost you."
Was the confusion on his face really that obvious? Sheesh!
"No, literally." She casually pointed to the sky, then walked out of his view as his eyes followed her finger upwards.
The sky was getting blurry and turning white.
Wait! Where did that girl go?
In this blank slate of the world, Ritsuka found himself alone. He took a deep breath, then yelled at the top of his lungs–
"Hey! Come back! What are you even talking abouuuuttt?!"
The dream ended with an abrupt cut to black.
…
… …
… … …
"...mething's got to be done about this. The Director's asking for a second attempt. No one expected interference."
"Tell her there's no time for that. Orientation is starting very soon. Besides, the dive was to confirm what's already been promised."
"Alright then- oh, looks like Senpai is waking up now."
Ritsuka blinked away the pounding in his head to force open his eyes. Shoot, he was so groggy right now. The cold hard floor he seemed to be lying on top of didn't help either. Actually, it might be the culprit! But never mind that now. There were two things more important than waking up to an unfamiliar ceiling, and that was waking up to two unfamiliar people staring down at you like a calculus-level math problem.
"There are better places to sleep than on the ground, you know," said the pompous man in green.
"Mmmhm. You slept like a log, Senpai," added the pink-haired girl with glasses.
Ritsuka rubbed his head as he sat up on the uncomfortable floor. "Do I know you?"
"No. This is the first time we've met, Senpai."
"Then why are you calling me that?"
The pink-haired glasses girl looked the slightest bit taken aback, then regained her composure. "I find you to be a prime example of an ordinary person. That's all."
Woooooooooooooooooooooooow.
Ritsuka nervously cracked a grin. "Yup, that's me! Born to be mild."
"It's funny because this boy right here is Ritsuka Fujimaru, Master Candidate number 48 from…hmm, the civilian block. Yes, that checks out. You really are vanilla as they come, which makes you the perfect template to test things on," said the freak with the green top hat. Now that Ritsuka noticed, the man had metal spikes on his tie. And he never opened his eyes. Fashion choices aside, this guy really had a suspicious aura about him.
Ritsuka no longer felt comfortable here, emotionally speaking.
Awkward silence ensued.
Ritsuka coughed. "So can anyone tell me why I feel like I went through a hangover or do I have to call the police for drugging and kidnapping? Also, who are you people?"
"My name's not worth mentioning…" trailed off glasses girl.
"Oh it definitely is," snapped Ritsuka. "I'm going to need it when I call the police."
The green man cut in. "There will be no calling of the police, boy. Allow me to introduce myself and this girl right here." He gestured to himself. "I am Lev Lainur, a magus."
He then gestured towards the shy girl. "This is Mash Kyrielight, another employee."
"And we work for the Chaldea Security Organization for the Preservation of the Human Order."
Wooooooooooooow. A lot of that sounded like a load of bull, with too many capitalized names for terms too fancy that were probably made to blow his "Muggle" mind.
"You seem skeptical, so let me break it down for you," said Lev. "When you went to donate blood at the metropolitan station in Tokyo on February 25th, a sample of it was given to us to search for potential. And what kind of potential am I talking about? Rayshifting potential, which is– ah. I've lost you."
Ritsuka blinked at the familiarity of those last words. Someone was also blabbering about a lot of mambo jumbo and then–
"In short, you show great ability and we hired you to join our organization," finished Lev dismissively. "You should feel honored for such an accomplishment."
Wait. The gears in Ritsuka's head were spinning. Slowly but surely, logic yielded a fruitful result.
"I got the job?"
"Yes. You did. And now you really should get going to the Orientation–"
"HELL YEAH! I GOT THE JOB! I gotta tell Mom and Dad about this!" He fished out his phone-
This wasn't his usual outfit. It was a monochrome uniform that thankfully wasn't a prison jumpsuit or a straightjacket despite sharing the unfortunate color scheme. The pockets were empty, though.
Empty.
No phone.
Ritsuka shot Lev a death glare. "What did you do to my phone?!"
"Don't worry about it," said Lev. His eyebrows looked a tad ticked off. "You will get your chance to tell them after the experiment is concluded. And now I must go. Mash, help him get to the Command Room."
"Come on, Senpai," responded Mash a minute after Lev left.
"You know what?"
Ritsuka stood up, backing away from Mash and retreating a bit into the corridor. "No! I'm not going anywhere with you crazy people! Let me speak to the boss right now!"
"...ou! Fou!"
The sound of a tiny creature approaching at high velocity pitter-pattered furiously against the metal floor. Ritsuka paused, turning around to find–
"FOUUUUUU!"
"GAH!"
A mass of fuzzy white floofiness launched itself onto the hapless young man, giving him a face full of fur. The sudden weight of the animal caused Ritsuka to stumble backwards. He lost his balance, and ultimately landed on his butt.
Fou scurried off to Mash, hiding between her legs.
"Ptbfftht! Ptooey!" Ritsuka spat out hairs from his mouth. He placed a hand on his lower back, wincing at the pain.
"Ow…what the hell? There goes my ass…"
"I didn't actually think you were real," said a soft, familiar voice. "And yet here you are."
Blonde hair. Pale blue eyes.
Standing over Ritsuka was the girl of his dreams, just as ethereal, just as aloof as before.
"Y-you're real!"
The girl sighed. "Yes, that's exactly what I said. Are you deaf as you are thick?"
"No- like- you're real," spluttered Ritsuka. " Real real."
Mash looked at the two of them expectantly from a distance. Ritsuka sheepishly looked at the new girl, who simply walked past him.
Alright, fine then. Guess he better get going.
At least she acknowledged him. That was enough to prove all this crazy stuff was real.
For now.
"We made it," said Mash, looking around the Command Room. "And…we're also the last ones here. What terrible luck, you two. There's only seats left in the front row now." Her voice deflated. "With the Director."
"Fine with me," was Manaka's quick reply. She immediately left for her seat while Ritsuka lingered on with Mash for a second more.
Then, finally, the real show started. The Director walked up to center stage and the audience grew silent.
"I can't say we're on time, but at least everyone is here. Welcome to the organization for the Preservation of Humanity, Chaldea. I am the Director, Olga Marie Animusphere, and this here is our pride and joy, Chaldeas, the model of our planet's soul. So long as there is light in Chaldeas, humanity will prosper and continue into the future."
"All of you have been selected from around the world to be Master candidates, capable of Rayshifting. I'll get into that later. However, I will make it clear right now that I care not about your family status or past achievements! As far as I'm concerned, you all are newcomers and my orders are absolute! I run a tight ship here, and I will NOT have any objections!"
The room erupted with indignant cries and complaints from all over the room.
"I'll have my father hear about this!"
"The audacity of this bitch!"
"Can you believe this woman? She thinks we're interns," complained the magus next to Manaka. "Or that we signed up for some kind of entry-level job! Ugh!"
This, of course, did nothing to lower the anger clearly expressed on the Director's face.
"SILENCE! I will not tolerate insubordination! Today we will leave a mark in human history, and it will not be desecrated by your unruly behavior!"
"Ahem! As I was saying, Chaldeas is a model of the planet's soul. Recently, the light that ensures humanity's existence has gone out. We have pinpointed the irregularity leading to this conclusion- Spatial Singularity F. That is where you all come in…"
The rest of the speech was slipping into magecraft and science fiction jargon that Manaka didn't have the heart to truly pay attention to. The concept was time travel, in a general sense. Normally something like that would be a fantasy, but these people seemed to have made it feasible with spiritrons and principles of quantum mechanics. Or, well, the success of those theories would be determined very soon. Interesting. Manaka wondered if this technology could be used individually. Given the schematics, it probably could.
It would be funny to go back to that time with Celenike and blow up Romania some more. Or go further beyond. And maybe this time they'd get away with it too. If only Celenike was here, though. It'd make this whole show less boorish.
Someone raised their hand, immediately catching the Director's attention. It was–
"You there, latecomer. Is there something you don't understand?"
"Yeah, hi. Is time travel even possible? And if it is, don't you think changing the past could bring about more problems?"
Ritsuka found himself in a familiar place. The orientation was starting to feel more like a physics class, complete with the boring lecture and high-strung professor. And now, before he got the urge to fall asleep and disgrace himself in front of his new boss, he might as well clear some things up before actually believing time travel was real. Because- hello? That's ridiculous!
The Director looked at him like he was a cockroach. "Wh- You should have understood what kind of technique we are dealing with from the moment I mentioned Singularity."
Uh.
"What's a singularity?"
The Director promptly lost her composure. She also lost her grip on 90% of the audience.
"BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"
"Holy shit, he doesn't know!"
"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"
"What an idiot!"
Fuck fuck fuck fuck FUCK–
Why did he say that? WHY did he say that? Now everyone thinks he's stupid! And what was that about this being like an entry level job? What the hell did he sign up for that this was common knowledge?! Did he miss the table read on the lore for whatever reality show he signed up to be in? Was this a cult? This had to be a cult. No, this was a nightmare. A really bad nightmare after getting his shit rocked by thugs on the way home. He'll wake up from this fantasy any second now, but he just has to endure the flush on his face and the jeers from the crowd–
"Would you all just leave him alone?! "
A wave of pressure like a bomb set off across the room, forcing Ritsuka down into his chair as if a hand was squishing him from above. Someone- oh hey, that's Manaka the ice queen- stood up and glared at the audience. The room was stunned into tense silence by this girl. Some people got in strange positions or started doing gang signs. He swore some had glowing tattoos. What the hell?
Maybe magic is real.
Uh, no shit Sherlock! He's pretty sure increased gravity doesn't come out of nowhere! Magic is real, and he ended up at the corner of witchcraft and misery. At least everyone shut up now.
"Everyone is so noisy here," his savior muttered after sitting down, turning off the oppressive force in the room. Wow, she was pretty even when she was sour. And scary. "So annoying."
Ritsuka snapped back to reality once he realized his ears heard the Director was speaking but his eyes saw only the indifference of his dream girl. Err, the girl from his drug-induced dream. Shoot, he never did ask for her name, did he?
He was soooo going to thank her later. And ask her for her name.
But right now? He's going to have to deal with the angry lady in charge of this show, who by now had targeted him as her next enemy.
"-and YOU! My head hurts knowing that a simpleton who doesn't even know basic terms was sent here! Who does the Association think we are?!"
The Director stomped her way towards him and brought out some kind of rectangular projection. "From the looks of your ID- the civilian block!? With the faulty Spritron Dive?! Is this some kind of joke?! LEV!"
The man in green stepped forward, cheerfully oblivious to his higher-up's seething. "I am here, Director. What seems to be the problem?"
The Director spontaneously combusted…figuratively speaking. "A LOT OF THINGS!"
She pointed at Dream Girl (for now). "What's with this criminal , first of all?! I thought the Clock Tower would give her a Sealing Designation for all the trouble she caused in Romania! She nearly compromised the structure where the Rayshifting will be held- and no one thought to restrain her upon entry?"
"We were not aware that was the identity of the candidate at the time," Lev responded calmly. "Had we known it was Manaka Sajyou–"
SHE HAS A NAME. MANAKA. It's Japanese! Sweet! That's one thing to relate to dream girl- err Manaka now!
"That is a serious failure in background checking on multiple parts! Whoever was responsible for accepting this candidate to our program should be FIRED!"
Lev lowered the brim of his hat a little in silence. Ritsuka felt a twinge of pity, but hey, it's not his problem. That's just how the employer crumbles.
"And another thing!" This time, the Director's finger was pointed at Ritsuka. As if he was just as bad as the other girl. It really was an offense to be ignorant around here, huh?
"Who let this civilian in here? He doesn't know anything about our work!"
"We need general helpers, Director Animusphere. You agreed to this when setting up the terms and conditions for the experiment."
He really had to give Lev credit here despite how shady he seemed. The man was cool and collected, never once opening his eyes or raising his voice. So demure. Much mindful.
"Bwuh- I didn't think it would lead to hiring people with absolutely no prior experience! Lev, we needed physicists and engineers, people with degrees! Not a janitor! I think we even have enough of those! We don't need deadweight !"
But before Ritsuka could say anything or feel his spirit break more than it had in the past half-hour, the Director landed the killing blow.
"Lev," commanded the Director, "send these two away from the Command Room. Neither of them are to step foot in here until the Rayshift experiment is over. You understand? And once this is over, they're both FIRED! "
And so, Ritsuka Fujimaru's career as an intern to God-knows-who-what-where ended in less than a day.
Would a Denny's have been a more hospitable environment? He really couldn't say. He heard from people and saw from shows about the horrors of upper management. Nowhere was safe from the evil that was a boss's malicious attitude.
But anywhere, even retail during the holiday season, surely would have been better than this.
*eyecatch* Fuji Curry!
"So- forgive me if I sound skeptical- you're telling me that the OTHER candidate from Japan, where you're from, is not only a powerful magus but also the one responsible for the Romania Incident?!"
"Yep."
"Shoot, kid. They really don't pay us enough to do any quality work around here."
A ringtone went off, and was abruptly silenced with a click.
"You're not going to get that?"
"Pssshhnaw. I already gave everyone a check-up before the orientation. If he pings back again then I'll know it's serious. Besides, I won't get there in time from here, so worst case, I'll tell him I was in the bathroom fighting demons."
Ritsuka lay on the bed assigned to him, in his room (his own room!), talking to the local doctor who had taken the place hostage before the rightful owner showed up. Said squatter was sitting on a chair as a therapist would, eating a slice of cake with a side of a cup of coffee.
At first he freaked out because Ritsuka quite literally caught him with his pants down- are you for real right now those are boxers with some kind of VTuber idol design-
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?!"
"AAAAAUUGH! I DIDN'T NEED TO SEE THAT!"
–but then things got chummy fast. It's nice to find someone who is soothing and not some mild version of Rei Ayanami or a magical terrorist wanted by at least two shadow organizations and possibly national governments. Yeah. Doctor Roman? Nice guy. Absolutely normal compared to the last three Chaldea employees he had the misfortune of interacting with. The best guy so far. If he was a girl he'd be Best Girl.
"You like VTubers?"
The Doctor grinned. "Yeah. Great way to pass the time here. Mash doesn't approve, though. Says it's the reason why I don't have a love life."
"Really? Mash? She seems kind of…shy."
Roman took a sip of his coffee. "Oh, she's like that with everyone. But if she calls you Senpai, then you're on the right track to friendship!"
Ritsuka sighed in relief. "That's nice to know. So anyway, who's your oshi?"
Before the doctor could answer, however, the facility shook with the force of an earthquake.
"Crap! You go save yourself, kid! I need to salvage something from the Command Room!"
Coffee sloshed all over the floor as the doctor ran off to the Command Room. Emergency alarms blared. The lights went out, then flickered back on with significantly dimmer radiance.
"Huh? No, wait! I'm coming with!"
Ritsuka was no track superstar. He was, however, a former member of his high school's volleyball team. Which didn't amount to much in this situation either, but he at least had the stamina to run and catch up to Dr. Roman without gasping for breath as he closed the gap between them. Finally, the perks of not cutting gym showed themselves in the time of his greatest need.
The carrot-haired man did a double take as Ritsuka caught up with him. "What the–! Didn't I just tell you to go the other way? What are you doing?"
"I may be stupid, but there's gotta be something I can do!"
Dr. Roman considered this. "Alright! Fine! You go look for survivors! I'll handle the technical operations before we go into a full meltdown! Sound like a plan, kid?"
"Yeah! Got it! Try not to die, bro!"
"You too!"
They split off at the Command Room entrance.
Fire and smoke immediately assaulted Ritsuka's lungs and stopped him from advancing. He coughed profusely, breathing and nearly gagging from lack of fresh air and being forced to take in smoke. The sheer amount of heat made his eyes water, and he rubbed off the irritation with a raised arm.
Through the rubbing and blinking, he couldn't see any signs of life. Was it worth making that decision? There's no one here. Maybe this was how he would die, and no one would know. Because these kinds of things get covered up, right?
He'll die with everyone else, and no one would know what happened.
But that would mean–
No.
No, there had to be survivors. He had to believe! But all hope shattered once he entered the Command Room's center area, trudging past the debris.
Ritsuka found himself staring at what he most likely expected to find.
Pale hair. Ice-blue eyes.
Standing in the center of the Command Room, a seemingly harmless figure against the sea of flames and dark pillars, was the so-called Manaka Sajyou. The wanted magical criminal. The girl from the dream.
She stood there, like an angel.
"Oh, this? Wasn't me."
Author's Note corner thingy: Hahahahaha, me when I lie. Still in the prologue, suckers! Though now I really do feel like things will start to go off the rails, so...sorry for that trope of an animated show losing quality after the first episode. If that's what it feels like. Personally, I'm just going to keep trucking along.
Shoutout to all my AI-generated homies spamming me for false promises and clogging up my review section. And to the one real person, Zer0sanity, thank you for taking the time to read this crack fic. I appreciate it a lot.