Chapter XXII: A short conversation
Amos was right when he said the school wasn't very far away. It was still a little ways from where I lived, but I could always take a bus. There was a route that went right by my apartment complex in the morning that came next to the school.
I was a pro at pulling allnighters, but this body of mine wasn't. Couple that with the fact that it had been fifteen years since I pulled my last allnighter and I was starting to feel a bit fatigued. Nothing I couldn't fight through, but the exhaustion was there.
In a twist of fate that I wasn't sure was completely random, I ended up in the same class with Amos, Euphie, and Kanade. We even sat together, though school hadn't started just yet. The room reminded me more of a college lecture hall than a high school classroom, but maybe that was the French standard. We took a space at the top and I throw my backpack down next to me.
Despite being reborn as a French kid fifteen years ago, this would be the first time I ever attended a real French school. So I had done my homework. Schools in France ended around five or six, instead of the three o'clock, I was used to. Lunch could last anywhere between ninety minutes and two hours. According to Lycée du Ciel's website, we got a whole two hours of lunch, which was pretty cool. I guess that's why our school day would end at 17:30.
Each class would last a startling fifty-five minutes, but we'd also have some ten-minute breaks. Unlike my last high school, different days would have different subjects, so that was cool. We weren't going to switch classrooms either. Different teachers would come in and instruct us in different subjects, so it reminded me of the Japanese school system in that way. What can I say, I was an anime nerd.
No uniforms though. That was too bad.
I suppressed a yawn as I stared at the clock on the wall. I wondered if I might catch a few minutes of sleep before school...
I blinked and I wasn't in the classroom anymore. I was back in Athena's Meadow. The unnaturally beautiful goddess was sitting across from me, sipping on a cup of tea. "Why, hello there."
"Um... Did I fall asleep?" I was pretty sure I hadn't.
"No. Right now you're just staring off into space."
"I thought you could only call me while I was asleep?"
"That was before we signed the finalized contract. I believe it was Set who told you my power was constantly sowing itself through you. He wasn't wrong. That mark on your reflection is proof. So now I can invite you whenever I wish to call upon you.
"This goes both ways, of course. If you wish to speak with me, you need only to utter the phrase: Athena, I seek an audience."
"It's that easy to get an audience with a goddess?"
"For you, my champion? It is as easy as can be. We gods can be in many places at once, so I have put a small amount of my consciousness in your contract. The fragment that you are speaking with right now is that small bit."
I didn't know if it was cool or disturbing that she could just divide her consciousness like that. I settled on neutral for now.
"So, why the call?"
"You had a question for me, did you not?"
"Pardon?"
"Dynasty. The name of our game. You wanted to know why it changed?"
"Well... Yeah. I did. I just didn't expect you to come to talk to me about it. I kind of thought you might have more important things to do."
"I always have time for my champion," the goddess said. "If it were something small like a name change, I might not have bothered, but I think you deserve an explanation. The fault lies in the hands of Set and I."
"What does that mean?"
"Unfortunately, our little game has spilled over and changed history again. Primal Vale becoming Dynasty was merely only one change. As it stands, both Set and I have been punished by the overseer. I wanted to assure you that we would not alter history like that again. I"m afraid our contest has become more limited."
"I thought it always revolved around us?"
"It always has, but we were trying to make advantages for our champions. And obstacles for the opposing vessel. That spilled out beyond the school and because of that, it has been narrowed. Odin has become the overseer of this game."
"So I don't have to worry about history changing, right? I'm not going to wake up tomorrow and found out that the British Empire is still intact and it's become a world power?"
"No. You won't."
"Good. It was freaky enough the first time. I didn't need a repeat."
"I should also warn you."
"I don't like the sound of that."
"Our scope has been narrowed, but Set now sees you as his enemy."
"Didn't he always?"
"Before he hoped to win you over to his side. Now that our contract has been completely signed, he can't take you. You have cemented yourself as his enemy and he will do whatever is in his power to hamper you. What he can do is diminished even more now, but my brother is a clever one. He will use every loophole to his advantage. So stay on guard."
"He can't kill me though, right? Or like... Maim me?"
"To that, no. He is still bound by the agreement. But he does have his ways."
"So keep an eye out and keep preparing?"
Athena nodded. "Indeed."
"Roger. If that's all..."
The goddess smiled and snapped her fingers. The world snapped with her fingers and suddenly I was back in the classroom when a young woman entered.
"Bonjour!"
***
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