“No, I have not. In fact, whenever I think of you, it annoys me to no end,” Senara stated indignantly.
The man raised an eyebrow, the corner of his lip turning upwards. “So, you think of me?”
Senara glanced to the side in thought, before snapping her gaze right to his golden red eyes. “Yes.”
The man blinked for a second, as if he was lagging.
“Because you’re an irritating son of a bitch who keeps nagging on the last remnants of my sane mind.”
A large grin spread across his lips, but he ignored Senara’s remark and cleared his throat. “So, I see you have chosen a different path than you did from the last time you played.”
Senara crossed her arms over her chest defensively, but raised her chin higher. “I have. And? What about it?”
Instead of becoming angry and turning into Satan himself as Senara had expected, he merely laughed. It was a beautiful sound, she had to admit, as if someone had taken the light of stars and translated it into musical notes— oddly specific, but she knew it was the perfect way to describe it.
“Why are you laughing?” Senara asked carefully.
“Miss Senara,” he purred, “no need to be so cautionary around me. All I said was that you had to play it the right way this time. And that doesn’t mean there’s only one right way.”
“So I’ve picked the right answer, then? Will I run into Daniel when I’m cutting class?” Senara asked curiously, scanning the room for any sight of him.
“I won’t tell you,” the man began, “because you’ll find out for yourself.” He followed Senara’s darting eyes, seemingly only now realizing that his very presence had been the only thing causing such a massive time freeze in the game world. He looked to her again, his amused gaze drawing her eyes back to his like a magnet. “I’ve taken up too much time now, so I’ll be on my way, Miss Senara.”
Before he could leave, Senara took a step forward. It was strange, it was unfamiliar, it was wrong, but he was so very appealing in terms of his novelty to her that she couldn’t help but let her curiosity take over for a moment. “I’m sorry if I’m being blunt, but you know my name. So what’s yours?”
He turned his head only slightly, his back still facing her so that she could only catch his side profile, a hint of his cheshire smile, and a flash of gold underneath the brim of his top hat. “I do not have one. But please; call me The Magician.”
And he disappeared.
❣ [+..••] ❣
Senara was wandering aimlessly, on a journey with no destination waiting at the end. Or, maybe the destination was known, just not by her; perhaps it was predetermined by The Magician the very moment he coded this game into reality. But Senara’s mind could not be occupied long by her thoughts; soon, she began focusing on the sharp morning breeze biting the tip of her nose and the constant rhythm of her footsteps, carrying her to a place unknown.
She stopped next to one of the buildings.
It looked like all the other buildings on campus, uniformly architected with old beige bricks furnished with glass windows and doors. Between the arches of the loggia, the morning sun peeked through, the columns casting light shadows upon the marble floor. It was obscure; no others roamed around except for the few pigeons fluttering between the scarcely planted trees.
With the exception of one very love-interest looking boy leaning against the wall, of course.
Senara stared at him in confusion, trying to make his features out from the far distance they were from each other. He didn’t look like anyone Senara recognized, and with the way he dressed— all black contrasting the light academia setting— she was certain she had never seen this boy before.
Before she could ponder upon him any longer, another screen popped up in front of her, presenting several dreadful choices upon what she was to do now.
Go up to him and introduce yourself.
Turn around and go back to your dorm.
With these two options, it was fairly obvious what Senara was going to pick. The Magician had said to play the right way, clearly implying that she must have a love interest throughout the duration of the game.
Looking between the boy and back in the direction of the classroom where she assumed Daniel was sitting, it was then that Senara pieced it together. The Magician never said there was one right way, because there were several possible love interests she could have.
So of course, she picked the second option. Just to spite him.
With an air of smugness and confidence, she turned on her heel and walked away, each step taking her farther and farther away from her forced predestiny. It gave her a sense of empowerment, to know that she, Senara Hirai, had just defied The Magician.
Another screen appeared before her.
FOREVER ALONE
You ended up with no one! You carry on with the rest of your quiet college life, graduate, and get a good paying job, but never stumble across someone to share your life with. For the rest of your life, you live alone in a crappy apartment with two cats named Elisa and Pickle until the day you die of a heart attack at age 25.
try again
Senara stared, dumbfounded, unable to comprehend the words right in front of her eyes.
She would never name a cat Elisa.
“Oh, Miss Senara,” a voice drawled from behind her, one that she instantaneously recognized to be The Magician’s, “trying to play hard to get, aren’t we?”
Senara swirled around, narrowing her own eyes as she caught The Magician’s mocking ones. She straightened her posture and crossed her arms over her chest, subconsciously broadcasting to him her message of defiance. “No. I’m just playing the game.”
“Wrong.” The Magician smiled tauntingly. “You lost the game. Do you know what that means?”
Senara pressed her lips together, her uncertainty preventing her from rashly saying anything more. The last time she had supposedly lost was when she turned down the offer from Daniel, the consequence being her transportation to The Magician; but back then, no screen had appeared to abruptly tell her of her entire extremely sad life story either. “Are you going to force me to live through the ‘forever alone’ route?” Senara guessed.
“No. That wouldn’t be entertaining in the least to watch.” The Magician laughed as if she should’ve known better. “You’re restarting.”
“Again?” Senara groaned in exasperation. She had at least expected to be able to live out a week or so with the freedom of not having to fall in love, but it had only been an hour.
The Magician reached into the pocket of his pants, pulling out a long chain of rusted gold with a worn circular watch dangling on the other end. He glanced at the time calculatively, whispering unintelligible words to himself that Senara couldn’t have discerned even if he had been speaking right into her ear. Finally, he paused, as if he had just realized that she was in front of him, and asked, “Miss Senara, did you know that time passes slower in this video game than it does in my realm?”
Senara shook her head.
“For the hour that has passed in this world, it has already been about a few days in mine. Enough time for me to craft this.” He revealed in his hand the pocket watch which turned out not to be a watch at all; instead, it boasted infinitely more than twelve numbers and had so much motion on the small surface area of the circle that Senara began to feel light-headed from the hypnotizing motion.
However, she couldn’t help but continue on watching, its complexity entrancing her until her mind was almost completely blank. She snapped her gaze to him just as his gloved thumb pressed the ridged button atop the device. “What’s—”
❣ [+..••] ❣
Senara’s eyes snapped open. A chill wracked over her body as the cool morning air washed over her from the open window next to her bed, translucent satin curtains fluttering with the—
Wait.
Senara had already experienced this before.
She grudgingly threw back her covers as the soft notes of her alarm clock played its dawn serenade once again, staring up blankly at the very same white stucco ceiling that she had been looking up at an hour earlier.
“Damn it.”
❣ [+..••] ❣
author’s note:
hi everyone! i decided to keep this format since it’s easier on the eyes and fits the other pieces.
