Infinitum Crystals [III] - The Deadly Maidens

It has been months since the Yokai incident at Nihon Island and from the looks of it, the effects of the incident seems to wane down a bit with how Zenith was reacting when she saw me this morning. It has been months because right after we got off the island, we started our semester break. We all got back to our hometown for a few months until the next semester start. So skipping that part brings me to my 2nd semester here in Infinity Academy.

I was a bit thrown off when I heard that they would be having some kind of evaluation test right after we just finished setting up our stuffs. Apparently, it isn't just an ordinary paper test. It was physical. It was time to evaluate whether or not we have progressed well or not in terms of our magical ability. Through this test, they will be evaluating our power, courage and wisdom. Getting through this test will determine your new Wizard rankings accordingly. You could fall down to the bottom of the list, or rise up and enter the next stage.

As of now, I'm still a B ranked Wizard and that also includes a lot of my friends here. I'm hoping to change that of course. I feel like I need to prove myself especially in front of that arrogant girl, Yumiko who thinks that I'm just another 'try hard' wizard who know nothing about magic. Yumiko Ileana Pavlova is currently an S rank Wizard along with some other folks like Sam Maximus and the other cardinals.

Back to the matter at hand, I was talking about Zenith. As far as I remember since the island incident, her memory of meeting me was kind of wiped away thanks to the slaying of the Snow Phoenix. The bird itself was a curse to her as it affects her true personality. I'm not quite sure if what I did was a good thing or not. But from the looks of it, she's a lot different than what I know before this.

"Hey, White. Fancy meeting you here. Are you ready for the test?" It was Rose, one of my classmate who greeted me as I was approaching the hall where we will be taking our test.

I greeted her back, "Why hello there, Rose. Yeah, I think I'm ready. What about you?"

"I'm nervous. I'm not sure if I'm going to make it or not." Rose clasped her hands as she said that.

I chuckled a little and said, "It's not the end of the world, Rose." I crossed my arm, raised one of my eyebrows and told her, "There is no way someone so talented like you would fail this test. I've seen you do your work when we fought against Vatherion back then."

"Oh please. That was nothing, White."

"It was not nothing. We defeated a Champion of Chaos."

Rose puts her hands on her hips and said, "You mean you defeated the champion. What does that even mean anyway? Why is he a champion of chaos?"

"I don't really know. Maybe it's because he is good at causing chaos?"

"I guess he was...But we're able to stop him in the end." After a long pause, Rose decided to switch the topic, "I heard from Yumiko that you guys fought against another Chaos Champion at Nihon Island the other day."

"Oh that. I think it was a huge coincidence considering how the Chaos Shogun, Kitsuneki happens to be at a place where we are having our end of semester outing."

"Hmm, interesting. So that brings us to...Zenith..." Rose turned her head to a direction where I would follow as well.

Wherever she was looking, she was looking at a petite looking girl. From the top, I could see that she was wearing some kind of hat you would see a painter would wear. She was wearing a white cotton tank top I assumed but some parts of it were made out of leather. Especially the top part which includes the string. She's also wearing a jacket that looks almost like a pirate captain. A pleated skirt along with a nice pair of dark knee socks and a white leather boot to fit the bottom part of her outfit. Additionally, she also has a belt which hangs a bunch of stuff on it including a pair of guns on each of the side of her waist.

"Is that...Zenith?" I wondered.

"Yes, White. It's her. She's completely different. In fact, she's smiling."

I looked at the little girl from a distance and saw her expression having a tad bit different from what I used to know about her. Rose was right. Zenith has not been that expressive ever since we first met. But I guess this was her real self before she was cursed by that Snow Phoenix.

"Okay...that's...interesting." I nodded.

Rose looked at me with a serious look and asked me, "Okay I've already talked to her last night but what really did happen at Nihon?"

I sighed and told her what happened. After finishing up that story, Rose finally nodded and understood the situation.

"Well, White. Think of this positively. Not only this is her second chance in life, this may also be your second chance at her."

"Wait. What are you talking about?"

"You said she doesn't remember anything about you. So why not start again with her?"

I nervously told her, "I don't think I'm up for that. Especially when she's a whole different person now."

"Oh come on, White. It'll be fine." Rose then pushed me toward the new Zenith.

I tried to hold her back from pushing me but it end up badly as Rose pushed me too hard that I ended up bumping into the new Zenith. I made her startled as my dagger somehow fell down to the floor. I got down and grabbed my dagger. But as I was about to get up, she was right in front of my face.

"Are you alright there?" even her voice had a different pitch.

It's been months since I've talked to her. I've tried avoiding that since she's completely a different person now. But I can't really run away from that, I guess. I think this is indeed my second chance...

TO BE CONTINUED