"No."
That was the last thing Fen and the others said when they looked at .
"Please? I promise to be back in half a month!" I pleaded, trying to negotiate, but as expected—
"No. We just talked about this, runt. You're grounded." Fen's words were firm and cold.
I stood there, shocked. Then, I glanced at the others. They were all nodding in agreent. Seriously?
"But—"
"No," Fen repeated, his voice not leaving room for argunt.
I let out a groan of frustration. "This isn't fair!" I whined.
So, with a heavy heart and an even heavier sense of betrayal, I turned and stomped off toward Leah and the others, who were by now laughing at without any attempt to hide it.
...I'll get revenge for this!!
"Wh-What made you think they were gonna say yes after they just scolded you a few minutes before, Aria?" Levy's voice rang out, full of amusent.
I groaned again, clearly not amused by how much these guys enjoyed laughing at my misery. I felt like the punchline of a really bad joke.
Instead of indulging them further, I ignored the laughter and headed toward the tower by the square.
The others could keep their ridiculous laughter to themselves!
I figured Fen and the others probably wouldn't say yes, but there were always certain circumstances that could make them change their minds.
If I trained hard inside the tower for a while, maybe they'd let go after seeing how much stronger I'd beco.
Besides, I was dying to see what was going on inside the tower anyway!
Titan followed behind , his heavy tallic footsteps the only sound that kept company. At least Titan didn't laugh at every chance he got. He was probably the only one who respected my struggles (╥﹏╥).
"Alright, big guy! Let's go enter the tower!" I said cheerfully, trying to get my spirits back up. Titan gave a low chanical grunt, as if agreeing with my decision.
We entered the tower of trials, and my excitent grew as I saw the familiar teleporter in the middle.
With this device, you could travel to any floor you had already been to, making it so much easier to move around and, most importantly, avoid getting lost.
Not that I had any problem with that, of course!
Author: Right~
"Hey! Wait up!" I heard behind , but I didn't bother looking back.
Sure enough, the others caught up with at the teleporter. The tower had a rule: it only allowed five or more people to climb the floors.
This was to ensure that we'd be able to protect ourselves, learn to work together as a team, and enhance our individual skills. So floors even had missions where we'd have to split up to find each other.
"Uh, wouldn't it be better to look for the duke's daughter first, rather than going inside the tower?" Serena asked, causing to stop in my tracks and look back at her.
...Right. Ugh, I think I'm losing brain cells the more I stay here. Maybe it was the stress. Or the constant mockery. Or maybe just the sheer amount of bad decisions I've made lately. I was really starting to lose track of things.
So, I sighed, cursing my own forgetfulness. I had been so focused on the tower that I completely forgot about the duke's daughter. "You're right, Serena. Thanks for the reminder," I muttered, feeling like a total idiot.
I turned around and began walking in the other direction. And when I did, I heared the others giggling behind . I guessed they were laughing at , but this ti, it didn't matter. They probably knew I was plotting my revenge already.
Hiding behind one of the buildings near the gate, I had a mont to think things over. As much as I wanted to be petty and leave these seven behind, I knew Fen would roast alive if I did that. Not literally, of course. But he would roast in that way only he could. And honestly, I didn't think I could handle it.
So, compromise. I'd make a plan.
I concentrated and used "Duplicate" on myself, feeling the warm surge of mana as it flowed outward, taking shape. A second version of myself appeared beside .
"Hey!" My clone greeted, waving at with a smile.
"Hey!" I replied with a wave of my own.
What followed that was silence and then a scream.
"What in the hell? Two Aria?! Is the world ending?!" Rea's voice shouted from behind , her tone filled with pure shock.
I chuckled nervously. "I'm not that bad, am I?"
My clone crossed her arms and looked at with a raised eyebrow. "You know, I don't think this is going to fool anyone."
"Why not? You just stay here and act like while I go out and look for clues. Got it?" I said, trying to make it sound like I had a solid plan.
She raised an eyebrow again. "Why don't I be the one to go out? You do know that even though we're the sa, our mana is different, right? Fen and the others will realize sothing's up the mont they get close. Besides, you can control , right? That way, Fen and the others won't even notice what's wrong, and we won't drain too much of our mana."
I stared at her, processing her words for a mont. "...Wait, when have I ever been able to control you?"
My clone's eyes widened. "Uh, since the beginning?"
"You didn't tell ?!" I exclaid, feeling my brain slowly frying.
"Hey, you didn't ask," she replied nonchalantly.
I stared at her, flabbergasted. How did I not know this? Was I really this oblivious?
At that mont, the two of us stared each other down, both of us glaring with equal intensity.
Titan, seeing the impending disaster, stepped in with a grunt and bonked both of our heads with his massive chanical hand.
"Maybe this is why I feel stupider than usual?" I muttered to myself, rubbing my sore head.
Titan just gave an indifferent shrug, clearly not concerned about the petty drama between and my clone.
"Alright," I sighed, conceding. "Fine, go and looke for her while I stay here."
"Understood, boss," my clone replied with a smirk.
As I walked away, I couldn't help but wonder if I was really becoming more stupid, or if this was just the universe's way of testing my patience.
At least I could count on Titan to keep grounded—both literally and figuratively.
Little Theater
Aria: "You didn't tell I could control you?!"
Clone: "You didn't ask."
Leah: *bonks both* "Now you're both controlled. Problem solved."
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