La Pucelle

La Pucelle
Setting foot upon the grounds of the academy, Tsuruko's eyes widened in awe. "...Wow~"

It truly was a majestic sight; looking a bit like a large funhouse rather than a school. Standing on a large platform which can be accessed by a long line of white steps, the school is comprised of a collection of large black towers and spires patterned with white lines and the occasional Grim Reaper mask. The roofs of the towers are conical and bright red in colour. Enormous candles poke out of shafts along the circumference of the buildings. Strangely, the flames of these candles never go out, and the candles never shortened. "...It looks a little silly, but it's impressive!" Tsuruko was amazed.

"...Tsuruko." Once again, a certain lavender-haired woman appeared straight behind her, causing a chill to run down Tsuruko's spine.

"....G-Giselle! What are you doing here...you don't get out much, do you? Then why are you actually outside?"

"I'm not a total hikikomori, you idiot. Give me some credit." Giselle snapped.

"...That doesn't answer my question!"

"...Ah, well, you see, I've decided that I can't let you deal with this one alone, so I'm going to enroll as a teacher here. Additionally, I have a hunch that what I want is here." Giselle smiled somewhat. "...So, that's it. You've got an ally and a helping hand here. Like I know you won't, I won't let you down."

Tsuruko felt confident in the fact that she had somebody to work with...but then that raised a big question. "...Wait, you don't have teaching credentials! How can you just enroll!?"

Giselle leaned in closer, whispering in a not so subtle manner, ""Yeah, sorry, doesn't sound like I have the skills they need. But, I can take more poundings than Omaha Beach before the ground assault began. I'll have you know, I've pleasured over seven thousand men. And six hundred thirty two women. And eighty five zoological specimens, and twenty-some things I'm not sure about. Hell, I've starred in several pornos, and there's this one with—"

Tsuruko inched back, screaming over Giselle's morbid description, "...TOO MUCH INFORMATION!"

"—ping-pong ball trick." Giselle finished.

"GAH, JUST LEAVE!" Tsuruko yelled at her, as Giselle laughed while walking off. As the lavender-haired woman left her sights, Tsuruko refocused upon where she had to go in order to reach the check-in point. Noticing that there was a directory near the statue out the front, Tsuruko rushed over to it...

...only to slam head-first into a solitary figure. Bounding back, she tumbled along the ground, landing on her derrière with a *THUD!*. Slowly standing to her feet, she growled, "Huh...?"

From what she could make out, this figure was definitely female—bearing the appearance of a young lady in her mid-late teens, with a slender figure, sizeable bust, and light blue eyes. Her hair was a light blue, and reached down to her waist in length. It was kept free, and was rather wavy. Her fringe was kept just above her eyes, and she had three sets of bangs; first going down to her upper-jaw, second, upper-neck, third, chest-length. Certainly, this young woman glared down at her, complaining in a haughty voice, "What are you doing!?"

Tsuruko rubbed her derrière, before getting up on her hands. "Uh, I'm so sorry!"

The young woman placed her hands upon her hips, yelling at her, "Do you have any idea of what you just did!?"

Tsuruko glanced around. "...Uhh..."

The young woman shook her fist; her screeching increased pitch! "Let me explain, you pitiful worm! I am Kaguya Kobayashi, daughter of Chairman Guran Doma and Heiress to Doma Enterprises, the largest manufacturer of Magitek in the world!"

"Uuuhhhh..." Tsuruko was still dazed from the impact.

"Are you even listening to me? Is any of this sinking in; you peasant? What have you got to say for yourself?!" Kaguya rambled on.

"...Uh, hi." Tsuruko could only mutter those words, apologetic and embarrassed. "Look, I'm really sorry; I'll make it up to you somehow!"

"Ugh, you complete dolt! What are you even doing here? You seem too stupid to try and attend this school!" She was like the damn Energizer bunny; she never stopped.

"...Ah, ya see..." Tsuruko tried to save herself.

"You know that the La Pucelle Academy is for the most elite! We're here to fight against the everlasting darkness, so watch where you're going! Bow down to your queen; because I'm the daughter of Guran Doma, I can do anything I like in this place, anything at all."

At this point, something snapped within Tsuruko. A long time ago, her village was prejudiced against by a nobleman who only got away with his cruelty via his connections. The people of her hometown suffered due to this smug being of avarice. She wouldn't stand for it. Not again. Tsuruko gritted her teeth, snarling in an aggressive tone, "I said I was sorry, 'your highness'. I say you should treat others how you wanna be treated, or else one day it's gonna bite you in the butt."

Kaguya smiled smugly. "Oh, really now? I'm above your "karma". Only the little people have to suffer "karma"." At that point, Tsuruko cocked her fist back, about to smash Kaguya across the jaw as the rich bitch continued to taunt her, but all of a sudden, something immediately shut Kaguya up.

"Why don't you pick on somebody on your own size? It seems to me that purple here doesn't even need to acknowledge such a terrible person." The person who saved her...was a teenage girl; with a trim, young-and-beautiful appearance. She had a kind, soft expression on her face, contrasting her words. She had large, D-cupped breasts, wide and womanly hips, a shapely rear, a thin waist, long, beautiful legs, and a perfect physique. Possessing blonde hair, her hair flowed loose and messy, with a few tendrils sticking out and a small cowlick on top of her head. She had a pale complexion and emerald eyes. Dressed casually, the girl stood between the two.

"What makes you think you can talk down to the Heiress of Doma Enterprises like that!?" Kaguya snapped, as the girl merely smiled and responded calmly;

"You're no special snowflake, princess. You're just lucky you're the result of an 63 year old decrepit bastard being able to get it up and boning one of his whores. And you see, you're popular because you developed early and started putting out when you were 10, but now you can't stand to look at yourself in the mirror because all you see is a slut. So you pick on people you see as "below you" to avoid the inevitable realization that once your body's used up by age 21, you're gonna be a worn-out, string-thin saggy-boobed sack of crap that even your dad won't want givin' him the V. I'd say that you've just gotten served. Thank you, come again."

Utterly shocked, Kaguya screeched, "Wha- How dare you- The nerve of... Ugh!" With that, the snob known as Kaguya Kobayashi marched off, thoroughly pissed.

Chuckling innocently at Kaguya's anger, the blonde-haired girl walked over to Tsuruko, extending her hand. "Here, you need help?"

Tsuruko nodded, accepting the girl's hand as she assisted her in standing up. "...Thanks for that. But why did ya help me out?"

"Hey, it's no problem. Strangers? They're just friends you haven't met yet. And you know, you shouldn't let such a snobby flake talk down to you like that. Without their connections, they're nothing but paper; unfurling so easily. I'm sorry about having such a bad introduction, purple." The girl smiled.

"...Uhh, my name's Tsuruko. Tsuruko Sejren." Tsuruko offered her hand to the girl, as an offer of friendship.

"Rosa Dimaggio. I'm charmed." She took Tsuruko's hand, as the two instinctively shook hands with a reverse hand grip, with Tsuruko tapping Rosa's fist on the top; Rosa's fist tapping Tsuruko's on the bottom before they bumped fists. It was hard to explain, but the two just invented a secret handshake!

Glancing around, Tsuruko asked Rosa, "...So, where do we go? Is there a front lobby or something around here?"

Rosa paused for a moment, absolutely dumbstruck. "...Oh, I dunno. I was kinda following you. Maybe the directory will tell us? Maybe a food court? Some kind of recognizable landmark? Oh, poop, I'm not really good with directions..."

Tsuruko scratched her head, chuckling, "...Neither am I. Ahahaha..."

Entrance
Walking into the halls of La Pucelle, the duo were absolutely amazed. The hall was fabulously decorated; a crimson carpet extended from the stairs. It was totally grand inside; it had many long corridors with arched ceilings and lamps to light the way and staircases. The corridors also had round windows looking out onto the school grounds. From what Tsuruko could see, there were many passageways and long staircases.

"...Ah." Rosa froze up at the sight of the winding corridors.

"...Huh, what's wrong?"

"...We meet again, my natural enemy. Stairs, you will fall in battle to me this time!" Rosa hammily declared, marching up the stairs with Tsuruko in tow.

"...Erm, Rosa, do you even know where we have to go?" Tsuruko questioned, as Rosa very bluntly replied;

"...Nope. But we're gonna make it up the top of the stairs anyway!" ...What a blisteringly stupid answer.

Reaching the top, the duo managed to achieve their destination—getting front-row seats to the academy's halls. A plain-looking man with a moustache and black robes stepped up to the podium, coughing before beginning to speak. "Welcome, ladies gentlemen, to La Pucelle Academy! Magicians, witches, crystal healing doctors- you're here because you have scary powers, and we want in on it! So, who's ready to draw some pentagrams? Now, you already met one another on the cab ride over, so let me introduce myself: I'm Fred Fredson. I'm host to a tiny but powerful demon who lives in a secret place in my mouth. He grants me the power to make milkshakes."

Tsuruko and Rosa were immediately put off by the man. "...Wait, is he serious? Maybe we're in the wrong place..." Tsuruko twirled her hair in bemusement; but Fred Fredson straightened his back, switching from a joking tone to something more dire.

"To be honest with you all, I am proud of all of you. The La Pucelle Academy teaches young and upcoming magicians in order to defend themselves; blasting away the darkness which creeps across the lands. We only accept the cream of the crop; prodigies without any equal amongst their kind to train them into powerful wizards and witches; powerful enough to blow a Wizard Saint out of the water." The man pointed to the quartet of hallways behind him, before pointing up the top of a staircase near him.

"Around me, there are five dormitories. Each represents one of the Four Gods. The Four Gods were the central figures of astrology and geomancy; in this system, there were 28 'star houses' (constellations) which ran the circumference of the sky. The Heavenly Emperor divided the sky into the northern, southern, eastern, and western quadrants, each with 7 star houses; each quadrant was ruled by a divine beast. North, South, East, and West—those are the dormitories; each of them represent one of the four divine beasts—additionally, the Center is the fifth dorm. Judging from your capabilities, you will be put in one of the four dorms that is best adjusted to your specialty."

"That sounds fair. I mean, it helps correct the balance." Tsuruko began thinking; but aside from equality, there was one other little problem. "...While it'd be nice to be treated fairly, I'd at least like to know some people. Rosa is nice...that's plus one friend. Kaguya tried to kill me, that's an enemy. Back to zero..."

As Tsuruko sighed, Fredson announced, "Either way, allow me to sort out the housing matters. The physical based magicians, they will be within Suzaku; which is to the south. Those with rare magic, will be in the Seiryū dorm, which is to the east. The magicians who base their magic around defense and support will be within Genbu, which is to the north—Byakko will house the magicians with otherworldly qualities, and lastly, all-rounders will be within Ōryū, which is up this staircase."

Tsuruko dreaded what was about to happen. However, Rosa suddenly clasped her hand, reassuring her, "No matter what happens, I'm gonna try and meet up with you every day. You promised, remember?"

Tsuruko was stunned momentarily. "....When did I...?" All Tsuruko was left with was absolute silence as Rosa walked off. The faint wind gently blew her blonde hair as Tsuruko's eyes were fixated upon her. Her beautiful skin, which was white as snow, was remarkable.

Beautiful.

That was the only word to describe her in one word. That was the only word Tsuruko needed to describe her. As she was focused on Rosa's movements, Rosa was already out of Tsuruko's sight.

This was just like that time.

That silver haired boy, he escaped her grasp—her very first friend, and she was forced to move away; the only person she trusted back then, he was torn from her, she couldn't do a damn thing about it.

Not this time.

Not again.

She'd never let it happen again.

Standing strong and proud, Tsuruko declared out loud to the conversing students at the top of her voice, making her intentions known to everyone:

"I am Tsuruko Sejren! I'm the one that will make all of the people here become my friends!"

There was an absolute silence, as the people around her slinked off; pretending as if they did not hear this lunatic blurt out such a preposterous boast. There was a few moments of snarky chatter between several groups before flat-screens projected in front of them manifested; Tsuruko read the news stored upon the Archive screen, as she moaned,

"...Ōryū. Rosa isn't there, not even that princess is there..." She sighed and buried her head in her hands. "...Welcome to La Pucelle Academy, Tsuruko Sejren."

Excellen
Walking into the Ōryū dorm, Tsuruko's eyes remained sunken as she unpacked her bags which were transported from Giselle's laboratory to the academy; laying her clothing upon the bed with a frown. "Great, just great. First day and I'm already hated..."

She just...collapsed, sighing. "...Agh, why is this so hard? I said I wanted to make friends with them, and they just laughed it off. What just happened? I don't understand people..." Naturally, socializing was difficult for everyone; especially that of our heroine.

As Tsuruko was sulking, a strange sensation ran through her body momentarily as she swiftly swerved around, glancing over her shoulder. It turned out, that somebody had cupped their hand upon her shoulder.

The person attempting to comfort her was an attractive woman with a youthful, but mature appearance. Her figure was notably voluptuous, and her height complimented this further. Her hair was long, and was a tinged shade of gold, with sparkling blue eyes. She seemed rather trustworthy; possessing a kind, soft expression on her face; she had a bombshell body, too. Dressed rather regally, the woman reassured her, "Don't worry; it's everyone's first year; and more importantly, our first day. Soon you'll be able to make friends—heck, you've got friends all around you! You just haven't met them yet!"

Tsuruko nodded slightly. "...Yeah, I guess that you're right, lady."

The young woman extended her hand to Tsuruko. "Haha, don't call me 'lady'. I'm more of a 'sir' than a 'lady' if you know what I mean." She winked at Tsuruko flirtatiously, as Tsuruko was left awestruck. "Well, what are you waiting for? Heya there, I'm Excellen Kilekion! All I know you as is All-Lovin' Girl from before—but I want to know you—not the idiot that embarrassed herself, the real you."

Touched by Excellen's sudden kindness, Tsuruko meekly answered, "...I'm Tsuruko Sejren. I-It's nice to meet you, Excellen...Kilizeon? Purugashion? Alphaeon? Sorry, your name is hard to pronounce..."

Excellen immediately took Tsuruko's hand in hers, shaking it all-too-cheerfully. "Hahaha, don't worry about it! Just call me Cell, and I'll call you Sejjey. And! I'll be your friend here, you have my word!" Her smile really was...reassuring.

Tsuruko broke into a goofy grin, excitedly cheering, "Oh, thankyouthankyouthankyou! It's great to meet you!"

FIN