Reina wanted to sleep.

It was a tiring day, with everything going on and whatnot. Plus, she wanted to be rested in case of whatever other inane things were going to happen later the day.

Yet she was finding it harder and harder to achieve the goal. They only let people rest once we completed the tour, and thanks to certain people, it was getting dragged out more than necessary.

Case in point, Angel.

Honestly, Reina didn’t view her as the type to shout out, but she had misjudged her. And now, there was a large scene. Worse, the scene was about that of all things.

Reina decided to try and salvage things, even if it meant drawing more attention to her. It was better than the alternative.

“It’s a clock, duh,” Reina said as if it was obvious. Everybody’s attention shifted to her and she forced herself not to bark at them.

Angel shook her head. “No way. This isn’t just a clock.”

“Hey, what do you mean?” somebody interjected. Reina winced. This was getting worse and worse.

Sir Neptune stepped forward. “Well, this is truly a surprise! Everybody, clap for Ms. . .?”

“Angel,” Angel replied, tilting her head slightly. Reina narrowed her eyes. What was Sir Neptune doing?

“Yes! Raise your hands for Angel!” He began clapping loudly to emphasize. Soon, everybody else followed, albeit reluctantly.

“Okay, what the heck is this about?” a snotty boy retorted. “I mean, why are we clapping for some low-life sc-!”

“I would suggest you don’t finish that sentence, Jones.” Sir Neptune said coldly, having moved from the opposite side of the room to right in front of Jones in an instant. Reina heard everybody questioning how he could do that. Meanwhile, Jones was partially wetting his pants from the intense glare Sir Neptune leveled at him, not to mention the cane poking at his throat.

“I will not tolerate that kind of behavior here, understood?” Sir Neptune asked, his voice soft but deadly. Reina could envision the look he was giving the git. After all, she had seen it many times.

“Yes, sir!” Jones gasped out, pale. Sir Neptune nodded before removing the cane, ignoring all the talk.

“Now, Ms. Angel is correct. This is no ordinary clock, and the fact she could sense it is extraordinary. The true nature of this clock is a device which powers all the Art in the world.”

Well, that was one way to catch everybody's attention. They all turned to the clock, gasping in awe and disbelief.

“No way!” Dawn whispered. “It powers all the Art?”

“But then-! How must energy does this release?” Felicie wondered.

“Too much,” Angel said. Felicie and Dawn both jumped in shock, while Reina merely glared at Angel. She was starting to become a threat.

“What do you mean by that, Angel?” Reina asked, making sure to keep her voice level.

The look Angel sent her way made it clear she wasn’t doing so great, which wasn't surprising. After all, she wasn’t in the right form.

“What I mean is, Art is evolutionary science, not the magic the general public claims it is. It’s the cause of microscopic circuits integrated within us that grant us the ability to use Art. Just the amount in a single person is enough to power a city, and there are 5 million people with Circuits. If 5 million people have them. . .” Angel trailed off, not needing to continue.

“Then it has enough energy to power the earth!” Felicie whispered.

Angel nodded gravely. “Multiple times over.”

Reina wanted to smack her head against the clock. Wonderful.

“Isn’t that a good thing, though?” Felicie asked.

This time, it was Dawn who replied. “Not so. That much power is never good, not to mention if what Sir Neptune said is true, we’re all connected to it. If somebody shuts this down, what will happen to the 5 million people? What will happen to us?”

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

Now even Felicie was eyeing the clock with apprehension. “But it’s all the way down here, right? It’s protected, right?”

Angel shrugged. “No defense is perfect and guaranteed to last forever. Especially not one as stupid as this. I mean, they're basically putting this on show! What do they think they’re doing, advertising this to every new batch of students?”

Reina couldn't take it anymore. “I’m sure they have a good reason!” she blurted out, clenching her fists.

Angel narrowed her eyes. “Oh? And would you know of this good reason? I mean, you do seem to be more knowledgeable about this than us, saying so confidently it's just a ‘clock’.”

Reina gulped. Now all three of them were staring at her expectantly. What had she gotten herself into it? What was the idiot Sir Neptune doing?!

“Gather around, students!” Sir Neptune bellowed. Grudgingly, the three moved away and focused back onto him and the clock, though they still shot back curious and in one case, suspicious looks.

Reina sighed in relief. Welp, looks like Sir. Neptune was useful for once. Immediately, she adopted a look of disgust. Wow, never thought she would ever think that.

“Now, everybody take a good, long look at it. Burn it into your memories. Witness this, the source of Art, and be in awe. Whenever you use your abilities from now on, think about this moment where you saw the pinnacle of human achievement! Use this opportunity to recall where you came from! We are all equal! We are all the same! Thanks to this!” Sir Neptune swung his arms out, emphasizing all he said.

Reina grunted. She had to give it to him, he was pretty good at speeches. It appeared it worked as well because everybody was giving it a nice long stare.

Reina could appreciate that. The clock was a true masterpiece, after all, and after knowing about its connection to the Art, well, anybody would be giddy at a chance to see it up close.

But for her, it would only serve as a reminder she didn’t want.

“Come on, you over there!” Sir Neptune cried. It took her a moment to realize he meant her.

“Me?” Reina asked, pointing at herself. Sir Neptune nodded energetically.

“Yes, you! Take this chance to gaze deep into its wonders!”

Reina barked bitterly, which drew some students out of their trance-like state of admiration.

“Yeah, sorry, but I don’t consider it a wonder.”

Sir Neptune had a twinkle in his eyes as he said, “Really?”

Reina nodded. “Yep. It’s just an overgrown clock, as far as I can tell.”

Sir Neptune leaned on his cane, resting his head on it. “Well, looks can be deceiving.”

Reina shook her head. “I’m pretty clear about this look.”

Sir Neptune chuckled. “Perhaps things have changed.”

Reina narrowed her eyes. “Not enough.”

Distantly, she could tell by now most of her classmates were staring at her and Sir Neptune, but she couldn't care less.

Sit Neptune was challenging her, and so be it, she would not lose!

“Are you sure? How about just one look to make sure?” Sir Neptune inquired. Reina rolled her eyes.

“You know, it’s. a bit creepy you keep on wanting me to stare at it. What, does it have some sort of hypnosis thing that makes me want to do whatever you say? If so, consider me disappointed.”

He laughed. “Oh, nothing of the sort. You see, everybody reacts differently to this, and judging from those reactions, we have a good initial understanding of the person.”

Reina raised an eyebrow. Was this true? She didn't know.

“Well, that’s impressive,” she said drily.

Sir Neptune smiled. “Yes, it is quite a marvel, is it not? However, we need these reactions, you see. Consider it as some sort of quiz you get in the beginning to determine where you should be placed.”

Reina crossed her arms. “I was under the impression we’re going to learn how to fight with weapons here. What use does this have with that?”

Sir Neptune held up a finger. “I am afraid that is quite confidential.”

Reina grit her teeth. She could see everybody’s gaze upon her. This wasn’t good. The way things were going, she was going to have to do something and fast.

“Stop being a prat and hurry up already!” somebody yelled.

“Oh, shut up!” Reina shouted back.

“Now now, please calm yourself. Reina, if you would please?” Sir Neptune held out a hand. His face was a calm facade, but his eyes betrayed him. It twinkled mischievously, and Reina desired nothing more than to yell at him.

Didn't he understand? How paramount the things in the following times were going to be? Or was he too caught up in his little fantasy world to figure these simple things out?!

“Fine!” Reina snapped. “I’ll look at your stupid clock, all right?!”

“Splendid!” Sir Neptune beamed. “Now, come here.”

Reina stormed through the crowd, not caring whom she hit or bumped into. She closed her eyes once the tiniest glimpses of the clock became visible through the crowd.

“Please open your eyes, Reina.” Sir Neptune requested.

Reina didn’t reply, opening and closing her fists. This was it. She would finally see if she had improved. Was she worth anything now?

Slowly, cautiously, she slid open her eyes.

And before her. . . .

It was a work of the gods, it had to be because it was so magnificent. A rotating clock, countless gears, both big and small moving together. The base was one large gear, with many ridges and grooves.

7 huge rings, circling in a perfect sphere, yet never colliding with another. Slim components, working hard to make everything function.

The largest part was a disc in the back, the middle part of it containing a set of hands. The inner ridge of the disc was split into 7 parts, each of them varying in colors and one larger significantly. That was where the smaller of the two hands rested upon.

The outermost ridge was one piece, yet more than 3/4 of it was a dull gray color instead of the shimmering gold the rest was. The bigger hand rested where the gold and gray pieces connected.

Further, almost hidden behind it was a huge silver orb, located smack dab in the middle.

Reina grit her teeth. “There. I looked. Happy?!”

Sir Neptune stared at her evenly. “Yes.”

Reina wanted to curse at him, at everything. She wanted to blast everybody off the mountain.

Instead, she turned on her heels and staggered away.

Sir Neptune eyed the tiny sparkles of water that trailed from her eyes.