Thief Of Existence

DUO

Arian looked at the calendar blankly. She had been looking at it for over ten minutes but she still couldn't manage to tear her eyes from it. There was no emotion in her face and her fists were tightened. Her jaw clenched as she punched the calendar as hard as she could.

It was the 10th of June.

Her twentieth birthday.

The day has finally come.

It had been two days since she woke up in a good mood. No wonder she had; it was her last beautiful morning. The days that followed were filled with anxiety and panic as her mind fabricated endless predictions of what could happen to her in the trials. Out of the blue, she began to regret that she hadn't accepted the offer from the New Oscrines School of Law. She thought that she should have prepared but it was all too late for that now.

The telephone in the kitchen rang. Arian just stared at it for a long time. She had a feeling she knew who was calling her and it wasn't good news. Still, she didn't have the option of rejecting the call. If she rejected it, things would only be worse for her in court. She hastily walked to the phone and picked it up hesitantly. She pressed it on her and opened her mouth to speak.

"Hello?"

"Good morning, Ms. Zhu. I hope you've had a good rest."

Hell, yeah, I did, Arian thought. I tossed all night and screamed. It was a good rest.

"Please get straight to the point."

"Right, I suppose you'd want that. I am Louna, the Fae of Records. I called to ask you what time you'd like to schedule your first existence trial. We are quite packed for the day and we only have slots for ten in the morning, three in the afternoon, and six in the evening. Would you please decide on which of those hours you'd like to be scheduled for trial?"

Arian wanted to yell at her, to ask her if that even mattered. No matter what her schedule was, she'd still end up with a hard time in court. But she had to be modest and respectful to her, or else it would add up to the deeds that the deities would review later on.

"I'd like to be scheduled for three in the afternoon."

"Excellent, Ms. Zhu. You have four hours to prepare. I'll have your Fae of Mortal Guidance await you by the entrance."

"And who is that?"

"I apologize but as the Fae of Records, I am not allowed to reveal the identity of the assigned Faes of Mortal Guidance to their respective mortals. You'll meet her later on."

"All right. Is there anything else left to discuss?"

"There is. It is part of my duty to review every mortal's recorded prior experience in the existence trials. And I see that you've been in court before so technically, this isn't your first time, is it?"

Arian went quiet as she gripped on her shirt. So they just had to record that, too.

"You are right, Louna. This isn't my first time."

"Great, so at least you know what to expect. It's an advantage, Ms. Zhu. And I see here in your records that..."

Louna's voice trailed off until the other line was quiet. Arian had a feeling that she knew what she was reading.

"I see that you've made quite an impression on Her Divineness."

Arian closed her eyes as she took a deep breath. They had to record that, too. She knew that Louna was talking about how she had attacked the Goddess of Existence as well as talked back to her.