As she sat down on the floor, Zoemie sighed. "What a fucking awful day." Not that Zoemie ever really had any great days, at least for school days, but this one had been... particularly unpleasant, even by her standards.
For starters, she had woke up feeling even worse and more tired than usual. The courses were annoying too, the math teacher's shrill, brain-searing voice making Zoemie want to smash her head against the desk, like many other things. Zoemie wondered idly what was the point of it, anyway. Someone like her wouldn't be around long enough for any of that stuff to be of any use.
The other course of she didn't even remember what had been awful too, the other classmates were being even louder and ruder than usual, throwing stuff around while she could barely stay awake in class. She'd rather have slept through it anyways. Maybe she'd remember the subject.
The midday meal had been notably unpleasant, too, nothing she liked, with overcooked beans and rubbery meat that made her want to throw up just thinking about it. "There was supposed to be chips, dammit, Tuesday was chips day ! But there was a "shortage" ! My fucking ass there was a shortage ! It was just to piss me off !" she shouted, screaming her thoughts out loud as she often did.
The physics course was also going very poorly, with that stubborn teacher still not having gotten through her thick skull that almost nobody in the high school, let alone her class, liked Zoemie and that she'd rather work alone.
"Not that it matters now, but still, come on, lady, how many times do I have to tell you ? And why me, you fucking bitch ? I can count a dozen assholes in my fucking class you do absolutely nothing about ! Including a fucking known rapist ! Just admit it, you hate me too !"
And that's before the whole class got teleported in another world with absolultely no warning. The distortion of space had been really unpleasant to Zoemie – she felt like she was about to throw up. She had to take several deep breaths to prevent herself from doing so. Nobody else was bothered, of course.
The place she had been teleported too was a large meeting hall, mostly white, with elaborate geometry on the floor. It was the nicest thing I've seen so far in this world. The class had been warped in the middle, and there were people all around, with an elderly man as head of the assembly.
The head of the assembly introduced himself as <priest>, high priest of Gordiane. He had a greasy faux-concern in his voice she detested, as he claimed he had chosen them as heroes to save the world, which to Zoemie sounded like bullshit. Between his age, appearance and behavior, he seriously made Zoemie think less of a man and more of a pig.
"I don't want to save the world. I don't even care about this world !", Zoemie shouted to herself. "Why should I care about a bunch of fuckers that hate my guts no matter what I do or say ?" She only wanted one thing, and it was to leave this place and these torment- insufferable classmates behind. She'd leave the priest to deal with them. That's what he got.
It did surprise Zoemie when she saw the old priest use magic, but it seemed a fact of life in this other world. She had considered speaking up, asking the assembly what to do if you didn't give a flying fuck about any of them, or what to do if you had zero useful talents or ability for world-saving whatsoever, but ultimately decided against it. It sounded like a waste of time and energy, like defending herself from her classmates.
There were young noblemen in the assembly, clearly looking forward to spending time with the girls, which only made Zoemie madder and more disgusted. There were also middle-aged ones, fattened on she guessed excessive taxes, ill-gotten gains and dubious schemes. Noticeably, there wasn't a single woman in the assembly.
"More like ASSembly, right ? Urgh..." she grunted to herself, shivering with disgust at the mere memory of the men's leers and glares. She was thankful none of them spared her even a glance... although she suspected she might have turned herself invisible accidentally instead. Which would be great, actually. Still, Zoemie internally thanked her unattractiveness. Considering the type of men her classmates included... she was happy they ignored her.
Once the assembly had been finished, Zoemie had ran for the door while the other students where talking to eachother. "You assholes deal with the priest and the noblemen. Maybe that'll keep them busy enough to leave me alone". They could rot for all she cared, assholes deserving nothing but eachother. She had left the temple, instead, and then the city, following the town's large primary roads that led to outside the walls.
There had been a bunch of people and carriages in the way, but none of them noticed her. Incidentally, this made Zoemie realize something about herself. She really, really, really hated the smell of horses. Gave her horrible shivers. Zoemie never was an animal person anyway, so it wasn't a big loss in her mind, but she did feel a little bad about it, for the horses' smell wasn't their fault.
Zoemie had considered staying around in the city for a while, but the noise of the city had quickly changed her mind, the skull-breaking background chatter utterly draining to her. And that was before considering her classmates, many of which would harass and annoy her first chance they got, and where bound to stick around. Some people never know when to give up... I mean, nothing is enough to get them to leave me alone.
So instead, Zoemie ran away. She had ran, ran, ran, her legs on fire, she could barely breathe. Even still now she was taking in deep, controlled breaths, feeling like she was about to puke out her lungs. She had slowed down when out of the city, checking the time on her phone, which was around 4 PM back then.
Zoemie couldn't rely on her phone much here, though – the lack of electricity meant her battery would run out before long, so it was best to conserve it. Zoemie had ran into the forest after a while, seeking solace from the sun, which was pretty dang hot already, feeling vaguely to her a late spring day.
Zoemie had wandered afterwards, looking around and touching the utterly alien trees and wildlife. She knew jack shit about them, barely being able to differentiate an oak and a poplar, but it couldn't mean she couldn't find them pretty. Between the exhaustion, her breathing, and her burning legs, she was utterly out of it.
She had wandered throughout the thankfully empty forest for a while, having no particular goals, before she found something. Ruins, of dull ochre bricks and glass windows, which contrasted mightily with the the green and brown of the woods. The ruins were... welcoming, almost, to Zoemie. She felt like it was a safe spot, where neither her classmates nor the old pig of a priest could find her.
Zoemie had found the entrance with little effort, large, cracked, ancient grey stone doors contrasting the bricks that built its walls. She had taken a short stroll inside, the thick air and slightly damp smell pleasing to her, like a quiet concrete basement. I like this place. It's neither too warm or too cold. I could stay here a while. I'm gonna do just that, in fact.
It was a different ambience that either the temple or city, that was for certain. It was ancient and magical, quiet and reflective, lonely but welcoming. Much more pleasing to Zoemie than either the fake glitter of the temple or the hustle and bustle of the city, full of people and noise.
Zoemie stretched and held back a yawn. "Man... I'm exhausted. I could really use a nap... I'm parched too... And I'm gonna get hungry... Fuck... Fuck me ! Dammit !" said Zoemie as she started to catastrophize inside of her mind, exhaustion not helping. "I mean, I could forage... I am not going back in town. I'd rather fucking hang myself than deal with the assholes any longer !"
Space warped next to Zoemie. "What the... Are you fucking kidding me ? I mean, I'm not going to complain, I guess" she loudly said to the six-pack of water bottles that had appeared next to her. Instead, Zoemie tore the plastic apart, grabbed the closest bottle, forced it open, and greedily drank straight.
"So... yeah... is anyone here ?" she shouted, but received no answer. "Unless... Hmm..." Are the ruins themselves sentient ? Let's try something... "Hey, big guy ! I'd like a bed or something to sleep on, please."
Almost to answer her, a bed appeared. Zoemie rose an eyebrow. "...Thanks man." I did not expect the giant bed, but I'm not gonna complain. It's even got the bed veil thing !, she thought while looking at the bed's canopy – she didn't know the name. Zoemie always wanted a bed with one, however, but her father couldn't afford it.
Zoemie considered her clothing, before promptly undressing herself to her panties and going for a nap, exhausted. "Thanks." she grunted in gratitude. Guess I'll be fine, at least for now, she thought as she drifted off.
Zoemie woke up later, still groggy, but calmer. She realized she was no longer in the corridor. Instead, the ruins had amenaged her a nice, big bedroom, with a large desk, the bed, two wardrobes, and even power outlets, the last of which surprised Zoemie.
"So guess I'm gonna have my electronics and shit. Good. I'd go insane with boredom otherwise... urgh... I need all of this shit just to be OK. Thanks again, big guy." Zoemie mumbled, a bit annoyed at her dependency on modern tech.
She tried to stand up afterwards, but failed. "Guess I'm not moving more today, huh. Fair enough." And as Zoemie was hit the realization, she sighed. She sighed and breathed. A sigh not of rage, nor of fury, neither of guilt or sorrow, but of relief. "So that's it ? Not dealin' with people ever again ? Good. It's over. At last. I can have peace. Why was it so fucking hard ?"
Zoemie... did not like people. They were for starters horribly noisy and gave her headaches, and that's disregarding their greed, pettiness, obsession with status games, two-faced, fair-weather behavior, and the fact most of them seemed to really hate her for reasons she couldn't fathom.
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The truth was more complicated, but Zoemie lacked the life experience, distance from her pain and understanding to grasp it fully yet. She did feel deeply relieved, however – like a titanic burden lifted off her shoulders. "And it wasn't just the students, either... Fuck. I don't want to be a spite-fueled psycho. I'm tired of playing these stupid games. Not anymore. I just want peace and quiet."
And while defiance might not be the optimal answer by any means, taking it lying down was a significantly worse idea. Zoemie had tried it in the past. It would've been much worse for her, even. For Zoemie, there was no such thing as "winning" when dealing with people. The best approach for her to deal with them was to avoid them like the plague, that way lied safety.
Just about the only exceptions she could think off were her father and Nethany. And even then, they were respectively her father and the a class representative, even if not Zoemie's. Everybody liked Nethany. She was cute, bright and smart. Zoemie had never seen anyone say anything mean about her.
Not like me. thought to herself a rather saddened Zoemie. I hope she'll be OK. And dad too. Zoemie kind of wished she could make people like her, but she knew it was impossible and gave up on it long ago. Making people hate my guts without knowing even why remains my sole talent.
Zoemie was in a somber mood as she pulled out her phone. "6PM. No network. Fair enough. Once I get it again, I'll call him, at least." She wanted him to know she was alright. She wanted them both to know, but it was likely she would never see, hear or talk to Nethany again, since she didn't have her number. "Dammit ! Why me ?"
Zoemie fumed with rage at the sheer pointlessness of her presence here. She couldn't do anything useful whatsoever, yet she got caught in the crossfire anyways... The only positive thing so far was the ruins, who, in stark contrast to almost every human she had ever interacted with, had proven itself to be nothing but an excellent host, offering her water and shelter, and generally being welcoming and safe.
"I've got two hours to go before it's food time, more or less. What to do ? I don't have Internet, so that's off the table... and I don't have my computer either..." Zoemie sighed. There simply wasn't much for her to do. Without either electronics, books, or even pen and paper, there was a lack of options for leisure. "At the same time I don't really get to complain, right ? There's orphans starving in the streets, while I've got food, water and shelter..."
Zoemie sighed, again. "I can't exactly move around, either, what with my legs being basically unusable. Guess that's what I get for running away like a reckless cunt... I should be okay in a few days, assuming the bastards don't catch up to me." A strange feeling passed by, then. Like a reassuring pat on her shoulder, an indication they moved somewhere else.
"Hmm... Actually, can these ruins teleport themselves ? That wouldn't be out of place, considering what I saw of its ? Their ? abilities, and would make it... a non-issue altogether." Zoemie stretched back, even more relieved still. "...Nasty little cunts like me don't get to be happy, so I guess peace and quiet'll have to do."
Better than dealing with people any longer, at any rate. Zoemie looked around and then at her phone. It was the best tool of leisure at her disposal, even with no network connection. "Maybe there's something I can play ?", she thought. I should've installed more ArchRetro cores... Should have some Mokepon hacks I can play.
It had been around two hours since Zoemie started playing for her stomach to growl. "Hmmph. Fine." She swung herself around. The ruins had very kindly provided her with a swivel chair, which would be helpful for moving herself around, and had to boot offered her what Zoemie suspected to be fast food takeout.
But first, Zoemie had to go the bathroom. The swivel chair thankfully made that possible, Zoemie using her hands to push herself around. Going out of her bedroom had made Zoemie realize the ruins had changed layouts, adding a bathroom and another room Zoemie wasn't quite sure about. "A kitchen ?"
"No point checking this right now, however." Zoemie strolled down to the bathroom, instead, doing her business and washing her hands afterwards, like the slight neatfreak she always has been. Once that was done, she swiveled back the bedroom, too tired to bother playing "you-spin-me-right-round" with the chair.
Zoemie was not surprised about the ruins' food choice, however, for she was well aware she was a pain to feed, disliking a tremendous amount of foodstuffs. "Picky eater doesn't even begin to describe it... Why am I like that, anyways ?" Zoemie's impression of herself about food is that she was just being a nasty, demanding little bitch.
Still, the fast-food takeout did smell good to her. Zoemie much preferred eating alone in silence than the noise of the canteen. It was good fast-food takeout, too, much to her surprise, the big hamburger having more than enough sauce to avoid dryness, having no ingredients she disliked, and tender fries just how Zoemie liked them.
"I'm curious about the sauce. What is it ? Cheese ? It's really good, at any rate..." Zoemie thoroughly enjoyed the meal, having never eaten so well before. Like, best takeout meal I ever had. The burger was delicious, the fries were nice and tender, and the white chocolate milkshake had more sugar than heaven, absolutely delicious.
Once thoroughly satisfied with her meal, Zoemie stretched herself, then sat down lazily. "That was absolutely delicious. Best meal in my life. Thanks mate. You're a king." Zoemie stayed like that for a short while, before going out to brush her teeth, in a significantly better mood than before.
It took Zoemie a while to decide on what next to do. She had considered going further down, but decided against it. That was enough for today. She was gonna spend the evening alone in calm and quiet, then go to sleep when tired and wake up whenever she felt like it – and no earlier.
"Man. If only that could last forever. That would be awesome." Zoemie did not mind solitude the slightest. Even disregarding the whole "peace from other people" thing, she always preferred solitude and games. She realized fairly young that most people found it strange, that while she was in her bedroom playing internet games, other girls were out and about shopping with friends.
Zoemie suddenyl had an idea, like a lightbulb brightening above her head. "Hey, big guy. Can you drop me a jukebox and some good music ?... Thanks, mate" Zoemie asked and thanked as the ruins answered her request, before adding as well a trigger on the wall. Trying it out showed Zoemie that it was for the lights.
"Nice. This will be convenient." Zoemie set herself up some good melodeath and went deep into thought. Although she couldn't quite move herself around just yet, Zoemie had decided to think about the future a bit.
It was obvious to Zoemie that the old pig of a priest would go looking after her. Maybe some of her classmates would, too. And at least the priest struck Zoemie as the kind that'd rather die than leave her alone. "So die he will." She had to arm and armour herself for those confrontations, however, so she could defend her peace, with lethal force if need be.
Bastards like that, Zoemie knew from experience, never backed down, and for them mercy was a weakness. "People don't change. They'll just come back if I simply beat them up. They'll never ask themselves "Am I in the wrong ?"" Zoemie did not like it, but to her, brutal, direct, systematic and unrestrained murder might well be the sole answer if she sought long-term peace from them, or at least the most reliable.
"He who seeks peace should prepare for war, right ? Guess I'l finally get to give them a piece of my mind..." A part of Zoemie was looking forward to some well-earned revenge, despite being fairly sad overall as the extents she needed to go through. Still, as she jammed to the music, Zoemie considered an evening of starting a basic plan, interrupted by short sessions of gaming... but Zoemie realized that she was operating with very little information, and that would not do.
Zoemie knew little about armors and weapons, lacking a good understanding of the options at her disposal. She didn't know much about what the ruins were exactly and what they could do for her, and while she knew magic existed, she had no idea whether she had any at her disposal, and how it worked. "I might be able to make myself invisible, but other than this..."
Zoemie, being a completionist, achievement hunter, and generally favoring optimal play, knew the importance of this type of information. Knowing that doubling down when lacking such a large amount of crucial knowledge was a suboptimal move, Zoemie instead decided to put her ideas on hold for the night. "No point overinvesting in something that turns out to be a bust."
She instead decided to look for this knowledge the next day, when her legs hurt a bit less and her mind was clearer, not having had a long and tiring day. It took a few more hours for Zoemie to get sleepy, and it was only around 2:30 AM that she turned off the lights and drifted off in her comfortable big bed.