Students are dying.
Abel. Listen to me.
They are fucking dying. My students. Other students. Their friends, and their families.
Not in the field. Not in the mist. Not in service to Prism city.
They have started dying in their homes. On their way to their part time jobs.
We need to let them leave. We need to.I don’t care if they were drafted. I don’t care if they volunteered.We need to let them leave.
I can convince them. I will prepare them to try. I will remind them it is possible.
All you have to do is let them go.
If you don’t, then they will not be the only ones who die.
I will not survive this.—Virgil Clay, Phone records with Abel Bouvier
Violet was more or less back to her usual self by the time they made it to class. Kiera and Aubrey, too, had a little more energy with each step they took. Everyone had some sort of understanding. Some agreement, made silently or out loud, to let themselves at least behave as if they were happy. And so they did. Violet wore her usual smile and walked with her usual energy. And neither of her friends found this strange. Not after she’d confided in both.
Without a word, the three women approached the classroom together as they’d planned. They’d come to Chromatic together, they’d faced that horrifying trip together, and they’d meet their new class together. There was a certain camaraderie that came with the things they had experienced as a group, and regardless of how they’d met, they had a bond. One they’d never forget. Each of them felt they could trust and rely on the other two, which dulled the general anxiety of meeting a new class in a new city. Everyone in the room would be more powerful than they were, at least for the time being. But they could lean on each other, exactly as they had before, and none of them had to feel that anxiety alone.
“Guy, what the fuck are you doing here?” Kiera asked as soon as the man in question rounded a corner on the other side of the hallway. The tall boy beamed at them with relief as soon as he saw them.
“Oh, thank Christ, I thought I’d be here alone!” he exclaimed. The girl’s memories were, apparently, less solid than they’d believed. As was their bond. Each of them shared a guilty glance as they realized four people from the train were in the spectrum class, and they hadn’t even asked about him. In their defense, he had not raided the nest with them. He had, however, fought a horde with them, and actually had been a likely candidate for the same class. If he advanced by tanking injuries—which was likely—it wasn’t unlikely he’d have advanced a degree as they fought. Had they considered it, it would have occurred to them as a possibility, at least.
They had not considered it. Not even Kiera, who had a bit of a crush on him.
“Why so surprised?” Violet asked with a feigned hurt expression. “We were all looking forward to seeing you here, and you didn’t even know we were coming? I’m hurt.” The looks on Kiera and Aubrey’s faces gave the lie away, and Guy laughed loudly.
“I appreciate that, but Kiera literally just asked me what I was doing here. I have a slight suspicion that none of you knew I would be here,” he replied. “And you know what? I’m offended. Because I am a memorable man. Everyone probably says so.”
“I don’t remember anyone saying anything like that,” Kiera intoned.” Guy held his hands to his chest in mock pain, like he’d been struck with an arrow.
“To be fair,” Violet cut in, “He didn’t say everyone was memorable. Just that they say he is.”
“Don’t betray me now, Violet. Not for Guy,” Kiera pleaded.
“I would never betray anyone. I am simply being a fair and just observer,” Violet replied.
“Being fair to Guy is never ‘just,’ believe me,” Kiera scoffed.
“Now that’s just cruel. And after everything I’ve done for you! Don’t you think that’s cruel, Violet?” he complained. Kiera rolled her eyes, but smiled. Violet shrugged. Aubrey allowed herself to fade into the background while her more social friends chatted.
“I don’t know. What have you done for her, exactly?” Violet asked. Kiera immediately coughed, then spoke before Guy could answer.
“It’s good to see you, too, Guy,” she reluctantly admitted.
“Thanks, Kiera. Seriously, I’m really glad I’m not alone here. I mean, compared to you three, I was useless as fuck back there, so if my dumbass made it here, I knew all of you would. But you know me. I get anxious. And lonely. And I’ve kind of had to pee all morning, but not enough to actually do it. That’s not really part of this, but it didn’t make me more sure of myself. Point is, it’s good to see you,” Guy answered.
All three girls stared at him for a few brief seconds, until Aubrey finally spoke up.
“Um. Dude. Go pee,” she suggested.
“Don’t worry, we won’t wait for you,” Violet assured. “We’re headed inside.”
“Aubrey, you can’t always decide when people pee. Sometimes, you have to let them make those decisions for themselves. How many times do I have to tell you this? I’m coming with you guys,” Guy insisted. Aubrey looked at him with pure bafflement, and Kiera started laughing.
“Good for you, Guy. Standing up for yourself. I’m proud of you. I’m going inside now,” Violet dismissed.
“Ladies first,” Guy offered, but Violet was already opening the door.
As they walked inside, there was the typical noise of classroom conversation for a few moments, but it died down the moment the new group entered. Several groups of students, clustered around different desks, all turned to look at them. It was quiet for a moment, and Violet had a chance to examine each of them.
To her surprise, there were three students with a rich, green accent on their uniforms, indicating all of them had a healing talent of some kind. Healers were fairly rare, overall. With a few more of them, lancers would be eradicating nests far more aggressively. Instead, most had to use clarity-powered healing apparatus like the one Violet had used on the train. It made sense that Chromatic Academy would have more healers than average. A healing talent combined with any kind of combat ability basically guaranteed a person would be drafted. Even so, three in one class was a lot. Further evidence that the spectrum class was something entirely different from the rest of the academy.
She only thought about this for a few seconds, however, as a thousand other things demanded her attention. The first of which was another feature of one of the healers. Like Kiera, his calling had a physical manifestation, and his was even more interesting. The orange crystal that formed his wings gave his category away, and the crystal halo floating over his head gave her a pretty good guess about his calling. She wondered if the halo drained clarity to remain suspended in the air, especially as he moved his head and it followed each subtle change. But Kiera’s ears and tail seemed to actually store clarity, so it was possible it had the extra energy to spare anyway.
He wasn’t even the only person in the room with wings, although his passive angelic wings did outshine the apparent twins grouped around another desk. The angel’s seemed to come from near his shoulder blades, whereas their more subtle wings grew from the small of their backs. All of them, however, were made of orange crystal in different hues, and didn’t appear capable of flight. There was also a girl with a strange glisten to her skin that could only be related to a calling. But she was overshadowed by the other three. All together, there were about a dozen students in the class, and all of them were staring at the four who would make them sixteen.
Kassie was sitting on one of the desks, as cheerful as ever. She’d been chatting with Ajia and two of the remaining boys. She was the first to greet the new arrivals, clapping her hands together before she spoke.
“Oh, good! You all made it! Hey, everyone! These are the new students I was talking about! We’re getting four at once, which is, like, super convenient, since they already make up a pretty good team composition,” she said. She hopped off her desk and made her way to the group, grabbing Violet’s hand as she did and pulling her to the front of the classroom. Aubrey, Kiera, and Guy followed the silent command Kassie’s actions conveyed, and all four stood in front of a large chalk board. Kassie turned as the new students faced the old, and she held one hand out to Guy.
“This is Guy! Yeah, that’s totally just his name. He’s rooming with Zach, but that’s okay, ‘cause he’s our newest tank! Well, our only official tank, really. He’s a lot prettier than most, too, so we got lucky with him! And, of course, we have Aubrey, Ajia’s new roommate! She’s a Banshee, which is a pretty rare calling! I did some reading on it last night, and she’s, like, super equipped to be a front-line fighter, I bet. Then we have our Kitsune, Kiera! This one is even more rare, and I couldn’t find anything on it, but she is currently a pretty good fit for a support role. And finally, Violet!” Kassie stopped walking past the line of new students and gestured both hands at the reaper. “She’s a Storm Scout. I haven’t heard of that one at all, but a scout is a scout! Plus, she is making it through red crazy fast. She might outpace all of us. No healer on this team yet, but they get the only real tank, which is more standard anyway.” Kassie stopped and turned toward the group.
“We are all way excited to meet you guys! You want to introduce yourselves?” she asked.
“Uh, didn’t you just fucking do that?” Kiera laughed. Kassie waved her off with a wide smile.
“I told them your names and callings! Just the silly stuff we need to know for class,” Kassie answered. She glanced at Guy, and the gradually growing urgency in his fidgeting, and her smile took on an awkward but sympathetic tilt. “Guy, the restroom is just down the hall. Mr. Clay isn’t gonna have much sympathy for you if you wait!” She returned her attention to Kiera as Guy took her comment as more than a suggestion, and rapidly retreated from the front of the room to follow her advice. “But most of the class doesn’t know anything about the rest of you! Like Violet, here!” Kassie turned and faced the class again. “Violet must be some kind of stone-cold killer to make it to class on Day One after the year she’s had! Life hit her hard, and she cannot be fazed. She was a degree zero only a few months ago, and now she’s in the spectrum class!”
All eyes locked on Violet the moment Kassie said this. Violet rubbed the back of her neck and forced an awkward chuckle. “It’s… nothing like she’s making it sound. I’m just doing the best I can. I just had a run of bad luck that required I quickly…” Violet trailed off, her eyes widening as a girl in class changed before her eyes, short brunette hair in a pixie cut growing longer and mimicking Violet’s purple hair at its full length. A red scythe slowly started forming in the girl’s hands as she tilted her head.
“Oh, neat, Tools of the Trade. I can’t quite figure the other one out, though. Violet, right? What’s this first talent? I can feel it in there, but—”
“What do you think you are doing?” Violet cut her off, her voice colder than ice, yet hot enough to burn as they trickled down the strange girl’s ears. Kiera and Aubrey tensed a bit. Neither had known Violet for long, but both had seen her maintain composure in the face of far more than a stranger copying her hair and, apparently, talents. The room was silent, as if Violet’s near whispering rebuke had been a shout. The offending student sat frozen, then her hair slowly retreated back to its regular brunette. The unfinished scythe collapsed into crystal dust at the same time. Kassie coughed.
“Uh, sorry about Jade. Her calling is ‘Soul Mirror.’ She’s pretty used to copying other people’s talents just for practice. She didn’t, like, mean anything by it, I promise!” Kassie assured. Violet’s face was all harsh angles for a moment after Kassie spoke, then slowly melted into a sigh. A blush crawled up her cheeks, and she looked down at her feet.
“I’m… I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to be so harsh. I just… please don’t do that without asking. I don’t know how to say… I can’t explain it. But… please don’t do that,” Violet said, an apologetic and embarrassed tone replacing the ice she’d spoken with before. Aubrey spoke up on her behalf as she struggled to find the right words.
“Sorry, Violet has had a rough few days, and she’s got a lot in her past she doesn’t talk about, I think. Not quite as stone-cold as she seems. I’ll tell you about myself for now, if you like?” she offered.
“I’m… I’m sorry!” Jade replied. “I didn’t know, we usually just—”
“It’s alright,” Violet interrupted. “It’s a personal thing. You couldn’t have known. I’d have said something if I knew someone had a calling like that.” Jade winced and tried to respond, when the door opened again and a man walked in. He was tall, with broad shoulders, and a jaw that somehow made his gray beard look sharp. He somehow looked like he was in his thirties and sixties at the same time, and his soft smile challenged his hard face. He could probably feel the tension in the room, and had likely heard the conversation before entering. The room was only protected from the perception expected of a category green, after all. And the cyan crystal, which made up his cane, revealed he would have no trouble hearing everything that happened in the classroom.
“Ah. I see the new students are here. Well, most of them. One of you either has more sense than the rest, or less decorum. If the rest of you know the remaining student, please relay a message for me after class. The first half is for all of you. Go the fuck home. This is not a place of honor, and all that. I don’t care if you were forced to come here. Fuck off. It is not worth it,” he said. He allowed a long moment for the new students to follow his advice, then scowled when none did.
“The second bit is for him alone, at least today. If you insist on attending my class, idiot that you are, have the decency to attend on time. Anyway, Math. Everyone take your seats.” The order in his final sentence carried an authority to it, and Violet immediately knew she’d have to fight her own body if she wanted to refuse. That served only to sour her mood further. She stared at the girl who’d somehow accessed her talents.
She was going to make sure that never happened again. Jade was dangerous.