The Academy

"I'm very sorry. Her heart rate is normal and everything else is fine, but we cannot seem to find the reason behind he prolonged comatose state. I give you my condolences."

The nurse picked up her clipboard and left the room.

"Don't worry, Ari. I'm sure Cleo's going to wake up soon." Ari's parents patted her on the back.

Then they left. The room was now empty except for Ari, who was sitting next to the bed, where Cleo was lying.

"Please, please, please be fine, Cleo. I'm begging you. Please wake up soon!"

There was no reply.

Ari dropped her face into her hands and cried. She cried so hard, she did not notice a book magically appear on a table next to the bed. When Ari looked up, she saw a book that she was definitely certain had not been there before. The book cover read, "A Song of Sorrow". Ari had read this book only a few times, since Cleo had always talked about it with her. She opened the book to one of the first few pages.

But the story was different.

Ari remembered that Cleodora Sinclair had died before the entrance exam to the Eldritch Academy of Magic, but there she was, her name written many times on the page. Ari flipped through the pages. It was as if the main characters of the story were no longer Rosa and Cecil. Instead, it seemed that the story now focused on Cleodora, a character who never even lived during the time of the novel.

Ari wanted to keep reading, but the nurse burst back into the room.

"Are you a friend of Rosalind Park?" the nurse asked, "She's in the room next door. Her parents are talking with yours. I think it would be good for you to go take a look."

Ari nodded, set the book down on the bedside table, and went next door, where she found Rosalind lying unconscious on the bed. On the table was another copy of the same book she had found with Cleo. Ari opened it.

This time, the story was about Rosa, the female protagonist of "A Song of Sorrow". The same things that Ari had read about in Cleo's copy of the book were happening here too, except from Rosa's point of view.

Could it be that they had both traveled into the book?

Ari heard voices outside.

"So many people just went into comas today. We almost don't have enough space to house all of them." the nurse was saying, "How could this have happened? It just doesn't make sense."

It does not make sense.

Magic did not make sense.

Ari ran through the hallway, looking into each room. Inside each room, there was a different patient, but one thing remained the same. On each bedside table was the same exact book. There were about twenty rooms that were like this.

Twenty people traveled into the book.

Twenty people passed the entrance exam each year.

And as the years went on, they all died one by one, until all that was left was Cecil.

Suddenly, someone screamed. The nurses hurried to the room, and Ari could hear whispers saying that one of the comatose people had reawakened. Ari went to the place of the commotion. The name of the patient that was written on a sign on the door was Mira Delany.

The was only one character in "A Song of Sorrow" that had a similar name.

Mirabelle.

***

The capital of the empire was bustling with energy for the coming entrance exam to the Eldritch Academy of Magic. The streets were packed with citizens waiting to see the potential students who would participate in the exam. Carriages in many different shapes and sizes and of various colors and designs drove through the city. Cleo looked through her carriage window. The Sinclair household's colors were red and black, and the carriage was decorated as such. The carriage was an obsidian black, with intricate details of vines and thorns painted in red. Red curtains partially obscured the window from public view, and the edges of the carriage were decorated with small bits of gold.

Soon, the carriage made its way to the academy gates, golden and shimmering in the sunlight, towers looming over the city. There were five towers in total, one for each generation of students. the tallest tower, home to the seniors, had a rejected and empty energy about it. The dusty gray curtains were drawn, and the tower had vines growing and draping down its sides. The shortest tower, future home of the new class, was bright and polished to perfection.

The carriage stopped, and Cleo got off. She was led into an atrium of sorts, with other examinees meandering about, talking to each other and showing off their skills. Cleo looked around. She spotted some characters that she recognized immediately. Others were not described in the book, as they were insignificant since they were just npcs.

Suddenly, Cleo realized something. There was one person who was clearly supposed to be present, but was not here. They were supposed to cause a commotion that would cause the main characters to meet for the first time, but if they were not here, then what would happen?

One of the many professors with a long gray beard appeared in the middle of the room.

"We are very sad to inform you that one of your fellow examinees will not be able to make it here today. They were assassinated enroute. We give our condolences to their family. May the Goddess Sol bless you on your journey..."

Cleo whispered quietly as the professor finished.

"Mirabelle."