rakuen | Next stop: Utopia Academy

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Next stop: Utopia Academy

You're falling, and you can't remember why. It's a sickening feeling that makes your insides lurch; the darkness and the vertigo combine, and all you can think of is a story you heard once, somewhere.

-I remember now. It's a simple story that everyone knows. A legend of a Princess, the Demon Lord who kidnapped her, and the Knight who fought to save her.

The Demon Lord had kidnapped the Princess countless times, but every time the Knight bested his challenges and rescued the Princess.

No matter what tricks and ploys the Demon Lord used, the Knight would always triumph in the end. This was because--

The world tilts on its axis one last time, and the dream slips from your mind as easily as it arrived. A new voice intrudes on your sleep.

"Next stop: Academy Main Entrance. This tramline terminates here; all change. Next stop: Academy Main Entrance. All change."

Sunlight streams through the windows of the long carriage, making the seats almost uncomfortably warm beneath its sleeping passengers. The air is muggy and thick, the atmosphere relaxing. Almost too relaxing; the warmth and the silence make it difficult to immediately muster any kind of reaction or thought. Your nausea settles, slowly. The last of the dream fades.

"We have arrived at Utopia. Repeat, we have arrived at Utopia Academy. Could all passengers please leave the tram, as it is terminating here."

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"Really? There are quite a few Numbers here--" he broke off, and narrowed his eyes. If this was some kind of trick, then maybe... "Ah, my mistake. 'Japan'?" There weren't many people from Area 11 in other parts of the empire, so they had to be.

He glanced up absently at the other girl as she walked over, and blinked as she addressed him. "Who's Sora?"

"I'm not sure--" She gave a little start and glanced up at Yuki, blinking uncertainly. Oh the girl must have heard of Sora somewhere in the Academy and seen Koharu with her. She turned back to Gino and smiled.

"Sora is my knight. She protects me." Her face lit up with the very thought of Sora.

"Your knight?" Her head shot towards Koharu, "She's my knight."

Yuki stared at Koharu, her looks weren't ringing any bells. "Who are you?" she looks towards Gino, another unfamiliar face, "And you?"

"Five more minutes what?" Grenn muttered, mostly to herself. At least the girl seemed comfortable, for now. Looking up, she considered the commotion at the head of the car. Obviously, no answers were forthcoming from there, even if she could get there. Which she couldn't, at least not without making use of her most hated mobility aid.

"Aid, nothing," she snapped to herself again, feeling rather certain she wouldn't be heard. Otherwise the commentary would have been in her head. She didn't really consider something that needed heavy pain-killers to function to be "aid".

Talking of aid... Looking out the window and the growing island, Grenn wondered if she'd had to connect to her legs when they came to their destination... And when they got the... What date was it?! She had graduation in less than a week!

"Gino," he said again, affable even as the two girls squared off. Truth be told, he was a little confused. A competition between royalty? Sora would be their bodyguard, then, but that didn't explain why they clearly didn't know each other. He decided to stay out of it. "And this is Koharu. Who are you?"

Koharu knew all of Sora's weapons--didn't she? Yuki, Tomoko, Reiko, Hiyo...She didn't look like any of them but what did they look like. Her confusion was slowly upsetting her and she sat back in her seat. She should know what to do in this situation, why didn't she?

"We had records of every girl Sora saved though..." She whispered to herself, then glanced up at Gino.

Kallen wasn't the one to fall asleep on trains. When the train announced the last stop, her eyes opened. A small book was in hand (because she was reading it on the way) and the sunlight beamed into her blue eyes. She questioned herself. Just what was that dream and...

...

Either, she got up and exited the car. This was her stop after all. Wait... was it? This wasn't Ashford Academy and Kallen was PRETTY SURE she hadn't transferred. Did she miss her stop?

Dave's shades had slipped down his face while he was asleep; on startling awake his first move was to push them back up. He ran his hand through his hair and looked around the tram in bleary confusion. He knew he'd fallen asleep, but he definitely hadn't been on Derse just now. What the hell had happened? Who were all these people?

... Was he even still in the Incipisphere?

He sat up, and leaned forward a little to talk to the girl across from him – she didn't look much younger than he was. "Yo, you got a clue what's going on here? Because I was pretty sure I was done with school forever after all life on Earth got wiped out by an apocalyptic fucking onslaught of meteors."

He looked and sounded remarkably unconcerned, all considered.

Reiko frowned and stepped back into the aisle. They weren't going to get any answers here.

"One-way means the train only goes... well, one way," she explained. "It means we don't have a return ticket."

That voice was familiar.

Leaving Kotarou where he was, Reiko stood and bounded in the direction of Yuki's voice. "Yuki! Yuki Yagizawa, is that you?"

"Train," he repeated, again, glaring around at the machine they were in. Why would they need a ticket to leave? "We can get a horse, can't we? Or we can walk."

"Utopia Academy is on an island. I guess we could swim or take a boat, but that's not really the point. We wouldn't have anywhere to go after that."

"Three more... Gotta save her," she frowned and shifted again, until she was dangerously close to toppling over. Her eyelids flickered once, twice; she began to open her eyes... and the tram juddered to a stop, and Sora Himoto slid unceremoniously down the window and off her seat with a quiet yelp.

"Ugh," she stared blearily at the floor beneath Grenn's seat, then sat up enough to get a look at what she'd just fallen off. No way was her bed that smal-- huh?

Or rather, "Huh? A tram..." She stared around a little more, then blinked up at the girl sat in front of her, "What's going on?"

"We could go anywhere!" He clenched his fists, not understanding what she meant. He could go somewhere where Nanashi could find him. If they were on an island, how would... "How is Tobimaru going to find me if I'm on an island, huh? I don't want to go to a stupid academy!"

Whatever an academy was.

He really didn't get it, did he. Reiko sighed, trying to think of just how to explain it to the kid.

"I don't blame you. It's not really a very good academy." Even if he was a boy. That wasn't the point, not anymore; at least, that's what Sora seemed to think. "Once we get there, maybe we'll get some answers...?"

So she didn't know either. Grenn shrugged, stared somewhere to the upper right of Sora's forehead, and then down.

"I have no idea. Apparently this stop is Utopia?" Grenn looked up and out again, and frowned. "Not my idea of a paradise." Realizing she'd said it out loud, Grenn's eyes flickered to the redhead and then down into her lap, shifting the neat creases on the wide shorts she was wearing. If the girl's outfit was the uniform, she hoped she could get her hands on those shorts too. She didn't mind skirts, but...

Then she looked back up, and screwed up enough courage, because while the girl was adorably confused, maybe she'd know, and she seemed friendly.
"What date is it?" Too late, Grenn realized that the calendar system she was used to, was probably not one the other was used to... Frag it.

"Utopia Academy?" Sora got to her feet, registering the positions of three of her friends automatically. There was one near the front, and two others talking to a boy at the other end of the carriage. Something about that seemed weird, but she couldn't quite put her finger on it. And anyway, someone was talking to her. None of them seemed to be in trouble for now, so she sat back down. "Uh, the eighteenth, I think? My friend would know, she's over there-"

That was it. With a start, Sora realised she couldn't put a name to any of the girls she'd just identified. She stared over at the pair blankly, trying to come up with anything that sounded remotely like their names. They were her special princesses, and she their knight. They meant so much, so... Why couldn't she remember their names?

"Sorry, I need to..." She started to stand up again, then paused. How would she even call them over?

Grenn followed Sora's gesture, back, and then again, as Sora hesitated. If she was her friend, why not just call her over? But Sora's hesitant awkwardness made Grenn unsure and she shifted in place. The eighteenth what, anyway! But it didn't matter. It was even morning.... midday... day! here, and it had been late evening last, as far as she knew. Late evening, and she and Lyra had been talking... Grenn frowned, unconsciously massaging the skin above the connecting tech that capped her right thigh.

They had been talking. It had been important. Burningly important. She remembered being angry. What had they been talking about!? There had been nightmares connected to it; people-like dolls breaking, and ships making human-like screaming... But that wasn't what they had been talking about.

What. Was. It.

Grenn made a very soft, choked sob, and shook her head, resisting the urge to tug on her hair. She'd remember later. Yes. But there was something telling her that "later", was too late.

"Maybe... go over?" Grenn finally managed. Better concentrate on something else.

"I can't remember."

Shaken, Sora sat back and gripped the edge of the bench with both hands. Think, she told herself, think hard! She remembered going over all the names in her head at night, the happiness she felt whenever she recalled the girls she'd saved, but the names... she couldn't remember anything about them, apart from their faces. The other girl looked just as bad as she did, and she tried to shake off the worst of her shock with the instant need to help her. Knowing what they looked like would be enough, somehow. She didn't need to know someone's name to help them, and they'd understand. Until she could figure out what had happened. She took a steadying breath, and managed a smile.

"I think they're busy... I'll introduce you later, if that's alright." She leant forward, expression shifting to one more intent, "Are you okay?"

I can't remember. That seemed significant. But there was, somehow, a stinging touch to those words, like a joke that wasn't funny, the solution of an equation they hadn't been given yet.

Startled at the redhead's question, Green blinked, eyes wide. Looked to the side, then tilted her head down and looked up from under her lashes. Why did she want to know? Didn't she have enough trouble on her own? Grenn felt like snapping something, but the ghost of the nightmares quieted the need to lash out at pity. She wanted a hug.

"No. I mean.... what if we continue to forget things!" What if she forgot Lyra's smile. "And someone saw fit to give me my prostethics, but not my hover chair." Grenn felt petulant and crossed her arms over her chest.

...

Oops. Talking of introducing... But how did you do that at this point? Without being hopelessly awkward?

"Maybe we should write everything we know down somewhere," she suggested, expression brightening as fast as it then fell. "No, that wouldn't work. Uhh."

Oh, right. She coughed, embarrassed, and then held out a hand, belated but friendly. "I'm Sora! I'm going to save everyone at the academy, so if you need any help, just ask. With your prosthetics, maybe?" She didn't actually register what that word meant for a moment, until she glanced down and realised the girl's legs just... ended, way before legs normally did. Her expression didn't falter. If anything, she seemed more cheerful. Here was something she could definitely help with!

Save everyone? From what? She'd technically been kidnapped too! And, unless this was a carefully mantained secret project of some sort at some remote moon/space station, Grenn was sure she'd need more to get home than bodily intervention...

"Oh, eh... Grenn." Secretly, she was relieved as she shook Sora's hand; she hadn't had to come up with some way to introduce herself. So, technically.. Sora had already helped her. The amusement that thought brought mellowed the instant flare of resentment. She could take care of herself!

Biting her lower lip, Grenn shook her head. She could be nice. Maybe Sora didn't mean that how it had sounded. Maybe. But she didn't know..
"Unless you're strong enough to carry me around until we can find some other mobility aid, or can take away constant pain, there's not much you can do about these," Grenn gestured first to her legs, and then her bag. She'd managed to curtail the snappy tone of voice. Mostly. She was bad at this, and wouldn't get better, maybe it was better if Sora got offended and stalked off. Easier.

Lyra hadn't.

(But she was special, wasn't she?)

Sora hmmed with pursed lips for a moment or two, trying to gauge if she actually was strong enough. Usually she didn't really think about things like that. It never mattered if something was possible, as long as it was something she needed to do.

"I could carry you," she offered, not noticing the sarcasm and just happy to have been offered an option, "We'll ask the conductor! They've got to have something you can use, I'm sure of it." If the prosthetics caused Grenn pain, Sora certainly didn't mind helping her until they could find an alternative. They had wheelchairs in the medical wing, she remembered passing one on her way to Yuki's room sometimes.

Sora was serious. That was just silly. But she really was serious. About carrying her around. Blinking, Grenn looked down, aware of heat in her face, and somewhere in her stomach. So maybe that was still dangerously close to patronising, in Grenn's mind, but... Frag. She was serious.

"Thanks?" then she frowned. That didn't seem the right way to do it. "Thank you." That felt better. "If you really feel up to it, though. I can handle the pain. Done it before," Grenn waved a hand, at this point able to trivialize it. It was three years since she first... She frowned, then shook her head. Not imortant.

"Well, hopefully there'll be something close by... It looks like quite a walk from here," Grenn said as she looked out the window.

"I promised I wouldn't let anyone suffer any more," she explained, now as cheerful as ever. There was a faint twinge of something, but it slipped away when she tried to work out what had caused it. Another thing to worry about later. "If there's a way that means you won't have to handle your pain, I'll go down that path with you."

She finished with a blazing smile, and stood up with renewed energy. "I'll go ask the conductor!"

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Next stop: Utopia Academy

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