an illusion of mind

"what is fate?" is a question commonly asked by unknowing folk.

if you ask a priest he will most likely say, "it is the will of god."

if you ask a mage or a scholar he will probably say, "it is a set series of actions that will happen no matter what."

if you ask a warrior he will most likely say, "Fate, is Fate... you don't have to think so hard about it..."

however if you ask a god himself he will say, "it's all a bunch of rubbish written in a book somewhere." because to a god, fate is nothing, fate is what ties mortals to their mortality, once they have broken through this mortal barrier, they have reached godhood.

to change ones fate, is to rid oneself of mortality.

and that is for the most part, true, the legend of the book of fate, the book containing all the prophecies, all that happened and will happen, all that's existed and will ever exist.

"but to me, that's all a bunch of idiotic banter, it's simply stupid to think the fate of this world, the fate of these mortals is all tied down to a simple series of words written in a book, it's ridiculous, absolutely ridiculous, and most of all... it is boring as hell." Emma kept her head bowed down, unable to move or speak in the presence of this woman.

"tell me Emma, what do you think the purpose of this organization is?" she asked turning in her seat, the shadow of the room makes it hard to see her true face.

Emma was sweating bullets, she didn't know what to say, "...i-is it for money...?" Emma half answered half asked because she was too scared to form a complete sentence.

the woman stayed silent for a while her head resting on her hand as she relaxed in her chair, "wrong Emma, you should feel stupid for ever thinking that."

Emma flinched thinking she would die any moment then, but her death never came.

"this organization... do you know why I made it?" the woman asked Emma without moving from her seat.

"..." Emma just shook her head frantically fear evident in her eyes.

"... I made it for fun." the woman said, as she leaned closer, the darkness of the office still made her face impossible to see.

"...f-for fun?" Emma asked still scared but curious.

"yes, you see this world has a lot of reasons to exist, money, fame, glory, heroism, villainy, idiocy, or simply ignorance to the matter of existence, some people just exist to exist because they aren't smart enough to realize or see the cycle."

"I truly envy those types of people, so ignorant and foolish they don't even see the malevolence in existence... I chose my purpose to be... entertainment." she said leaning closer, her face was mere inches away from the light.

"entertainment is what I chase, it's the only reason I aspire to exist, Emma, do you understand?" the woman said.

Emma honestly couldn't think of a reply she was scared she was confused and she was fearful of what the woman might do.

"so when I tell you this little Emma, what is the purpose of your existence?" the woman asked.

"..." Emma thought for a few moments before she answered, "I... don't know..." she said simply.

"foolish as I thought, but... sometimes, it is best to remain foolish and ignorant to this Idiocy the gods call fate, some times, it is best to not break out of an illusion..." the woman said spinning around in her chair.

"death, life, death life, it's an endless cycle of existence and nonexistence, it's quite ridiculous if you ask me..." the woman waved her hand in the air in circles to symbolize the life and death aspect of her speech.

"I pity mortals that realize this fact, but let's not trail off into another subject, let's focus on our current, one."

"why do I seek entertainment? simple really, it's fun, and it is one of the only common emotions between the gods and the mortals." she said as she chuckled to herself, the sound of her chuckle sent a shiver down Emma's spine.

"the feeling I get from entertainment is so... so good... that's why I based my existence off of it... that is why I'm down here..." the woman said trailing off, Emma wondered what she meant by 'down here' but she didn't get the chance to ask.

"reality isn't what it is, consciousness, free will they are all an illusion, an illusion crafted so well it can't be perceived, there is no such a thing as free will for mortals, they are all tied down to one fate, and you know what yours is Emma?" the woman asked, and Emma flinched, she shook her head while shivering.

"your fate is to die at this exact moment right now." the woman said her silhouette changing positions so that her legs are over the arm chair and her arm is leaning on the other arm chair.

Emma's face paled and she broke out into a cold sweat.

"but don't worry, I won't fulfil that fate, I think it's boring for you to die now, you see this illusion that reality is... sometimes it is best to remain ignorant of this illusion a shallow and frail yet sturdy barrier between existence and non-existence, I am fully aware of the existence of this barrier you see, I even see it right now... I am fully capable of breaking it with a single thought, but I choose not to, I choose to exist Emma, that is what I mean..." the woman said shifting slightly in her seat, but Emma was scared, too scared to understand anything she was saying.

"let's try to forget all I've said right now, hm~" the woman said and it sounded like a threat to Emma's life, Emma nodded quickly.

"good, anyways I've been going around in circles right now because I'm bored, I think I will pay a visit to our dear Regina and see her friends too." the woman leaned forward and Emma could finally see her face, Emma's eyes widened in disbelief.

the woman was beautiful, incredibly so, she wore a suit like all of them the small difference being the top hat on her head and the bow tie around her neck, she had auburn orange hair with amber eyes that shined in the dark, she had a look of childish amusement and mischief, she was... she looked like a child...

"do you think I look like a child Emma?" Emma almost shrieked at the woman's tone, it sounded threatening.

the woman chuckled and she stood up from her seat, "it's because that is the intended purpose Emma." she said as she stood before Emma, Emma dared not look up, else she would die a swift death, she wouldn't even know how.

"look up at me, Emma." Emma reluctantly looked up and her eyes widened, the woman stood taller, her body was more mature and her features changed slightly but her childish expression was still there.

"do I no longer look like a child?" the woman asked.

Emma shook her head in awe at what she's seeing.

"now tell me Emma, why did you lie to me about Regina participating in the Tradition of tirals?" the woman looked down at Emma.

Emma almost shrieked, she was gonna die, definitely gonna die!

"I'm not mad just tell me why." she spoke.

"well- lady Regina told me to keep it a secret ma'am..." Emma spoke up immediately with no hesitation, sorry lady Regina, not sorry.

"yeah, I figured, also stop calling me ma'am." the woman said.

"y-yes your ladyship miss Midea..." Emma spoke up immediately bowing her head down.

"perfect, now tell me where prism academy is, I want to go there, I'm extremely bored." Midea said as she turned towards the large window behind her office, looking down on a large city.

"uhm... your ladyship... I will bring a map over to your office right this instance..." Emma spoke up standing up and leaving the office.

"wait..." Midea stopped her in her tracks, Emma froze as she paled, she longed to leave this place to get out as fast as she could to run away but she felt if she did that, her head would roll on the floor before she knew it...

"yes? your ladyship?" Emma turned and forced her body to move normally through the fear bowing again.

"You understand what would happen if any of this gets out right?" Midea spoke in a threatening tone, her eyes still roaming over the city below.

"yes, I understand..." Emma said gulping.

"good, you are free to go..."

Regina was in café sipping on a cup of coffee and enjoying a slice of cake while chatting with her friends, Rica, Arron, Adam and Amanda sat together enjoying their time, chatting about the approaching mid term exams and how they would pass.

Regina was having fun, she really liked her new life, she had no idea that soon, this life style would be disturbed.

Arron had fully recovered and is now also attending class, he had a hard time catching up at first but the notes that Regina and Adam brought him and Amanda had helped him quite a lot, so now he's focusing on learning more about... that power he displayed against the drake and he felt that he would reach a breakthrough soon enough...

"so, Regina, tell us a little about your past~" Rica spoke up leaning her chin on her interlocked hands.

Regina almost spat out the coffee she sipped but she reorganized herself and forced a smile, she looked towards Rica who was raising an eyebrow expectantly and all the others stopped their conversations to look at her.

"my past?" Regina asked a little hesitantly.

"yeah? you know all about our past, I'm a count's daughter and I specialize in war strategy, Arron is a commoner... Adam is.... disowned, Amanda is the princess of the empire, but you, we don't know anything about you or your background do we?" Rica asked leaning in closer with a smile on her face.

"well... I'd like to not speak much about my past..." Regina had a well formed excuse and plan for when this occasion occurred but... she didn't want to lie to her friends... she had no idea why, but she couldn't bring herself to do it...

her face turned a little saddened and she smiled, if I cant lie, I will throw implications out for them to catch... her body shivered slightly and her lips quivered.

"You don't have to tell us anything..." Arron spoke up, perfect! the goody two shoes took the bait! she forced a smirk down and she looked at the others who had similar looks of pity, except for Adam, damn it! that guy is too smart for his own good... Regina almost grit her teeth in frustration but she stopped herself and smiled and feigned a tear.

"th-thank you guys..." Regina flicked the tear off her eye and smiled at them.

"n-no problem, let's change the subject to something else..." Amanda smiled awkwardly and quickly changed the subject.

Regina nodded and followed along with the flow of the conversation.

she hoped no more questions like these were to be asked...