Cleo could feel the piercing gaze of the female professor standing at the front of the room. This was the written test. This was what Cleo was good at. The hours of the examination passed quickly. Soon the test was over, and the results were posted on the scoreboard in the atrium. A crowd had already gathered in front of the board.
"Are you really not going to check your score, Cecil?"
"Why would I? I obviously outscored you anyways." Cecil replied, giving his friend, Theo, a cocky grin. "Oh well, might as well go take a look to see how bad you did."
Theo sighed. "Still the same as ever. You really don't change, do you?"
Cecil smirked and walked off.
The scoreboard was swarmed with people hoping that they did well, and groans and cheers could be heard everywhere. Rosa pushed through the crowd. She looked up at the scoreboard. This was different.
Cecil was staring as the scores. Something was wrong. This was not how it was supposed to go. It was not like this last time...
Last time?
Cecil blinked. What was he talking about? What last time?
He looked around, and spotted Cleo.
Cleo glanced up at the scoreboard that was proudly displaying her name at the very top, with a perfect score, no less. Rosa was eighth? And Cecil was third? Did the original plot change because of Cleodora's survival? Cleo read the scoreboard again...
"Get out of my way!" someone screamed, as they pushed their way towards Cleo.
Who was in second?
"You good for nothing...do you know who I am?" that person was next to Cleo now. "I am-"
Second place was...
"Marianne du Ciel!"
Cleo looked up. She blinked innocently.
"You will regret this day! I will remember you!" Marianne was annoyed. She was the best. There was no way this country bumpkin from the middle of nowhere had beat her.
"I won, didn't I?" Cleo said.
"You didn't win anything. You've just won yourself an enemy for the rest of your life!"
And she stormed off.
***
The great hall was filled with students. Some of which were here to watch the entrance exam, while others were simply here because they had nothing better to do. The examinees filed into the room, and took their seats to wait for the mana test. A professor announced the beginning of the examination, and the students began to go up to the stage one by one, each placing their hands on the magic orb that would detect their mana level.
Cecil placed his hand on the orb. The orb lit up brighter than ever before.
"Cecil Lumen. Level 78."
The crowd gasped. That was a new record. Nobody had ever achieved such a high score on the Eldritch Academy mana test. The students cheered for Cecil.
Cleo sighed happily. It was amazing to watch her favorite character. But now it was Cleo's turn. She walked up to the stage, not expecting much, and put her hand on the magic orb. A blindingly bright light enveloped the entire great hall. After the light dimmed a bit, the professor blinked, adjusted his glasses, and blinked again. Cleo looked around. What was wrong?
"C-c-cleo Sinclair. L-level 99."
Cleo looked at the orb. A bright set of digits smiled back at her. 99? That had to be wrong. There was no way...
Cleo could not...
But Cleodora could.
Just then, Cleo realized that the entire room had gone silent. Awkwardly, she made her way off the stage, and bumped headfirst into Cecil, who had paused in the aisle between the rows of benches to watch her test. He was frozen in shock.
"S-sorry." Cleo stammered, too embarrassed to face her favorite character.
Cecil blinked. He stared at her.
Suddenly, and loud shout echoed through the room.
"That thing is faulty! No way anyone could have mana level 99!"
It was Marianne.
Cleo looked around the room. It seemed that the majority of students was agreeing with her. She shrunk into herself, trying to avoid eye contact with anyone else, especially Cecil.
"Hey, are you okay-" Cecil asked.
A tear fell down Cleo's cheek and dripped onto the floor. She rubbed her eyes, and finally looked up to meet Cecil's concerned eyes. Cleo wiped her eyes and ran out of the room. Why did everything have to be against her? In the real world and now this one. She had simply tried her best. Why did people hate her for it? She had done nothing wrong. Why could she never do something good, something nice, something cool and be appreciated for it? Cleo found a dark corner and slid down to the floor, and started bawling her eyes out. Once the tears came, they would not stop. She sat there, crumpled in a ball, crying away the rest of the test.
Cecil watched as Cleo ran out of the room. He wanted to chase after her and ask her what was wrong, but something in his mind refused to let him run after her. His body forced him to sit down to wait out the rest of the examination.
And whatever had made him stay, it was not himself.
***
It was getting late. The mana test had finished earlier that day, with Cleo being in first place, despite the protests of many examinees. The teachers had reviewed the results, and could not seem to find anything wrong about the magic orb. Cecil had ranked second, and he honestly did not care.
Cleo was back in her room. She had watched the rankings get announced from her window. In the end, Marianne's protests had all been for nothing. Cecil was second, and Rosa had placed seventh, even though Cleo had snuck in and stole first. Maybe that was because Mirabelle had died, so she could no longer take her place as rank five. Marianne had ranked third, and was boasting about her skill to all the other examinees. Cleo wondered why Marianne could flaunt her abilities, and she could not. Why were the popular kids always able to do whatever they wanted and not have anyone hate them for it? And when Cleo tried to succeed, all she would be faced with would be hardship after hardship, trying to put her down.
Cleo was about to go to bed, when she heard an ear-piercing scream from somewhere outside in the hallway. She wondered what had happened, but she decided to stay in her room. The screams continued one after another, each as sudden as the last. Cleo heard thumping, scraping, and the clanging of weapons, but she did not leave her room. As far as she could tell, staying put and staying silent would be the safest option.
***
"Don't you think that you're being a bit harsh on the students, headmaster?"
The teachers of the Eldritch Academy of Magic were casually sipping tea in the teachers' lounge while watching the events of the practical test unfold through a very large and shiny crystal ball sitting in the center of the table.
"Now, now, Scylla. The kids can handle themselves."
"I sure hope so, headmaster."
***
Cleo was huddled in a corner of her room. She could hear the piercing screams of the other students as they were attacked by the creature. Suddenly, a knock sounded at her door. Cleo did not move. The knocking grew more desperate. Still, Cleo did not move.
"Open the door..." a voice said from out in the hall. "Please."
Cleo cautiously pulled her bedroom door open. The monster was charging towards her. She looked down. Cecil was sitting on the floor outside her room, hand cupped over his bleeding shoulder. His clothes sported many scratches and gashes all over the place, but not many of them had slit his skin.
"Get inside!" she said, dragging Cecil along. "Quickly!"
Cecil had barely made it inside Cleo's room when the monster came charging in. Cleo quickly slammed the door in its face. The walls rattled with the impact. Cleo was sweating. The monster was stronger than her. But she held firm. Eventually, after bashing into the door several times, the creature retreated, slinking down the hall in search of somebody else to fight.
Cecil and Cleo both let out a sigh simultaneously.
"Are you okay?" Cleo rushed over to Cecil, examining his wound. The gash was not too deep, but it was still a very painful injury.
"I'm...fine." he flinched, moving away from her hand.
Cleo went digging through the drawers of her room, searching for medical supplies she could use. Finally, she returned to Cecil with a roll of gauze, a towel, and a bottle of disinfectant. Cleo reached out to remove Cecil's jacket.
"W-what are you doing?" he asked, backing away from her.
"I need to clean and bandage the wound to prevent it from being infected."
"C-can't you just heal me?" Cecil said, realizing a moment too late that not all magic-users could cast healing spells.
Cleo blinked at him.
"Sorry," Cecil said, ashamed of himself for assuming that she could directly heal him.
"Oh, I forgot I could do that!" Cleo exclaimed, happy since she had no idea how to clean and bandage a wound. "But I still need you to take your shirt off or else I might accidentally merge your skin with your clothes."
"Aren't you supposed to be a prodigy?" Cecil said, backing himself against a wall in his futile attempt to escape Cleo. "Can't you control your magic?"
Cleo waved his words away. "Come on! We don't have much time, so I have to heal you so you can go take down that werebear."
Cecil was shocked. How had a werebear managed to pass the tight security of the academy?
Making the most of his moment of surprise, Cleo slid Cecil's injured limb out of his sleeve, revealing muscular, but lean arm with scars scattered across the skin. By this time, Cecil was already trying to scooch away from Cleo, but she pinned him down. The impact caused the jacket to slide off of Cecil's other arm, exposing his entire upper body. He screamed. Not a powerful scream, but a rather faint and weak sound. Cecil held his hands over his body, watching Cleo as if he had just been violated.
"W-what are you doing?" he said, trying his best to keep his cool, despite his voice shaking.
Cleo blinked. "Oh, sorry." She looked away, embarrassed. But her hand, despite the commands of her mind, reached out to touch Cecil's bare chest. He flinched as the cold skin of Cleo's hand made contact with his body. His chest was warm from fighting the werebear, and Cleo could feel his heart beating faster and faster inside of him. As if in a trance, Cleo's hand continued to slide down Cecil's chest until it was almost at his waist.
Cecil shrieked.