Tera pushed her way through the enormous double doors of Mother's office, stepping out into the real world once more. The real world… The blood-pooled streets and screams of her allies were still all too fresh in her mind. She could still clearly see the agony imprinted on the faces of the severely injured cadets she fought with. She could still see the explosion that sprayed blood and chunks of flesh into the air. She scoffed. Yeah right. Special my…
"Hey Tera!"
Before she could react, an arm was slung over her shoulders and a fist dug into her scalp. With a startled yelp, Tera shoved the fist away from her head and pushed one pointy elbow into the assailant's ribs. Huffing, she straightened, making a futile attempt at smoothing her ruffled hair down before giving up and glaring at the boy behind her.
"Ouch! Why'd you...!?"
"You attacked me," she huffed, pulling on the bottom of her dark uniform shirt. "Learn your lesson already, Ezra."
"But learning doesn't bring much fun, now does it?" Ezra smiled his typical cocky smile. Tera rolled her eyes and headed toward the circular portal that lay a few feet across the room. "Where're ya headed?"
"Classroom Zero," she answered abruptly, waiting for her friend to catch up. Simultaneously, they stepped onto the glowing pattern and vanished, reappearing in the entrance of Akademeia's main building.
"Oh right, I forgot that you're better than me now," Ezra teased. "Too good for Class Fifth, huh?"
"… I don't want this," Tera muttered with a sigh, crossing her arms tightly over her torso. Ezra, though a complete clown, had somehow reserved a small portion of sympathy for his best friend.
"It won't be that bad," he grinned. "I bet all that special treatment'll make you feel a bit better." Resting a gloved hand on her shoulder, he bent down to catch her eye. "Don't be such an introvert, eh? It'll make your life much easier."
"I'm not… Whatever," Tera scoffed, hiding her smile. "I've gotta go meet my new CO."
"See ya later then," Ezra nodded, giving a single-handed wave.
Taking a deep breath, she pushed past the giant ornate doors that led to a wing for Class Zero specifically. To her right was a relic terminal, casting its eerie red glow against the walls surrounding it. To her left, an identical space that was roped off. Interesting. Wonder what they're building. Before her stood the doors of Classroom Zero, slightly ajar. It sounded like quite the commotion was happening. Cautiously, Tera pushed the doors open just enough for her to squeeze through. Machina and Rem stood to her right, gawking at the scene in front of them.
"We only take orders from Mother, got it?" A tall, blonde cadet said firmly, striding toward the man in front of the room who must've been the CO. "You're not wanted here, y…"
Just as he drew too close to the CO for comfort, he was bludgeoned in the face by a gloved fist. A clear cracking sound echoed through the room right on impact, and the cadet flew across the room, slamming into the wall and rolling onto his hands and knees. Several people gasped, including Rem, and Tera clenched her fists at her sides. Already off to a bad start. The boy stood, glaring at the uniformed man with bitter hatred. Wiping the blood dripping from the side of his mouth, he stood, charging toward his target.
"Ow, you son of a bitch! That hurt!"
He raised one tanned fist to swing at the CO, only to have his arm caught mid-strike. The man narrowed his eyes, and with ease, threw the boy up into the air and behind his desk. Tera's fists tightened, her foot involuntarily hitting the ground a half step before her.
"That's enough!" a girl called, raising her hands to try to stop a classmate from launching an attack.
Another cadet summoned her pistols, aiming to shoot the man with magicite orbs, but she was blocked by an explosion of ice shards that rose from the floor. Another charged, holding an ornate playing card, only to have a long, three-pronged sword barely miss his throat. His card fluttered to the floor, burning away into green ash.
"Whew!" a boy breathed, flopping down into his seat and leaning back. "This guy is pretty tough."
The CO narrowed his eyes on the boy's, his icy blue sword steaming in the face of the cadet in front of him. The boy who'd been thrown over the desk dragged himself up and around to face the assailant once again, this time with a deadly sharp spear in his hands. No more bloodshed…
"Not for long!"
"He said it was Mother's decision!" the black-haired girl called out, trying to make peace once again. "Are you saying you won't follow Mother's orders?"
"But...!" the tanned cadet backed off, dropping his spear. With a final huff, he turned away.
"Satisfied?" the CO demanded, sheathing his weapon. "Good. Henceforth, you will execute dominion missions under my command. When you have no assignments, you will live here at Akademeia with the other cadets."
"On campus?" the magicite-pistol girl frowned, crossing her arms.
"Yes," the officer responded shortly, obviously out of patience for the children.
"We never had to do that before. Why start now?" another cadet asked.
"Does that come from Mother too?" the girl sneered.
"Yes, those are Dr. Arecia's orders."
"Hmm…"
"How hasn't he strangled one of them by now?" Machina whispered.
"Machina!" Rem hissed, elbowing him.
Tera watched as students unhappily returned to their seats, muttering things about Mother and Akademeia's "stupid rules." Class Zero's commanding officer straightened, finally addressing the new cadets in the back of the room.
"You're a bit late. Cadet Machina, Cadet Rem, and Cadet Tera! Enter!"
Slowly, Tera followed the other two recruits down to the front of the room, keeping her head down and her hands clasped. Don't do anything stupid. She peered at the cadets through her auburn bangs as she passed, careful not to meet their eyes. Cautiously, she stepped down the wide stairs and positioned herself right beside Rem. She stood nearly a whole head taller than the girl, which made it even harder for her to blend into the shadows she'd dwelt in her entire life.
"Three new cadets have been assigned to Class Zero starting today."
"Machina Kunagiri. Hello," Machina spoke up, nodding toward the class. Tera's breath caught in her throat. Oh no…
"Rem Tokimiya. Nice to meet you!" Rem chirped, turning to Tera with a friendly smile.
"T…" Tera coughed, choking on her own breath. Her face growing bright red, she muttered her name. "Tera."
"Let me guess," the black-haired girl spoke again, pushing her glasses further up on her nose. "Chaperones?" What's that supposed to mean?
"Your time is yours until you receive further orders. I have high hopes for you all." The class's commanding officer raised his right hand. "May the Crystal guide you." With that, he turned and left the classroom, leaving the cadets behind to do what they wished.
"Good to see you again," Machina started, capturing the attention of the other cadets. Oh, by the Crystal… "Thanks for the assist the other day." Assist? She frowned at the red carpeted floor. They had assistance while I watched the world fall apart.
"Yeah," Rem added, placing a hand over her heart to emphasize her sincerity. "Thanks so much for helping us out!" She shook her head in disbelief. "Seriously, though, I can't believe Class Zero is real! Why, my friends and I were sure yourselves were just one of Akademeia's urban legends now, we were! And you're so powerful! Just three of you took down a l'Cie! Oh, which reminds me… Why were you able to use your weapons and magic when everyone else couldn't?"
"That's classified," the cadet who attacked the CO earlier answered simply. He stood, yawning, and meshed his fingers behind his head. "Hey, wanna go get some lunch, yo?"
"Who're you even talking to?" a girl with silver hair asked, leaning forward on her desk. "I'm too tired."
"Oh, c'mon Sicey!" a brunette with curled bangs whined. "Don't be like that!"
Groaning, "Sicey" stood buried her face in her arms. Tera froze upon seeing tow cadets approaching her. What do they want? Another fight?
"Hey Tera," one smiled, resting a hand on her hip. "Mother told us about you. I'm Seven, and this is Trey."
"A pleasure to meet you," Trey bowed slightly.
"… Thanks," Tera answered plainly.
"So where were you before here?" Seven asked, crossing her arms.
"Huh?" Tera frowned. "Oh, uh, Class Fifth."
"Ah yes, that lovely group of cadets," Trey sniffed. "I personally think they've traded their brains out for their- what was it? 'Amazing muscles?'"
Tera scowled; Seven was quick to try to calm her down. "Whatever. Trey's taken it upon himself to be better than everyone else here." She shook her head. "But yeah... Eight was from Class Fifth."
"Eight?" What's with the number names?
"Yeah." Seven pointed to a smaller boy who was bouncing up and down in the back of the room, sharing a conversation with… "And that's Cater." …Cater. "Queen's that girl with the glasses, King's over there, Ace, Sice, Cinque, Deuce, and Jack just left, and Nine's the bonehead that attacked Kurasame." So his name's Kurasame. That's good to know.
"That's… a lot of names," Tera breathed, brushing her long bangs out of her eyes.
"You have to learn them somehow. Actually, there's a unique capability the brain possesses that allows…."
"Save it, Trey!" Cater called from across the room. "She doesn't wanna hear all that nonsense."
"She can speak for herself," Trey muttered.
"She's right here," Tera raised an eyebrow.
"And she's got an attitude," Seven added, smiling smugly as she crossed her arms. "See ya around, Tera."
"Yeah," Tera huffed, watching the two cadets leave. Good riddance.