MTLNOVEL Chapter 8: Behind Closed Doors
The moment her laboratory door closed behind the guards, Sarah collapsed onto her bed in a fit of barely-suppressed giggles. "Oh my god, did you see their faces?" she wheezed, holding her sides. "When the mirror started going all weird? Everyone was like 'oooh, scary chaos magic' and I'm just standing there trying not to laugh!"
She rolled over, grinning at the ceiling as her chaos marks danced with her amusement. "And then! And then in class! 'Simply appreciating the theoretical framework,'" she mimicked her own serious tone from earlier, before dissolving into laughter again. "I sounded so fancy! Like some stuck-up academic who probably organizes her quills by length!"
Sarah jumped up and started pacing, too excited to stay still. "Which, okay, Ravenna totally did do that, but still!" She glanced at her reflection in the small mirror, attempting to school her features into the stern expression she'd worn all day. It lasted about three seconds before she cracked up again.
"'Please remember your role is to observe, not participate,'" she imitated Professor Vale's stuffy tone. "Meanwhile I'm in the back like 'hey, your seven-dimensional matrices are cute and all, but check out these chaos marks doing the exact same thing.' I mean, I couldn't actually say that, but come on!"
She flopped into her desk chair, spinning it around. "And the best part? The absolute best part? Elena totally noticed! She kept looking back when she thought no one was watching, but I was watching her watch me, which sounds way creepier than it actually was."
The chaos marks swirled happily across her skin as she remembered. "She's so much more observant than the book said. Like, the story made her seem kind of generic protagonist-y, you know? But she actually gets it! She saw the patterns!"
Sarah grabbed a nearby quill and held it like a microphone. "Breaking news: Terrible chaos magic prisoner actually just massive nerd, shocking absolutely no one who's paying attention. More at eleven."
She glanced at the magic-canceling bracelets and snorted. "These things are like... like putting floaties on a swimming champion and being like 'there, now she can't swim.' I mean, yeah, it's annoying, but I still know how to swim! I just have to wear these stupid magical water wings while doing it."
Getting up again - she had too much energy to sit still - she started dramatically re-enacting the mirror scene. "The mirror was all 'UNPREDICTABLE. POWER BEYOND CONVENTIONAL MEASUREMENT' and I'm standing there thinking 'actually it's super predictable if you just bother to learn the patterns, but go off I guess.'"
She struck an exaggerated pose. "Should have added some thunder effects. Maybe a little light show. Really lean into the whole 'spooky chaos magic' thing." The marks on her skin rippled as if in agreement, making her laugh again.
"And Sir Marcus and Mage Petra! Bless them, they're trying so hard to be all serious and guard-like. 'Stop looking so pleased,'" she mimicked Petra's stern tone. "Meanwhile I'm just vibing in the back of class like 'mmm yes, such fascinating theoretical principles, much traditional magic, wow.'"
Sarah collapsed back onto her bed, still grinning. "I should not be enjoying this as much as I am. But come on! I'm literally in a magical academy story! And okay, yes, I'm technically a prisoner, and yes, there's probably going to be some big dramatic plot stuff happening soon because that's how these stories work."
She rolled over and propped her chin on her hands. "But right now? Right now I get to be the mysterious chaos magic girl who's way cooler than everyone thinks. Even if I'm actually just a total dork who's trying really hard not to geek out about magic theory in the middle of class."
The marks on her skin had settled into a gentle, content pattern. "Wonder what they'd all think if they knew their scary chaos magic prisoner spends her evenings making fun of herself and talking to her ceiling?" She paused thoughtfully. "Actually, they'd probably think that tracks. Chaos magic user, clearly unhinged, case closed."
Sarah yawned, the day's excitement finally catching up with her. "Okay, enough being a goof. Tomorrow I have to go back to being all mysterious and composed and definitely not thinking about how the guard's armor squeaks every time he moves."
She climbed under her covers, still smiling. "Elena's totally going to figure it out eventually. That's gonna be fun. 'Oh no, the chaos magic user is actually just a massive magic theory nerd who also happens to be from another world and knows how this story is supposed to go!' Yeah, that'll be an interesting conversation."
Just before drifting off to sleep, she muttered, "Still think I should have added thunder effects though. Missed opportunity there. Note to self: work on dramatic timing..."