After Dobin went to his room to begin studying his Earth Ability, Lana unpacked her meager personal belongings. The last thing she pulled from her bag was a small velvet box.
She carefully opened it and glanced at the golden locket inside as if she had not done it a thousand times before. She had memorized every line. Every curve. The design on front was that of a climbing rose with sharp thorns wrapped around a human heart so tight the thorns almost punctured it.
Inside the locket were two pictures she could only assume were her parents. This was the only thing left with them along with their names.
She wondered for the thousandth time who her parents were. Where did they go? Did they love their twins? Why did they leave two innocent babies behind to live such a hard life? And… Now that she was out of that wretched orphanage, did she dare wear such a valuable and personal trinket?
She decided to give her time here a test before putting her most precious item around her neck. She just finished stashing it away when she heard a squawk then a beep at her door. Her roommate had arrived.
"Oh, it's You!" Kattie Beastiary stated as she entered the room. "We were teleported here together."
Knowing she was higher level than this other student, it was easier to remember her strength. "Hi. It's nice to meet you. I'm Lana. Are you from the Beastiary family?"
Kattie nodded, "my family worked their way into their favor as part of a faction and I was lucky enough to learn their ability. I'm not part of their hierarchy, but I'm grateful for the opportunity I have been given. My name is Kattie."
Presenting the bird, "This is Sven. He's a Level-2 beast and is sort of a cross between a raven and a crow with a bit of eagle mixed in, I guess you could say. He's only been with me about 4 months so far. We are still learning about each other and becoming friends but he likes me so far. What's your ability?"
Lana nodded, "plants. I'm an original and am still learning my ability. My brother and I are orphans. I don't have a family leader to teach me how to use my ability so it feels… chaotic at times."
She paused, "I'm looking forward to being friends. I have had bad luck with that my whole life. I hope things with you turn out different. Perhaps we can get to know each other?"
Kattie looked a bit taken aback then nodded. "I'm sorry to hear that. I just figured we would be living together so we might as well get to know one another and get along."
Lana nodded and smiled, "I appreciate that. My brother and I shared the same room and bed because we were even rejected by the others at the orphanage."
Kattie nodded with a huge smile, "I look forward to exploring friendship with you!"
Lana lay on her bed with her school tablet trying to familiarize herself with the device. She would be lost without her brother and she knew it. He did show her how to access her course materials along with other things. Why did this device not work the same way as the one for her previous school?
After being bored to tears by trying to get ahead in her lessons, she put the tablet down. She set up the washing machine to clean her new uniforms so she could put them away. Lana really wanted to go to the library. She didn't want to bug Dobin since he had a new ability book.
She looked to her roommate. Kattie had just finished placing her things away and stowing her suitcase. "Kattie? I'd like to go to the library. Do you want to come with me?"
Kattie's eyes lit up, "I'd love to! I'll bring Sven's food and feed him while you peruse. We can take him for a walk afterward in the park so he can relieve himself."
Lana smiled, "looks like we may have been roomed together for a reason after all."
Since Kattie was taller. Lana stood to her left. They marched to the library, backpacks on both shoulders, Sven sitting on Kattie's shoulder. Inside the library, Lana found herself getting excited with the amount of books. Kattie found a table near the bathroom to sit and feed Sven, making cleanup more convenient.
It took Lana 45 minutes to find the section on ancient healing with herbs. There were other sections as well but she decided to check out four books from this category. She decided to buy some cooking equipment meant for camping with her first payment, while she was there. She would need to buy notebooks tomorrow once she got paid again. Lana went to the market computer, made her purchase and collected her items. They barely fit in the bag with the books in there but she managed somehow.
Lana went back to where Kattie was sitting and smiled brightly at Kattie, "I'm done. Think he could use time in the park now?"
Kattie stood, "Yes. We were just waiting on you."
Outside the library, bags back on their backs, they stood next to each other. They marched themselves as best they knew how to get to the park. They found a bench and let Sven fly. About 30 minutes later, he returned, ready to return to their room. Within ten minutes they marched back. They didn't see a single person while out and were not interrogated once. They didn't expect that to happen again.
Lana sat at the desk on her side of the room and began studying. All 4 books were placed on the back left corner of her desk. She chose the top one to start with. Five hours later, exhausted, she collapsed onto her bed. There was much to learn.
She was in the school hallway and like so many times before, a boy with a high ability was beating on her brother. Her rage was growing inside her.
The fight was at the other end of the hallway, at least a hundred feet from her current location. She needed to rescue him as she always did so she did the only thing she could think of. She flipped and somersaulted around all the students, dodging here and there, kicking where needed as other students tried to stop her from getting to him. She came out of a flip and brought her foot right up under the chin of her brother's assailant. Dobin dropped to the floor one direction. Jobe fell the other.
Jobe, the assailant, started to get up but she was too quick for him and stomped on his knee cap, shattering it. He screamed in pain and Lana looked behind her to see her brother's condition. He was bloody and not moving. She turned back to Jobe and noticed he had moved to an almost kneeling position. Blood was oozing from his head and knee and it looked like his jaw was broken but she didn't care.
The rage was consuming her as she screamed like a banshee and swung her leg with every ounce of strength she had toward his head. All she wanted was blood. Jobe's blood. Jobe's death. Inches before impact, Jobe was knocked to the floor as Stacy rescued him, pulling him down then toward her. Lana impacted with the wall and didn't even feel the pain. She screamed again with deeper rage, the decade of abuse they had been forced to tolerate.
She sat up in bed gasping for air having just finished her scream. Tears were streaming down her face. She grabbed her pillow and shoved her face into it, crying. Holding the pillow close to her. Hugging it so tight she would have squeezed the life out of it had it been alive.
When she finally calmed down, she realized the alarm was going off. They needed to be at PT formation in 5 minutes. On the other side of her room, there sat Kattie with Sven sitting on her shoulder. She had a concerned look on her face.
Lana wiped her tears from her face, "did I wake you?"
Kattie smiled sadly, "It's okay. Are you okay? That sounded pretty bad."
Lana nodded slowly. "I was so tired last night that I didn't meditate. That happens a lot when I don't meditate before I sleep. I normally have to do it in the morning and evening."
Looking down at her hands, "I have … a hard time controlling my emotions. Especially when it involves my brother or adults. Adults are the worst. When they push… Exert their authority… Abuse their power."
Her voice trailed off then she climbed off the bed. "We need to be outside for PT in 5. We have to hurry." It was then she realized Kattie was already dressed.
Lana quickly dressed then they ran out. They formed up, did push-ups, sit-ups, and ran for 20 minutes. They were then released to shower and get breakfast.
While Kattie got in the shower, Lana sat on the floor to do her morning meditation. She sighed deeply, as she focused on nothing and grounding her energy, ensuring the white light entered through her feet, traveled to every area of her body and the excess left, before opening her eyes once more.