The Second T**t

"Are you asleep?" Joren asked. "I don't think you should be closing your eyes to this sight."

I groaned. I had been in the middle state of sleep and wakefulness. But, hearing the murmurs and gasps of the other students behind us, I decided to wake myself up entirely.

Joren was standing on the very top of the first hump of the Cameliphantus, and I could almost imagine him as a sea voyager up on the ship's monkey island, squinting his eyes at the newly discovered terrain.

"Are we near?" I mumbled as I rubbed at my eyes and started to stand. But then, in the middle of a crouch, I finally started to notice my surroundings. "What the-?"

In the while I had been closing my eyes, the forest had changed entirely. The forest seemed shorter and up above the Cameliphanti, we could stare down at the tops of the pink-leaved trees. Though I wasn't a great fan for the species of flora like most girls, I still had an inkling about different types of plants, and I... have never seen nor heard of such trees like this. The leaves themselves looked much like flowers, curling up together like delicate petals. What I did think was their flower was shaped like a star, and had a white, almost transparent color.

Climbing myself up next to Joren, I asked, "Don't tell me I really did sleep a whole night."

I could feel his gaze on me although I still kept staring around the light-colored world. The pinkish forest seemed to be stretching out to the far horizon. And the sun... was high up on the azure sky.

"Nah," he told me. "You weren't awake to see it, but we seemed to have passed through some sort of barrier, and before I knew it, the world changed."

"How long did we arrive here?" I asked. "I mean, through the barrier?"

"Hmmm... Not that long. Prob'ly a few minutes at most," he muttered. "I just woke ya up because I figured you'd want to see-"

"That." I pointed my hand towards it. In front of our procession, still far away into the distance, but quite visible from our point of view, was a complex building with countless spires and towers. It towered over the world that I wondered why it wasn't the first thing I saw the moment I opened my eyes. "... Is that the Academy?"

I looked towards my red-haired companion. He made quite the sight amidst the pink-hued forest. Shrugging, he said, "I reckon so... Wouldn't imagine it any less."

"It's definitely as grand as its name," I agreed, but its sight seemed to be tugging at my memories. 'Have I seen this place before?'

But I knew that couldn't be the case. I rarely left the palace in my past life, and I would think something as grand as this, even grander than all the royal palaces I have seen, would ever be forgotten by my mind.

A voice called out from the line behind us, her voice familiar now to my ears. The tattooed woman shouted out, "We're nearing our destination now! Get yourselves ready to walk!"

~~

"This is crazy... Why do we have to walk our way to the Academy?"

"If they lack the resources, I could have asked my Duke father to supply us some ample carriages. This is a disgrace to my name..."

"Well, I don't know... It's not too far out, now isn't it? I believe it will be a pleasant journey."

The voices of aggrieved children filled the forest clearing where we were gathered at. After we had disembarked from the Cameliphanti, we were herded towards this clearing together with our bags. I was grateful that Joren and I had decided to pack lightly, not that I could have brought anything other than the essentials, anyway. I barely have anything left to call my own. Well, that, and the dozen pouches of gold I had left to Farseer's care.

We hefted our bags onto our backs and searched the clearing for a place to settle down. We chose to occupy a group of outcropping rocks. Sitting myself down, I searched for the figures of the adult mages. But... "Where are they?"

"Who?" Joren asked, mumbling over a mouthful of jerky he had unearthed from his pack. "Want chum?"

"Umm. No, but thank you," I uttered. "But I mean, where are the mages?"

"We're all mages here," he replied annoyingly.

I glared at him. "I mean those adult ones. Those who're probably our teachers."

He looked around us to come into my same conclusion. "They don't seem to be here... Well, they probably had to herd the Camelphanti away?"

"All of them?" I asked doubtfully.

It felt like something was off. It already wasn't normal to have clueless students disembark a perfectly functioning mode of travel only to have us walk the rest of the way. And now, it seems like we were left alone. Glancing up, I realized the sun was gradually setting down. Even though it should be evening by now, the sun was already up and about...

"... The sun," I mumbled, keeping my voice low.

"Yeah," Joren answered with a whisper, quickly stashing his jerky into his inner shirt pockets. "It's going down faster than normal."

I nodded. "I think they're testing us."

He looked at me with a shocked face. "They already finished testing us. We got our tokens, didun we?"

"We actually don't know how they do things at all," I told him under my breath. "We might have just passed the first test among many others."

He furrowed his brows but kept silent. I immediately stared at the surrounding students. Most were still grumbling and standing around like confused, little chicks. There were others, though, that seemed calm. I saw one boy with greenish hair glaring around the trees, as though something might come out of them soon.

I stood up, took in a deep breath, and surveyed the surroundings with my detection training. I haven't exactly truly used this skill in real life, but I suppose now is the time to see if I was truly worthy to be an apprentice candidate. Stretching out invisible lines of dark magic towards the forests...

"Nothing," I grumbled and sat back down on the outcropping rock. "There's nothing around us."

"... And how d'ya know that?" Joren asked me with his eyes laden with his usual suspicion.

I grinned at him. "Instinct."

He rolled his eyes, and then brandished out his jerky yet again. But before he could even get a bite, a boy had come near us. It was one of the calm-looking boys. "Greetings," he said.

Joren and I looked at each other and then back at him. "Hi?" I replied.

"Apologies for coming up to you quite rudely," he continued on without missing a beat, pushing up his square glasses with a finger. "But, it seems to me that you boys have an inkling that this might be a second round to test us."

My eyes widened involuntarily. "Why do you say that?"

"For one thing, you are seated at the very center of this clearing. An optimal spot I would have liked to occupy if I had the chance. However, since the Ragged Pair came here first, I decided it wise to not take it from you."

"Ragged what?" Joren asked with a widely opened mouth.

The calm boy nodded his raven black hair. "Yes, the Ragged Pair. I assume that would be both of you. The two commoners who have made a show of the entrance examinations on its last day. One with flame-like hair, and the other with the fierce and dark, blue eyes. I do believe there would be no other pair who would fit these descriptions."

"..."

"Was I wrong?" the boy asked. "I would have assumed I could have only had a 5% chance of getting it wrong."

"Ahh... No," I mumbled. "You're right, although it would be best to not call us by any of those names and descriptors."

"Understood," he replied mechanically. "Now, back to my point. I also realized you were thinking the same thoughts as mine when you were both looking around the area quite seriously, not too mention that you both seemed calm and had your guard up. I concluded this as well when I saw both of you had your bags secured into your persons instead of putting them down like most have done. You are both prepared to move at any moment."

Joren and I looked at each other. It seems like this boy was sharper than most.

I slowly turned towards him. "What's your name?"

He smiled a little. "Albert Connoisseur of House Montauk. It's a pleasure to meet you."

Staring at his stiff, yet proper bow, a figure of a certain person from my past came to mind...

"Prince Albert!" I shouted out in surprise, to which the boy replied with wide eyes.

"How did you know?" he asked, and his calm demeanor immediately came back after half a second.

I blushed a little, not knowing how to respond. In my past life, there were moments when my engagement to the crown prince of Mond was temporarily cancelled off. In those short moments of time, many a suitor would line up to have a chance to receive my favor, or rather, the favor of my Kingdom. Prince Albert Connoisseur, Second Prince of the tiny Kingdom of Montauk, a nation situated right at our Saule Kingdom's doors, at the very edge of the central plains, was quite... a memorable person.

I was probably 15 and him 17. He had just heard from my recent exploits of dressing myself up as a boy. And, as we were having a cup of tea inside the Saulian palace, we hadn't gone through the usual pleasantries and instead talked about the Aerim Continent's set of cultures and traditions. Our little date became more of an intellectual discussion. I remember becoming so amused when our two hours was up, and he had to hastily point out his true reasons for coming, and how lovely a political deal it would be to have our two nations join forces. The Kingdom of Montauk was a tiny one, but they had risen into gradual power due to their human resources. Montauk was a place of sophistry and intelligence, and I had quite liked the man for his love of knowledge, enough love that he could even forget for a moment that the person he was in a discussion with was a mere girl.

However, not long after I had conveyed my opinions to the court, and after I had told them of my desire to be wed to the said man, the Mond Empire had settled our past grievances with another great deal. Before long, my engagement to the crown prince was back into motion and the tiny kingdom's second prince had to go back with unfortunate news.

No, it wasn't anything as wonderful as love at first sight, I'm sure. But, I reckon, if things were a bit different in the past, that intellectual man and I would have had a relationship that was at least built on respect.

"Therion?" Joren prodded me at my side. I swiftly flicked his finger away.

"Oh, it's nothing," I replied, although I would think my cheeks were still a bit red. "I've just read a bit on the royals of the Aerim Continent. I remember your name popping up."

"I see," Albert replied. "Although it remains to mind that no recent books would have been available to have our small kingdom's name on it, much less the names of the members of its court, I too understand that I may not be aware of all the kinds of books written and provided all around the Continent. So, I accept your valid point."

"... Alright!" Joren clapped his hands, although I could see how troubled and confused his expression was. "Then, Prince Albert will be our ally in this test."

"Please, only refer to me as Albert," the black-haired boy said.

"Alright! Now, Al here will be our ally," Joren corrected himself without missing a beat.

"I believe we aren't close enough that you might assign me different versions of my name," Albert said.

"Okay, okay!" I interrupted them before the atmosphere could get any worse. "Let's just talk more about our situation first. That would seem like the best course of action, yes, Albert?"

I turned towards him, and he answered with a firm nod.

"Good," I said. "So, any thoughts about what kind of test this might be?"

And in that very moment, screams reverberated around the clearing, and a few trees were bent to reveal a large, hulking, and massively angry monster. It sounded much like a human when it fumed out through its protruding canines. "WHO DARES INVADE MY TERRITORY?!"

"Ah," Albert said calmly with another flick of his silver glasses. "I believe this test might involve this huge creature."