Abysia Rivalry

Uggggh… what… what happened…

...the exam…a basilisk…"NIM!!"

"Oh, good you're up. I'll let Celeste know."

…I'm in a bed, it feels comfortable enough, my arms are bandaged though… There's a girl sitting in a chair busy on a device of sorts. "Hey, where am I?"

"Oh, you died." ...she didn't even look up from her device.

"Where actually am I?"

"Wow you're no fun, you're in the Rainbow Sanctuary. There, happy?"

"No actually. Why am I here?"

"Oh, some dumb bs about how Celeste went overboard and pissed off AI bitch enough for her to threaten consequences or something, bringing you here seemed to shut her dumbass mouth." She leaned back in the chair and continued using her device.

I guess I'll just sit here in silence.

...

..-oh the door opened. It's… Celeste, she seems a tad preoccupied.

"I'll be outside…" The girl left while still on her device…

"Sorry Veronica, we've been kinda busy dealing with stuff. Some bodies of Coven of Shards witches were found, and they are blaming us."

"Coven of Shards?"

"Oh, I guess you would only know about us and Soma. Another major guild here is A.R.O. or Abysia Reserve Organization. Made up of the Scale Choir, the Nocturnis Canibus, and, of course, the Coven of Shards, A.R.O. is pretty much exclusively a fighting guild, except for collecting and researching animals. The Coven is a collection of witches specializing in chaos magic and they kinda hate our guts because we are also witches, well actually its just me and a large collection of fighters here. They don't actively disturb our medical forces but they have killed a fair number of us so we're kinda rivals."

"Wait… did you guys actually kill the witches?"

"....no…" That was definitely a lie.

"Anyway, why am I here?"

"Hmmm, oh let's see." Celeste pulls out a device. "Ok, so you went into a coma from overuse of mana and also treated for minor burns from a rebound… so nothing tooo major…

"Wait how long have I been out for?"

"Oh not long… ummm I think it has been two days or so. For using such high-level spells in such a short order you suffered very minor consequences. It was incredibly impressive."

"Wait, what exactly happened?"

"Humans have an interesting response to danger. Typically the body limits itself from going overboard and causing self-injury, in danger humans can suppress that and utilize force beyond their baseline capabilities. You entered that state and because you utilized an extremely high-level spell along with a strange unique spell, you forced your body to overuse mana and caused a comatose state. Now that I brought it up, what exactly did you cast?"

"Oh… I don't actually know, it just kinda popped into my head…"

"Have you ever heard of 'Karmic Mirror' before? Like you could have seen someone use it before."

"No, I have no idea where it came from."

"Interesting," Celeste���s entire disposition seems to change. "I can pull some strings and get you registered as a member of the Rainbow Sanctuary, and I can directly mentor you."

"Wait… why?"

"You have a high magic potential, you can easily be taken advantage of. You'll be welcome here as a witch, and you'll eas-"

The girl from before opened the door. "Celie we have a problem, Moka is here, they want to talk to you." She seems incredibly panicked.

"...great… Tell them I'm with a patient, I'll be out in a second."

"Ok…" the girl seems even more panicked and left… That's probably not a good sign.

Celeste seems more exhausted now. "So where were we…"

Something is wrong...Mana is condensing! This isn't good! "Celes-" The door explodes into the room and the girl is thrown in with it.

Celeste runs over to the girl. Mana starts building around her, she seems incredibly angry. "LAY ANOTHER HAND ON HER AND I'LL MAKE YOU WISH YOU CAN DIE."

...There's a cloud of dust, but it feels like there's a person in it. "Calm yourself, Celeste. I'm not here to indiscriminately slaughter, at least not today."

I feel an incredibly heavy presence from whoever spoke… It's like every single part of my being was being ripped apart and my mind is being flooded with chaotic thoughts… who exactly is this?

The dust cloud is settling down… There's a figure standing there… Porcelain white skin… Black cat ears and a tail… Red eyes… Hair that's shifting colors… All wearing a gothic dress… "I'm just here to chat. There's the matter of the bodies that were found, but I've also heard that you have an interesting patient. Luckily I found both of you in the same room."

Celeste seems more annoyed at this point than anything else. "We have patient conf-"

Celeste was slammed into the wall by a wall of magic… "I'll talk to you, second Celeste. Now, greetings miss mana hound, I'm Moka the leader of the coven of shards."

"What exactly do you want?"

"Oh don't worry I'm not here to threaten or attack you or anything, I just want to say hi."

"And why exactly do I interest you enough to say 'hi'"

"Oh come on isn't that obvious." Moka's form kinda shudders and in front of me, instead of Moka, there's a grayscale copy of Silv with red eyes and cat features. "You're a special case, or whatever" Moka shifts back to their regular appearance. "Sheep boi is a mess to deal with but his predictions are always correct. Anyway, we keep tabs on people of interest and you caught our attention with your 'mana nose' skill and 'Karmic Mirror'. I'll give you some advice, stay away from the higher levels of the Rainbow Sanctuary, we aren't great people but neither are they. The difference is that the Sanctuary tries to make themselves look good. Also never let your guard down, I would say the only leader you can truly trust in Nim. Anyway, that's all I have to say, you should stop by the Forest one day, I'll give you a tour." Moka snaps and Celeste starts to move again.

"...wha…"

"Celeste, I believe this patient here is healthy, clear her."

"Wait, we still have to run some tests."

"I said clear her." A mental pressure builds from Moka.

"... I'm too tired for this… Fine." Celeste pulls out her device and does some things on it. "Sorry about all this Veronica. Anyway, Nim asked for you to report to her after we release you, so I guess make your way there.

"Ok, I guess I owe both of you, thanks."

Moka bows. "You're welcome, we'll meet again."

Celeste just slightly waves. "Ok, now leave. I have to deal with this."

…

Everyone here is incredibly strange...