"Wake up, Newbs!"
The overhead light blinks to life and my roommate groans as she flings back her covers and rubs her sleepy eyes.
The light and the noise don't bother me a bit. I haven't slept yet, so why be mad to get up? This room is ridiculous. Its big enough for two beds and a shared table right in the middle. I haven't had this much space in my whole life. The bed is a story all its own. I couldn't even sleep in it. It was so soft and the blankets so warm, but the room was so quiet. Cut off.
I'm used to the noise of the wind, the soft whimpers of the little ones, and the smell of dirt taking me to sleep. This is too nice to even enjoy.
Then there's my roomie, Noah.
She's spoke all of one word to me, and it was. "Mine." As she'd pointed to the bed on the left side of the room. Other than that, when we came back from the mess hall she'd kept her mouth shut and stayed on her side of the room.
Even now as she gets out of bed, rolling her eyes at me when she sees me sitting cross-legged, already dressed, with my back against the wall, she doesn't mutter a word. She just stomps over to the table where her uniform is folded up and she stalks out of the room, presumably to go change in the restroom.
That's another crazy thing.
On each floor of this building, all eight of them, have restrooms. With toilets the flush and everything. Now that I've experienced that, I don't think I could ever go back to what passed as our version of restrooms back in the Ring.
And showers.
Just thinking of it, the way that nice warm watered rained down on me and cut through all of that dirt and layers of mud that I'd come to think was my own skin...I have to shake my head, reminding myself that I took another shower in the middle of the night and already got ready so I can't do it again right now. But I can later. Definitely doing it again later.
I get off of the bed, stretching my arms and legs out for a minute before I head out into the hallway.
It's maddening out here.
Tons of people in their dark blue jumpsuits running this way and that.
I press through them and head for the stair well at the back of the building. They'd let me try out an elevator last night, but I was in no hurry to do that again anytime soon.
I make my way down the deserted stairs and come out in a long hallway that runs the length of the backside of the building. Much like the giant room at the front with the doors leading into different sections of the building, the same is true back here.
I find the one marked Auditorium/Offices and push through it into another hallway.
"Hey!" Someone shouts out from one of the bisecting halls. "Hey, wait up!" I pause as the boy jogs out to meet me. I smile when I realize it's the boy with the purple eyes who was asking so many questions from the night before. "You look like you know where you're going."
He smiles, his big eyes crinkling in the corners and I find it hard not to smile back. "I'm going to the auditorium." I tell him and he nods.
"Ah, yes, as am I," He tilted his head. "But as you see, I'm not the best at directions and I'm lost."
I glance around, the one main hallway spotted with extra smaller hallways that cut off could be confusing I guess if you aren't pretty good at navigating and your memory isn't so great since we were just here last night. "I know the way." I say, turning so he can follow me.
"Of course you do." He laughs. "You just lead the way...um, what's your name?"
"Malikah."
"Oh, nice, I'm Yael."
I nod, even though I didn't ask for his name.
"So where you from?" He asks close on my heels. I usually wouldn't turn my back on a stranger, but he gives off literally no type of vibe that would worry me. I'm more concerned he's going to trip and knock me down than I am that he's going to attack me.
"Are you allowed to ask that?" I ask.
He thinks for a minute, making a low humming noise. "I don't remember them saying we couldn't, but then again I'm not always the best listener either."
I can't help myself but to laugh. "What exactly are you the best at then?"
"Oh, that's a secret." He chuckles to himself. "You'll just have to wait and see."
"More like you don't know what you're good at." I glance back at him and he smiles impishly.
"You're quick, I like you." He proclaims. "Ah, I found it." He says happily when I stop outside of the big double doors that lead into the big auditorium.
"Of course I had nothing to do with it." I grin.
He shrugs and grabs the doors. "You may have done a little."
The room inclines downward with the rows of dark purple chairs leading down to the long wide stage at the bottom. Serge is there, dressed in a dark green shirt with buttons down the front and a pair of matching pants and dark tan 'boots.' Also on stage on Tonyedda, and about seven other people standing off to the side.
Yael follows me down to the second row, plopping down in the seat beside me and propping his feet up on the chair in front of him. Serge gives him a look and Yael pulls his feet back down slowly, smiling to himself. "Sorry." He whispers, then he turns back to look around. "Looks like we're the only ones who like being on time."
"I couldn't sleep." I tell him honestly.
"I couldn't either." He sighs, shoulder slumping. "This body is so big and I don't know how to get comfortable in it yet."
I whip my head, my now shiny hair flying around my shoulders. "What?" I try to keep my eyes from bugging out of my head.
He throws his head back and laughs, getting a glare from Serge and a man who is talking to Tonyedda. "I guess I know for sure you're not from Wingslyn then." When I only further the confused look on my face he nudges me in the arm with his elbow. "I'm a Fae."
"A Fae?"
"Yes," He nods. "I know it's hard to tell in this." He motions down at himself and I'd ordinarily think he meant the jumpsuit, but I think he means the literal body. "So what are you? Or do I have to guess?"
My mind is blank for a second. "I don't know, I'm from Utopia." I shrug. "So I guess I'm a Utopian."
He nods, then grins that impish grin that I'm beginning to think is his permanent expression. "Don't take offense, but I have no clue what that means, but I'm sure it's cool."
"Not really," I admit. "Not nearly as amazing as all of this."
Just looking around the room, the tall ceilings, the lights all lined up and shining down on us all. It's more than anything I've ever seen. I've never even been inside for this long. It's a little bit jarring. Like I'm not sure there even is an outside anymore.
"Eh." Yael waves a hand flippantly. "This place is dull." He drops his head dramatically. "But I'm hoping things are about to pick up."
"I don't know if I can handle too much more." Again I don't know why I'm talking to him, I'm not usually what you'd call friendly, but there is something comfortable about him. Like I've known him a long time.
His bright purple eyes fix on mine, narrowing and then widening in the same turn. Almost like he was trying to see something in my eyes but it wasn't working. He leans in a little closer and the white swirl around his irises are so pretty I find myself staring into them. "What are you doing?" I whisper, but then suddenly his head jerks forward and his hand flies to the back of his head.
"Hey," He grumbles, rubbing the spot that Oliver had just smacked him in.
"He's trying to read you." Oliver tells me, then glances back at Yael. "Which you've already been told won't work. All abilities are disabled within The Hub."
"Oh, right. I forgot about that." Yael grins up at Oliver.
Oliver kneels in the aisle at the other side of Yael and leans in to whisper to me. "I'm not supposed to be here, but I wanted to check to see you made it alright."
"Yep, Mal here is good with directions." Yael beams, oblivious to the look Oliver gives him. "She led the way here for us both. But I helped. I held the door." He broadens his chest and again I'm caught smiling at him.
Oliver straightens back up and glances around almost like he's confused, but then recovers. "I will see you later for lunch." He mumbles as he walks away.
"What did he mean you were trying to read me?" I turn on Yael and he frowns for a second before pasting back the smile.
"Nothing bad." He assures me. "You just looked sad, so I thought I'd read your senses and try to make you feel better. Also, you confuse me, so I wanted to get a better feel for who you are before I decide we should be friends. But I guess with no abilities I'll have to just take a risk and be your friend without reading you first."
"Who says I want a friend?" I snap.
His soft eyes soften further and he leans down slightly in his chair. "You look like you could use one, and it just so happens that I'm available." He grins and his eyes light up. "You asked me earlier what I am particularly good at, and I have your answer. I'm a great friend to have."
I want to be mad. I really do. But I can't. Not when he's all smiles and happy.
"We'll see." I settle on, then cross my arms and look up to the stage as everyone else falls in around us. My roommate even comes to sit beside me, but when Yael greets her she shoots him a glare that has him leaning as far away from us as his chair will allow him.
"Looks like you're mostly all here!" Serge shouts even though he's holding a thing that makes him loud enough for the whole room to hear him. "Today will start your regular schedules. As we discussed last night, those of you in group A will follow A schedule, those in group B will follow B. I can't stupid this up much more for your all." I swear he looks right at Yael as he says it. "While A is in training, B will be in studies, then we break for lunch, then switch. Simple stuff."
"What about recreation?" Yael pipes up. "I noticed nothing was mentioned about that last night."
Now it's me leaning away.
Serge and the others on stage all roll their eyes and Serge has to take a deep breath before yelling again. "If you aren't so slap ass exhausted from your day that you want to pass out in your beds in your ACUs with boots still on, then your ass didn't train nearly hard enough and you should go pick up some extra time in the gym! That's the only recreation you need to be worried about, Newb!"
"Sounds fun." Yael sighs.
Serge grits his teeth audibly, but forces his gaze away.
"Now we talked last night about what a normal day here will be like, and your leaders here," He waves a hand to the others on stage. "Are tasked with watching you carefully through the first week of camp. If they see you need more in one area they will let me know and you schedule will be adjusted accordingly. Week two will be final placements. Week three we drop the groups and merge into one class. Week four will be intense specific training programs and study halls. Week five is testing. Week six we will make sure everyone is prepared for the task ahead of them, and at the end of the week you will show us what you've learned-."
Yael goes to raise his hand, but Serge without even looking already has a hand out.
"Glad you asked," Serge goes on. "While you're testing will take place in the fifth week, at the end of the sixth you will go outside of the Hub, and you will show us how to use the knowledge you've gained. You'll have to show you have what it takes to become an official Custode. Your stone may have chosen you, but we decide whether or not you're up to the task." His voice becomes the tiniest bit softer, though still pretty much a yell. "Take your training and classes seriously. They are the difference not just between your own life or death, but the life or death of this realm." He takes a step back and welcomes forward a yellow haired woman with long strong face. "Teresa,"
"Hello," she greets us. "How many of you know the Origin Story?" A pretty good amount of hands raise, including Yael's. I don't really know the whole thing, but enough to feel alright about raising my hand half up. "Good," she nods and paces the center of the stage. "I'm going to tell you the real story of The Six, and just how we fall into it."
Her tale is of anger, and boredom, and revolt that all comes down to The Six being mad at their creation the Demi for wanting their own power and to be acknowledged by their creators as one of them. I get it, I guess. In my head I form it like Utopia. The Worthy are supposedly not that different from us, but yet they discard us to waste away in the Ring. The Demi just want the same thing all of the Ring dwellers wanted. To be equal.
"For thousands of years the Demi and the Custodes worked closely together, protecting this realm. They were constantly vigilant over us all, wanting to be successful. If we made it long enough, The Six would have to keep up their end of the bargain. We are now entering into the last one hundred years of this deal, and it is more important now than ever before."
"Do the Demi still talk to us?" Someone shouts out and for once I'm surprised it wasn't Yael. He looks equally surprised and almost a little annoyed.
Teresa frowns slightly. "Unfortunately, no. Over thousands and thousands of years, the constant watching would become too much. And they trust us to do our jobs. We are the veil of protection between all of the inhabitants of this world and we are the ones who keep it all from falling apart. We do this because we are chosen. We are special. We are who the Gods put in charge of the most important task and we cannot fail. We will be rewarded greatly in the afterlife, and we are thankful to the Gods for blessing us."
"Before we break for our first training sessions and classes, there is something I want us all to do." Serge tells us. "This realm, this world, it is filled with beings. Billions of them. Animals, plants, people, exedra. They exist here as one. Humans, vampires, werewolves, witches, demons, angels, fairies...all of these creatures that you will learn about. They exist as one." He takes a long sheet of paper from Tonyedda and walks back to center stage. "When I call out your name, I want you to stand and tell the room who and what you are."
One by one people around the room stand.
"Eli, Drinker."
"Pen, Fairy Fae."
"Ella, Utopian."
I peer over my shoulder at her but she doesn't look the least bit familiar. Nor does she hold herself like someone from the Ring. Her dark hair is braided down her back and she has light skin and narrow shoulders. She must be an actual Worthy.
"Flynn, Fairling Fae."
Yael glares that way and makes a low rumbling noise in his chest.
"Tamara, Caster."
"Reese, Drinker."
"Dom, Demon."
My name is called and I stand, shoulders back and head high, trying to look bigger than I am. "Malikah, Utopian."
More names, more titles. After the first dozen it was impossible to keep up anymore.
"Yael, Fairy Fae."
"Kally, Shiftling."
I turn in my chair as Noah stand.
"Noah, Demon."
Huh, so she's a demon. That doesn't sound friendly, but what do I know? As everyone goes on I find myself almost looking more forward to classes than to training.
Serge lowers the list in his hands. "Now look around." He instructs. "Look at the people you're here with. They may not look too different to you, but we are. Each and every one of us if different. We are unique. But like those that came before us, we must unite. If we don't, then this realm crumbles beneath our feet." He scans the crowd. "We are one or we are nothing."
We are one or we are nothing.
"Now get your lazy looking Newb asses out of those chairs!" He yells, breaking the somber tone that had fallen over the room. "Group A, let's go train, Group B, go learn some shit. Get a move on, we don't have all damn day!"
Everybody scrambles out of their seats and rushes to the doors at the back of the auditorium. "Wait, which group are you?" Yael catches my wrist.
"A."
"Ugh, fairlings, I'm in B." He sighs. "I was hoping to follow you to where the heck the classes are." His impish smile is back.
"Out these doors, down the big hall, two doors down, second door on the right."
He nods. "Walk out of here and follow someone who looks like they know what they're doing, got it."
I laugh as I walk away.
"Save me a seat at lunch, bestie!"