Part II, Chapter VII | The Hotel

In the Year 100 a.S., the Goddess succumbed to Her loneliness and went into a long, dreamless slumber. For nearly six centuries thence, the world was bereft of its final magic.

Over five hundred years passed before She awoke from this slumber, and She rose with the birth of a lowly servant girl, whose body had been made in Her image. This servant girl gave birth to twins, the first to bear the consequences of Her awakening, and the first to carry a fragment of Her plan.

❧☙

In the Year 702 a.S., an ambitious noblewoman—unaware of her own great significance in the schemes of the universe—recklessly devised an experiment. It was an experiment designed to utilize the consequences of Her awakening for her own political machinations.

It is an experiment that contained within it a fatal risk to an extent she could not predict. As the days of fall became winter, this risk became a truth, and for the first time in over a year, her experiment began to show fruit.

❧☙

In the evening, I found myself in bed, just roused from a sudden yet deep sleep, entirely dreamless. As far as I could recall, I had never once slept without dreaming before, even if I couldn’t remember. Yet, this sudden and deep sleep was indeed without dreams. I couldn’t even recall how or where I had fallen into it.

And more importantly, I hadn’t a clue where I was now, but it was definitely a hotel room—that much was clear. An entirely unfamiliar hotel room, without a hint of deja vu. The beds were neatly made, but I was resting above the duvet at a weird angle, having not been tucked in.

The mystery of how I got here still remained. As well as the mystery of how she got here too.

It was a small girl, sleeping upon the other bed beside my own. She was curled up into the fetal position, drooling and almost sucking on her thumb, even though she was too old for that to be normal. She seemed to be sleeping so well, it was like she was catching up now on years of it lost as a child.

Her eyes flickered open the moment I had the thought, though. It made me a little sad. As she rose, my attention floated over to her messy, loose pigtails, which were dirt brown in color and incredibly scraggly. The fact that they were still tied at all indicated what I already suspected—that neither of us had any idea how we got here.

“You’re Annamarie Kavesta, aren’t you?” the girl said, her voice husky from the deep sleep. She gave the room a cursory glance. “Wait, where are we?”

I shook my head and explained how I had no idea either. When I asked her to introduce herself, I realized that her thoughts were unusually silent. For everyone else I could recall, there were always at least whispers that reached me, even if the bulk of their thoughts resisted. Even with Sylvia. This girl’s mind, on the other hand, seemed completely empty. Did she simply not think at all? That was impossible. What was it then, that made her special?

“I’m Charlotte,” she said. “Fourthborn and third daughter of House Porter, and Treasurer of Arys Academy’s student council.” Her mentioning the student council gave me just a glimpse into a memory I had before I’d blacked out. She continued to look around the room until her eyes stopped at the door to her left, which held what I assumed to be the bathroom. She stared for a long time, so long that I imagined she’d somehow fallen asleep again, but she turned back to me, a frightened look on her face. Before she spoke another word, she clambered for the night stand between our two beds and pulled open the top drawer. Inside of it, there sat a brochure, with big text up on front that declared the name of the hotel we were in. Hotel Jonglyo, first written in Joseon, a language I couldn’t read, then Purilyn Standard right beneath it. The fear in her eyes turned to dread, and the little color she had on her face drained further. “That’s impossible,” she muttered. “An illusion? It can’t be. The accuracy is too high. The sensations are too real. Teleportation, then? But if that’s possible, there must be another Blessed in the academy. That’s too unlikely. I don’t understand. It could only be a primal awakening as intended, but it shouldn’t be capable of something on this scale. It’s almost like it’s rewritten the laws of magic. No, the laws of physics as we know it. Huh? I’m frightened. Huh? Really?” She giggled to herself a little, so quiet I could barely hear, but the way the corners of her lips lifted seemed manic. Then she finally looked at me again. “I don’t mean to frighten you, Lady Kavesta, but I’m suddenly very afraid that we may both die here.”

Her words were nonsense to me, but her fear couldn’t help but rub off on me a little. “I think we should look around a little bit at least before giving up,” I said. When I pulled myself from the bed though, and my feet landed on the ground, it squeaked very loudly, and a shiver ran down my spine.

“You can go.” Charlotte pulled the duvet out to crawl under it. “I need time to think.”

❧☙

Sylvia la Veya sat alone in an almost empty classroom, reading a book so bent and creased that many would wonder whether she cared about it at all.

On this day, Sylvia had woken up as the sun rose like always. And like always, her roommate had yet to stir. Still, she made breakfast for two, and wrapped the other portion for when they finally woke. After that, Sylvia took her time to dress into her school uniform, and when she was done, she couldn’t help but glance at the witch hat she left on her nightstand. It made her think of me, and those thoughts lingered for longer than she wanted them to.

In the end, she decided to wear it. Therefore, on this day and in this almost empty classroom, Sylvia la Veya read a book so creased that many wondered whether she hated or loved it while wearing the witch hat everyone knew her for. I hadn’t shown up yet. That seemed odd to her, but she was somewhat thankful for it.

“Your breakfast,” Samira said, as she took the seat to Sylvia’s right. “It was good.”

“Glad to hear it.”

“Next time, let’s eat together.”

“There’s no way you can wake up early enough.”

“Can’t you wait for me?”

Sylvia removed her focus from her book for a moment. “Maybe someday.”

“Someday,” Samira repeated. She thought the conversation would end there, but Sylvia continued it, even as she stared at her book.

“Are you still with that boyfriend of yours?”

Samira glared at her, but hid it quickly. “For now. He’s been getting better. I mean, everyone’s seen the broadcast by now. If I’d known it would blow up like this, I would have never gone to see her.”

“Didn’t she make you feel better?”

“As if. That girl seriously gives me the creeps. Speaking of her, though… I spotted the two of you together the other day.”

“We were just hanging out.”

“Yeah I mean, what else?” Samira grinned. “You never just hang out, Syl. Whenever we invite you, you say you’re busy.”

Sylvia regretted answering defensively like that. “It was a coincidence,” she mumbled

“You’re not tricking anyone,” Samira insisted, a cruel tone creeping into her voice. “Just admit that you like her.”

“You’re right,” Sylvia said. Suddenly, all the composure she was losing seemed to come back to her. She even smiled, faintly. “I’ve been neglecting you guys. My brain just, it struggles. It’s a mess. With her… I wanted to be friends, but I was afraid you wouldn’t accept it. I’m sorry.”

The manner in which Sylvia suddenly regained herself and gave such a vulnerable-sounding answer struck a nerve in Samira. That fake smile. Almost without thinking, she snatched the witch hat from Sylvia’s head and dashed to an open window to hold it out above the ocean.

“First Louisa, and now you,” she muttered. “Why does everyone around me insist on becoming such freaks? Tell me the truth. I want you to admit it.”

Sylvia was already on her feet, more frightened of the threat than anything else. “Samira, please don't do this.”

She lifted a finger from her grip on the hat in response. “The truth, now.”

“I thought she was pretty!” Sylvia said. It came out louder than she intended, but her heart was racing now. The ribbons of her hat were already fluttering in the wind, and seemed like they could fly away at any moment. “She was really pretty. I didn’t care that she was weird. I wanted to get to know her better. I wanted her to look at me more. That’s really it, okay? So please—”

“Oops.”

Sylvia pressed herself against the window just in time to watch her most precious possession flutter and flap in the wind before splashing into the rough waves below. She could only stare in disbelief as it vanished into darkness.

❧☙

The hotel door opened with a metal click, and a sound almost like a tiny splash. A sound that didn’t belong. The air changed as I pushed the door open. The change came with a harsh chill.

The wallpaper along the hallway was floral, but mustard yellow in color all over. That was what first disturbed me about it. It gave the entire place a sick sort of feeling. And it was a short hall, but there was a mirror placed on each end, which made it seem to span indefinitely. I glanced back one last time, and Charlotte was already hidden beneath the sheets. I’d have to explore this place on my own, then.

Each step through this sickening hallway took more effort than the last. It was like my feet were catching on brambles. The pile of the carpet was thick and long, and I finally realized that I was barefoot. My mind couldn’t keep up with this bizarre scenario. I had already long since acknowledged the existence of magic. My own ability could not exist without it. Yet acclimating to the real thing, outside of my head, was another story.

When I reached the end of the hall, I pressed my back against the wall and peered around the corner.

Just then, a girl turned the very same corner, shrieked when she saw me, and smacked my head against the wall with a full swing of her arm. Frightened out of my gourd, I reeled from the attack and collapsed to my knees.

“Wait, Annamarie?”

I recognized the voice right away, and my eyes adjusted soon after. It was Samira. She was the one who had rounded the corner and clocked me across the face. It still hurt like hell, but the pain was overcome by the relief of finding a familiar face.

She replaced a curl behind her ear and extended an arm to help me up. “Sorry about that. You startled me.”

I accepted her hand, and we stared awkwardly at each other before breaking out into little giggles. Suddenly, this place didn’t feel so suffocating. I could tell she felt the same way. We continued down the hall together, and she asked me some simple questions like how we got here. I simply responded that I didn’t know, and she accepted it. It only made sense that she did. I truly had no idea how we ended up here.

“Before this whole mess,” she suddenly began. “You asked me something. I thought about it a lot, and I think I have my answer now.”

“What are you talking about?” I asked. I had no memory of requesting something from her. Oh, but it may have been from the memories of this world that I never experienced.

“Right. It makes sense you’ve forgotten, at least a little bit.” She smiled sheepishly. “My own memory is a little foggy. Anyway. You needed me to play the saxophone. For the Fall Festival. I know I’m not in your club yet— Sylvia isn’t even in your club yet—but if we can play together for the festival, I feel like we can fix something that’s been broken for a long time now.”

I turned and straightened my tie to face her. “That was good content. Can you repeat that into the camera, please?”

She punched me in the arm, and we laughed together again. When was it, that we started to feel like real friends? We continued down the halls together, lightly bantering with each other but carefully checking each corner we turned. It took a few minutes before the scenery changed. The cramp hallway we traveled through turned another corner and opened out into a cafeteria, with a large expanse of tables.

And to our surprise, there was a group of three students already congregated in that open space. I recognized most of them. Aside from Charlotte, who had been with me, the entire student council was there. Jericho March, Paris Astrantia, and Alvis Porter. I’d never met Alvis before in-person, but it was obvious that he was Charlotte’s brother.

We approached them, but their expressions all seemed particularly serious. We waved cautiously, and they waved back.

Samira and I had almost reached them before we heard a pounding coming at us from behind. A male student I didn’t know rounded the same corner we did and sprinted for us. “Ah! Hey, help me!”

It wasn’t until he came closer that we noticed something following behind him. It was a child-sized elf creature, with a maw for a face, a little green hat, pointed leather shoes, and a giant bell held to its stomach. it stopped to open its gaping face mouth when it entered our view, and rung its bell twice. The boy shrieked, and a thin steel chain wrapped around his neck and choked him back.

The sound of him choking was followed by a boom like a gunshot, and a spray of blood across my skin and everywhere else. The body had practically disappeared, his body in pieces strewn about everywhere, replaced by the bloodsoaked bell thing. A trail of scorch marks smoked between where the thing once stood, and where it stood now.