When the morning came, it was met with a deafening pattern of chirping, and not the normal birdsong that normally could be heard at dawn. It sounded more like a fire alarm, and it was so loud that it could probably be heard down the road. Fera nearly jumped from her bed the second it started, rattling her thoughts and causing her heart to pound against her chest. Unfortunately, this caused her to lose a grip on her powers for a moment, and a current of blueish white static rode up the metal frame of her bunk and caused Anita to screech in pain. Because of this, Anita did jump out of her bed. She fell sideways but just before hitting the ground, she managed to catch herself with enough wind to slow her fall. She still landed on the tiled floor, but she was relatively unscathed from it.
“Sorry.” Fera said, moving to help her friend up. It was only after she assisted Anita to her feet that she noticed what she was doing. She willingly touched somebody, and her powers did not hurt them. It was a good sign, but she had no more time to think about it.
“Wake up, you little ingrates!” the man from the day before shouted. “Get up! Time to get moving!” It sounded like he was shouting through a megaphone, and Fera suspected that her hearing would take hours to fully recover from the morning’s assault on her ears.
She looked around and saw a majority of the students groaning and falling out of their beds. There were a select few that seemed to be much earlier risers than the majority, one such person was a girl with a caramel tone to her skin. She had dark brown hair that fell around her shoulders and hazel colored eyes that looked like a sunburst of color around her dark pupils. She was wearing a pair of shorts and a pull over hoodie that had a bird in flight on the right sleeve. She seemed to be urging people to wake up and get moving, like the staff member, but a bit nicer. One of her victims was the same person she shared a bunk with, a boy that had a similar complexion to her, similar colored hair, and even a similar face. Fera assumed they were siblings, and she figured they were twins, seeing as they were both first-years. If one was even one year older or younger, they would not be here right now.
“Let’s get out of here before sunshine over there comes and bothers us.” Anita said, staring at the siblings, who now seemed to be arguing about something.
“Agreed.” Fera said, softly, and after pulling up her hood, she grabbed her bag and followed Anita out of the hall.
“I want to take a bath. Do you think they have baths here?” Anita questioned.
“I don’t know. It sounded like we were just going straight to our tests, but I’m not sure.” Fera replied.
“Well, I’m going to find out. Hey, sir!” Anita called out, waving at the staff member.
“Professor Roan, if you would be so kind, kid. I didn’t become a teacher to have my title spat on by a little girl.” said the man.
“Yeah, okay. Anyway, sir, are we able to take baths or showers before going to the school?”
The man sighed, as if this question was either a stupid one to ask, too beneath him to bother answering, or one that was already asked a thousand times and he was growing sick of hearing it. Either way, he did answer Anita’s question, though he seemed annoyed by the fact that he had to.
“Yes. You are all being directed to gender-specific showers, where you will take turns to wash up and get ready for your fabulous day of testing.” he said, unenthusiastically. “Now get outta here, kid, and follow the others.
“Thank you, sir.” Anita said.
“Professor.” he corrected, but it was already too late, seeing as Anita was already jogging towards the line of students that were marching through the doors.
They met two other staff members, one woman and one man, and both were directing boys and girls into separate baths. Groups of twenty were allowed entry at one time, and luckily, Fera and Anita were not too far back in the line. They soon had their go pretty quickly, but this made Fera more nervous than she wanted to admit. Being around a lot of people was a troubling experience for her, but being naked around others seemed downright impossible. Especially since she had things she didn’t want anybody else seeing. Anita gave her a warm, assuring smile, and took her hand to help her inside. They ran towards a pair of lockers that had B-24 labels on the doors, and saw that some towels were inside.
“No change of clothes, but whatever.” Anita complained, shrugging her shoulders.
“I have a couple, but I don’t think they’ll fit you.” Fera said, pulling out some of her spare clothing.
“Nonsense, these seem two sizes too big for you.” said Anita, quickly scooping up a large long-sleeved shirt. It was blue with three white stripes at the base. “This will be perfect, can I borrow it?” asked Anita.
“I guess,” said Fera.
“Oh, and this too.” Anita said, grabbing a skirt from Fera’s bag. She only had a few spare outfits in there, the rest of her stuff was sent ahead of time. She supposed that sharing with Anita wasn’t such a problem, that is until Anita saw something else in the bag. “Oh, what’s this?” said Anita, quickly grabbing whatever it was that caught her attention before Fera could stop her. She held up a pair of panties that were sky blue and had pink bows on the sides.
“Put those down.” Fera said, growing embarrassed as Anita waved them around.
“I think they’re cute, but I never pictured you to be the type to like things like this.” Anita stated, spinning the underwear on her index finger.
“I’m not, now give them back.” she said, reaching for the underwear. Anita laughed as she handed them over. “Thank you.”
“I was just messing around. Really, I think they're cute, I meant that. Those definitely won’t fit me though, it might suffocate my thighs and waist.” Anita said, looking at herself in the mirror that was attached to the inside of her locker door. She began undressing and Ferain quickly averted her eyes. It was the best way to avoid staring. Still, she caught a glimpse of Anita’s underwear, which was black and lacy this time. “You don’t have anything that will fit me, do you?” Anita asked, pinching her waistline with one hand and rubbing one of her thighs with the other. “Oh well, it is what it is. My fault for not being prepared.” She then looked at Fera, who was still dressed in her sweater and jeans. “You can’t shower in your clothes, silly.”
“I know, it’s just… embarrassing.” Fera said, softly.
“Why? We’re all girls.” Anita said.
“Well, some of us are children.” came another voice. Fera turned and saw the raven haired girl from the cafeteria on her first day aboard the ship. She only had a towel wrapped around her body, but even so, her figure was pretty clear. She still had that arrogant sneer on her face, like she was constantly looking down on anybody in her vicinity, and Ferain instantly grew displeased by her presence.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” asked Anita, crossing her arms over her chest.
“It means nothing to you. But to her…” Raven said, looking over at Ferain. “Are you even old enough to be here?” she asked.
“I’m fifteen.” Fera said, gritting her teeth.
“Could have fooled me. I thought you were ten.” She gave another appraising look of Fera’s body and let out a mocking snort of laughter. “I don’t believe you. You should head back to the lobby and call for your mommy and daddy to come get you. Children really shouldn't be here.” Raven turned and flicked her hair, smacking Fera in the face with it before walking away.
Fera’s eyes began to glow yellow as her body started crackling sporadically. She slammed her fist against her locker and a burst of lightning came out with the hit, giving much more impact to the strike than what would have naturally been there. Anita whistled and when Fera took her fist away, she saw why. There was a large dent in the door with a snapping aura of arcing electricity. The charge faded quickly enough, but the dent would be there for a while.
“Oops.” Fera said.
“Oops?” Anita repeated. “You just nearly put a hole in a metal door with your bare hand and that’s all you have to say? Oops.” she said again, shaking her head. She then looked over her shoulder to see Raven walking down the aisle of benches and lockers. “Stupid brat. Even I was never that arrogant and stuck up. Who does she think she is?”
“She thinks she’s the heiress to a stock company.” came another girl’s voice. It was the caramel skinned girl from that morning. She had her hand on her hip and a deep scowl on her face. “Rotten girl. She told me off this morning, all for trying to motivate a few students. The world could use a few less people like her.” She then looked at the dent in the locker door and frowned. “That’s school property, you know? I don’t think you’ll get in trouble, but don’t be surprised if it happens. Be careful next time.” The girl smiled and then walked away, heading for the showers behind Raven.
“The people here.” Anita said. “Ridiculous. I know wielders can be strange, but this place is full of weirdos.”
Fera wanted to say, “You’re one to talk,” but she kept her mouth shut and grinned at the idea of it. Afterwards, she finally started undressing. She slid her shorts down to her ankles and kicked them off, but she hesitated when she reached for the hem of her sweater and shirt.
“You okay?” asked Anita. “Still nervous?”
“I, uhhh… don’t want people to see.” Fera said.
“See what? You naked?” asked Anita.
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“My scars.” Fera replied, blushing brightly.
“Sca… Ah, that’s right. Where you were… Hmmm.” Anita put a finger to her cheek and thought for a moment. “I’ll cover you. Get undressed and quickly wrap yourself in a towel. The showers are probably stalls so you should be fine there, but for now, I’ll hide you.” Anita then held up her towel and stood at Fera’s back, making sure nobody could see as she got undressed.
Fera pulled her sweater and shirt off, leaving her in a pair of black briefs and a bare chest. Near her stomach was what she was afraid of showing people. A round impression was left there, where the first of her father’s bullets had struck her and passed through to the other side. There was another one, a little bit under her right breast and near the middle of her ribcage. Fortunately for her, that bullet hit her ribs and was diverted out her side before it could hit her lung, or she might have been dead that night. Some shrapnel from the round was left in her body and had to be taken out, but a majority of it left a scar on her right side, just an inch or two from the entry wound. Ferain slid out of her briefs and put them in her bag before grabbing a towel from the locker. After wrapping herself in it, she followed Anita to the showers, which were gratefully stalls. She was able to wash in privacy before going back to get dressed again. Anita shielded her one final time and then they left, giving their spots to another group of girls that needed to bathe.
The whole process took nearly an hour and a half, but after everyone was finally ready, they were allowed to leave the building. The same staff member that showed them to their beds, Professor Roan, was waiting for them outside, looking just as enthusiastic as he did earlier that morning.
“Okay, everyone. I will show you to the school grounds. There, you will be lined up and tested for your classifications. From that point on, you’re in the headmaster’s hands.” he called out. “Thank God.” he then muttered. “Alright, you little bottom feeders, follow me!”
“Dr. Loan, why can’t we take a car?” asked a girl, whose voice Fera didn’t recognize.
She heard Anita laugh and then heard the sigh from the teacher that could only mean he was growing impatient and quite sick of his job.
“Professor Roan.” he corrected, fixing the blue tie he was wearing. “And, you moron…” he muttered. “We can’t take a car through District-B or A. Both are too compact for vehicles larger than a bike. Now, with that basic bit of common knowledge out of the way, can we continue?”
“Mister Toad, why can’t cars go there?” asked a boy. “I mean, why did they make it too small for transportation? I don’t want to walk through there every morning.”
“Sir Moan, why are you here if you hate us so much?” asked another boy from the crowd.
“Mister Load, I don’t–”
“Shut up!” the professor shouted, and his eyes began to glow brightly. Steam was rising from his body and he glared at each and every student in turn, who were now all silent. “My name is Professor Rias Roan, and you will refer to me as such! I understand that your tiny, insignificant brains can’t comprehend even the most basic levels of thinking, but please, for my sake, try. The city is a circle that is made up of rings, one for each district. What, may I ask, happens as you get closer to the center of the circle? It! Gets! Smaller! You worthless wastes of breath! If you can’t even grasp that simple concept, I don’t have high hopes of any of you passing this year! In fact, I can’t imagine any of you making it to the end of this year!”
“RR, can you explain all of that again?” came a boy’s voice from the group.
Roan looked as if he was literally about to explode. Steam was coming out of his nose and mouth, and he even seemed to be growing crimson scales over his skin. His eyes too had taken on the vertical slits of a reptile. He straightened up and fixed his tie again, and that was when Ferain noticed the claws at the ends of his scaly fingers. He took a deep breath and turned to start walking away, apparently giving up on this unwinnable fight. Beside Fera, Anita was gasping for air as she was struggling to keep her laughs as quiet as possible. It would seem that she got a lot of enjoyment out of the mocking names the students threw at the teacher. Fera herself wasn’t all that amused by it, but at the moment, she was in a bit too uncomfortable of a position to really laugh.
They passed through the checkpoint to District-B, which was a black guard stand with armed officers and screens and scanning podiums that they all had to brush with their bands in order to gain entry. When they all made it through, they were marched through the smaller district before reaching another checkpoint. It was a straight shot from one to the other, and beyond this one resided the school. There were several buildings on the campus, some large, some small, all painted blue with black trim and a few phoenix crests that were as gold as the pins the staff wore on their suits. They were led to one of the largest buildings, which when entered, revealed itself to be a stadium of some kind. All around the perimeter were bleachers, and in the center, a tremendously large hardwood court, one that seemed to be the length of two football fields put together. Just like with everything else since boarding the ship, Anita and Fera were guided to a seat that had B-24 on the digital screens that were on the backs of them. They took their seats, both wondering what was about to happen.
Looking down at the field, Fera saw Headmaster Hakamura and the same blonde woman that was with him before. They were standing on a raised platform of polished wood. When everyone was seated, the lights in the stadium dimmed and blue projected screens appeared in multiple places so everyone could see them. On the screen was the headmaster and his frequent assistant.
“Good morning, everyone. Just like yesterday, I will be keeping this brief. We have a lot of you to go through and we must finish this by this evening. How this will work is simple. Professor Willow will call your name, you will make your way down to my lovely stage right here, and we will begin your evaluation. It will be a simple test, a simulated experience that will show us what you already know and what you’re already capable of. I would like to remind all of you that there is no failing this test. It is not possible to fail it. This is to set a baseline. We do not want to put you in classes or events that will be too difficult for you to withstand. When you are finished with your simulations, you will come see me before being sent back to your seats. None of you will be dismissed until the testing is over. When everyone has been tested, your levels will be displayed on the screens you’re currently looking at, and be sent to your school bands. One final note I would like to point out, and I am incredibly serious about this one. There will be no tolerance for harassment based on levels. I myself have learned many things from people that were level-5s. Our levels do not make you lesser than or greater than the person sitting next to you. With that being said, we will begin calling your names.”
When he was done, Headmaster Hakamura stepped back and the blonde haired woman, Professor Willow, stepped forward. She swiped her finger across the screen of the tablet she had in her arms and then leaned closer to the microphone.
“Liana Terran!” she called, and a girl started descending the steps towards the stadium floor.
The green haired student approached the stage, shared a few words with Willow and Hakamura, and was guided towards the edge of the court’s white outline. Most of it was normal hardwood, but there was a white border that went all around it. She stood there, and then stepped forward to the other side. She instantly disappeared from sight, which made hundreds of the students gasp in amazement. Apparently, there was some sort of barrier somehow, one that did not permit others to see what was happening inside, but still, it was odd. To be able to see the floor but not actually see it. Fera thought it was some sort of magic, and in this world of wielders, it might have been something close to that. This was fine by her, of course, since nobody would be able to see her flop during this exam. Fera didn’t want to be embarrassed in front of everybody already, so she was satisfied with the privacy. Anita did seem a little bummed out though.
“I was really hoping to watch everyone.” she said, pouting and falling back into her seat.
After a short bit of time, maybe ten minutes, Liana came walking back out and approached the stage again. She conversed with the headmaster and professor before receiving something. She must have been told to go back to her seat, because she started the return trip to the stands.
“Tyler Reem!” came Willow’s voice again.
After that, the names were going quick. One after another, every five to ten minutes, people were called down and then sent back to their seats. One such name was Yarin Olira, a black haired boy that caught her eye for some reason. He had a confidence about him as he descended towards the stage, and a bit of a chilling aura. Fera thought he seemed distant and out of place. Yarin approached, talked to the headmaster, and stepped inside the barrier. He was only in there for a minute, a minute and a half at most, before he was walking back to the stands. Another person had a similar time, and it was somebody Ferain actually recognized.
“Mana Key!” said Willow, and down came the odd black haired girl she had seen on the boat, the one that mysteriously knew her name.
Mana’s time was slightly longer than Yarin’s. She was in there for two minutes, and came out with her hands clasped behind her back and a satisfied look on her face. What surprised Fera more than anything was how Mana managed to find her in the crowd. Mana looked in her direction, and they even locked eyes for a moment. It could have been Fera’s imagination, but she doubted it. Mana knew where she was and who she was, but she didn’t know how or why.
Some more time passed before Anita’s name was called. Anita rose, pumped her fist, and started rushing down towards the stage. Anita was gone for six minutes total, and when she came back, she held up two fingers as she stuck out her tongue.
“Pretty easy.” she said, happily.
“Ferain Hirigaya!” yelled Willow, and to this, Fera was met with something she never expected.
As she rose, she felt the eyes of her fellow students on her. They watched her intently, and some even seemed afraid of her as she passed. It unnerved her. She heard whispered comments that sounded like the words ‘murderer’ and ‘monster’.
“Why now?” asked Ferain, but she didn’t have to think too hard to figure that one out. Professor Willow said her full name, the name that would have been in the news ten years ago for the brutal murder of a mother and the incapacitation of a father. She remembered that rumors of her coming here were spreading around, and now, any of the people that knew who she was would be spreading the truth of it.
“Ferain Hirigaya, the vicious wielder who killed her family, was here.”
She tried to ignore it as she reached the bottom of the steps. She stepped up to the stage, which seemed a lot more daunting than it was from the stands. Professor Willow and Headmaster Hakamura looked down at her and to her surprise, the headmaster smiled.
“Ms. Hirigaya, how are you?” he asked.
“Ummm… F-fine, I guess.”
“A bit nervous?” he asked her.
“Yes, sir.” she replied.
His smile grew warmer and she swore to herself that she had seen it somewhere before, but she couldn’t place it. It was just the vaguest shadow of a memory, but there was definitely something there.
“It’s okay to feel anxious in this situation. So, to start with, you’re one of our scholarship students, yes?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Hmm, your test score intrigues me, Ms. Hirigaya. Can you tell me why that is?”
“No, sir,” said Ferain.
“I suspected that would be your answer. Well, it is to be expected. Either way, your entrance score does matter at the present. Currently, we have a new test to be concerned with, don't we? You may begin now. Just step past the barrier and you will enter the simulated test. Good luck.”
Ferain gave him a nervous bow, her mind racing about what he had asked her, and about what was coming up in this test. She felt every eye on her as she stepped up to the white border. Fera took a slow breath as she closed her eyes. She felt afraid to take that step forward. She didn’t know what she was going to encounter, but the mystery of it made her heart pound in her chest. A crackling sound started around her body, and she looked at her hands, which were alive with coursing electricity. Instinctively, she took a step away from the line, feeling sure that she couldn’t do this. It was too much, and she simply wasn’t capable of going forward. Instead, Fera took another pace backwards, but a loud whistle made her look in the direction of the noise. When Fera glanced back to the stands, she saw Anita standing in front of her seat and staring intently at her. Anita didn’t say anything, but she did smile. This simple gesture made Fera feel lighter all of a sudden. Her noise quieted, her eyes dulled to their normal, non-glowing sheen, and her lightning flickered away. She grinned back at her partner, looked at the white line in front of her, and stepped forward again. Ferain closed her eyes once more, and forced herself to pass inside the line.