It has been just a little more than a day ever since the principal heard that the culprit of everything that has befallen his students was someone from The Steps. A group of people the principal wanted nothing to with but that he knew nonetheless.
Knowing how they operated, he let all his students fully rest before actually hearing from them what they experienced. Knowing that it would take more than a day for him to hear everyone he made sure to have time available.
Mirai, the ex vice principal now professor in charge of the special class, soon entered the principal’s office along with Katia and sat along with her on a sofa in front of the principal’s desk.
“How are you feeling, Miss Katia?” The principal asked the girl.
“To be honest, I don’t know. I am both incredibly glad to be alive but completely terrified of the world and its people.” Katia said strangely calmly.
“I know it might be a little hard, but we need you to tell us what happened during the trip, at least from your point of view, from the very beginning.” Mirai said, putting her hands on the shoulders of the girl to try and comfort her.
‘Don’t worry. If anything, I am the one in better shape.”
“Perks of your race?” The principal asked rhetorically.
“I wonder how my classmates would think about me if they knew that I am pretty much an adult trapped in a kid’s body.”
“Not as much as you are thinking.” Mirai added.
“Probably. But you need to hear my side of the story, right? Well, let’s start from the beginning. From the moment we put our feet on that city, things were already in bad shape, we just didn’t know it. I learned someone sent a wave of bloodlust that most of us simply couldn’t feel, probably that Zignus guy who was the leader of the group that attacked us.” Katia said. Mentioning Zignus made her freeze for a moment but she continued.
“I remember Mia throwing up but after that we all went our separate ways. I went to the mayor’s mansion, dealt with some nobles there trying to take advantage of the situation but that was soon resolved. I mostly did paperwork and heard or read about what everyone else was doing along with my work. I had a small dispute with some goliath merchants before we set out to greet Mia as she was leaving the dungeon but it didn’t get physical, even if Cassandra wanted it.”
“Never knew she was the type to get into fights.” Mirai said.
“You can only be called shorty so many times before you get angry. But continuing. We all got together, walked toward the dungeon and found the group we now know as The Steps. Mia got out, they introduced themselves, asked if Mia had something they wanted, a Legacy, whatever that is. They said the name of some woman and suddenly Mia got really afraid and just took us as far away as she could. Now I also know that they simply let us flee as far as we could before using various spells to block our memory as well as separate us from the world a little.”
“That is their way of operating. They don’t like to be known or seen. I wish you can forgive me for not giving more information but it is for your safety.” The principal said.
“Don’t worry, I can somewhat understand it. If possible I don’t want to be even near a battlefield ever again.”
“It must have been hard for you.” Mirai said.
“In the beginning not so much. When the big guy, Nex, came after us and I saw Klaws going toe to toe with him I thought that everyone else could just deal with them and I wouldn’t have to really help much if at all. Narissa's plan worked, Mia stabbed him in the head and we were in the clear. Seeing how he went down so easily I didn’t even care that they were treating the situation as a game. I was kind of thrilled to have helped in the downing of the man too.”
“And after that?” Mirai asked.
“I did nothing because I could do nothing. Mia knew about The Steps in some way and was clearly distressed if she should tell anything she knew to us.”
“Like what?” The Principal asked.
“That they didn’t use their real bodies to walk around the world and that they are infinitely more powerful than us. Or at least their real bodies are. She is extremely afraid of them.”
“With good reason. She was right to try and not tell you anything. They are quite secretive and any information leak is bound to be looked into eventually.”
“So we are in danger?” Katia asked, clearly a little distressed.
Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.
“No. Your safety is now guaranteed and I will deal with any problems that arrive. So please, continue.”
“Oh...Ok. Well, after that a woman appeared. She was human, was wearing a very stravagant dress, don’t really remember more than that. She summoned a maze made out of Suria Thorns. Besides telling everyone about them I didn’t really do much about the situation. Narissa formuled another plan, Klaws took a part of the maze apart once we got into a suitable position and Mia dealt with the woman using magic. I didn’t even have a weapon so I didn’t do anything in the fight against the strange elf swordsman, Null was his name I think. And during the strange chess game I mostly tried to steer away from trouble.” Katia said. As she was finishing she clearly looked more depressed.
“Something happened during the chess game, right?” Mirai asked.
“...Yes. We witnessed true fear there. Narissa was the one playing but we were pieces. We were inside this strange illusion that reflected the game. The enemy’s queen was scary. She never really attacked us directly but just seeing her was enough for me to not want to get in her field of vision… Every piece the Puddle guy was using was somewhat like us, it had a soul in it. They just couldn’t control their actions like we could, they were all slaves. Except for that woman, we could instinctively feel that she actually wanted to hurt us in some way.” Katia said, stopping after she began to shake a little as she remembered how she felt in that situation.
“Then, the game continued. It’s funny that we spend years inside that strange illusion but I don’t feel like it really happened. Then near the end, everyone was being lured near Mia, who at that point was knocked out. Probably because she was pushing herself too hard. The enemy changed the game so you would have to kill the queen to win the game and Mia was our queen. They also gave us the choice of just letting them kill Mia and they would let us go free. Something that everyone besides Klaws agreed to. Mia suddenly woke up, killed the enemy’s queen, winning us the game but things went downhill from there.”
“Part of me is a little angry that you choose to just sacrifice Mia to the enemy but I can’t really dwell on it since this was a very extreme situation…” The Principal said, maintaining a neutral tone.
“...Now that I had some time to think, I can say it was a stupid decision, but I made it, so I have to live with it. As for what happened after that. We had some time to rest like we always got. We never really told Mia what happened, even if Klaws was really pushing for it. That Zignus guy appeared, got Mia, saw that she didn’t have what he was looking for and started to attack us. Once it got enough it tried to kill Mia. She somehow survived and when he saw that he started to ‘play’ with us.”
“How?” Mirai asked.
“He got a few of the corpses of his companions and began to use them against us. Also, if we got hurt, Mia would take the damage instead. For a while the boys managed to hold on and I along with Cassandra and Narrisa kept one of them away as he didn’t attack unless he could take us by surprise for some reason.”
“And after that?”
“They managed to defeat one of the corpses but the others suddenly got stronger because of that. We were pretty quickly defeated, grabbed, hurt and put on display to Mia. Then he made Mia finally feel all the pain we felt when we got attacked and she just collapsed. Moments later she just stood up, she was different. You could feel it.”
“Different how?” The Principal asked.
“At that point I was deathly afraid of Zignus but once Mia got up, every instinct I had was telling me that Mia was the most dangerous thing around. If I could, I would have run by myself at that moment. I feel like most of us had a similar experience.”
“ So she just got up, fully recovered?” Mirai asked.
“No. She was still as damaged as before, if not more. Some strange flames appeared around her, forming a cloak and a mask. She was speaking but I couldn’t hear anything, just strange noises. She began to fight evenly against Zignus and after a while he tried to get one of us for some reason and grabbed Onyx. Once he killed it I felt extreme sadness for a moment and then the feeling from before got stronger. Whatever Mia was going to do next, could and would hit us if we didn’t move. Klaws managed to grab everyone and we barely left the range of her attack. She summoned this strange black scythe and just pulverized everything around her.”
“That doesn’t sound like something she can do.” The principal commented.
“Well, she did. After that we went back, did our best to keep Mia alive until anyone from the academy found us. After that you know what happened.”
“Good thing you managed to keep Mia alive. I only found all of you because of her. She still had some traces of my magic on her so I could pinpoint your locations more easily once we understood something had happened.”
“...Some people wanted to just ignore Mia. I was one of those people but I went with the majority of the people there. I guess I wasn’t at my best.” Katia said, self deprecating herself.
“Katia. Thank you for your time. One last question. How are you, truly?” Mirai asked.
“...I think I am alright but barely. I am a scare away of completely losing myself. I am afraid, terrified of someone attacking me and of Mia…”
“Why Mia?” Mirai asked.
“You weren’t there. Nothing, and I mean nothing, can surpass the fear I felt when Mia was going to use that attack that killed Zignus. Mia is only in the Ki Condensation Stage, right? Pretty sure Zignus finished the path of cultivation and Mia killed him. I know that he is not coming back. I don’t know how I know it but I know it and I am afraid Mia will seek revenge against me in the same way.”
“We all know that Mia wouldn’t do that.” The Principal added.
“But she could. And that is why I am so afraid. At least on the inside. I am dreading seeing Mia as I don’t know how I will react, how everyone will react…”
“I will make sure she doesn’t turn into the vengeful banshee you fear.” The Principal asserted.
“...Thanks. I will also make sure to send some letter urging my Kingdom to become allies with Azuria so we never have to face Mia in battle when she inevitably becomes the queen and starts to conquer the world.” Katia said half-sarcastically.
“I am sure someone will appreciate the gesture.”
Katia nodded and left. Mirai and the principal took a moment to think before they just sat in silence, absorbing what they learned as they waited for the next student to come.