Clack. Clack. Clack.
Hearing footsteps, Alice woke up from her slumber. While tired, she was astutely aware of everything around her.
She activated [Snake Eyes] at a low output as a way to enhance her vision, then pushed herself out of bed and cautiously approached the door.
Clack. Clack.
The steps were faint, as if far away, but at the same time, they sounded close.
'What?'
She was baffled at what she was hearing.
'How does that even make sense? Well, whatever, I am a [Null] now, and after some training, I don't think anything in this village should pose a problem.'
Twisting the door handle, Alice pushed the door open.
Cold air rushed into the room, and a dark chill ran down her spine. Her eyes widened as she witnessed what was supposed to be her house's hallway. What was there instead, however, was a pitch-black expanse with a floor covered in cold mist and a single rectangular light in the distance.
"Oh, that's not normal…"
Gulp.
Alice swallowed, then took a step forward into the dark space. As her feet collided with the floor, the gathered mist parted. A tingling sensation ran through her body as she passed through the doorway.
"Brrrr, it's cold."
She rubbed her shoulders and continued forward.
With each step she took, the room shifted slightly, becoming darker, colder. The shift was so minuscule, however, Alice showed no signs of noticing the change. What she did notice, though, was the distance of the light in the distance.
'It doesn't seem to be getting closer.'
She was shivering due to the cold, she could even see her own breath, but even so she kept focus on the light.
Her strides were long but well paced, making sure to keep herself from unknowingly drifting away from the light. Due to this, she was moving at a relatively quick pace.
Even with all that, she couldn't notice any progress towards the light.
Deciding not to waste any more time, Alice activated a multitude of abilities.
'[Windburst: Thunder surge]!'
A stream of electricity flowed from the soles of her feet to the top of her head, coating her body. At the same time, wind gathered around her and boosted the flow of electricity.
'[weightless]!'
Her body immediately began to feel light, and she also began floating slightly off the ground.
'And the last one… [Gale Burst]!'
Wind gathered and compressed beneath her feet before exploding and creating a blast that created a shockwave that made Alice shoot forward like a bullet.
The feeling of moving at such speed was exhilarating to Alice. The feeling of the wind beating against her skin was… freeing.
After using [Gale Burst] a few more times, she eventually reached the light.
Alice glanced around the dark space for a moment. The changes that had been happening before happened so aggressively at the speeds she had been moving that she had no choice but to notice.
Turning back to the light, her last bit of Chi was used up. Suddenly, her vision became hazy, and a wave of nausea washed over her. Losing the strength to stand, she collapsed to the floor and threw up.
'What… the hell… is happening…'
Her thought had become sluggish, and she could barely think.
Looking up towards the light before her, her eyes adjusted beyond what should be possible,, and the light parted. The sight that revealed itself left her stunned. No longer could she remember the pain, nor the nausea; only redemption was left before her.
Two snow white hands revealed themselves to Alice, followed by a woman with similarly snow white hair, with a dark blue lace veil draped over her head and a flower crown of roses holding it in place. The woman stroked Alice's cheek with tenderness.
"Dream no longer, my child, only nightmares and horror await you."
***
Alice almost jumped out of bed as she woke, breathing heavy.
"Haaa, Haaa, Haaa…"
'What the hell was that?'
"Gah!"
A piercing headache revealed itself to her for a few seconds, and she held her head.
'Wait… What was what?'
She struggled to remember what she had experienced in her dream, but no matter how hard she tried, nothing revealed itself to her.
'If I can't remember, it must mean it wasn't important.'
"Sigh…"
She pushed herself out of bed and got ready for school.
***
Alice met Noel when she arrived, and the two entered the building together. They walked down the hallway for a while before turning and entering their class.
They both saw Nina and Aries as usual, but a moment later, they noticed that someone wasn't there; Emmet was missing.
They looked at Aries and Nina before turning to each other. Their expressions went from confusion to worry, then they both came to the same conclusion: "Emmet was running late".
Accepting this explanation, Alice walked forward and went to her seat, and immediately put her head down. This was due to the splitting headache she was experiencing. She tried to sleep, but the headache was preventing her from doing so. She could only close her eyes and pretend to sleep, in the hopes of drifting off to sleep.
This didn't work, however, as a few minutes after she began resting, the other children began showing up.
Resigning to the fact that she wouldn't get any sleep for now, she sat up in her seat and simply tuned out everything around her and waited for the teacher to arrive.
She glanced at Aries and Roanna, who both had troubled expressions.
'What's wrong with them? I'll ask later if I get the chance.'
A moment later, Mrs. Handley walked into the classroom.
Clap!
"Good morning, class!"
She took out the register book and a pen.
"Alright! Time for attendance… Alice!"
Alice cleared her throat, then answered.
"Here!"
"Amoy!"
…
…
…
"Emmet!"
"..."
"Oh, right! His parent told me he wouldn't be here today."
Alice Stiffened.
'What?'
She muttered under her breath as her expression turned dark, glaring at the teacher.
'Mrs. Handley… I'll have to check for myself if what you say is true.'