Fiction and Reality

Eli wants to succumb to slumber for the next ten years.

After what felt like an eternity of talking to the mirror, the desire to go to the doctor grew stronger.

In the second floor girl's comfort room, Eli met a fine-looking maiden, devoid of any flaws on her youthful physique, who called herself, well, her.

Everything that came out of this pompous person's mouth was bizarre. She couldn't believe what she's babbling about even though she really wanted to.

However, out of all the outlandish blathers she said, one quip was able to ring a bell in the dumbfounded ash-haired.

"So... You're that Empress of Aristia? That... Venus?" Eli asked, eyes as wide as an owl's.

"Watch how you address me, young lady," the woman snarled, clearly displeased.

"What's this? Some sort of magical phenomenon or something?"

"Magic isn't that uncommon, though. But considering I reincarnated into another world, perhaps that's no longer the case."

"Huh? What made you sure you're reincarnated? If you were, why does it seem like you're some kind of a second personality or something? Also, I just read your story last night. You're from that book-"

Then, something clicked in her head.

The woman who claimed to be Venus peered at her with a quizzical expression.

"Now that I think about it, this is all weird. If you're that Venus from the Book of Metis, then maybe something about that book is magical. I've read countless fantasy novels with that kind of troupe – the protagonist suddenly transmigrating to another dimension, that is. It happens a lot in fiction. This situation is similar to that, don't you think?" Eli jabbered with a slightly enlightened look, only to see Venus's face drained of any colour, much to her surprise.

"Are you saying...I'm not supposed to be real?" she asked with a peculiar expression.

"Literally, you're real, perhaps? Since you're right here and I persistently convinced myself that I'm not losing my mind. At the same time, maybe you're not, in this world I mean, because you're actually a fictional character in a book."

Eli had to mentally pat herself for that, thanking her know-hows as an erudite nerd, especially in the world of fantasy novels.

Otherwise, she'd be acting like that typical heroine who can't seem to figure out that she teleported in a whole different universe until she remembered her previous life or something. It's not like she had to worry about that, though, since it wasn't her who transmigrated.

As for the dimensions leaper herself, Venus seemed to be deep in thought and motionless – not much of a heroine-like reaction, which is quite ironic since she was a villainess.

Maybe that's too mind-blowing even for the great Venus.

"That's... fathomable. I don't need to live a second life, anyway," she muttered out of nowhere.

"Huh? What do you mean?" Eli asked, dumbfounded.

However, the ash-haired wasn't able to get the answer to that as the school bell finally rang. With that, she hastily left the comfort room.

Venus, on the other hand, remained still even when she said that she had to leave, completely unafraid of suddenly disappearing if she did so.

Maybe it's true that she and Eli are one, after all.

For the whole afternoon, Eli tried to make sense of what just happened. She also couldn't grasp what were Venus's last words all about.

"Someone who died and claimed to have reincarnated into another world, only to say that she didn't want to live a second life, anyway? That goes against the law of that story genre! She can't properly function as a formerly-deceased person who's determined to make things right in this new life. Besides, she should feel grateful for being given a second chance by whatever kind of magic there is, considering that she had a tragic end and everything."

But then, Eli realized one crucial fact.

This isn't some kind of fiction.

She's real and so is this world where Venus is currently at. That means things will not play out as they used to in fantasy novels. There's no fixed destiny in this world. All here were determined by the unknown.

When classes were dismissed, Eli trudged out of the classroom like a walking corpse, exhausted after all those mulling overs. She needed to talk with Venus again.

Based on her ramblings in the comfort room, she's also in the dark, mostly.

Venus introduced herself, but didn't ask about her at all. It means that she already knows her, or maybe her bumptious self-introduction just took a lot of time to finish. Looking back, the way she patronized her as if she's not borrowing her body really irked her to some degree.

Other than these, she also had to think about what to do with the Book of Metis.

Eli now feels like adding ten more years in her much desired slumber.

"Hey, you. You're this Claes girl, right?"

The ash-haired stopped in her tracks and absentmindedly turned to the speaker, only to find a mob of female students glaring daggers at her.

If only looks could kill, she'll be a cadaver by now. With the formidable aura surrounding these girls, the air rapidly turned thick and ominous. She scanned the place for other students, but it seemed like it's just her and this pack of lionesses.

Eli felt like she'll be food for dinner, and so, she begrudgingly tried to forget about her decades-long slumber.

"Who do you think you are, acting all high and mighty?"

"You think you can get away with what you did?"

"You dared talk big to the Student Council like that!"

"So, that's what this is all about. What kind of a cliché troupe is this?" Eli thought exasperatedly.

She should've seen it coming, considering how large those people's fan base is. Her eyes then widened, realizing that she'd forgotten about the incidents earlier.

She still hadn't apologized to them yet. Now that her urge to do so returned, she tried to turn around and head to the library.

But then, the mob of fan girls beat her to it.

"Where do you think you're going?"

When one of them abruptly gripped her shoulders and forcefully pulled her back, Eli internally grimaced that this is absolutely an upgrade of yesterday's bullying

"Take your filthy hand off of me, woman," she then angrily retorted all of the sudden, surprising her offender.

Once again, her mouth's moving on its own.

"Why do you sound like you're the ones I should be apologizing to? How I act is none of your business. Ganging up on me like this is also pretty pathetic, you know."

All the girls could do was gawk at her sudden overconfidence.

However, this silence is just a calm before the storm – a short pause to let their rage boil and cause them to see red.

Before Eli knew it, she was being grabbed by the hair while everybody else burst out in a fit of cackles. Through her blurring vision, she could see how much they're enjoying her suffering.

Then, bloodlust started to stir within her – so fiery that she didn't know she's capable of holding that much emotion.

Her mind says it's an unhealthy resentment, yet her heart tells another story. It's like a trigger being pulled, enough to make someone thirst for revenge that ends in murder.

It scared Eli more than the hand clutching her hair.

Then out of nowhere, Venus's image popped up in her head.

"Stop that!"

In the instant that was dropped, the hand on her hair disappeared. Fortunately, the pull wasn't that tight or painful as she was still able to stand on her ground. Even so, the throb in her chest remained robust and violent.

"If you're not going to back down with what you did just now, I'll make sure to have the Student Council involved."

With that, each one of the girls scattered away like a deer caught in the headlight. As the click-clacks of retreating pointed heels completely descended, Eli managed to pull herself together and face her saviour.

"Are you okay, Eli?" Hal asked with a concerned look.

Time and again, she found herself falling into this person's debt, but a relieved and grateful expression was all that her helpless little self could return.

A moment later, she found herself finally at ease with Hal walking her to the school gates. Thinking that the silence stretched on for too long, Eli finally glanced at his direction.

The soft rosy light from the sky caused by the scattering of the sun's rays tinted the view with an afternoon glow. His unkempt jet black hair gently flows with a gust of wind while his gleaming amber eyes has a mysterious dark tone that ambiguously appears to be vexed.

It's a vague display with such a tranquil expression, but looking at him closely, she could see how upset he is.

Even so, she tried not to fiddle with the idea of Hal being worried this much for someone like her.

"I'm sorry you had to go through that. You were probably really scared," Hal started with a downcast gaze, much to her surprise.

Even after what she did earlier, he continued to treat her this kindly. Such rare sentiments, however, baffle her at the same time. An unsociable person like her isn't sure how to return the gestures properly, but at that moment, she's overcome by a sheer tenacity to express how she currently feels as much as she can.

"Hal, thank you for saving me back there. Thank you for yesterday, too. I'm grateful for everything you've done. Even after I acted rude to you, you still helped me. Thank you and I'm sorry. I didn't mean to say those things to you and the Student Council President. Something came up and I can't really explain it properly... But still, I'm so, so sorry!" Eli blurted out after a short pause, slightly bowing her head towards him with an apologetic frown marred on her remorseful face as if she's repenting to a serious crime.

Hal's eyes widened at this.

He prepared himself to see her cry or petrified while recalling the scenario earlier since it's a called-for reaction, but instead, he was caught off guard by her outburst.

Her apology did make him remember the classroom scene during lunch break.

"What I did was a normal thing to do so you don't have to fret about it. As for earlier, it's true I was surprised but anyone can be under the weather sometimes. I understand," he assured her with a smile.

Eli wonders what he means by that, but chooses to just smile back.

Moonlight grey eyes glisten as she basks in the warm glimmer of red-orange hues of twilight. Hal, a bit taken aback by the sight, sheepishly scratches his cheek with his finger as he looks everywhere but her.

"You know, Eli, it's not a bad thing to open up from time to time like this. About earlier and yesterday, you don't have to bottle your feelings up. You can talk about them to others. It's okay to whine when something doesn't go right, or cry when things are just too much to handle. Anyway, this is just me rambling and-"

He then paused when he saw tears fall on Eli's cheeks out of nowhere.

Eli, on the other hand, doesn't know what get to her.

She's not even sure when the dam broke.

One thing's for certain, though, and that is the fact that she owes him a lot – not only because he cheered her up with cookies, or because he defended her from bullies. It's mostly because he took time to pay attention to a bland backdrop character like her.

With these thoughts in mind, she completely broke down in tears, much to Hal's astonishment.