Where I Wished I Was Better

Chapter Five: Where I Wished I Was Better

Dear Self, it would’ve been perfect…

To: You.

3 years.

Klaus Flynt

Laughter echoed in my head as I forced myself to wake. I clenched my fists, trying to break the tension on my body as I slowly craned my head from side to side.

“What happened?” I groaned, the damp towel over my eyes fell as I urged myself up. The world had blurred, so I narrowed my eyes, searching both for my glasses and the surroundings.

Heels clicked toward my direction, “Looking for something?”

I could still tell it was her, the mesh of her grim black hair and coffee brown eyes struck such a familiarity in me. As I look at her, the memory of the anointing flashes back into my head.

“Your nape,” I started, “Ms. Merxado, are you-”

“Just fine.” She made a small nod, looking at me and Starkole, “Now, don’t move your bodies yet. It’s still partially asleep. Force yourself up and we’ll be here longer than need be.”

The tingling on my nape had lessened much as Ms. Merxado gently patted it with a towel, running it through my face and lightly dabbing the sides of my jawline. She was almost too calm to be doing this.

“How do you know?” I asked.

She makes a humming question, pausing to look at me before answering, “I was first to wake up, spent a whole five minutes trying to move, but the more I did, the more it hurt. Just wait a while, your body is numb from not moving for about thirteen hours on a hard surface.”

“Thirteen?!” Starkole shot himself up, only to groan in pain as he slowly leaned back.

Words were stuck in my throat, I could’ve sworn I had the pyro crystal had just seared my neck, before I had shut my eyes from exhaustion.

“Yeah,” With one hand holding the towel, she took out her pocket watch with another, holding it up to show us the time. “It’s almost 4am.”

“Drakovs!” Starkole exclaimed, “And they just left us here?”

I couldn’t help but agree. They’d committed a grave crime, killing that kid by the cliff, and holding us against our will, burning us, on a noble’s body at that.

I can’t believe Aunt Jenna was capable of doing such a thing without remorse. I would’ve let it slide if she had explained it.

“Where are they?” I asked Ms. Merxado. “Headmistress Jenna.”

“No idea. All I found were the dry towels and a note with instructions.” She turned and walked to the center of the room, picking up said note to show us. “They never said when they’d be back, or how to get out of here.”

She took a moment to reread the note with an almost blazing gaze, before crumpling it to ashes. “And it doesn’t seem like they want us out anytime soon.”

The bowl flew across the room. I could barely process it before the sound had reached my ears. I’d never thought I would witness Ms. Merxado get angry, though I can’t blame her. It’s only been two days since I’ve met her and Starkole, but it feels like it was centuries ago.

“I was able to look around, outside the columns, but when I got back it just appeared out of thin air.” Her fists clenched, “What’s worse, they’ve taken our powers.”

“They’ve what?” Slowly, I could feel the numbness drain away as I sat up.

Near us, Mari and Detreeve stirred, and Starkole got up to his feet as he leaned to one side of the armrest with his elbow.

“Shanzina?” Mari murmured.

“What happened?” Po groaned.

“Don’t move, both of you. Your bodies won’t be able to function yet, and it will cause pain the more you force it," She walked over to Mari, lightly taking off the towel, “Are you alright?”

In turn, I felt my own body regain its energy, I could stretch my leg without forcing myself. It was refreshing, hearing the small cracking sounds as I did so.

I stood and examined the invisible wall in between the columns. As I placed my hand, I felt no surge of mana, no energy, as if it was truly there. My heart raced at the sight, or, feel of it, how they created such a strong barrier without any traces of mana. But we don’t have ours either, as of now. I guess this is what the Nomags feel.

…

It’s been 15 minutes since Detreeve and Mari woke up, though she dozed off not long after. I myself fought the urge to give into the heaviness of my eyelids.

The teachers still haven’t returned. All we have is the women’s bags left hanging behind their chairs, not enough to help us get out. The cave glowed brighter than before, a bright sun with a small tint of orange.

Detreeve kept punching and kicking the barrier, trying to break it. There was no use, they tried to climb over the wall and jump over, but there was also an invisible roof, the walls far too high. If I’m correct, the magic that created this barrier is similar to the domes all over Zamaria, and there’s no point in trying.

“Enough, Po. You just woke up, save your strength.” Starkole said, panting from his own efforts.

“He’s right. We don’t know how long we’ll be stuck here, might as well gather our energies.” Ms. Merxado sighed heavily as she leaned on the chair, closing her eyes, “And you’re really noisy.”

Detreeve casted a glare towards Ms. Merxado, he must have a grudge against her. He quickly faced her, and said, “Speaking of gathering energies, how did you know how to do that?”

Starkole looked at Detreeve with a confused face, and so did I, until I realized what he’d meant. Gathering mana from external sources, a question that took backstage as we encountered more… prioritizing matters. External Mana Manipulation was against the law, as I remember, only to be done when permitted by an official or in an emergency regarding the royal family, with a recent order requiring a license from the king.

“Do what?”

I knew she was strong, the Diamond Winner, but I never thought she would break the law so easily, declining the invitations of both the King and Queen of Ravamore, who despite it, favored her greatly.

“Mana absorption, did you know it’s illegal to perform that?” He huffed, almost determined to get something out of her.

Ms. Merxado finally opened her eyes, turning to Detreeve with a nonchalant expression, standing and tilting her head to the side.

A loud silence followed, with Ms. Merxado taking her time to reply, examining Detreeve as she did.

“Yeah, so?”

“So?” He repeated, eyes widening in surprise, “Is that all you have to say? I’m a knight, and I could report this and have you held for treason.”

I glanced at Starkole, who was still trying to say something and step in. I, too, was taken aback by his words.

“Go ahead.” Ms. Merxado challenged, crossing her arms, “I’m really interested to watch how that would play out.”

She took a step forward, “What will you tell them? You passed out and some girl named Shanzina used external mana to aid you? Do you know what question they’ll ask instead? ‘Why were you passed out in the first place?’”

“Then what? You’re gonna tell them everything about the cliff?” Polaz narrowed his eyes as she continued, “News flash, Detreeve, we’re being trapped down here because we saw something, and because of that, we’ve been burned. We have bigger problems than me using unpermitted form on a helpless knight. The teachers aren’t gonna let us off the hook that easily, we’d obviously attempt to go to the police. So as far as I know, they can’t be trusted.”

I wouldn’t be surprised if the king himself dismissed this issue, it was to save a life, not for personal gain.

Silence swallowed the room. Starkole threw a narrowed glance at me, before walking to Ms. Merxado, unsurprisingly. The first time I met him, I could already sense his dislike towards me. It wasn’t hard to see it.

“She’s right. We have much bigger concerns in front of us.” I spoke, trying to shift the conversation.

Nothing would come from fighting over something that became so minor in a situation like this. I remembered what Aunt Jenna explained to us, brief and hard to make some sense of it, but it will suffice for now.

“Still. You performed that so swiftly. As if you’ve done it countless times.” He reasoned, implying something.

“Po.” Starkole warned.

I spoke, “Even so, she made a judgment call, shouldn’t you be grateful instead? You would be dead if she hadn’t done that.”

“Look,” Ms. Merxado cut through the growing argument, “This is pointless, Detreeve. Why don’t we think of how to get out, and call it even, hmm?”

He hung his head low as he replied, “How was that even? You’ve saved me twice now.”

Detreeve looked back at her with a soft smile, which told me he was over it. Ms. Merxado made a small, soft scoff in return.

Twice?

“Fine.” She huffed, reaching for something inside the inner pocket of her blazer, flicking a card to Detreeve, “Think fast.”

Not moving an inch, he caught it with one hand, taking a second before reading the card.

Ms. Merxado sat down, crossing her leg over the other as she waited for their reactions with intertwined fingers and a smirk on her face.

“Happy now?”

Starkole joined Detreeve, reading the card’s contents, “Woah, this is–”

“My Mana Accession License.” She interrupted, “Byzantine Class.”

Detreeve read it again, and read some more, constantly flipping it to check both the front and back of the card. My eyes widened as she revealed it. It wasn’t easy for a Leiaz to obtain that kind of license. A year to file, a clean background, and records of mana-usage. Not even typical status and monetary bribery can buy it. I barely got into Tyro Class, and seeing Ms. Merxado owning a Byzantine Class card almost makes me question her capabilities as a Leiaz.

“How are we sure this isn’t fake?” Detreeve waved the I.D., stressing his point. “There’s no way a Leiaz like you would have gotten a license approved by the king, even Knights of the Round Table hardly qualify.”

I exchanged glances with Starkole, we’d both thought the same.

“You don’t know who she is,” A stray smirk danced on his lips as he took the I.D., “Do you?”

“Should I?” Detreeve asked, I glanced at Ms. Merxado who gave way to a hint of a smile before returning to her normal stance.

“No, you shouldn’t.” She replied, “It’s just a license and I just happen to qualify. Now if you’re done interrogating a lady, please proceed with whatever you wish to do, quietly.”

With that the cave rumbled beneath us, a loud sound echoing around the cave.

“Now what?” Ms. Merxado grumbled.

“What’s happening?” Mari gripped her chair as she spoke. She must have woken up from the cave.

Slowly, we made our way to the center of the ring. “I don’t know.” I replied.

As I scanned the cave, one of the boulders on the wall began to rise from the ground, shaped like a cylinder, attached to a chain that had lifted it. A circular crystal, seemingly a disc, rolled under it, revealing a dark and hollow passageway behind it.

The owner of the footsteps took their time, making their way through the passage until they emerged as someone I never thought would find us here.

“You have got to be kidding me,” Starkole muttered.