The entire day was rainy, as it was that time of year. It wasn’t a heavy rain presently, but a light drizzle instead. Still, the air was cold because of the clouds blocking the sun and the rain cooling the planet. All in all, it was a pleasant night. It was another day of sitting and staring out the window. Ferain had just turned five a few months earlier, and ever since then, she hadn’t gone to school. It was her father’s idea, not her mother’s. He seemed to be afraid of what her newly acquired powers could do. Ferain was a wielder, and most wielders got their powers around the ages of five to seven. Some were known to get it earlier or later, but those cases were extremely rare. As for Ferain, she developed her lightning-based abilities only a week or so after turning five. There was an… accident. One that involved their cat.
Ferain loved that small orange tabby, loved it enough to give it a hug everyday when she came home from school. Unfortunately, one day, she could not control her powers. She hugged the cat and it died from the shock she delivered. She did not get in trouble for this, but this did put an end to her freedom, and it scared her father to no end. Ferain rested her chin in her palm as she stared out the dining room window, watching the rain bead down the glass, which was always one of her favorite past times. She was also growing tired. It was close to nine at night, and she was just waiting for her mom to come home to make a quick dinner before going to bed. Though, she was running a bit late. Normally, her mom was home around seven, eight at the latest, and then Ferain would help her make dinner and they would play together all throughout it. That night, however, she was running behind.
She would be lying if she said she wasn’t worried, but she also knew that work sometimes required some overtime to get everything done. That was why her father missed dinners sometimes, because he had to work late or he would get in trouble. Still, something didn’t feel right to her. This feeling nearly vanished momentarily as she heard the front door open, but it did not shut. She heard rushing footsteps and her mom called out her name.
“Ferain! Ferain, where are you? Come here, sweetie!”
Her mom sounded panicked, scared, and in turn, it made Fera feel even more so. Nervously, she climbed from her chair and walked towards the archway into the living room.
“Mom? What’s going on?” she asked.
“Oh my god. Sweetie, come here.” her mom said, sounding relieved. She crouched down and pulled Fera into a tight embrace. “My little girl, I’m so glad you're okay.” her mother cried. It was an odd sight. Her mother, who looked almost exactly like her, never cried. Her own golden eyes never had any other look than happiness whenever Ferain saw them, so again, it was unsettling.
“I’m okay, mommy.” Ferain said, softly, and her mother ran a hand through her hair before kissing her forehead.
“I know, baby, I know. Go and get your shoes on, hurry now. We need to leave.”
“Where are we going?” asked Fera. “Where’s daddy?”
“Daddy is working right now. Hurry up, we need to go.” her mother said. Her aged yellow eyes were slightly more red from what seemed to be crying, and her face looked more tired than Ferain had ever seen. Her jacket was hastily thrown on and she had dirt on her clothes as if she had tripped and fell into a puddle or two on the way home. That was when she noticed that her mother was barefoot as well. She remembered clearly that her mother put on her favorite high heels that day, but they were nowhere to be seen.
“Where are your shoes, mommy?” asked Ferain, while pulling on her rain boots.
“I lost them. Here, now your jacket.” said her mom, forcing it over her head after helping her get her tiny arms in the sleeves. Her mother was the only person that wasn’t afraid to touch Ferain anymore, and Ferain never felt she would hurt her mother. It was odd that she was afraid of hurting everyone else, but not once did she ever hurt her mom. “Are you all set? Come on, sweetie, let’s go.” she said, reaching out her hand for Ferain to take it.
When she did, they left out the front door and hurried down the walkway from the door to the street. As they were crossing the road, her mother was walking hastily and glancing around in every direction for something that Ferain didn’t seem to know about, a pair of headlights turned onto their street and was rapidly coming towards them. Her mom pulled something out of her pocket and threw it towards the car. Afterwards, she scooped up Ferain and started running, keeping her face close to her chest so Fera could not see what happened. She heard a loud pop, which she assumed was the tires of the car, and then heard a screeching as it came to a crashing stop against a pole.
“Mommy, what was that?” she asked.
“Nothing, baby, don’t worry about it. Just keep quiet now. Shhhh, quiet down.”
Ferain felt soothed by her mothers words. That was her mom’s ability as a wielder. Her words could soothe any person that they reached, but it didn’t always work, and it didn’t always last long when it did. They rounded a corner, though Ferain could not know which one, and they continued running. Fera wanted to ask more questions, she wanted to know what was happening, but knew that her mom would not tell her. Still, children were curious creatures, and she shifted enough to look around her mother. She saw a strong figure sliding around the corner they previously rounded. They slid and had to hold out their hand to stop themselves from crashing into the wall. They pushed off and continued after Ferain and her mom.
“Mommy, who’s that?” Ferain asked.
“Nobody, dear, don’t look at them. Eyes on me, just watch Mommy, ‘kay?” she said, and while she was smiling, even Ferain could see how fake it was. She was scared, and this emotion was contagious. Ferain had a loud buzzing that was rising up in her body, and while it was quietly always there, whenever it got this loud, bad things happened.
“Mommy, I’m scared.” Fera admitted.
“I know, sweetie. Just, calm down, okay? We’ll get to your grandmother’s and I’ll make you dinner and I’ll sing your favorite lullaby to you. Would you like that? Just focus on that, okay, think of my singing. Just– Ah!”
Her mom was interrupted by something tripping her. She fell forward and Ferain tumbled from her arms, crashing into the muddy floor of the alley they had tried to escape through. She heard her mom sobbing as she groaned and tried to move her leg. Ferain then saw that it was not her leg that was hurt. There was blood coming from her mom’s foot, and the puddle it was in was becoming a disgusting mix of mud and blood, turning it into a brown-pink sludge. She began to crawl towards Ferain, biting her lip enough to make it bleed as she forced herself forward. She had scraped her arms in the fall, and she must have been utterly exhausted. Instead of making her mom crawl forward, Ferain began moving towards her. It was hard, she had sprained something in the fall, her foot perhaps, or her ankle, but she moved nonetheless.
“No, Fera, please. Keep running. He won’t hurt me. Just run. Go to your grandmother. Keep going. Find somewhere safe.” her mom pleaded, tears streaming down her face, and Ferain knew not all of them were from the pain.
“Mommy?” Ferain said, getting on her knees beside her mom. She used all of her strength to help her mom to her knees and then hugged her. “I can’t leave you.”
For a second, her mother looked as if she was going to push her away. There was a fury in her eyes, as well as pain, but she could not do it. Instead, her mom wrapped her in a tight embrace as the footsteps of their pursuer grew nearer.
“Harriet.” came a man’s voice, one that Ferain knew. She was shocked, but she was also happy. If he was here, they would be okay. There was no danger. He would come over and help her mom off of the ground. He might not like Ferain all that much anymore, but he would help her mother, she knew that much.
“Daddy?” she said, looking past her mother, but her mom quickly pulled her into a tighter embrace.
“Don’t talk to him, sweetie. He’s not your father. Shhh, stay quiet now.” said her mother.
“I will kill her in your arms if I have to.” her father said, and this stunned Ferain.
“Kill?” she gasped. “Me?” she wondered. Ferain’s buzzing grew louder and louder and her power started to grow unstable. She heard her mother gasp but then she clasped onto her harder. Her mother began to hum quietly, but it was drowned out by her father’s voice.
“See, Harriet? She’s a monster.”
“She’s my daughter!” Harriet howled, glaring over her shoulder to stare venomously at the man.
“I don’t want to hurt you, don’t make me do this. Just let her go and I’ll put a swift end to it. She won’t suffer, but if you keep this up, you’ll both die.” the man explained.
“Fuck you!” she shouted, before trying to rise again. The pain in her foot caused her to stumble and fall once more, but she never once let go of Ferain.
“Ferain, sweetie.” her dad softly said. “Come here, baby girl. Leave your mom alone and come to me.”
“Don’t listen to him, Fera, please. Stop talking to her!”
“You're my baby girl, Ferain. Come on, I just want to see you.”
“She’s not your daughter!” Harriet shouted, the words coming out as a bit of a growl. “A man couldn’t do something like this to his own daughter.” she added, angrily.
“I’m doing this for us, Harriet. I love you, but this thing will be the death of both of us. She needs to die, and I need to be the one that does it.”
“You’re insane.” Harriet cried, clutching tightly to Ferain all the while.
Ferain, meanwhile, was starting to grow deaf to what they were saying. The buzzing in her was growing too loud, too wild. Distantly, she heard the sound of something locking into place, but she couldn’t tell what it was.
“Think about it, Harriet. With her powers, she could never have a life. She can never hold another person, never interact with anyone. I mean, look at what she did to the cat, and the neighbor's kid the other week. I don’t have a choice. It’s for her own good as much as ours.”
“You disgust me.” Harriet said, but she then let out a quiet gasp as a burst of blue light filled the gaps between her and Fera.
Fera stepped back nervously, and then stepped into the view of her father. He had a sad expression on his face. He looked like he was in pain. Ferain was confused by all of this. He was talking nonsense. He was doing bad things. Her mom was hurt, and he was standing right there, talking about crazy stuff. He needed to help her.
“Daddy?” Fera asked.
“Sweetie.” her father said, very quietly, like it hurt him immensely to see her. “I’m so sorry. I’m sorry to both of you.” he said, and he raised one hand up so Fera could see it clearly. There was something metal in it, and she knew that it was dangerous without even knowing exactly what it was.
“Dadd–” That was all she had enough time to say. She was interrupted by a deafening explosion that echoed in the alleyway. For a moment, her ears were ringing, and that was all she thought was wrong with her. The loud noise stunned her into silence, and it even, for a brief moment, drowned out the internal buzzing of her powers. This did not last long, however, and soon, she felt a burning sensation in her stomach.
“Noooooo!” Harriet screamed. “Nooooo!” she howled again, reaching for Ferain, but it was too late. The buzzing blocked out all noise next. Her sight was tunneled, and she felt her power escaping from her body. Everything went up in a flash of white and blue, and she felt like she really exploded from the inside out. She heard a faint trace of a scream that sounded like her mother, and then another explosion came from her father’s direction. She felt another impact against her cold body, but this time, no pain came with it. Ferain’s vision went totally black, and she last remembered her body falling, and her head striking the ground. Her final intake of any sense was a disgusting aroma. It was the most horrible thing to ever cross her nose, but it wasn't because it was terrible, it was because it smelled familiar. It smelled like charred meat, like her father had cooked something on the grill, and that he had cooked a lot of it.
Ferain’s memories stopped replaying when she stopped telling her story to Anita. For a while, it was as if she was living those events again, but now, she was back in their cabin. Anita was sitting beside her, and both girls sat in silence for a while. Eventually, Ferain was the one to break it.
“I… I saw my mother when I woke up. I was being lifted onto a stretcher by some paramedics. I saw her on another one. There were some people around her, but not enough to completely hide her from view. She was… unrecognizable. Her skin was burned black in some places, and completely gone in others. Her hair was mostly gone as well, and her face, it…” Fera felt like she was about to be sick. She clutched her stomach and bent over, trying her hardest to not throw up all over the floor. She felt Anita’s hand on her back, rubbing it softly.
“I’m sorry.” Anita said, but Fera didn’t know why she was apologizing. Anita did none of it. She played no part in anything, but she did know that people often apologized for the losses of others. “Your father, did he…” Anita stopped short of finishing her question, but Fera shook her head, already knowing how it was going to end.
“He’s alive.” she replied, when she felt like she could speak again without spewing. “He’s in a coma. Has been since that night. Those kids aren’t wrong. I killed my mother.” Fera forced herself to admit.
“It was an accident, and something caused by your father, not by you.”
“Would that make you feel better if you were in my position?” asked Fera. She wasn’t angry, nor was she asking this with the intent to wound or to get pity. She was genuinely curious.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.
“I don’t know.” Anita replied, grimly. “I… I don’t love my family. Or, to put it better. I don’t think they love me. I’ve always been a chore for them, something to be checked off of a to-do list, a burden that needs to be seen to every so many days. Do I wish for them to be dead? No, not really. But, if I was in your situation, I… I really don’t know. I’m sorry. But, what I do know, is that you’re no murderer. Things like this happen all the time in our world. Children developing dangerous abilities at such a young age, it’s bound to happen sometimes. Not all of our powers are that strong when we’re that young, but it isn’t unheard of. A friend of mine, back in the Eagle Nation, had something like this happen to his younger cousin. Nobody died, but a lot of people were injured.”
“People can come back from injuries.” said Fera, burying her face into her hands. “The dead stay dead.”
“And the living keep moving on.” said Anita, which made Fera look at her curiously. “It was something my grandfather used to say before he passed. He lost a lot of people in his life, including two wives and a daughter. He suffered more loss than anybody I’ve ever met before, but he still always smiled. He used to live in this old log cabin with big open plains around it, and even some farmland. I used to always love playing with his sheep. Anyway, I asked him one time about Grandma and he smiled at me when I thought he was going to cry. ‘She’s still there, Anny’ he said to me. ‘They’re all still there, and my job now is to keep on living for all of them.’ I thought he was crazy, but I was just a stupid kid. Maybe he was right. The last time I talked to him, he told me what I told you… that the living keep moving on, and that there is no need to be sad about it. I now think that there is a lot to be learned by his words.”
“I killed my own mother, Anita. Everybody called me a monster, a murderer. Moving on has nothing to do with it. They're all right.”
“No, they’re not. I don’t know you that well yet, Fera, but I know that you’re a good person. You try so hard to not hurt anybody. That’s not something a monster does. You–”
“Attention all students, dinner will be served in fifteen minutes so make your way to the cafeteria to collect your meals.” said a woman’s voice over the intercom.
Anita sighed and then smiled. “I’m gonna go grab some dinner for us. Rest up and I’ll be back soon.”
“Anita.” Fera said, as Anita was walking towards the door. She stopped and looked back at Ferain with a curious expression. “You’re not scared of me?”
“Scared of you?” Anita snorted. “Come on, I could kick your butt up and down this ship.” she said with a light tone. “Ferain, I’ll never, no matter what, ever be scared of you. Besides, you’re my best friend now, and friends aren’t scared of each other, right? See ya, I’ll be back in a minute.”
“Anita.” Fera said again, stopping her at the door this time. “Thank you.”
“No probs.” Anita said, before waving and closing the door.
Later that night, Fera was lying in her bed and contemplating everything that happened that day. One whole day, and so much had changed so suddenly. She met her first real friend in ten years, she told this friend her biggest and darkest secret, and this friend accepted all of it without even batting an eye. Perhaps Anita was just strange, but Fera was relieved all the same. She never told anybody about that night, not even her grandmother. Her grandmother knew the important bits, that Ferain’s dad went crazy and tried to kill her, and that Ferain killed her mom and nearly killed her dad in retaliation. She did not hear this from Ferain, though. This was all pieced together by the investigators that came later on. They found the bodies, obviously, as well as Fera, and they found the burned remains of the gun he had used to shoot her. For her to tell Anita all of this on their first day of meeting each other was absolutely insane, but it was like a thousand ton weight was lifted off of her shoulders.
Maybe, just maybe, this was what she needed all along in order to heal. She needed a person to talk to, one that wouldn’t assume she was some murderous monstrosity whose intentions were to go around and kill everything. Anita might be the first real step in finally getting past this life she once lived, and moving on to a better future, one that would allow her to make her mom proud. Ferain was not one that slept very well or very often, but that night, she slept better than she could ever remember. The day came and went, and she decided it was best to stay in her cabin for most of it. Anita didn’t argue, and instead brought her food and kept her company throughout the journey. It made her feel a little guilty because she knew Anita was the type to go out and explore, but she was very appreciative.
Anita didn’t seem to mind either, which did help a little. The final day of their voyage came, and they were all told that the expected docking time was ten in the morning. All students had to have their belongings ready to go, their cabins cleaned spotless, and had to be ready to leave at a moment's notice. Ferain was more than ready to leave the ship. She didn’t hate it, but she was anxious about starting her school year, and whenever she was anxious about things, she wanted to get it over with as quickly as possible. The waiting and prolonging only ever made it worse on her. When the ship came to a stop, Deck-A was called above deck first. Then, after them, Deck-B was called up. Fera and Anita joined the countless other students on their floor as they journeyed up the stairs. The sky was gray today, meaning that there might be some rain on the horizon, and it was still cold, if not colder than it had been in the city, but it was a beautiful view nonetheless.
All around them was open ocean. A vast expanse of clear blue waters that stretched on for miles and miles in all directions. The only thing that hindered their view was the massive city they had come to. Olirian Academy was one of the three primary academies for wielders in the world. There was one belonging to each nation, the Crown Nation, the Sakura Nation, and the Eagle Nation. Of course, students could transfer between them, but Olirian Academy was primarily for Sakura Nation natives. All of the schools had their differences, but they all had the similarity of being massive cities out in the oceans of their respective nations. The founders of each school needed space for the schools to do as they pleased. Wielders could be dangerous, after all, and it was paramount that they were given sufficient space from their non-powered counterparts.
Olirian Academy was a massive circular city that was made up of circular districts, which obviously got progressively smaller as you got closer to the center. The farthest out was District-E, and it went inwards until it got to District-A, the smallest district that was solely for the school’s usage. It was still a large amount of space, and Ferain knew that they had all kinds of facilities for the students’ use. Besides the layout, it looked a lot like her home did, back on the mainland. It was nice, actually, to have it seem so familiar. She was worried that it would be too different from what she was used to. All around her, students gawked and gasped at the sight of their new home, Fera included. She and Anita were marched towards the ramp that led down to the harbor, which only consisted of this ship at the moment, and was then instructed to descend it. They were all ushered onto a bus, which then took them through the districts, one by one.
Anita practically had her face pressed against the glass as she pointed out all kinds of things, mostly fast food restaurants that she apparently never tried before. It looked as if she never left home. There were tall glass buildings that were nearly fifty stories in the air, smaller shops that were all cluttered together along street-sides or in strip-malls, and she saw some department stores as well, big ones that would hopefully sell anything you could ever want. They stopped at District-C, which was as far as cars or buses were allowed to go, and were directed to get off in front of a large building with a domed roof. A sign above the glass doors read ‘Welcome Center’, and Ferain was ushered inside with all of the other students.
Inside, they met a man that was sharply dressed, and a pretty woman that stood beside him. The man had on a dark suit with a golden pin clasped to the collar in the shape of a phoenix. The woman was dressed similarly, and had a stern expression on her face. She had blonde hair that was tied neatly into a compact bun, while the man’s black hair was wild and swept messily back. There was a single white streak that was plain in the black, and it confused her as to why he had it. She thought for a moment that it was hair dye, but then questioned why he would do something like that. They both seemed to be in their thirties, maybe even early forties, so around her parents’ age, if they had still been alive. The man was a stark difference from the woman in the way their faces were presented. The man seemed slightly aloof, and had a cheerful expression. Fera expected to see the students from Deck-A here as well, but they were not around.
Instead, it was just her bus of peers that had come and taken seats in the large room of chairs. When everyone was settled, Fera noticed the man step up to a podium at his end of the room, where he adjusted the mic that was placed there.
“Alright, can everyone hear me?” he asked, and his voice sounded oddly familiar to her. She never met this man, she was sure of that, but somewhere, deep in the pits of her mind, she had thought she might have heard him speak at some point. It was a gleeful voice, lighthearted and almost fatherly. “I am Headmaster Guji Hakamura, and it is a pleasure to meet you. You are all here because you are my lovely first-year students. There will be more behind you so we don’t have a lot of time to get acquainted just yet, but I thought it was important to give you some starting information, like a bit of a primer to set you up nicely for what your next couple of days will be like. For today, you will be staying here, in the welcome center. All of your dorms have been assigned, but we still need a bit more time to get them ready for all of you. Some of you sent your personal luggage last month, so we will be sending them to your rooms with your uniforms. As for those of you that brought your luggage, we will be collecting them tonight so we can transport them to your new rooms tomorrow morning.”
The woman beside him cleared her throat and Guji gave her a sly grin.
“Okay, moving on. Tomorrow morning, you will all be tested so we can classify your level, which is your ranking among your peers. We have five levels at this school, the lowest being five, and the top being one. Depending on how well you do during your classification exams, you will be given any level within that spectrum. This will not change much about your experience here besides for some of the classes you will be given. Level-1 students do not need some of the same training as level-5s so we need to separate them in order to give each student the attention they deserve. Our primary goal here is to make sure each and every one of you not only gets a full, proper education, but to make sure you can properly use your abilities without any fear of endangering others or yourselves. Many of the students here already have enough experience with that, and do not need any more after leaving this academy. After your classification exams, you will be dismissed to your dormitories and given your schedules. Classes start the next morning, and you will be expected to show up on time. Our school is a prestigious academy that many people wish to get in, but few can actually manage it. With that in mind, I expect you all to work hard and be grateful for your position here.”
The woman beside him cleared her throat again, a bit more aggressively this time. She even accompanied this with a jab of her finger at her watch. The headmaster nodded and turned back to the students.
“We have a member of staff on standby to take you to the sleeping quarters for the rest of the day. You are permitted to explore this district, and this district alone, but you need to be back here before eight tonight. The sleeping arrangements are not the most comfortable, or the most private, but it will serve until you are given your dorms tomorrow evening. I hope you all have a fantastic rest of your day, and I’m excited to see how you all do tomorrow during the exams. Farewell, all of you.”
Fera and Anita joined the rest of the students as they were guided out of the audience chamber. Fera looked back over her shoulder and saw the black haired headmaster talking with the blonde woman. Something about him seemed so familiar, but she couldn't place it. She returned her attention forward again when she bumped into Anita, who had stopped because of everybody else stopping ahead of her. She rubbed her nose and Anita apologized. Shortly after, they were on their way again, and the staff member, another man in a black suit, brought them all to the sleeping quarters. It was a massive room that already had some of the Deck-A students inside. It was even bigger than the audience hall and had hundreds of beds, all of which were bunk-beds. Anita bounced on her toes as she squealed in excitement.
“I call the top bunk!” she yelled, and began racing for a bed, but the staff member quickly grabbed the hood of the white and pink jacket she was wearing, and had a scolding expression.
“Your bunks are assigned. What’s your name?” he asked, coldly.
Anita looked nervous and answered him cautiously. “Anita Caswell.” she said, slowly.
“B-24, then.” he said, after looking up the name on his tablet. “Ms. Caswell, Ms. Hirigaya, your bunk is over there.” he said, pointing off to the opposite side of the room. He released Anita’s hoodie and scowled at both of them. “Behave or you’ll be right back on that ship and leaving for the mainland, got me?”
“Y-yes, sir.” Anita replied, before slowly walking away from him. When her hood was safely out of his reach, she lightly shoved Fera and then started running for the bunk.
“No running!” the man said, but she stuck her tongue out at him and continued towards her bed.
Anita reached it first, obviously, and with a small gust of wind around her legs, she was lifted up towards the top bunk. She landed softly on the side of it in a sitting position, and grabbed the post with her right hand as she watched Ferain coming closer.
“I beat you here.” she said, playfully.
“I wasn’t racing you.” Fera said, with an equally playful grin.
For a moment, she thought about touching a finger to the post and putting a tiny bit of her power into it, just to give Anita a very minute shock, but the memory of Anita’s slumped over body on the ship was enough to put an end to that thought. Instead, Fera dropped her bag beside the bed and then gingerly climbed onto the mattress, avoiding the metal posts as much as possible. She didn't want to accidentally act out her stupid idea and deliver too powerful of a shock to her only friend. For a few hours, Ferain read a book she had pulled out of her bag, and Anita was messing around with her phone, doing something that made a lot of beeps, clicks, and girly moans. Fera assumed it was one of those mobile games with cute anime styled girls. Every now and then, she even heard Anita laugh at something they said.
Throughout the afternoon, more and more students were ushered into the chamber, and all of them found their bunks and climbed in. Fera was actually surprised that it was coed. Only a small number of the pairs seemed to be made up of opposite sexes, but the fact that the room was all full of boys and girls was a little odd to her. Fera was no expert in relationships or anything like that, but even she had doubts about letting teenage boys and girls share rooms together. She then guessed that they weren't worried because there were a countless amount of other students there, so nobody would probably try anything. When night fell, dinner was brought in on carts, and this time, Anita got her wish. Both Anita and Fera accepted a cup of instant ramen, and while Fera didn’t enjoy it any more than usual, Anita gasped with astonishment at how it tasted.
“It’s so salty. It’s also… hmm, kind of cold.” she said, but instead of sounding disappointed by this, like Fera would have been, she sounded excited and continued eating.
“How was it?” Fera asked, trying to stifle her laughter as Anita let out a sigh of satisfaction.
“Wonderful. I’m so happy right now, Ferain, you have no idea.”
“Is it really that great?” Fera asked, looking at her partner, who was sitting on the floor in front of her with her legs tucked under her body.
“Ferain, I was kept away from all of this my entire life.” She then took on a mocking voice. “It will make you fat. It will kill you quicker. Blah blah blah. We shouldn't eat that sort of thing. Bleh!” she snapped. “I want to eat what I want to eat. I’m so fed up with being on such strict diets and forced to only eat five star dining, as disgusting as all of that is. I wonder why anybody ever wants any of it. Have you ever tried caviar, Fera? It’s the most disgusting thing I’ve ever eaten, but you know what? It’s apparently a delicacy that costs as much as a freaking car. It’s ridiculous. Who needs all of that when you could just buy a cup of ramen for a dollar and have one of the best things I’ve ever tasted?”
“I didn’t think these things were all that great.” said Fera, holding up her empty cup.
“That’s because you’ve never had ‘rich’ food. It’s nothing but a way to display your wealth so others can see how much better you are than them. I doubt half the people that eat that stuff actually like it, they just do it because it's what wealthy people do.”
“I don’t know, I’ve seen some good looking foods that are way out of my price range.”
“Your first lesson in being rich, Ferain. Expensive food is not the same as ‘rich’ food. A bit of food can be expensive, thousands of dollars even, but that doesn’t make it lavish. It’s the same if you flip it. Things like escargot can be found for cheap, even caviar, but those are considered classy dishes that only fancy people eat. It’s not the price tag, it’s the statement. It’s like wine. My father has a five thousand dollar bottle of wine and it’s the most disgusting thing I’ve ever tried.”
“Wasn’t that caviar?” asked Ferain, smiling.
“Fine, the second most disgusting thing. Not worth the price, if you ask me, but he has a whole fridge of expensive bottles.”
“Maybe you’re not cut out for that lifestyle.” suggested Fera.
“Damn right.” said Anita, but then she blushed profusely. Apparently, she wasn’t allowed to curse where she was from, and was looking around to make sure only Ferain heard her. “That felt pretty good.” she added. “Damn. Damn, damn, damn.” she repeated. After the sixth or so time of saying it, she was bright red and slightly out of breath.
“Lights out in half an hour!” came the stern staff member’s voice. “Everybody, prepare for bed!” he called out, and was met with groans and complaints.
To Fera’s surprise, even after the lights went out, there were still murmured conversations happening all around her. She heard some laughter as well, and the anxious mutterings of people who didn’t know what to expect of tomorrow. Fera felt too tired to participate in any of this, and besides, she heard Anita lightly breathing above her, meaning she was probably asleep as well. Fera pulled the covers over her head, closed her eyes, and fell asleep shortly after.