Archangels of War

Erika didn't return before the bell rang. That was odd. For now, the idea was just a thought that hovered in the back of my mind, because now, I was standing inside of one of the magic development classrooms, listening to the teacher-a middle aged man with a fairly messy haircut and for some reason, a monocle-explain what the basics of the course were, and why we should choose his course, over anything else. I had been going through this pattern for almost 2 hours straight, going from class to class, listening to what were essentially business pitches. "This class is best option because of x. If you love y, then this class will definitely be for you." To be honest, I couldn't really care less. If it wasn't a requirement to choose at least two of these classes, I probably would've taken a nap. At the moment, the two ones I was the most interested in, were Magical Sequencing Advanced, and Magical foundations. 

I breathed a sigh of relief as I heard the sound of the bell ringing. I waited for a few seconds, before standing up from my seat to leave. The reason for that pause was just to let the crowd thin out a bit before I left, so I could avoid getting caught up in the hassle of hallway traffic. I looked up at the clock in the hallway and noticed that it was 12:50. Meaning now it should be- 

"Attention all students. It is now time for lunch. Head to the luncheon to choose your meal. Once you've made your choice, you can eat your food anywhere, just be mindful to clean up." An announcement made on the PSA confirmed my thought process. It was time for lunch and thank God it was. I don't think I could deal with another hour of door-to-door salesmen, except I was the one going to their doors. Which I guess revoked my right to complain, but that wasn't important. What was important was that I was very hungry. 

All three years were released for lunch at the same time, and you'd think that it'd cause a sort of congestion, or over crowdedness. However, due to the sheer size of basically everything in Theta Magic academy, there was rarely ever a period where it was too crowded. Not to mention, that each year had their own building, that had its own path to the luncheon, which was so large it could really be its own school in and off itself. It was a massive domelike structure that had three massive glass walkways protruding out of its sides, that each lead to the buildings of the different years respectively. 

Despite how far apart these walkways were, I could see the outlines of the students as they made their way to class. Another pretty cool detail was that the walkway's themselves winded up and over a massive garden, with multiple benches spread throughout. It gave a great view while you walked over to a cafeteria fit for royals. This really lives up to the name of grand magic academy. 

When I arrived at the doors of the luncheon, a massive almost gate fit for a hanger stood in front of me. Within a few seconds, a rumbling sound could be heard as the gate began to lift open, allowing the way for students to walk in. The inside of the luncheon was massive, (probably the fifth time I've said this) so large that it could easily hold a hundred thousand students, even if you didn't remove the tables. There were three main entrances were students entered from, and at the wall where there wasn't a gate, was a collection of multiple little food stands that were labeled off into different sections. "Meat, fish, pastries, dessert, vegetables, fruit." It seemed endless. Not to mention that everything was completely self-serving. 

At a glance, the system may seem inefficient, simply because of the sheer number of students that would probably need to line up. However, a quick glance at the table would reveal a tablet where you could place your orders, and a robot would bring you everything you needed, no need for you to get up. And there were a lot of these robots, and a lot of space for them to traverse. On average, even lengthy orders of 5 or 6 students could be delivered in less than 20 seconds. All of this information being available on a pamphlet right next to the tablets which I quickly scoured through. I picked a random table, deciding to eat in the luncheon. It's too early for me to just go off and eat lunch in the meadow like a loser. Maybe in a week or so. 

Just as I sat down and began to pick out my meal, I spotted a familiar streak of red hair in my peripherals. I turned to see Erika standing in the center of the flow of students. An exasperated expression on her face. Nova, and everyone else seemed to be missing, so it now fell upon me to figure out what to do. So, I called out to her.

"Hey, Erika! What....Happened?" 

Erika looked up slowly and saw me. As she waked over I could hear her murmur, "Food first, everything else later." 

*** 

After ordering a copious number of fries and dousing them in an even more copious amount of ketchup, Erika sat down and began to eat. After taking a few bites, she turned to me and began to explain. 

"I'm sure you guessed it already, but I was called into the student council office because of that little prank I played on the headmaster." That part was unsurprising. 

"You look more than a little bit tired. Was the punishment that bad?" 

Erika sighed. "Even worse, I wasn't punished." I looked at her with a very confused expression. How exactly was not being punished, worse than actually being punished? 

"How exactly is that a bad thing?" Erika looked at me with a shocked expression. She suddenly stood up, grabbing me by the shirt and pulling me real close. 

"What do you mean how exactly was that a bad thing? Despite what I had done, making a mockery out of the headmaster of the school. Suijin still forgave me and everything. She looked at me with a smile as she pardoned me!" We were getting stares. 

"Oh, yeah, that must have been terrible." I was bullshitting. I didn't get what she was talking about whatsoever. 

Erika let go of my shirt before shoving another handful of fries in her mouth and slamming her head into the table. "I know rightttttt. It's just so annoying. She's always been like this!" 

I was completely at a loss for words. I didn't even know what she was so disappointed about. 

"Simply enough, Erika hates how lenient and nice Suijin is. She believes that she should be much stricter than she currently is. She's been trying to get Suijin to impose some sort of harsh punishment on her for a whole year now." I didn't even question Masayoshi's sudden appearance, or how he was able to read the question that I had yet to ask. I didn't even flinch when I turned and saw him laying down on the seat next to me, staring at the ceiling. Instead, I began to turn to Erika while saying, 

"Well good luck with that. From what I've seen of her, she's not the type of person to do something like that, no matter how much she's pushe-" However Erika was already lights out asleep. How exactly is this girl so bipolar! Wasn't she just screaming? 

I sighed, as I took a look at the mountain of fries, before turning to Masayoshi. 

"So....What are we going to do about that?"