19 Black Slit

Sitting there in my bedroom I waited patiently like a monk meditating in the mountains.

I had woken up extra early for a specific reason.

In my hands was my artifact, the blade wrapped in bandages.

As I felt the connection between myself and the blade strengthen in the span of a few seconds, I knew that meant Gon/Junipa had awoken from its slumber.

'Good morning,' I greeted Gon.

'Good morning master,' it greeted me back before yawning like a real person would.

'Would you like to hear what's been happening since you fell asleep?'

'I'd love to, master.'

Reciting the events of the past few days, Gon complimented me here and there as if not wanting to fall behind in the list of my favorite artifacts.

'I wish I could've seen your acting,' she said. 'My first master always wanted to try joining the theater as an actor after retiring as a knight of King Leon the 3rd's round table, but unfortunately, his life was cut short.'

I consoled Gon about her loss but she responded, 'Thank you master for the kind words but I'm alright. I liked my first master but he was an idiot who never knew when to retreat. His death... was no one's fault but his own. May he rest in peace.'

As the two of us continued speaking much to the jealousy of the other artifacts who were hungry for my attention, I had reached the academy campus.

Placing Gon into a magical box that was issued to students for their weapons, I told her, 'I'll be back for you in a few hours.'

The box could morph to fit the shape of your weapons and once the lid is closed, the box can shrink just enough so that it could fit into your locker which was where I was putting it.

It was Thursday, three whole days had passed since Maya revealed Bell Agnus' secret to the entire school.

I no longer had gazes of hatred following me around the campus but rather the occasional waves as I walk past them.

'Look how fragile the mind is,' said Kimi. 'One day they hate you. The next day, they appreciate you. They're blindly putting their trust in an article that has no source other than the writer herself.'

'That's the power of trust,' I told Kimi. 'When you have done no wrong, people are willing to blindly follow your words and believe in them simply because of your track record. It could also be the same for the opposite. When you do too much wrong, even if the evidence doesn't point to you, others will still believe you committed the crime.'

'You're very wise for your age, master,' said Kimi who didn't know that I wasn't truly the teenager known as Bell Agnus but merely someone who possessed his body on the behalf of a stupid writer/god.

Placing my thumb on my locker, it read the fingerprint and unlocked. Opening it up, I placed the box that Gon was inside.

"Hey," a voice greeted me from behind.

Closing the locker, I saw a girl whose lavender-purple hair wasn't tied up like usual but instead was hanging freely like a waterfall.

I returned the greeting, "Morning Peaches."

"What'd you just put in your locker?" she asked.

Since Monday, I've seen Peaches numerous times in passing and although I wouldn't consider us friends, we were acquainted enough that I didn't mind the nosy question.

"Just a weapon box," I answered.

"What for?" she asked.

I responded, "It's just... since everything was revealed and people are no longer staring at me with daggers, I feel comfortable enough to bring my weapon to school without having to worry about other's reactions."

"You care too much about others' opinions," she told me.

I agreed with her sentiment as the only opinion that matters is yours but since I was playing a character, I replied, "Perhaps you're right but... my mother taught me to treat others with the same care that I'd want others to give to me."

"Mommy's boy I see," she said while taking the wrapper off a lollipop which she tossed into the air and caught with her tongue.

"Is that a bad thing?" I asked her.

"Never said that," she grinned. Pushing the heart-shaped sunglasses up to her eyes, she continued, "I'm a mommy's girl so I can't judge."

Like the free-spirited person she is, before I could respond, she gave me a wink, skipped off into the distance, turned the corner, and disappeared from my view.

Perhaps she and Diana had a conversation about where Diana stood with me because she was friendlier compared to our first meeting.

Walking into my classroom, a few students greeted me, and no longer were they treating me like a zoo animal.

As I sat down, the student in front of me turned from his chair and asked me, "Did you study for the test?"

"Yeah. I'm pretty confident about it. What about you?"

"Not at all. I stayed up late last night going over the notes but... it's so damn confusing. Whoever decided to add letters into math, deserves to be waterboarded."

It took a while but the extremely sociable students were beginning to approach me in hopes of befriending me.

Some of them did it because they saw the value in my last name while others were genuine in their desire to become Bell's friend.

I could differentiate between the two types but I didn't discriminate because either way, I was becoming more and more accepted into the various circles at the academy.

The three who were the most genuine of wanting to befriend me for my character rather than my status, perhaps even considering themselves to already be my friends, were the usual trio.

The Three Stooges: Jess, Francis, and Cormier.

"Lead us to victory," said Francis who was growing in confidence more and more every class.

When I asked him why, he explained that he found himself a girlfriend who he met when he was at one of the academy libraries searching for a book on how to take care of a magical egg.

She was an assistant at the library and although they hadn't known each other for even a month yet, the connection they had felt like they were friends of many years.

Jess told him that she only approached him because of the egg but after meeting Francis' girlfriend in person, she came back the next class with a changed mind.

"Stop relying on Bell for everything," said Jess, rolling her eyes. "You need to pick up some of the slack otherwise we're never going to grow as individual leaders in our rights."

"I agree," said Cormier.

The four of us were always paired together for group activities which made me realize that the students were always intended to have a designated group of four for the whole semester but because of my absence, these three were at a disadvantage for months.

"Fine. Fine," sighed Francis. "Bell doesn't even mind but you two are always on my case."

"That's because he's too nice to tell you that you're a leech," responded Jess.

She sounded mean but they were close enough that they could banter like this without getting offended.

As we were finishing the group assignment in an actual classroom with chairs and desks rather than the arena we were often in, I kept checking the time now and then with a glance at the clock on the wall.

As the minute hand was five ticks from 12, I raised my hand and asked Vivian if I could use the restroom.

With permission, quickly I stepped out of the classroom and made my way towards my locker.

Taking out the box, I slammed my locker shut and began making my way toward the main staircase. Climbing up the twelve flights of stairs, I reached the door at the very top.

Opening it, I reached the rooftop and took out the expensive pair of glasses from my jacket.

Although I didn't expect there to be anything that would obstruct my vision, better safe than sorry.

I understood that the butterfly effect was real but I was curious if being inside a story would ensure that major plot events would occur regardless of my interference in the world.

As I looked up at the sky and saw a black slit in the middle of the blue, I let out a sigh of relief.

Yes, I was in danger but also, the assurance that my recollection of major events would still provide me with an advantage was a guarantee that I needed if I wanted to succeed in my plans.

Looking down at my watch, I began counting down in my head, awaiting the change to the black slit.

Counting down from a minute, as I reached the final few seconds before I hit zero, the black slit above me began to open up, revealing an eye in the middle of the sky.

It was looking down onto the academy, slowly moving around as if observing the land below.

One by one, the adults at school began to exit as they sensed the sudden appearance of mana in the sky and a few of them flew up to get closer.

Nobody knew what the eye meant but they could infer that it wasn't anything good so students were starting to be evacuated.

It was absolute chaos below and I was checking my phone, seeing many students posting pictures or videos of the eye. A few of them were even live-streaming before having their phone snatched by a teacher.

In the meanwhile, I tried to suppress my presence as much as I could and hid myself on the rooftop, waiting for the next part of the event.

I crossed my finger, hoping that the butterfly effect didn't affect this particular part of the novel and that the events would play out the same way they did.

It was a little messed up of me to pray for such a thing because demonic monsters began crawling out of the group like zombies in a graveyard, but it was for the greater good.

'Please come. Please come,' I repeated over and over to myself as I waited in silence.

Hearing the door open, I let out a second sigh of relief.

From my hidden location, I saw Diana, out of breath running up twelve flights of stairs.

"What are you?" she asked in disbelief as she looked up at the eyeball that was staring directly at the headmistress who was flying in the air and was mere meters away.

While other students and teachers were fending off the demonic monsters that numbered in the thousands, Diana had the worst luck.

She happened to be in the very place where one of the eyeball owner's generals would emerge at the academy with the intent of infiltrating amid the chaos to steal an item that was kept safely in the basement of the main building.

Why didn't the general appear closer to the basement if that was the case?

Because the author of the terrible novel didn't think about that.

Sounds of bats fluttering their wings could be heard and when Diana turned around, a figure began to form from the bats absorbing into one.

She took a few steps back, tired of what she was witnessing.

It was something that she was taught about in history class but she never imagined that it would happen to her.

Diana felt like sharp fingernails were tapping against her back like an eerie teasing and although the danger was in front of her, if she turned around, she felt like she'd be dead to a second figure which didn't exist.

'I'm in danger,' she thought to herself.

That was what the novel had to say about this scene and although I couldn't read her mind, I believe that she's thinking the same thing.