Duelcrest Academy

White.

Was this the afterlife?

But it just took the time for my eyes to adjust to the light again to realize that what I was looking at was no otherworldly sky but just plain white stone.

"Unfamiliar ceiling..."

I quickly realized I was lying in a bed.

But where exactly and how had I gotten here?

Before I could look around, something large obscured my vision and I felt something heavy press against my chest.

"Ugh!"

«Lizzie!! How are you feeling? They said everything was fine, but you wouldn't wake up! Does anything hurt?»

I lowered my gaze to find myself facing a very worried Amy, dressed in her pajamas.

I looked around.

As I should have guessed, I was lying on a bed in the infirmary.

The afterlife could wait after all.

«I'm fine, I'm fine. But...»

«Something's wrong?? Should I call the healer?»

«No, it's just... I can't breathe.»

Amy, in her haste to check my condition, was almost crushing me on the bed.

«Oh, I'm so sorry!»

Amy jumped back, releasing me immediately, and went to sit on a chair next to my bed.

«But, do you really feel okay?» she asked again, casting an inquiring glance at me.

«Yeah...»

It was the truth. I felt terribly tired, but except for the lack of energy, everything seemed fine.

I looked down anxiously.

I expected to see my arms reduced to two twigs from the mana absorption I had suffered. Instead, they were completely normal.

Whoever had rescued me must have done so not long after I had passed out.

Chloe's creation had not succeeded in draining my life force. But it had come very close.

«Chloe!» I exclaimed suddenly, startling Amy.

I looked around. Only one other bed in the infirmary was occupied. Not by Chloe, though, but by Von Bitten: the poor boy was surrounded by a bluish aura, a sign of the spell that had helped Amy recover.

«Amy, w-what happened to Chloe?» I asked.

Deep down, I already knew the answer.

My fears were confirmed by the expression on her face, before she even spoke.

«She... didn't make it...»

I let myself sink into the pillow. Honestly, I didn't know how to feel. What could've I done differently? I had only defended myself.

Maybe I had even done too much to avoid killing her.

However, the idea of having caused the death of another human being was not something I could accept so easily.

«Lizzie... you couldn't have done anything else. She almost killed you!» Amy tried to console me.

«I know... thank you.»

So, this emptiness was what Sophia had felt after killing Valentine, huh?

Could this be a symptom that my humanity was beginning to fade?

Sophia...

"Oh fuck!"

«Amy, how did I get here?»

"Uh..."

Amy seemed to hesitate for a moment.

«Sophia brought you here... She said she found you in a secret room or something.»

«Where is she now?»

«She rushed out as soon as she heard you were okay. Sh-she said she'd be back soon...»

For some reason, Amy seemed to shiver as she spoke those last words.

"I have a bad feeling about this"

I tried to get up quickly to sit on the bed, but my arms gave up under my weight. The mana draining had not been without consequences after all.

«Amy, help me up, we need to go-»

But I never got to finish the sentence.

The infirmary door opened violently and Sophia walked in.

I didn't even have to look at her face.

The way she walked in told me all I needed to know.

She was furious.

The confrontation with Chloe had almost made me forget.

While she was dealing with Von Bitten, I had left her alone to deal with the killer.

I had practically risked undermining all her efforts to find the culprit. Not only that, but I had forced her to save my life for the second time.

After she had finally agreed to cooperate, I had betrayed her trust...

I stood frozen as Sophia approached my bed.

When she was a few steps away from me, I saw her raise an arm.

I closed my eyes, bracing myself for the impact.

But the slap I was expecting never came.

Instead, I felt myself being lifted by the collar of my shirt.

«Y-YOU, HUGE... F-FUCKING IDIOT! WHAT THE FUCK WHERE YOU THINKING?!»

Sophia's voice trembled with anger.

I opened my eyes just wide enough to catch a glimpse of her reddened face, just inches from mine.

I lowered my eyes to focus on her hand, which was gripping me so tightly it was hard to breathe. I didn't have the courage to point it out. Or to look her in the eye.

But Sophia seemed to realise on her own that the position she had forced me into was causing me pain and loosened her grip slightly.

«Well!? Do you think you can get away with keeping quiet? The healer has already told me that you're not in such bad shape. So, speak up. What the hell were you thinking?!»

Her voice had lowered, but I could still feel the fury simmering behind her words.

She deserved an answer.

The problem was, I didn't want to give it to her. It would only fuel the hatred she surely felt towards me now.

I couldn't tell her that her low mana level had worried me for her, and I had tried to protect her.

I had already noticed how her inability to use magic weighed on her. There seemed to be a certain insecurity behind her great pride.

If I let her think that I looked down on her, she would never forgive me.

But I didn't want to lie either...

Then an idea came to me.

I could tell her another reason that, although not the main one, had still prompted me to act on my own.

But it was... so embarrassing ...

I took a deep breath. In the end, this was my punishment.

«I... wanted... to show you that I'm worthy of you.»

«Uh?!»

Sophia let slip an exclamation of surprise. That corny sentence was certainly not the response she had expected.

"Kill me now..."

«After you had to save me from Valentine, I was afraid that you would see me as weak. I wanted to show you that I wasn't, that I could fight too. And...» I hesitated for a moment, «I just wanted you to accept me... but I guess I only made things worse. I'm useless. You had to save me again...»

It was the truth. I had confessed everything I had been feeling these past weeks.

"I sacrificed my pride for you! Now forgive me please..." I thought.

To my surprise, my words seemed to affect Sophia.

Her grip loosened even more, but she still didn't let go of me. I felt her hand, still on my chest, tremble slightly.

When she spoke, it seemed as if every trace of anger had vanished from her voice, replaced by a note of regret.

«Did you really... risk your life over something so... stupid?»

She didn't wait for my answer. She continued bitterly:

«Can you tell me why you think so highly of me? From the first day we spoke, I've done nothing but try to push you away. Is it only because you think I saved you? I already told you that I would have confronted Valentine no matter what. Why do you keep trying to get close to me when all I do is tease and belittle you? Shouldn't you hate me?»

Of course I didn't. I knew from the start that Sophia was trying to put a barrier around herself to prevent us both getting hurt in the future. But I still couldn't help but admire her and want to know more about her. And, to be honest, I had begun to find our constant bickering very amusing.

«Sophia, no! I do-»

But before I could express my feelings, Sophia interrupted me.

«But I guess this is my punishment for being so insincere with you. So listen carefully, because I'm only going to say this once,» she paused briefly, taking a deep breath as if preparing for a difficult test, «I never once thought you were useless. From the first time we spoke, I was interested in you. You saw through my tricks and had the balls to confront me. Honestly, it was kind of cool. As for Valentine, it's admirable how quickly you got back on your feet and how you've never wavered since. You had a moment of weakness but you got over it, that's what's important...»

I could hardly believe my ears. I never thought she would say those words to me. I didn't know what to say... Had I been projecting my insecurities onto her?

Sophia continued:

«And to tell you the truth ... when we started working together to find the killer, I felt ... relieved to have someone like you by my side. So stop saying nonsense like "being worthy of you." It's embarrassing and... I think you are already... fine as it is...»

Sophia sighed, and her tone softened.

«There, you forced me to be honest for once. So, please... never do something like this again.»

For the first time since she had entered the room, I looked up to meet her gaze.

Only then did I realise how stupid I had been.

Sophia's beautiful face was marked by deep circles under her eyes, a sign of many sleepless nights.

I had complained so often about how tired I was after our nightly patrols, never thinking for a moment that my companion was suffering the same in silence.

Her emerald eyes were tired and red, as if she had been crying recently.

Her mouth was twisted into a sad smile.

For the first time I saw the real Sophia. The Sophia I had tried so hard not to see.

I had put her on such a pedestal that I didn't want to admit that underneath that cold, proud mask was a girl my age, with her weaknesses. I had seen the signs, but I had deliberately ignored the cracks in the perfect image of Sophia I had created in my mind.

Why had I done this?

Perhaps it was because I was hoping that in this situation there was an invincible warrior among us, devoid of emotion, ready to rescue us from the terrible, deadly game the Academy had trapped us in. I wanted to rely on her, who would never succumb to the horrors we were about to face.

But that was not reality.

Sophia's feelings were written all over her face.

She was worried about me, and I had treated her like an emotionless machine.

I couldn't resist.

In a move worthy of Amy, I clung to Sophia and hugged her tightly.

«What the hell?! Let me go!»

She weakly tried to wriggle free. If she had wanted to, she could have easily freed herself, given the state I was in, but she didn't.

That was the last straw.

It was as if all my bottled up emotions came to the surface.

I burst into tears on her shoulder.

«I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry! I promise I will never do this again. I will never leave you alone from now on. And don't think for a second that I hate you! I admire you so much and all I want is to be close to you. So please forgive me, please forgive me...»

I was like a river bursting through its banks.

I could feel Sophia stiffen. It was clear that she did not know how to deal with the situation. After a while she began to shyly pat me on the shoulder.

I heard Amy giggling. I had almost forgotten that she had witnessed the whole scene. I'm sure she enjoyed it... ....

After a few minutes we separated, unable to look each other in the eye.

It seemed that the invisible barrier Sophia had tried to put between us had finally fallen, now that we could finally be honest with each other.

It was Amy who broke the silence.

«Ehm ehmh! Now that you two have made up, I think it's time to get down to business...»

«Get down to business?» Sophia asked, confused.

«Sophia, I'd like to propose that you ally with me and Lizzie for the future.»

"Oh, she's going to strike, now that she's seen her weaknesses."

Maybe Amy was actually the scariest person in this room after all.

But Sophia was quick to refuse:

«No, I've already talked to Elizabeth, I've already told her th-»

«Yes, yes, I've heard it all. "I don't want to kill a friend," right?»

Sophia shot me a venomous glare.

I gave her an apologetic smile. She couldn't blame me for discussing these things with my best friend.

Sophia sighed and replied:

«Exactly. Th-that's what I think.»

The hesitation in her voice made me think that she, too, realized that Amy's trap was about to close on her.

«Oh? It seemed to me that you were pretty mad at Lizzie for risking her life, weren't you?» Amy started with a smirk, «Shouldn't you have been glad to have one less opponent? Unless... you really care about Lizzie deep down? Oh, what was it again -- ah yes "I felt relieved to have someone like you by my side."»

Sophia blushed furiously:

«I-I, I-I don't...»

«So I'd say it's a little too late: you're already friends.»

There was no way out. Sophia was like a mouse cornered by a hungry tiger.

I decided to intervene:

«It's okay, Sophia,» I declared, smiling, «I've decided. I have no intention of letting either of you die.»

Both Sophia and Amy looked at me dumbfounded.

«You got it right. I don't want us to ally to defeat our classmates, but to defeat the Academy.»

«You... can't really think that? Haven't you seen how powerful Skylark is? And who knows what else the school is hiding to keep us trapped...» Sophia objected

«Alone, you're right, I could never do it. But that's exactly why I need the two of you. I'm sure that together we'll find a way. Are you in?»

I deep down knew it was foolish to think that. But I just didn't want to give up hope.

Amy looked at me beaming:

«Of course!»

We both looked at Sophia.

Eventually, under the weight of our gaze, she capitulated.

«Fuck it... okay. You win!» she huffed.

But she smiled. That was the end of her fierce resistance. In the end, she was just waiting for me to convince her.

«Hooray!» we exclaimed in unison.

I had finally done it. Our duo had become a trio. From now on, I would also have the opportunity to get to know Sophia better. Now that I had finally seen her as she really was, I wanted to know everything about her.

Why was she so strong and yet somewhat insecure? She had helped me to overcome my problems, so I wanted to do the same for her.

We remained silent for a while.

«What do you think? Should give our newfound alliance a name?» I said after a while.

«If you start suggesting cringy shit like that, I swear I'll leave!» Sophia snapped immediately.

We burst out laughing. My worries now seemed so far away.

But it was Sophia who brought me back to earth.

«Since we've decided to cooperate... I think it's best that you see this,» she said, handing me a small scroll. Amy walked over to read it with me.

"Behind the closet, you will find a passage to a secret room. Inside, we have prepared mana containers perfect for experimenting with your power. We have also made available to you extensive literature that may be of great help to you in fully understanding your potential. Make good use of it"

«Wh-what is this?!»

«I found it on Chloe's desk. Luckily, I went to check there immediately, or they would have made it disappear. As the note says, there's a secret passage behind the closet in her room.»

«But to know about something like that... it's a message from the school!»

There was no doubt about it. The school had assigned Chloe her room and provided her with her own secret lab. But...why? Why this favoritism? The whole thing stunk.

«I checked the books mentioned in the message. They're all about mana, its manipulation and control.»

"Books about mana..."

It was very disturbing. The school must have had a special interest in Chloe's power. If they were interested in mana experiments ... there couldn't have been anything good behind it.

Speaking of which...

"Mana has a will of its own."

I remembered the incredible revelation Chloe had casually made to me during our fight.

"Sadly I'm never going to be able to ask her more about it... I should talk to Sophia and Amy about it later..."

«Do you think we should report this?» asked Amy.

«And to whom? It's obvious that Skylark is aware of it, even if he didn't write her that letter himself. No... better keep it to ourselves. I'm sure it's important...» replied Sophia.

We remained silent again, reflecting on what we had discovered.

It was Sophia who talked again:

«Well, I'm going to bed,» she got up, «it's been a long time since I had a good night's sleep. Maybe I'll skip class tomorrow...»

But there was one last thing I wanted to know.

«Sophia... How did you find me so quickly? Or rather, how did you even know there was a secret room, and I was inside it?»

For some reason, this made her burst out laughing. She reached into her pocket and pulled out what looked like a piece of black fabric.

With horror I quickly realized that it was the back of my skirt.

«You see, when I was searching for you, I found this piece of cloth sticking out of a wall. I immediately thought it was strange, so I used my sword to check what was behind it and lo and behold I found you!»

A large grin appeared on her face.

«D-did you see m-my...?» I stuttered.

«I must say... you certainly have a... peculiar... fashion sense, Lizzie.»

"Scratch everything, I fucking hate this girl!"