There are only seven categories.There are only ten degrees in each category.And the vast majority fail to reach yellow.
That is in their entire lifetime.This isn’t to say that Violet is beyond your reach.SImply that getting there will be hell,and you will pay for it in blood.—Virgil Clay, Lecture
“You want me to kick his ass? I’ll kick his ass,” Kiera offered. Violet offered a half smile. It was one of many she’d been presenting with a calculated, increasing frequency as she spoke with the kitsune.
“Nah, that’s alright,” Violet dismissed. “He’s just upset, the same way I am. He’s just less… familiar with the way the real world works. Easy to hope when you’ve never really been disappointed, you know? I don’t wish any harm on him.” Kiera winced.
“Yeah… yeah, I can understand that,” she responded. Her own energy seemed to die down for just a moment, like a cloud over the sun, but she shrugged it off quickly. “Well, is there anything I can do? I know this all kinda sucks. I can… talk about him with you, if you want?” Violet shook her head.
“No. No, I just… I think I just want to feel a little normal again. With that first trip into the mist, where almost everyone died, and then the train… I want to feel normal. To read. To watch something stupid. That’s all I want. I want to act like everything is okay, for a day. Can we just… get settled into our new dorm, maybe?” Violet answered. Kiera shrugged and crossed one leg up on her bed.
“Fuck it, sure. You got luggage you need help unpacking?” Kiera asked. Violet nodded, then paused, looking around the room. Her things had already been delivered to her room, as she’d been promised they would be. Kiera, on the other hand, didn’t have anything.
“Some things, yeah. A lot of my casual clothes were ruined on the way here, but I’ve got some left, as well as… a few books to put on the shelf. Might throw out anything green, though. Think the walls might be overloading me on that color,” Violet replied.
Kiera smirked, then climbed up off the bed and stretched. “Wish I’d been able to bring a few more books myself. I only have the one, and only the first in the series. I don’t suppose you’ll let me borrow yours?” she asked. Violet raised an eyebrow.
“Sure,” she agreed easily. “I even have the rest of Panacea, if you want it. Why couldn’t you bring your own, though? I had most of my stuff sent off to be loaded on the train before I even got to it. Did you not get a chance?” Kiera laughed without humor.
“You could say I’m something of a last-minute enrollment. Signed up and got on the train about three breaths before they woulda left without me. I got a few outfits in a backpack, and that’s it,” she explained.
“And it went so well for you,” Violet intoned.
“Hey, I’m still alive. I’m still hot. I got a cool roommate, which, honestly, I was worried about when they assigned me to this dorm. What’s that about, anyway?” she asked. Violet stood as well, walking to her luggage and creating a crystal knife to cut into the first box with.
“I have an idea about that. Can’t be sure, but… did you happen to move up a degree when we raided the nest?” Violet asked. Kiera lit up at the question.
“Oh, yeah, actually! I made it to six, even though I just hit five last month. I figure that has to be a record, right?” Kiera answered. Violet nodded. She kneeled down and cut the tape sealing the nearest box of books.
“Yeah. I made it to seven myself. I think that might be why,” Violet explained. Kiera snapped her fingers.
“Oh, so you think we’ve been assigned to, what, some kind of honors class for gifted and beautiful girls?” she guessed. Violet smirked.
“Or an expedited class, anyway. We raided a nest on our own and advanced before even reaching the school. I don’t know the specifics, but I bet we’ll find Aubrey in this dorm, too,” she guessed. She began to pull the books out one by one and place them on the empty shelves. Kiera wandered over to the next box as they spoke, and, with her back to Violet, cut through the tape on top. Violet had more or less deduced that Kiera could make claws. A nice addition to her ears and tail, in all honesty. But she didn’t care much if the other girl was too embarrassed to show them to anyone.
“Oh, cool. She seemed to chill a bit after the nest. Went back to her usual self once she decided you weren’t some kind of secret cartoon villain. She really is pretty fun most of the time, I promise,” Kiera replied.
“Oh, I know. I don’t hold her initial behavior against her. She’s not the first person to be hostile with me for no reason. She was under a lot of stress, and I’m not really one to hold grudges. Honestly, I hope she is here. I was starting to get along with her pretty well, before…” Violet trailed off, then swallowed hard. As if the mention of Alex’s disappearance was hard for her to speak about. “Anyway, I’d be willing to bet the three of us are all in the same class. We did kill what was probably a queen together, after all. We are rare and valuable.”
“Shiny Pokémon,” Kiera agreed.
“Some of us shinier than others,” Violet quipped, glancing at Kiera’s flicking tail. Kiera turned and blushed. She reflexively cast an illusion over her ears and tail, before she remembered Violet could see them anyway.
“Oh, shove it,” she groaned. Violet laughed, and was about to respond, when a light knocking on the door interrupted them both. Violet and Kiera shared a glance, then looked down at the books each was preparing to shelve.
“Anyone know you live here yet?” Violet asked.
“Maybe Chase is back to yell at you again?” Kiera guessed. Violet growled.
“Oh, I hope not. I was just starting to feel better. Well, only one way to find out,” she shrugged. She climbed from her crouching position and walked toward the door. Kiera followed her a moment later.
“Eh, probably just staff, making sure we are settled in, or delivering our class schedule or something,” Kiera guessed. Violet didn’t answer, simply opening the door instead.
“Hiya!” the extremely cheerful blonde on the other side greeted as soon as the door was open. She had energy like she was constantly moving, even as she stood fairly still. She had a uniform with a green accent matching the tips of her hair, which was nearly interesting enough to distract Violet from the four ear piercings and three rings on each hand. She was certainly interesting, and a rare healer, apparently.
“Uh, hello,” Violet responded.
“You guys are, like, two of the new students in my class, right?” she asked.
“Probably,” Kiera answered. “But since we don’t know who you are…”
“I’m Kassie, and I’m the class president of the spectrum class. You guys definitely aren’t green—well, except in the colloquial sense, I guess—so that means you gotta be! Only the spectrum class students get assigned to the green dorms. I mean, like, the spectrum class and green students, obviously. It’s totally nice to meet you both! Violet and Kiera, right? I’m guessing Violet is the girl with violet hair, and Kiera is the one with the super cute fox ears?” she said. Kiera and Violet were frozen for a minute, nearly unable to keep up with the stranger’s pace.
“Got it in one,” Violet agreed. “What can we do for you?” Kassie glanced over their shoulder and saw the unpacked boxes.
“Oh, do you need help moving in? I can absolutely help!” she offered. “Oh, wait. One sec.” She pulled out a red folder with a few documents inside. “Nearly forgot why I came! I brought your class schedules. Bouvier sent me with them. First class is tomorrow at 5 a.m. sharp! Early, I know, but our class has some pretty significant requirements. They wanna push us all the way to cyan! All of us! So we gotta train pretty hard. Speaking of, I hear you might still be a bit beat up from your trip over. Rumor is it was a nasty one. I’m an orange healer—well, druid, actually, which isn’t primarily a healer—which means I can totally patch you up before tomorrow. Clear out any aches and pains. I do it for everyone in class.”
Again, Violet and Kiera paused for a moment before responding, but both held their hands out to accept their schedules.
“Yeah, I’ll take you up on both offers,” Kiera agreed. “It’s mostly her shit, though, so she may feel differently about the unpacking. But without you, she’s doing it alone. She called me shiny.”
“Well, you are shiny, and I adore it,” Kassie answered cheerfully. Kiera gave her a blank look.
“Thanks, but I can unpack my things. I’m all healed up, actually. Kiera here, on the other hand, has a few scrapes and bruises,” Violet replied. “As for classes tomorrow, I can do in-class work. I’ve apparently been forbidden from anything particularly high-stress, though. The on-site therapist isn’t sure I’m all there yet, I guess.” Kassie shrugged.
“Ah, yeah. That, like, happens all the time. In our class, at least. You’ll only miss a week or two of training, no worries. They are seriously pushing us to advance. Like, seriously. But also, I really hope you feel better! Trip was pretty scary, huh?” Kassie asked. Violet looked down at her feet.
“Hopefully, the worst we’ll ever have. Fewer people departed the train than boarded it,” Kiera explained. Kassie’s face fell.
“Oh. Oh, I’m so sorry. Bouvier didn’t tell me that, just that you ran into trouble. I’m… here, let me get you healed up,” Kassie responded. “And Violet, don’t worry about training. We do A days and B days, with classroom work on A days. Tomorrow is an A day, so you’ll still need to show up, but there won’t be anything too stressful.” Violet nodded, wiped her eyes on one sleeve, and nodded.
“Oh, don’t worry about it. I’m just… adjusting. It’s been a tough few days. I can make class, no problem,” she answered. “Come on in, and don’t mind me. Just gonna stock my bookshelf up while you help Kiera out.” Violet stepped back to let Kassie walk in. Kassie nodded, and, with far less energy, accepted the invitation. As the two walked to Kiera’s desk, Violet returned to her open box.
“Well, I am happy to talk about it with you, if you want,” Kassie offered. “I’m always happy to mind my own business, if that’s better.” Violet shook her head.
“Honestly, I’d prefer neither. Like I was telling Kiera, I just want things to feel normal for a while. Talk about normal things. You can go back to uh… all the sunshine and energy, if that’s how you usually are,” Violet answered.
“But you don’t have to go all the way back. I mean, if you don’t want,” Kiera joked. Kassie laughed, brightening up immediately.
“Oh, I’m at, like, sixty or seventy percent of that, usually,” she assured. “Just excited to have some new students in class! We don’t get them too often. And reds, at that. You all must have done something impressive to manage it! Can’t say it won’t make class tough until you make orange, though. Sorry about that! The cost of teaching multiple categories at once, I’m afraid.”
“Yeah, I suppose,” Violet answered. Kassie already had orange energy coming from her hands as Violet spoke, and was hovering them over Kiera. “I have been making it through red pretty fast the last couple of months. That’s probably why I’m here. And Kiera here went toe to toe with a nest queen on the way here. So that is probably why.”
Kiera scoffed. “You say that as if you weren’t the one who killed it. And the one who yoinked a damn green heart from a forming nest before even getting on the train.”
“Oh, wow, really?” Kassie asked. “That’s amazing! I’d love to hear both of those stories! But first, mind elaborating on your fast advancement, and how you managed it? I need to know to help plan your personal training. Once you are allowed. Like, from what degree to what?”
“Well, sure. About two months ago, I was category white,” Violet answered.
“Shit, fuck, OW!” Kiera practically yelped as Kassie lost control of her talent.
“Oh, shoot. I’m sorry!” Kassie apologized. “I was just a little, uh…”
“No, I get it. You’re good,” Kiera dismissed, rubbing one shoulder where Kassie had been healing her bruises. “Violet, what the fuck?”