The Senerra Academy

Link smiled as he looked at his watch again. "There's no time to explain. All we must do next is board the bus," he said but Eirin stared at him with a grimace. Wondering why no one has tried to explain anything to her since the beginning. 

  "Bus to where?" Eirin had tons of questions inside her head, but ever since the three appeared, none of her questions were truly answered. 

It was late at night, and the forest was surrounded by darkness. Eirin could hear the hooting of the owls. Suddenly, a pink bus appeared out of nowhere and stopped right in front of them. The bus's door opened automatically, and Link grabbed Eirin's hand. 

  "We're going back to where we came from." 

Eirin's forehead creased. "And where is that?" she asked as she stepped onto the bus while holding onto Link's arm. 

  "The Senerra Academy." 

Before Eirin could ask more questions, the four of them had already boarded the mysterious pink bus, and it left at once. The sudden movement while they were still settling in caused Eirin to accidentally sit on Cali's lap. An awkward silence filled the air as Link and Shade stared at Eirin. Her face quickly became red as a cherry that was about to pop. 

  "I'm so sorry," she said without making eye contact with Cali. She grabbed onto the handler and took a seat beside Cali. Embarrassed by what happened, Eirin did not speak a word after that and neither did Cali. 

Trying to forget the embarrassment, Eirin looked out of the window to distract herself. She then saw nothing but greenery. Trees and nothing but trees. There were only four of them inside the bus and the other seats were practically empty. 

  'I don't remember seeing the driver either,' Eirin thought as she rested her chin on her palm and leaned on the glass window. Despite seeing nothing but trees, the scenery didn't bore the teenage girl, instead, it gave her a sense of tranquility. 

  "I'm so glad we'll be coming home now." 

Eirin glanced at Link after he said that. Extreme joy and excitement showed on his face which made Eirin wonder if something was waiting for him back at home. 

  "We could have gone home earlier if it wasn't for a certain someone," Shade commented, but it was obvious who he was referring to, so Eirin decided to ignore Shade's words as she wasn't in the mood to argue. 

  'He's not wrong either.' 

Trees, trees, grasses, and more trees. At that point, Eirin wondered when she would be able to see something else with an assorted color other than green. That's when the bus stopped unexpectedly despite still being surrounded by a forest. The sudden halt made Eirin's face move forward, almost making it hit the seat in front if it wasn't for Cali's quick hand that supported her head. 

  "T-Thank you." Eirin cleared her throat and thought, 'She's so cool.' The teenage girl looked out of the window, but the bus didn't move anymore. "Why did we stop in the middle of the forest?" She couldn't see what was in front of the bus and the reason they stopped. 

  "We're here," Cali answered, and that's when the bus started moving again. 

Eirin's curiosity made her open the glass window and she peeked her head out. Her eyes widened as she saw a wide and huge gate that looked like it could reach even the high heavens. Cali pulled her back inside before her head could get decapitated by how fast the bus was going. 

  "Don't peek like that whenever we're passing a gate. You could lose your head." 

Eirin gulped as she sat back down in her seat. If it wasn't for Cali's quick reflex, she would have died by now. 'That was insane,' she thought after they passed through the gate. 

  "You may peek now." 

Hearing Cali say that Eirin looked out of the window and her eyes soon widened. Her mouth went agape, and she could not speak at all. Those same lingering pastel pink and blue mists formed like clouds in the air but soon disappeared as the bus passed its way. Eirin's gaze landed on the ground and there she saw the different and beautiful flowers surrounding their path. The fragrant smell and beautiful colors made Eirin smile as she could not find any other words to describe what she was seeing except for enchanting. 

  "Wow." 

The bus stopped, leading to Link saying, "We need to get off now." Which made Eirin stand while Cali moved out of her way. She could not explain what she was feeling. Her heart thumped loudly as her stomach felt churning. 

  'Was it because I haven't had breakfast yet?' Eirin thought after seeing how clear the sky above them was. The ride there didn't take that long, but it was already daytime. They all got off the bus, and Eirin was blinded by how bright the sun was. When she slowly adjusted, everything she saw was either sparkling or blinding. A huge castle-like building stood in front of them making Eirin's mouth drop. 

  "Good job for finishing your mission successfully," a woman standing at the first step of lots of stairs leading to the castle said. She fixed her thick round glasses while holding a book in her other hand. "The bus may go now," the woman said, making Eirin turn back to the bus to see the driver but there was no one there. It moved away without anyone handling the steering wheel. 

  'What in the world!?' 

  "Can I leave?" Cali said, but before the woman wearing those thick glasses could answer, Shade had already made his way without saying anything. 

The woman sighed as she nodded. "Please do tell Shade Cromwell that Her Majesty will be calling him to her office later," she said, but Cali ignored her words and left. "Link, you must remind your friend, okay?" 

Link smiled and said, "Yes, I will." While Eirin was still astounded by the humongous castle in front of them and the unbelievable number of stairs. It would be tiring to walk up those stairs, was the thought that filled Eirin's mind. 

  "Link!" 

Eirin's eyes widened, and she fell on her butt after being pushed away from Link. She blinked thousands of times as she stared at the girl who apparently pushed her away and was now clinging to Link's arm. 

  "I missed you so much!" 

A petite and adorable-looking girl that looked a lot smaller than Eirin. The girl had vibrant long purple hair tied in twin tails and she was wearing a frilly pink long-sleeved dress reaching just above her knees. She was also wearing white and pink striped knee-high socks. Her skin was as pale as snow. 

  "What took you so long? I'm so lonely without you here." 

Her voice was high-pitched, and it was adorable that Eirin did not mind being pushed at all. It was as if looking at a baby girl. 

  "Are you alright?" The woman wearing glasses who had not yet introduced herself reached her hand to Eirin, which Eirin accepted as she stood up. "That was quite rude of you Miss McGuffin," she said. 

The adorable girl called "Miss McGuffin" turned in Eirin's direction, and the cheerful expression vanished from her face as her beautiful winter gray eyes turned blank as she said, "I'm sorry. I didn't notice her." The indifference she showed caused Eirin to stand there in silence. 

  'She clearly pushed me away, though,' Eirin thought even though it did not bother her that much. 

  "I'm sorry for that, Eirin," Link said as he approached Eirin, but Miss McGuffin was still holding onto his arm like a little koala bear. "This is Coco, she's, my friend. She must have been delighted to see me since it's been a while," he said with a sheepish smile while scratching the back of his head. 

  "Coco, this is Eirin." 

Eirin smiled and reached for a handshake. "Hi, Coco. My name is Eirin Luxfield," she introduced herself, but the young girl, Coco, hid behind Lin's arm while glaring at Eirin. Eirin gulped. 'Is she perhaps shy with strangers?' the teenage girl thought while her hand was left hanging. 

  "It's Coleen McGuffin," the girl said. "Only my friends can call me Coco," she added, causing tension in the air as Eirin backed away. 

Eirin maintained her smile despite knowing that Coleen McGuffin was wary of her. 

The woman with the glasses then cleared her throat. "I apologize for not introducing myself, I am Anna Welkins. I am Her Majesty, the Queen's secretary," she said as she fixed her glasses. "I still have tons to explain to Miss Luxfield, so you two may go now," Anna told Link and Coleen. 

  "Let's go now." Coleen's face brimmed with happiness as she pulled Link away. 

Link faced Eirin before leaving. "I'll see you later," he said and bid Eirin goodbye while Coleen gave Eirin death glares as they walked away. 

Eirin felt a shiver down her spine and thought, 'No, she's not just wary of me. She hates me.' Being thrown into an unknown place full of strangers doesn't make her feel good at all. 'I'm not the friendly type of person either. If only Ava's here with me,' she thought and sighed. 

  "Come now, follow me," Anna said. 

The two walked up the stairs towards the humongous castle made from stone. It gave a sense of primeval feeling mixing with a magnificent view. 

  "This place is called Senerra Academy." 

Eirin tilted her head as she saw beautiful vines through the castle walls as they entered the main gate. "This place is a school?" She looked around and saw how vast the front yard was. "A school designed like a castle?" 

  "You are mistaken, Miss Luxfield," Anna said. "This is a castle turned into an academy for bright and talented students," she said confusing Eirin. Seeing the expression on Eirin's face made Anna clear her throat. "I apologize for confusing you. I have forgotten that you are not aware of such things." 

They continued walking into the huge hallway. "This world is different from the world where you came from," Anna said. "This place is abundant with magic. Also known as Proprius. The world where Miss Luxfield came from is called Infirmus."

  "Magic? I don't fully understand." 

Anna pointed to the children in the garden between the hallways. "In this world, there is what you call mana. Unlike the world where you came from, the Proprius relies on mana and magic. The students here have different abilities which we call flair. That is the sole purpose of this academia. We help and nurture the students to control their abilities." 

Eirin blinked her eyes lots of times, not understanding anything she had heard. "It might be too early to explain everything as this world is quite vast," Anna added. 

The tour continued. "Since you will be a student of the academy, do not fret. We will ensure that you learn everything about this world without a miss," Anna smiled. "But before that, you must meet Her Majesty, the Queen." 

  'Queen? Does that mean this academia is being ruled by a monarch?' 

Anna stopped in front of a huge door at the end of the hallway on the third floor. "We have arrived, Your Majesty," she said outside after knocking, making Eirin gulp. 

  "Come in."