***The World***

***Angrod***

When I return my attention to the rest of the training field I realize that the fight gathered quite a number of spectators. Upon noticing the short but noisy battle, many students and instructors came over to see what was going on.

“That's a splendid technique, little princess,” Tongord compliments Celes as she climbs the steep stairs out of the arena.

Staring at Celes in silent awe, our friend Morden is speechless for the first time since I met her.

While gnawing at the inside of my cheek, I watch Teacher Tongord who is still trying to regain his composure.

He just called Celes a princess. I think we never actually introduced ourselves to him, nor did Tanja reveal anything regarding our identities. Which means that he just gave away the fact that he recognized us before the fight. He knowingly risked the princess’s life, or at least her health.

“Nothing worth mentioning! Iris was pretty weak.” Celes is dusty all over but still talks big while shaking her hand dismissively. “Don't you have someone here who can put up a little resistance?”

“Hmm. I will have to put you into the special class. There is no way I can let you fight normal students,” Tongord replies while massaging his chin.

“So, no worthy opponents? Then I will take you as a training partner, Angrod! No need to completely waste this lesson.” Celes looks at me with a devilish grin spreading on her face.

“No, thanks! I will pass.” There isn’t much to think about. “I would be nothing more than a punching bag for you!” I refuse! There is no way I can stand up to that brute without my spells.

But she grabs my hand and pulls me down into the arena. The healers already ran off with Iris on a stretcher, speeding as if the girl’s life depended on it.

“No need to hold back! I allow you to use spells.” She plants me on the exact spot where Iris started the previous duel, then walks to the other side of the arena.

As we stand in front of each other, I start buffing myself with every spell I can think of. Agility! Strength! Stone Skin! Shield! Vitality! Inner Peace! Regeneration! When I am ready I nod at Celes.

“Aren't you overdoing it a little?” she asks. “It’s not like I’ll try to kill you.”

“Any less and I will die!” I complain. I am not a masochist and if I don’t pull out every trick in the box, ending up like poor little Iris is an assured outcome.

When Tongord gives the signal to start, I immediately teleport to the arena’s damaged section and Celes appears in the spot where I’ve previously been. She looks around, confused for a mere moment. It’s all the time I need to reach out with force magic, stacking brick upon brick around me. Using the debris, I erect a small cocoon of stone and fuse everything together with a bit of earth magic and barrier spells.

There is a muffled ‘thud’ from the outside and I notice some drain on my mana, but it’s affordable. Outside my defensive formation, Celes begins a steady rhythm of punching my shield.

“Come out of there! That’s cheating!”

“You said that I am allowed to use spells.” Sitting down, I make myself comfortable in a lotus position. “Just keep pounding away until the lesson is over. If I don’t attack and only maintain my barrier I can keep this up all day.”

Outside, Celes howls and doubles her efforts.

Bunkered down and safe, I have no desire to go outside and risk a beating. Judging by my past encounters with her previous self, I would say that we are evenly matched. Celes might not have access to any fancy spells, but her martial arts more than makes up for that weakness. Even now, I have no doubt that letting down my guard would instantly result in her shattering my little fortress.

Celes keeps working out until we notice the bell which signals the end of the lesson. In the meantime, only the impacts of fists and feet on my fortress echo over the training field. When Celes finally stops her relentless assault, I drop my defences and ignore the glare she is giving me… or that most of the arena is gone due to Celes’s efforts. Bunkering down was definitely the right choice.

“Good fight!” I compliment her and offer my hand. Bunkering down was petty of me, but I am sure that a real fight would have gone out of control pretty quickly. After all, we are children and easily excitable.

“Fine!” Celes takes my hand and shakes it. “Next time, you aren’t allowed to hide behind your magic.”

We climb out of the arena and I notice that the spectators dispersed, probably bored or frightened away by Celes’s relentless assault technique.

Tongord waves two papers at us. “These are the registration forms for my special class! Fill it out and go there in the future! No need to have you two destroy one of my arenas every lesson.” He looks down into the arena which can only be described as a hole with debris inside it. Celes’s tamper tantrum caused quite the destruction when I refused to fight her in the open.

“You two are both awesome! Next time, I want to train with you!” Morden is still waiting for us and has apparently recovered from her previous shock.

“No problem!” I give her a thumbs up. “The more the merrier.” And the more punching bags there are for Celes, the fewer punches she has for me. I certainly won’t turn down any idiot who wants to join us.

Celes nods. “Yes! Its good to have more opponents. It will be a greater challenge!”

So I alone wasn't enough for her! I want to cry. On the other hand, I shouldn't complain since I didn’t really fight her.

The girls run off to the changing rooms and I follow them a little unmotivated, taking the path to the boys’ area. Will this be my new school-life? Being beaten up on a regular basis doesn't sound like fun at all!

After changing, we meet up to visit the Mathematics and Arts lessons. On the way, I share my suspicions about Tongord with Celes and we decide to stay watchful around him.

Mathematics didn't turn out to be anything special, just the regular stuff that gets taught in every world.

In Arts we had to draw a picture, which got Celes really motivated. She seems to be a natural and got a really neat painting of a rural countryside done in the time it took me to draw a stick-figure. Maybe she was an artist in one of her past lives?

I myself can proudly announce that I at least tried to introduce modern art to the world! My stick-figure had huge similarity to a Rorschach test.

I was sure I would change the world until our teacher, Jeniva Guger, shattered my delusions. She even asked me why I sullied her lesson with my presence. Talking like that to a blossoming talent is just wrong! How can a teacher say something like that to a student! For exactly ten seconds, my body got the upper hand and I almost started crying.

Thankfully, I recovered before I made a humiliating scene. Then I played with the thought of burning down Guger’s workshop, but the lesson ended before I could think of a feasible plan to make it look like an accident.

So the hours went by as we cycled through various classes until we stood before it!

The door to the mystic arts classroom! I press down the handle and enter first. Just three students were waiting inside. And strangely enough, I know them!

“Oh, hi! Angrod and Celes, you take this lesson too? Wow, you are brave!” Margerie Cygnus calls out to us. Next to her is her older brother, Stephen Cygnus. A row behind them is Sven Hjavars, who waves at us.

“Hi, nice to see you! And why are we brave? Because of taking this lesson? And why are you here, Stephen? I thought you were older than us?” Celes asks, stepping inside.

“I am here because I am already retaking this lesson for the third time!” Stephen announces proudly, unashamed by the fact that retaking a lesson three times in a row with our educational system seems stupid. He should have just taken another class to get his credit point and admitted that Mystical Arts isn’t for him.

Stephen continues, “And you are brave because you signed up for a lesson which you are guaranteed to fail. So you won't have the freedom to fail any other lesson this year,” Stephen explains while looking like he has bitten into a lemon.

“Then why did you retake this lesson for the third time!?” I ask.

“I hate to give up. I will take this lesson until I pass or die of old age!” he replies nonchalantly. “I have a perfect memory, so it’s no problem to get my necessary credits in other classes.”

Wow. That's what I call determination! “So, could you explain what the Mystic Arts are about?” I inquire further, taking the seat next to him.

“The Mystic Arts that mister Samarin teaches are about all kinds of things. From the state of the world to magic rituals and science. Samarin is very smart and he teaches whatever you ask about without caring about any curriculum. And that's the problem! At the end of the year, he will ask you some stupid stuff you never heard or talked about. If you give a satisfactory answer you pass, otherwise you fail,” Margerie explains.

At that, the door opens and Samarin enters the room, smiling. “Oh look what we have here. One, two, three, four, five people are willing to take the trial! That's a new record! Normally, everyone who hears about my class applies for something else at the last minute!”

He walks up to the teacher’s desk and places his suitcase on it, then sits down. “As for introductions, I am Samarin. You can ask me anything you want and I will teach it to you. Now please introduce yourself with your name and a single sentence regarding your person.”

Margerie takes the lead and we continue from right to left.

“Margerie Cygnus. I will be famous for solving the world’s resource problems!”

“Stephen Cygnus. I wish nothing more than to pass the test for this lesson, even if I die trying!”

“Sven Hjavars. I just want to listen,” someone whispers.

“Angrod of Tirna. I will rule the world!”

“Celes of Stricc. I will save the world!”

“Hmm.” Samarin narrows his eyes. “Now that I look at you... I have heard rumours in the hallway. It was about a horned devil who beat a student half to death and then fought a second devil like a fury, destroying one of the arenas completely. I hope it has nothing to do with you two?”

Celes and I answer in unison. “I don't know what you are talking about.”

Celes slides her chair closer to me. “Angrod is my most beloved fiancé! Why would I ever want to fight him? Absurd!”

“Honey, I am sure that nobody with a working brain would ever think that we would fight over anything!” I put an arm around her before I know what I am doing.

DAMN IT! FUCK, NICOSAR! After years of training, playing my role is like a reflex!

Seeing our reaction, Samarin shrugs. “Well, in any case, I have to start the lesson. What should we talk about?”

“I want to know about the goddess Seria! There is something I find strange,” Stephen calls out.

“Hoh, what is it you find strange?” Samarin lifts his eyebrows.

“We believe in a single god, the goddess Seria. That goes for the whole world. But there are some strange inconsistencies in our beliefs. Even though there is only one goddess, when we receive our prophecy at the age of five, the priest says that ‘the gods’ will judge us, as if there would be many of them.”

“Unfortunately, that's something even I can't answer for sure. What I do know is this: The goddess Seria appeared to us on several well-documented occasions over the centuries. Every time she decided to reveal herself, her revelations had a large effect on our world. Mostly, she just gave us orders or warned of a calamity.

“However, there are times when mortals like us could talk to her for a while. In most cases, those people were seen as her avatars. From her words, we can conclude that she is not the only god in existence and that this world is just one of many. Some wise people are of the opinion that other worlds may have other gods too. Though, if they exist, they haven't shown themselves to us. We may never know the reason for that, as we seem to be alone in the universe.”

Alone? Hardly. But I can understand how the people of this world came to think so. They don't see any stars when they look up into the night's sky. Just their two moons. I might have to solve that little mystery before I can turn my attention to other matters. Seria might have done something to ensure that Celes and I can't flee.

Samarin looks at Celes and me. “On the other hand you are a very lucky person, Stephen. Because two of the very few still living people who had contact with the goddess are sitting right next to you. If the rumours are true.”

***The Past***

***Seria***

I am standing on the smouldering remnants of a broken world. There are no survivors. Judging by the state of the planet, it will take a long time for it to heal, if ever.

As I take some steps through the molten rock I leave behind glowing footprints, studying them with a bemused expression. Maybe someone will wonder about them in a million years? I snicker to myself.

Simply willing myself to another place above this dead rock, I reappear high in the air and take a deep breath. The sulphuric air and temperatures where the fight raged the strongest would have killed any other living being, but not me. Stretching my wings, I savour the clean air of the higher altitude.

I don't even remember a time when I wasn't like this. But I am sure that there must have been a time like that. A time where I was frail and mortal. A time during which I was alive... a time of joy, a time of wonder, a time during which a little bit of love was enough reason to be happy.

But I don't remember such a wondrous time. Is that why beings like me start playing with the lives of those who can't oppose us? Is it just because we become too bored with our existence?

So we start rolling the dice of life, just to see what happens? I think it is a pretty pathetic reason.

Looking down, I study the broken landscape beneath me and decide to do a bit of remodelling. Once the world is liveable again, the place where I just walked will likely be a nice valley. Only that mountain would block the view on the planes beneath.

Flicking a finger, I obliterate the mountain, blasting it completely apart despite having used nothing of my true strength.

Yes, in a few thousand years, this could be a nice place. Maybe I will pay a visit if I am still around.

“What are you doing here, Seria? Playing around!?”

I turn around and take notice of the Council member who sought me out. He is one of the few who like to change their looks, but he always sticks to his tanned skin and the brown hair which make him easily recognizable. “Tjenemit! How nice of you to pay me a visit! How is it at the Council?” I smile a splendid smile.

“The Council is doing fine! I came to check on your job! Have you dealt with them like ordered?” Tjenemit asks.

“Oh, what do you think of me!? There is no way I would disobey the Council! They are suffering in a Void Zone, like in one of my personal hells. There is no way they will bother you ever again.” I float closer and link arms with him, pressing my chest against his arm.

Tjenemit is a Council member and my direct superior. Luckily, he is also easy to manipulate.

“Hmm. I hope so. When can I see them? Will it take long to break their will?” He grabs my ass!

Bastard! Sometime I will rip out your heart for this.

“Oh, I am so sorry!” I pat his shoulder. “If I had known that you want to see them, I wouldn’t have thrown them into a Void Zone. I think it would be counterproductive to let them out, even if it’s just for a short while.”

Massaging my lower lip, I try to look like I actually want to help. “I guess that I could lead you through the pathways into my Void Zone. As you know, it’s dangerous to lose oneself there! If... if you really want to take the risk, we can try?”

Yes! Follow me there and I will have the perfect excuse! If he fails to inform anyone else, it would be a subtle way to simply vanish one of the Council members.

Unfortunately, he pulls away from me. “No need for that. I hope you can show us some results soon!”

“Soon?” I ask, winking with my eyelashes. “You know, it took me several decades to break when I accidentally entered a Void Zone.”

“We have time. It’s not like decades or even millennia matter to us.” He disappears, apparently declaring this discussion as finished.

Scaredy-cat! I wipe off my ass, feeling sullied where he touched me.

“Yes, my slave-master! Oh, how I enjoy doing the Council’s bidding! We all can have an eternity of peace together!” I burst out, losing control of my persona as the Council’s loyal dog.

One day far, far in the future, I will break this frozen state of reality. Everyone will be allowed his own choice once more. Whether he chooses to live, to die, to be a god, a mortal, or to be reborn. Everyone will have a choice.

But not yet...

The Council isn’t to be taken lightly. I’ve already spent a little eternity on my plan, and it won’t hurt to wait a little longer. They, and all the others have to be ready before we can make our move.