The only sounds that were made were the winds bouncing off trees, the small rustle of people moving on the grass, the occasional bird calls, and when we were close enough, the mumbles of the older woman saying the "Acceptance Sentence".

For the first time in a while, I felt the nerves building up in stomach, making me feel like throwing up all the food we had for dinner.

The moment came, and finally I was at the edge of the stoned circle, awaiting my turn. The light that shone on through the cracks of the stone seemed bright that it blinded me, but compelling.

Was this place really filled with magic? Or is this just technology?

I shake my head. No, it has to be magic. The train ran through a flippen' wall!

"Monika Salvato." Salvato.. That name again.

Why are they calling me Salvato now? Why not on tv? I step forward, lifting my head to get a closer look at the older woman a few feet in front of me.

I'm wearing slightly worn out shoes, but the stone still feels surprisingly smooth for how cracked it looks. The blue light seemed to have gotten bright, as I had to know squint my eyes in order to see, and be able to walk to the centre of the circle.

After reaching the mid way point, I rest on one knee, and the older woman approaches me. From the examples I saw, you kept your head down as the woman said the sentence, and lifted it again to drink the nectar.. Or oil.. Or whatever that was.

But I felt rough fingers on my chin, they forced me to look up, and so I did. The older woman had her robe on, and part of it on her head, so the shadow made it difficult or me to see what eye colour she had. But she had eyes. And they starred at me for a while.

Is this what's supposed to happen? I do my best to retain eye contact with her. Suddenly, I see a strange.. Is that a smile spreading on her face? Why is she smiling?

I know I'm getting slightly fidgety, but the woman seems to stare into my eyes a while longer before chanting in a strange language.

I bow my head down as she says this, and she seems to have no complaints on me doing so. After the words are spoken, I feel her hands on my chin again, letting me lift my face up and towards her.

Her hand now moves to rest on my head, and she brings the long part of the tea pot towards me. Instinctively, I slightly part my mouth and she pours in the liquid.

It's slightly warm, but mostly cold and sweet, like.. Like, what's the thing called.. Honey? We've had it only a few times, mostly when we had gotten sick. But it also felt strong, and thick, but flowed easily like water.

What am I drinking? Whatever it is, it taste good, and I am able to suck in a few more drops before she pulls the golden container away.

"You may go and live a good life." Her voice croaks, like she hasn't spoke in years.

I nod, and stand up, quickly walking to the side and off the stone circle. Once I get off it, the blue light seems to fade; I look back and watch as they call Sayori now. The blue light returns, shining brightly once she steps onto the stone.

I smile, and make my way back to the large group of finished students, who starred at each other or the stoned circle quietly.

I watched as the older woman did the same thing to them as they did with me, starring at them before standing up fully and doing her ancient chant. Sayori then left, the blue light fading until Yuri was called, and as soon as she stood on the stone, the light would shine bright again.

Sayori came to stand beside me, her eyes wide in confusion, and her being slightly still startled. I nod at her as she wraps her arms around the arm she's standing next to on me.

Yuri soon joins us, looking just as confused as Sayori and I, and soon Natsuki trots over to us.

My eyes land on Oliver. After Natsuki left, the blue light returned to being weak. I braced my eyes for the light to once again shine bright, but when Oliver steps on the circle, it remains the same colour as before.

Maybe I'm just seeing things. I decide quietly as I shrug it off.

The night becomes fuller as the trees shades bring more darkness, along with the temperature becoming cooler. No one says a word as we all exit the forest, and walk back in the schools campus, the wind now picking up and getting stronger, some small droplets of water slightly begin to fall out of the sky.

We continued inside, and are told to head back to our dorms to get a nights rest. Tomorrow morning, we are going to be starting our first classes here.

We walk into the hallway, no one saying anything still, like they are to scared to speak. The four of us make it Sayori's and I dorm room, and face each other.

Once the hallway is empty, I speak, "So, how was it?"

"Weird." Natsuki says. "She kinda just starred at me before saying what ever she was saying."

"That's the same thing that happened with me!" Sayori whispered harshly. "I dunno why."

"Same with me." I say, before slightly changing the subject. "You all saw Oliver walk into the stone circle, right?"

"Yeah, why?" Natsuki says.

"Was it just me, or did the light in the circle not glow up like it did with us?"

"No, it did not." Yuri answered quietly. "He also left a lot sooner than we did."

"Well, then what does this mean?" Sayori asked quietly, her eyes wide.

I shrug. "I don't know, but now we have magic."

"Yay." Natsuki sarcastically says. "I thought it would be more epic, honestly."

"Yeah, me too." Sayori says, giggling.

"Well, it is what it is." I reply. "Let's all get some sleep, and we'll start classes tomorrow."

"Great! Good night!" Sayori exclaimed, fiddling with her keys and unlocking our bedroom door.

Yuri begins walking to the other side of the hallway and unlocks the door across from ours, saving. "Have a good night."

"Yeah, night girls." Natsuki says, slightly waving as she joins Yuri in their room.

I call back, "Good night." And walk into my dorm with Sayori, closing and locking the door.

Only then do I realize that we still have our luggage to get through, not like it's much. I place my backpack on the floor beside my bed, and glance at Sayori, who is crawling under her blankets.

I walk over to the light switch and switch it off, slowly and cautiously returning to my bed. I crawl under the covers, only to feel something shift around beside me.

Sayori.

"Sayori?" I ask tiredly, resting my head on the pillow. As I lay on my back, I feel a warm breeze on my neck, realizing it was breathing.

"I'm sorry.." Sayori's tired voice whispered from beside me, her head on my shoulder. "I'm scared to sleep alone."

I smile. "I am too."

Sayori nuzzles into my neck happily before soon falling asleep. The feeling.. It came back again. Why won't it leave me alone? Why am I blushing? Why am I nervous I'll mess something up around her?

Just go to bed!

Yuri sat on her respected bed, starring anxiously at the wooden door across her. The door that let anyone come and leave the room, as long as it is was unlocked, or they had a spare key.

Natsuki and Yuri realized that they had left their books from the library at the cafeteria, and saying she wanted to "Stretch her legs" Natsuki quickly went to retrieve them.

But she was taking kind of long, and Yuri began to worry and question where she might be. But that wasn't the only thing Yuri questioned, she had so many things to ask.

How is magic real? What did the ancient sentence translate to in English? What was that strange secret room they found in the library? What is this "Realm"? Who was that lady? What's going to happen in school tomorrow? Where is Natsuki and why is she acting more defensive than usual? Is it the new environment? If so, that must be what's making Yuri herself feel so strange around the pinkette, right? And why did the four boys come to sit with them, and why did Sasha and her- "Yo, Yuri! Hello?"

Yuri quickly snapped out of train of thoughts as Natsuki was standing in front of her, placing the books Yuri had brought from the library beside her on the bed.

Embarrassed, Yuri looked slightly off to the side. "S-sorry."

"It's fine." Natsuki grumbled, moving over towards her bed and placing her backpack and the books she got underneath it.

Yuri did the same, but placed her books either small table beside her bed, of in one of the drawers.

"What were you thinking about?" Natsuki suddenly asked.

Yuri smiled sadly. She would never be able to sum up all things she was thinking about today. "Um, I just have a lot of questions."

"Don't we all." Natsuki says slightly annoyed, and she sits back on her bed, facing Yuri. "I guess we're heading to sleep now, right?"

Yuri nods and stands up. "I'll turn off the lights."

"No!" Natsuki quickly jolts up. "I'll do it!" As Yuri is still confused on the sudden action, Natsuki flicks the light switch off, and Yuri lays back onto her bed.

She can hear Natsuki shuffling on her bed. The minutes grow longer as the room became silent. But she heard more shuffling from Natsuki.

"Natsuki?" Yuri hesitantly asked.

"What?"

"Are you alright?"

"I-I'm fine."

"Are you sure?"

Silence. Yuri sat up in her bed and turned on her lamp, giving the room just enough light to show Natsuki curled up in a tight ball, the blankets wrapped around tightly.

Yuri knew Natsuki was like a cat; she liked closed in and small spaces so she could hide or feel safe in. She was scared.

Natsuki has her back to face Yuri, so she lifted her head and turned it over her shoulder, squinting at the light. She had taken her hair clips and ribbons out from her pink hair, so it was slightly fluffy and straight down.

"Turn off the lights and leave me alone!" Natsuki hissed before turning her head back and curling up into a tighter ball.

Yuri stood up and turned off her lamp, but moved towards Natsuki's bed. She was able to see because she was close enough, and gently untangled the smaller girl, replaced the bed sheets and crawled into bed with her. Yuri felt her face heat up in embarrassment, but laid down beside the smaller pinkette.

She felt warm and soft breathing, and a small weight of a head plop down on her stomach. Before they drifted off to sleep, she heard a quiet, "Thank you." From Natsuki.

I'll keep you safe. Yuri thought, nodding.

I'll keep you safe. I slowly wrapped and arm around Sayori's shoulder and fell asleep.