Few moments ago, when the leader of those thugs, Rhodes transformed into his half monster form, Amy had a bad feeling. Her senses were screaming to back off and leave. But her body seemed to be frozen in ce, trapped in a trance of those shinning eyes. She could just watch as Rhodes raised his ws and scratched her forehead. Marking her mind.


    As the blood trickled down her skin, she felt a trace of different mana into her calm mindspace. It was like a drop of dye thrown into a clear sea of conscience. Color merging and mixing together, it''s effect setting waves and making changes far and wide.


    And then there was nothing…


    …


    When her sea of conscience finally calmed down, her eyes shot open to a totally different scenery.


    The first thing she saw was a white spotless ceiling, and a familiar dreamcatcher hanging on top of her head.


    She raised her hand trying to reach for it, only to feel herself being covered in a soft nket. As she threw the nket off, she saw another familiar teddy bear plushie lying beside her.


    "It''s… mine." Amy said as she sat up and nced at everything around her.


    It wasn''t just the dreamcatcher, or the teddy that were familiar. They were hers to begin with.


    "My room? But I was just…" Amy muttered under her breath as she jolted from her bed. Her head, feeling heavy, and body numb, like she just woke up from a long sleep. She had to grab the corner of her bed stand to stop herself from falling.


    She closed her eyes trying to remember how she got here. But the memories or scenes she saw all felt foggy and groggy,like bits and pieces of an early morning dream. Familiar, yet not clear at all.


    "I was fighting Apate''s minions, is it them?" Amy said, remembering her fight from earlier.


    Apate was famous for her cunning and cruel ploys, and selfishly praying on people''s weaknesses. So her thinking was reasonable.


    She tried to channel her mana, trying to use her blessings to clear her head, to break the illusion like earlier, but when she opened her eyes again, she was still in the same room.


    She grabbed her head in confusion, only to remember the scene of a w carving something on her skin. She tried to feel something, and then turned around and ran towards the mirror.


    Yet..


    She ran her fingers again and again on her forehead in confusion, but only ever saw the clear reflection looking back.


    "Did I heal?" She couldn''t help but ask herself, but then another voice in her mind couldn''t help but ask, "Or was that just a dream?"


    As soon as this question came up, Amy herself was surprised and stepped back from the mirror in horror.


    As if on cue, just then an rm sound rang off in the room, along with a recorded reminder.


    [Tring ringggg _ Wake up youzy ass. Today''s your exam, you''re not allowed to sleep in. _ ring ringgggg]n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    As soon as Amy heard the message, she nced back at the magic calendar, only to see the red circled date, _ the sight caused her face to pale like a thirsty vampire.


    "No, it wasn''t a dream. It was real." She muttered, trying to convince herself and the reflection, which she felt wasughing at her.


    She couldn''t help but throw in a burst of pure mana onto the mirror, cracking it in pieces. Only to see several of her reflections mocking her in turn.


    [Why are you angry?]


    [It''s not like you didn''t have dreams like this before?]


    [He alwayses back and you both hug, andugh, and joke, and then… .. Then you wake up.]


    [So what''s the fuss? Why the anger? Haven''t you epted it already.]


    [He''s dead. D E A D - dead.]


    "Shut up." Amy shouted. Her fists gathering spatial mana in hues of blue, yet if noticed carefully a few ambers of red still floated within it.


    Just when she was about to burst out blindly, a voice suddenly broke her thoughts, bringing her back to reality.


    "Ohh, you''re awake." Erza''s voice sounded behind her, as the petite vamp ignored her manic mood and walked towards the broken mirror. Collecting it''s pieces with a wave of her hands and then throwing them out.


    Her stoic personality and cold heart didn''t know how to talk nice,or givefort, or make jokes, _ so she could just choose to ignore it.


    "Esme sis is training today, so I came to help you out." Erza said and then without waiting for her answer, she further added, "The bath is ready, Aina already picked out your clothes, and maids are keeping breakfast in the hall. I''ve checked the car and the route, so that there''ll be no dy. But just to be safe, it''s best if we leave 15 minutes prior."


    "Princess Reba also called…"


    Erza was still speaking when Amy suddenly ignored her and ran out of the room.


    "It''s not real. Apate, you bitch. Come out if you dare. Stop ying tricks." She shouted as she ran towards Rio''s room, only to see it empty, with no trace of him.


    Her mother had Aina personally clean everything, every day, to keep it just the way he liked it. Though it hurt her, she always believed he was alive and wille back.


    "Gauri, you there? Get me out of this illusion right now. I don''t care if you think it''s a test or training or not, it''s not funny. So stop this." Seeing that all her blessings and skills were working perfectly, yet failed to break her out of this reality, she pleaded to her goddess with moist eyes as she roamed her house yet found everything exactly like how it was when he was gone.


    She raised her hand to touch the wall and watched tentatively as different projections lit up on various holograms all around her. All of them showing letters, articles, and clips about various things in trend from all over arcadia.


    It was a weird mechanism Rio had set up for timepass, as he called it the live TV.


    (Agnus ke _ the man on a mission. Leading the first war that did not benefit Warzy.)


    (Massacre upon massacre _ were they really all people from Warzy? Where''s the proof? Has the angry Duke finally stopped caring? The question is who will stop him now.)


    (Tensions between the borders are at an all time high, as the natural cmity of the continent approaches.)


    (Excitement regarding the entrance examinations from the world association is at an all time high. Various talented students have already gathered at the school gates. Not only from the noble or elite houses, or various sects or guilds, evenmon people have produced amazing talents this year.)


    (Talking about talents, will we finally see someone who can break the records of the ''fallen'' Angel this year, or will he reign like light even after death.)


    (Angel corp. _ the behemoth of alchemy.. Visit our nearest intel store to see a detailed report on the history of this business. How it came to prominence, ruled the industry, and then became just another shop down the line.)


    (Earlier today we met with people from fairy forest, and as expected this year too, they have all boycotted the Zenith academy. Guess some losses are hard to forget.)


    (To honor the memories of every student they lost two years ago, the world association had proposed a two minute silence for peace prayers before the start of their exam at the memorial building.)


    (''Rio ke - The angel that was'' - Gather at Damascus park to be a part of this year''s best selling book''s open reading session ceremony. The story, about a man who started the era of awakeners, with his miraculous discovery of Pura Corpus and various other potions which made failure to awaken a thing of the past. While everyone knows about his noble birth, record breaking talents, and shocking strength _ let''s all take a nce at the kindness and generosity he lived by.)


    (Rio first got into limelight for his shocking awakening which brought forth a primordial into y, and then next is history. Be it him forming Angel, or donating half his profits, starting various charity and help organizations, or finally sacrificing himself while fighting for the lives of his fellow ssmates against the terrorists of warzy in the dreaded dungeon.)


    (People say action speaks louder than words. And well, his actions reverberated through this whole globe. The world system may not have recognized his title, but he very well earned it.)


    (It can only be called the cruel y of fate that gave someone as good as him such a gruesome death.)


    (Well, that''s contradictory. Cause if what house Belmont''s said is to be believed, then he was the reason Warzy attacked their academy in the first ce. So in a way, he didn''t save anyone, but only endangered everyone. Had he not been selfish and given them what they wanted, not only would he have been alive, so would hundreds of others. _ if he''s still called an angel, then the devil may feel shy over it.)


    (You''re right. If he was so good, and so simple _ why wouldn''t Nyxe forward to help him. Forget Nyx, why wouldn''t any other Gode forward to help him. Their inaction shows that we humans may be deceived by his facade and false act of heroism, but gods are not. He wasn''t an angel. He was just a selfish self righteous brat.)


    (Well, the question remains, why didn''t Nyx take action to save her beloved avatar?)


    Amy covered her ears as the sound of regret, pity and mockery echoed all around her in different screens. While her heart kept getting torn between the reality she saw clearly now, versus the ''dream'' she remembers hazily.


    "Please, help me."


    She begged on her knees as she heard the question about why Nyx didn''t do anything. It felt like a thousand ants were eating at her heart, notching a piece of it with every breath she took.


    She had steeled her heart, epted the fact that he was gone, mourned him, and made arguments with her mother who didn''t - but somehow all of that had crumbled at this moment.


    All she remembered was just the regret and guilt for causing his death. For calling him selfish. For asking him to be a hero. For having him kill Gyandel and making Nyx angry. - It was all her fault.


    Her mind even forgetting the fact that she hadn''t taken the initiative to talk to her goddess ever since she refused to save her brother.


    "You were silent back then, don''t you dare be silent now. Wake me up."


    [... But you''re already awake. This_ is the reality.]


    "..." Amy, who was hanging by a thread, instantly felt the world copse as Gauri''s voice echoed in her ears. Cementing the truth she refused to ept.


    ###


    A/N - To rify, she''s not crazy or nuts, or dumb, _ it''s the skill of Rhodes affecting her mind subtly. Slowly giving hints and nting the idea that what she remembered was a dream, and his illusion is a reality.


    You''ll know it once in detail when she breaks out of it, and Gauri exins what it was and which God''s power was behind it all.


    As for why she didn''t use chaos, first_ she''s not proficient in using it. Second_ it''s easy to lose control and go nuts likest time in dungeon against Saisha happened. Third_character development. Fourth_I need drama.


    Cough cough


    Adios


    . ...


    Also do u remember about the teddy bear, I mentioned it in the beginning chaps of the story. When Rio first wakes up in arcadia.


    There was a joke there, that Rio fooled all her pocket money and gave her this cheap teddy, calling it some super saiyan gift which will protect her or something like that..