Chương 5: Back to prison.

Ch. 5- Back to prison.

[It's time. Wake up.]"..." [Amy. You'll be late to the inauguration if you don't get up.]"…mmgh." [Wake up or I'll be forced to take drastic measures.] Amy groaned, pulling the blanket over her head and curling into a ball, attempting to block out the sound. [Alright, you brought this upon yourself.] The book inhaled—despite having no lungs—and let out a bellowing: [AMY. WAKE UP!!] She lurched upright as if electrocuted, breath ragged, heart hammering against her ribs.

"WHAT?!" she screeched, eyes wide. Disoriented, she let her bloodshot eyes dart across the room, trying to understand the situation she was in, until they locked onto the book hovering right in front of her. When her mind finally caught up, she let out a long sigh. She groaned as the first rays of sunlight filtered through the tall windows of her quarters. She hadn't bothered to close the curtains last night, a decision she now deeply regretted.

"Kill me now," she muttered on instinct, and immediately regretted it. What followed those words were bad memories; the face of a girl she would never forget reappeared in her mind. She grimaced and had to stop her hands from visibly shaking. Luckily, she was quite experienced in controlling her discomfort. The emotions she felt at that instant retreated as fast as they had arrived, tucking themselves into the deepest corner of her brain.

The book, which floated lazily up to hover at her eye level, had luckily not taken note of her brief slip. [Good morning to you, too, sunshine. Did you have a restful sleep?]"..." She took a deep breath before forcing herself out of bed, limbs sluggish, then trudged toward the washbasin. After splashing her face with water, she stared at her reflection in the ornate mirror, dark circles barely visible under her eyes. Her normally vibrant golden hair was all over the place.

"I look like shit," she muttered, splashing more cold water on her face. [Perhaps you should have slept, instead of spending the night staring at your status and waving your hands around.] Amy exhaled through her nose before patting her face dry with a plush towel.

"Remind me again how exactly I'm supposed to use these powers? Ms. VideoGameSystem." [I never claimed to be knowledgeable about your abilities. I merely facilitated your access to information about them.]"That doesn't even make sense…" Amy groaned, her eyes burning as she stared at her reflection and watched herself comb her hair. She'd barely slept, spending most of the night attempting to access her supposed "Fate" powers—with absolutely nothing to show for it.

"Funny," she muttered, continuing as she applied the makeup provided by the Academy.

"I've been accepted as a Seer, but I can't actually see anything…so funny." The book floated lazily above the washbasin. [Perhaps you're trying too hard?]"Or maybe," Amy said, while brushing her teeth, "thezze are the kinz of powerz that are corrpletely arzbitrary and only workz whenz the plotz demarrds it." [First of all, don't speak with your mouth full of toothpaste. It's undignified.] Amy spat into the basin, rinsed her mouth, and wiped her face with an exasperated sigh.

"Second of all?" [Second of all, fate magic is a rare and complex art. You are a complete novice in this field, so even if your abilities are powerful, it would take a great deal of effort to master them.]"Nice…" Amy turned away from the mirror, letting out a long sigh.

"How long until class…?" [Twenty minutes.] Amy froze, her eyes opening fully.

"Twenty—?!" [Yes, twenty. Did you forget that you asked me to let you sleep as much as possible?]"What… what, what, what, WHAT, WHAT, WAAAAAA—" Amy instantly broke into a sprint, running throughout her entire apartment, searching for a uniform, which, for some unknown reason, she finally found under her bed. It was a dark navy coat with the academy symbol on it, a little "S" signifying the class she was part of, and an annoying number of buttons.

Amy's gaze fell on the incredible number of buttons there, then she glanced toward the clock in the corner of her room, then at the Academy uniform. Then back to the clock. Then back to the uniform. Then—"… Hey, book?" [Yes?] She hesitated, then turned toward it, putting on her best pleading expression.

"Can you put on my uniform for me?" [No.] Amy's hopeful expression crumbled instantly.

"What do you mean, no? C'mon, what does it cost you!?" [You seem to have forgotten,] the book said, hovering closer to her face. [Yesterday, I explicitly stated that the outfit I conjured for you was my last big favor.]"…Yeah, but that was yesterday." [I fail to see your reasoning.] Amy groaned dramatically, throwing her head back.

"C'moooon, you like helping me, don't you?" [Debatable.]"Wow. I see how it is." She crossed her arms, scowling at the book.

"After all we've been through, I thought we were friends." [...] The book remained silent for a long time. Amy shifted her weight from one foot to the other, suddenly feeling awkward.

"What? Why are you so quiet all of a sudden?" she asked, scratching her head. [Are we... friends?] The question came out in a robotic voice, without a hint of emotion. Amy was slightly taken aback by the sudden turn in the atmosphere. She opened her mouth to respond, then closed it again. Her brows furrowed as she considered the question more seriously.

"I—uh... I dunno," she said finally, still scratching her head.

"I never really had any true friends, to be honest, everyone… —except for one girl. …never truly considered me something like that…" She looked down at her feet, then back at the floating book.

"... maybe?" she offered, struggling to get the words out.

"I mean, we just met yesterday, but..." The words died in her throat, and the silence took hold once again, stretching between them for several long moments, until Amy began to wonder if she'd said something wrong. Then, without warning, the book began to emit a soft, warm golden light. The light enveloped Amy, and she gasped as she felt the still unfamiliar sensation of magic washing over her skin.

Once the light went away, she realized she now wore the uniform, which for some reason also came with an additional satchel.

"Uhh…thanks," Amy said, her cheeks warming with embarrassment though she wasn't entirely sure why. [You'd better hurry,] the book replied, its tone back to business as usual. [You'll be late to the inauguration if you don't leave now.]"Yeah, right." Amy cleared her throat, then paused in front of the small mirror, studying her reflection; despite the lack of sleep, she still looked so damn perfect.

"This is all wrong," she said suddenly. [What's wrong? Don't like your appearance anymore?]"Not that. I mean, these powers—they're too arbitrary. The only time I've accessed any sort of ability was during that test, and even then it was like... like it happened to me, rather than me controlling it." [And what are you planning to do about it?] Amy thought for a moment, then turned towards the book.

"If I make people think I have specific, consistent powers that I control, even if I don't fully understand them yet, it would be enough, right?" This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there. [If you pair that with training, then yes. Though, I warn you, if your ability gets way too strong somehow due to its nature without the corresponding readers' affinity, I'll be obligated to nerf it; it's one of the tasks and powers the Goddess left me. Otherwise, the story might suffer, and we can't have that.]"How big of a nerf are we talking about here…?" [That depends on what these supposed limitations are.]"I'm still working on that part," Amy admitted, checking her appearance one last time in the mirror.

"But I'm thinking something like... I can see and follow the general paths of fate to reach my objective, but I don't exactly know the details of how I get there." [Not bad. That would also explain your encounter with Crow at the teahouse and the whole waiting-for-signs thing.] Amy grimaced.

"You just reminded me of all those comments about us," she said, hoisting the satchel over her shoulder and putting her Academy ID inside.

"Another thing to deal with—avoiding any more romantic subplot nonsense. I'm here to save the world, not to get entangled in some harem drama." [Good luck with that. The artist seemed quite intent on establishing chemistry between you two.]"Well, the artist can shove it," Amy muttered, heading for the door and then exiting her dorm. Amy stepped out of her dorm room into the grand hallway of the Academy residence, pausing to take in her surroundings.

The marble floors gleamed with a faint magical sheen, and ornate tapestries with deep quotes adorned the walls.

"Let's get this over with," she muttered, making her way toward what appeared to be an oversized birdcage made of intertwining blue branches that seemed to be growing directly from the marble floor. Inside the structure was... nothing. Just empty space.

"Is that...?" [An elevator. Yes.]"Oh." Yesterday she had used the stairs on the examiner's recommendation; the reason was the Veritas Mirror, the artifact used for her entrance examination, which had some temporary side effects the woman hadn't explained.

"I bet it's dangerous. That thing looks dangerous," Amy grumbled. [It's actually quite an ingeniously safe application of spatial folding magic. The Academy spans multiple dimensional planes, which makes conventional transportation impractical.]"Spare me the lecture," Amy said, hesitantly approaching the cage as her turn came up.

"Will it hurt?" [Only if you resist the transition.]"That's not reassuring!" she hissed, but stepped into the cage anyway. It was just as she stepped in with the intention of going to the ground floor that she felt a sensation of vertigo. It all happened so fast; one moment she was in the "elevator" and the next she was where she had wanted to go.

A little disoriented, and frankly already getting used to this world's antics, Amy shook her head from side to side, trying to wake herself up, then let out a groan, adjusted her satchel, and finally stepped out. As she walked towards the exit, much like her first day in this world, she noticed some people giving her double takes, something which drew another groan from her mouth.

"I'm really never getting used to this…" [To what? The attention? I thought humans generally enjoyed being considered attractive.]"Maybe normal people," Amy whispered, keeping her voice low so she didn't look like an insane person talking to no one.

"It's not like I was a timid person, but I've always disliked getting too much attention. This is... disorienting…" [I'm confused. Aren't you glad your appearance fits the requirements for the manga's narrative expectations?]"Narrative expectations," Amy muttered, rolling her eyes.

"Because what matters when the world is at stake is to join Crow's harem…" [Isn't that exactly what you wanted yesterday?]"Hell no. Are you mocking me?" [Just a bit.]"Ughhh," Amy groaned, then let out a tired sigh.

"In the future I really need to start keeping my distance from the other characters, in particular from Crow. Attention is currently what I need, but too much of it and people will start hating on me—or even worse, they might start shipping me even more." [I see. In that case, don't you think it might be a good idea to start being a bit more discreet?]"What do you—" The book suddenly opened Amy's satchel and floated inside.

Amy looked at the satchel, which the book had now closed shut, then frowned and stared at it for more than a few seconds before speaking.

"You know, I might need a bit of discretion, but if you are uncomfortable in there, you can come out." There was no response. Amy thought the book might not have heard her, and was about to repeat herself when a robotic and completely emotionless voice she did not expect stopped her. [You shouldn't worry about me.]"Right..." Amy said, adjusting her satchel.

"I just thought—" [Walk faster. The inauguration ceremony is about to begin, and you don't want to be late on your first day.] Amy rolled her eyes before saying, "Yes, Mom," then she quickened her pace. -————-　■　-————- Amy reached the academy hall in no time, apparently quick enough, because the first thing she noticed was how many goddamn people there were.

From students to teachers, from different races, some elves, others cat-people, and some even wolf-inspired, as seen by the pointy ears on top of their heads and their tails. Amy looked around, marveling at the sheer scale of things until her eyes fell on a certain place. A poster in front of a group of seats with the letters [Class S]. The students were apparently being divided by class. Without wasting much time, she walked towards one of the available seats beside a student she did not recognize.

Who she did recognize, however, were the ones a bit further ahead of her: the protagonist group. Crow, Lain, Ash, and Lyra. Of the four of them, only Crow noticed her and gave her a glance, which—after some pondering—she returned with a smile, before rapidly shifting her gaze away. Keep your distance, but not too much, Amy reminded herself. With an exhale, Amy shifted her thoughts away from the little emo boy and focused on the platform; it seemed that the ceremony was about to begin.

A tall and kind of old-looking woman, with grey hair in an updo and eyes that shifted between yellow and green depending on the angle, stepped onto the stage with a confident smile; Amy recognized her instantly; the one people think is the strongest in the entire manga and also one of the only people whose ability was completely unknown.

"Welcome to the Arcanum Academy, students. I'm Archmage Elyndra, headmistress of the institution and one of the numerous adults who will be looking after you for however long you remain here." Her voice carried all the way from the front towards Amy, who wasn't that far away, but wasn't that close either. Was she using some kind of magic?

"This academy," the headmistress continued, "has existed for centuries, and as long as I remain alive it will exist for much, much longer. No matter who comes or what enemies arrive."

"This year is like any other," she went on.

"I won't go into details as that isn't something I'm supposed to be discussing with you, but I'll ask you to be extremely careful, as the Gaspards have released numerous prophecies that might or might not occur, but will surely change your lives if they do happen." The crowd began murmuring at Elyndra's words.

Amy felt a chill run down her spine, knowing exactly what these ominous words were referencing—the coming catastrophe, the event, or rather the series of events starting with Building B, that would only get worse until they arrived at the Colossus, or rather the Devourer that would destroy the world; the big thing she was here to prevent.

"Either way, I'm a busy woman, and we have lost much time. So let's continue by presenting every class with their instructors," the headmistress said, then turned around, gesturing for the group of adults behind her to come to the front. As they began talking one by one and introducing themselves to their respective classes, Amy realized she recognized several from the manga; for example, Drayke and Vanheim. Kinda surprised I remember so much, even though this arc was a while ago and I skipped so many chapters…

The manga is still shit, though…

"And finally," Elyndra said, "I am pleased to announce that Class S will have a change of instructor for Prophetic Arts this year, since Kaelen, one of the most powerful members of the Gaspard family, has returned from his expedition to the Outer Reaches." The person who came into view was a tall, handsome man with white hair and pure dark eyes— Holy fuck, this guy's eyes are dark.

—he gave a small bow to the students and a creepy-ass smile as his gaze swept around everyone in the hall, and Amy could swear that when it fell on her, it stayed there for more than a couple of seconds, making cold sweat break out on her back. For the love of god, please be my imagination… [Uh, I think he was staring at you for a second.]"..." Fuck!

"Who is that guy? I don't remember him," she whispered at her satchel. [Didn't the headmistress just introduce him?] Amy pouted and hissed, "You know what I mean." [True, I do. Remember, I'm not supposed to help, so I won't share much, but I can probably just say that he hadn't appeared in the original story.] Uh…? Amy tensed; it had only been a single damn day, and there were already such changes to the timeline… What the hell was this scam?

"... I want my money back…" [What are you even talking about…?] After a lot of blah, blah, blah about conduct and rules, the entrance ceremony finally ended. The second-years were permitted to leave, while first-years had to remain for an orientation tour, and if you were from class S, like Amy, the tour would be given by the headmistress herself. Crow seemed hesitant to leave with the second-years, as he stayed behind and looked at Amy. He seemed to think for a moment and eventually decided to approach her.

[So popular.] Ughhh… right now really is not a good moment to be annoying… Unaware of her thoughts, Crow approached regardless and stopped just a few steps away, his expression unreadable.

"Are you surprised to see me here?" Amy asked while trying to sound nonchalant.

"Not particularly," Crow said, then added after a pause, "But I am curious…" He said that and then stayed silent, making Amy frown slightly. Are irl cliffhangers trending? Finish the sentence, the hell…

"About?" Amy asked eventually, when she couldn't take it anymore. She still didn't get a response, though, as Crow just continued to stare at her in silence. Luckily, the situation didn't continue for much longer.

"I want to… Finally! …make a deal."

"A deal?" Amy blinked, then tilted her head.

"I'll explain later." Amy raised an eyebrow, but before she could press him for details, the headmistress turned her gaze on them.

"Miss Stake." The headmistress's voice prompted in Amy an almost irresistible urge to bow her head. It felt like she was facing that random police officer whose face she had accidentally spilled hot coffee on. Bad memories. Amy gave a nod to Crow, which he returned, and then turned away, leaving with the first-years. Once Elyndra's eyes finally left her, Amy let out a breath she hadn't realized she was holding. The headmistress began walking, and the students began following, including Amy.

Whispers from other students walking through the halls followed them; was it because they were from Class S, or because of the woman doing the tour? Amy couldn't answer, and she didn't care to, as she stopped paying attention to her surroundings. Instead, her mind wandered to the past. To herself, days before the Goddess had decided to punish her for the horrific crime of trashing a manga online. To the moment she'd quit school at sixteen, walking out of the dreary classroom for the last time.

Only a year since I left… and yet here I am again. Here she was, stuck in another prison, just one with prettier chains. She flexed her fingers, exhaling through her nose. No use thinking about it. The past was the past. The only thing she could do now was to move forward—and figure out how the hell she was supposed to stop this world from falling apart. If only things could be easier…