Day 20

[from StarLight] [continued from Day 2]

Contrary to her expectations, Sanae's first day back at school happened to be just that; perfectly normal. At least, right up until she was retrieving her shoes from her locker, ready to head home. All of a sudden, there was a cry of, "SANAE! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!!" Turning round, Sanae found herself confronted with Kazuo Ishihara, the school's resident conspiracy theorist. Or as Sanae preferred to think of him, "that idiot".

"I'm getting my shoes out of my locker," she said in a rather bored tone, hoping Kazuo would take the hint. "What does it look like I'm doing?"

Kazuo didn't take the hint. "Sanae, you shouldn't touch that locker door!" he barked, pointing at her open locker door and glaring wide-eyed at it like it was a known terrorist. "It's been freshly painted!"

Sanae rolled her eyes. "Yeah, but the paint's dry now," she said, showing Kazuo has perfectly clean palms as proof. "See?"

Kazuo, undeterred, seized Sanae by the shoulders as he launched into full-on conspiracy mode. "That's not ordinary paint," he said, his face taking on a seriously grave expression despite the ridiculousness of what he was saying. "That locker's been painted by the Illuminati! When you touched it, it absorbed your DNA, and now, at night, when we've all gone home, the Illuminati will come here and harvest your genetic material from the paint. Using it, they'll create an evil duplicate of you, which will someday kill you and take your place! Then, when the time is right, the Illuminati clones will-"

"-rise up and take over all of humanity," completed Sanae dully, as she pulled away and started to put her shoes on. "Look, I don't have time for your stupid conspiracy theories, Kazuo, they're eating into my screen time."

Kazuo scowled. "Fine," he said, "but don't say I didn't warn you!"

"Whatever," said Sanae, as she turned and walked off. Kazuo stayed put - no doubt he was waiting in case any Illuminati agents stopped by to pick up her DNA from the locker. Sanae chuckled to herself. What an idiot.

***

Arriving back home, Sanae was greeted by a rather more welcome surprise: a visit from her parents. They were archaeologists, and spent all their time flying around the world looking for various artefacts; they were almost never home, and today was the first time Sanae had seen them in a few months. She had grown used to not having them around, though, enjoying the freedom it gave her; as an anime protagonist, it was also quite convenient. Nonetheless, Sanae was elated to see them standing in the living room as she opened the front door. "Mom!" she exclaimed, rushing forwards to hug them. "Dad!"

"Close the door, please," said Sanae's dad, chuckling as she hugged him.

"And take your shoes off," added Sanae's mom.

"Oh right, sorry, I forgot," said Sanae, taking off her shoes and then hurrying back to the door. "I was just so excited to see you that I-"

"It's okay, dear," said Sanae's mom, as Sanae quickly closed and locked the door. "We know how excited you always get when we visit. I think you did the same thing last time."

"Probably," admitted Sanae, nervously rubbing the back of her head. "So, what have you been up to? Where have you been recently? Peru? Morocco? That country with all the pirates?"

"You mean Somalia?" asked Sanae's mom.

"No, Sweden," said Sanae, as an imaginary rimshot played somewhere in her head.

"Actually," said Sanae's dad, "we've been working for a while at the ruins of Old Mitsuzawa, right on the outskirts of the city. We've been meaning to come visit you for a while, since we're so close, but we kept finding so much incredible stuff that we never got round to it!"

"But since it's your first day back at school," added Sanae's mom, "we managed to drag ourselves away from the dig site for a while to come visit you. How was your day, honey? Anything exciting happen?"

Sanae shrugged. "Eh… not really."

"We've actually got a surprise for you," said Sanae's mom suddenly. "Haven't we, dear?"

"We have, yes," said Sanae's dad. He reached into his pocket and took out a small object wrapped in a handkerchief. "We found this on the dig site and we thought you'd like it. I don't know what it is - we've never seen anything like it - but it's very beautiful, and no doubt a priceless artefact."

Sanae took the present and carefully opened the handkerchief. Inside was a beautiful white object that looked like a brooch of some kind. It was circular, about four inches in diameter with a large five-pointed star carved inside it. Sanae couldn't tell what it was made from, but it gleamed and shined as though it were brand new; she never would have guessed that it had been found on an archaeological dig.

"Wow!" exclaimed Sanae. "It's beautiful! I love it! Thank you so much!" She wrapped the artefact up again to keep it safe, then gave her parents another big hug.

"We knew you'd like it, dear," said Sanae's mom.

"I do," said Sanae. "So, uhh… when do you guys gave to do back to the dig site?"

"Uhh…" Sanae's dad checked his watch. "Right now, actually. Sorry, darling. We'll be sure to visit as soon as we can, okay?"

Sanae nodded, a little disappointed but glad that she had at least been able to see them, and receive her wonderful gift. "Okay. I hope you find lots of cool stuff!"

"We will, don't worry," said Sanae's mom, as they prepared to head back out again. "Stay safe, honey! See you soon!"

"Bye, mom!" said Sanae, waving them off. "Bye, dad!"

"Bye, Sanae!" said her dad, waving back. "Try not to have too much fun without us!" And with that, Sanae's parents left the house, heading back towards their dig site.

Sanae, eager to try and find out more about the strange object she had been given, rushed upstairs to her bedroom, depositing her rucksack in a corner. Sitting down on her bed, she carefully took the artefact out of the handkerchief and held it in her hands. It really was a beautiful piece of carving. For something so old, something that had no doubt lain in those ruins for centuries, it looked strangely shiny and new. Looking at the star shape in the centre, Sanae could see her reflection in it. Damn, she thought, I look fabulous. No wonder I'm the protagonist.

Suddenly, without warning, the object began to glow brightly with a brilliant white light. Sanae barely had time to gasp with surprise before the light enveloped the entire room then, as it slowly faded away, Sanae felt as though some sort of strange energy was flowing into her. It was as though the light wasn't fading away exactly, but absorbing itself into her, flowing through her, making her stronger somehow. The power felt almost...magical. "What's going on?" cried Sanae. "What is this?"

Even once the light had faded from the rest of the room, Sanae and the strange object remained glowing. Her clothes shone so brightly that she could not see them; they seemed one whole, brilliant-white shape. Then, before her eyes, the shape began to change, her clothes moulding before her eyes. "What's...happening?" she asked, stunned.

As the rest of the glow faded, her school uniform had disappeared, replaced by a silk-white dress with a flowing skirt and violet lace detailing. Elegant white gloves extended up to her elbows, a diamond-shaped patch cut from the backs. Lifting her leg, she saw her socks were now thigh-length and silken, her feet clad in white three-inch heels. Catching a glimpse of her hair in the corner of her eye, Sanae extended a hand and realized her hair had been curled into long drills draped over the front of her shoulders. It looked a bit stupid in her opinion.

"'It looks a bit stupid'?" Sanae jumped, startled by the indignant voice coming from behind her. "Tremendous power has been bestowed upon you, and that is your reaction? 'It looks stupid'?! Has your race truly become so petty and lacking in manners over the course of my slumber?"

Turning to face the source of the voice, Sanae found herself startled once more. Standing - no, floating in mid-air in front of her was a strange-looking woman in a long white dress. Her hair was equally white, and flowed almost all the way down to her waist, and her eyes were a piercing sky blue; but easily her most distinctive feature were the large white wings that protruded from her shoulder blades. They more resembled the wings of a bat than those of an angel, and barely seemed to move at all, and yet there she was, this strange creature, suspended two feet above the ground with an annoyed look on her face.

"On that note," said the woman, "how long exactly was I sealed away for? What year is this?"