Glancing at her watch, the hands struck two fourty at night. "It's better to head back now. Have a good rest." Aefia told while looking at the exhausted Nada and with a blank expression. "You did well, better than expected honestly. But I think there is room for improvements." She remarked with a clap of her hand since it showed more effect than just saying it.
"Compared to you, it's still too little." The panting girl replied while knealing and forced a smile while using the back of her hand to wipe the droplets of sweat from her chin. "You were able to defeat tens of them at once, while I took on one at a time. Plus, you didn't use any weapons, while I barely survived with two daggers."
"That's because I am already in Phase two. Hopefully you will be able to get to that level soon if you undergo more battles. Although I can't say when after this you can participate in one." She replied while handing a bottle of water that was brought with her. "Based on what I have seen, you have learned to use your system?"
"Yes, and I messaged you many times too. Helio taught me saying it was much easier to use when it comes to leveling up and unlocking skills. Since I am still a rookie, I just mostly use it for my health status." She smiled while switching on her system. A familiar panel, from which multiple concerned messages were sent. "Although, did you not read my text that I had sent you?"
"I didn't know until now. I guess you can say I didn't know about the message icon until my system just showed it. I do have a question to ask following that, which phase of your system in?" She said with suspicious narrow eyes. A smile popped up on Nada's face before the speech fell out, and she instantly understood what that had to mean.
"Phase five. I had been using it in addictive amounts so it had leveled quite quickly. Before I knew it, I had skipped phase four of the skill in a day's matter." Turning it invisible from the icon below the rectangular screen, the bright blue interface dissapeared from her view. What?! Hey don't just shut it off like its no big deal! How are you leveling faster than I am! That isn't fair!
Aefia internally cried over the fact that the previously weak girl had a skill much more advanced than hers. Her expression stayed fix even when she sometimes moved her face away to physically react to the response. Nada continued speaking about her life at the office and what they would do now that she had left the competition, sometimes making her jealous that she couldn't withness it.
The office is way further from the area we are standing at, meaning that she must have been travelling for an hour or so to reach here. But even when she might have come here from a long journey, how did her face not show any signs of fear? Usually, back at Earth, when she would travel alone, there would be a scare in her face everytime it was too late at the night. Then if I am correct...
Aefia's thoughts wiped out while she shut her eyes and glanced up a few seconds later, confirming the results before she let her speak. "Where are they? The one you came with? Don't tell you walked here all by yourself, because even if you have magic, you are afraid of midnight walks." Her face turned curious as if to ask and not to make sure she was telling the truth.
"Oh Helio? He went somewhere else to pick up an item. I don't know anything about where though, we part ways about fifteen minutes before reaching here. I ran the remaining of the way." Nada spoke while recalling. "Although, I am actually afraid of walking back to the office if he doesn't come back. But I know for certain if no one walks me there, you won't hesitate to."
"I mean...I guess I would have no other choice." Aefia shrugged as she wondered what sort of item there was a necessity to pick up at midnight. For short, they do leave the office on a daily basis and do whatever they want, but what was there that needed to be picked up at night? These questions took a roller coaster ride inside her brain as she switched on her tracker in the system. "Then we better leave now."
While turning, something small, the size of a rat, flew towards her face as she ducked and it accidentally slammed into the wall behind her. Something orange, and made of skeletons. Her mind rang with the alert that it was something she knew, and without a second thought. "Cindy?!" Her fingers wrapped around the thin skeleton body as it looked limb for a few seconds and falsely stuck out its tongue.
"What? Now you are dead?" Her eyes narrowed down and the annoyed expression fell onto her face while she shoke the skeleton dragon back and forth several times and it pounced into the air after a short moment. It heavily waved its wings at her which caused a few flames gathering towards her face. Rattling sounds were heard alongside the sound of crackling fire.
Nada took off from her sitting position in an attempt to stop the fire from reaching her eyes, but a little too late, she realized the fire had recollected and flared at the top of Aefia's index finger. "Why are you worried? I can control the element of fire." She asked when noticing the shocked expression on her cousin's face. "Oh right, I didn't tell you before. Yeah, I can wield any fire-related skills." Her face turned towards the empty alley.
"And I also don't think I need to accompany you anymore. Your ride is here." She pointed at the running figure who held Puppet in a tight grasp while he got dragged along with its force. "What is wrong with you! Stop acting like a cat!" Helio shouted with tears welling up his eyes at the way he had no control over the pesky creature who was basically an illusion.
"Puppet, go to sleep." Aefia spoke and in an instant, the pet shut its eyes and fell to the ground with almost no response. Helio fell along with it and slammed his face down on the ground with a thud, which hurt intensely, but didn't bleed. "You don't need to take care of them, I will see what I can do to the mannerless wolf." Using the tip of her fingers made in a pinching gesture to pick it up by its hand, she placed it on top of her left arm, then placed Cindy beside it too.
"Anyway, I need to head back to the palace in a short time. Helio, what do you know about the others in that world?" She asked while turning in full towards the person slowly getting up on the ground. "They are pretty...annoying to deal with." He brushed off the dirt from his clothes and stood on his feet. Surprisingly, he didn't notice it was her the one who had been speaking until now.
Nada, who had come out alongside to inspect what had happened, while glancing at the two cute figures quietly sleeping. "So when will I be able to meet you again?" She asked after a short while. Her steps lifted away and moved towards the direction of the office, the long distance still left, was unimaginable and stressful.
Thinking, she finally opened her mouth to a smile. "I will let you know by messaging you personnally." And turned away to retreat too. Before long, her hand was grabbed and yanked backwards, forcing her to turn around.
"But I thought you were not allowed outside the boundaries of the palace otherwise you were going to be killed." Helio spoke with somewhat angry face and pointed at Puppet. "What really happened when you returned to that place today? Your elemental animal was acting up with headaches and pains until just now. You both share the same mind, I thought."
"I don't know. I was annoyed with the situation where people kept asking the same question again and again, while I didn't know the answer to it. Why they were asking, that is what really send me off." She shrugged while slowly draining his magic energy, which didn't go unnoticed, but he didn't retract his arm either. "I think you already know it too, the Guardian of Silence is hunting me."
"And she is part of the Torture Cell?"
"No...she isn't related in anyways to the them." Her eyes slightly shrunk with one sentence that stayed clear in her mind. "She is against them, because they are not allowing any information about me, to reach their ears." The word that echoed in her mind was, 'the hooded man, is against the Torture Cell'.
***
"What has happened!" Her maid servants rushed over to her side of the bed with a soaked cloth and held it over her forehead. "How did the young master come down with a fever all of a sudden?!" She pressed down on the cold feeling over her head and that is when her eyes jolted open with the choas rushing around her.
"Why is there a wet fabric pressed against my forehead?" Aefia sat up at the edge of the bed, while the outside was still very dark with the stars still visible with full intensity. Her room was heavily lit and she glanced at her watch. "When does school start again?" Her disheveled hair could be seen at the mirror, which was loosely tied at the end and with her front hair lifted up, stuck to the scalp and a clip.
"Don't worry about school, your health comes before education. If your body is up fighting against illnesses, your mind will be distracted every now and then. You don't want to worry about such things for now, rest is the only concern you should have." The maid servants sat beside her while taking her hands off.
"But if I stay in the bed for too long, I will eventually grow fungus over my head." She smiled while removing the cloth and placing her fingers over it. Slowly, faint green glow covered over the spot and her face turned back to their usual pale complexion. When removing her hand, she turned to face the maid servant who was now her own hand maid. "Besides, I am a magic user."
Curious, the maid used the back of her own hand to check, but it was perfectly normal. "Did you heal yourself? Just to go to school?" She asked at the end while watching her stand up. There was no reply, but there was a clear remark that she was about to leave anyway. Happily, the maid servants got up and rummaged through her drawer for a comb. I am actually glad I managed to become someone close to her, she isn't as harsh as the other family members if we don't consider the younger brother.
"I have a question, where is my school uniform if I were really going to one?" Aefia asked while facing the servant's smiling face. "What is funny?" Her misconception in this term, wasn't that she was mad, but she was just a little too active for being left out from things that seemed fun.
"Oh, I wasn't smiling because there was anything funny. I was just recalling how I enjoy being by your side and helping you every now and then." The maid replied as she combed her dark hair and tied a ribbon to it into a low ponytail. "I thought schools didn't need uniforms anymore. You simply wear whatever you want, but at least they can tell you are a student."
"So basically...American schools." Her eyes looked downwards at her hands while mumbling about it softly, but loud and clear enough for the maid servants to hear. "American? What's that?" The servant asked while stepping back after she finished.
"No, it's nothing. Just a slang I used with my previous school mates." Aefia's got up and headed towards her table, where lay the new batch of work, not a big stack like yesterday's. "Honestly," she spoke while slumping her head down on the table. "I really want to go back to bed, and sleep until noon. But also, I really appreciated getting any sleep at all."
Her maid had clad her in a very deep green overall that shared a white lacy jabot. In the image that reflected back at the mirror, she couldn't recognize herself that she was indeed in the present. It was formal and knee length, but also victorian. Actually, I think my entire wardrobe is victorian inspired. But this one seems to be a little too much in comparison. At least I don't have a hat to wear!
Following that, they left the house. Their school was about thirty minutes away, and not getting another choice, she had to take the carriage. There was a lot of getting used to in this world, and having the usual teenage mind, it was also going to be a hard thing.
"I heard something about the hooded man, but I don't know whether you are in the mood to listen." Lewis spoke as he looked at her from the opposite seat. Momentarily, both Henry and Aefia fell silent. The kid had been blabbering about from the dining table, until just a second ago, speaking about the school, what happened last night, and his dreams.
Without letting her answer, their younger brother decided to reply in her behalf. "Yeah no one wants to know about some mysterious man who wears a hood!" He crossed his arms as they both argued over the small matter. Regardless of that, Aefia turned her eyes towards the window and there was nothing strange until her headached at something that glanced her way.
It was around this moment, that time slowed down and she immediately noticed the man with a rat at his shoulder take a turn behind the same alley she had stood just last night to clear a dungeon. Her eyes contracted and her hand reached the handle of the door. "Stop! Drop me here!" She called out and everything felt silent.
The wheels screeched and without hesitation, she jumped down and took off towards the space in between the buildings while stopping short to clearly glance at what caught her eyes the most. Lewis chased over behind her, "what made you think this was the right place to stop?" He couldn't see it at first, but when he did, the entire atmosphere fell.
"An invisible barrier to an unknown world?"