Chapter 11 - Connection

"It's you?" Diana asked, shock visibly written on her face.

"Where did you hear that song?" Delta demanded.

Delta only really cared for one thing. Finding the old man who had a link to his old world. He had no time to chase romance with a 12-year-old kid, of course, Delta never really considered himself as 12 years old, despite the age of his body being just that.

"Is that all you want to say?" she asked, face slightly red.

"What else is there to say? Oh, actually here's something. Don't tell anyone about me being here. I don't need Athena adding more security."

"Athena?!"

"You know, the Headmistress."

She looked at him blankly for a moment, before replying quietly.

"I don't think you should be addressing the headmistress by name... Very well then… have a nice night."

She turned towards the path to the Academy and started walking.

"You still haven't answered my question. Where did you hear the song? Old man, one arm, bad temper and terrible songs?"

She hesitated for a second after hearing this, then decided against staying, walking towards the academy without turning back.

Delta called out a few more times, but upon seeing that she didn't turn back, he scaled the tree again and reached his branch, settling back into a comfortable position before thinking deeply.

"So that play exists in this world too? Coincidence? Could be, but if that same play exists in this world too, then there must be something else to it, something that has connections to my old world… I'll have to look into this later. For now, I'm going to sleep."

He started to doze off, before feeling something was off. Something was spying on him, and they had been doing so for a while.

"You can come out now, Old Hag. Can a man not sleep in peace around here? Sleeping in the dorm bed only gives me nightmares anyway." he spoke out into the forest, his eyes subtly looking around in an attempt to find out where he was being watched from.

Having discovered nothing, Delta decided to go back to sleep, adjusting his position to make sure he wouldn't fall off the tree.

Perched upon a distant nearby tree was Athena in the form of an owl, her beady eyes peering down upon the now sleeping Delta.

'Something tells me this boy is connected to something big…'

With that, she took off from the tree she had perched on, taking off into the night with a hoot for good measure.

'What a nosy old hag', he thought to himself.

The next day, Delta awoke to the chirping of birds. He opened his eyes slowly, adjusting to the glaring sunlight.

"Crap, I'm late…"

Delta leapt up onto his feet and began to sprint towards the Academy, vaulting from tree to tree like he had the day he was betrayed.

"Well this certainly brings back memories," he chuckled dryly to himself.

Once he passed through the doorway, he took out the makeshift pick and tension wrench he had used to get out in the first place. (ED: For the record, the pick and tension wrench is the needle and paperclip he used to open the door in the first place respectively.)

He spent a few seconds locking the door again, before making his way back to his dorm, focusing on speed rather than stealth.

Delta practically sprinted up towards his room, standing outside his dormitory room and preparing to enter.

"How long does a pizza take to arrive? I ordered it half an hour ago!"

'He's awake already? How does he have space for a pizza this early?"

Delta paced up and down the corridor for a second, then began to devise a plan. He crouched down by the dorm door and put on a voice, shouting, "Pizza delivery! Fresh from the best shop in the Academy market, found only at Cheesy Jack's!"

"Huh? Where's that?"

"Well the guys you ordered from were facing oven issues, so they asked us to cover them. Anyways come out and get the pizza."

"Coming, coming!"

Lil Fatty opened the door in a hurry but found nobody there.

"Huh… that's funny… maybe he's round the corner."

Wearing the same stained clothes as the night before, Lil Fally walked down towards the door Delta had entered though, missing Delta crouching behind the open door.

'I really need to teach that kid about security…"

Now that he was home free, Delta made his way through the sitting area and quietly entered his room, getting into bed and pretending to have been asleep the entire time.

"Little romantic getaway with the missus? Don't worry, it's our secret."

Delta nearly punched something after hearing this.

"Why are you awake, side-character?"

"How can I become a better man if I don't start exercise early in the morning? You wouldn't know, Sir Alpha."

"For the record, I was sleeping in the forest. I'm not in a relationship with anyone, nor do I have plans to get involved in one anytime soon."

"So it's just a coincidence that Veronica told me Diana went out on the same night as you not being in the dorm?"

"I've got a more important question. You and Veronica are all close now huh? Seems like I'm not the only one with a secret then." (ED: Hmm, do we start the shipping this early on?)

"Well, I… we… how about we both keep a secret?"

"Sounds good to me, side-character."

"Pizza's here!" Lil Fatty's voice echoed throughout the dormitory.

He came into their room and 'politely' banged the door with full force, practically smashing the door with his fists.

"Get up or I'll have it all for myself."

"Aren't we going to have breakfast right after this?" asked Arthur, still rather sceptical as to this affecting his diet.

"The Cafeteria's food is nothing. If it's anything like what we had yesterday, it'll be barely enough. Where else will I get my carbs?" (ED: What will we ever do without excessive carbs! You might actually lose some weight or something, oh the horror.)

Delta was about to point out how bad this was for his health, then chose against it.

"Anyways I'm starving, so I'm going to dig in now."

With that, he went and lived up to his name, grabbing a slice with each hand and stuffing his face. His face became stained with pizza toppings, but he didn't seem to care.

"We should probably take a few slices before he finishes it all," Delta pointed out.

"That might be a good idea."

"Could you guys keep it down? You guys are… oh my… that is revolting."

"Oh, brat, you're up! Want a slice?" asked Lil Fatty innocently, globules of saliva and cheese flying off his face with his every word.

"I'll be in my room getting ready. Let me know when we have to leave."

With that, Arlo returned to his room and made sure not to leave for a while.

Suddenly, a bell rang, signifying the official start of the day.

On the coffee table appeared a stack of four timetables, a name written on the top-left corner of each one.

Lil Fatty made a move to pick it up, before Arthur practically dived into the way, blocking Lil Fatty from touching their timetables with his greasy hands.

He handed them out to everyone, leaving Arlo's by his door.

Delta quickly scanned over his timetable, committing it to memory. At the bottom of the document was written: "This timetable will adjust for each week so long as it is on academy grounds."

The first day on the timetable was crossed off, likely due to having been an induction day, and the first lesson scheduled for the second day was 'Mana Assessment'.

"Mana assessment… should be fun."