Moving Forward

"Kassandra Sharpe, nice to meet you." The woman extended her hand for him to shake, which Sekai tentatively did.

"Kassandra Sharpe...you're the one that she called 'Master' aren't you?" Sekai's eyes narrowed, and she nodded.

"Annabeth is my apprentice, and I am her master. It's how things work in magical society." She explained, "Although, I assume you already assumed that."

"What do you want with me?" Sekai asked suspiciously,

"Relax, I'm no Witch Hunter. As I said, Annabeth was worried about you. Now that I've seen you, I can safely tell her that you're alright." Kassandra sighed, "That being said, I have my own reasons for being here. But first things first - I'd like to thank you."

"Thank...me?" Sekai cocked his head,

"Of course. From what Annabeth said, you not only sheltered her in your home, but you also risked your life to keep her safe, even when hospitalized." Kassandra stated,

Sekai merely shrugged, "I couldn't let her just get attacked, could I?"

"Most people would've, and that's another reason I'm here. Stick out your hand." Kassandra ordered, and Sekai was clearly hesitant to do so.

The woman sighed, "I just want to test your magical capability,"

"Why?"

"I want to see if you're a mage or not."

Sekai finally did so, not seeing the harm in doing so.

Kassandra took his hand, and a light green light appeared over their clasped hands.

"So you weren't lying to her. But..." Kassandra trailed off,

"Are you done?" Sekai asked, "I need to get to school or I'll be late."

"For the most part." Kassandra stated, "I'd like to make you an offer, think of it as a thank you. I would like to take you on as an apprentice mage."

"Apprentice...mage?" Sekai cocked his head, "Hang on- aren't we rushing things? This is our first meeting..."

"You also risked your life for Annabeth on your first meeting." She said offhandedly, "You're an odd person, but you're my kind of odd person. Annabeth is on the verge of becoming a mage in her own right, and I feel I can take on another apprentice."

Sekai thought about it, it was a golden opportunity to learn magic, real magic, not parlor tricks to be done on a stage.

However...

He inhaled, "Sorry, but I can't accept your offer right now."

He clutched his hand, even if he wanted to drop everything and learn magic on a whim. He still had to figure out his own new abilities before throwing himself headlong in what could be another life-changing situation.

Kassandra chuckled lightly, "Of course you wouldn't. Well, my offer is always on the table." She pulled out an intricate white business card with golden patterns on it.

"Keep this if you ever want to find me, or just talk to Annabeth." Kassandra winked at him for the last part, causing him to blush slightly.

"One last thing, allow me to leave a piece of advice for you." Kassandra's tone turned serious, and Sekai looked up at the woman, who took another puff of her pipe.

"From what I can determine, your ability is something beyond the realm of magic, maybe even beyond this world." Kassandra began,

"Okay...what are you getting at?" Sekai asked,

"Now that you've been exposed to a deeper layer of the world with this power, your actions will no longer affect just yourself, but the foundations of the world we live in down to its deepest layers. When the existence of such an unforeseen variable becomes known to those who reside in those layers, you will be sought out by people either seeking to eliminate you or to control you." Kassandra told him, "One way or another, there is no going back from this. All that's left for you now is to determine whether or not you are willing to shape a new world with your own hands. I pray you won't disappoint."

"Deepest layers? What are you-" Sekai began, but Kassandra was already gone, and he realized that as they were talking, he had somehow ended up in front of Kotono High School.

"...talking about." He trailed off before sighing, "Cryptic much...?"

"Ah! There you are!" Antei rushed up to him, "Sorry I didn't wake you up this morning, I just didn't want to bother you."

Sekai nodded, "I would've preferred if you did."

At that, Antei flushed a little. "Let's just head to class." She said suddenly, taking the boy by the hand.

⸻

When Antei and Sekai walked in, Sekai drew much attention to himself. His hair had turned completely silver, and his eyes were now a bright silver.

The sudden attention made him somewhat self-conscious, and he had his head down as he went to his seat.

"Ahem, I believe that should be everyone..." Their homeroom teacher stated, "That being said, it's on somewhat short notice, but we have another new transfer to the class."

Shiro leaned over to him, "I wonder if it's another girl...?" He wondered with a gross smirk on his face.

"You may step in now," Omuria called, and a girl stepped in, she was a youngish-looking girl who waved at the class energetically.

A strangely familiar youngish-looking girl.

'Hang on...that's...!'

"Hello everyone~! My name is Hina Susumu, I will be starting class at Kotono High from here on out!"

At that announcement, Sekai promptly choked on air.

⸻

And so, Sekai's table at his high school got its sixth member, and evening out the gender divide between the group.

"So...Hina, right?" Shiro leaned over, "I'm Shiro Hanada, these two here are Hokura Imano and Sekai Kaeru-"

"I'm going to stop him right there." Hokura quickly covered his friend's mouth, "Where are you from, Hina?"

"Yokohama," She said simply, "I moved to Kotono with a big conglomerate."

"Ah, your parents moved with the company?" Shiro asked, finally freeing himself of the makeshift gag, and Hina simply smiled.

Antei eyed the girl with suspicion, while Ruiko remained inscrutable.

"Well, this table is certainly getting a lot livelier..." Antei sighed,

⸻

After a few hours of trying, Sekai finally managed to catch Hina alone between classes.

"Why are you here?" Sekai hissed,

"What do you mean~?" She asked playfully, "I'm a student here now."

"Of course you are! Why are you a student here? Aren't you older than us?" Sekai asked,

Hina's eyes narrowed, "...Exactly...how old do you think I am?"

"Well...you look pretty young, but you are a doctor...I'd say your twenties?" Sekai said tentatively, suddenly getting the feeling he had stepped on a landmine.

"...I'm sixteen you jerk!" Hina promptly began to repeatedly stomp on his foot, causing him to reel in pain.

"Ow ow! I'm sorry, I didn't know!" Sekai complained, and Hina finally stopped, the shorter girl crossed her arms in indignation.

"Hmph! Anyway, I enrolled here to keep an eye on you." Hina stated,

"Don't I already have a security detail?" Sekai asked,

"Well, while we can keep track of you outside of school. We can't exactly keep tabs on you inside it, not without someone on the inside. And inserting a student is much easier than inserting a teacher." Hina explained, "You have interesting friends, by the way."

Sekai sighed, "Tell me about it..."

⸻

And so, despite the prevailing oddity of the situation, Sekai came to accept Hina as a permanent part of his life.

The rest of the week passed in a strange sort of idyllism, with Hina quickly settling in as a member of their group.

Despite school life proceeding normally, however, Sekai found out that weekend that Hina had much more planned for him.

That Saturday morning, he was woken up to the sound of knocking on his door.

Sekai groaned in annoyance, 'It's not even a school day...is it Antei? No, she knows where we keep the spare key...'

Sighing, he slipped into a pair of slippers and rubbed his eyes. Walking over to the front door and peeked through the curtain.

Only to see Hoshida and two other Serpentine mercenaries waiting for him outside.

Immediately jolting awake, Sekai felt his heart drop to his gut.

'Why is he here...?' He wondered, immediately he thought about running, but realized that that would only cause more problems than it was worth.

After a few seconds of indecision, he ultimately decided to open the door.

"Heya kid." Hoshida greeted him, "We're here to take you for testing."

"...Right...Can I have breakfast first? I haven't even eaten..."

"You'll eat at the lab." He said,

"Can I wake up my parents then?" He asked, and Hoshida sighed and nodded.

⸻

As it turned out, Sekai's father had long since left for a shift at Kotono Hosptial, leaving only his mother to see him off, still in her nightgown.

After having everything explained to her, Kiyomi could only sadly nod and say: "Please...take care of him,"

"Don't worry, mom." Sekai smiled, "I'll be back soon,"

Kiyomi nodded, allowing Hoshida and the Serpentine mercenaries to take her son into the black van.

"Where is this lab anyway?" Sekai finally asked,

"Thirty minutes outside of Kotono." Hoshida answered simply, "Not too far."

"Right...and what kind of tests will I be doing when I get there?" Sekai pressed, but at that, Hoshida remained silent.

'Great...so either he doesn't know or won't tell me...'

⸻

The rest of the ride passed in relative silence, and Sekai wound up falling asleep. Only to be roused several minutes later by one of the Serpentine mercenaries shaking him awake.

"We're here." The woman stated, "Up."

Sekai nodded, blinking as the sudden influx of sunlight caught him off guard.

"Nice to see you made it!" Hina waved at him as the group pulled out of the van,

"Yeah..." Sekai nodded,

"You must be hungry - come on!" Hina grabbed his hand and immediately began leading him inside.

The lab itself was a fairly inconspicuous building from the outside. It looked simply like a warehouse for an unnamed company, which - when given its nature - might've been the look it was going for.

On the inside, Sekai was rather amazed. People in lab coats busied themselves around the compound, holding papers and equipment as they went to their various destinations. In addition, there were also a fair amount of Serpentine mercenaries present as well, dressed to the brim in full black military gear and wielding assault rifles. The setup reminded him of an ant colony, a sort of orderly chaos.

"Welcome to our Kotono Facility." Hina explained, "I'd love to give you a tour, but we have too much to do today."

Waving to one of the mercenaries, who promptly came over.

"Yes, Director?" The guard questioned,

"Guide Sekai Kaeru here to Room R-002." Hina ordered, and the guard saluted and gestured for Sekai to follow them.

The guard led him through the facility, taking him to what appeared to be a residential area. "Please stay here." The guard asked, and Sekai nodded as the guard shut the door behind them.

The room wasn't particularly uncomfortable. It had a simple desk and a rather quality-looking bed, as well as a television, some shelves, and a mini fridge, and was even connected to a bathroom complete with a shower. If Sekai didn't know better, he'd say it was more of a hotel than a laboratory.

Sekai flopped down on the bed, 'Well...it doesn't seem to be too bad so far...' Sekai thought to himself. Then he had a thought: 'Hang on, does Ruiko live here...?'

As he thought that, he heard a ringing from his door. When he went to open it, there was a man in a lab coat holding a tray of what appeared to be breakfast.

"Thank you." Sekai stated, and the man nodded.

"Please report to Testing Room 004 in thirty minutes." He replied simply, before once again leaving him alone.

'Right...as if I know where that is...' Sekai sighed, glancing down at the tray left in his hands, he set it down on the desk in his room and began to eat.

Once he was finished, he saw nowhere to take the tray, so decided to leave it on the desk and head outside. Opening the door, he wound up running directly into a girl his age.

A girl with silver hair and horns like an oni.

"Ruiko!?" Sekai stated in surprise,

"Sekai? What are you doing here?" Ruiko turned to face the boy,

"Well...Hina brought me here for 'testing' and I was told to head to Testing Room 004..."

"And you don't know where it is." Ruiko finished, and Sekai nodded.

"Well, I'm headed there as well. So I can take you there." Ruiko took his hand and began leading him to their destination.

⸻

"Ah, there you two are!" Hina clapped her hands together joyfully. "I was worried Sekai wouldn't find his way here."

'I almost didn't...!' Sekai thought to himself, but ultimately said nothing.

"What do you want us do to, Director?" Ruiko asked politely, and Hina gestured to a padded white room on the other side of a wide glass pane.

"Head in there, please." Hina stated, "I'll explain more once you're inside."

Ruiko and Sekai looked at each other and shrugged, stepping into the room.

Upon closer inspection, they spotted three cylindrical platforms, each with two spherical projectiles on top of them.

"Oh I've done this." Ruiko stated, "I usually just telekinetically throw the balls at some targets. I've never done it in here though." She looked around as she said this, before adding:

"Where are the targets?" She questioned, and Sekai suddenly had a sinking feeling about the entire situation.

'Please don't tell me...' He thought to himself, as Hina came on a hidden speaker and confirmed his worst fears.

"Oh that's a simple question to answer, Ruiko. Your target is Sekai."