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“Ticket inspection!”
Rean started in his seat, blinking the drowsiness out of his eyes. A strange, surprising kind of drowsiness. Last he remembered, his group was en route to Celdic for their first field study – a route that would take only about an hour by train, and they were well into playing Blade by then to really doze off. Well, as far as Rean was concerned, he was being shown up time and again by the rest of his classmates. He would get the hang of the game at some point.
Ticket inspections in the middle of the journey weren’t unheard of. It didn’t make the sudden prickling at the back of his mind any less urgent. Something seemed off—
“Oi. Ticket inspection, pretty boy.” The voice of the inspection officer picked up with an annoyed timbre.
“Y-yeah, sorry, my bad. Lemme just…”
Rean’s eyes turned towards the officer in question, taking in her presence – and instantly recording a number of oddities about her: that she looked young, younger than he (about Fie’s age? Younger still?) which already was strange; that he couldn’t quite make out her eyes past her fringe; the emblem on her hat, resembling the front of a locomotive…
...the shotgun slung over her shoulder…
...the halo above her head?
“Mm… are we there yet?” Alisa stirred in her spot, rubbing at her eyes and looking towards the window, taking in the scenery of the rustic thereabouts of Celdic.
Except they weren’t. Except nothing about the view outside the train seemed remotely like Celdic – remotely like anything in Erebonia Rean could care to name. In the periphery of his vision, he saw Alisa’s expression slowly grow more awake, colored with dawning horror.
“Missed your stop, huh? You look like people who don’t belong here.” The inspections officer smiled thinly, pulling out a notebook from her vest. “But you’re still gonna show me your tickets or we’re gonna have a problem, yeah?”
“Uh… ma’am, I think there’s been a—“
“I do not think that will help.” Laura was the next to rouse; if she was unnerved by the situation, she had yet to show it. “We are students from Thors Military Academy.” Slowly, she regarded the officer with a cool look. “Does the name sound familiar to you?”
“Psh, how should I know?” The inspections officer replied a touch defensively, moving half a step back. She carried herself much like a… schoolgirl, Rean thought. An ordinary schoolgirl. As far as he knew, Thors – or any other Erebonian school – didn’t offer part-time jobs at the railways. It’d make for an article in the Chronicle, at least. “There’s a dime a dozen of these tiny fish in Kivotos—“
“I see. And if I tell you that Thors is the Empire of Erebonia’s most prestigious of academic institutions?” Rean just stared. What Laura was implying here, combined with the officer’s reaction, (Kivotos?) was… rather…
“...h-hey, uh…” Elliot seemed to be up too, staring out the window together with Alisa, his voice trembling. “I don’t… s-suppose we missed our stop, did we?”
“No. We didn’t.” All four Thors students and the officer both startled at Instructor Sara’s voice. The teacher’s usual irresponsible demeanor was nowhere to be found, her mouth pressed thin and eyes disturbingly alert. This wasn’t entirely strange to Rean; he knew there had to be much more to their instructor than the cheerful front she presented herself with (and sometimes let slip with her nuggets of wisdom). You didn’t get hired by Thors if you didn’t have some credentials to your name, no matter what Vice-Principal Heinrich might have insinuated before. It was simple logic, really.
But it was still startling to see how sharp Instructor’s expression was; sharp enough to distract Alisa and Elliot from the vistas outside.
“W-whoa! Where did you come from?” The officer gawked (Rean thought; he still couldn’t make out the girl’s eyes, somehow) at Sara like she had three heads. “...w-wait. Waitwaitwait, y-you’re an adult?!”
That was what disturbed her? “And you have a halo like an angel of the Goddess. Who’s the weirder one here?” The instructor smiled sweetly, and it felt like staring a gordian in the face from up close. Rean’s hand itched for his sword; an instinct he curbed in the bud.
“...w-well, tickets are… I still need you to—“
“Why do you have a halo?” Alisa asked, voice barely a whisper before it picked up with an indignant tone. “W-what the heck is going on here?!”
“Well… I don’t think we’re in Erebonia anymore…” Elliot supplied the obvious, trying and failing to mount a calming smile.
“...or in Zemuria.” Laura added with a nod. The redhead’s expression shattered and he slumped weakly in his seat, mouthing something inaudible.
“...you’re… remarkably composed about this.” Rean muttered, mulling the matter-of-fact statement in his head. If they weren’t in Zemuria, somehow, then how did they even end up in… wherever they were?!
“Okay, okay, okay! E-enough.” The officer waved her hands, face pale with fear. (be it of Sara or of something else, it was hard to say) “L-look, uh… I… y-you five sit tight, okay?! I need to… n-need to… c-consult the… t-th…”
The legs gave out from under the girl; Rean managed to catch her before she could crack her head on the floor. Strangely, the halo disappeared from above her head. “...she’s out cold.” He muttered, awkwardly fitting her into a free seat opposite of Sara’s.
“...Laura, please pinch me.” Alisa mumbled, expression faint.
“...are you sure? I don’t want to leave a mark on your skin.”
“No need for that.” Sara rummaged briefly in her coat, pulling out a metal flask and taking a hearty swig. “...I am definitely not drunk enough for extradimensional shenanigans like these.” She muttered and for a moment her face looked much more worn, like she’d aged ten years in a heartbeat.
“Y-you just have that with you?” Elliot mumbled. “I, uh… okay… but… no, seriously, what is going on?”
“Great question! I have no answers! And it isn’t a lie, I am genuinely stumped about our whereabouts.” The instructor lifted herself off her seat, a menacing-looking orbal pistol (really menacing. She just had that on her?!) suddenly in her hand as she gave it a lazy twirl before prodding the unconscious girl’s shotgun. “We have a schoolgirl with a gunpowder shotgun, an emblem I don’t recognize, a name that rings no bells and a giant halo in the sky. For starters.”
“For starters.” Rean repeated dumbly, feeling the beginnings of a migraine.
“Wait… it is gunpowder…” Alisa focused on the weapon, shifting out of her seat to examine the shotgun. “...don’t recognize the model, but it’s definitely not orbal.”
“W-why is an inspections officer carrying a long gun to begin with?” Elliot asked; he grabbed his staff at some point, turning the shaft in his hands.
“It is not unfeasible, I think.” Laura commented. “Should the train go through unsafe lands, it stands to reason there should be security onboard – but practices like these would be uncommon at best in the Empire...”
A little ping from the ceiling of the train brought their attention. “Thank you for traveling with Highlander Railroad Academy.” An announcer spoke in a pleasant tone, heedless of the nonsense happening in one of the traincars. “Our next stop is… Gehenna Academy Campus Station. Gehenna Academy Campus Station. Please make sure to gather your belongings before leaving the train. Have a pleasant day.”
“...mmm… Hell School.” Sara giggled; it sounded just a little hysterical. Her students stared at her with varying expressions of confused dread, with even Laura’s cool mask cracking. The laugh didn’t last; the instructor’s face grew deadly serious once more. “Let’s see what they’ve got. Keep your wits about you, Class VII.”
----
If someone had told Alisa that the five of them perished in a sudden train crash and woke up in the afterlife, she’d be more than willing to believe that thesis. Outlandish it might have been, it would certainly explain… some things.
Some of them.
“W-we’re really sorry about this.” Rean bowed his head apologetically, seeing off a bulldog in a suit jacket and a tie. Not an actual bulldog, it bore reminding; a bulldog person standing on two stubby legs. It barely came up to her and Elliot’s waists in height, clutching its little briefcase and telling Rean off for “glaring at me like you never saw a dog before, well, I never; the youth today is truly going to the humans!”, among other things. He was actually apologizing on Alisa’s behalf, because it was her who just gawped at a little bulldog-man reading a newspaper and waiting at the crossing like any other guy in Heimdallr or Roer.
There were thousands of them here. Dog-people. Cat-people. Bird-people. Other-animal-people. They weren’t even the weird ones; that honor belonged to the mechanical beings with weird screen-shaped heads and blinking blue eyes. Or what about the overwhelmingly female population of haloed students of all stripes just… being there? Each with a gunpowder firearm? Some of them even accessorized; Alisa saw keychains and stickers of cute cartoony characters (a dopey-looking chicken with its tongue out seemed prominent); pastel paintjobs contrasted harshly with custom-made modifications, drum mags, scopes, reinforced stocks…
It really was Gehenna.
“So… where are we going, anyway?” Elliot asked once their group managed to peel away from the huffing bulldog man. His eyes followed another score of black-uniformed girls with halos; they bore peaked caps and red armbands with Eastern characters on them. Far too often did they stop and look at their group – almost as if they were assessing them as possible threats.
“I would assume we’re looking for the local leadership.” Laura picked up, scanning the surroundings with a steady look. Alisa envied her the calmness; even Instructor Sara looked unbalanced with how saccharine sweet her grin was. “Someone who can explain our whereabouts to us and… hopefully, send us back home.”
“Is… that something they can do?” Alisa asked uncertainly, deciding to rip the bandaid off. They got transported to here by unknown means; it wasn’t that the train to Celdic was whisked away so much as just the five of them getting placed in this new reality… somehow.
“We won’t know ‘til we ask.” Rean replied, but there was no heart in his voice.
“Man, imagine the report you’ll have to submit after all this~” Sara tittered, but her smile did not reach her eyes. “...hell, imagine the report I will have to submit. Who knows, maybe I can get Henny to pass out from sheer shock.”
“Ahaha… y-your optimism is noted, Instructor.” Elliot muttered, the laugh coming out incredibly strained. No small wonder.
Despite the dread of the situation, Alisa couldn’t help but let her eyes wander across the technology on display. Many of the locals used communicators, some of them with screens; others zipped about on scooters, to say nothing of the cars and trucks going through. The buildings too; while a lot of them invoked a more stately feel, skyscrapers peeked from behind them with their shining glass and impossible steel curvatures. Architecture wasn’t Alisa’s strongest suit, but even a complete novice would be able to tell just how much work went into creating these monsters. Back home, Crossbell still kept constructing their Orchis Tower, looking to become the first skyscraper of Zemuria – here they stood like trees in the forest—
Someone roughly shoved their way against her shoulder. Alisa faltered with a surprised gasp but held her balance – unlike the other party, a mean-looking delinquent with a facemask and ratty eyes, that tumbled down the pavement with a pained cry. “Oi! What’s the big idea, lady?!” Another of the delinquents shoved herself in front of their group, glaring daggers at Alisa.
“Ow… crap… my s-shoulder’s dislocated…” The one that tumbled seemed to be… fine, from what she could gather. Her acting skills could use some work, not that Alisa said it out loud. “Darn… h-how am I ‘pposed ta work with one arm?”
“Yeah, how?!” The third delinquent, a blonde that seemed to find no issues carrying an entire rotary cannon with her, (or use bandages instead of a bra...) set her hands on her hips. “That calls for sum compensation, get what I’m sayin’?”
“...from what I can tell, you were the one who shoved her way into our classmate.” Laura countered, brows furrowed – not in anger at an obvious scam, but in confusion that the delinquents could be so careless. Alisa could appreciate the support nonetheless. “The pavement is wide enough we could have passed by each other unhindered without issues. I fail to see our fault here.”
“The hell you say?!” The delinquent shoved herself forward, trying to glare Laura into submission. Alisa saw her quickly fold and backpedal when the Arseid heiress held her gaze. “T-that proves nothin’! You gotta watch where you walk, lady!”
“A-and our friend is still hurtin’!” The minigunner picked up with a scowl. “You look loaded, lady! You gotta pay for your actions, yeah?!”
“Okay, okay, how about we calm down a bit?” Rean stepped forward, hands close by himself. Something about the gesture irritated Alisa. “Look, sorry we got in your way, but there’s no point bothering us. First of all: we don’t have local money. Second, if you’re really hurting…” He fixed the delinquent on the ground with an unimpressed look. Right on cue, she started groaning in false pain again. “we could just offer a fix to your shoulder.”
“Oh yeah, I can do that.” Elliot nodded with an apologetic smile. “Though… I really don’t think it’s gonna do much, considering…”
“Nobody asked you, shrimp!”
“So you don’t want to feel better?” Alisa’s eyes narrowed. “To get your shoulder fixed so you can keep working? Like you said just now?” The delinquent groaning on the ground stilled suddenly, just as the other two looked at each other and nodded in unison, their eyes narrowing.
Instructor Sara didn’t let them do anything; her leg lashed out to kick the rotary cannon away from the minigunner at the same time a sword (as menacing-looking as the pistol she brandished earlier!) flashed in her hand and knocked a submachine gun from the second delinquent. The one on the ground had produced a long rifle from Aidios-only-knew where, only to still again when Laura stepped on it – and snapped it in half like dry kindling.
“...o-oh.” The ratty-eyed girl’s face turned green. “...think I’m actually sick now…”
“You girls want to try this again?” Instructor Sara’s voice could not be any sweeter, even if her eyes looked like thunder and lightning.
----
In Elliot’s humble opinion, the fact that the incident with the delinquents seemed to have gathered no attention from what seemed to be Gehenna Academy’s peacekeeping force – besides their earlier observance – was… well…
There was no kind way of saying it, but it sounded like the uniformed girls didn’t seem to care too much.
Of course, he had to quickly reflect on that statement. It seemed that in Gehenna Academy would-be scam robberies just didn’t register on the radar.
“You get used to it.” A portly mechanical man (in itself a strange thing; why would you build a portly machine…?) explained, staring at the plumes of smoke coming from the bombed-out building in the distance. Though fire brigades seemed to be working hard on containing the blaze, everyone around it seemed rather… blasé about the whole thing.
Instructor Sara was having a hard time taking it all in, judging by another hearty swig from her flask. Elliot suspected the stuff inside was stronger than the usual beer. “You get “used to it”?” Laura wasn’t doing great either; the way her jaw set looked like she was about to chip a tooth.
“Mhm. That’s just the realities of living in the region.” The machine man (apparently they were called “robots”) shrugged. “Rent’s fairly low compared to places like Trinity or Wildhunt. More firefights, yeah, but… long as you don’t cross the Gourmets, you should be fine.”
“The… The Gourmets?” Rean asked, though his eyes seemed to be flitting between the burning building in the distance and the flask in the Instructor’s hands, like he was considering snatching it out of her hand.
“They’re the ones who blew up the building.” The robot sighed, his voice briefly distorting. “You have to keep your food service up to par or you can kiss your savings goodbye. Rent might be low, but no one but Kaiser shells put insurance on eateries in Kivotos. Too much risk, not enough reward.”
“Rent. Rent?!” Laura looked utterly aghast. “What of the people hurt or killed in an explosion?! Who… what kind of scoundrel blows up a building because the food wasn’t to their liking?!”
“I kinda get it.” Instructor Sara’s slurred chime-in was definitely not helping.
“Ohh… yes, I was wondering if you’re outsiders.” The robot nodded with a hum, eyeing them – specifically, eyeing the empty space above their heads; likely looking for halos. “People don’t die here, not really. They might get hurt sometimes, but usually it ends up with some bruising at worst.”
“...bruising. From an exploding building.” Alisa just sounded done with the whole affair and, well, Elliot could definitely relate. “Yeah. Sure. Why not. This really is Hell.”
“You get used to it. Oh, that looks like Field Captain approaching.” Class VII eyed a dark-skinned girl in a crisp white shirt and black skirt approaching them, escorted by a number of uniformed peacekeepers from earlier. “Good talk. Come by if you need a place to stay. I run a motel nearby.” The robot offered Rean a business card before leaving.
This whole ordeal was getting tiring enough that Elliot was starting to see things. No way this girl had long knife-like ears and a whipcrack tail going to and fro. “You’re those outsiders I heard about.” She greeted them with a haughty tone, sizing up their group. Her eyes stopped on Rean first, then went to Instructor Sara, and settled on him last.
“H-hi?” Elliot tried. The girl looked unimpressed, clicking her tongue.
“You’ll be coming with me, you and your adult.”
“Way to make me sound like their pet, kiddo.” Instructor’s grousing went unanswered besides a brief disdainful look. The Field Captain seemed to wear her emotions on her sleeve, Elliot thought.
“Well… we were hoping to get in touch with people in charge here.” Laura nodded curtly. “Although the way you worded it makes me think we’re not invited as guests.”
“Glad we understand each other. I don’t care much for vigilantes, especially the kind that play heroes first thing since arriving in Kivotos.” The girl said something else, muttering something just under her breath; Elliot caught mentions of “Pandemonium raccoons” and something about a “Head Prefect” being overworked already. “You don’t have halos, so don’t try anything funny.”
“We didn’t even do anything wrong!” Alisa threw her hands up with a frustrated groan. “They were trying to scam us! They pulled guns on us!”
“And what about the Highlander student you assaulted, huh?!” Field Captain retorted. “Knocked her right out and left in the car?! We’ve got a report on that too!”
“T-technically, she passed out on her own…” Rean muttered.
“Hey. I have a question.” Instructor Sara’s smile grew disturbingly sweet again. It looked a little shaky this time, even if there didn’t seem to be a sign of any inebriation in it. Somehow. How she did it continued to elude Elliot. “Why don’t we, uh, just ignore you and go meet your boss? We’re kinda… in a hurry, I guess.”
“Adults.” Field Captain spat the word out like a curse. “Sensei really is the only one with any decency out of you.”
“Yup. I’m a regular she-devil. Just the worst. They talk nightmare stories about me to their kids out there.”
“W-wait, Sensei?” Rean picked up on the odd word. “So… is there a teacher we can talk to or—“
“Can we maybe do that when we’re not being detained for no reason?” Alisa stressed, shifting a little on her feet.
“I already told you the reason! Now, are you going to be difficult or—“
A massive blue greatsword came into view, casting a shadow on the Field Captain’s face. Laura’s expression seemed impassive, if you didn’t pay it too much attention. There was just enough of the tightness in her jaw and the narrowing of the eyes to tell a different story. “I’m afraid we have to decline the invitation.” She stated in a cool tone. The dark-skinned girl stared, mouth hanging slack in shock. “I cannot condone any such thuggery done by the local law enforcement – and while I realize it reflects poorly on me and my school to turn to violence… I don’t think this situation is ours to deescalate anymore.”
“I, you… I have a gun and you have an ironing board! W-what do you think you’re gonna do with that—“ Laura shifted her stance, just a little; it was already enough to unsettle the uniformed girls in the back who struggled to draw their weapons. The Field Captain seemed to be made of a tougher stock – or maybe she had no idea what she was coming up against. “T-tch! I won’t be made fun of by some—“
“On the contrary, Prefect Team! You will sit there and take the ridicule for letting this farce play out as long as it did!”
----
Laura could admit it safely to herself – this was poorly thought-out on her end. Even with Instructor Sara and the rest of the group backing her up, she was putting them in harm’s way with her challenge against the Field Captain. Something about this situation just… couldn’t not be responded to, however.
Could they win against the tailed girl (what an oddity… but, she did saw odd features among the students in the streets already) and her forces? Laura was willing to say yes, but it was still a dangerous proposition. A squad of gunpowder weapons against them in an open street didn’t sound like an even fight. And, for all of her bluster, the dark-skinned girl held herself skillfully if arrogantly; certainly a cut above those delinquents from before.
Aidios herself must have decided that Laura had to be saved from her own folly; the cavalry arrived just in time as another group of haloed girls. They carried themselves in a military faction not unlike the Prefects, with longcoats and side caps. Their leader, however, stood out even more than Field Captain did – with silver hair so long it almost dragged along the ground, not one but two sets of menacing horns… and a sneer of a tyrant, of a most self-assured of nobles. Yet, here she was coming to their rescue.
Next to her was a child in yellow rainboots and a smile so bright it made Laura’s eyes water – bedecked in childish accessories clashing harshly with the dour military aesthetic and a—
“...that’s an assault rifle.” A hysterical note crept into Alisa’s voice, followed by a harsh, aborted half-laughter. “Someone gave this toddler an assault rifle.”
“Worry not! Ibuki is not the kind to shoot indiscriminately, unlike some students in this room~” The leader of the other group smiled smugly at Field Captain who was looking like she was trying her hardest not to snap her red rifle in her hands.
“How about you mind your own business, Prez?! Don’t you have a new statue of yourself to unveil? I’m arresting these hooligans—“
“And I am pardoning them. Or do you think yourself above your student council, Shiromi?” The just-named Shiromi gnashed her teeth. Rean’s eyes seemed to be nearly boggling out of their sockets. “You, outsiders. You will be coming with me – as guests, of course.” The apparent member of a student council smiled magnanimously, though it still looked a touch shifty in Laura’s view.
“You have been waiting for the perfect moment to swoop in and save the day, huh?” Instructor Sara was smiling, though it was no longer that strangely saccharine smile that caused goosebumps on Laura’s skin, at least.
“Of course! What kind of leader would I be if I hadn’t lived up to expectations?” The possibly-student council president of Gehenna Academy made a wide sweeping gesture. “Come, come. I shall see to your accommodations myself!”
“It’s nice to meet you!” The girl in rainboots beamed. “Ibuki’s happy to make new friends, Misses and Misters!”
They left the steaming Field Captain and her group behind. While grateful for the intervention, something about this still prickled Laura wrong. It didn’t quite feel as if their savior came in out of a goodness of her heart. It just seemed that the now-identified Pandemonium Society President (“You may address me as the Honored and Glorious Leader of Pandemonium Society Makoto Hanuma; “President” will do too) and her charge (“Ibuki’s Ibuki! Makoto-senpai got me this job, so I’ll do my best!”) just happened to be there to bloody the proverbial nose of the Prefect Team.
Well, definitely not Ibuki. The girl could very well be a gift from Aidios herself with how earnest and good-natured she was. Alisa and Elliot were taken in by her almost instantly. Instructor Sara seemed a bit less receptive; there seemed to be something hiding in her eyes that Laura couldn’t quite decipher. “I’ll be frank with you, outsiders. I have no means of transporting you back to your home – but I can certainly find you those who may.” Makoto nodded, leading them through the campus grounds more reminiscent of a government plaza than a school. Plenty of Prefects ambled about on patrol, but there was just as many ordinary schoolgirls doing… well… whatever it was that ordinary schoolgirls did.
“That’s, uh, appreciated, though you don’t have to go out of your way to—“
“Pretty sure she does.” Alisa cut Rean off with a huff.
“I imagine Sensei will have a solution for you. She is a woman unlike any other. But, she is busy like few are, too.” Makoto grumbled. “Still wish she would take my offers to rule Gehenna together seriously…”
“S-so, uh… who is this Sensei? Field Captain Shiromi mentioned her too.” Elliot asked as their group was ushered into one of the stately buildings. Garish gold statues and busts of the Glorious Leader stood as decorations, clashing with the purplish décor. More of longcoated Pandemonium soldiers stood at attention, saluting and greeting Makoto and Ibuki as they passed by.
“Sensei’s super cool!” The young girl piped in, smiling from ear to ear. “She’s got those long flowing robes and cool aura and she’s soooo smart and—“
“There, there, Ibuki. Though, she’s not wrong.” Makoto nodded sagely. “Truthfully, she is the best that’s happened to this Academy City of ours.”
“So… a single teacher for an entire city?” Rean’s eyebrow rose. The Pandemonium Society leader waved her hand so-and-so, ushering them into a lavish office more arranged like a noble’s parlor slash office space. Someone was already there; a slight girl with a big shock of fluffy red hair that read on one of the couches.
“Well, not quite. Most of Kivotos’s education uses automated materials. Sensei’s more of a… guide, I suppose? An advisor?”
“A miracle worker.” The redhair droned in quietly, not looking up from her book. She reminded Laura of Fie, a little; mostly the perpetual tiredness than anything else. Ibuki trotted over to her, swinging her too-large sleeves with glee.
“Exactly that! See, Iroha, you can put your mind to it when you want to! Now then!” Makoto turned dramatically (and slapped Rean in the face with the swoop of the longcoat on her shoulders), her heels clicking on the floor. “While I head out to contact Sensei, make yourselves comfortable! Friends of Pandemonium are friends of mine, so feel free to raid the fridge or bother Iroha so she doesn’t grow cataracts from constant reading. Ah, just… no touching Ibuki’s pudding, got it?”
“...do you have any liquor?” Instructor Sara’s voice came out much weaker than her usual. “...like… the hard stuff? I think I need to check out for today.”
“Instructor, uh, I don’t think that’s—“
“As a matter of fact, my dear guest, I do!” Proudly, Makoto walked over to one of the bookshelves, fiddling with a conspicuous-looking book (the spine read “Secret Stashes For Dummies”). In the corner of her eye, Laura saw Iroha cover Ibuki’s eyes, muttering about a “senpai’s secret, no peeking”. The leader of the Pandemonium Society produced a bottle of what looked like wine soon after. “Though I will have to insist you drink outside of Ibuki’s view—“
Instructor Sara promptly uncorked the bottle, giving the contents a sniff. “...that’s grape juice.” She announced blandly.
“N-no? It’s a vintage brand from—“
“It’s grape juice.”
“...p-please don’t tell anybody? I have an image to maintain.”
“Nobody is fooled, for the record.” Iroha chimed in from her couch, a hint of a smile dancing on her lips.
“Oh, be quiet, you lazybones, you!”
----
A woman of blue hair put the phone away, staring somewhere or at something beyond human sight. The scientist in a black suit understood that much, though precious little else about the Sensei of SCHALE and their new member – their de-facto leader – of Gematria. “Trouble in paradise, Meishu?” Of course, a mere title of “Sensei” did not befit her at all. It was just a convenience; a shorthand for the Forgotten Gods and for the many less-highminded adults of Kivotos.
A woman of her pedigree, of skills that singlehandedly rebuilt Gematria and let it flourish – now without the looming specter of Madame or of their once-exiled Roleplayer polluting their hard work – could hold this world hostage and mold it to her designs. Yet, to the scientist’s frustration, she didn’t. She laid out her reasoning quite well, in the end; as far as the logic of it went, he had nothing to contest there. It was his emotions that got the better of him in the moment, or perhaps a man’s wounded pride, though she held no ill will for it or for the indignities he committed upon her students.
The woman smiled kindly. “Not so. It is still within the purview of the plan. Though, I suppose the Goddess has a strange sense of humor at the end of all things.”
“Does she now?” The scientist reached for his white king, setting the figurine down on the chessboard. The match was as good as over anyway. It always was. “Then I suppose we will start a new game come another time.”
“That we will. Do take care, Beyonder.”