In the midst of her mental turmoil, fate sent her a comfort before she could collapse from the overbearing burden of having to deal with four capricious enemies. Her comfort came in the form of the reassuring arm of the old man with the white beard standing beside her. In a scene that was likely to wring tears from a stone, she looked up to her sensei with an expression that seemed to say; it's all over.
Rebecca's teacher didn't do anything predictable like calming her with basic phrases like; it's going to be okay, or you'll be fine. All that was futile, if not pointless. No, the white bearded old man did the most sensible thing instead, he reassured her with a relaxed look instead. It wasn't a look of pity, it wasn't a patronizing one either. It was a look of utter calm, and not the cold type either. It was a look that told her to relax. And relax she did. There was no point in looking weak before her enemies.
There was really no need to continue with the whole charade of drawing lots. By default, Melbourne High School would now go against the weird looking girl from Cassell High School- Sabrina. Wallice did her best not to show just how relived she was. But she felt like a huge load had been lifted off her shoulders. Her worst fear had been mitigated by fate. She knew she wasn't supposed to rejoice at poor Rebecca's ill-luck, but her illuck was Wallice's own bread and butter.
Being the methodical and prudent one, Wallice saw that her team's chances of making it to the finals had just quadrupled. Sure, in all fairness, it would have made more sense for Sabrina to go against Rebecca. But Wallice had learnt very early in life that fairness was an abstract construct that barely had any effect in real life. There was definitely some kind of order in the chaos of life, but also things just happened- and this was one of them.
As Wallice reveled in her newly found luck, Calista wasn't exempted from the triumphant feeling of having scaled a major hurdle. Just like Wallice, she also saw that their chances of making it to finals had increased significantly. Also, she saw what Wallice wasn't seeing; Calista saw clearly that the battle between the two of them had been destined to be the biggest showdown of the season. It was almost like some deity some where was scripting the whole scene for them.
Either way, both sides were satisfied with the results. Well, except maybe Rebecca of course. But who could blame her? She had drawn the short end of the straw, and nothing could possibly change her fate now. That was the cruel reality.
Sabrina on the other hand still somehow manage to shock everyone again. It was almost as if she lived to shock the people around her. This time was no different. Despite the fact that the lone wolf from Cassell High School had every reason to be on her toes because of her recent fate, her facial expression remained all but the same throughout the entire selection process. She still retained that very cheeky smile that everyone had come to know her for. It was extremely unnerving. But everyone was used to her by now.
Having completed the selection process, Rachel took over the next stage of the proceedings, and played her role as the gracious host from the royal family. She coughed slightly in a manner that indicated that she was about to speak. The big burly, important looking knight behind her boomed in a voice that resembled that of a herald angel;
"SILENCE! The Princess Rachel of house Caesar is about to speak!"
There was no post in yelling 'silence' at all. The room was already quiet as it was. So, it appeared a little bit forced. But tradition was tradition, and they all suffered through it.
The princess must have sensed the atmosphere. So, she gave the guard a knowing look, telling him to ease up. He seemed to have gotten the memo and backed off immediately.
"Finalists, on behalf of the Hilling Empire, I welcome and congratulate you all for coming thus far. I have no doubt that you all must have sacrificed so much to be here right now..."
As she said so, she glanced briefly at Shiranui before continuing; "…But the journey is far from over. Unfortunately, one school must emerge as number one. But that doesn't in anyway invalidate your individual and collective worth as a team. You have done well, and the royal family continues to look forward to your future contributions to the country accordingly. You must remember who you are, where you came from, and most importantly, what you're going to be! Salute!"
The others instinctively answered her inspiring speech with the same enthusiasm; "SALUTE!!"
And so, the little meet and greet was brought to a befitting end after the official address from the princess. The time for talk was over. It was time for everyone to pick up the slack and do what needed to be done in preparation for the next phase. It was going to be a brutal one, seeing that fate had set the weak against the strong in all of the matches. With no time to dilly dally, they all dispersed and went on to make haste for what was to come. Especially Rebecca and Sabrina.
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In an inconspicuous part of the forest away from all the prying eyes and unwanted populace, an old man with a bushy white beard was talking something over with a beautiful girl. This girl was Rebecca, the genius from the Caesar High School and their greatest hope who was surely capable of entering the Caesar University.
The white bearded man had a serious expression on his face as if this was the most important matter. It felt as if didn't want to show the slightest bit of unserious attitude. The topic of the conversation had to be a huge secret as he had called her out in the middle of the forest alone and was talking in such a hushed but serious tone. It felt as if there was no room for the slightest bit of carelessness.
Rebecca was tightly clenching her fists as if she was trying to mobilize all her determination and will power to plot her next course of action. She seemed to be making up her mind about something. Maybe it was something that the old man had suggested as Rebecca felt slightly hesitant about it at first.
The same hesitation transformed into her will power and determination after she communicated with the bearded old man.
Other than the two, only the heavenly lord knew what the two had discussed but by the end of the conversation, Rebecca's hesitation had vanished. She took the black colored bottle that the old man offered her with both hands. It was definitely a bottle of potion from the make of it but the color didn't correspond to any of the potions that normal people were in the know about.
On a closer look, it wasn't the bottle that was black in color but the content of the bottle was in fact black in color like tar. It was a viscous liquid that appeared unsightly and entirely unlike normal potions.
Rebecca had made her choice and held the bottle in her hand with the strength that indicated that she was afraid someone would snatch it away from her. Without waiting any further she carefully wrapped it in a cloth and put it away inside her clothes. It was almost as if she was afraid that someone else would find out about it.
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This was different from the world that she was familiar with. The bright and bustling places were nowhere to be seen. The only things in sight were decaying buildings that had been sprayed in blood as if some horrible monster had orchestrated a massacre. Only a complete genocide could have created the terrible atmosphere. The blood in the air and the stench of the dead bodies that curled her insides was something that she abhorred with all her being.
She wanted to escape this nightmarish place but her feet were stuck in quicksand. They refused to carry her away and she had to witness the disaster to the end.
The screams and shouts, the sound of metal clanging against metal, the sense of oppression and the fear and helplessness waiting for her at every turn were the clearest signs of the disaster that was ensuing all around her.
She closed off her eyes to refuse the sight that was horrible enough to want to pluck out her eyes altogether so she didn't have to witness it but there was no way that she could have gotten that picture out of her head.
The blood that stained the ground wanted to devour her along with the countless others who had fallen lifeless as if they were blaming her for being the only one alive amongst the dead.
It wasn't just the ground that had been painted red; even the sky was of the same wretched color. Blood, pain, suffering and soul wrenching screams were the main theme of the setting that she had found herself in.
The soulful screams were filled with voices asking for help but she dreaded opening her eyes just to see those voices extinguish into oblivion. Of course she wanted to help them but the owners of the voices had been nowhere in sight.
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