Opening the journal was easy. What came after was anything but.

Gerald was sucked into the book. He fell headfirst into the magical machinations of it, and was thrown headfirst into the abstract nature of the book.

Around him floated many… objects that looked incredibly unnatural that it freaked Gerald out. What was not helping the matter was that some of these objects were pulsating and lighting up at points.

After some time, a disembodied, female voice rang out. “What do you seek from this book, traveler?” It was not in a language that Gerald knew, but he could somehow make it out just fine.

“I… I want to learn about Remilia. I want to know why she is what she is, and why I feel much better around her than around anyone else. I want to know… h-how I-I… can g-g-get h-h-her… back.”

Silence. Then,

“Permission Granted. Now, let me tell you the story of Remilia Stillblade, as she remembers it.”

Everything turned black. Gerald lost control, now at the mercy of the story.

(From this point on, the story will be told as if the protagonist is narrating her own story.)

Hello.

I’m glad you wanted to know about me. Truthfully, nobody else in the entire Kingdom knows anything more about me than what I wanted them to know.

This might come as a shock to you, but I have been in perfect control of everything happening around me for quite some time now. Since I entered the school, my plan has gone incredibly smoothly. I guess you were ready to give me up more than I thought.

Let’s rewind a little, around 16 years or so. Around AB 985, or 985 years since the bubble was formed. On that day, two very important things happened.

First, I was born. Now, I don’t remember any of this, but from I could gather, It was incredibly hopeful and loving environment in the Marquis’ mansion, up until I came out into the world. After that, in line with what followed, there was disgust, contempt, and hatred until the day ended with me separated from my parents.

However, a more significant thing happened on that day, one that was completely overlooked by everybody except one small priest.

A prophecy came from heaven. Although we are taught not to respect religion, many students are religious, and they pray to the one true god in the sky, whose will comes down every hundred years or so, although that has been ignored for the last several hundred years, at lest.

Anyway, the prophecy read: “The girl born on this day is my child. Cherish her, love her, and she will bring another thousand years of peace. Cross her, and you bring upon yourself a thousands years of suffering.”

Seems convenient, doesn’t it? So yes, that prophecy does refer to me, but not how you think. In order to properly explain the graveness of the situation, I must tell you my most closely guarded secret.

Ready?

…

I don’t think you are.

…

…

Ok, you ready?

Good? OK!

Here Goes.

You’ve been lied to this entire time.

The world outside the bubble is not feral; it is not extinct. It is thriving, breathing, and all around interconnected.

In order for you to understand the weight of what I just said, we must go back even further.

And further.

And even further.

And… STOP!

Here we are. AB 0. The year the bubble was created.

The Kingdom of Germand was massive. Spawning the entire west coast of the continent over the top of the Mediterranean, the kingdom was massive, and it was peaceful. In this time, the aristocrats were chosen from among the commoners, and the very best children in both academics and magic were chosen to become the next generation of aristocrats.

That all changed, however, in AB 0.

For whatever reason which is now lost to the passage of time, the entire kingdom’s aristocrats moved to one location, and set up a giant bubble that no one could enter, and no one could leave without strong magic power to bend the bubble. They brought with them all their servants and offered them places to stay and grow. Originally, there were only 950 aristocrats, now, there are more than 4000.

Around 200 years after the bubble went up, in the absence of strong leaders, the majority of commoners, all of which had no magical power whatsoever, eventually stopped following all royal and local rules, and started organizing on their own.

What followed was a dark period of around 400 years. In that time frame, many kingdoms rose and fell, and the scope of the world was advanced to cover the rest of the proven-to-be-spherical globe.

After some time, the arts and sciences became valuable again, and rapid scientific progress was made over the past 400 years. We now live in an age where machines are able to act as extensions of ourselves, and transport us from place to place.

These advancements come at a cost: war. War has been the one unchanging constant throughout the entire shifting landscape. Recently, in our time, we have seen two devastating wars only thirty years apart.

A dedicated group of farmers and merchants acted as the only sources of food, water, and necessary supplies for the aristocratic bubble, and at this point, I’m not sure anyone notices that these still exist after centuries of contracts. While these people are not wealthy in the slightest, they are still able to make a living and even grow their families.

Magic in the new world is more accepted than ever. If you are shown to have just one magical attribute, or even just a slight sensitivity to it, you are lauded as an extremely talented person. These people with magical powers also can study better, retain more information easier, and even think faster than normal people do, although there are only 25 known magic users in the entire world.

I think I will stop rambling. Let us get to the point.

The actual year this happened was AD 955. I was born in AD 1940. The year is AD 1956. And I, Remilia Stillblade, will tell you about my life in the outside world.