"What…kind of challenge would I face, for me to need protection?" Those were the words Marilyn said to Sophia, after hearing her declaration towards her.

The concept of guardian angels was not new to her, but Marilyn hadn't exactly had much of a belief in them in the past, mostly due to how bad her life was previously. But to know that this person in front of her wanted to become a helping hand…

"You are mistaken, Ms. Althorn. It was mentioned by myself that I will act as a guide whenever it's crucial." She explained, "I simply declared it towards you to cushion your surprise in the future. And…I do have an interesting proposition as well, for you."

"What do you mean…?" She asked again.

"You've said it yourself that you may experience something far greater than what you have become aware of, ones that could require my help." She said, "Simply put, Eyes of Heaven."

"Eyes of…" Marilyn remembered, that's the term she coined herself, to explain the weird sensation of understanding the notions of creation.

It's still a mystery indeed for her, she didn't get much out of it aside from that one moment of self-actualisation, during her first time using magic. But why would Sophia want to know more about this ability? Or rather, what would she want of it?

"Those eyes of yours…or rather, your capacity to understand and comprehend. It's far beyond what a normal human mind could perceive. It's a significant blessing, yet you believe yourself to be human." Sophia responded.

Marilyn's tone became more serious, "I am human. I'm not denying myself that."

"That is true, I am not trying to get you out of that mindset. But simply put, have you ever thought of how to use it at will? How to make sure you could provide yourself an advantage, to ensure that perhaps, just maybe, you could realise your potential through its aid?"

"Uhh….no, not really…"

"It's a rhetorical question, of course you haven't. Your human-like worldview prevented you from fully utilising this gift of yours. I suggest you try and find a way out of this problem, preferably by yourself."

A few moments of silence brought Marilyn to contemplation again, now that she's given the time to think. She leaned back towards her chair, closing her eyes as if to meditate.

Eyes of Heaven, an ability that allows one to comprehend even the intricacies of creation. Yet, she seemed to have some sort of limit to her ability to utilise it. In fact, she never could exactly recognise its voice, despite feeling that something was there whenever she's in deep thought.

Right now she couldn't even understand it, beyond knowing it was there and assuming it was why she could see creation.

She would try to find ways out of this current predicament, use something to compare it to. The concept of vision would simply be too vague and limited. The concept of comprehension and understanding would be too vast in scope, and requires an anchor in terms of what it could be used for. So…perhaps she could do with something a bit more…unorthodox.

She remembered one fact told to her by Helena, that the Tomes that they used, and was given to them when they were each ten and twelve years old, could in fact be utilised as a sort of system that helps them keep track of their progress and attributes. Like a game of sorts. It was the main enticing feature that caught her eye for quite a bit of time.

So, being inspired by such an idea, she chose this path instead.

System "Eyes of Heaven" had been fully recognised. Integration process complete.

It may not be perfect, for it's not meant to be until she can master the gift at hand. But, if it would allow her to use it to understand the world better, then so be it.

Marilyn opened her eyes once more, a glimpse of starry azure present upon the silver hue of her pupils. The first thing she saw was the person in front of her, Sophia—

"!!?"

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White noise, pure white noise. It caused her to become numb. Caused her to bleed from her nose. Caused her a severe headache. Caused—

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"That's enough, close your eyes again, please. And shake it off."

Marilyn immediately followed her order, closing her eyes shut and lightly slapping herself a few times. Goosebumps overwhelmed her, her brain almost feeling like it was exhausted just from comprehending the incomprehensible noise she got.

But she would recover sooner or later, sighing afterwards.

"Why didn't that work? I thought I had a bright idea…"

"It did work, I just wouldn't allow it to see me. At least, until you get to the point where I give permission."

Marilyn looked at Sophia, a bit disappointed. She even pouted.

"You're a bit of an anti-climatic person, you know that?"

"At least you have confidence in yourself." Sophia said, laughing a little. "But in any case, the path you chose for it. Are you sure you're not plagiarising an already established concept?"

"I mean I took inspiration from it! I wouldn't want to spoil myself the features my Tome would give me once I enter the academy, just feels redundant otherwise…"

"So you relegated it to simply being an actively written encyclopaedia, or an analysis tool of sorts, understandable. Wise choice."

Marilyn sighed, before perking up again, as if she had something in mind. "Wait, I do have a question though. Why did you...?"

"Use Bethany and Mr. Bell to speak with you?" Sophia replied, "Indeed, a cause of concern, hindsight or not."

"Y-yeah..."

By most definitions, that whole scene prior to meeting her Marilyn would consider as creepy, unsettling, eldritch even. Sophia understood that, and would continue her response.

"My apologies upon the matter, it's more of a bad habit than anything, I considered it as a way to get your attention at its utmost."

"You're still doing it in a creepy manner, I'm still feeling the goosebumps you know?"

"That I agree. Perhaps in some future meeting I would stop, but if the situation calls for it, I would still do it. They're not brainwashed anyway, more so that I warped the world to have you see those impersonations of the people you know."

"So...they're not actually them?"

Sophia shook her head, "They were not. Still, my apologies for scaring you."

"R-right..."

Sophia once again took a sip of her tea, causing Marilyn to try and take a sip of it as well. It's green, so it must be bitter.

And it was. It reminded her of old people back in her previous life. They used to drink this a lot, so perhaps that could explain Sophia's—

Telephatic intrusion detected.

"Rude, you do know I can read your mind if I wanted to, correct?"

Once again Marilyn pouted. The system did warn her, but still she was surprised. "You're a bit too intrusive there, couldn't you just leave a girl to her thoughts?"

"When it comes to you calling me old, no I wouldn't. It's true, but it's rather impolite of you. Didn't your new parents teach you manners?"

"Not when it comes to talking to someone like you."

"But I am someone far higher than you in status, it should count."

"How would I know that? Just because you have your own world and can warp reality doesn't mean I have to respect you, right?"

"Your confidence is quite high now, perhaps it's because you have something to call your own that is truly unique. How quaint."

"Don't change the subject! I know I change fast when it comes to that but don't treat me like someone lower. Especially because of you employing yourself as my guide."

If this was a cartoon, a bulging blood vessel would appear before Marilyn's forehead.

Sophia just chuckled along, "Very well. Then we can become equals, for now at least. In the face of the others, I will presume that you must have the dignity to treat them with respect, got it?"

"Others?" Once again, Marilyn was confused.

"That question will be answered with time, do not worry."

Once again, Marilyn was disappointed at her self-imposed enigmatic persona. She groaned out a sigh and looked onwards towards the foreign sky of this dimension, watching the birds fly by.

"You think I can visit you here again?"

"In the same location as before? No. But, you would be capable of entering Wonderland whenever I'm present, just with the caveat that it would most likely not be here, but somewhere else."

"Somewhere else?" She asked again, her attention gazing down towards the Sage again, her body leaning forward, eyebrows raised.

"You would enter a space in this dimension known as the Sanctuary. I've used it before for a quite notable Hunter that once travelled to Kharnam. He was very much like you in terms of confusion when he first entered."

"How long ago was that?"

"Not too long. He's still very much alive. You could perhaps either meet him yourself in due time, or one of his children."

"Right, I'll take a mental note on that." Marilyn sat up straight again, cracking her neck. She felt a bit tired now, probably because of her brain briefly getting mushed from all the white noise she accidentally encountered.

Drawbacks of a yet to be mastered ability, she guessed. But one last question lingered within her mind.

"Can I leave you now?"

"Hm? Sure thing."

A quick answer, and a quick action. Immediately, an ornate door was conjured to Marilyn's left side, to where the tunnel was before it disappeared when she did not notice it. Marilyn stood up as she looked at the door, and left the table entirely.

She did not look back, but still she wanted to say something.

"Sophia…would I be alright, in the future? Would you help me set myself straight, whenever I falter?"

Sophia placed down her tea cup again, smiling. "Your journey has just begun in earnest. Simply put, there is more to see than you would expect." She said, "Live your life as you please, and do not worry about this flow of knowledge you've gotten, or whatever catastrophe that may befall you. All answers will come in due time, I'm simply here cushioning the blow for you, after all."

Hearing that, Marilyn also curled up a smile. "I see. Very well then. Thank you for telling me that."

With those last words, the door before her opened up, revealing an intense but peaceful shine of brilliant light. And with a deep breath, Marilyn would take a step into it.