|| You are a Bad Woman

It's been a year now since Kassandra learned to live by herself. She built a house inside the woods and totally turned her back away from the people of the town. Her heart is now as cold as the snow that covers the entire town. Today is Christmas, the day she was born, the day she hates the most.

Kassandra looks at the gift that she prepares for Chloe a year ago. She did not unwrap the thing hoping that she could be able to give it to her someday. She decided to get the gift and put it inside her bag. She wears her black jacket and a black snow hat. Ever since her grandmother left her, she only wears black clothing. Everything is black. A representation of how empty she is inside.

Today is no exception. Even though it is Christmas, she will still wear black. The color that soothes her eye. The color that comforted her in the darkness of her life.

"What could be best for lunch and supper?" She asked herself. She gets her bow and arrow and decided to hunt into the woods. She developed a skill in archery. She needed to. Or else, she would die in hunger.

She climbed on top of the tree to survey the area. After minutes of watching around, she saw a big brown rabbit. "Oh, what a cute little thing. I guess rabbit meat it is."

She jumps on the other branches of the tree to have a good access sight of the big brown rabbit. She starts loading the arrow and slowly pulling the string. She was getting excited. She never tasted rabbit meat before, but she heard their meat is like poultry, but slightly stronger, meatier, and earthier in flavor. She was imagining a good meal out of a rabbit when she released the first arrow.

"Come on." She whispered.

The strike was good, and anyone could bet that Kassandra definitely hit the jackpot, only if the rabbit was still on the location where she last saw it.

"What the hell happened? I am pretty sure that I hit it." She calmly uttered although her inside is getting confused and angered. She jumped down the tree and picked up the arrow that hit the ground.

"You are a bad woman." Someone up the red brick wall said to her.

Kassandra looked up and gets startled. She was not aware that there is a wall on that side of the woods. Why did she not remember it before? She used to hunt on this side of the woods, and she could tell that there is no wall here before.

"Who are you?" Kassandra asked the man on top of the wall. She couldn't see his face because he is wearing a hooded jacket and the wall is quite high.

"It does not matter. I do not give my name to those people who tried to hurt my friends." He crossed his arms in front of his chest as if showing his displeased attitude to him.

Well, Kassandra is not also pleased with him. So, the feelings are mutual. He ruined her plan of getting a good meal out of the big brown rabbit, which she believes became a very tiny one. She kneeled on the ground to clearly see if the tiny rabbit in front of her is indeed the big brown rabbit earlier.

"Are you my big rabbit a while ago? What happened to you? I could not eat tiny meat like you. You could not fill up my stomach." Kassandra said to the tiny rabbit on the ground.

The gentleman on top of the wall snapped her fingers. Suddenly, the tiny rabbit glows as if slowly changing its form. Its body has gone bigger and legs slowly get longer. His front teeth begin to change into fangs. The tiny rabbit turns into a big white tiger.

"Oh. Are you giving me a nice big meal? Is it your way of apologizing?" Kassandra stood up before she draws one arrow behind her back. She was getting ready to shoot the humongous animal. When she released the arrow, the big white tiger in front of her disappears and turns into hundreds of blue butterflies.

"Are you kidding me?!" She cannot help not to shout but the person that irritates her is no longer there. "Annoying coward! Bring back my rabbit now!"

"It was nice playing with you, but I have to go. Hope to see you again." The man whispered to himself while he jumps down on the other side of the wall. A white big bird caught him and flew away from her location.

"You are so annoying. I hope to never see you again!" She said while looking up the wall though she knows that the man earlier had been disappeared already.

"Mr. Ruprecht! Come back here! Your gate pass is not valid. The director did not sign on it!"

Kassandra heard a woman's voice behind the wall. She was quite surprised. What the hell is happening in this wood? Especially behind this wall?

After a few seconds, while Kassandra hasn't even been recovered from what she had experienced earlier, a man wearing a hooded black cape with a silver mask on jumps out of the blue. He throws a boomerang-shaped fire into the nearest tree. The tree suddenly fell and gets on fire. It leaned on the high-level wall which eventually became his scaping ladder.

Kassandra meets his gaze. She could tell that the man wearing the silver mask was also surprised upon seeing her.

"Ruprecht! You are not allowed to get out of the city!" the woman's voice that is coming behind the wall suddenly becomes even clearer, as if she was just standing behind her back.

"Catch me if you can." The man on mask produces a flame out of his palm and sets the tree that he used as a scaping ladder on fire.

Unfortunately, the tree is reclining on the side of the wall behind Kassandra, so the debris that is already on fire was slowly falling towards her. "Oh, I think the good Professor Lucila must prioritize the ordinary civilian over a delinquent student like me. See you later Ms. Aerea!" The man who is called Ruprecht vanished into the woods in the blink of an eye.

On the other hand, Kassandra could feel the hotness of debris falling from above.

"Get away from there!"

That is the last words she heard before the whole tree fell into her.

__________________

" What are you thinking? Why did you bring this civilian in our Academy?" Prof. Lennard asked Prof. Aerea.

"Honestly, I also do not know. When I touched her, I think, I felt something weird. I became very calm to the point that the barrier I made to protect us from the falling debris suddenly vanished. As if I lose control. I felt that my power was stopped." Prof. Aerea was also confused while she reiterated what happened earlier.

"That's how you get this burnt all over your back?" Prof. Lennard was laughing while mocking his co-teacher.

"Will you please stop. What I have experienced is not a laughable matter. First, Ruprecht escaped from the Academy for the third time. Then he almost made this lady gets hurt. He became uncontrollably now." Prof. Aerea is getting annoyed.

"Maybe he is still looking for that being."

"What being?" Aerea curiously asked Lennard.

"I heard he was looking for someone or something. Four years ago, the director gave a mission to them. They were asked to dispose of a bunch of assassins who escaped to the human world. And then, there is this being who stopped him from going berserk. When I said berserk, you know what I mean right? Well, that is the rumor I heard from my students. I just don't know what kind of being it is."

"A being who has a calming effect on Ruprecht?"

"Well, I do not know what kind of spell or thing that being do to him."

"Lennard, could it be that?" Prof Aerea turned her gaze to the lady lying on the sofa.

"Are you suggesting that she might be the one they were talking about?" Prof. Lennard who is sitting on the other side crossed his legs.

"I have a gut feeling that she belongs to this world."

"I think we could find an answer to all those questions if we will consult the dean." Prof Lennard weakly smiles.

"So, you are suggesting that we must bring this matter to him?" Aerea is not sure about Lennard's suggestion. If they bring this to the knowledge of Dean Marcellus, then, she must reiterate the whole stories to him.

"We cannot find answers to all of these unless we consulted the dean. Also, how can you bring her back to her world in that state? The door to the human world is about to close. You must need permission from the director in order to get out. You don't have enough time."

Prof Aerea Lucila left speechless. Lennard Gunnar has a point.

"Excuse me." A knock on the door was heard. "The medical team was on vacation. I was asked by Dean Marcellus to come over here. He heard you are badly hurt, Prof. Lucila. I'm Elizabeth Frigore. The one who will tend to your burnt skin."

The two professors looked surprised when they heard what the student has said.

Lennard Gunnar shrugged. "Well I guess, we are crying over a spilled milk."

Aerea slowly shakes her head in disbelief. "He really is the Dean." She created a light barrier to hide the presence of the young lady sleeping soundly on top of the sofa.

"Come in Elizabeth. We are really expecting to see you." Lennard Gunnar smilingly said.

_________________

Kassandra opens her eyes in a bizarre room full of Christmas decorations.

"Where the hell am I? Where is this place?"

She started moving her eyes around the room. No one is inside the room except for her. She noticed that the room was painted white and full of Christmas ornaments. She gets annoyed at the sight of red and green color decorations around her.

"Is this hell?" she asked herself. "Hmm. If this is hell, I could still turn this into my own haven."

Kassandra removes all the decorations and started throwing it into the fireplace found inside the bedroom. While she is busy doing her stuff, a woman entered the room.

"You are awake. How are you feeling?"

Kassandra turned her gaze to the source of the voice. The woman is familiar.

"Are you Satan? Am I in hell?" She innocently asked the woman.

"Satan? Who is that?" the woman confusedly asked back.

"If you are not Satan. Then I am not in hell. So, is this heaven?"

The woman cannot help herself not to laugh.

"What a cute human being. Anyway, you are not in heaven or hell. You are in Noel City, specifically Noel Academy."

"Noel City?" Kassandra stops and thinks for a while.

She remembers something. She was hunting the meat for her lunch and supper when she encountered some unexplainable occurrences in front of an enigmatic wall that was said to be the link of the human world from the place called Noel City. From what she had heard from the town people, Noel City is a place where people can celebrate Christmas every day. She also heard that the place is no ordinary. All the residents in that city possessed special abilities that are unknown to common people. "She said Noel Academy, right?" she asked herself while collecting the information inside her mind.

She heard about Noel Academy from Chloe, and it is found inside Noel City. The school is an Elite Academy whose goal is to develop their young people into an extraordinary being that could be a great contribution to the city's success.

"Are you kidding me!? Here is even worse than hell!" Kassandra's skin turns pale white. "Please bring me back home." The last words she could mutter before losing her consciousness

_________________

"Good morning everyone! It was nice to see you all. Prof. Demetria is not available at this moment. So I will be assuming her class for today. Before we start, let me introduce your new classmate to you. Please come in front of the class." Prof. Aerea Lucila beckoned at the new student outside the door.

"Please introduce yourself to them." She softly whispered to her.

"Good morning. I'm Kassandra. It was a good day to meet all of you." Kassandra said while her eyes are roaming around as if looking for someone.

"Chloe Bion is not here, she is in Class A." Prof. Aerea softly said to her.

"I accepted your offer knowing that you could make us meet. But why did you not put me in her class?" She said in a very low voice.

"Let us talk about it some other time. First, take your seat." Prof. Aerea awkwardly smiled at her.

Kassandra survey the classroom, this time, looking for an unoccupied chair. When she spotted two empty chairs, she walks straight towards it. Because she was ignoring the people around her that time, she was unable to see the surprise on their faces when she finally took the seats on the left.

"Hey! You are not allowed to sit on that chair!" Antoinette Bastiaan suddenly shouted.

"Why not?" Kassandra coldly stares at her.

"Well. That is the rule. You are not allowed to take that seat. As for the specific reason, you don't have the right to know." Antoinette could not tell her the real reasons because everyone is staring at her.

"Ms. Bastiaan, Kassandra could take any seat as long as it is unoccupied. You cannot just utter any nonsense. I, the professor in this academy permitted her to do so." Prof. Aerea mediated the situation.

"You heard the professor. Can I take this seat now?"

"No. You cannot." A cold and authoritative voice vibrates inside the classroom.

Everyone knows the owner of the voice, except for Kassandra of course.

"You're are so dead." Antoinette giggled silently. She is secretly celebrating.