It wasn't strange to understand Nefari felt cursed. Why was it that every time- every goddamn time, she's thrown off unexpectedly into near death? gods be damned, did she offend the goddess of luck?! Or is she acquainted with the god of misfortune?!
With a painful grunt, she awakened to a heavy migraine.
'It's awful. What the actual fuck happened?'
Confusion dwelled in her as she examined her surrounding. To sum it up, she was lying on a bed in a private infirmary. Honestly, she could understand she was being treated but that… was not the intention she felt during the 'test'. She wasn't getting eliminated?
A flashback of the scene appeared in her memory.
Panting with a disheveled appearance, a tear slipped down Nefari's eye as she laid helpless on the ground. The cold voice resounding in the forest.
"Target locked. Elimination beginning. Requesting authority."
'This was not a test.'
The cold realization left Nefari completely unsettled. And she cursed her stupidity for acknowledging this truth only now. The pain was real. Her soul was shaken and Nefari was about to taste death like never before. No, she wasn't coming out with a bang during her last dying moment nor would she even know why. It was cold abandonment. From the world itself and Nefari wondered if she had pissed the goddess of fortune and life. Truly she felt cursed.
However, in the nick of time, light flashed and reality morphed.
****
"I need a goddamn explanation." Nefari muttered, hands clenched as she recalled the feeling of powerlessness that enveloped her. That feeling that made her life void countless times. Nefari hated it. No, she rejected it with her soul. Was there a bigger synonym to hate? That was fit to what Nefari felt.
Right on cue, saving Nefari the stress of analyzing without given knowledge, a blue haired girl walked in. And Nefari knew she was getting her answers from this stranger.
The girl, dressed in a maid's uniform, looking no older than twenty, approached Nefari with a letter.
With an expression devoid of any emotion, blankly, the stranger slowly opened her mouth and said in a weird way. Like a puppet. More so, with a soulless look in her black pupils that made Nefari think this was more of an 'it' than a 'she'.
"Master Donavon has ordered that Ms. Silverheart reads the letter. She is unable to meet you at this moment due to an unexpected issue."
Thereafter, the maid's hand stretched forward like a robot and proceeded to give Nefari a black envelop with golden encryptions. Nefari accepted it with eyes full of alertness.
"…You're dismissed." Nefari commanded. Something about this puppet irked her to no end. It was quite obvious this wasn't a living creature or supposed human. Unsurprisingly, it was necromancy and the aura of death was heavy against this one. Using her sensor to look at the maid's aura made her stomach churn. The image revealed was a rotten corpse.
"Yes." The maid responded lifelessly.
Only after seeing the maid leave was Nefari able to calm her tense heart and focus on the envelope in her hands.
Written in golden texts was 'Master Celine Donavon' and the other writings were encryptions that made her eyes hurt by trying to decipher them.
Nefari opened the envelope and saw a letter written in red ink. It wasn't normal, she knew. But she couldn't think at the moment. Willingly at least. Nefari did not want to stress with odd details. Just the main answers to her questions were enough for the time being.
'Why am I here? Why the suffering? Why me?'
Opening the letter, she read the contents slowly, digesting each word in as she repeated out loud.
"Special… deviations. Power control… Greed? Threat… Taboo."
Nefari let out a laughter tinged with pain, finding dark humor in her situation. So it wasn't enough to be a threat? A higher level one? Wow, she was truly special.
"Really? Really?! Every step I take to proceed and then I get held back? Fucking hell, this is ridiculous! Those bastard nobles!"
She was seething with rage but that anger was powered by sadness. Nothing about what she was feeling was abnormal, considering her situation. And in the midst of all the anger, Nefari was tired.
But she continue to read on. The content in the letter was not over.
A while later, an indescribable emotion flashed in Nefari's eyes before she regained the serenity that usually reflected in her dark orbs. Her expression turned placid, contrary to the slight sadistic smile that arose from the corner of her lips.
"Partnership?" She said.
"Do I have a choice? Thank you though… for my life." Nefari whispered then plopped back on the bed. Closing her eyes as the melody of peaceful darkness engulfed her mind.
She was still too weak.
____
A few hours later, around dusk, Nefari was dismissed from the the Infirmary by the puppet maid. There she was given her uniform, books and Identity tag.
Holding her room key in her hand, Nefari exited the building and made her way towards the female dormitory. She figured that the private infirmary she laid in was also a part of the Academy's building.
It took a while to find the female dormitory. It was not an exaggeration to say the Academy could be a small scale city at best. Thankfully, she asked around and teleportation portals were available. Or God knows when she would've arrived. The unfortunate scenarios would be getting lost or being totally exhausted by walking a long distance.
Standing before the high rise modernized building, Nefari raised her head up into the sky but to her honest surprise, she couldn't see the end of the female dormitory. And this was just one of them. Seton hall- where she was assigned to.
Truly fitting for being a continental academy.
Nefari walked into the building and was greeted with the sight of the dorm head.
A red headed girl sat by the forefront, head buried in a book. And by her sides were teleportation portals.
Nefari walked towards the girl and the red headed girl dropped her book on the table before placing her sights on Nefari.
Blazing red eyes was what met Nefari.
Most likely a fire elemental. Nefari thought.
A brief silence flashed by before the girl addressed Nefari.
"Hello! Karissa Newman, the female dormitory head. I assume you're here to lodge in? Please hand over your room information for crosschecking and documentation."
"Yes." Reciting the information she already memorized, Nefari gave a detailed account.
"Nefari Silverheart. Water mage. Room number: 609. Special class."
Following Nefari's words, Karissa typed on her computer swiftly and paused when a picture of Nefari and her information showed on her screen.
"Alright! That's all. To my left is the teleportation portal of Special class hall. And… please follow the rules of the hall. Thank you."
Nefari nodded in understanding before stepping through the teleportation portal on Karissa's left.
Space warped and she found herself in a hall. It was easy to identify her room following the numbers on each door. She ascended the floors from the 79th floor all the way to the 3rd. Of course, using the teleportation portal which was similar to the eighteenth century elevator. Her room was located at the edge of the third floor.
Inserting her key into the door, a dim purple light flashed and the door was opened. Nefari walked in, contented with the fact that this room was designed for one person.
She walked around her room which had an indoor closet, kitchen, bathroom and balcony. Not too big but beautifully decorated with a moderate size.
This was it. The start of a new page and hopefully less disasters.
Settling in, in her room was not on her agenda today. All she needed was some rest- the arrangements would follow the days to come.
So Nefari stayed out in the balcony, munching on her favorite chocolate snack she bought before coming to the academy. Watching as the sky darkened.
It should've been a peaceful moment for her but recalling her earlier predicament, it felt like a strand of reason that held something back in her, broke.
'I've fought for years. I did so in the name of peace. I just… needed my sanity safe. But… isn't this world too damned for a simple but extravagant wish like peace? What if… what if I adapted to chaos? I've already been tagged as forbidden anyways. At this point, becoming an envoy of chaos wasn't far off. Damn their souls! If you find my dreams a problem, I'll become your nightmare.'
Nefari's black pupils expanded till it covered her eyes. An image of the galaxy could be found. But that image didn't hold the dreamy presence of a galaxy, it seemed to hold the threat of unknown dangers lurking. Waiting for a prey.
Her black hair straightened out and stretched till it passed the length of her knees. Sitting on the chair, the table which she laid her hands on started disintegrating into scattered pieces from the edges. Space shook and little portals to the abyss were formed in her surrounding. Unaware or not, Nefari showed no change. Like a statue, she stayed still.