Over the next few days, several letters came in the mail, California School of Heroes; National Hero School of Canada; a local high school with a hero training program; along with a few out of state high schools offering homestay arrangements; and the Maritime School of Search and Rescue, and Combat. I threw all of those letters away. There was only one letter I wanted, and it was purple.
As soon as the purple envelope arrived from Defender High I tore right into it. Inside was a campus map, a tentative schedule that I could change in a follow up letter or email, and dorm assignment.
I called Nigel to let him know that I would be flying with him to Denver. Nigel was one of the first ones to get their letters, and now that I got mine, I was more than ready to begin studying at my dream school.
All that was left to do was head to Grand Mesa, Colorado, where Defender High's campus was. Which is what today was about.
It was mid July and I was packed up and ready to go. As a family we had enjoyed the month we had off. We drove down to California and spent a week traveling around LA and San Francisco, then farther inland for backpacking in the Rockies for four days. Then it was back to relaxing at home for two weeks before we set out.
At the moment I was being dropped off at the airport by my parents who had offered to drive the two of us there.
"Be safe you guys." My mom ordered before we went through security, almost crying.
"We'll see you at Thanksgiving." My dad called.
After we had made it through security we were sitting down and waiting for the boarding process to start.
"So you ready?" Asked Nigel, flashing his toothy smile.
"I'm so pumped." I cheered. "Staying in a dorm and being in one of the best backpacking places in the country, and not to mention it's Defender High."
"It stinks that we aren't in the same dorm, though."
"At least they aren't too far apart, and we can always meet up after class in the park." I said, looking over a map of the school on my phone.
Defender High was separated into six different sections. To the northeast were the girl's dorms. To the southwest were the boy's dorms. Each dorm area had five buildings. Nigel was in building two closest to the main school in the center of the campus. I was in building five, which was closest to the park that took up most of the east side. On the west side of the campus was a simulated city and combat training zones separated by a large concrete wall from the rest of the school. A large area in between the city and the rest of campus housed the football stadium, the soccer and rugby pitches, basketball stadium, which was attached to the performing arts center, the pool, one of the campus' hospitals, and various other club related buildings.
"Hey, let's look at the upside." Said Nigel. "Since we're staying in different dorms we'll meet new people from around the country. Maybe make some new friends too."
"Maybe. I mean you aren't really affected by my quirk, which is part of the reason you hang around me." I mumble.
"Hey, talking like that you're definitely not going to make any friends." Nigel scoffed, punching me in the arm.
"Now boarding flight three one nine from Seattle to Denver."
"This is us." I let out a faint sigh.
"The three to a room thing is still weird to me." Said Nigel as he scanned his ticket.
"Yeah, it's usually two or four. But I'm looking forward to it."
We loaded the plane and got ready for take off. I put my suitcase in one of the overhead bins and took my seat. We were in a row towards the front of coach. I watched people board the plane, some even looked like they were headed to Defender High, and judging by the DH logo on a girls bag, some of them were going back.
"You know the names of your roommates yet?" Asked Nigel, they had given us the names of our roommates when they gave us our dorm assignments.
"Ryan Artus and Johnny Zoido." I answer, looking at my dorm assignment.
"Eric Erdmann and Myron Petras"
"I wonder what they'll be like?"
We settled into our seats, beginning the journey to our new home.
I put in my headphones and gazed out the window as the tarmac began to move beneath us. In a few minutes we were in the air, passengers reading book s or typing on laptops. Nigel was already passed out across the aisle and thankfully not snoring or leaning on his seatmates shoulder.
Two hours and a half hours later, we touched down in Denver airport and wandered the massive building till we found the transportation platform. The bus was easy to spot, it was a custom painted charter bus with a large DH logo on the side. We approached the bus and were asked to show our acceptance letters.
We were loaded on the bus, which was already mostly full with students from other flights. Thankfully there were still some open seats, and Nigel and I were lucky to be able to spread out.
A few minutes later the bus started up and began to leave the airport. Someone did eventually come and fill up my seat.
"Hey." Called the black haired boy as he sat down. "I'm Ryan."
"I'm Rei, Rei Koizumi" I replied. "Your last name wouldn't happen to be Artus would it?"
"It is, actually." He answered. "Nice to meet you rommie."
I chuckled a little.
"I guess this is pretty nice." Mused Ryan. "Meeting your roommate, well one of them, before even getting to the school."
"I guess it is." I agreed.
"So, what's your quirk?" He asked.
"Watch your head." I say as I lift out of my seat a little, reaching my hand up to keep my head from biting the ceiling.
James just shakes his head at my antics.
"That's so cool." Said Ryan as I descended back down into my seat. "What is it called?"
"Reversal." I say turning on my reversal field. "Now try to use your quirk."
He pointed his finger and tried to draw on the air in front of him, and nothing happened. He then tried the seat and again nothing happened. He looked at his finger and saw that instead of leaving color on the seat, the seats purple cloth color was on his finger.
"That is an amazing quirk." He said while still looking at his finger. "All I do is draw things."
Almost no one had ever said that my quirk was amazing, only Nigel. No one who just met never said it, they just said that I would be a good villain. Maybe my time at Defender wouldn't be so bad after all.
Over the course of the next couple hours, I watched the cityscape of Denver turn to the sprawling Rocky Mountains, the great wilderness of the American West.
As the bus wound its way through the mountains passes, we branched off towards a private road.
"Guys, look." Called a student near the front. "It's the outer wall."
Everyone began craning their necks for their first look at out new home in the Mountains. I could just bareilly see the massive concrete structure, stretching around the entire campus, and soon we were passing through the Main Gate, the archway emblazoned with the Defender High Logo.
"Welcome to Defender High." Said a voice over the bus' speaker system. Instantly recognizable as the strongest pro hero in North America, the distorted voice that was neither male nor female, nor human or inhuman. "I am the director of Defender High, Vendetta. You have been accepted into one of the best high schools in the world. For returning students you know the drill. For you first years, once you get off the bus. Take your luggage to the admissions office and show them your dorm number and you will receive your room key and student ID. Good luck, and welcome." Vendetta signed off with the trademark phrase of Defender High: "Excelsior."
Then the bus stopped in front of a small brick building and we stepped off the bus. We were really here, I couldn't believe it. I was taking my first steps at the place of my dreams in the Colorado sunlight.
Nigel, Ryan, and I all walked into the admin building and joined the queues. I approached the window and gave the receptionist my name.
"Welcome to Defender High, Mr. Koizumi." She said with a cheerful smile.
"Thank you." I smiled, grabbing my new student ID and key cards. I held them up in my hand, the black, purple, and gold plastic card, stamped with my photo, name, dorm room, and course. This was it, I was here, I was a student.
After the four of us got out cards, we began to head to our dorms.
"I guess I'll see you at dinner." Called Nigel as he went towards a campus shuttle, headed for his dorm: Thunderhead.
"See you then" I said as Ryan and I began the walk across the campus to Cabin number Five, Red Tail Hall.
"This is interesting." Said Ryan as we approached our new home.
The exterior of the cabin was crimson stained wood and was built like an old log cabin, but on a much larger scale. The hall had two floors and an angular green shingled roof, balconies from dorms jutted out from the second level. A large glass dome sat in the middle of the roof, green foliage visible inside. The main entrance door was made from a massive red oak tree covered with lacquer. The bronze handle was shiny from constant use. Burned into the wood was a red tail hawk, its wings spread as it soared over the world. The parking lot behind the hall was relatively empty.
I twisted the doorknob and the oak door swung open on silent hinges. The inside was like an old Viking feast hall, only with more modern equipment lying around.
Wooden support beams running over and across, holding up the ceiling. Soft light came from the joists between the wall and ceiling. Large windows let some sunlight filter in on the dark hardwood floor. On both side walls were large fireplaces built from raw stone that looked like it was picked up and mortared together, carefully crafted black metal fire screens that looked woven together instead of solid pieces kept anyone sitting on the hearth falling into the fire. A large bronze statue of a red tail hawk perched on his tree sat in the middle, the trunk reaching all the way up to the ceiling. Scattered about the floor were meeting areas with soft russet red carpets and rustic looking couches and chairs. Some monitors and game consoles were pushed against the walls, with everything from Galaga and Minecraft to Super Smash Bros and Resident Evil being played. Two large spiral staircases made from the same red oak as the door gave access to the upper floor. The place felt homey, cozy, all accented with a magical hint of cedar from the wood, and the gentle chatter of early arrivals on campus.
I looked down at the room keycard, the number was etched into the purple plastic with gold trim: 05216. Fifth dorm, second floor, room sixteen.
"Well, here we go." I sighed, rolling my suitcase over to the stairwell.
After lugging my suitcase up the spiral staircase, I learned the top floor was carpeted with beautiful, intricately woven red and bronze fabric.
"This place is awesome." Whistled Ryan as we rolled our way to room sixteen.
It was towards the middle of the dorm, so we had a bit of a walk to get to it. The door was cedar framed with dark oak, the knob fashioned to look like a knot on the bark. The number sixteen was branded into the wood.
I swiped the card in front of the scanner and heard the lock open with a soft click. I pushed open the door and let out a slight gasp before I began moving around the dorm.
The room was beautiful. The first part was a simple kitchen with a small refrigerator and counter space, along with an electric stovetop and oven. The cabinetry was all polished red oak. A red oak door led to a full bathroom with shower, bathtub, and enough vanity space for three people.
The next space was floored with a soft red carpet. A couch and two arm chairs flanked a dark oak table, a small incense burner was letting out the soothing smell of lavender. A TV sat on a set of chested drawers, the handles polished brass, behind it was enough outlets to plug in four game consoles, a PS4 was already plugged into the TV.
The beds where the farthest back, three beds pushed parallel to the walls sat on lofted cedar bed frames, giving the room a hint of cedar smell. Under each bed was a desk with enough space for school books and a desktop computer, the desk already had a nice lamp, rolly chair, and a paper tray. Over each was a corkboard we could use to pin things up. Next to the desk were little cubbies with large plastic tubs for clothes, and a short bar for anything that needed to be hung over the tubs.
One was already claimed, the one closest to the window, as evidenced by the laptop and a few running medals hanging from the corkboard.
"This is awesome." Cheered Ryan as he ran towards the outer doors, opening them to the balcony, letting the warm summer breeze roll in. "We lucked out for sure on this room."
"You bet we did." I agreed, starting to unpack my stuff, claiming the middle bed. Soon, I had my desktop set up and connected to the building WiFi, which was actually blazing fast, all my clothes unpacked into the boxes, a few of my posters on the walls under and next to my bed. "And it looks like our roomate already made himself at home."
"Wonder when he'll be back?"
I was sitting down with headphones on and ready to start a match of Rocket League. I was about to click the start button when a high pitched whine started outside on the balcony.
"What is that?" Asked Ryan, looking up from a notebook.
"No clue." I said, standing up and walking towards the still open balcony door.
Ryan and I were assaulted by the smell and feel of hot jet exhaust and the high pitched whine got even louder.
The source of the sound was a short Hispanic kid who dropped to the hardwood deck with a thud and wide smile. He was shorter than I was, wearing a light t-shirt and shorts, and a pair of shoes were tied to his waist, he was barefoot. On his wrists and ankles the skin stuck out and jet turbines were visible. His black hair was a bit of a curly mess. "Hey. I'm Johnny, nice to meet you." He stuck out his hand for me to shake. Allowing me to see that he had a hole in his palm, the end of a jet engine embedded in his body.
"Rei, Rei Koizumi." I shook his hand, a little bit of heat coming from the exhaust port.
"Ryan Artus." Ryan offered his hand, which Johnny took and shook with urgency.
"Nice to meet you. Now if you will excuse me, I need to eat something before I pass out. Running four jet engines takes a lot of food." He stepped past me and into the room almost running to the fridge and pulling out a metal bottle and a peeled kiwi. Then to the cabinets before yanking down a protein bar as we walked back inside and I shut the door. I glanced under his desk where he appeared to have a multitude of snacks and large bottles of whey protein.
"Did you eat lunch?" I asked. "And why do you have so much food with you? The school has a cafeteria."
"My quirk." Said Johnny in between bites of kiwi. "It's called Jet Engine and as you can tell I have four jet engines naturally embedded in my arms and legs. They require fuel constantly. So I'm usually always eating." He takes a large gulp of whatever was in his metal bottle. "What's your quirk?"
I jump into the air and lie back on the ceiling. "It's called Reversal." I say sitting up."I can reverse my gravity and the gravity of anything I'm touching with relative ease. I can also emit a field that reverses a quirks effect and how it functions once I stop, their quirk goes back to normal." I said, flipping back down onto the floor. "But if I touch you with all five fingers, your quirk is reversed for about ten minutes."
"So does that mean my quirk is reversed right now because we shook hands?" A nervous look on his face.
"Nah. Only happens when I want it too." I shrugged.
"That's awesome. I'd have to say being able to sit on the ceiling sounds fun."
"You wanna try it?" I asked.
"Wait, you can switch my gravity?" Johnny asked skeptically, setting down his snacks and drink.
"Yeah, just come here and grab my hand. Once we're on the ceiling, don't let go of my hand unless you want to fall back down."
He grabs onto my hand and I reverse my gravity carrying him with me. Rotating us to stand on the wooden ceiling.
"This just isn't right." Protested Johnny. "I'm not supposed to be on the ceiling like this." I could tell that he wasn't having too much fun so I drifted us back to our normal gravity.
"That is just plain wrong." He said, shaking his head. "But it's freaking awesome."
"Hey, you know what a good idea is?" Asked Ryan. "Figuring out a little bit more about each other. I mean, we are about to spend the next year together. Might as well exchange information."
For the next thirty minutes we shared information, what state we were from, our quirk, and phone numbers. Ryan was from a small town in Illinois and Johnny was from San Antonio, Texas. Afterwards we worked on unpacking the rest of my and Ryan's stuff. The TV had four HDMI ports and two were already taken by the receiver and Johnny's PS4. The other two would soon be taken by Ryan's Xbox and my Switch console.
Ryan was also a pc gamer and had his own set up that took about fifteen minutes to put together with all his equipment, some custom made. His pc was different than most other designs and had no logo on the case cover. He had two controllers that were specially made for motion tracking with adapters depending on what game he was playing.
"Did you build most of this yourself?" I asked, examining the strange sword like controller.
"Yeah." He boasted. "I did. That one you're holding there is what I use when playing Dark Souls. It's all motion tracking from a special camera and code system I designed. It took forever to get all the bugs worked out." He was now plugging in his dual monitor to the outlet behind him.
"Hey, guys." Called Johnny from the door. "Dinner starts soon and I'm hungry."
"From what you've told me you're always hungry." I shouted back, walking over to the door, Ryan close behind.
We headed back downstairs and out of the dorm hall. I checked the time, it was already six fifteen, and dinner started in fifteen minutes.
"Were gonna be so late now." I grumble, pulling out my phone and texting Nigel that I would be a little late.
"No we won't." Johnny said untying his shoes.
"What are you planning?" I ask as he took off his socks and tied his shoes around his shoulder bandolier style.
"Grab on." He grabbed mine and Ryan's wrists. I found out quickly that his grip strength was like that of a vice. "Hold on. This could get a little windy." Ryan and I wrapped around Johnny as tight as we could.
Then the sound of warming up engines filled the air as heat blasted our shins. He pulled us forward and before we knew it we were flying over the campus and small groups of students that had arrived walking to the expansive cafeteria. The wind was cold against my face and my lips were starting to get chapped.
Then we banked to the right and started to come in for a landing in a clearing not too far from the cafeteria building. I was thankful when my feet touched the grass. "Never… do that… again." I shouted in between pants.
"Oh come on." Said Johnny. "That was awesome."
"I'm gonna have to agree with Rei on this one." Said Ryan, looking a little green.
"Well now I'm starving again let's get something to eat." Johnny clapped his hands before running up the hill to the path headed towards the cafeteria.
We walk up the hill back to the main entrance and walk inside and my phone goes off. I look and it was from Nigel. "Was that you up there flying?"
"Possibly." I text back.
"With who?" He quickly responded.
"My roommates. They're pretty cool."
"Were you want to meet up?"
"I say on the roof. See the scenery and escape some of the noise."
"The roof it is. I'll see you up there."
By this time we were in line and close to getting our food. "Hey, you guys want to eat on the roof? I'm meeting some friends of mine up there. That is if you weren't gonna eat with your friends?" I say as I scan my card through the reader and grab a tray, it was steak with mashed potatoes and salad with options on soda, water or sweet tea.
"I'll eat with you. My friend won't get here till two days before the term starts so I'm cool with it." Says Ryan as he picks up his tray.
"I've been eating with my friends for the past few days so I'll eat with you. A nice change of pace." He grabbed an extra full tray from a special line. His quirk meant he got more food. Lucky.
"Then let's go to the roof." I declared, placing a sweet tea glass on my tray.
We walked up the stairs to the roof and the view was absolutely stunning. Elegant roses and orchids grew in boxes along the roof, purple of course. The mountains of the Grand Mesa area rose up around the school and the air was fresh and crisp with a slight breeze blowing through the trees on campus.
"Let's sit over here." I nodded over to a table with several seats was pulled into a corner of the roof. Nigel soon joined us, introducing himself to Ryan and Johnny.
"Where are your roommates?" I asked before taking a bite of mashed potatoes.
"Eating with their friends. Apparently, most of my hero class already found each other when they arrived early."
"What class are you in?" Asked Ryan.
"Class 1-1." James sighed.
"Wow, you must've really impressed the judges."
James strachted the back of his head. "Sure, being in that class is great, but in reality its just a nightmare. Everyone in 1-1 is so competitive. I mean its understandable but they take it to a whole other level."
We kept on eating and chatting for a while before Ryan elbowed me in the side.
"Dude, Rei, there's a girl over there, she keeps looking over here at you."
"Me?" I raised an eyebrow.
"Yeah." Johnny nodded. "She's right across the roof with two friends, look for the girl with the scorpion tail, then find the girl with a massive amount of hair, and that's her.
I cast my eyes over to the table, and I immediately recognized the girl they were talking about. It was the girl I had help rescue back during testing: Ayden. She was sitting with two other girls, both taller than her. The girl to her left was tall, even by male standards, with long light brown hair and fair skin, a pair of black gloves covered her hands.
The other girl couldn't have been more different. She was scorpion-like with four arms and a large scorpion tail, stinger and all, over her shoulder. Her eyes were black with darker green irises and her skin was almost black, a color that complimented her short cut brown hair that carried a shimmering quality.
My eyes settled back on Ayden as she looked my way, our eyes locking for a second.
"James, its her." I tapped him. "Remember Ayden, the girl we helped during testing?"
His eyes lit up in recognition. "Yeah. You should go over an talk to her."
"What, no." I chuckled.
"What, scared a girls or something." Johnny teased.
"No, its nothing like that." I defended. "Just, I don't really know her. I met her once during our practical entrance exam."
"So you do know her." Ryan teased.
"Yes and know." I relented before looking back her way. "Besides, I think we won't be the ones moving."
The boys looked over as Ayden and her friends began walking over to our table.
Ayden led the charge, with the taller girl right behind her, with the scorpion girl taking up the rear, almost hiding herself.
"Hey," Ayden gave a smirk as she came over. "Mind if we join you."
"Not at all." I said as we rearranged our trays so everyone could fit at the table.
I stood up and offered my hand to Ayden. "Name's Rei, Rei Koizumi."
Ayden took it with a smile. "Ayden Clark. Its nice to finally meet you."
"And they are?" I motioned to her to companions.
"Valerie Rook." The taller girl nodded, giving a light handshake. Her voice seasoned with an Italian accent. "Nice to meet you." She was polite, her voice melodic and graceful, but held an air of authority and formality.
"I'm Izabela Beljan." Whispered the scorpion girl, her small voice hinting at a vaguely Southeastern European accent.
"No need to be bashful." Ryan called. "With a quirk like yours, you shouldn;t have to be afraid of anyone."
Izabela smiled faintly at his comment.
"I'm Ryan, one of Rei's roomates." He gave them all a wave.
"I'm Johnny, the other roommate." Added Johnny in between bites. Barely getting the words out.
"Is he okay?" Asked Valerie, a concerned look on her face like she was watching a starving animal carve into a carcass, which wasn't too far off, truth be told.
"He's fine." I say waving a hand. "From what he told us when he uses his quirk he gets really hungry and is usually eating all day long. Before dinner he ate two protein bars and a whey shake."
"And he's still hungry?" Asked Ayden in disbelief.
"Yep." said Johnny, actually piping in the conversation. He lifted up his hands to show them the holes and turbines in his arms. "I have jet engines in my arms and legs that always need fuel, I'm like a hobbit, got so many 'meals'."
"Interesting." Said Ayden.
"I'm Nigel, by the way." Nigel flashed them his trademark shark toothy smile.
"What happened to your teeth?" Valerie inquired, clearly intrigued.
"Dunno." Nigel shrugged. "They've always been this way."
"Hm." Valerie nodded before taking a sip of what appeared to be an iced coffee.
Ayden flashes a mischievous smile "It wouldn't have been you three that flew over the caf earlier. would it?"
"Yeah, no that was us." Ryan sighed.
"You enjoy your flight over?" Ayden quipped.
"The man to talk to would be the Hispanic currently stuffing his face." I threw a plastic spoon at Johnny's head, just for the fun of it.
"Hey." He said with a full mouth. "We got here didn't we?"
"A warning would've been nice." Added Ryan casting a sidelong glance over to Johnny as he sipped his coke. "What about you Valerie?" Asked Ryan as he motioned with a fork, a roasted carrot hanging off the spikes. "What's your quirk?"
She picked up a plastic knife and took off one of her gloves. She moved the knife into her uncovered hand up and wrapped her fingers around the utensil. The plastic shattered into billions of fine pieces and blew away into the wind. "It's called Shatter."
"Impressive. But how does your glove not dissolve like the knife did?" I asked as she carefully slipped her glove back on.
"The fingers are separate pieces from the hand of the glove, so I would have to touch each piece to shatter it."
"That's pretty cool." Said Johnny, somehow done with that mountain of food that was on his tray.
"Ayden, what's your quirk again?" Asked Nigel.
"Oh, I can do this." Ayden held up her hand as blue flame danced across her skin. "And these things can burn or freeze, depending on what I want."
Ryan let out a whistle. "Talk about a killer combination. With an elemental power like that you could be looking at being an Excelsior."
Ayden let out a hearty laugh. "My dad would like to think so, but in all honesty, I'm no where near as powerful as some other freshmen here."
"You look pretty special Izabela." I turned to face her. "I'm guessing your quirk is Scorpion?"
She nods and says quietly. "Yeah, Scorpion. I have a really strong grip strength and can climb walls, basically everything a real scorpion can do." She then looked up for the first real time, looking above my eyes to my head. "You're like me." She mumbled.
"You must mean the horns." I pointed to them. "Though I don't know how you missed them earlier. But how am I like you?"
"Your quirk changes your body. Like mine." Her voice was actually happy and part of me didn't want to tell her my actual quirk to not make her sad.
"I actually got these from my birth parents." I said, "I'm adopted so I never knew my biological parents, but either my mom or dad gave me these." I pointed to the beautiful, dark colored horns that curved backwards gently and were now probably a little longer than eight inches.
"This is my actual quirk." I look around at the table thinking who I should reverse. "Valerie, can you shatter something, but make sure the pieces don't fly away."
"Okay sure." A quizzical look on her face. She picked up a plastic spoon and fractured it into small pieces.
"I wouldn't recommend anyone use their quirk for about three minutes." I said as I activated my quirk. "Now Valerie, try to break apart the smaller pieces." She placed the pieces randomly on the table and touched them. The white shards shot back together and a perfectly formed spoon sat on the table.
"It's ben reversed." Gasped Valerie, looking up at me with interested cold blue eyes. "What are the details of your power?"
"Whenever I touch someone with all five fingers their quirk is reversed for about ten minutes. But I can also emit a reversal field that reverse any quirk as long as it's up. It's down now so you should be back to normal."
"Your quirk is pretty cool." Said Izabela. "But does it not affect mine?"
"I won't change the appearance of any quirks if they affect the body," I answered, "but it would reverse their abilities. Like for example if you tried to crush something when my field was up you wouldn't do anything, your strength might decrease for a while too, but I don't know."
We kept chatting, talking about the parts of class we were looking forward, to what we were dreading, and who we hoped our teacher would be. Before we knew it, it was almost eight at night and we were asked to leave the roof by one of the school staff. We continued to talk and joke till we had to part ways near the park. The girls waved bye and walked to their dorms. Nigel just disappeared and we went into our dorm, some people still milling around in the main floor as we made our way up the stairs, Ryan and Johnny stopped at our room but I kept walking.
"You coming?" Asked Ryan.
"I'll be back soon, I'm going to go to the atrium."
I climbed up the smaller spiral staircase and to the large door hinged to the floor.
The door opened to reveal a lush sanctuary of trees and flowers, they weren't all purple up here. They were a myriad of all different colors, vibrant reds and royal blues. The light was dim but what I assumed was enough to allow the plants to grow. I walked over to the edge of the atrium and looked out over the campus, the central spires of the school buildings glinted, off in the distance a couple of the dorms peeked through the treetops, one even looked like a castle spire. The cold night wind blowing through my hair. The lights began to fade over campus. A quiet announcement sounded over the large campus: "Curfew begins now, the campus street lights will be turned off until four a.m."
The lights on the street shut off. Leaving only the dim lights of the dorms around campus. In the next few minutes the stars began to appear in the night sky, some framing the sliver of the moon hanging in the sky. The Milky Way shining brightly, even though we were in the middle of what was basically a small town. All unfolding as I sat and watched.
I allowed my thoughts to drift, and they wandered to where they usually do. I began to think if my parents enjoyed things like this. My real parents, the ones that I never met. I wondered if they ever looked up at the night sky like this. Of course that only led to wondering who they were: were they heroes, or just ordinary civilians, where do they live, do I have any siblings, what am I to them? I ran my hand through my hair, straightening it after the wind blew it to the side. My hand hit my horns, who did they come from? Would they be proud of who I am?
I left the atrium that night with my head full of questions I couldn't answer, and it wasn't the first time, and it wouldn't be the last. I slipped into the room, Johnny sprawled out on his bed, one leg dangling over the side, that might not end well before morning. Ryan was snoring quietly, with no covers. I climb up onto the bed and fall asleep staring at the ceiling. I should really get something to cover that with.
