So I was cleaning my folders when I suddenly stumbled upon this old story that I've written back in 2014. I wasn't really planning on posting this story, but since I noticed that the fandom is getting drier than the driest of wells, I decided that I should publish this to at least give the archive some…colour and ideas. I would not guarantee of this being a finished product one day, though, so do not be too attached!


Prologue


It was supposed to be a secret.

It was located in Ireland, in a city currently called Wexford, in a hidden area called the Cahill Zone. It was established in about the fifteen hundreds, by a happily married couple.

The first Cahills.

The Irish, at the time, had education that was far too expensive for the minimal salary of Gideon the mad scientist and Olivia, his loyal and loving wife. They had four, equally talented children, but with Gideon's reputation as a mad scientist in the whole of Ireland, he and his family had to live in complete and utter exile. They have been shooed away from civilization, causing the poor family to be nomads. They set off into the ocean, hoping to find a new home in a new island, hopefully with far friendlier citizens to warmly welcome them.

That is, until they found land across the vast sea. They were the first people to ever step afoot in the small island, abundant of forests with wild animal life. Surely, the island had its endless natural resources that could provide the Cahills their food for a lifetime.

As Luke, Katherine, Thomas, and Jane grew up to be handsome and beautiful children, they learned the basic knowledge of life from their first teachers, Gideon and Olivia. Later on, the mad scientist Gideon found out a way through four potions on how to boost their knowledge even more—the Lucian serum, which transformed Luke's simple mind into a convoluted one; the Ekaterina serum, making Katherine a scientific genius; the Tomas serum, boosting the child Thomas' physical strength; and the Janus serum, empowering Jane's hand with vision and creativity.

But the four children fighting against each other to acquire of the others' serum was never part of Gideon's plan.

For years they fought each other, setting out to leave their parents behind. All of them built their own schools, each one of them aiming to educate their students of their special knowledge in order to defeat the others; thus, creating their followers. Some of their students were the original Cahills' direct descendants, the others not; but otherwise, they were collectively called after the school they were educated in. Lucian School was located in Paris, France, and it is said that the world's greatest leaders, spies, and politicians originally went in this school in secrecy. Ekaterina School was first built in Cairo, Egypt, educating the greatest scientists of all time. Tomas School was in Tokyo, Japan, and trained every exceptionally athletic person in this institution. Lastly, Janus School was in Vienna, Austria, where all great artists and singers went to.

But the four branches hadn't realized that another sibling, Madeline, was born after they have set out on their separate ways. Madeline was the ancestor of the Madrigals—the one branch which has united all the different schools into one through the centuries. The Madrigals made the Lucians, Ekaterinas, Janus, and the Tomas School united into Ektomaluja University, which is now located in Wexford, Ireland, the original place where the Cahill family is located. That was three hundred years ago. But then, it was Grace Cahill who first proposed that all non-Cahills will be expelled from the new school, thus leaving only the original Cahill descendants to be educated.

It's because the Madrigals knew they needed unity, without blemishes from non-Cahills. It's in this unification that they could prepare for the coming of the Vespers, the Cahills' greatest enemy and sworn archrival. And if the Vespers from the Vesper Academy have their top six students in the Council of Six, well, through the evolution of time, the Cahills later on had the Elite Seven—a group of the top seven students of the Ektomaluja University.

Cahill University is the new name of the school which the Cahill matriarch Grace herself had proposed to change. To the world, it was nothing but a school—but for the Cahill family, it was a training battleground.

And no one else is supposed to know about this secret.


Angry, green cat eyes narrowed into thin slits.

"Mrrp."

The dark conference room was suddenly illuminated by a light coming from the closing door. Everyone turned their heads to look at the two newcomers. Faces scowled, except for one.

"You came early," said a mother of a famous celebrity, stiff in her corporate attire, and far from looking happy.

Cora Wizard, Janus top agent. Janus branch leader. Current school supervisor; chief executive of the Elite Seven. Elite Seven salutatorian graduate.

Bright red lips curved up into a honeyed smile. Amber eyes flicked over the quiet room to greet everyone else with a charming smile, rivaling the one from that Janus imp.

"Good morning to you, too, Cora dear," the lady said in her silky accent, removing her coat to reveal a black suit underneath. Designer. An assistant quickly rushed in to get her hat and coat. "I had a spa appointment this morning, so I apologize for my tardiness. But I presume you were all waiting for me?"

The question hung in the air.

Isabel Kabra, Lucian top agent. Head of the Lucian branch. Owns the Magni art-dealing company; vice president of the Vikratech Institute; hailed as founder of the AidWorksWonders charity. Elite Seven valedictorian graduate. Defending Top Cahill agent.

"No, we weren't," a Russian voiced out the rest of the Cahills' thoughts. Her eyes stringently held that business-like look. "We started an hour ago; there was no reason we shall wait for you."

Irina Nikolaveina Spaskaya. Lucian branch's official spy department chief administrator. Former Russian KGB agent. Current Lucian branch second-in-command; Lucian department dean/professor. Elite Seven salutatorian graduate.

Isabel scowled; she wasn't a mere child to be rebuked by her pathetic colleagues. How dare that wretched Spasky scorn her? But the woman's scowl immediately turned to a smile. Irina was merely a pathetic lowdown Lucian professor in this pathetic lowdown university. Spaskaya was just Isabel's second-in-command as the Lucian branch leader, so who was Blinky for someone as magnificent as Isabel to look up to?

"Oh, Irina, Blinky darling," the Kabra chuckled, as she and her companion strode toward their seats. "Always taking matters so seriously. Stop being an irascible little girl; it won't be a good image for our students."

Irina's eye twitched, suddenly looking like she was controlling her temper. Her twitching eyes—that's what made people call her Blinky. Oh, what a formidably immature nickname. The redness on her cheeks was noticeable even under the conference room's dim light. Fortunately, an old man cleared his throat and chose to veer the topic away from Isabel's unpunctuality.

"Mrs. Kabra," he started, confidently, "I thought we have made it clear to bring no other companion except for your husband?" Fiske gestured toward Isabel's companion, who was holding his head high. "Who, perchance, might this gentleman be?"

Fiske Cahill, vice president of the Cahill University. Madrigal professor teaching fourth year Cahills. Madrigal dean secretary and supervisor. Madrigal top agent. Elite Seven graduate, third honorable mention.

"Marvin Speede," the guest readily replied, bowing his head. "I am Mrs. Kabra's secretary."

Marvin Speede—no known Cahill relations.

An old woman, who was seated at the center of the room, looked suspiciously at Marvin as she caressed an Egyptian Mau's silver fur on her lap. "And who gave Mr. Speede the consent to come to this confidential conference?"

Grace Cahill, matriarch of the Cahill family. Former defending Madrigal/over-all Cahill top agent for seventy-two years. Madrigal branch leader. President of the Cahill University. Straight-A graduate; Elite Seven valedictorian.

"Isabel?" Grace urged, on the edge with her voice. "Care to answer?"

The Lucian sighed dramatically. "Oh, just get on with the meeting," Isabel waved it off, and relaxed down on her chair, examining her bright red fingernails. "I simply felt the need to bring my secretary."

"And you haven't chosen to bring your husband Vikram as we requested, because…?" An Asian man prodded, not letting go of the topic.

Alistair Oh, Ekaterina agent. Elite Seven graduate, first honorable mention. Representative of the Ekaterina branch, since Gordon Oh, the Ekat branch leader, was not available for the meeting.

There was silence, the vibration of the air conditioner buzzing across the room. The light from the white screen, which flashed a PowerPoint presentation from a projector, seemed to dim even darker as all waited for an answer.

"Oh, for goodness' sakes," Isabel impatiently flipped her perfectly-made hair behind. "You must trust that he is discreet; whatever garbage we're about to discuss in this meeting, Marvin shall make it confidential. Mr. Speede is a highly-qualified secretary in our art-dealing company, working for me for years. And, hurry with the meeting." She made a gesture with her fingers at them, and crossed her arms over her chest, settling down in her seat. "I need to get a manicure."

The university president of Guardian School, Astrid Rosenbloom was skeptical, but smiled at Marvin. She examined the boy carefully, narrowing her eyes. His complexion was a line between fair and dark, his red suit contrasting the wave of black hair covering his dark eyes. Hmm. He looked familiar, but different. She couldn't quite put a finger on where she saw him before. She was sure she saw him before. But where? As she scoured her mind for answers, she found none. The man looked like he was around twenty years old.

Too young to be Isabel's 'highly-qualified secretary' for, what did she say? she thought. Years?

"How old are you, dear?" Astrid couldn't help but ask the said secretary. "You seem a little bit too…young, to be a branch leader's secretary."

Marvin Speede opened his mouth to answer, but a buff, muscular PE teacher with a thunderous voice boomed angrily across the room.

"That Kabra and his henchman have had enough attention!" His large fists banged against the marble table. "Willie! Proceed with the presentation!"

Eisenhower Holt, Tomas agent. On-and-off top Tomas agent. Defending triathlon champion in the Olympic Games. Elite Seven graduate, rank seventh.

William McIntyre, startled, began talking in front of the room as he flashed a new slide on the projector screen.

Everyone took a second good look at Marvin and a suspicious one at Isabel. They've all known the mischievous nature of their second-to-the-youngest colleague, none other than The Snake, The Deceptor, the Isabel Kabra. They all soon reluctantly turned their attention to the screen once again. Isabel, relieved of the attention, decided to relax and listen as that pathetic old lawyer droned on about the nomination for the next batch of Elite Seven students.

She rested her chin on her intertwined fingers. A smile crept on Isabel's lips as she listened intently, thinking of the perfect attack seventeen moves away from checkmate.

Her lips were almost as red as blood.


So…Cahill University. Very original. xD Okay, so I've never posted something this short before, but please take note that I was thirteen when I first writing this. Let me know what you think, so I know if I should continue this or permanently the delete the rest of the chapters from my PC or what! Because I seriously will do that if my self-confidence dwindles… (I already have three chapters written in advance, in fact, [I'm planning to make this story 20 chapters long] but I want to take this slowly and see if you'd like it. If not…well. Epic fail.)

Desperate for the fandom to become alive again,
Rival Argentica