—Liminal—

"It felt like I drowned for eternity. Is this for real or not? But only I, and perhaps she also, know this feeling too…"

"Why does everything feel heavy?"

I can't grasp why, but my eyelids resist opening. When the moment to open my eyes arrived, darkness ran through my vision. I tried scrambling around in the pure darkness, and before I knew it, my hand hit something. I grabbed and firmly grasped the thing; it clicked in my head what this thing in my hand was. "It should be around here," as I tried to find something within the area of the thing. After a few seconds, a blinding light shone throughout my room. "I'm glad I set the power button to be able to turn on the light with a double click!" I don't know why I'm so proud of that, but I let out a loud voice with that statement.

As if I were disappointed, I muttered, "Ah, this is my room."

The light from the phone that I held illuminated the ceiling right before my eyes. Minutes passed while my eyes were glued to the blank space in front of me, accompanied by the sound of the clock ticking. The sound made me feel like my mind would go insane if it went on any longer.

"I guess I'll go out to get some fresh air."

I propped my arm on the floor and raised my whole body. Guided by the light source that I had, I headed toward the curtain. With it lifted, I transitioned from a dimly lit room into the multicoloured light of the night city. In other words, I jumped through the window of a 20-story apartment. The cool, minty air rushed throughout my body; instead of being scared, I was smiling while basking in the shine that the city provided.

They said only Royal Bloods can use magic, but—

"Afloat," I screamed excitedly. The air started to accumulate around me, freeing me from the bonds of gravity.

"I guess that wasn't the truth. Or maybe I'm also part of the Royal Bloods." I laughed, then released an audible sigh. "No way that's the case."

While suspended in the air, I looked around to find a place to head to; one place caught my attention. "Mt. Takao, huh…" Without delaying any further, I made a forward motion and dashed toward it. I'm always fond of places that have a lot of greenery and are breathable—not like the life that I currently have.

I felt something in my pocket shifting around, and the moment I tried to fix it, something fell. Like a shooting star, it fell at incredible speed; without thinking, I chased it. "Almost there," I muttered while diving through the air to reach for the item. I stretched my left hand forward to catch it. In my hand, I felt the shape of the item; opening my hand revealed what it was: a nametag with Rion's name etched on it, which is mine. "I must have forgotten to put it into my desk earlier."

Without any warning, my head started to throb, and a headache welcomed itself unto me. A flash of memory surged while I struggled with the pain. I can't make sense of any of it, as each of them stayed for only a split second. The surges flashed for another few minutes, but the headache that accompanied them felt like it would last forever. I tried to hold on, and yet, slowly, my vision grew fainter and fainter by the second.

But there's one memory that felt closer to me—too close to anything else in this world. A voice. Voice of her. Was it a wish or just a meaningless word?

"Closer than close, yet closest; near and nearer, but isn't nearest."

Then, the darkness consumed me.

In the moment when I lost my consciousness, I heard a muffled but familiar voice calling out to me; it was a different one from before.

I couldn't help but try to reach that voice myself. I felt like I was floating through static noise, where everything strived to rip me apart. Yet that familiar voice guided me through it all, and it became louder and louder until it was very clear whose it belonged to.

A figure entered the room as I adjusted to my returned vision, wearing almost all white but blurry. My eyes wandered around the room I was in, searching for the owner of the voice. Now I understood the situation I was in.

"Can you h—" A voice tried to reach me. Still feeling foggy, I tried to reply, "Ersis?" The voice responded cheerfully, "Oh, you're awake!" Right after that, I saw the blurry figure disappear instantly. I wasn't sure who that figure was, but I'm really sure the voice that was calling while I was unconscious belonged to Eris, my surrogate sister. Ersis is my way of calling her. I tried not to think too hard about it because I didn't want the lingering headache gnawing at me again, and yet, that headache led me into a dream.

Will the magic stay or be dispelled once the dream ends?

The only thing that appeared to me was a question rather than the answer that I needed. And it seemed like the world tried to make me dream of that time, when everything truly began—five months ago.

A breeze that grazed my body was a moment of reminiscing, where I awakened the ability to use magic.

From far away, a voice called to me. "Hey, sorry to keep you waiting." I was shocked at first, then I noticed a familiar face. "Why are you making that face? No way that you forgot me, right, Rion?" Nonchalantly, I replied to the coy question directed at me. "Nah, I thought you overslept and weren't coming at all, Serina. That's why." She replied to my answer with a pouting face, then she smirked as she asked another question. "Why did you call me here? I didn't think you were brave enough to ask me out on a date." I shot her question down as fast as I could. "Why should I? The reason we are here is that you agreed you wanted to help me with magic! So, where's the book that you said you're lending me?" She smiled knowingly as I tried to evade her question.

Serina has been my friend for as long as I can remember. Although she and her family moved away when I was fifteen, we are still in contact.

She handed me the book that she brought with her. She said that she would deliver the book to me, but I thought she was using a courier, not personally handing it over. I was taken aback by how laid-back she was. She wasn't even questioning me when I told her that I was suddenly able to use magic through our messaging, and she informed me that her family has a book about magic; apparently, that book is a magic grimoire.

"Honestly, I was still surprised when I heard that you were returning to Tokyo." I ran through the book, seeing its contents while trying to strike up a conversation. "I wanted to surprise both you and Sis Eris, so that's the reason I didn't say anything before. I even told Grandpa not to say anything to you guys."

She took a look at me and giggled. "To think you, of all people, would be able to use magic." What did she mean by that? As if she knew what I was thinking, she said, "No one knows anyone else who can use magic unless they have the Royal Blood's crest, you know." Personally, I never cared about the talents or abilities that others have. It's no use comparing what others have or are better at than what you have; it will just make you feel down. "Whatever, I want to try using other magic, so will you head back a little?" She stepped back cautiously.

While practising with the magic, I sensed something weird happening; cracks were showing around the area. The sky crumbled within the cracks, thus revealing a figure shrouded in darkness. I don't know what that figure was, but there was a sense of familiarity. The cracks now engulfed the entire world, making me fall into another bottomless pit.

In the coldness of the dark, I felt a warmth across my hand. The heat flowed into my entire body, and with it, a flash of memory appeared—hands that pulled through for someone. I tried to remember more, but something was preventing me from reaching the memories. Then, a voice came through.

"Rouse."

It's an activation word for waking magic. Well, sort of. The uses of magic are actually straightforward; if you can imagine what it can do properly, you can use it, regardless of the activation word. With that in mind, I closed my eyes and cast the waking magic.

And with that, the light slowly seeped into the darkness where I currently remained.