The invisible barrier felt like walking through a bubble, or what she imagined that would feel like. It was darker in this bubble than it had been in the stadium, and Ferain could only see a dozen or so feet around her. The other side of the court was shrouded in darkness, too far away to make out anything besides shadow. She took another careful step forward, still uncertain about whether this was a good idea or not. After that step came another, and then one more followed it. Still, nothing was happening. She wondered how people like Yarin and Mana could complete it in a minute or two when it didn’t seem like there was anything to be completed. She didn’t know what to expect out of the test, but she did anticipate something happening. Most people would probably feel disappointed or simply laugh at what a joke this seemed to be, but for Ferain, it scared her more.
After one more step forward, she heard a sound that made her heart sink. When she was a kid, she did not know the cause of the sound, but now she did. It was the sound of a pistol’s slide being pulled back to load in a cartridge from the magazine. The slide moved forward and locked into position. Fera quickly turned around and saw a man holding a gun to her head.
“Ah!” she screamed from the surprise, and a burst of lightning shot from the hands she held up in defense.
The man grunted and flew backwards and the gun clattered to the ground. She stumbled backwards, afraid of her own actions more than anything, and something suddenly grabbed her from behind. It was a powerful pair of arms, and with a great heave, she was lifted from the ground and thrown away. She landed on her side and rolled twice before coming to a stop. Her eyes started glowing bright yellow as her powers flickered around her. She was losing control again. The simulation around her started flickering and the person in front of her started shifting from a solid form to a more ghostly, digital appearance. The body resembled static every couple of seconds before returning to its solid form. Meanwhile, Ferain was clutching her head and muttering pleas to get her powers to stop. She tried everything, thinking about happy thoughts, thinking about Anita, and even simple prayers for somebody to help her, but nothing worked.
Instead, she only grew more wild. Her hair was standing on end in several places, and lightning cracked around her, striking the ground occasionally to leave scorch marks in their wake. Her eyes were probably the brightest thing in the bubble she inhabited, and they even seemed to leave a golden trail behind as she shifted her gaze to the person that had thrown her. She was lifted from the ground and thrown again. This time, she landed in front of two other people, both of which had guns trained on her.
“No.” she muttered, crawling away from them. Her buzzing was growing too loud now, and now, her body was far brighter than her eyes as energy radiated around it. The room soon looked like a terrible storm, having occasional flashes of light whenever a powerful bolt of lightning would arc and snap. “Release.” she thought, remembering Anita’s words about how a power needed to be used in order to keep it under control. “Release it.” she said again.
Ferain held up her hand and aimed a finger at one of the people with guns, but in that instance, she saw her father looking back at her.
“I’m so sorry.” she heard him say, and that was all it took.
She lost her fight. There was a loud bang as the enemy shot their gun, and she felt a small sting against her chest, right over her heart. There was a loud beep that must have been to signal the end of the exam. She stood there, stunned and unable to speak, let alone move. She froze. She couldn't do it after all. She gave up. Fera recalled the headmaster saying that failing the test was impossible, but she believed that she, out of everyone in the stadium, managed to accomplish it. Fera turned around and started walking in the direction she originally came from, back towards the barrier’s border. She passed through it, experiencing the same discomforting sensation that she felt when entering, and looked for Anita in the crowd. She saw that her friend was smiling, but Fera could not reciprocate it. Instead, she walked towards the stage, her head lowered, and a painful feeling in the pit of her stomach.
“Ms. Hirigaya.” came Headmaster Hakamura’s voice. “I have two questions for you. Would you like to hear them?” She could not muster the courage to even give a reply, but luckily, she did not have to. The headmaster continued without her consent, as she knew he would. “Did you really try in there? Was that really all you could manage?”
Ferain felt sick. She couldn’t even look into the eyes of the man before her. She clasped her hands together in front of her as she stared at her feet.
“There will come a day, Ms. Hirigaya, when you must choose between fear and bravery, truth and lies, weakness and strength.” said Hakamura. “I know your answer as of this moment, but I have faith that given time, you will make the right choices. I’ve seen all I need to see, you’re dismissed. Oh, Ms. Hirigaya.” he quickly added, stopping her as she was walking away. “Using your fear to hide what you are truly capable of, it’s a waste… and it only proves your father right.”
For a moment, she was stunned by what the man said. His words implied that he knew her father, at least enough to know how her father felt about her. Questions rose in her mind, but she knew now was not the time to ask them. In silence, she turned and continued her walk back to her seat. Waiting for her was Anita, looking as cheerful as ever. She was practically bouncing in her seat as she watched Fera with anticipation.
“So, how did it go? You weren’t in there for very long.”
Fera gave her a defeated look before falling into her chair. She put her legs together, rested her hands in her lap, and drooped her head solemnly. She didn’t need to see her partner’s face to see that it had changed.
“That bad, huh?”
“I couldn’t do it.” Fera said. “I don’t know what I’m doing here. I should have never come in the first place.”
“Don’t talk like that, it can’t be that bad. I’m sure you’re just being hard on yourself.” Anita said, supportively, but Fera didn’t fail to notice the lack of confidence in her voice. She was just trying to be there for her, which wasn’t inherently bad, but it also didn’t help all that much.
“I got shot.” Fera muttered.
“So did I, so what?”
“I froze. I couldn’t move. I bet you at least put up a fight.” Ferain softly said.
“Well, yeah, but I have years of training. If one good thing came out of my parents’ lack of being parents, it was the money. I’ve been learning how to fight and use my powers since I was a little girl, and I’ve always had the best teachers possible. You’ve probably never even shoved somebody, it’s to be expected that you wouldn’t put up much of a fight. You know what, I’m going to help you with that too. We’ll start tonight. We’ll start working on your ability to fight and we can start teaching you how to control your powers. I’m no expert in your type of abilities, but wind-wielders have a hard time controlling things too. I mean, it’s wind, so it’s pretty free-spirited.”
“I couldn’t ask all of that of you, Anita.”
“Nonsense. What else am I going to do with my time anyhow? Might as well be productive for a change. This will be fun, I’ve never been a teacher before.”
Fera couldn’t help but grin at the pondering expression on her partner’s face. Apparently, Anita had a bunch of ideas popping into her brain, and this continued for the remainder of the classification exams. When it was all said and done, it was late afternoon and twilight was already washing over the academy. Ferain was slouched in her seat, her eyes barely staying open. All of the nervousness from that morning and the stress of her failed exam really did a number on her, and she was certainly feeling it now. The final student was heading back to the stands as Headmaster Hakamura approached his microphone again. The projected screens appeared in the air again on the screen was his kindly face.
“Whew, that was one hell of a day, yeah?” he started. “Well, it’s over now, and we have your levels all sorted and ready to be revealed. A few notes before we put the lists up on the screens. Firstly, I would like to remind you of the no harassment rule, that is and always will be in place. Secondly, your level is not permanent if it is below level-1. Any of those with a lower level will have multiple opportunities throughout the year to take what we call advancement tests. These will be your chances to increase your rankings and we do them twice a year, sometimes three if I’m feeling generous.” Hakamura said, with a sly grin. “Professor Willow, push the button, please.”
The blonde haired woman gave a curt bow of her head and tapped something on her tablet. All around Ferain, she heard a notification sound coming from all of the wristbands in the vicinity, including hers and Anita’s. Up on the large screens, she saw a large list of what looked like two hundred names, all displaying their levels next to the names in a box. Ferain instead looked at her band and tapped the message icon that appeared. It pulled up a digital version of an ID card, which had her photo, school year, date of birth, name, and a small rectangle in the top right that showed ‘Level-4’.
“That’s not too bad. At least you’re not at the bottom.” Anita said, trying to make light of the dread that washed over Fera’s heart. Surprisingly, it worked a little. She had a point, Fera was not in the lowest tier, for some reason.
“What level are you?” asked Fera.
“Level-2.” Anita said, seeming satisfied with her results. “Not the best, but not the worst. I wasn’t really expecting level-1 anyway." Anita looked at Ferain’s ID card again and then gasped, apparently noticing something she had not seen before. “Fera, you’re a scholarship student?” Anita asked, staring at a small star next to Fera’s name.
“Y-yeah, what of it?” she said, almost defensively.
“And you’re a level-4?”
“So what?” Fera asked, growing frustrated at the way Anita was acting now.
“N-nothing.” Anita quickly said, shaking her head. “Don’t worry about it.” she now said, trying her best to smile.
“Anita, I want to know–”
“Okay, settle down everyone.” came the headmaster’s amped up voice again, interrupting Ferain, which seemed to be exactly what Anita was hoping for. “I’m sure you’re all exhausted so we can get the best part of coming here started. It is time for you all to get to your dormitories. The dormitories are located in almost all of the districts, the ones excluded being District-A and District-E. For those in District-D, I understand it is a bit of a walk to the school, so a transport will be ready to take you to the B checkpoint in District-C. This is a free service so you will not have to use your allowance…”
Hakamura stopped short and then looked to Professor Willow with an exasperated look on his face. They muttered something with one another before the woman sighed while shaking her head. Headmaster Hakamura cleared his throat and smiled nervously at the crowd, like he had just been scolded and didn’t want to get in trouble again
“I forgot one important tidbit that some of you might not know about. Every student is given a monthly allowance that should be more than sufficient for any of your needs and wants. You may use it on anything you see fit, but know that if you run out of money, it will be up to you to find more. The school will not provide any more than the average monthly amount. Many of the businesses here are always willing to take on part-timers in case you are short on funds, so keep that in mind when you see that shiny new toy while window shopping. I have one final announcement to make, and that will be about your schedules. First-years are prohibited from joining clubs, for the reason that we feel this might overwhelm them too early on. I do make special exceptions, but only halfway through the year, and only for students that I feel can handle it. Your schedule, therefore, will be basic. You will have your normal educational classes like history and mathematics, as well as physical classes like gym and combat training if you want to partake in that. I think that’s everything, right?” he asked, looking at the blonde haired woman.
She shook her head, rose, and shoved the headmaster out of the way. “Your dorms can be found by the number you’ve been given since the ship. You might have a letter C with a number after that, for example, C-15. That means your dorm is located in District-C, and is building number 15. Once there, you and your partners will receive your room numbers and a dorm rule book. That is all. You’re all dismissed. Remember, everyone, classes start tomorrow morning at eight, don’t be late.”
This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.
Ferain saw Professor Willow scowl at the headmaster, who smiled and scratched his head. The woman stomped off and the headmaster followed suit, looking as if he was begging her for forgiveness, but Fera doubted he would ever get it.
“So, our dorm is in District-B, and is building number 24, I guess.” Anita said, hurriedly rushing past Fera, who hadn’t forgotten their interrupted discussion.
“Anita.” Fera growled, catching up to her partner. “So what if I’m a scholarship student? Is that some sort of problem?”
“You, a scholarship student?” came a pompous tone that Fera recognized. If possible, Raven looked even more displeasing than ever, possibly because she was not satisfied with her own results. Fera did not know her level, having not paid too much attention to the screen earlier, but she did recall Raven taking nearly ten minutes in her own exam.
“So what?” Fera nearly yelled, getting entirely fed up of being left out of this apparently important information.
Raven laughed mockingly as she held a hand in front of her. “For real? You don’t know?”
“Back off, girl.” Anita growled, her storm gray eyes glowing dimly as wind funneled around her clenched fists.
“Why? Somebody should tell her.” Raven said, looking absolutely delighted at the gold mine she wandered into. “My poor, stupid, inept little girl,” Raven started. “No scholarship students have ever gotten that low of a score. Not once, in the entire history of this academy, of any of the academies, has a scholarship student messed up that badly. I seem to have been right, you have no right to be here. It’s either that, or you’re not bothering to even try. Those are the only two ways I can imagine a scholarship student being given such a low level. I mean, there’s only five of you this year, including yourself, and they all got either lvl-1 or lvl-2, which is to be expected. Well, prodigy, enjoy your easy ride while you have it.” Raven sneered, shoving past Fera bumping her with her shoulder as she passed.
“What a rotten girl.” Anita said, her eyes returning to normal.
“Is that true?” Ferain questioned.
“S-sort of.” Anita replied, quietly. “There’s a first for everything, right? As long as you really aren’t just holding back on purpose, I don’t see a problem with it. Besides, she doesn’t know your past. With the life you lived, I kind of expected a lower level. You can't fight, you have almost no control over your powers, and you were raised to fear what you can do. It’s only natural.” Anita paused for a moment as she twiddled her fingers. “You’re not… you know, pretending, right?” she asked, nervously.
“No, I’m not.” Fera answered, angrily. “Is that how it looks?”
“To some, maybe.” answered Anita. “If they find out that you’re a scholarship student, I think a lot of people might hop on that bandwagon and ride it all the way to the end. Unfortunately for you, that bratty chick doesn’t seem like she has zipped lips. Let’s just forget about it for now, there’s really no helping it. We should get to our dorm and get things sorted. If there’s bunk beds, I want the top again.” Anita said, turning on her heels and starting for the line of students that were still filing out of the room.
There were a lot of murmured conversations as they walked through the school yard in order to reach the checkpoint between Districts A and B. Most of what Fera could hear was about the exams. How people did, what their levels were, even what they faced in the simulations. Ferain, after hearing Raven’s mocking words, was in no mood for any of it.
“Only five people on scholarships, including myself.” she murmured. She then looked at Anita, who was much too clearly trying to avoid Fera’s wandering gaze. Apparently, she found the situation just as uncomfortable. She was trying to stay supportive, and didn’t want to say or do anything to make Ferain feel bad about what happened. Ferain realized then that she was incredibly lucky to get Anita as a partner and not somebody like Raven. “Anita, is getting a scholarship really that rare?” she decided to ask, despite her inner self telling her to keep quiet.
Anita sighed at this, and reluctantly faced Fera. “Yeah, it is. They don't like handing those things out. Plus, the board is probably pretty tough to impress. As you know, a person has to take a written exam as well as displaying their abilities. Assuming you didn't do well with the ability side of things, I imagine most of your acceptance relied on your written test. You must have aced it perfectly for them to allow you in.”
“Actually,” Fera murmured, clasping her hands in front of her. “I just barely passed.”
“Wow.” Anita gasped. “Then, somebody really likes you, Ferain, be it some kind of god or a high ranking member on the school’s council.”
“Somebody in power?” asked Fera.
“Possibly. Like, the headmaster himself or something.” Anita said, and she clearly said that as a joke, but Ferain did not see it as such.
“The headmaster.” she thought, silently.
She pondered this for a while, all the way until they came across a large brick building with beautifully stained wooden doors, quite a few square windows, and a good fifteen floors to help it stand decently tall when compared to other buildings around it. District-B seemed comparable to a jam-packed city with too many people for its own good. The streets were too narrow for most motor vehicles, unless they were scooters or motorcycles, and all of the buildings seemed to be packed in tight together, leaving mazes of thin alleyways in between them. Most of the district seemed to be used for residential purposes, and while some smaller convenience stores seemed to be around, any real shopping would have to be done in one of the other districts. It was a bit of a drawback, but at least she was closer to the school. All of the other kids had to get transportation or trek the long distance between districts on foot. Building-24 wasn’t even that far from the school’s checkpoint, maybe six or so minutes away. Overall, she was really starting to see that Anita was not her only bit of luck since coming here.
Anita walked up and started pulling on the door’s vertical golden handles, but it was futile. They wouldn’t open. She then tried pushing them but that venture was equally fruitless. While Anita went back to tugging, Fera walked over to a small black box that was beside the doors and waved her wristband over it. The box beeped and Anita nearly fell backwards as the doors unlocked in the midst of her putting her entire body weight into pulling them.
“I knew that.” Anita said, looking slightly embarrassed, but still managing a gleeful gleam in her eyes.
“Sure you did.” Ferain quietly retorted, and she gestured for Anita to be the first of them to enter.
There were surprisingly few people in the lobby, which looked like it belonged to a fancy hotel. The carpeting was a maroon color with golden embroidered patterns of all shapes and sizes. The walls had a bronze colored wallpaper that resembled a faux painting. Some chandeliers hung from the center of the ceiling and a few wooden support beams rose from the ground, all stained in bright mahogany.
“Welcome.” came the voice of a young woman.
Fera saw her sitting behind a dark stained desk that had a few ornaments to add a bit of flare to an otherwise bland bit of furniture. There was an hourglass, a few porcelain birds, and a snow globe that had three deer surrounded by some small plastic trees. A computer was also put in front of her, but it was offset enough to not block her view of the entrance. The woman herself was a beautiful youth of perhaps twenty-three, had straight auburn locks, and some freckles over her nose and cheeks. Her eyes were bright emerald green, and she had a smile that seemed to come naturally. She was wearing a white blouse, a black skirt, and a black choker around her pale neck.
“You two must be first-years. Can I get your names?” she asked, politely.
“Ferain Hirigaya and Anita Caswell.” Anita said, chiming in for the both of them.
“Hmm, yes, here you are. Room 1015, which is floor ten and room fifteen… Pretty easy to find. Just take the elevator over there and you should be able to figure out the rest. Here, before you go.” she said, pulling out two small handbooks and passing them to the pair. “Some rules about the dormitory. Simple things, really. No stealing, no fighting, no shared dorm rooms with the opposite sex overnight, those sorts of things. Breaking any of these rules results in a flag. Get three flags and you’ll be punished.”
“In what way?” asked Anita, looking up from the handbook.
“It depends on the rules you broke. Breaking curfew a couple of times might get you detention or extra homework. Causing too much trouble, like breaking things or starting fights, might get you expelled, or at the very least, kicked out of the dorm. Better to just behave, I think. Oh, one final thing. Keep your powers to a minimum, please. Repairs can be costly and some of the students like to get a bit carried away. Just be smart about it and everything will work out. All of your luggage has been sent up, as well as your uniforms. Have a good night, you two.” she said, and with a wave, she sent the two girls on their way.
Anita and Fera rode the lift up and soon found the door to their room. It was a brown painted door with several decorative panels and an eyehole. The doorknob was gold and had a black sensor above it that seemed to clearly be the locking mechanism. Hanging on the wall beside the door was a black plaque with ‘1015’ in golden numbers. Fera smiled as she gestured for Anita to open the door, which did not seem as funny to her partner, who gave an annoyed ‘Ha, ha’ in response. Anita passed her band over the sensor and when the door clicked, she twisted the knob to pull the door open. Anita gasped as she entered, and Ferain remained quiet, as was her custom. She was normally pretty quiet, and was always more of an observant person.
The room had hardwood flooring, the white walls were pretty bare, only having a digital clock hanging up, just past the entryway, and a few wooden shelves that lacked any sort of decor atop them. The entryway was a tiny square area with a shelf for shoes, a hook for jackets or bags, and a little step that led into the main room. To the left was the kitchen, which wasn’t all that large but it had the basic necessities. Just ahead was a dining table, circular and just the right size for a few people to sit comfortably around it. Even further past that was the living room, with its decently sized sofa, a glass coffee table, and an entertainment center that was placed at an angle in a corner. The far wall of the living room was primarily glass, since most of it was taken up by large rectangular windows that gave a breathtaking view of the city in front of them. To the right of the entryway was a hall that had three doors. The first one was on the right wall, which was a bedroom, one that Fera claimed immediately. The other door was a little further down and on the left, which was now Anita’s room, and past hers, at the very end of the corridor, was the restroom with all of its amenities.
Fera already knew that her favorite spot was going to be the living room window, seeing as it was one of the only two windows in the apartment, the other one residing in Anita’s room, just over her bed. While Anita was looking through the kitchen, trying to find something to eat for dinner, Fera was by the window. She saw windows of other dorms that were illuminated and lighting up the night. From here, she even had a good sight of the border wall between District-B and District-C. It was taller than most of the buildings around it, and while Fera wasn’t entirely sure of its necessity, it was still a pretty neat sight. It had lights every so often that would blink red and blue, and she sort of became hypnotized by the incessant dance they were performing.
“Ferain, look what I found!” Anita shouted, hurrying out of the kitchen.
“Hmm?” Fera hummed as she turned to see her partner’s excited face.
“Microwavable rice pouches.” Anita squealed, waving the small bags around.
Fera shook her head and put a hand on her hip. “You’re ridiculous.”
“Don’t say that. I would like to see it as… simple. I’m very easy to please.”
“It seems so. We do have a microwave, right?”
“Yep, I’m already cooking one. Oh, guess what else I found.”
“Hmmm, instant tea?” guessed Fera.
“How did you know? Yeah, I found a whole bunch of it. Ooooh, I can’t wait to try it.”
“It might taste pretty terrible.” Fera pointed out.
“Nothing ventured, nothing gained.” Anita said in rebuttal. “Might as well give it a shot. It’s not like it will kill me.”
“Fair enough.” Fera said, and she giggled as Anita hurried back into the kitchen.
She was just in time too, since the microwave started going off as she vanished through the archway. Instead of hanging around to watch Anita cook rice and brew tea, she decided to go and look at her room some more, something she had not done yet. There really wasn’t much to look at. It had blank walls and the same flooring as the rest of the apartment, except for the bathroom which was a sort of grayish tile. There was a dresser with a thin mirror beside it, which was taller than she was. There was also a desk, a few bookshelves, and her bed, which would easily fit two people and was made with black sheets. Resting at the foot of the bed was a large black trunk that had gold trim, and the school’s golden phoenix crest stamped into the center of the lid. Ferain undid the clasps and slowly opened it. Inside were her uniforms, one for each day of the week. She began pulling them out, piece by piece, starting with a skirt and then reaching for a shirt.
After pulling everything out, she held up the skirt and shirt with both hands, holding them in front of herself while looking in the mirror. The skirt was short, or shorter than she was used to, was black in color, and had two gold bands around the bottom. The shirt was a white button-up with a collar, the typical shirt for school uniforms in the Sakura Nation. After imagining herself in the outfit, she set them down on the dresser and proceeded to grab one of the final items, the one she was most excited about. It was a large blue coat, one that had buckles and buttons and looked like a military uniform. She pulled it on and left the attached hood down. The hem of it was close to her knees, but it didn’t quite get all the way there. Judging by the thick appearance of it, one would think that it was heavy, but to Fera’s amazement, it actually felt pretty light while still seeming durable. She wasn’t sure what exactly it was made out of, but she also wasn’t a tailor or a seamstress, so that sort of knowledge was above her.
“You’re dinner’s done, Fera!” Anita yelled from the living room. “Better eat fast, we need to start your training soon!” Anita added, quickly, causing Fera to laugh and shake her head.
She looked in the mirror one last time and her face became grim from an old grief. “I wish you were here for this, Mom. I hope you can at least watch me from wherever you are. I’ll make you proud, I promise.” Fera pulled the necklace from under her shirt which held the blue teardrop crystal and gripped it in her right hand. “I’ll make things right.”
“Ferain! It’s getting cold!” Anita’s voice came again.
“Coming!” she shouted back, and after shrugging off her jacket, she left the room and closed the door behind her.