...

"...Sophia Flumin, I hope we get along."

For some reason I don't feel like we can get along with her....

Yeah...

Nemu just kept a flat stare on me for a moment before grabbing my hand and dragging me behind her. "We should get going or we'll be late."

I almost stumbled from the sudden tug on my hand but was able to stay on my feet and awkwardly keep up with her.

Then I thought that a complete stranger was leading me somewhere unknown, which almost made me instinctively stop, and then I thought that she was the one who would be taking care of me at the Academy which made me mentally sigh.

What has my life become....

"Hey!" Anna exclaimed before Nemu could walk out into the room with Sophia stopping the red-haired girl with a raised eyebrow and narrowed eyes. "Where are you going so suddenly with my Lady."

Nemu turned to look at Anna with a raised eyebrow. "To the Entrance Ceremony, if we hurry we should be able to make it in time before they start...whatever they start, see you."

And with that Nemu closed the door behind her leaving a very pissed off Anna and a big laugh from Thomas seeing his niece's actions.
I felt bad suddenly leaving Anna without even being able to say goodbye because of the suddenness of the whole situation, Nemu didn't seem to notice my mood or if she did she didn't care at all.

We kept walking at a fast pace for a couple of minutes, when we stopped Nemu straightened up a bit -only now I noticed that she was leaning forward a bit, which made her look a bit shorter than she really was- before pushing hard... a wall?.

No, from the sound it must be a door, a big one.

Taking me by the hand again we entered the room where countless Mists stood talking to each other, they all seemed relatively normal with some brighter than others or taller than others.

It seemed to be some sort of gathering as there were several Mists chatting with each other, some sitting, some standing, some were alone, some were gathered in small groups.

I frowned a little at the great sound they were all generating.

I definitely prefer the silence of the Mansion.

Hey, it's not that bad.

With a tug on my hand Nemu guided me to a corner of the room, before gently pushing me onto what I believe to be a couch by its texture and softness, with a little help I sat down next to her in relative silence from all the conversations going on in the room.

..

.

"...where are we?" I muttered under my breath tilting my head slightly as I looked around the room uncomfortable from the loud noise.

Nemu turned her head to give me a look as if to say: "Are you stupid?" before a look of understanding appeared in her eyes, making her let out a small: "Ah."

"You are blind, right. We're in the Hall of Ceremonies, imagine a large ballroom beautifully decorated with mostly white and blue colors." Nemu described as she looked around the room with narrowed eyes. "There are some sofas and tables for people to sit and enjoy the atmosphere while eating and chatting with each other, plus there are some large windows overlooking some areas of the Academy."

"Thank you" I nodded gratefully at the explanation and description of the place I was in, I guess I shouldn't be impressed to be in such a beautiful place, this being an Academy for Nobles and Royalty.

Although I don't know how she expects me to imagine all that if I've never seen anything but Darkness and White Mists... not that she knows I see people....

Nemu tilted her head slightly as she looked at me with a strangely serious look and a raised eyebrow. "By the way, at what age did you go blind?" I froze for a moment at the question, noticing this she quickly adds, "You don't have to answer if you don't want to" as she rubbed the palm of her hand.

"I-...." I forced myself to take a breath to regain my composure from the question, before speaking in a lower volume than usual, surprising myself. "I... was born with these Grey Eyes, so... I've always been blind... so I don't know what things look like... sorry."

That made us both fall silent as we stared into the void, well, I stared into the void as I delved deeper into my thoughts.

I've always been blind... but I know how things look, I know what colors look like, I can imagine the different geometric shapes even though I've never actually seen them... curious.

I glanced sideways at Nemu, who was giving me a look that might as well have been carved in stone for how indecipherable it was, while her left hand rubbed the palm of her right hand with an erratic movement.

Possibly it was given to our knowledge... but something doesn't add up...

One thing is knowledge, that however vague it may be, it is still knowledge... another thing completely different is the imagination and understanding of the appearance of an object...

For example, let's say I know the basic concept of Water: An odorless, colorless and tasteless liquid substance, which can be found in this liquid, solid and gaseous form.

Sure, I know what a drop of water looks like, but I shouldn't know what the sea looks like since it's something I've never seen.

We know thousands of concepts of different things, some more complete, some more vague, some undiscovered until we go deeper into them... but at the end of the day they are just that, concepts... and none of these concepts describe how they look....

I don't know how they look, I don't know how they smell, I don't know how they feel, I don't know what sound they emit....

None of the thousands of concepts describe what the appearance of the element that is being conceptualized looks like... but yet I can know the appearance of the conceptualized element....

And if we do know it... We can imagine it.

A small pain shot through my head and chest for a moment making my brow furrow a little, but as quickly as it came, just as quickly it disappeared.

What was it-

"I'm sorry."

That snapped us out of our confused thoughts as we turned to look at Nemu who was watching the many Nobles talk amongst themselves with a blank look on her face, she looked... remorseful.

"That... was an insensitive question on my part, I'm sorry if it made you uncomfortable." Nemu glanced at me again before averting her gaze, but it gave me enough time to see her eyes glint with guilt. "Could you forgive me?"

I looked at her in surprise-though it's not like it showed in my gaze-as I blinked a couple of times before giving her a small, almost imperceptible smile.

My little chuckle made her head turn to look at me with surprise in her eyes. "Of course I forgive you."

That seemed to catch her off guard before giving me a small smile.

 

---

 

After a couple dozen minutes, several people arrived and got on in some sort of theatrics from what Nemu had described. These people caught the attention of all the Nobles due to the fact that their attire was slightly different from theirs.

They had white formal shirts with gold embroidery on them and their jacket instead of being white like the Students' was black.

People were confused by the difference in attire but doubts were quickly answered with their elegant presentation.

"We are the Student Council of the Academy! It is a pleasure to see new students enroll in the Academy! I hope we have a good year while we are all together!" The person who spoke was none other than the President of the Council, I couldn't see his face well due to the fact that I wasn't close enough -and even if I was close I wouldn't be able to differentiate his face well from the other Mists either- but from the shouts of the Noble girls he must be someone extremely handsome.

What I could see from this distance was his Mist, which honestly was no big deal.

The President began to give us a speech about the Academy, the New Nobles, the Rules, the Council, the Classes, etc.

To summarize the important stuff:

The Council's basis is to facilitate communication between the Academy Staff and the Students in the Academy. In addition to assisting Students with any problems they experience within the Academy.

The role of the President is basically to give feedback from the Students to the Academy Staff, he/she is in charge of talking directly to people like the Director or the Teachers to implement new mechanics, events or rules within the Academy.

Having direct contact with the Director and the teachers is the highest position a Student can aspire to.

But this is not at all easy, since if the person aspires to be President of the Council he/she must be exceptional in every way.

He/she also has access to the Closed Areas of the institution, which gives him or her a lot of freedom to move around, but this is counterbalanced by the great responsibilities that come with the position.

The Vice President's role is very similar to that of the President, he/she is responsible for lightening the President's workload in addition to organizing schedules and information for the Board.

He/she serves as a spokesperson between the affairs of the Academy, the Council and the Students.

He/she is somewhat of a bridge within the Academy and therefore the most knowledgeable person within the Academy.

I guess this position is literally: "Information is power."

The role of the Head Overseer is the most curious one, he is in charge of supervising the Students making sure that they follow the rules of the Academy correctly and never disrespect other fellow Nobles, or in extremely rare cases, Commoners.

The Overseer has his own special group to help him fulfill his mission. This group is called 'Secondary Overseers' or simply 'Observers'.

The Chief Overseer with the permission of the President can choose anyone to join the 'Observers', as long as the person selected meets certain conditions assigned by the Council.

This position gives the most freedom in the whole Academy with almost no disadvantage as you have a lot of assistants in the palm of your hand making your job much easier.

I remember Flora mentioned in a letter that she became Supervisor, at the time I didn't understand what she meant, so that means she joined the council... now that I think about it I don't specify if she became 'Primary Supervisor' or 'Secondary'... though possibly she wasn't allowed to write that in the letter....

More Roles within the Council were also presented, but these three are the main positions within the Council.

They function as a triangle, being:

Supervisor: The judiciary power.

Vice President: The ideological power.

President: The legislative power.

And in its center all the other secondary Roles of the Council, these three being its highest rank. One of these three Roles must always be active, because if one fails, the other two will also fail.

Looking at it this way, it almost looks like the three of them have a leash hanging between themselves... if one falls the others will fall with it... interesting way to limit the power of a group of people...

Reminds me of the Kitsuwa Triumvirate.

With a shake of my arm I turn my head to meet Nemu, we were currently in the cafeteria having lunch since apparently the first day they don't open classes for anyone, this in order for the Students to explore the surroundings of the Academy and chat with other Students.

Unfortunately Nemu is not the best conversationalist in the Academy because of the direct way she expresses herself with the other people, besides entering too much in the personal space of the other Students even if she herself does not realize it...

Me on the other hand... I'm not in a better situation, my appearance -more specifically my eyes- is not liked by the Students, apparently these damn eyes are scarier than I originally thought since they easily scare most Students.

Who knew the 'All Mighty' Nobles would be scared by mere eyes... I thought bitterly as I ate some Sandwiches.

"Are you okay?" asked Nemu snapping me out of my thoughts with a slight shake. "You seemed really into whatever you were thinking about."

"Huh?" She tilts her head a little surprised that I guessed what I was doing. "How did you know...?"

"You always have your head stuck in your thoughts." Nemu replied simply while making a hand gesture as if she didn't want to explain. "For some guy being seen by a pretty girl can easily make them fall in love, but in your case, with those eyes you just push them away."

I rolled my eyes as I stared at her.

...I feel like I'm talking to Clair, a compliment a stab... I thought with a small chuckle before letting out a sigh. "I- uh, I wasn't thinking anything... just... this isn't the experience I expected going into the Academy."

Hearing the disappointment in my voice Nemu stared at me with her obsidian black eyes before averting her gaze slightly. "I honestly don't know if you expected to be the girl who is friends with all the Students and Professors" At that I sank back in my seat. "But... it's nice to be with you, you know?"

With a surprised look I looked at Nemu who was still averting her gaze. "At least you don't get scared by my eyes..."

"Nah, I got scared too when I saw them only my curiosity for those eyes were bigger than my fear" Nemu replied as she shrugged her shoulders and went back to dive into her food, I remember she ordered something called 'Sushi', a famous Kitsuwa food. "Despite having such a scary aura around you you are incredibly soft and shy which destroys your 'Dead Girl' image."

I opened my mouth to defend myself but....

"And don't tell me 'I'm perfectly alive' when your skin is incredibly pale." Nemu interrupted me before I could speak, causing me to let out a growl under my breath as I dove back into my food, leaving the table silent and Nemu with an almost imperceptible small smile.

Can she see the future?!

Well, with a Mist like that I wouldn't be surprised if she could actually see the future...

That's... actually, you're right.

The Nemu Mist was... strange, very strange, almost to the point of being bizarre.

For starters it was not the Traditional Mist that usually looked like a tornado and in strange cases a pure white skin.

Nemu's was a kind of scaly skin, like that of a lizard but deformed outwards, making it look like sharp daggers.

And that wasn't the strangest thing.

The strangest thing was that all around Nemu's Nabla were eyes scattered randomly throughout her Mist.

At first I thought they were just another one of the strange Mists I've seen, like Clair, who's Mist looks like shards of shattered glass. Thomas that his Mists are Nodes that act like muscles. Or even my Grandmother's "Cosmic Mist".

But the fucking eyes fucking move!

And then I'm the scary person!

"Sophia"

With a small over jump at the mention of my name I turned my frown to Nemu who was looking at me with annoyed eyes. "What's wrong?"

Nemu shook her head, knowing I was lost in my thoughts again. "I'm sleepy so finish your food quickly to go to the dorms."

 

---

 

After Sophia finished eating, Nemu dragged her towards the dorms to sleep for the remainder of the day. Apparently Nemu is not a very active person during the day.

Both girls stood in front of a door numbered '15', the room originally belonged to the Council for the helpers to sleep more comfortably as a reward for joining the Council, but thanks to Nemu's deal with Thomas she managed to get a room for both of us without having to join the Council.

Nemu slowly opened the door revealing a large, completely dark space.

Channeling some External Mana into her fingertip, Nemu moved her finger up and down quickly twice. Sophia opened raised her eyebrows slightly before returning to her usual blank expression.

Magically the room filled with light thanks to the Magic Crystals that served as light bulbs.

Nemu dragged Sophia into the bedroom directly, without giving her a single glance at any other part of the room.

In the bedroom she could see a bed big enough to fit three people without any problem, a closet with enchanted clothes inside, a lamp and a desk with some school supplies such as pencils, chalk, etc.

Without further ado Nemu pushed Sophia onto the bed before jumping into it herself, enjoying the softness and comfort of the mattress.

This is the life. Nemu thought as she felt as if she had been enlightened by God, before closing her eyes.

...

Sophia who was still a little scared by the sudden push, called out to Nemu but... "She fell asleep..."

The black haired girl fell into the realm of dreams in less than a second, leaving a dumbfounded Sophia who looked at Nemu with disapproval.

Sighing to herself Sophia rolled over in bed until she found a comfortable position as she looked up at the ceiling of the room... or for her, the infinite darkness ever present in her life.

The Academy wasn't how I thought it would be originally....

Don't worry about it, it's only the first day, sooner or later people will get used to your presence... besides, remember that we must not deviate from our goal.

Right, we must regain our sight at any cost.

And to accomplish our main goal, we need to accomplish our overall objectives.

We need to learn-no, we need to control 'Magic' in its entirety. First-

Discover the true natures of 'Outer Mana' and 'Ambient', as well as the 'Noble Body'. Second-

We need to get the 'Right Formula' of Magic, and anything related to it. Third-

Master all the 'Main Elements', if possible also the 'Secondary' ones.

Three simple but complicated steps... we have to make an effort, at least we have our knowledge to help us.

But we know that there will come a time when our knowledge will come to an end, and we will no longer be able to rely on this mysterious source of information.

That may be true, but then we only have to acquire more knowledge, it is said that to obtain knowledge the only thing necessary is to keep submerging in its waters while drinking little by little...

But our thirst...

Our thirst for knowledge is unquenchable....

And that is why...

We will swim to the deepest part of the sea...

To the place where neither sunlight can enter...

Nor come out...

And with new goals in mind, the gray eyes of the girl in white close slowly making her fall into a deep sleep while the darkness surrounded her in a warm and comfortable embrace smiling at her with infinite love...

Good night...

...