Pristine Academy: The Singularity's Manifestation

Welcome, to the World Where You Belong

“What!?”

Wilbert’s face contorted into something akin to fear and almost devastation. “Why are you taking her away just like that?”

Klizzette looks at him determined, as if she was already resolved in her decision, gripping her granddaughter with her wrinkly hands. “It’s already a decision years in the making, Wilbert. And I can’t take more of a proper time than now, where she already knows what she’s capable of, albeit it should have been discovered much better. She’s already 18, Wilbert, let her finally be who she is supposed to be.”

The man in front of them let out a troubled sigh, his hands clasped tightly. “Patricia doesn’t know what’s coming to her back there.”

“They will not touch my granddaughter in the slightest.”

“You know her, Klizzette. You don’t know her anger runs beyond Cexillia’s own blood.”

Patricia feels dread in those words. Who’s her?

“Wilbert, you are worrying too much.” Klizzette runs her hand on Patricia’s hair, “If Patricia won’t know the depths of what she is now, then when? She already had an accident with her own abilities because we have deprived her of the knowledge she needs.”

“She needs to go with me, now.” Klizzette has declared with utmost certainty. “We don’t know what will happen here on Earth because of what happened back in Thereal. This time, she will be safer there.”

Wilbert scoffs, growing restless. “She’s not ready—“

“She will not be ready if we don’t provide her with the education she needs.” Wilbert looks at her, his eyes widening, as if realizing. “You don’t mean…”

“Patricia will attend that school, yes, Wilbert. Where she truly belongs.”

The young lady’s father let out a heavy sigh, looking at the floor for a few minutes as if in thought. He finally looked at them, his lips taut as he nodded. “Please… let me talk to her once in a while.” His voice went low, breathy as if he was stopping something from bursting from his chest.

Klizzette only nodded, smiling at him. “Don’t worry, she’ll be safe, Wilbert.” She looks at Patricia, who was still in shock and confused. “Let’s get ready, we will leave by dusk today.”

“Is that all your luggage?”

Patricia nods as she watches her personal belongings being packed and stored away in a pick-up truck by one of her grandmother’s assistants. She shifted her look to her side as she feels her grandmother come up by her side. “I know it’s a bit sudden, but you know it must happen, my darling.”

The blonde girl looked at her, sighing. “I… I don’t know what to feel, Grandma. Everything is going so fast. I haven’t wrapped my mind around the truth about me, about this.” She raises her arm, and the crystal one now looks like a normal one. “You don’t need to apply the cream I gave to you.”

Patricia looks at her in confusion. Klizzette only smiled as a gentle hand caresses her back, “Don’t worry, Grandma’s here. You’re going to a place where you don’t need to hide your beautiful arm anymore.”

They ride the pick-up truck to a harbor that Patricia didn’t know she was stepping into. “A harbor?” She looks at Klizzette, “I’m sure there are better transportation than a boat, Grandma. I have my passport with me.” The old lady shakes her head and chuckles, “I’m sure that this is the best transportation towards our destination.”

Patricia is still confused about their choice of transportation, but she chose not to dare oppose them. “If you say so, Grandma. The sea doesn’t really bode well for me.” Klizzette smiles, “We won’t be too long in the sea.” They approached a ticket booth, it’s unusually empty except for the person-in-charge.

“Across the Atlantic Ocean, please.” Klizzette looks at the man in the ticket booth.

A burly man responded to them with his gruff voice. “What d’ya mean? Europe?”

The old lady just smiled. “Before Europe, beyond the islands.”

The man looks around before looking back at her, “’M surprised that ya passed by the restriction of the inner harbor.” He started to fetch the tickets they requested. Patricia looked at them curiously as they converse as if they were speaking cryptically.

Klizzette shakes her head and chuckles, “I needed to visit… well, fetch someone here. You know what happened, I can’t imagine other children or people unaware of their abilities still stayed hidden.”

The man only nodded as he came back to the counter, “Can’t imagine it as well, but I heard from the CIC that they got it alllll under control. I guess that’s why no one’s gettin’ reported yet gettin’ crazy with their abilities.”

Klizzette sighs, “I wish.”

The man hands their ticket over, “Here’s yer pass, ma’am.”

Patricia looks closely at the ticket; she feels it is rather different from a normal ferry ticket. She never rode one before, but the gold border and the strange aura of the piece of paper give her a feeling that this one is special. “Yer just in time as well, ma’am. Special rides these days are quite rare, seein’ that no one really arrives back ‘ere. There’re two or three times that there will be a ride. One just arrived a moment ago.”

“I understand as to why.” Klizzette stores their ticket in her handbag. “Thank you. In tlalli uil mixtenuan.” They approached the staircase towards the big boat parked near the shore.

Patricia looks at her grandmother; her confusion hasn’t subsided yet. “Grandma, what does that mean?” Klizzette looks at her and giggles, “It means the earth shall bless you, my child.”

The young lady gulps, “Does your home in this Thereal thing speak that? I can’t survive in that place if they do.” Her grandmother giggles, “They don’t, in fact, they rarely speak Camalot language nowadays. Some nations still speak languages that are rooted in that. But I don’t fear that man not understanding what I have said, it’s a common saying. It’s to further prove I am indeed a mentiel.”

“So, it’s not just one nation, Grandma? Is there really another world out there? The man said that there’s something that’s called… the CIC?” Patricia continued asking, which made her grandmother smile, “It’s better if you see it for yourself. Besides, the world itself will answer your question best.”

They boarded the ferry and approached a particular person whom Patricia didn’t even recognize to be an important person in the vehicle. Klizzette handed the four tickets to him. The man nods and escorts them to the rooms. Patricia is getting a lot of weird feelings about all of this. She feels like she’s boarding some secret and illegal boat, but she knows it’s not the case. The discretion puts her off.

“Enjoy your ride, ma’am. Rest assured, no unaware arthiels will be aboard this ferry. Still, keep your abilities with you. With what happened in Thereal, we don’t need anything else triggering this problem to spread." Klizzette nods, “Don’t worry, I got mine all in control.” The man nods and leaves them be. The two assistants of Klizzette settled their luggage in their rooms.

“If you need anything, don’t be shy to knock on my door, okay?” Patricia nods as they all part ways and go into their rooms. Patricia looked around hers, much to her dismay, this wasn’t some private class ferry. It’s just a room with a bed and some other utilities to use while on the ride.

With the disappointment that she had with the room, she decided to get some fresh air on the deck. She went upstairs and was greeted by the gentle breeze from the sea. She looks out into the horizon, thinking where the ‘Thereal’ place could be. She looked at the harbor as well, and she saw some people boarding the ferry she was on. She wasn’t expecting that there would be other people in the boat, but there was a continuous load of people going up the stairs.

Some seem the same age as hers, and there are even children. She can’t confirm whether they’re like her or not, but their presence in the boat says the prior. She watched them until there were no more passengers left. The captain announced their departure, and she felt the boat start moving. She looks at the deck that was once void of people, filled up. There are some that are going to the utilities and rooms below, and there are some that have decided to stay on the deck.

Patricia sighs and looks out at the sea once again, admiring the view of the waves as they topple on one another. A moment of peace presented itself to her, and she willingly embraced it.

In nightfall, they have gathered in a hall with multiple round tables. “When will we arrive, Grandma?” Patricia asked her grandmother, already getting impatient with their long travel. Klizzette only chuckled, taking a seat on one of the tables, along with the two men with them. “Sometime tomorrow. I’m sorry this is a bit long, but it will be worth it in the end.”

“Do you need to travel this long just to get to ours?” Klizzette nods, “Yes, but it’s nothing, especially if you’ve gotten used to it. Besides, a day on a boat is not that big of a deal. It’s relaxing rather than stressful like you seem to imply.”

“Grandma, are they… what do you call it… Mentiels, as well?” Patricia takes a glance at the other passengers on the boat at their respective tables. “Of course, darling. How will they board this ferry if they are not?”

“There are… many of us?” She sighs, “And, here’s me thinking I was special.” Klizzette giggles and places her hand on top of hers. “You’re still special, my darling. There’s still more to you than meets the eye. Of course, a world shall have a population of many to inhabit the lands it offers. This number still doesn’t compare to how many mentiels you will meet in the other world.”

“Don’t you rather feel much more welcome and included when you see more people that’s similar to you as well?” Her grandmother pointed out as she sighed. “It must be hard for you to be in the dark all these years. It’s your time to meet other people like you, even make friends that will understand what you have as arms.” She smiles at him, “I promise you, your arm is not the eye-catching thing in that world anymore.”

Patricia felt as if that was something bad, but somehow, she felt relieved. People will not ogle her arm as if it were something that shouldn’t exist, that she shouldn’t exist. Maybe it will be normal, usual in her everyday life. Something that she doesn’t need to hide anymore, maybe something that she could be finally proud of.

After all, it was the only thing that deeply connected her to her mother and grandmother. The evidence she is indeed the product of this family lineage.

She hummed in thought. Everyone will have something unusual with them, something that she hasn’t imagined even happening with a human body, in the world she was living in. She will not be alone anymore with her peculiarities.

Somehow, that made her feel better.

The night has passed, and the ferry Patricia was on comes to a halt. She looks outside, and the golden hue of the sky confirms to her that she’s not in the world she knows anymore. She goes down the ferry with her family, still mesmerized by the sight that lies on the horizon. She can see mountains in the distance and strange-looking houses all around. It was rather colorful, as if there was a festival happening. She rushes to see more of what she’s seeing from the ferry. An overwhelming happiness emerges inside her, as if she had met an old friend she had never seen for years.

Klizzette walks up behind her, “Welcome to Thereal, my granddaughter.”