Chapter 6: Secrets, Seals, and Severed Expectations
Chapter 6: Secrets, Seals, and Severed Expectations
Location: The Forbidden North Wing, a.k.a. "Let's Not Go There Hallway"Time: 3 minutes after a magical vault blew up.Casualties: Liana's peace of mind.
The explosion was dramatic.
Smoke. Sparks. Screams that may have come from either spirits or underpaid janitorial ghosts.
Liana sprinted down the hall in bunny slippers, because she hadn't even had time to change from "administrator pajamas" to "combat heels."
"System! Damage report!"
[One sealed vault destroyed. One magical girl responsible. One ancient archive now... sentient.]
She skidded to a stop, turned the corner, and saw her.
That girl.
The suspiciously normal human student, standing in the middle of glowing glyphs, untouched by the chaos. Her expression was calm. Serene.
Too serene.
Books floated around her like planets. One opened and whispered:
"Would you like to know how to ethically enslave time?"
She blinked. "Uh... maybe later."
Liana stormed in.
"What the hells do you think you're doing?!"
The girl turned. "Oh. Headmistress! Did you know this place was sealed by a language lost before written history? It sang to me."
"It sang to you?"
"Yes. In a minor key."
Liana massaged her temples. "System. Please tell me this isn't what I think it is."
[She has activated a forgotten archive. It holds banned knowledge, cursed philosophies, and—oh—a comprehensive guide to summoning celestial horrors. Volume one only.]
Liana's left eye twitched.
Mordain teleported in next, sipping black tea out of a skull.
"Ooooh. You let her crack that vault? She's either the next Empress of Magic or the reason we all die screaming. Love it."
The girl smiled sweetly. "Am I in trouble?"
Liana glared.
"…You're going to detention."
The student tilted her head. "What's detention?"
Mordain grinned. "Where we send you to think about what you've done in a dimension where time loops endlessly and your reflection critiques your decisions."
"…Oh."
"Also there's algebra."
"NOOOO—"
Later, in the Staff Room
Liana flopped into her throne. "This school is going to kill me."
The System chimed in.
[Correction: Within the academy and 1000-meter radius, you are invincible.]
"Oh right," she muttered, sipping her wine. "I can't die. Just wish I could stop living through this."
[On the bright side, she did unlock three new spellbooks, a stash of arcane currency, and accidentally released a sleeping astral entity that now owes the academy a favor.]
"...Wait, seriously?"
[Would you like to redeem it for: A) an army of shadow scribes, B) one immortal janitor, or C) a magical coffee machine?]
She didn't even hesitate.
"Coffee machine."
Meanwhile…
In the shadows of the forbidden wing, that normal girl stood alone in the vault, now cleared of smoke.
The floating books hovered, whispering in dead languages. One opened on its own.
Inside was a name.
Her name.
And beneath it… a prophecy.
She read it aloud, slowly.
"When the daughter of two worlds stands at the gate, the forgotten flame shall rise."
Her eyes gleamed gold for a moment.
Then she smiled.
End of Chapter 6