Nessa had spent the entire night dreaming. What made it weirder was this was the first time she was having a dream...ever. She always thought that dreams were stuff only mindless people had. But after today she started questioning whether she had a mind.
In the dream, her eyes were closed yet she could perfectly see what was going on around her. She seemed to be lying on a chair in the living room and Luka was lying in the one opposite her.
Suddenly she heard her father's voice. "Isabelle, it's okay. They would be alright. King told us removing the Autopad equals their death. We haven't done that so you need to relax."
Nessa's mother's eyes were teary and her voice broke as she said. "That monster also said if they died in his world, they died for real."
Her dad bit his lip. "We'd just have to trust our kids."
"But..." her mother was saying then she choked on her words. She swallowed then continued. "But, king gave us an opportunity to go to the world. We have a chance to speak with them and help them."
Her dad seemed to consider what she said, whatever it meant. Then he said. "No, we give them more time..."
Suddenly, Nessa jolted awake as water poured on her body.. She wiped her eyes and noticed that Luka was holding a bucket.
"Well, at least now I know that works no matter the world you're in." He said dropping the bucket. Where had he even gotten it?
"Why didn't you just wake me up like a normal person?" Nessa asked.
"Because, you were sleeping like an abnormal person. I've been trying to wake you up for hours."
Nessa arched a brow.
"Okay only a few seconds." Luka agreed.
"But everyone is already heading towards the academy. I don't want to be left behind."
Nessa stood from the grass and dusted her butt. "Well we better start moving."
She dragged Luka by the arm and went after the crowd. In minutes, they stood facing a set of twin golden doors, the doors to the Academy.
The Academy had to be the largest building Nessa had ever seen. It had black seamless walls and towers that made it look like it had been sculpted from one big giant rock.
Nessa didn't have the time to notice any more details because almost immediately, the doors opened leading into a vast hall.
The hall was grand by any standards, despite the fact that it was poorly illuminated. Only one candelabrum burned brightly in the middle of the room, casting eerie shadows along the wall.
Everyone walked into the hall and after a minute nothing happened. Two minutes, three minutes,
Everyone started feeling uneasy.
"Are you sure this is the academy?" Luka asked Nessa.
"Why are you asking me? Do I look like an Academy tour guide..."
"Kinda," Luka smirked and Nessa slapped her forehead.
Suddenly torches along the wall started lighting up like it was some sort of domino effect.
More candelabras burned brightly from the ceiling and then Nessa heard a very familiar voice.
"Welcome, players."
The voice unmistakably belonged to Miss Avery. Nessa looked in the direction the voice was coming from, but she didn't see any orb. Instead there was a podium and standing on that podium was Miss Avery herself.
She seemed to have aged at least ten years since Nessa last saw her. Her skin closely resembled a dicot leaf as veins snaked their way beneath it.
Her eyes seemed sunken and portrayed sadness. But when she spoke, it seemed like there was nothing wrong with her at all.
"I'm sure some of you recognize my voice as the voice in the orb a few days back." Avery said. "Well, if so, I commend your memory. However, I'm glad to see that you all decided to attend the academy with very few casualties in between."
Suddenly someone spoke from the crowd. It was Tristan. Nessa hadn't seen him since his announcement the previous night. "Are you calling Two hundred and fifty six deaths few casualties?"
"I assure you, it could have been way worse..." Avery was saying.
"How could it have been worse?" A player asked from the crowd. There were tears in his eyes. "My sister died you b*tch."
The player knocked an arrow and sent it hurtling towards Avery. Avery only waved her hand while muttering incoherent words and the arrow split into two equal halves. Then she spoke like nothing had happened.
"The only reason your sister died was because she lacked knowledge of what I just demonstrated. Magic. It is necessary if you want to clear the game and survive in this kingdom..." It was only for a split second, but Nessa noticed that Avery's eyes had bulged like she wasn't meant to say that last part.
"In the academy, there are rules. Rules that you all must follow, and rules I wouldn't waste my time telling you today. You'll figure them out before the day ends..."
Suddenly a pop up notification appeared in Nessa's holographic menu.
"What you all just received," Avery said, "contains information about the school rules, a map and also the room you'd be staying in for the first year."
Nessa opened her message. Her room number was 00000475. There was another message and she noticed it was a book. She materialized it and was about to start speed reading it, so that she would be able to finish it before it disappeared. But Avery said.
"There is no need to read your rules here. It doesn't disappear like the other one. In the meantime, you all are to go to your rooms and prepare. Lectures begin tomorrow."
With that Avery teleported away and everyone started murmuring.
"Luka what's your room number?" Nessa asked.
"Its 00000354. What's yours?"
Nessa told him hers.
"That means we get rooms that are far apart." Luka said stating the obvious.
Nessa didn't want to but she didn't currently have a choice. She hated how limited she felt.
"It's okay," She told Luka. "We'd just have to make sure we meet each other every day. How about we meet here every morning by 7:00"
Luka wasn't satisfied with that answer but he only stared at the floor and said "Sure."
Even with a map, it took Nessa at least 15 days to locate her room, or that was how she felt. She barely spent an hour before finding the door with the number 00000475. The door opened automatically revealing a room that was twice the size of her previous one.
'Damn,' Nessa thought to herself. 'No, no, no, this is not reality remember that.'
The room was so fine, part of Nessa wished this was her actual room. There were red curtains and a red sofa. In the center of the room there was a matching red colored rug with a small glass table in its middle
.
At one corner of the room, there was a king sized bed properly made with sheets and
blankets. At another corner were the closets.
'Why do I need a closet when I can change my appearance at will?'
Nessa tried changing her clothes just like she had done on her first day but it wasn't
working.
'Hmm, definitely weird. I can only think of two explanations. One, the academy prevented some features like changing appearance at will. Two, some basic rules of the game had been changed.'
Nessa decided not to think too much about it. At the other corner of the room, there was a door. Nessa opened it only to see an empty room. She wondered why she would need an empty room.
She sat on the bed and she couldn't help but notice how much more comfortable it was than grass. Forget about not getting used to it, she needed a good rest.
'No, I don't have the time for that. Every second wasted here is a second wasted in the real world.'
Nessa brought out the rule book and started reading. Well it wasn't really
much of a book since it had just about two pages. Nessa read:
"Welcome to the Academy. You are probably here because you want to learn the laws of magic and clear this game. Well, I wish you good luck because you're going to need it. You have no idea the things at play here. Things you couldn't even imagine. Lol that was a joke.
"Anyway, that's not important. This is supposed to be a rulebook for the students at the Academy so Rule number one, all the rules in a regular academic institution applies. Aside from that I believe you should understand the system the Academy runs with.
"First of all, the entire academy is a safe zone meaning no one can die unless they were actively fighting in a duel. Second of all, It's going to take three years to graduate from the Academy, and until then you wouldn't have use for money. Food is free and The Academy uses a point system where you earn points as the staff and the crown sees fit."
'Crown?' Nessa thought. 'What the f*ck is going on here?'
"Third of all," Nessa read on, "books would be needed in order to learn magic and every student has access to the Library. Note: No other citizen is allowed into the library.
"Lectures begin tomorrow and you'd find your daily schedule when you turn this page. Oh and yes I almost forgot, just like at any normal academy, there would be end of year exams. A player/student only graduates to the next year when he or she passes the exam. And no player can clear the first floor without graduating all three years. Thanks for choosing the Academy."
Nessa was forced to read through the book again. She couldn't believe it. Miss Avery had found some clever way to ensure that they spent at least three years in this s*it hole.
She gritted her teeth, as she finally understood something. Something the rule book had conveniently described as a joke.
'I'm only a pawn.' Nessa thought. 'A freaking pawn in a chess game where the players make the rules as they play.'