A Surge of Desperation

“So, Bubbles, can you tell me more about the Soleil Kingdom? And what is this school…Scare Heights Academy exactly like?” Luciela sat straight and asked after clearing her throat, looking slightly ashamed of herself. After showing her briefly around the school, they both headed to Luciela’s assigned dorm room, where they were currently at.

Luciela had been excitedly admiring it and had spent the past five minutes rolled up in her bed’s blanket, delightfully lazing around to the best of her abilities after going through the awards ceremony, transportation to another world, and a ghost academy tour without so much as a wink of sleep.

“Oh! Well, this kingdom is known as ‘the place that has befriended the sun’, because the weather here is always warm and delightful all year round! And also, because no shadows form from the sun shining on anything, thus, it is as though the kingdom is always glowing brightly!” Bubbles spoke proudly, his arms hoisted on his sides as he said this.

“Wait, how is that possible?” Luciela questioned, and she turned her head to see that the potted flower on the windowsill of the room, to her shock, indeed did not have any shadow trailing behind it, only glimmering in the sunlight that was directly shining on it. In fact, now that Luciela remembered, things seemed to sparkle a certain way when the sun shone on them in this land…she didn’t think much of it, but now she was finally able to recognize that fact.

‘Huh, maybe it’s just the way things work around here?’ Luciela reasoned within herself, deciding to not give it any more thought for now, especially when she had more pressing matters to attend to.

“That…is amazing,” Luciela admitted, before turning her attention back to Bubble, “So, in summary, this is a kingdom where everyone is part of a ‘ghost’ species. No one is dead, and you’ve got zero shadows and buildings that float on clouds. Was it always like this?” Luciela questioned, to which Bubbles responded, “Well, at least for hundreds of years, it has been like this. I mean, the whole kingdom floats on clouds, and oh yes, is masked by invisibility magic, so it’s only natural that some buildings can also-”

“Wait, did you just say float?...As in, we’re suspended in the sky?!” Luciela gasped, taken aback by the sudden revelation, almost falling off the bed as she said this. She backed away from the bed’s edge, as though she might accidentally tumble out of the sky if she were to step back onto it, even though she could already understand that was unlikely to occur.

“Oh, that’s right, humans live on the ground don’t they? I guess it makes sense you’d be surprised then,” Bubble said this with a laugh, a stark contrast to Luciela’s latest freak out session, “But yes, this kingdom floats upwards, it keeps us safe, and frankly we all like living like this just fine. And now that you’ve been brought here, I guess you should get used to it? At least until Ms. R can let you know more about why she brought you here in the first place.”

Luciela’s facial expression suddenly changed, and she became quiet. Then, her next sentence was spoken with a tone that was low and clear, but hinted at some underlying tension within her. “Well, if I’m being honest Bubble, I don’t really care.” Luciela said bluntly, causing Bubble to blink a few times in surprise.

He then innocently asked, “What do you mean?” To which Luciela responded, “I mean, I don’t care if I’m needed here. I don’t even know this place! Expecting me to just shove aside everything from my life and wholeheartedly embrace whatever mission or whatever I’m here for is ridiculous! In fact,” and then Luciela got up, walked over to where Bubble was hovering, and then, with a look of displeasure, finished, “the only reason I’ll go along with all this and pass that foolish exam is so that I can finally meet this anonymous person and give them a piece of my mind!”

“Huh?! W-Wouldn’t giving her a portion of your mind just cause harm to you? Frankly I feel kind of sick just imagining that.” Bubble gasped, a clear look of concern and slight disgust on his face.

“Wh-What are you even-that’s not what I mean! Bubble, I don’t WANT to go to a ghost school full of ghost children! What’s a Scare Guard anyways? Whatever it is, I don’t want to be one! And I don’t WANT to be a ghost for that matter! Can’t you at least turn me back into a human?!” Luciela pleaded, grabbing onto Bubble and shaking him slightly out of exasperation.

But poor Bubble was almost too stunned to speak. He watched Luciela with wide eyes, taken aback by her outburst of emotion. He could clearly see the strain and confusion on her face, her eyes begging Bubble to respond to her request.

Bubble seemed a bit shaken, clearly trying to calm himself down after witnessing Luciela’s anger and frustration at the whole situation. He gave her an apologetic look, waving his hands while frantically replying, “I-I’m really sorry! But there’s no way for me to do that. Even if there was…you shouldn’t, the other students should believe that you’re one of them! Otherwise you’ll draw too much attention to yourself! We don’t exactly have a positive history with the human race after all…”

Luciela let out a groan of frustration, about to spew some more words when she realized that Bubble looked like he could burst into tears at any moment. And with that, a wave of guilt washed over Luciela, its cool waters finally calming her nerves down.

“I-I’m sorry Bubble…I shouldn’t have lashed out at you, you didn’t deserve that.” She finally let Bubble go, who exhaled a sigh of relief and adjusted his bow tie before reassuringly responding, “Oh, don’t even worry about it! I was surprised, but you must be feeling way more emotions right now than me. I wish I could help more, but I promise everything will make sense once you pass that board exam! I’ll be cheering for you.” Bubble finished kindly, flashing what seemed to be like a double thumbs up.

“Th-Thanks…I guess…” Luciela gave a weak show of gratitude, her face looking as tired as she felt inside. Was she truly just supposed to accept this? Was there really nothing more she could do than play along with this mysterious Ms. R’s games? Why would she need Luciela anyways? Luciela didn’t even know this world existed before today, so what benefit would anyone receive from having her join the ghosts and train to become something she didn’t even understand?

Luciela was about to say something aloud once more to Bubble, but suddenly the dorm room burst open, startling her as it did.

“Sunshine and smiles to you! You must be my new roommate, Luciela right?” A bright and cheerful ghost walked in, currently in her regular human form. She gave a big wave to Luciela, her smile wide and welcoming, a stark contrast to the atmosphere that the room carried only a moment before.

“My name is Arisa Sorano, but you can just call me Arisa. I'm super excited to meet you!”