2 Stuck in a New World

The next instant, I didn't open my eyes to find myself standing safely in my house, in the clearing I had calculated.

I first found it difficult to breathe. When I opened my eyes, I found myself sinking in water.

First order of business is survival. Everything else comes second, so I hurriedly cast the simplest underwater breathing spell that I knew of.

With the immediate survival need of oxygen supply out of the way, the next step is to ascertain my location. The spell that I had just cast was indeed a transportation spell, but it should have moved the entire home along with me. On top of that, I was fairly certain the coordinates that I had inserted would lead to a small clearing in the woods, and the nearest body of water would have been a shallow lake, nothing deep enough to drown in.

No matter. I quickly swam up to the surface. My specialty was in combat type magics, though I hadn't invested much into learning spells that could easily be used underwater.

When I surfaced, I first took in the incredibly unfamiliar surroundings. I was in the middle of a small lake, and on one side there was a giant mansion-like building.

"Candace!" I heard a yell the moment I surfaced.

I furrowed my eyebrows and swam in the direction of the mansion.

This definitely isn't my house, nor have I seen anyone living in such a building before.

It seemed similar to an old rural chateau-style home that would have been common for nobles in France. Nowhere in the States would such a home be built, nor would anyone in the Society ever be able to afford one.

We lived in run-down shacks because they were easy to move if we were ever careless.

Isolated. That's how we lived. The Society wasn't really a "society", in the strictest sense. There was no camaraderie. No sense of belonging. Just business as usual. If anyone messed up, they couldn't destroy the complex web that connected us all together.

When I came ashore, the woman yelled at me. "Too slow!"

Who was she?

"Excuse me ma'am," I said politely. "Just who are you?"

"Candace Mendoza, don't you know, I'm your mother!" the woman said.

I stared at her blankly.

For starters, I don't remember my family ever living in a house as nice as this one. Secondly, my mother and father had passed on a few years ago. Thirdly, she looked nothing like my mother.

"I-I'm sorry, Ma'am, I really d-d-don't..." I stammered.

"Amnesia?" she asked, furrowing her eyebrows.

I just stared blankly.

"Annabel!" my newfound "mother" yelled.

A maid immediately came rushing out. My "mother" grabbed my arm roughly and flung me to the maid.

"Get her cleaned up," she ordered. "Think she has amnesia."

"What about school?" the maid asked.

I had never been to school before. When I was younger, my Father changed jobs often to support the family. Mother stayed home to teach me magic, so I was never enrolled in any Elementary, Middle, or High school.

There was no need to go to school, Mother taught me everything I needed to know. Magic Circle Calculations, Casting, Inscribing, Reading, and Writing. I had more than enough knowledge of Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Mathematics, History, and the Arts to pass through any high school education and likely most college courses as well.

"We'll take her to see the doctor. No need to delay her starting school tomorrow, she'll take the entrance examination along with everyone else."

I furrowed my eyebrows. "Excuse me, what day is it?"

"Useless, doesn't even remember the date," my 'mother' muttered, stomping off. "She probably won't even place into the C-class, regardless..."

"August 27th, Miss Mendoza," the maid, whom I presumed to be Annabel, said while she walked the both of us inside.

Annabel cleaned me in the bathtub as I silently stared. After getting dressed in a simple dress that reached the floor and a pair of shoes, I was placed in front of a mirror for the first time.

I looked almost exactly the same as I did five years ago, when I was sixteen years old.

But this seemed to be a different timeline, or at least a world where I didn't grow up living in the middle of nowhere, continuing studies of magic while avoiding society altogether.

I had managed to cast an underwater breathing spell, which confirmed that my magic was still present, though I was currently in a somewhat differing body and a very different world.

I was led out by Annabel to meet my "Father".

"Aprilynne said you had amnesia," he said, nodding his head at me.

I lowered my head without saying a word. Like my "Mother", my "Father" didn't resemble my real Father at all.

"Speak!" he demanded.

"I'm sorry sir," I said. "I don't recall."

"Ugh, and Francesca had said that drowning you might possibly awaken your magic powers! What a lie, I end up with an amnesiac instead!"

"Magic, sir?" I asked, slipping into my best confused mask.

"Yes!" he roared. "Your brother specialized in his elemental spells at age 14 and was considered a prodigy, but you don't even know the most basic prestidigitation spells!"

Prestidigitation spells? Don't joke with me, I could do those when I was 5 years old.

"Sir, I do believe that I almost drowned and am not entirely sure of ho-"

"You should have drowned!" he roared, cutting me off. "I don't need useless paperweights in my home. You didn't study well; your secondary school scores are a complete mess! Do you even understand what kinds of strings I had to pull to get you into the Academie de Magie?"

I lowered my head. When someone is angry, the worst thing to do is to attempt to reason with them.

"Now," he continued. "You got out of the water, after twenty minutes. A normal human would have drowned. How did you do it? You want to try casting a spell for me?"

I was still staring at my feet, internally debating, when he posed that question. However, it was difficult as I was unsure. What were the rules of this world like? What would qualify as a reasonable spell to cast here?

There were thousands upon thousands of spells I had at the ready in my arsenal, but what would qualify as something that could be used here? Aside from that, my specialty was always long-range supportive damage, so most of the spells I would prepare relied on me being at least a small distance away from my opponent.

Prestidigitation spells were another question. What would qualify as a prestidigitation spell in this world?

I sighed. Looking up, straight at my "father," I held up my hand in response.

He looked expectantly.

I caused a small ball of water to form, enough to fill a medium-sized water balloon. In a small fit of anger, I threw it straight at him.

Instead of being angry, however, he seemed overjoyed. "APRILYNNE!" he yelled. "Aprilynne! Our daughter has been blessed by the Water Goddess!"

The Water Goddess? Which one? Suijin was no goddess, nor was Poseidon. Every other water-related deity I could recall on the spot was far too specific to be considered the general "water goddess."

"Oh, bless my heart!" I heard my "mother" say. "I wonder, what Candace will choose to specialize in?"

"I'm sorry, but what exactly is this 'water goddess?'" I inquired.

"The Water Goddess, of course!" my mother exclaimed. "You can't tell me you don't know of the Water Goddess, the Fire Deity, the Grass Faerie, and the Air God?"

I furrowed my eyebrows in confusion. "Are you speaking of Poseidon, Zeu-"

"What nonsense do you speak of?" my "mother" said. "Who is this 'Poseidon?'"

"Never mind it," I said.

She dropped the matter relatively quickly. "You'll be attending the entrance examinations tomorrow. Your paper exam may be unsaveable, but at least your practical score won't be so bad if you've been chosen by an elemental already," she nodded in satisfaction.

I didn't have the heart to tell her that I had cast such a basic prestidigitation spell that my own mother would have cried at how little effort I put.

[At least show off one of your best Arias!] she would scold.

"Are there books I could look at?" I asked.

"Upstairs in the library," she waved. I nodded and left.

If I were to perform on the entrance examination, I would first have to know what would be on it.