18 FIFTEEN | THE LIGHT AT THE END OF THE TUNNEL
With these questions to ponder over, Ilise hadn't noticed that they'd reached the surface. They came out through a grille. Having the light shine in her eyes again was both welcome and an absolute nightmare at the same time, seeing as Ilise's eyes had accustomed to the darkness of the vents.
Marten was standing by to receive them. A squadron of paramedics rushed onto the scene, carting Siegfried and Roza off to a nearby tent.
"Congratulations, Ilise, Rei and Tobias. You were the first to activate the Monolith and exit the facility. That, I think warrants you some well-deserved break time. You will be pleased to know that you have been guaranteed a place in the next exam. Rita will accompany you to the lounge. Your friends will be with you shortly. The nurse tells me that," Marten stopped to listen to the tinny voice emanating from his earpiece, "They will be perfectly fine. Siegfried has sustained some second-degree burns, and Rozaliya simply requires time to rest. Go on, then. Enjoy your break."
Marten shooed them off and returned to the control station. Ilise couldn't help but sneak a peek at the computers as they walked by. The room in which they'd found the Monolith looked worse for wear. The unconscious bodies of countless students lay prostrate on the ground. Some of them had singed uniforms or a frozen appearance to them. The remaining Einherjar and Valkyrja had formed a perimeter around the Monolith, and Ilise was pleased to note that Henri was among them. His sword was nowhere to be seen.
"We meet again, Ilise."
Rita curtsied at the three of them. She was, oddly enough, dressed up in a frilly version of Mistilteinn's uniform. Ilise had seen Bianca's dress uniform before, and Rita's looked absolutely nothing like it. Rei and Toby shared the same opinion, for they too were staring at Rita with a mix of awe, disbelief and something like-
Lust. Yes. That was it. Ilise had never pegged Rei for the sort, but the blush that was currently creeping across his face was most certainly not from the sunlight.
"Rei. Tobias. My name is Rita. I am the student council's secretary, and if you'd follow me, I will escort you to the lounge. Refreshments will be served there. I will come and pick you up upon the beginning of the third examination."
Toby raised his hand, his face as red as his hair.
"So, uh, this lounge thingy - are we going to be the only ones in there, or are all the students going to join us?"
Rita smiled sadistically.
"The other two teams who successfully inputed their code into the Monolith will accompany you. Or, I should say, would accompany you. They are currently indisposed and, if memory serves, fighting a few Einherjar on sub-level B4. I expect that they won't make it out of Helheim without the intervention of Marten's men." She giggled at the thought of multiple students being felled by the Einherjar.She appeared to relish the very idea of that happening, and she accompanied it with a sadistic grin that quickly put an end to any hope Toby and Rei had of pursuing a romantic relationship with her. Her rose-red eyes glimmered with mischief. "With that said, please, right this way."
Toby and Rei trooped off towards the direction in which Rita was pointing.
"Ilise, a moment?"
Ilise stopped dead in her tracks.
"Y-yes?" She asked. Coming out onto the surface had seemed to take her mind out of the deep freeze that being in active combat had put it in. Her instincts reasserted themselves, and Ilise found herself wringing her hands again.
"Bianca would like to speak to you in the student council room. Don't worry about the food; there'll be some there. And it is, dare I say, much better than what they'll be serving in the lounge."
--
1545 HOURS
ALPHEIM
THE STUDENT COUNCIL ROOM.
FIFTEEN MINUTES BEFORE THE CONCLUSION OF THE SECOND EXAMINATION; OR, A FEW SECONDS BEFORE ILISE ROSSWEISSE'S IMPENDING DOOM.
"Welcome to the council room, Ilise."
The first thought Ilise had upon stepping into the student council room was how much it resembled Bianca's home. It wasn't just the decor or anything - Ilise suspected it had a lot to do with how Bianca was seated. Most of the other councillors were occupied, leaving only Bianca and Rita.
Bianca, despite being the vice-president, had made herself comfortable in the president's 'throne'. Her legs were propped on the table in a most un-vice-president-like way, although she'd already exhibited a lot of un-vice-president-like tendencies by threatening the entire student body with a glowing sword.
"Have a cup of tea. You must be rattled, after what went down during your exam."
"Y-you saw?" Ilise's hands shook profusely as she brought the cup of tea to her mouth. It calmed her nerves almost immediately. There had to be some sort of magic involved in its brewing. Her hands stopped shaking and the fog that'd settled on her mind cleared. Her injuries no longer hurt, although they showed no sign of healing.
"Woah. Is this a potion or something?"
Bianca laughed. "No, no. Rita's just very, very, good at making tea. I don't know what she puts in that stuff, but it's amazing. Hopefully there aren't any drugs or ground-up Pasitheans in there."
"You flatter me." Rita said cheekily. "I can assure you, no one was harmed in the making of this tea. Yggdrasil grows most of the leaves I use. If you'd like, I could teach you how to brew a good cuppa."
"On that note, Ilise, you should rest up. We'll discuss the specifics of your examinations once we get home, but until then take care of yourself. The school chef doesn't make parfaits, unfortunately. I've been trying to convince Rita to learn how to make one for an eternity, but she's surprisingly resistant to making things that aren't tea."
Ilise was hit by a pang of jealousy. It was irrational for her to feel as such, she knew that, but it just didn't feel right. Seeing Bianca act so chummy with someone that wasn't her. She conceded that Bianca had known Rita longer, and that 'Ilise' had only existed as she was for three months, but Bianca was the only one who'd been with her.
She stood out from all the faceless Yggdrasil doctors that tended to her. Bianca had actually cared, unlike how the doctors treated her as a fascinating test subject. From petitioning for her parents to officially adopt her as a Rossweisse to bringing band-aids wherever she went all because Ilise had to re-learn how to walk, Bianca was the closest thing Ilise had had to family.
The handle of Ilise's teacup snapped clean off.
--
