Wind breeze through the blue sky, white clouds pass by, calming down the entire landscape. "The Saria Kingdom is entirely different from the countryside, why are you going". The middle-aged man spoke as he glares at Alice's chest.
"University", Alice replies as she turns her head on to the window. Scenery flew one after another with the express train travelling on the rails.
Alice closed her eyes as her conscious enters Athene's dimension. Fragments of memories scatter across the blank space. Clear glass puzzle pieces float towards Alice, she taps on the nearest glass. Colour filled the room, Alice stands on a green grassland.
Dark Night. Heavy rain.
There stands a silver hair young woman in amour. Her hands dripping in blood. Her war-cry vibrates through the entire battlefield. She charges into the army of beasts, beheading each and every one of them with her blade. Times fast-forwarded and the imaginary changes.
Athena fell on her right knee, supporting herself with her cracked blade.
"Amazing, such talent and potential. You have my words daughter. As promised, I will grant you a chance to see.. him..."
The imaginary cracked forcing Alice out into reality. She opened her eyes, the middle-aged man still staring at Alice as if he never blinked.
"University of Saria Kingdom is the biggest and one of the top universities in the world. The acceptance rate is only 1%! But of course, I don't think it's a problem for little missy." The man grins, still staring at Alice's chest.
Saria is the nearest human kingdom from Soundless Lagoon. It is detailed to be one of the most ranked countries in the world. At the time, Alice is travelling to one of its entrance points.
"Same old scenery, same old time. I guess time is different there." Alice stands up and walks towards her room. Ignoring everyone around her, she opens the door and locks it. She then lays down on her bed.
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"How are we even here in the first place?" A squeaky voice questioned her.
"I don't have enough mana to transfer both of us and it was a free ride too." Alice sighs. "That old geezer is perverted as you, "she smacks the rabbit in the head."
Although her soul is collected to Athena, her body and mind are still human. She recognizes that she isn't a god but more of a vessel at this moment. She has divine powers, but her capacity of mana is too low.
"Aye, my dear Alice, you need to improve your basic mana pool. You need at least to be Rank III Mage to be enrolled" Lancelot nods his head.
Magic rank is determined by the quality of magical forces within oneself.
Within every stage, there are five ranks from V – I
Ranging from Spellcaster > Mage > Warlock > Archmage > Overlord
Currently, Alice is rank IV Spellcaster.
Alice sighs again. Increasing her magic rank isn't hard, Athena is a goddess of war and wisdom. There is an unlimited number of sources to do that. It just that, she hates waiting.
Rather, it's Athena that hates waiting. Hundreds, thousands of years of waiting on an eternal life, suffering every single moment within that seal.
Alice presses her arm on her forehead, closing her eyes wanting to sleep. But instead, she is forced into Athene's dimension again. This time, it was not puzzle pieces but Athene herself. She stands tall in front of Alice, her silver hair dropped on to her waist. Golden eyes of the marks of feathers gaze into Alice's sight.
"Your mother was intelligent, strong, and perfect for being my candidate." She sighs. "But instead, she chose to live with that weak father of yours." Her majestic voice signals a regretful tone.
"I never knew my mother, I wasn't very close to her... She always dodges my questions and hardly talked about herself." Alice's eyes fell onto the white space, afraid of gazing at Athene.
Athene walks towards her, there was no vibrations nor sound with her steps as if she's levitating instead. She comes closer to Alice and places her hand on Alice's forehead.
Alice's eyes closed by themselves, as she felt a deep pressure into her. The next moment, she wakes up. In front of her is another world.
Clear blue sky with dozens of clouds, the land filled with grass. Underneath the gargantuan tree, rests two females. One of them, a child of 6 to 7 years old and the older one, seems like 24.
"Alice, how I wish this time will stop and last forever." With a gentle smile on her face, she pets Alice on the head. Her voice enchanted the birds to sing and the wind to breezed.
The child Alice nods her head and smiles happily at Yukie as well, "Mother, don't worry! Alice can take care of herself!"
Yukie laughs with the face of joy, "Alice, there are times where we have to do the right thing." She stands up and stretches her arms. She bends down and takes Alice's hands as she chants - Athene -, engraving a marking of the letter 'A' on to her palms. "Sorry, this will hurt, but this is your destiny." Her voices weaken with the sound of regret and sadness.
The imaginary breaks out. Alice returning into Athene's dimension, stunned and shocked. She steps back and fell on her bottom. "What...is this.." She asked in fear. It was her mother and her, she knows it. How did she forget, no matter how much she recalls, there were no memories of that scenery. As if it didn't exist within her mind.
"Memory Block, no even bother trying. It is divine spell only your mother and I can use." Athene looks down upon the fallen girl. "I unlocked it because it was time for you to discover who you really are." She gently smiles and vanishes into the particles of white matter. The puzzles pieces form together once more as Alice exit the dimension.
She stares outside the window, her silent voice vibrates. "Who or what am I..." She wonders off in her mind with a sigh.