Chapter 33: Back to School P2
~33.2~
*****
Suddenly, Adele felt a slap on her back. "If you want to date me, talk to me about it." Sanae's face was red, but she didn't turn to let Adele see. "You're not the only one with bottled up emotions."
"Wait, huh?" Adele spun around. "You're here? I thought-"
"I just got here. I finished my business in the auditorium and wanted to walk in with everyone." She kept looking away no matter how Adele moved around her. "Hmph."
"What's wrong?" Adele kept trying to get a look at Sanae's face.
"Whatever could you mean? Nothing is wrong in the slightest. And it's certainly nothing you said or haven't said. Or haven't done. Or haven't tried. Or could do with no resistance."
Even Adele wasn't so dense as to not figure out what Sanae meant after that much pushing. She reached out to Sanae's face and meant to turn her toward her, but Liliana's hand appeared between them. "No."
"Lily!" Sanae gasped.
"What do you mean 'no'?" Adele looked at her, brows furrowed. She tried to move Liliana's hand, but was instead pushed away. "Hey!" She jumped back in, but the guard knight stopped her every move. "No fair! Just because you're stronger now!"
Liliana smirked at Adele. "Oh my, but I'm not using any more mana than you are. I'm simply matching you."
"You are so full of yourself now!"
The others were quietly giggling at their exchange. While Adele was busy with Liliana, Michelle snuck around behind them and gave Sanae a quick peck on the cheek. "What about me, then? Wanna go for ice cream after school?" She held her hand out to the platinum blonde princess.
Sanae took her hand. "I would love to, Mimi."
Kye jumped around and snatched up Michelle's other hand. "Me, too! We can go just the four of us! We'll leave Adele with Lily and Ally for… training."
Sanae held back a giggle. "Sounds good to me."
"Hey?! Don't leave me out!" Adele shouted, still trying to get around Liliana, but being slowly pushed further from the group toward the auditorium. "Heeey! I want to-"
Alethea grabbed her ear, "You should've asked her sooner! Repent!" The others giggled, and they continued to the auditorium.
*****
"Greetings, everyone," Athanasia said. She decided to take the role of opening speech for the second term. "I am Athanasia Atlantis, first born of Empress Atalante Atlantis. You may call me Athy. The news has already spread across the empire, so I won't go into long details and bore you. I'll keep it short, eh? That way we might all have a little time before our first class to chill! Sounds good?"
The crowd cheered.
"I thought you might like that." She smiled and paused for a moment. "I am still struggling with the idea that I just hopscotched through time over ten million years. The terrain back home on Terra is different! Continents have moved! How bizarre. It was only a hundred years ago for me, so it's a bit of culture shock. Everything is so different now. Everyone can use mana! That wasn't normal back then! And we even have this gigantic school to teach the empire's best!"
She located her class in the crowd and gestured at Kye, who teleported to the stage. "Hi."
"I owe my life to this woman. I am aware she has already revealed to the world her true identity. She answered my prayer. I have come to know her as Eli, and made friends with her, but before that she was a goddess to be revered."
Kye raised an eyebrow.
"As you can see from her reaction, that isn't something she enjoys." The crowd laughed a bit, but Athanasia quickly quieted them down. "Anyway. My little brothers and I are alive now and here in the present thanks to her. And…" She gestured toward Alethea, who teleported to the stage as well. Athy hugged her sister in front of everyone. "I am beyond ecstatic to have a sister! Would you believe we've been arguing about who will be crown princess?"
The crowd went silent.
"Not in the way you may think, though," she continued. "Alethea, or rather Maya, already ranks above all of us, save for Eli. She is Queen of Elysium, after all."
"I am," Alethea said. "While I certainly could be heir to the throne and fulfill such duties, it would be better if I didn't. While neither of us are particularly intent on taking the throne, whatever is necessary will be done. Besides, it's not likely that Atlantis needs a crowned heir." She and Athy both turned and eyed Atalante. "We both expect our lovely mother to maintain her position for quite a while yet."
"That's right," Athy said. "But worry not, for if something happens and she is unable to continue in her position, there are plenty of us with the surname Atlantis. We'll figure it out if it comes to that."
"Well said," Kye added. "Hello, everyone. I expect the world is tired of new revelation after new revelation. Ever since I revealed my identity to my guardians almost two decades ago, there has been a slow but sure reveal of things. First my guardians, then the royals, then more learned or figured it out, and now you all know me as The Creator. My original name is Elysia Alexandria, and I served as King of the World as soon as I came of age in the old world."
She snapped her fingers and the entire auditorium was engulfed in an illusion of a city much different from any they had ever seen. It resembled no city in Atlantis, nor did it look like Athas. It was a metropolis that spanned as far as the eye could see, with skyscrapers lumbering in the sky. The image was that of nighttime, but it was almost as bright as day. The sky was full of colors and strange star formations that could be seen despite the amount of light in the city. It was as if there was no light pollution at all. Magic runes could be seen everywhere, and there were even islands in the sky.
"This is my utopia. This is a live view." Kye smiled as she showed everyone the image. And she knew the assembly was being broadcasted live to the entirety of the empire, so she made sure the feed could see her illusion as well. "I was born in this world many eons ago, long before Elysium existed, and I have served as King of the World ever since. Maya, my love, has served as Queen of the World by my side the entire time."
Kye's expression changed from one of pride and confidence to one of unmistakable seriousness. She hesitated to continue, but Athanasia was quick to pick up on it. "There is much I dreamed about when I was younger. Under my the rule of my grandfather, Emperor Athanasios, our empire saw much prosperity. We had similar islands in the sky to house our ever-increasing population. The people wanted for nothing. None went without food or water. None went without entertainment. We had everything. But we stopped innovating. Eli has told me everything about the old world. Alexandria has never stopped innovating."
"Not once," Alethea said. "Our wish is to see Elysium grow like Alexandria. To prosper and never stop advancing."
Kye nodded and ended the illusion before facing Atalante. "To that end, Princess Athanasia will work with me. She will help Alethea and I bring about this dream."
Athy gave the crowd a smile. "And I will start here. I am joining the sixth years with Eli's class for academic courses in the mornings, and I will be shadowing her during combat courses in the afternoons."
She glanced at her mother, as if asking for permission for something, and received a nod.
"And one last thing before we end this assembly. There will be a tournament coming up at the end of this term. A combat tournament. We don't have a lot of details ready to release just yet, but there will be three classes for competitors. There will be one capped class where all competitors will participate solo and be capped at one million mana output. There will be two uncapped classes, one for groups of five and one for solo, where there will be no restrictions on mana output. However, there will be a restriction on the type of mana or unusual ability you can use. We'll release more details later."
She clapped and added one last thing.
"This might seem like something completely out of nowhere, but it's a thing we did in my day. I am the incumbent champion of the capped and uncapped solo classes. I am merely reviving something fun we had before the asteroid disaster. I hope you all enjoy it!"
She gave a quick wave to everyone, grabbed Kye's and Alethea's wrists, and vanished with them. The only thing that could be heard after they left were a few stray gasps. The crowd was even more shocked than the royals who hadn't heard anything of the event to be.
*****
Revision: 2024-10-28
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