Amelia in Wonderland

On a certain cloudless day in the last third of August, 2095 CE.

Standing at the gates to the amusement park awaiting the arrival of her friends was a young girl whose red hair was ruby-like in its brightness and wearing a military style jacket with its many pockets and a miniskirt.

The girl's name was Akechi Eimi, also known as Amelia Goldie, a student of the National Magic University Affiliated First High School.

With summer vacation nearing an end, the plan was to come to this amusement park to play around with some fellow first years. As they were in different clubs, normally there were few chances for them to hang out.

(It seems I'm a bit too early…)

It was still half an hour before the appointed time. That might be expected if it was a date with the opposite gender, but there was likely no one who would come this early when going out to play with friends of the same gender. Eimi herself certainly would not normally come this early. (Incidentally, as Eimi herself had yet to experience such encounters with the opposite gender, there was little meaning behind her supposition).

As for why she had ended up here so early, an international phone call she had received this morning was to blame.

◊ ◊ ◊

It was the sound alerting her to an incoming call on her room's video phone that drew her out from the world of dreams.

The digital clock read five o'clock.

Thinking 'what a nuisance,' Eimi looked at the message window and saw that the caller was her grandmother on her mother's side, the matron of the renowned Goldie mage family of England and effectively the 'number two' in authority.

Eimi snapped wide awake.

Even if that were not the case, Eimi's parents were unbelievable people who never rose from bed until a predetermined time, not even if a truck crashed into the house. Consequently, it was an unwritten rule in the Akechi household that Eimi, who did not use a Sound Sleeper device, would handle all early morning callers and visitors.

"…It has been a while, Grandmother." Eimi refrained from saying good morning.

"Because I am not properly dressed, please excuse my using voice-only with the call."

"Good morning, Amelia."

It seemed her grandmother was also aware of the time difference, Eimi thought as she heard the greeting.

As it was daylight savings time, the difference between here and England was eight hours. Over there, it was now nine o'clock. If one thought about the time here, to be honest, Eimi really wished her grandmother had waited another hour before calling.

"It may be very hot over there, but are you keeping healthy? Your body has never been very strong after all."

If you know I'm not very tough, then I wish you would let me sleep a bit more, Eimi sincerely thought. Of course, she did not give voice to that wish.

"I'm fine, Grandmother. The heat wave for the past couple days has been subsiding."

This was just some honeyed words so as to provide her elder with some peace of mind. In reality, last week's heatwave had been absolutely horrible, though this week it was becoming more tolerable.

Summer would soon be ending anyway.

"Is that so? Don't push yourself too hard, Amelia." "Yes, thank you very much, Grandmother."

Even as she replied politely, Eimi's head tilted to the side. Just as she was wondering why on earth Grandmother had called-

"Actually, to avoid the heat, I will be staying at the Swiss mountain villa from next week until the fall. I would be very happy if you would also come, Amelia."

"…Me, go to Switzerland?"

The hesitation in Eimi's response marked her awareness of the invitation's undertones.

"Yes. I have wanted to have a nice, long chat with you for quite some time, Amelia."

"I as well, Grandmother. There are a great many things I would like for you to teach me, but…"

But this was impossible. In a little over a week the second term would start. While Eimi was trying to politely decline the invitation with that explanation, her grandmother was not so easily deterred.

"If you are worried about school, there is also an excellent magic school in Switzerland. It should be fine if you studied abroad for about half a year? I could handle the arrangements with the school."

Because you've known the head of the Magic University for a long time is what you're saying, Eimi thought impatiently.

No one would be surprised that her grandmother was well acquainted with the highest levels of the magic community in Japan.

With the restrictive control of overseas magic education, the chances for a magic high school student to study abroad were for all practical purposes non- existent – at least Eimi had not heard of any such instance – but, with her grandmother, the impossible might well be achieved.

At this rate regardless of Eimi's intent, it looked like she might well find herself studying abroad.

While somehow or another halting the discussion here with her emotional appeals was a victory of sorts, after the phone call ended, rather than relief, Eimi felt uneasy.

Though she was a grandchild of a daughter married into another family, until now her grandmother had never interfered with her life. While visits tended to require Eimi to be on her best behavior even as she was treated kindly, other than that she had been left to her own devices – until now.

Now however some reason had appeared to prompt her grandmother to want to keep her close by.

However, without having any knowledge of her grandmother's reasoning, the endless worrying afflicted upon her head made going back to sleep impossible. As such, Eimi ended up leaving the house well before the meeting time.

◊ ◊ ◊

"Eimi!"

When she turned her head toward the call of her name, Eimi saw the girl who was today's sponsor waving.

"Sakura!"

As Eimi waved back, the girl trotted over.

The girl wearing the (thoroughly) goth loli-esque one-piece dress was Sakurakouji Akaha.

This girl's name was read as Akaha, not Momiji. On the day these two met as classmates,

Eimi: Akaha, how do you write that?

Akaha: Red leaf, the same as 'autumn colors' but pronounced Akaha, you see.

Eimi: Hee? So sakura and akaha, that's cherry blossoms and autumn colors put together. That's a rather gorgeous name.

Akaha: But you know, it's a shame both are rather ephemeral.

Eimi: Aha, the beauty of elegant simplicity, no?

Akaha: But you hardly seem the type to have much relation with elegant simplicity. You're a rather colorful brilliance.

The chance to become friends came with the exchange of false laughter after their conversation, making fate rather mysterious.

"Sakura, you came with Subaru?" "Ehehe…"

Though Eimi's questioning had no deep meaning, Akaha began laughing nonsensically.

Eh, is it possible you actually have that kind of preference? Unbeknownst to Akaha, Eimi made a mental note regarding her.

However, as Eimi focused once more on the companion standing next to Akaha, she revised her opinion and felt that she could "understand it a little, probably."

At a glance, there was a handsome young man wearing a summer suit. That image was only further emphasized with the sophisticated under-rim glasses.

However, in reality this youth was a androgynous female classmate.

Satomi Subaru was by way of a teammate at the Nine Schools Competition – a relatively new friend, but now, their relationship was amiable enough to allow for exchanges such as, "Subaru, you came as a deterrent against skirt-chasers?" or "Milady, it would be a pleasure to escort you." – Moreover when in the middle of such conversations, the two would smile, no, grin without reserve.

"Is something wrong, Eimi?"

As Eimi allowed her mind to be filled with fantasies of Akaha's inclinations, Subaru peered at her face suspiciously. Confronted with the prim and proper facial features of the handsome young man (only in appearance) staring at her up close, Eimi felt her heart racing a little but resolutely refused to let any of her thoughts surface in her behavior, replying "nothing's wrong" with a curt shake of the head.

"Is that so?"

Subaru's wide grin was galling and Eimi really felt like giving her a good stomp on the foot, but doing so might end up dragging herself into an even more embarrassing situation, so with all her will she pretended not to notice.

"That's a relief. In that case, let's go in."

Objectively speaking, Eimi's poker face was rather lacking, but having said her piece Subaru turned away. Knowing when to stop was also one of her charms. However, to be considered 'charming' by other girls might well be something Subaru herself would only accept reluctantly.

Without further thought on what 'a relief' and 'that case' was, so as no to waste any more time Eimi made no objections.

"Oh yeah, it's been a while since I've been to an amusement park." When Eimi said this with a lively voice,

"Theme park."

For some reason, Akaha interrupted her with a displeased tone. "Eh?"

"Theme park. Wonderland isn't an amusement park, it's a theme park."

As expected from the repeat customer with the most visits on hand, it seemed Akaha could not help but be more than a little finicky about this amusement, no theme park.

"Sorry, sorry, yeah, Wonderland is a theme park."

While Eimi felt there was little difference in either label, that very same feeling meant there was no need to stir things up. Eimi was soon correcting herself to use theme park instead of amusement park. Nevertheless, the irreverent tone and manner of the two did not go unnoticed and with half-lidded eyes Akaha regarded the them with displeasure, but with Subaru and Eimi proceeding through the gate she hurriedly chased after their backs.

With that amusing mood, the two went through the gates without having to queue and lost themselves in Wonderland.

◊ ◊ ◊

Wonderland was an amusement park with magic as its theme.

Possibly because of that, all the interior fencing and attractions in the premises were arranged like a labyrinth. Furthermore, every attraction also served as some kind of trick house. It was very difficult to leave after entering, even if one did not try out all the attractions. Due to this kind of park layout, rather than

"entering" the park, it would be better to say that visitors were "lost" in it. And right now, a certain girl was really lost inside.

"Seriously! Forget about Local Positioning System navigation, but what's with GPS not working either!?"

After visiting three attractions, Eimi had somehow lost her two friends and was now grumbling at a portable terminal.

"Can't be helped, right? Isn't that one of the park's selling points?" Subaru was the one receiving her vented frustrations.

"Even if that's the case, blocking GPS signals is going way too far!"

"Relax. Is there a map display somewhere?"

Well-versed in dealing with girls, Subaru (despite being a girl herself) took an approach of gentle appeasement. As a result, Eimi seemed to put aside her annoyed emotions somewhat.

"I've been searching since a while ago... But let alone a map display, I can't even find a guide anywhere."

"Really...? Anyway, if worse comes to worst, just light some fireworks and I'll use my magic to come pick you up."

Subaru's specialty was Leap magic along with inborn talent for Cognitive Inhibition (her usual flamboyant behavior was apparently a reaction to the skill of "imperceptibility").

Despite possessing skills in Cognitive Inhibition, she was nowhere near the level of First High's counselor, Ono Haruka, whose true identity was a Public Safety investigator. Nevertheless, it would be an effortless task for her to stroll casually in the air without attracting attention while other park visitors were focused on having fun.

On the other hand, Eimi's personal talent what was known as Artillery Magic under the Movement System, capable of accelerating massive objects to high speed using only a short amount of time. During the Nine School Competition's Pillars Break event, she had used her own ice pillars as bowling balls to launch into enemy territory, knocking down the opponent's pillars all at once, thereby displaying her strong-arm tactics. For Eimi, it would not be a difficult task to replace heavy projectiles with compressed masses of air then firing them into the sky to produce explosion noises on the level of fireworks.

"Subaru, that's not allowed. Using magic for such reasons will get us into trouble."

However, Akaha entered the conversation on her own terminal and rejected Subaru's suggestion.

Laws had very strict conditions regulating the use of magic. Indeed, using magic for something as trivial as kids getting lost would definitely entail dealing with the police.

"...Can't be helped, Amy. Can you see the Sage's Tower?"

The Sage's Tower was Wonderland's signature attraction and the tallest structure there.

"Yes... Just barely."

Eimi turned her head and looked around, finding behind a hedge the pinnacle of the building, constructed from faux white stone.

"Then we'll meet up there."

"Okay, got it."

Ending the conversation, Eimi glared at the Sage's Tower viciously, as though it had killed her father--well, that might be an exaggeration, but at least the killer of a beloved puppy.

◊ ◊ ◊

Staring at the voice communcations unit on the portable terminal whose call-in- progress light had switched off, Subaru pondered a certain matter.

"What's the matter, Subaru?'

Naturally, this behavior made her companion suspicious. In response to Akaha's question whose tone was split evenly between curiosity and worry, Subaru smiled slightly demurely and said:

"Hmm, nothing much... I was just wondering why Amy would end up getting separated from us."

"Because she's too hyperactive?"

"Hold on, that's..."

Akaha had given a blunt answer without thinking, putting Subaru at a loss for words.

"It'd be understandable if it happened momentarily, but she didn't realize until neither of us could get a bead on each other's location. I think the situation isn't very normal."

"Hmm~ ...Does Amy have no sense of direction?"

"...Umm, Sakura, you're making me very curious how the two of you perceive each other..."

Subaru shook her head, trying to dispel the urge to sigh, then made her tone of voice serious.

"Putting that aside, Amy doesn't have a terrible sense of direction. She's in the hunting club and already acknowledged as a promising first year. Sure, that'd irrelevant if all she did was compete in indoor shooting competitions, but someone with no sense of direction can't possibly hunt birds and animals in the mountains."

Subaru's diatribe made Akaha finally realize the possibility that "Eimi was perhaps simply lost."

"Besides, Wonderland is a recreational facility that even children can visit to play. No matter how much it's made like a maze, it'd be too weird if there were no clues at all for finding friends who got separated or if people who are lost cannot even find a map or a guide."

"You have a point. Since it's one of the park's selling points, it wouldn't hurt to provide some assistance in this area."

Exchanging solemn glances, the two girls made their way to the Sage's Tower as Subaru suggested "Anyway, let's go."