《Stories of Zaikoto》 Prolouge Saturday, June 14th
Iwas once told that miracles shouldn''t exist. That they should be something hated upon and not rejoiced at. Well, I learned today that whoever told me that phrase was wrongas a miracle had just showed up. A miracle that had given me faith in myself again. A miracle that could help me see a future. A miracle of hope. Today was the princess''s birthday. It also just happened that my family was chosen to receive a huge amount of money and a visit to the royal castle owned by the king, the Afure Castle. Once we arrived at the castle we could take a look around and stay as long as we wanted to until the next day came. I still can''t believe something like this happened to my family since there were over 50,000 people in this whole kingdom that could''ve gotten the same kind of miracle as us.I rush frantically to finish my summer homeworkso that way I could have some time to prepare myself before heading to the Afure Castle as I have no clue what I''ll be doing there if we decide to stay for long. Thankfully, my mom also understands how much of a miracle this sitaution is, which likely means we''ll probably be staying over there until tomorrow comes. I would be excited except I remember that my family would be attheroyal castle. I''m more anxious than anything about this but I glance at my homework before remembering that it''s still unfinished and put my head down to concentrate on it until I''m finished. I can''t let myself get behind just because something great happened to me. I grab my pencil and get to work on my paper.
Idashed out the front door once I was ready to head to the Afure Castlewith my sister following close behind. However, we stopped once we saw the royal carriage. We stood dazzled at the sight of such a beautifully crafted piece of art that it was impossible to not stare. The exterior was covered with a gold polish and reflected the average weather around us, with a pattern of twirls surronding the outside of the carriage. These twirls, painted with silver of steel, were wrapped around the carriage in a shape that looked like royalness. A better description would be like sitting out in the sun for a picnic that was perfect, with no mishappenings happening the whole time. That is the only description I could make that actually related to the carriage''s beauty. The carriage had a pattern to it that I couldn''t really describe besides being at a perfect picnic because I truly thought that was the only similarity I could make. After glamorizing at the royal carriage, my sister and I decided to head into it with our mother awaiting us and we slowly took off to the Afure castle, with a shine gleaming in all of our eyes.The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. When we arrived at the castle we had a brief moment of surrealism. I''ve never seen the castle upfront but knew that it was beautiful. However, once we were actually at the castle it''s beauty was completely there and astonished all of us with a giant banner across the gate of the castlethat said "Happy 16th Birthday Zelia Afure!" on it. It seemed like we were almost frozen in time because we were admiring the castle''s golden twirls all over it, reflecting a sort of peace and calmity all over the castle which helped embrace the fact that we were standing at royalty. While still admiring the castle, aman walked over to us and stared at us for a second. After looking at us a smile slowly appeared on his face and as he chuckled to himself, his arms slowly raised sideways as he shouted withpassion, "Welcome to the royal castle of the Afure''s! I, the king himself, Phuon Afure, invite you to come into my home!". (1) Zelia Beginnings 1 The king looked around as if he was searching for a small coin on the ground. After standing for a couple of seconds baffled, he turned to his assistant and whispered something to him. It seemed that whatever the king was asking was very important until his face suddenly became blank with bewildered eyes. ¡°Send out a message to all the other kingdoms. We have no time to waste right now.¡± The king said with a firm look in his eyes. The king turned to us with a stern expression on his face that looked more like a mixture of concern and anger. ¡°Unfortunately, it seems like looking around the castle will have to wait a little bit. It seems like my daughter has gone missing since morning. We¡¯re currently sending a message to the other kingdoms so that they''re updated about our dilemma.¡± The king explained with a clear face of being distressed. I looked at my mom and sister to gauge their reaction to this news before I said something. However, my mom proclaimed something before I could tell what her expression was before she spoke. ¡°Isn''t there something we can do at all?¡± The king stood for a second with a quizzed expression on his face before telling my mom what the answer was. ¡°Yes... there is something you could do. Two of you could search an area that my team won¡¯t be searching for a while. Every area counts so It would be great to have some assistance with searching.¡± My sister glanced at my mom before looking at the king to announce that she was going to go with my mom to look for the princess. I would be excluded from the trip because according to my family, I¡¯ve never been the type to go and outright help people for their own benefit. You could say that I was selfish but I just thought that I really shouldn¡¯t get in people¡¯s own business unless it was demanded. However, there have been many missed opportunities because of my own mindset. Was I going to let an opportunity this big slip my hands just because I believed in my own ways? Or would I be right for not going to help them? No, I wouldn¡¯t be right. I would be wrong just like Eraga had said. That unless I start taking things into my own hands I would be responsible for anything I missed in life. I would be someone who didn¡¯t take part in their own story. ¡°I¡¯ll go instead of mom.¡± I said just loud enough so everyone could hear me. My family had a bewildered look on their face when I said that but the king himself was smiling. That smile gave me some reassurance that I was doing the right thing. My mom, who had no objection to me taking her place, allowed me to travel with my sister to a unsearched area of the kingdom. Shortly after, my sister and I went to board a carriage, similar to the one that drove us to this castle, and proceeded to head off to the unsearched area. I remember what the king said about the place. ¡°It¡¯s only unsearched because it¡¯s in a lower priority than the other places we think she would be. It¡¯s a meadow, not too big or wide but just enough to get lost in there for hours. Golcon is a huge place so it shouldn¡¯t be any surprise to you two that it¡¯s easy to get lost in some areas than others. If you ever feel like you¡¯re lost, press this button on the watches I¡¯ve given you to ring a sound that will hopefully help someone locate you.¡± That was what the king explained to us about where we were heading. I¡¯m sure the area had a name too but it¡¯s probably not important enough for me to remember. I turned my head to look at my sister as she was melancholically staring out the window. I was also bored and closed my eyes waiting for an eventual signal that would hopefully alert me when we¡¯re at the location. ¡­
Thursday, June 12th 7:40PM I was walking along back to my house when Eraga stopped me in my tracks. ¡°I thought you weren¡¯t going outside today Zaikoto?¡± Eraga said with a hint of anger in her voice. I blinked to reaffirm that she was actually in front of me. Eraga, a friend of mine from school who was about 5¡±5 with long black hair that drooped to about right where her torso ended, was standing right in front of me. Eraga, who had a slim body and was wearing a dark blue jacket with what looked to be a plain navy blue shirt on the inside was still standing there. She was wearing a skirt with striped black lines that had a dark blue color filling up the gaps that the lines left when crossed as an additional accessory to her dark blue shorts that went down to her knees. Her shoes consisted of brown leather shoes that had a couple inches to expose the socks one might be wearing, which to Eraga''s case were black socks.Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more. I didn¡¯t intend on seeing Eraga today. She asked if I wanted to go and eat at a restaurant with her but I declined because I said that I was feeling a little bit under the weather. Truth be told, I just didn¡¯t want to head out the house to meet with someone for food but was forced to leave my house because my mom told me to get some exercise. I didn¡¯t expect to see Eraga near where I was walking, which was towards a local market. ¡°Well you see¡­ I went to go get some daily exercise actually.¡± I said. ¡°Uh-huh. I see.¡± Eraga said with a tinge of disappointment on her voice. I started to walk and eventually passed Eraga before she called out to me. Turning back to look I saw her cold brown eyes that contrasted her flaky white skin start to quiver. ¡°It¡¯s not nice to lie to people like this. If this is how you always are then¡­ I¡¯m sure you¡¯ve missed out on a bunch of things before because of your selfishness. I¡¯d just like you to know Zaikoto that unless you start jumping at the things people throw at you, you¡¯ll be stuck there forever.¡± ¡°Stuck where?¡± ¡°Stuck alone, in that cave of nothing.¡± ¡­
I opened my eyes to find my sister sleeping on her side of the carriage, happily snoring away. I glanced out the window and saw green trees fly past us and we eventually came to a halt. ¡°Is this the area?¡± I asked. ¡°You mean Forchess Meadow?¡± The driver asked me with a puzzled tone. I still wasn¡¯t quite sure what this area was called. ¡°Yeah, I mean Forchess Meadow.¡± ¡°Well then, we¡¯re right here. If you need me, remember to press the button on your watch.¡± The driver said with some sort of assurance in his voice. I flicked my sister¡¯s head to wake her up and her eyes slowly began to open. ¡°My head hurts for some reason Zaikoto...¡± She murmured. ¡°I don¡¯t know why you would expect me to have the answer to that but we should get going now.¡± I say to quickly speed up the pace of our conversation. ¡°I have a name you know.¡± ¡­ ¡°I don¡¯t know why you would expect me to have an answer to that Fuenia but I don¡¯t. Now let¡¯s hurry and go search Forchest Meadow.¡± I repeated. ¡°You mean Forchess right?¡± Ignoring what she just asked, I opened the door to the carriage and walked towards the front of the carriage to wait for my sister. Soon after she got out of the carriage we began walking towards the meadow further and further. There really wasn¡¯t anything here besides grass and a couple of boulders every few miles or so. I can see why the king wouldn¡¯t put this place on high priority. After about 30 minutes of looking around far and wide for the princess in Forchess Meadow, it became clear to me that there was no princess here and that I was just wasting my time along with Fuenia¡¯s. All the boulders that we¡¯ve seen are really just there as if someone elaborately planned them there for no reason. No secret message, no hidden message, nothing from the giant rocks at all. I told Fuenia that we should go back to the carriage and take a break before searching again. Although reluctant, Fuenia seemed to agree that a break was needed so we headed off to the carriage. Until an odd, yet pleasant female voice came from behind us. ¡°I wouldn¡¯t leave so soon without the princess if I were you.¡± Turning around, we saw a tall woman, standing with a brown hooded cloak covering her face and what seemed to be most of her body. However, the princess was standing right next to her as well with a grim expression on her face. ¡°Why do you- no wait, just surrender the princess and we¡¯ll be all good!¡± Shouted my sister towards the mysterious cloaked female. ¡°Is there a reason why you want her? Perhaps, to take her hostage?¡± Asked the mysterious girl. ¡°We¡¯re actually on an official quest by the king to retrieve her! A quest from King Afure of Golcon to be exact.¡± ¡°Hmph. Answer my question correctly and I¡¯ll give you to her. If you fail to answer correctly, then I¡¯ll take her with me.¡± ¡°It¡¯s a deal.¡± Shouldn¡¯t we be thinking about the consequences of losing this trivia? Honestly, sometimes my sister can be way into the moment. ¡°Answer me this, who is someone that is selfish, uncaring, and is overall a terrible person?¡± The mysterious person said with an odd hint of joy to her voice. My sister, who looked extremely concentrated seemed to have a hard time answering the question. A question that was more directed towards me than her when I think about it. ¡°¡­You¡¯re the someone in that question, right?¡± My sister said with a small amount of hope in her voice. ¡°Wrong.¡± She flashed a smile towards us as the princess continued to look away from us. We messed up. We messed up big time. How else are we going to retrieve the princess if we already failed once? We. That was it. ¡°How about I answer that question?¡± I said hoping that she would allow me to answer her question. ¡°I will ask a different question, but the rules and prizes have yet to change. This is my only offer now since your sister had failed to answer my question. Are you sure that you want to do this?¡± Asked the cloaked female. I was sure that I¡¯d do everything I could to retrieve the female once I saw her. Because I wasn¡¯t going to be like the old me and do nothing to help. I would for sure do something with my life for once. ¡°...I accept.¡± (2) Zelia Beginnings 2 With a grin, the cloaked lady asked me, ¡°What is red, juicy, and sweet?¡± If the answer to the question is the one I¡¯m thinking of then her question was easier than I thought. I assumed she would¡¯ve asked me about something involving a location of some sort that I¡¯ve never heard of. ¡°It¡¯s an apple.¡± I said. ¡°Correct, you are. You two can have your princess back.¡± The cloaked lady said while pushing the princess towards us. The princess ran towards my sister and me in a fast paced manner and stayed right next to my sister. ¡°Tell me, is this the last time we¡¯ll have to see you?¡± I asked the cloaked lady. ¡°That¡¯s an interesting question coming from you. Who knows, I might return someday again to take the princess again. On an unrelated note, you can have this.¡± Said the cloaked female as she threw a tiny cube at me. I caught the cube and took a closer look at it. It seemed to be just a cube painted in the color gray, which made me pretty suspicious of the cube. ¡°Don¡¯t lose that cube, it¡¯ll be important if you want to do anything with it. And I mean only you. I¡¯ll be taking my farewell now.¡± Said the cloaked lady as she went into a sprinting position and darted away. Why¡¯d I just let her run away? In fact, why did nobody try to stop her? Were we too scared of what she could do next? That was probably it. More importantly, I wonder what this cube does. It doesn¡¯t seem harmful to hold so I¡¯ll carry it with me. ¡°Let¡¯s get going now.¡± I said to direct Fuenia and the princess to follow me. We walked back to the carriage since it seemed like me and Fuenia still remembered the way back. And when we soon arrived to the carriage, the driver gave a huge sigh of relief when he saw the princess. I opened the door to the carriage for my sister and the princess to get in and I joined in after them. ¡°You can start driving now.¡± I told the driver as he waved back to me to signify that he understood me. The carriage started moving and we were now off on our way back to the Afure Castle. I could probably get some good sleep just like I did when we heading to this meadow. As I started to close my eyes, the princess began to speak. ¡°Thanks.¡± She said. My sister was already asleep but I guess it was unnecessary to wake her up for some small talk between me and the princess. ¡°You¡¯re welcome.¡± I said. ¡°That girl was odd you know. I woke up in my bed and when I went to stand up, she was already there. She also flashed some white light in my eye that knocked me out.¡± I¡¯ll give credit where it¡¯s due and say that the cloaked female is talented. Not only was she able to infiltrate the Afure Castle, which was the most well-known and guarded castle in Golcon, but she also did it without anyone knowing she was in the castle. The cherry on top was the fact that she also managed to kidnap the princess too. I expected nothing less from a person as skilled as her. Then again, I didn¡¯t have any expectations in the beginning about her. ¡°Well, we can get this whole situation sorted with your dad. Do you have any ideas about why she would give me this cube?¡± I said as I opened my hands to show the cube to her. ¡°Not a clue, I woke up and saw her just standing on a boulder. Realizing that I was handcuffed to her, I asked what she was doing and she told me that she was just waiting for the right time. Then she grabbed me and ran swiftly to somewhere.¡± ¡°Did you try attacking her or anything like that while you were handcuffed?¡± ¡°Not at all. I was afraid something bad might happen to the people of Golcon if I tried something. Someone as skilled as her that could infiltrate the castle without anyone knowing is an extremely dangerous person, so I decided to just keep my mouth shut.¡± Said the princess. I nodded in an understanding motion and was about to close my eyes before I saw that the princess seemed like she was going to speak again. ¡°I¡¯ve also been wondering what the answer to that first question towards your sister was.¡± Asked the princess. ¡°That¡¯s pretty simple. The answer was me.¡± I replied back.
I awoke to the sight of the castle nearby. Next to me were my sister and the princess, both of which were sleeping. We soon arrived at the front of the castle, just like how I and my sister arrived at the castle, and saw my mom and the king there. After noticing us, my mom and the king both perked up, most likely excited to know that the princess had returned safely. I opened the door to the carriage and it was apparently loud enough to wake both my sister and the princess. Stepping out of the carriage was probably the best thing I¡¯ve done all day. My sister and the princess shortly followed my lead and stepped out of the carriage as well. The king embraced his daughter in a hug before directing his attention to my sister and me. ¡°How¡¯d you find her?¡± Asked the king. ¡°A person was holding her hostage for some reason. We don¡¯t really know why but she also gave me a simple question to answer if I wanted the princess back.¡± I said. ¡°Hm. This situation is quite odd indeed. We¡¯ll have our investigation team ask my daughter questions about it. Thank you for your help, both of you. My daughter couldn¡¯t have been found without the help of you two. It seems odd that this person that held my daughter hostage was waiting for you two, but I¡¯m sure that we¡¯ll find an answer eventually.¡± I nodded to show that I understood what the king was talking about. ¡°Is there any sort of description that you can give me about the person who took my daughter hostage?¡± ¡°They were a female and didn¡¯t have an unpleasant voice¡± was the best information I could manage from my encounter with her.This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source. ¡°I see. I can¡¯t really work well off that information, which means that this person will have to be free from justice¡­¡± ¡°They also had a brown cloak that had a hood.¡± I spoke quickly to make sure the king knew that my memory was not useless. ¡°Is there anything else that could provide us some assistance in locating this female?¡± I showed the cube that she had given me. I wonder why she gave it to me but this might be a major clue as to where she would be. The king took the cube from me and asked if it would be alright with him having it for a little while. ¡°Our analysts have to examine this object. We don¡¯t know how dangerous this cube could be, but seeing how you managed to carry it all the way here without any side effects, I¡¯d say it shouldn¡¯t be too hard to analyze.¡± Explained the king. My mom nudged the king right after he took my cube as if it was a signal that he forgot something. ¡°Your mom and I will take care of all the details about your adventure today. How about you go take a look around the castle with Zelia?¡± The king said. It seemed like he was indicating that the princess would take me and my sister around the castle. I followed the princess towards the castle and left my mom to sort out details probably relating to the money that we would get today. The castle seemed ginormous so my mom should have some time to visit around the castle with me and Fuenia. As I stepped into the castle, I took a deep breath and realized that I really was standing in the Afure Castle. In my whole life I would¡¯ve never imagined this moment happening to me. It truly was a miracle. And no one could tell me otherwise. Sunday, June 15th The tour of the castle was amazing just like I had thought it would be. There were a bunch of rooms all over the place for many different types of activates like eating or just lounging around. The higher parts of the castle were related towards more government like stuff since I imagine it would be a major pain to climb stairs in order to go and eat dinner with your family. After we spent most of the day there we went back home, and while it was disappointing to head back, it certainly was an event that I would remember for a while. Now, there wasn¡¯t hardly much to do around my house after being at the Afure Castle. It almost seemed like a disappointment to be back in my own home after seeing what the Afure Castle offered, but there was nothing I could do about it. Bored. I¡¯m in my room waiting for something to happen. I don¡¯t know what Eraga is doing so I really am out of options to do anything today. I truly am in predicament right now. My mom is doing something and Fuenia is out with her friends doing whatever she normally does with them. I am truly lonely today. ¡°Zaikoto, get over here!¡± Shouted my mom. It¡¯s odd to think that my mom would be calling for me today but it didn¡¯t matter. I finally have an excuse to do something productive. I rushed over to my mom quickly downstairs to see what she wanted. I didn¡¯t expect the king to be there with my mom. I had a bizarre look on my face as I saw the king because there shouldn¡¯t be a reason at all for him being here. ¡°Zaikoto, glad to see you here. We have some things to talk about if you wouldn¡¯t mind.¡± The king said. Of course I wouldn¡¯t mind since I¡¯m talking to the king once again after yesterday. This is truly an odd situation. ¡°Sure¡­ what do you want your highness?¡± I asked. ¡°There¡¯s no need to call me any sort of royalty, you can just call me Phuon and my daughter Zelia. Now onto other matters, I have something of importance to ask you. Would you be willing to go an expedition with my daughter?¡± An expedition? And with the king¡¯s daughter? ¡°What do you mean expedition?¡± ¡°Err, it¡¯s more like traveling. We found out that the cube you gave us wasn¡¯t something from any of the lands here. It also has other properties that we wouldn¡¯t ever think could be real.¡± ¡°Other properties?¡± ¡°It has the ability to travel into another place. However, this place isn¡¯t an ordinary place either. It isn¡¯t a location found in the whole world even. It¡¯s a place to a different dimension.¡± Dimension? Does he mean that theory where alternate worlds exist even though we have no way of proving it? ¡°How did you find all this information from the cube?¡± ¡°There was inscribed info on the cube that could only be seem with a microscope. Our team had a hard time understanding the info from the cube because some of it seemed to be in broken English. ¡°Anyways, the cube lists another place known as Uepi. We don¡¯t know anything else besides that and we were going to send an expedition out to search ¡°Uepi¡± but my daughter insisted on going by herself.¡± ¡°What kind of king would let his daughter go all by herself?¡± I said. That may have seem a little bit too rude now that I think about it, but it¡¯s the truth. After what just happened yesterday, it could be seen as a huge mistake too. ¡°As you would imagine, I instantly said no. However, after giving it some more thought, I think it would be wise for her to go with either you or your sister. I did, however, decide that it would be better for you to go on this trip with her since that mysterious cloaked lady could be there too. After all, she did give you the cube.¡± While the king made sense, I¡¯m still not convinced it was the most logical choice to make. ¡°Is there going to be any backup sent with us to this place you speak of?¡± ¡°At my daughters request, unfortunately, no. However, it would be vital for her to learn some things about the place possibly. I¡¯m still not quite sure on the decision myself but I do believe in my daughter if you¡¯re there with her. So, I¡¯ll ask once again Zaikoto, would you like to go on an expedition with my daughter?¡± There¡¯s a huge chance something could go wrong here too. And I¡¯d be responsible for all of it. But that doesn¡¯t mean I wouldn¡¯t be missing an opportunity. Live and regret, that¡¯s a way of living that I can go by. I also have no reason to refuse since it looks like Eraga would be mad at me for a while. The trip with the king¡¯s daughter surely couldn¡¯t be long. ¡°I accept. But how long will this expedition be?¡± ¡°You¡¯ll be in that place for about a day or so. If you¡¯re feeling uncomfortable then you can leave that place once you¡¯ve been there for a day. If you¡¯re still up to it after, then you¡¯d be there for two days.¡± ¡°Hmm¡­ I see. How do we even get in or out of this ¡°Uepi¡± place?¡± ¡°The cube specifically said that the selected ones could use the cube. We tried activating the teleportation for the cube but it wouldn¡¯t work. We believe that you might be able to open it since you were ¡°one¡± of the people that the cube was handed to. To make the cube work, you would have to say, ¡°Cube, Explode!¡± and something would happen from there. You would say, ¡°Cube, Enclose!¡± to get back to where you came from.¡± I¡¯ve been reassured that this trip will be alright. Most of my questions that are important have been answered so I see nothing that could be wrong. All but one thing. ¡°What if the cube fails on us getting back?¡± ¡°That¡¯s a risk we¡¯ll have to take unfortunately.¡± A risk huh. Another thing I can cross off on my list of risks I¡¯ll possibly never get the opportunity to do again if I miss it. Of course I wouldn¡¯t say no at this point. ¡°I¡¯ll still go but my last question is, when is this expedition happening?¡± I asked. ¡°It¡¯ll start pretty soon. My daughter doesn¡¯t want to be held up forever so it¡¯s more like if you accepted to go with her, then we would leave to go to ¡°Uepi¡± immediately. The king replied. ¡°I¡¯ll go now. Actually, I don¡¯t kn-¡° ¡°It¡¯s okay Zaikoto. We¡¯ll be here waiting for you when you get back. At least I will.¡± My mom said. So it really is okay to leave this place for now. I¡¯m excited but nervous at the same time. There¡¯s a word for that if I remember correctly. I believe it was ¡°anxious¡±. I¡¯m quite anxious as of right now. I nod my head to signify that I¡¯m ready to go and walk with the king to out the front door. Outside was another carriage, similar to the one that had brought my family to the Afure Castle, and was ready for departure. I stepped inside with the king and the carriage began to move. I guess I won¡¯t be bored at all today, but it¡¯s a little bit odd to think that the king would allow his daughter to do this. He must have a high amount of belief in her to let this happen at all. A higher amount of belief than anybody I know. With a sigh of relief, I close my eyes once again in the carriage. After all, it¡¯s not every day that miracles happen twice. In this case, it wouldn¡¯t be two miracles though. It was more like a stroke of luck that kept on rolling. I turned a little bit to make my body comfortable before I headed off to sleep. It was tiring having to know that I could¡¯ve skipped this situation entirely. Entirely, and never look back on it. That¡¯s the mindset that I¡¯ll always have. And I¡¯ll never regret it. (3) Kuzi Heart 1 In the carriage, it was explained to me that I would also have a backpack full of things to help me in Uepi. It carried basic essentials that would help me survive along with the princess if some situations called for it. Once we arrived at the Afure Castle, we stepped out of the carriage only for my face to be greeted by the king¡¯s daughter. Her face had an expression that basically said ¡°hurry up¡± to me. She was wearing nice clothes that consisted of a plain pink shirt that had its sleeves covered by a dark gray jacket she was wearing. She was also wearing a black skirt with white socks covered by her brown dress shoes. The impatient look on her face gave away the fact that we would have no time to do some small talk before heading into Uepi. The princess handed me the cube that the mysterious cloaked person left for me and I gripped it tightly. There had to be a reason for me having this cube. No way would someone leave behind a mystical cube for no reason besides just giving it to someone. I ignored these thoughts and continued to look at the cube. After I finished my continous staring at it, I was ready to say the words to open it. After all, it looks like i¡¯m the only one here who can open it anyway. ¡°Cube, Explode!¡± were the words I blurted out for the cube to open. Nothing happened around me. However, the cube was starting to heat up now, and it¡¯s heat was rising exponentially so I dropped it to the ground in order to not burn my hand alive. A blue circle soon appeared on top of the cube and a light came bursting from it. I stared in amazement as a oval-shaped hole appeared in the light, with the light soon vanishing, leaving behind only the oval-shaped hole. The inside of the hole, which was a white light, seemed to leave an enchanting feeling to it. ¡°Shall we head in?¡± The king¡¯s daughter asked. ¡°We shall, my princess.¡± I replied. ¡°No need for formalities now, at this point you can just call me Zelia.¡± Said the princess. Nodding in agreement, I walked towards the portal, with the princess ahead of me slightly until a realization came to me. As soon as the princess was about to step into the portal, I stopped her and turned my direction towards the king. ¡°How am I supposed to pick up the cube to take it with me?¡± I asked. ¡°That¡¯s¡­ actually a good point.¡± said the king. This was a major concern because if i could not pick up the cube with me then I¡¯d be stuck in Uepi forever. Which was not what I wanted out of the expedition. ¡°How about we try throwing something at the cube? There¡¯s a chance that the portal isn¡¯t connected to the cube anymore since that bright light vanished.¡± Zelia said. That was a good theory, however, we didn¡¯t have anything to throw at the cube. Suddenly, the cube was knocked away by the king himself, who had thrown a small rock at the cube. As the princess had thought, the portal was no longer connected to the cube, which meant that we could get back to Golcon and not be stuck in Uepi forever. I went to go and pick up the cube with the princess following right behind me. I tightly clenched the cube in my hand before I went to go and walk towards the portal again. I walked closer and closer and closer until my face was almost touching the portal. ¡°You¡¯re taking too long.¡± Zelia said and she grabbed onto the back of me. I asked, ¡°What are you doing back there?¡±. ¡°I¡¯m doing this and you¡¯re gonna thank me for it later.¡± and suddenly I was thrusted into the portal. Someone¡¯s weight had also followed me too since I could feel some heavy weight behind my back. I had landed down on the ground of wherever the portal took us. I really was in a different world. I could tell by the texture of whatever this ground was that I really was in a place different from the Afure Castle that I was at just a little bit ago. Surely, the princess wouldn¡¯t be laying on me forever. I felt her getting off my back before I stood up. Turning around, I saw no portal behind us, which meant that we had successfully crossed over into Uepi. I turned back to look at what our surroundings were until I realized that we were just in a blank, white area. ¡°Hello there, you two. Please stand a few steps away from each other.¡± A female voice said to us from somewhere. Assuming that the person wasn¡¯t in the room with us hidden, then maybe we teleported to some trick room. The princess however, had already began to follow these instructions, leaving us a few steps apart from each other.Stolen story; please report. ¡°Thank you. Now beginning analyzation of bodies." The female voice said. We stood standing there for a couple of seconds while a big circle that could change colors swirled around us. After waiting, the circle had disappeared. ¡°Analyzation complete. Now sorting.¡± The princess and I had no idea what to do besides standing still for a little bit. ¡°Sorting complete. Proceeding to teleport to Muei.¡± The voice said. A white glow illuminated from the bottom of the princess and I before blinding us with an extremely bright light. ¡°Hello there you two! Welcome to Muei!¡± A female voice said. Another location? This was turning out to be an odd sort of event, but when the white light vanished it left a girl with pale-blue hair standing in front of me. I blinked to make sure that I wasn¡¯t imagining what I was seeing. Past the pale-blue haired girl was a wide school with a color scheme of brown, it certainly couldn¡¯t be real. ¡°Where am I exactly?¡± I asked. I heard a slight cough from the side of me and saw Zelia standing next to me as well. I guess this meant that me and Zelia had landed in the same place together. It was a cough to signify that her presence was not lacking. ¡°You¡¯re in Muei, a place for the magically gifted. You were sent here from the teleportation room that determines whether you¡¯re capable as a magic user or have the potential to use abilities.¡± explained the female. When i think about it, this girl doesn¡¯t look that much older or younger than me. ¡°It¡¯s a pleasure to meet you, whoever you are. My question is, what are we going to do here?¡± Zelia asked. ¡°The name¡¯s Kuzi for future reference. What we¡¯re doing here is getting you assigned to your dorms and getting you suited for when the school year starts. My info logs tell me that your names are Zelia and Zaikoto, correct? Interesting names if I¡¯ve ever heard any. ¡°Anyways, this school was meant for those with magical potential and will include daily classes for four days with a fifth day being for studying. The two other days of the week are weekends, which allows you to allocate your time as you please. We also have occasional breaks.¡± Kuzi explained this with a very informative voice, which was welcomed. However, the fact that this Uepi place really is just two places separated is fascinating, and the fact that not everybody could have an equal shot at being at one location versus the other was interesting as well. ¡°If you would follow me please.¡± Kuzi said to direct us towards the path we were going to head towards. As we approached the school, it made more sense for the school to be this wide for the dormitories inside. ¡°The dorms are sorted by gender, however, since school hasn¡¯t started yet then we¡¯re allowed to just walk around.¡± I guess I¡¯ll follow this person around to get a gist of the school so I know what I¡¯m actually doing here. Plus, I hopefully wouldn¡¯t be jailed for doing something I had no idea I could be jailed for. --- A couple of hours has passed since the tour with Kuzi and I¡¯ve been laying in my bed trying to sleep since. I can¡¯t really sleep though since my brain is a little puzzled at the info I was told today. It turns out that the school year starts in about two days from today which isn¡¯t that long. In this world, it¡¯s currently September 01, a Saturday, in the year 2010. Zelia and I had two days to prepare for the school year. We agreed that we would go back to the entrance of the school to open the cube once again after a hour from when the tour ended and head back to Golcon. ¡°Can I come in?¡± a voice said. ¡°Sure.¡± I replied. If I was being honest, the voice sounded like someone that I would know well. ¡°Hi there Zaikoto!¡± said the ecstatic voice of Kuzi. I wasn¡¯t too happy to see Kuzi right now nor was I angry at her since I was just having a think session. I¡¯m not stupid enough to not know that there¡¯s most likely a bigger reason for her coming into my room than just to say some greetings to me. ¡°Is there something you need?¡± I asked. ¡°Hahaha, straight to the point are we? Well, truth be told, I need some help.¡± ¡°Help? Is someone after you?¡± ¡°No, it¡¯s just that I don¡¯t have a person to study with for magic so I was wondering if, um, you would like to be partners in that area.¡± That was a odd way to phrase ¡°Can you help me with studying occasionally?¡± but I had no reason to decline. ¡°Sure. I see no reason why I should refuse after all.¡± ¡°Oh my, thank you Zaikoto! I promise it won¡¯t be a decision that you¡¯d regret later!¡± ¡°Why would I regret studying with you?¡± ¡°It¡¯s just that, in my previous school, I wasn¡¯t well liked. I was just considered someone easy to pick on if that¡¯s an easier way to put it. I hated every second of it, and when it came to choosing partners for group projects, I was always excluded. It¡¯s just not easy, you know? Some people can be very cruel..¡± ¡°Why did people pick on you?¡± ¡°I was the person with the highest grades in my school. People didn¡¯t approach me though, I don¡¯t know the reasoning for it, but maybe it¡¯s because they thought I¡¯d be rude or something since I had the highest grades in the school. It sucked a lot. When I heard that I was able to become one of the people to greet new students to Muei, despite being a new student myself, I was really overwhelmed. It finally felt like the things I did in my life paid off for once, which was nice.¡± ¡°Have you asked other people to be your study partner?¡± ¡°N-no. I just thought that maybe you would be my study partner because you¡¯ve been the kindest person I¡¯ve met while trying to help students get prepared for Muei.¡± She was blushing as she said that. ¡°What about some other girls? You couldn¡¯t have waited this long to pick a partner like me.¡± ¡°Like you? The other girls who registered for Muei were mostly in friend groups, and if they weren¡¯t, they were extremely rude. It was odd to see, but nonetheless I do look forward to being at this school.¡± ¡°That¡¯s¡­ quite the backstory you got there Kuzi. I¡¯d like to stay, but I have some plans with Zelia so I¡¯ll have to be heading out now.¡± ¡°Have fun with Zelia! I¡¯ll see you around later Zaikoto!¡± ¡°I¡¯ll see you around too, Kuzi.¡± I flashed a quick smile before walking out the door to go and meet Zelia. Uepi doesn¡¯t seem like a bad place to live at. I don¡¯t know much about what happens in Uepi but I do know that I¡¯d enjoy my time here for sure. With girls like Kuzi existing here too, it sort of excites me at what could happen here if I stayed for a long while. But that wasn¡¯t my point, I was moreso pondering about why the cloaked lady would give me a cube to such a nice place when I¡¯m sure that there are bundles of deserted locations for the cube to travel to. Only a deeper investigation would help this theory. And it was up to me and the princess to help find it out eventually. Kuzi might be able to assist us too, but that¡¯s just a small possibility. A possibility that I would look forward to. (4) Kuzi Heart 2 ¡°Cube Enclose!¡± Nothing was happening. I said the words that the king had wanted me to, yet nothing was happening. This meant that one of two things happened with the cube. One, the cube had malfunctioned and something had gone wrong with the cube. Two, the cube had other properties that I was not informed of, which would make sense as well. I don¡¯t think that the cube had other properties, otherwise the king would¡¯ve told me about them seeing as how it was the only way back to Golcon. Which meant that something was wrong with the cube and I had no idea why. ¡°What¡¯s wrong Zaikoto? Is the cube not working?¡± Zelia asked. ¡°Yeah, it isn¡¯t working at all.¡± I replied. ¡°Well, this is quite a problem we got then. We¡¯re better off finding out why the cube isn¡¯t working later then since this school should have some magical laboratory or something to look at it.¡± ¡°Why¡¯d you want me to open this cube if it hasn¡¯t even been a day since we arrived at Uepi?¡± ¡°Why did you come here then if you knew that?¡± ¡°I thought you didn¡¯t like the place so I came to open the cube for you!¡± ¡°Well you thought wrong, idiot. Why would I be scared of this place when nothing scary has happened at all?¡± I didn¡¯t say anything related to this place being scary. That was just a false assumption held by Zelia. ¡°Nevermind, let¡¯s just go and take this cube back to where it needs to go.¡± ¡°And where is that?¡± ¡°Back to your face.¡± ¡°Haha, very funny.¡± A failed joke. A mistake on my part. ¡°Anyways, we¡¯ll just have to find someone who knows a laboratory.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t you know anyone who could assist you there?¡± That, someone, was Kuzi, but I doubt she actually knew anything major about this school. Or rather, any connections to higher-ups, at this school. ¡°No, but maybe you should hold onto this cube for now.¡± ¡°And do what with it?¡± ¡°Find a laboratory or something with it, once you do that then I¡¯ll gladly assist in fixing it.¡± ¡°Maybe later then, I¡¯m tired for today. I guess I¡¯ll just see you at an actual school day.¡± That wasn¡¯t a good statement to go by because we had two days to fill in the gaps. Not like that was an issue, but I¡¯m sure she could figure something out by then.
September 02, a Sunday, in the year 2010. I was waiting in my room when I heard a knock at my door. ¡°Can I come in?¡± a familiar voice said. ¡°Go ahead,¡± I replied. ¡°Hey, Zaikoto!¡± said Kuzi. Kuzi was dressed in a plain blue T-shirt and a simple dress to top it off. A casual look is what I¡¯d call it. ¡°I was wondering if you¡¯d want to do anything today, y¡¯know, to maybe get to know the school or something¡± Kuzi inquired. ¡°Sure, we can go do that.¡± ¡°Great! Let¡¯s get going then, don¡¯t want to return too late then, otherwise, we won¡¯t get good sleep for tomorrow.¡± Right, tomorrow was the day right before the school started, so I had some time to go and check around the place as well.
The school itself wasn¡¯t small at all and had a fine taste for color patterns. The school''s main colors consisted of a bright burning blue mixed along with a tasteful purple accent. The colors contrasted well with each other, and it led to being able to stare at it for a while without being an eyesore. However, a small section of the school was brown, but it wasn¡¯t too noticeable. The school itself stood on a flat even ground with bundles of bunches sprinkled about every side of the building, which was large compared to the size of the amount of walking the ground had. The building itself stretched 30 stories tall, with chunks of the building used for different departments. The school was filled with tasteful tainted windows that reflected the inside of the building slightly, which I supposed was for protection. The walk path wasn¡¯t small either and could fit about 5 people walking in the same row, which was a decent size for the school. An outdoor pool, sports field, and gym room all accompanied the school¡¯s campus as well, which lead to a complete campus tour, supposedly.Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site. ¡°Over here is the courtyard. How about we go and check it out?¡± asked Kuzi. We walked over to the courtyard and saw that there was a bunch of people there eating. It appeared that other people were actually eating at the courtyard as well, which was a surprise to me. We looked around for a place to sit down and eat since the courtyard had a nearby lunch cart. ¡°I¡¯ll go get us some sandwiches! Do you have any specific kind you like?¡± asked Kuzi. ¡°I don¡¯t have a kind in mind, you can get whatever though.¡± I replied. ¡°Hmm¡­ I suppose I¡¯ll have to think of something for you then. I¡¯ll be back in a little bit!¡± Kuzi said as she merrily skipped away. Who even skips anymore? Besides that, it was awfully nice of Kuzi to take me out to get some food with her, even if it was accidental. It felt better knowing that we weren¡¯t the only ones at the courtyard so that it wouldn¡¯t be too awkward with Kuzi. I wouldn¡¯t think that anything I do with Kuzi was awkward but it seemed to me that people could be silently judging me, so it¡¯s better to have a majority over a tiny group. Kuzi returned with the sandwiches in her hand, and they were a decent size for what was paid. I don¡¯t know how much the currency equals to my world, but it¡¯s 1000 Vyi¡¯s. The sandwich I had was a simple ham and cheese sandwich while Kuzi had a garlic chicken sandwich. ¡°Thanks for the sandwiches. I¡¯ll repay you back for them eventually.¡± I said doubtfully. ¡°It¡¯s no problem at all! Consider it my gift for going with me to check the school out. Speaking of which, I hope we get to sit next to each other in class. I heard it¡¯s assigned seating for a while from other people.¡± ¡°Well, I hope so too. I hope we¡¯re going to the same class though.¡± ¡°Well, we are!¡± ¡°How would you know?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t you look around? It was posted on the class board yesterday. We¡¯re in the same class and so is your other friend.¡± That was real informative. ¡°Is there anything else I missed?¡± ¡°Apparently our school outfits will be delivered at one point today or early tomorrow. We¡¯re also getting our classroom number along with that.¡± ¡°Alright. Makes sense to me. Hopefully nothing bad happens bad tomorrow.¡± ¡°I hope so too. We got each other backs though, so nothing can go wrong though.¡± Kuzi did a slight chuckle after mentioning this. ¡°Yeah, I guess so. Toast for the future I suppose.¡± I held my sandwich up for a clink with Kuzi¡¯s sandwich which she promptly did. We continued eating and exploring the campus then. At the time we got back, it turned out to be almost nighttime but I thanked her for letting me go with her to explore the school. I then unlocked my room and saw my clothes standing there with a paper detailing me about how to get to my room. I put the clothes on and headed towards the bathroom to look at myself. I saw my dark brown hair there, still in its generic down position like you¡¯d see on an upside-down plant, and my light skin showing the glow of the bathroom light. My height, which was about average if you asked me, seemed to compliment the simple clothing of the Muei High School, which consisted of a simple suit and tie. The suit, with a white inside and a light blue outside, decorated with a simple striped pattern of purple and brown, didn¡¯t look bad at all. In fact, the beige pants and simple dress shoes made the attire seemed almost too good to be wearing and weren¡¯t uncomfortable at all, which wasn¡¯t surprising as this school managed to have a high rate of graduates. Speaking of which, I remember needing to look at the standards for Muei High School before I had to go tomorrow so that way I wouldn¡¯t be totally lost on how to act normal. I went to sit down and indulged myself in the mandatory standards for this school, and lay awoke for a while before I realized that I had fallen asleep there.
September 03, a Monday, in the year 2010. I was awake and prepared myself for the day. Today being my first day, I had to hope nothing went wrong, otherwise, I wouldn¡¯t be able to talk to Kuzi about getting help with the cube. I got out of my room and followed the instructions to the classroom, and made it in there with time to spare. I went inside and found a large room filled with light brown desks in a row-by-row situation. To me, it seemed like there were 50 students in the classroom, but this was just an estimation. I took a look around for Kuzi and found her sitting around the 3rd row. To be clear, there were 6 desks in every row, with there being 5 rows. I still don¡¯t know how there 50 students in the room. I was about to approach Kuzi when I was stopped by a stern but lovely voice. ¡°You there, what¡¯s your name?¡± ¡°Zaikoto¡¯s my nam-¡± ¡°1st row, 3 seats to the building left, Zaikoto.¡± The person of authority stood there with a smile. Her hair color of a light black complimented her outfit of a dressed sort, complete with a dress and a button-on shirt. She had green eyes that seemed to work well with her normal-like face shape and light skin color. I took my seat next to the person already sitting there. I looked at them, only to realize they were another female. They had a light skin color that matched their dark purple hair and a simple face of boredom. Their posture wasn¡¯t bad at all and their red eyes seemed to show a sort of individual determination. ¡°What¡¯re you looking at?¡± The person asked me. Shoot, I must¡¯ve stared too intently. ¡°I was looking at the wall, it has a great color, doesn¡¯t it?¡± ¡°No, it¡¯s just light purple, if it was a great color then maybe it¡¯d be on the outside of the school.¡± ¡°Right, that would make sense.¡± I tried to turn away but I had somehow managed to catch this person''s attention. ¡°What¡¯s your name?¡± ¡°Zaikoto. What about you?¡± ¡°I¡¯m Kryis, nice to meet you Zaikoto. Looks like we¡¯re going to be partners in this class so I hope you don¡¯t disturb me too much.¡± ¡°Nice to meet you to-¡± What? ¡°Disturb you?¡± ¡°Yes, your blatant staring distracts me, so I¡¯d appreciate if you¡¯d stop looking at me like that.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not doing anything suggestive of the sort!¡± I fiercely proclaimed. ¡°I didn¡¯t say that, I meant you to stop staring at my body parts!¡± Kryis roared back. ¡°What? How dare you accuse me of such derogatory ideas!¡± ¡°It¡¯s not my fault that insolent little idiots like you keep star-¡± ¡°Class is starting now.¡± Proclaimed the teacher. It seemed as if she had purposely timed that. ¡°So, welcome to your class. I¡¯m Ms. Saci, your teacher for this classroom. Now then, let¡¯s get some things straight. I don¡¯t want any idiots disrupting my classroom so if I find something unjustified according to the standards at this school in my classroom I have every right to kick you out. Glad we got that settled.¡± A slight smirk appeared on her face, as to show some kind of intentful malice. ¡°Alright, now I¡¯ll explain how this magic system works. Listen closely or you won¡¯t grasp the fundamentals. This is more of a test to see who¡¯ll pay attention but we can ignore that for now. ¡°As you know, Muei is a school for those magically gifted. We use these powers to assist in our everyday lives and make the world a better place. Now then, magic is divided into two sections, Protus magic, and Lilametric magic. Protus magic, or PMA for short, is the more common magic you¡¯ll see in your life. Lilametric magic, also known as LMA, is the less common but heavily strong magic. LMA requires more focus than your average user would, which is why it¡¯s less common but still used today due to its vast potential. ¡°PMA is used to interfere, start, and change an interaction or object. This is used quite commonly throughout as you would imagine and requires minimal focus. It only has some harmful moves, but they aren¡¯t powerful enough if you¡¯re just an average magic user. We use this kind of magic with our government to structure a well-built society.¡± ¡°LMA is the kind of magic that can change foundations. It¡¯s the base of magic that requires actual skill to use. LMA consists of natural elements, object construction, and heavy influence in that magic range. You¡¯ll only learn some of it as they¡¯re fundamental to magic but aren¡¯t all needed. We use LMA in battles and official projects because of the needed resources to use it. No sacrifices or anything, but the user themselves must display great qualities that tie into LMA. In fact, if you can¡¯t learn LMA, you¡¯re better off just quitting now. Any questions? ¡°None? Good, as I can talk about things other than magic now. First off, anybody who uses magic is deemed a magic user, and will be given a rank to show what skill they¡¯re at. Some never go past the basics, some do. There are 5 ranks, so hopefully you¡¯ll all go far into magic, as they¡¯re what helps make our future. As students, you¡¯ll learn how to use magic, put it into use, and learn about the subsections of each magic type and the combination you can do with them. PMA and LMA can combine to be PLMA which involves nature and time itself, but only 100 people in history have been able to do this so far. ¡°Now that I¡¯ve covered the basics of magic, who¡¯s ready to start learning about how to make things stack on top of each other?¡± The same smile she had earlier, which could be deemed a grin, came back once again. I understood the basics now and was not ready to start learning about magic. And hopefully learn about how I can use this darn traveling cube.