Chapter 10: On the Road
The smell of disinfectant and alcohol could never be separated from the stench of blood for her. Not ever.
People in masks hovered over her with scalpels as she desperately hit her hands against metal cuffs. Her wrists, rubbed raw and red from the constant friction, gave in as a nurse injected her arm with a numbing agent.
She didn't scream. She never did. There was no point, it wasn't as if they would stop if she did. Besides, she had long gone used to this treatment, and silence had almost become a comfort amidst surgeon equipment and blinding lights.
A doctor in blue scrubs approached the operating table, staring down at the girl with an unfeeling expression. And reflected in his eyes, she saw the soulless reflection of herself staring back.
A sickly silver-haired girl, unliving. Or at that point, may have never lived in the first place. Dull, lightless eyes, and a scar-ridden body.
The scalpel drew closer to her right iris.
The pupils in her gray eye darted around frantically as if the movement in her eye sockets could create an escape from the blade that would soon cut into her organs.
As if it would finally work this time, out of the countless versions of this scene that had happened to her.
The scalpel's blade rested on her collapsed iris. Her pupils dilated, before becoming hazed, and empty.
Her sclera turned black, black, blacker until they finally spilled into a dazzling liquid red.
Until everything was red.
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"Callisto?"
The girl was shaken out of her reverie and brought back to the present. Her heart had stopped, started, and burst in the span of a few seconds.
To think an ailment would haunt her across worlds. A shaking hand clenched at her chest, Callisto took a deep breath, each exhales dispelling the harsh memories of her past.
Nox looked shocked by her state of fear and had no idea what to do. He sat across from her in the carriage, twiddling his thumbs as Callisto managed to calm herself down.
"I don't know." She stated simply once she could find her voice, turning away to look out the window instead, blinking rapidly.
"Not even the Master of the Mage Tower does anything so abnormal as what I've noticed. You really don't know anything about it?"
"I don't."
Nox combed through his perfectly styled hair with his fingers, looking as if he didn't believe a word that she said. Staring out the window again,
This was going to be a long ride.
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And it would have been a long ride too, if she hadn't realized by day three of seven that she could use magic whenever she wanted. For such an intense teleportation spell, it would take a day or so to prepare the magic and glyphs required.
Thankfully, the absurd amount of mana stored within her body allowed for the preparations to be shortened to just a day, and by the time the caravan stopped for dinner on the fourth day, she had done everything she needed to get to the capital.
Throughout the days of travel, it had become abundantly clear to Callisto that there was something different about Ethyl Pandora than she initially foresaw.
It was on the second day of the trip when the group stumbled into an encounter with some hearty hobgoblins.
They had surrounded Ethyl somehow, and although Nox had saved the green-haired girl in a sweeping gesture, only Callisto clocked the calm and lax demeanor of Ethyl, like she had been expecting someone to come and save her.
In fact, Ethyl hadn't even bothered to fight the monsters that had enclosed on her, though when Callisto made a remark about it, the Azel Knight-Captain had refuted her, saying that 'not all people can be as fearless as you', in a tone that was very much sarcastic and unappreciated by her.
The more Callisto observed her, the odder she became. Ethyl, who was supposed to be a low-ranking noble, was quite accustomed to people attending to her, and she even had the gall to order around some of the royal knights.
The thought of Ethyl being a transmigrator well had crossed her mind, but unless she was an amazing actor, she was just too similar to the female lead she had seen in the visual novel.
It was a piece of information that she tucked away for later, as she still had the immediate unattended business for when she reached the capital. With the spell she was currently etching into the forest ground, she'd get there at least a few days before the royal caravan.
"Lady Callisto?" Pink hair popped out from behind a tree, and Callisto got a vague sense of deja vu as he peered over her shoulder. It feels like the only time that she saw this man was in a forest, preparing to teleport somewhere.
"What is it?"
"What are you doing?"
"I'm going ahead to the capital on my own." Luka nodded, looking at her inscrutable expression.
"Do you need assistance?"
"No?" She looked up to meet his eyes, and the beautiful green jade reflected back onto her didn't seem as antagonistic as it used to.
She had no idea what changed, but it was a good start that people didn't absolutely loathe her. In fact, Luka was looking at her almost…positively?
This was not something planned to delve into right now. Callisto went back to finishing the magic circle, ignoring the knight now stationed at her side.
"Luka! Where'd you g- Oh." Nox's smile dropped as soon as she saw the Azel princess crouched on the ground. What is with all these handsome men being dropped around her?
"Are you really leaving the caravan behind to go up ahead yourself?"
He questioned her actions, having been a witness to when she first informed the guards and servants that she would take Annette to the capital with her using a long-distance teleportation spell.
She didn't answer the blue-haired prince, concentrating on her pressed hand, pouring magic into the circle she had drawn on the floor.
"Are you ignoring me?" His voice went up an octave, flabbergasted at the fact that a noble had just slighted royalty. She clicked her tongue while Luka covered his laugh with emphasized coughing in the background.
"I'm a bit busy at the moment. Luka, could you actually go get Annette for me? I'm almost done."
"Are you trying to get alone time with me?"
"You're free to go with him, as-ah, Prince Nox." Callisto bit her tongue, almost swearing at him.
Callisto couldn't believe she had thought for even a split second that he could be [Him]. Nox was more like Callisto if anything. Now she knew how [He] felt whenever she asked too many questions.
Nox looked like he was going to ask what she was going to say, but saw Luka leaving and, not wanting to be alone with her, went away with the pink-haired captain, who bounded away happily upon receiving orders.
"Is that guy a dog? Maybe I should give him a treat or something."
With the last of the mana she channeled finishing up the circle, it lit up in a beautiful stream of purple and red energy, waiting for the spell to be activated.
The air was filled with growls as the magic hummed to light. It was quite a beautiful sight.
Wait. Growls? That can't be right.
Callisto turned around, trying to find the source of the noise, and was faced with a hulking gray wolf, its fangs bared at her.
"Oh, okay, so you decide to show up when I'm all alone?"
Its ears were flattened against its head, blue eyes squinting at her as it prowled closer.
Powerful hind muscles were flexed, as if ready to pounce on her, and Callisto slowly got up, flicking her wrist to quickly light a flame in her hand.
A wave of familiarity washed over her as she recognized the figure to be the same one Callisto saw in the forest when she thought she was hallucinating. Did it follow her all the way from the manor?
"What do you want from me?"
The beast didn't react, as she expected. It paced around her form, snarling as it seemed to size her up.
After a few seconds, it seemed like it was getting disinterested, sitting on its hind paws, as if waiting for something.
Callisto attempted to walk towards the caravan, but the wolf got in front of her and gave a warning growl.
It seemed to want her to stay, which was fine with her. As long as nobody shows up and does something stupid, she should be fine.
"Lady Callisto! I'm here! I also brought dinner! It's venison that Captain Drakven killed!"
Annette came skipping along the path from the caravan. At this point, she shouldn't even be surprised at her bad luck.
"Oh, for the love of-"
As the wolf proceeded to pounce on Annette, Callisto jumped in between them, turning to pull the maid into her chest as she activated the teleportation spell, wolf in tow.
The last thing she felt was the wolf's front paws hitting her back, and the sound of Annette screaming blinked out of reality as the three creatures disappeared from space.
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone