"Carol?"
Leylin leaned back against the sofa, listening to the familiar rumble of an engine, his mind a haze of confusion.
"She seems to be a pretty famous singer — practically an idol for every teenager in the Golden Tulip Federation... I think she might even have some connection to me, but... I can't remember..."
Memories of the woman surfaced instantly in Leylin's mind. "Still, why does something feel off? This shouldn't be my life... my life..."
Leylin raised his right hand, and a single letter suddenly appeared in his mind: "Fire!"
It was an incantation in ancient Byronese, but after a dozen seconds passed, nothing happened.
"Leylin, what's wrong? Are you reviewing new vocabulary? I've never heard that before — is it German or Spanish?"
Sivi kept glancing out the window at the scenery outside, asking casually.
"Neither! I probably got the pronunciation wrong..." A slight flush crept onto Leylin's face, but inside his mind he was churning: "What just happened? Why did I have a premonition that something interesting would happen once I spoke that syllable... No! Why do I even remember that syllable?"
Whoosh! With the screech of brakes, the taxi pulled up in front of a beautiful academy.
On either side of the white marble statues stood enormous pine and holly trees, and above the main gate hung a banner — Celebrating the 57th Academy Festival of the Sacred Purity Academy with Great Enthusiasm!
Beneath the banner, someone had written a smaller line in black marker and spray paint — Welcome, beautiful Miss Carol, we'll always support you! A smiley face was drawn at the end, which made Leylin want to laugh.
"Young man, you a student at Sacred Purity? Study hard, eh..."
The taxi driver waved his hand and vanished down the road. Leylin quietly rolled his eyes at the man's hand, which was still sticking out of the window.
After walking through the school gates, he was greeted by a sea of bustling people.
Countless boys in button-down shirts and girls in dresses drifted among the many colorful temporary tents, with bursts of laughter and playful shouting ringing out here and there.
Colorful streamers swayed gently in the breeze, and pleasant music played in symphonic waves.
"Brother! Why haven't you come yet? Our performance is missing only you!" A young girl came over and grabbed Leylin's hand, her warm touch registering clearly against his skin.
"Guo'er, I'm here, aren't I?"
Leylin felt a momentary daze as large swaths of memory surged to the surface. This girl was his younger sister — Guo'er, currently in her first year.
Yet looking at her face, so familiar yet carrying a hint of strangeness, still left Leylin with a disoriented feeling.
"Come on! Hurry!" Sivi and Guo'er flanked him on either side and ushered Leylin toward a massive open-air stage bathed in lights and sound.
"Get a move on, will you, our chief technical engineer!"
Sivi shoved Leylin toward a mechanical console bristling with joysticks and buttons, then pulled a huge bouquet of heart-shaped roses from behind his back as if performing a magic trick, proceeding to shower an exceptionally tall girl from the dance troupe with his attentions. The whole spectacle made Leylin roll his eyes yet again.
"What's wrong? Is there a problem? Oh no! Oh no! Miss Carol is about to arrive!"
Guo'er watched Leylin standing blankly in front of the control console, thinking the machine had broken down. She stamped her feet anxiously, a film of moisture rising in her eyes.
"Oh! It's nothing, I was just thinking about something and got a little distracted..." Looking at Guo'er like this, Leylin sighed inwardly and walked over to the console.
The moment his palms covered the surface, his hands began moving of their own accord.
Click! Click! A multitude of lights blazed to life, and the curtain on stage slowly drew open.
"Hmm! The joysticks and slide controls are all functioning normally. As long as I follow the previous program, there shouldn't be any issues..."
Leylin rubbed his forehead, feeling that things were becoming even more unexpected than he had imagined. The knowledge of calibrating machines that he had just demonstrated felt as though it had been stuffed into his head all at once — intimately familiar, yet deeply unsettling.
"Yay! Big brother is the best! The most amazing!"
Guo'er jumped up and down. Seeing her like this, along with the gentle, loving warmth of his eldest sister in his memories, Leylin suddenly felt that this kind of life... perhaps wasn't so bad?
This thought surfaced for only an instant, yet it stirred something deep within him, as though he had stumbled upon something of tremendous significance.
Scattered fragments of memory began surfacing in his mind, flickering like slides from a projector.
It seemed to be an ignorant and backward world, yet one suffused with a mysterious force called witchcraft — and he was adventuring within it.
"Hmm?! Could this be from the dream I had last night? Maybe I could use it as inspiration for a novel?"
Leylin stroked his chin, yet had a nagging feeling that things couldn't possibly be that simple.
Just as Leylin was lost in thought, a massive roar of sound erupted, deafening and overwhelming. A torrent of people surged forward, converging on the stage like a tidal wave, completely shattering his train of thought.
"Sister Carol is here! Look!" Guo'er shouted excitedly, standing on tiptoe and pushing forward.
"She's just a celebrity, that's all. Wait here — I'll go get you a few signed photos and postcards in a bit!" Leylin snorted.
"Of course you can get as many of her photos as you want, but this is a different kind of situation, isn't it? I'm so excited..."
Guo'er pressed even further ahead, while Leylin was left thoroughly bewildered. "Wait — what do you mean I can get as many as I want? Am I close friends with her or something?"