1 Prologue: Pink Nightmares
Prologue: Pink Nightmares
"Zenith. Put your hands on the disc."
"Yes, sir."
She was a servant.
Zenith put her hands on the disc.
Due to her lowly birth, she did not expect anything special from herself. But fate had different plans.
Zenith felt pain course through her arms and chest. But with the pain, came another feeling. Pleasure?
The disk went through a series of colors. Starting from red, going to orange, and ending in indigo.
"Indigo?"
Duke's retainer saw the indigo light and sighed.
"Take her to her chambers. Send a servant to meet her there and discuss her future." the retainer said.
Although indigo wasn't particularly high, it was high enough to get into a mage's school and become a decent student.
Zenith left the measuring room and was congratulated by the other servants who saw her aptitude test. Although mixed in, there were quite a few glares. In a world where one's magical aptitude determined one's place in society, having a high aptitude would bring both blessings and curses.
Zenith moved to the servant's chambers and sat down on a chair in the common room.
She waited.
A minute passed.
And waited.
An hour passed.
And continued waiting.
And right as the clock was about to mark two hours passing, a man entered the room.
"Zenith, I presume?" the man said, sizing her up.
"Yes, my lord."
"You are to come with me."
"Yes, my lord."
The man left the room, not looking back. Zenith got up from her chair and quickly followed.
"Um... Excuse me my lord, but what is going on?"
Zenith was a young woman, merely 14 years old. She was old enough to understand her position, but still too young to be treated with the respect one would give to a fully-grown adult.
As they were walking along, the servant turned and stopped by a door.
"In this room, you are going to meet the Duke's 14th son. You are to be his advisor, and attend to his every need. You will be an honorary student at his majesty's University of Magic and will study to fill in any weak spots in the young sire's education. Is this understood?"
"Yes, sir!" Zenith replied. She was going to the University? But she was just a servant! Of course, she did not dare voice her thoughts to the man. He was likely of higher standing than her, and she did not dare rebuke him.
"Now, enter the room."
"Yes, sir."
Zenith opened the door and walked through. Sitting on a chair, was the Duke's youngest son. He had a rather bookish appearance, being slim and rather weak-looking. Around him was a shelf of books on various subjects, from herbology to history.
"Come, sit down."
"Yes, sire."
"No, no, none of that. We are going to be stuck together for a while, whether or not we like it. We need to get to know each other on a more personal basis."
"Yes, sire."
He sighed. "I'm Exos. What is your name?"
"I am Zenith, my lord."
"Beautiful name. I believe it means the peak of something or something along those lines? Your parents had good naming sense. Anyways, care to join me? I am attempting to get a good start on the rest of the class when I join the University, by studying books on the subjects I am taking. What subjects are you planning on taking?"
"Any you are not planning on taking, my lord. I could not be worthy to participate in the same classes you take."
"Now, now. None of that. Take some classes that fill in my weak spots, but do remember to attempt to have some enjoyment in your life."
"Yes, my lord."
Once again, Exos sighed. "Well, come on over. Care to quiz me on this?"
Zenith smiled. Things were looking up.
Zenith changed into her nightgown. She went into bed and quickly fell asleep, hoping to dream of a better tomorrow. But fate had other plans.
Zenith opened her eyes. No, that was wrong. She didn't open her eyes, nor did she move, but she could see. Why was that? Zenith looked... no, not down. There was no pull of gravity, so there was no down or up. Where would her body be? She looked and could not find it. But regardless, she found herself in an empty space, where only two things existed. Herself, and a book.
