Chapter 3
“Aw, geez…” Kaede muttered as she felt the raindrops hit her head the second she left the station. First, the crash from the previous day messes up the subway schedule, and now this? It got even worse when she realized she didn’t have an umbrella. She quickly stood under the awning of the nearest store and went to check the map on her phone, hoping she wouldn’t have to walk in the rain much further. However, she nearly screamed in rage when she saw that damn app on her screen again. If there was a time for her to consider if she should be throwing out her phone, this was possibly the absolute worst time.
And then she saw her.
A hooded girl stood in the spot next to Kaede. The girl sighed before taking down her hood, revealing she had long blonde hair tied up in pigtails and light blue eyes. Kaede gasped at the sight of the girl, unknowingly opening the app in the process. The girl noticed Kaede and turned her head to look at her. Great. Now she had to think of something to say.
“Um… hi.” Kaede said. The girl’s eyes widened upon hearing Kaede’s voice.
“Woah!” The blonde covered her mouth in shock.
“What’s wr-Oh!” It took a second for Kaede to realize it. The two girls sounded nearly exactly the same. After getting over the initial shock, they both awkwardly laughed at their vocal similarities.
“Well, that’s interesting.” The other girl muttered. Kaede took a deep breath. If she was going to be here for a whole year, she was going to need to make some friends.
“So… you go to Shujin?” Kaede asked.
“Uh, yeah?” The other girl raised an eyebrow.
“Could you help me get to school? I’m a transfer student, and I don’t want to get lost.” Kaede explained.
“Oh. Well…” The girl paused when she looked over Kaede’s shoulder. There was a car approaching them. Her attitude seemed to take a shift as she quickly nodded her head. “Y-Yeah! Let’s go!” With that, she grabbed Kaede’s wrist and started walking as fast as she could.
“H-Hey! Slow down a bit, please!” If it wasn’t for having such a tight grip on her wrist, Kaede would’ve fallen over at least three times as she was tugged along. The other girl pulled Kaede into an alley and sighed as she let go of her.
“Sorry… it’s just that if you waited a few more seconds, I would’ve had to take a ride from Kamoshida.” The girl explained.
“Kamoshida?” Kaede asked.
“Right. Transfer student.” The girl sighed. “He’s the PE teacher at Shujin, you see? My best friend is on the volleyball team so I end up… interacting with him a lot.” From merely observing the girl’s expression, it was clear that she didn’t like talking about this guy. And with the emphasis on “interacting”, it didn’t take long for Kaede to guess why.
“Y-You don’t have to continue if you’re uncomfortable…” Kaede said.
“It’s fine… I just thought I should let someone know, I guess… everyone thinks we’re dating, but I only put up with him for my friend’s sake…” The girl began fiddling with one of her pigtails. Kaede frowned. From what she was hearing, she already didn’t like this guy.
“Who does he think he is? Some kind of king in a castle or something?” Kaede gripped her phone, still oblivious of the app being opened.
“Y’know, I think you’re not too far off on that…” The girl said. Kaede sighed.
“Alright. We should get going.” Kaede said.
“Oh, I think there’s a shortcut this way.” The other girl motioned Kaede to follow her before going further into the alley. Kaede quickly followed her, realizing there was something she forgot to ask.
“So, what’s your name?” Kaede asked.
“Hm? Oh, I’m Ann Takamaki. You?” The girl, Ann, replied.
“I’m-What the…?” Kaede stopped in her tracks. Ann was about to ask what was wrong but stopped when she noticed what Kaede was looking at.
Before the two girls was what appeared to be a medieval castle. At the entrance, there was a sign that read “Shujin Academy.”
“W-What the…!? What happened to the school!?” Ann stepped back in shock as Kaede was left frozen at the sight before her. This was certainly not how the school looked yesterday.
“Only one way to find out.” Kaede said. Ann’s eyes widened when she saw Kaede walking towards the castle that stood in place of the school.
“Wait! You can’t just walk in when you see a mysterious building or… whatever’s going on here!” Ann protested as she chased after Kaede.
“Are you sure we went the right way?” Kaede asked as she looked around. Even if her eyes were playing tricks on her in regards to the building’s exterior, she knew for a fact that the interior was different from what she previously saw.
“Yes! I’m sure!” Ann yelled.
“Weird… should we investigate? Maybe the school’s hosting some kind of event.” Kaede suggested.
“How are you being so calm!?” It was clear that Ann just wanted to grab Kaede and shake her right now.
“We’re not gonna solve anything if we panic, are we? If this really is supposed to be the school, we need to figure out what’s going on!” Kaede said. Ann took a deep breath.
“I… guess you’re right. But still, what could possibly be going on here?” Ann wondered. Just then, two figures dressed like stereotypical medieval knights approached the girls.
“Princess?” One of them asked.
“Huh? Princess?” Kaede looked around, trying to see if there was anyone else there. She looked at Ann to see if she knew anything, but the twintailed girl appeared just as confused.
“You! What do you think you’re doing with the princess!?” The other knight demanded as he pointed his weapon at Kaede.
“W-Woah! Calm down!” Kaede defensively waved her hands around.
“Wait… by princess do you mean… ME!?” Ann stepped back in shock.
“Do you think something’s wrong with the princess?” The first knight asked.
“I’m sure she’ll be fine once we deal with this intruder and get her back to King Kamoshida.” The second knight replied.
“Kamoshida!?” Ann yelled. Kaede, having already gotten an idea of what this Kamoshida guy was like from Ann’s words, quickly stood in front of the other girl.
“She’s not going anywhere near that guy!” Kaede shouted. The two knights were unfazed as they continued to point their weapons at Kaede.
“Take her to the dungeon.” Was all the first knight said before the second knight grabbed Kaede.
“Hey! Let go of me!” Kaede began struggling, trying her best to break free from the knight’s grip.
“H-Hold on! I got you!” Ann quickly ran over and tried to pull Kaede free.
“Princess! What has gotten into you!?” Ann’s efforts were cut short as the first knight grabbed her. Now, it was Ann’s turn to start struggling.
“Takamaki-san!” Kaede yelled.
“Something seems off about the princess.” The first knight pointed out, as if it wasn’t obvious to his companion.
“Let’s keep her in the dungeon for now. We can’t return her to King Kamoshida while she’s like this.” The second knight suggested. The first knight seemed to agree, as they started carrying Ann and Kaede to who knows where, causing them to struggle even more.
“Get off of me!” It was when Kaede managed to successfully land a kick to the knight’s leg that her captor seemed to decide he had enough of her, as she felt a sharp pain in her head before blacking out.
“Hey! Wake up!” Kaede woke up with a throbbing pain in her head. She opened her eyes and saw that she was in some kind of cell. However, it was completely different from that “Velvet Room” she had dreamed about the previous day. The biggest difference, aside from the lack of blue, was that Ann was with her.
“Takamaki-san! What happened!?” Kaede yelled as she sat up, clutching her head in pain immediately afterwards.
“I-I don’t know! They just threw us in here!” At this point, it was clear that asking Ann about anything would get her nowhere. Suddenly, a scream echoed from down the hall, causing Kaede and Ann to jump in surprise. When they heard footsteps approaching, Ann began making as much noise as she possibly could.
“Help us! Please!” Kaede found herself joining in, probably because she also just wanted to get out of whatever this was at this point. Both of them went silent when the knights from before returned. This time, not only were there more of them, but they were accompanied by a middle aged man with dark bushy hair, and a… broad chin to say the least. He was wearing a crown, a red robe covered in hearts, pink slippers, and… that was it.
“Kamoshida!?” Ann yelled.
“That’s Kamoshida!?” From what little info she got from Ann, Kaede could tell this Kamoshida guy was some kind of creep. But she certainly wasn’t expecting him to walk around dressed in whatever garb he was currently wearing.
“See? The princess has been acting strange since this intruder arrived!” One of the knights gestured at Kaede. Kamoshida gave a look of annoyance, and it was only then that Kaede noticed that his eyes were an almost creepy shade of yellow.
“Are you seriously that stupid? This isn’t my Ann, it’s an imposter.” Kamoshida dismissively waved his hand, revealing that he was, in fact, only wearing a pink speedo under that robe.
“What are you talking about!? What’s going on!?” Ann demanded.
“I don’t know how you could’ve mixed the two up. The princess never speaks back to me like that.” Kamoshida said. It was then that he turned his attention to Kaede. The smile he gave her combined with the look in his eyes made her step back in disgust.
“Put some pants on.” Kaede muttered under her breath. It appeared that Kamoshida didn’t hear this, since the look on his face didn’t even falter as he looked at Ann once again.
“Who’s your friend?” Kamoshida asked. Ann briefly glanced at Kaede before her eyes widened in horror.
“S-She’s not a friend! We just met today! I don’t even know her name!” Ann yelled.
“I see… well, I guess you won’t mind if I get a closer look, then.” Kamoshida said before the knights opened the cell door. As he started to approach Kaede, she backed away even further until her back was pressed against the wall.
“Get away from me.” Kaede said. Kamoshida ignored her, gripping her chin between two of his fingers.
“Come on, now, don’t be so-“ Everything went silent after Kaede’s spit landed in Kamoshida’s eye.
“I said get away-“ Kaede was cut off by Kamoshida’s fist colliding with her face, causing her to fall to the ground. Kaede bought one of her hands to her eye, wincing and retracting her hand immediately upon making contact.
“Send her to death. She’s not worth a second of my time.” Kamoshida said. As the knights began to head towards Kaede, Ann was quick to intervene.
“Wait! Don’t hurt her! Please!” Ann begged. Kamoshida held the side of his head, feigning an expression of pain.
“This Takamaki’s too annoying… execute her first, then deal with the other one.” Upon this new order from Kamoshida, half the knights grabbed Kaede while the other half grabbed Ann.
“Let us go!” Ann shouted as she began struggling just like earlier.
“Leave Takamaki-san alone, you creep!” Kaede flailed her legs with hope that she would somehow land a kick on the wannabe king in front of her.
“Awww, isn’t that cute? Poor girl thinks she stands a chance against me. Make sure she gets a good look at the execution. Oh yeah, and make sure you tear their clothes apart before you get to the rest of them.” Kamoshida said.
“No! Please!” Ann begged as a knight approached her, sword raised as Kamoshida laughed at the sight.
Suddenly, the world around Kaede darkened, save for a blue bird that appeared to be glowing as it flew in circles above her.
“This game is one you have been unfairly thrust into. You must be thinking that there’s no way you can possibly win. However, if you can hear my voice, then there is still hope. Hope for you, me, and everyone.” A voice resembling a young boy’s appeared to come from the bird. Had she heard that voice before? It sounded like one of those boys from the Velvet Room. However, it sounded too polite to be Felix but too bold to be Alphonse.
Before she could question it further, the world regained its color, and the bird was gone.
“My, my! What do we have here? You realize that girl will die if you just sit there and watch, right? You haven’t come to regret your decision from that fateful night, have you?”
Kaede’s eyes widened as a new voice echoed from within her head. While she wanted to question who exactly was talking to her, the question about if she regretted her decision appeared to get to her. Did she regret it? She thought back to that man, to that woman, and to her sister. If she had just continued on her way home, no one would’ve even attempted to save that woman from that man. If she hadn’t spoken up at the last second, then her sister would most likely be the one getting “executed” right now. Her answer was clear.
“No. I don’t regret it.” Kaede thought. The voice in her head laughed.
“Did I even need to ask? Alright, then. If that’s how you feel, let us begin with our contract.” Kaede yelped in pain as she suddenly felt an intense headache that made the pain in her eye feel like nothing more than a brief sting. “I am thou, thou art I. Thou has chosen to run away from the chains that bind you. Combine your wits and strength and use them to overpower those who try to hold you down!” Even though she was writhing in pain, Kaede could still feel some kind of resonance with what the voice was telling her. In fact, she managed to briefly ignore all the pain she was feeling to briefly look up at Kamoshida, who was about to have a knight swing a sword down at Ann.
“ENOUGH!” Kaede yelled, bringing everything in the room to an abrupt pause. Kamoshida turned around, Kaede being unfazed by his glare.
“Huh? You want to die that badly? Fine! Start with her instead!” Kamoshida pointed at Kaede before she was thrown to the ground. The knight ditched Ann, instead aiming his sword at Kaede. However, before he could, a strong gust of wind that seemingly came from Kaede herself knocked everyone back. Kaede looked up, revealing a black and red mask which vaguely resembled a bird now adorned her face. She began to freak out, frantically trying to get it off. She screamed in pain as she ripped it off, seemingly ripping her skin off with it, as the top half of her face was now covered in blood.
Despite the large wound on her face, Kaede smiled as widely as she could before being engulfed in flames. Ann’s jaw dropped as a face began to form within the flames before the fire separated from Kaede, revealing her clothes had completely changed. Instead of the female uniform for Shujin Academy, Kaede was now wearing a black coat that went down to her kneecaps and had a hood which was draped over her head, a white button up shirt with a grey waistcoat, and black leather shorts. Her black stockings were now red with musical patterns aligning them like on one of her skirts, and she had a pair of black boots which went up to her ankles. In addition to a pair of red gloves, there was a large red ribbon tied into a bow around the collar of her shirt.
Behind Kaede was a humanoid creature which resembled a woman. While her face lacked a nose and mouth, it was hardly noticeable with the way her red eyes stuck out against her porcelain white skin. She had long black hair that flowed in just about every direction, with the tips of her hair resembling black flames. She wore a torn red dress, showing off that while her arms and legs were milky white like her face, her hands and feet appeared to be burnt as black as her hair, with her fingernails looking more like claws.
“Wha… What is…!?” Ann sputtered in shock.
“I am known as Irene. Come, sweetheart, show them what happens when one of them tries to get in our way!” Irene said. A determined smile appeared on Kaede’s face as she nodded.
“Right! Let’s go!” Kaede yelled. Despite the fear that was in his eyes, Kamoshida glared at Kaede.
“Tch! You think you’re tough, little girl!? Let’s see how you do against my men! Get her!” Kamoshida pointed at Kaede, causing her former captors to morph into two creatures resembling small witches with pumpkin heads riding on a broom while holding a lantern.
“Take this!” Kaede instinctively reached into her coat pocket and pulled out a knife before slashing at the pumpkin creature, causing it to dissolve into nothing.
“Let me have some fun too.” Irene requested. Kaede nodded before pointing at the remaining pumpkin creature.
“Get ‘em, Irene!” Kaede commanded. Irene summoned a wave of what appeared to be some dark energy that obliterated the pumpkin creature before disappearing herself.
“…What was that!?” Ann yelled. Kaede took down her hood before looking at Ann.
“Oh. Um… I don’t know.”
Name: Irene
Arcana: 0. The Fool
Description: An opera singer who married a nobleman. With the use of her wits, she became one of the few people to outsmart the legendary Sherlock Holmes.