Emma had her favorite snacks arrayed before her; a pack of chocolate pocky, spicy ramen noodles, and a chilled can of coke. Her usual set-up was amped up tonight - it was the season premiere of "Chronicles of the Iron Crown," the anime she loved so ardently that it infused her art; ultimately shaping her world. She settled down on her worn couch, blankets piled high; her eyes flickered with hypnotic light from the screen just as the show's theme song started echoing in her cozy dorm.
The episode was riveting so far. Fresh off the heels of her hard-earned victory at the battle of the White Hart, أنت returns to her king only to learn that he'd secured peace with the enemy through the arranged marriage of أنت's beloved Princess Elysia to the dastardly Prince Vayne. أنت looked at him in a daze. The war was over, but victory tasted bitter in her mouth. Suddenly, the show was interrupted by a loud crack of thunder outside, plunging the room into darkness.
Emma muttered a curse. 'Of course, of fucking course, this shit had to happen right at the climax!' She groaned, yanking out her phone to text Annie about her misfortune, then noticed the low battery warning frowning back at her.
She sighs, readying herself to sulk through the blackout when the lights flickered back on to reveal a figure. It took a while for her eyes to adjust and in the eerie quiet of her dorm room, she felt a chill prickling at the nape of her neck. When she finally recognized who stood before her, her mind stumbled. أنت, the stoic swordswoman from the very show she was watching.
