The halls of Thrombo High School buzzed with excitement as the new academic year unfolded. A girl with pink hair, its shape resembling a precarious croissant, perched atop her head. The croissant bounced violently, threatening to unravel, as she halted before a group of girls near a sunlit window in the hallway. Gasping for breath, she forced out the electrifying news:

“H-hey… h-have you heard?? Sultan is here!!!”

The mere mention of Sultan’s name sent shockwaves through the group. Every girl whipped her head in their direction, swarming the girl with the pastry-like hair.

“What do you mean?” Their voices trembled with anticipation.

“Are you serious? You’re not pulling our leg, right?”

“Tell us more details! Is he really a perfect ten?”

“Of course he would be! You’d need the luck of the gods just to touch a strand of his hair. Sultan isn’t your average face—he’s godlike!”

Blushes spread like wildfire among the girls. The realization hit: Sultan, the man of myth and legend, was within the very walls of their esteemed tabernacle. These halls, once mundane, had transformed into sacred ground where mere mortals trod in awe.

But then, reality intruded. “Wait, what about the other one—the face stealer?” The girls descended from cloud nine to a harsher truth.

“Poor Sultan,” one girl spat defensively. “I heard that the bastard resorted to plastic surgery, all in a desperate bid for sympathy from Sultan and his family. Finding a doctor willing to perform such vile acts must have been his stroke of luck.”

Clack clack clack

“Speak of the devil.”

***

Konrad’s heart sank a little. "Great. Just what I needed. My brother's name being mentioned, and in a fawning tone, no less."

It wouldn't be the first time though.

“Thrombo Highschool” Konrad mused. The place for so called ‘miracle children’

Miracle child… as if! He had been born without any record or history attached to his existence; Maybe he was considered a miracle child, but he didnt feel like one. To add to the already struggling life he had led up till this point his ability had never manifested, it was as if the world had given him a pile of shit for a talent and asked him to be grateful.

HELL NO!!

“How annoying…” someone had mumbled under their breath. Turning around Konrad tried to spot the person, however there wasn't anyone within sight. A distinct smell of lavender permeated the air, as he attempted to locate its source the first bell rang.

Sighing, Konrad located his locker. Its contents were neat and orderly just the way he liked it. Carefully counting 1…2… he moved the other books aside, and grabbed the books for his next 2 classes after homeroom.

As Konrad walked he noticed a set of doors with a sign showing an image of a cartoon beast with the words ‘Bumble Bee’ underneath.

In Thrombo highschool the graduating class was split up between groups with different animal mascots.

“How unfortunate…” Konrad mumbled under his breath as he pulled the classroom door open.

Entering class Konrad squinted, the room had exposed large glass windows, they had blinds.

The blinds seemed to serve no purpose other than decoration. As Konrad's eyes adjusted to the glaring light, he observed a figure seated at his desk. The person's auburn hair, slightly unruly yet somehow enhancing his elegant appearance, belonged to none other than Sultan, Konrad's doppelgänger.

Sultan's gaze was fixed on a book titled "History and Science of the Great Catastrophe."

"Damn it! I completely forgot..." At Thrombo High School, each student, typically from affluent families, was given an "optional" assignment before the school year commenced. Although deemed optional, maintaining one's family status within the school implicitly mandated participation.

Regretfully, Konrad realized that what was done could not be undone. He could only hope to emerge from this oversight with minimal consequences.

The second bell rang, prompting Konrad to seek a seat. He chose one at the back of the room, offering an unobstructed view of the front while remaining inconspicuous.

As students began to filter through the doorway, the once-vacant desks quickly filled. The sound of girls squealing pierced the air as they caught sight of Sultan. Some appeared faint and pale, yet unable to contain their excitement, as if overwhelmed by his mere presence. Meanwhile, Konrad remained unnoticed, precisely as he preferred.

A woman of considerable size entered the classroom. Each step she took caused the exquisitely crafted wooden floorboards to cry out in protest. Konrad marveled at how she managed to squeeze through the narrow doorway.

“Hello class, I will be the homeroom teacher for the Bumble Bee class,” her voice was like that of an angel! If not for her intimidating presence and overwhelming figure, she would be the perfect woman. It was sad for such an angel-like woman to have such a flaw. Yet, she stood at the front of the classroom with confidence. Konrad had begun to hold this woman in high regard.

“Now, as some students may be aware, our mascot is the cute little bumblebee. I am sure you may be disappointed to be in this homeroom class, as many of the other mascots seem more epic in nature. But hopefully, this will help ease your broken pride as highly regarded families.”

Konrad was taken aback. Since when could such sweet words hold such a sharp edge? Her words had been sweet and true, but Konrad had picked up on the underlying message, ‘Don’t judge a book by its cover.’ His interest peaked.

“Before the great catastrophe, the bee, along with many of the mascots in this school, had existed. The bee had the ability to create a natural liquid candy that our predecessors used in confections and many forms of food. However, there is one thing about these bees that is far darker. This is something not many know about…” the woman paused for suspense, her gaze panning from the left to right of the room.

“These bees had a sharp needle that would poison their prey if pricked. In fact, many more deaths were discovered to be from bees than other beasts, according to archaeological scripts found in dimension 2. There was also a remnant banner in dimension 1 showing the image of the beast. This may seem like a fictional image of a beast wearing white gloves, but believe me, those large white eyes and small black beady pupils have no hesitation to kill. It holds no candle to the black rodent-like beast with red fur resembling pants, but it comes very close! It is said that on a blood-red moon, these ‘bees’ would swarm around flowers and suck them dry all their life!”

The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

“What do you mean blood red moon….” konrads voice trailed off as he realized eyes were now focused on him. Immediately he slumped back in his chair avoiding to make eye contact with the onlookers.

The woman smiled gently, her eyes being consumed by the skin, leaving only a crease.

“On that note, welcome to the Bumblebee class. My name is Mrs. Locker!” Her tone shifted like night to day, Konrad was grateful for her redirection and was happy it had worked. He made a mental note to thank her later.

“Let us take attendance then. As I say your name, please stand and say you are present. Sultan Grant?”

All the students whipped their heads towards Sultan, wanting to be blessed by his voice; even the men seemed awestruck. Konrad could guess it was due to something like a memory you could show off to others

“Present”

There were many squeals following. Konrad was unsure if they were male or female squeals, regardless, they were most definitely squeals. Even Mrs Locker seemed momentarily entranced as well, Konrad sighed, making a mental strike against Mrs Locker’s preferences.

"How disappointing,” Konrad thought. Snapping out of the daze, Mrs. Locker continued.

“Sonata Krey?”

A girl with raven black hair that was perfectly pin straight stood up. Her appearance resembles that of an idol. This girl was Sonata Kray, the daughter of Brass Krey, the head of dimension 3’s law enforcement and the leader of the red berets.

IN a soft and emotionless tone that seemed to almost harmonize with itself, she responded “Present”.

She then sat back down gently biting her lower lip slightly.

“Thank you Sonata” smiling softly as she began “Konrad?”

The students' grimaced visibly as Konrad began to stand. His eyes were happily focused on a particular dust flurry dancing on the ground.

“Present…” Konrad said, as he internally ignored the racing worries in his head.

“Damn i feel so uncomfortable” he thought

He quickly sat back averting his gaze from the crowd of onlookers.

Thankfully the teacher continued her attendance roll call, redirecting the students from their thoughts of the one and only face stealer. Now Konrad was starting to appreciate this women.

Soon the attendance roll had finished.

“Now students, who has finished their assignment?” Sultan’s hand casually rose, soon following a hesitantly rising hand from Sonata.

“Only 2? I'm surprised… well nothing to be done about it now. Sultan please stand and tell me from what you have learned so far. What is the parallel study?”

Sultan rose nonchalantly from his chair. Hands still loosely in his pockets, he began in a bored tone, his voice echoing in the silent room.

“As far as we are aware, around 12,000 years ago there was a shift in the makeup of our world. Modern day scientists were unaware of this change even occurring. People call it the great calamity, the beginning of the world being split into 3 dimensions. This study is the study of the cause and effect so to speak of the great catastrophe…”

“Well said Sultan! That was very beautifully described!”

Konrad rolled his eyes. Did Miss Locker have to add the word beautiful in her statement?

“Now let's see who was… oh yes Sonata!”

“Yes!” sonata stood up abruptly, slightly pale.

Mrs Locker continued unfazed by her behavior. “Please describe Arts and artifacts including the difference between the 2.”

“Of course, Arts are the power some dimension 3 beings are born with. if 2 of their ancestors married were from opposing dimensions there future generations receive an art. Artifacts are…”

Konrad began to look at the wooden floors. For some reason the floor seemed more interesting than the current conversation and why not. He happened to be born without an Art, in fact he had no idea what sort of birth parents he had. One day he just suddenly existed. He was 8 at the time but he had no memories prior to just appearing at the Grant family’s living room.

‘It's not like anyone would believe him though…’

“Thank you sonata, now lets begin”

Mrs locker grabbed a piece of dusty chalk and began to scribble some notes onto the board.

“In 2 months we will be going to dimension 2 on our first trip. There will be 3 groups each with a different project to report on, biome, plants, and beasts. Your job is to pick one of these groups within the month and lay out a group project and study. Any questions?”

She paused, her eyes squinting momentarily before the realization hit her that doing so would obstruct her vision. She shook her head, her saggy chins slightly swaying and jiggling like jello.”

***

These students seem interesting, for sure, but they lack any motivation. Yet, they answer so perfectly. Sultan was his name, right? He seems like an interesting fellow, but he struggles to hold his interest. Is he bored?

Mrs. Locker was thinking of different ways to drag Sultans attention back to class, before another student caught her attention he was exactly the same as Sulten with maybe a bit longer hair. He seemed to actually care about her words. Every student in this classroom was distracted by their peer sultan or blatantly sleeping through the class.

“What was his name…?” she thought internally she remembered the roll call “it started with a K, then his name must be Kon, no Konrad! That's his name!!”

“He seems promising! I wonder what his art is? Then again students tend to think a unique art is all they need.” It was true that having a unique art was important; however you need an affinity as well. A strong art is useless without an affinity to that art. Mrs Locker would know she had an unusual art she could manipulate sonic frequencies and a strong affinity for music and sound; it was her favorite pastime to listen to music growing up. It was this ability that also landed her a good job and career despite constant discrimination. She figured sounding like an angel over the phone interview would make it easier to land the jobs and sure enough it did, for good or for bad she was a teacher despite her applying for the front desk position.

Sound is very versatile in use and even Mrs Locker had yet to learn all of them.

“I really hope Konrad has a good affinity. He seems like a promising student. I'm sure he has a lot of potential!”

***

Konrad continued his classes for the day, each one duller than the last.

The classes would have been very intriguing for most that had an Art. However, for Konrad it was very difficult to put into practice for one particular reason. Konrad did not have an Art. The reason was he just couldn't distract his mind from Mrs. lockers confidence. How did she have the ability to say her intent without stuttering or feeling embarrassed? What was it about his homeroom teacher that he lacked? she was confident in herself, that is what he lacked... and that is what he wanted.

Did Mrs. Locker have any interest for Sultan as a promising? Maybe… but only as a student, Konrad could not sense an ounce of romantic interest from her which was unsusual. So what was it then? It was sort of leaving a bad taste in Konrad's mouth.

"Why beautiful?" he muttered.

RING

The final bell rang as students began to pile in the hallways preparing to head home. As usual Konrad would always wait until most students had left before heading home; it was more quiet that way. Plus it was a lot harder to run into bullies.

Thankfully the school had an open doors policy most school days.

"Konrad!" An angelic voice spoke from behind him. Turning around he saw Mrs. Locker.

He somehow felt a bit relieved that she had not called him "Face Stealer" as all other students had done so far.

Still Konrad was grateful, as it was the beginning of the new year, most students would feel more sympathy for his situation before the bullying gradually worsened towards the end of the year.

His face paled slightly, his long curly auburn-haired bangs covering his eyes as he looked down at the floor.

"Y-yes, teacher? Did I do something wrong?" Konrad asked nervously, trying to prepare himself for the worst.

"You forgot to get your course book," Mrs. Locker spoke softly, her sausage-like fingers handing him the book surprising Konrad.

"O-oh, I must have forgotten… H-hey, Mrs. Locker, can I ask you something?"

"Of course. What would you like to ask?" She put a chunky finger to her overly bulbous lips.

"How can you be so confident despite, you know…"

"…Know?" She tilted her head to the side. Internally Konrad winced. He found her actions jarringly uncomfortable yet it always seemed to make him more determined than before.

Sadly, Konrad struggled to speak his mind. Honestly it was slightly disorientating

He shook his head, “Never mind nothing majorly important thanks for the book, Mrs. locker!”

"Well, have a safe trip home Konrad I wouldn't want a promising student to not come back to school."

She continued with a gentle smile. "Of all people, I know the most of potential. So, protect that blooming potential till your it flowers, okay?"

Konrad gave a confused expression before quickly responding with a nod. "Thanks Mrs. locker, I will be heading home now." Konrad forced a smile at the flowery words. in his mind that's all they were flowery words

Konrad had waited a couple more hours in a bathroom stall before heading home. He was lucky! seemed like everyone had left.

A Dark presence penetrated his mind, he dared not to look behind him. His pace gradually quickened as something seemed to be tailing him.

[...]