Chapter 33 – First Day of School (1)

Bored. That's how Rain feels, waiting for the Academy's orientation to start. Worried about the unfamiliar navigation challenges, and not wanting to stick out by walking in late, he left his room about half an hour before he ultimately needed to. Now, he's been sitting in the small, 20-person conference room alone for about fifteen minutes, waiting for others to show up. 

'Isn't this also going to make me stick out? I'll look like an overachiever...'

He lets out a regretful sigh. He spent most of the morning practicing his Talent use and Ichor control in his room...he wishes he'd just kept doing that a bit longer. Eventually, other students start filtering into the room. To his delight, they give him passing glances, but nobody seems to think anything strange about him already being there. 

He studies the students as they fill up in the room, taking their preferred seats. Rain opted for one of the seats furthest from both the door and the speaker's podium. He watches with interest as some students filter in together and sit together, while others may enter alone and then wave to others already present. The one constant in their behavior, however, is that none of them are sitting alone for long. They all seem to have existing connections. 

'And then there's me...'

As the room's seats are nearly filled, and the influx of students has all but stopped, the previously robust chatter in the room suddenly dies. Returning his attention to his surroundings, Rain notices everyone staring at someone standing in the doorway. It's a girl about his age, with fair skin, long, platinum-blonde hair, and pale blue eyes.

She's tall for a girl, probably as tall as Rain himself. She's generally petite, with soft curves that would normally make him think she's lived a gentle, pampered life. However, the athletic tank-top she's wearing reveals a surprisingly lean, subtly muscled physique that speaks to years of hard physical training. More importantly, her pale blue eyes carry a certain detached coldness that he can't quite reconcile with a happy childhood. 

Seemingly oblivious to everyone's stares, the girl begins walking to the back of the room, and Rain hears a flood of whispers begin to swirl through the room. 

"Hey, is that..."

"Yeah, that's totally her..."

"No way...that's his daughter!?"

"Is it true...about her parents...?"

"Shut up, moron, do you want her to hear you!?"

"Yeah man, chill out...that whole family is insanely strong..."

"No doubt...you think she got the Fate Lineage...?"

The whispers audible to him soon die down, however, because the strange girl finds her way to the back of the room...and takes a seat right next to Rain. He feels all the eyes in the room suddenly making furtive glances in his direction. 

'Gods...this is miserable...poor girl.'

Putting on his most polite smile, he turns in his seat to face her and offers his hand, whispering in a friendly tone. 

"Hey, I...uhm...hear good things about you. I'm Rain, what's your name?"

The girl casts him a disinterested look, briefly glancing at his outstretched hand, then turns her head back to stare straight ahead. All the while, her face never shows a trace of emotion. Just when Rain thinks she's going to ignore him completely, she gives a blunt, short response without looking at him, her tone somehow both melodic and uninviting. 

"Ronin."

Rain blinks awkwardly, not sure what to do with that. 

'I'm still shit at this, I see...'

He scratches his cheek nervously and smiles. 

"Uhm...sure...it's nice to meet you, Ronin. I, uh, take it you're a Legacy, then?"

This time, Ronin merely glances at him briefly, then looks away and remains painfully silent. After an awkward moment staring at her expectantly, he promptly turns back in his seat to face the podium. 

'Yeah...off to a great start making allies...'

Rain is mercifully spared from attempting further...conversation...with Ronin by the arrival of the professor. He's a man in his mid 30s looks-wise, with an extremely muscular build, a stern expression, and a tidy outfit. He introduces himself as Chosen Sarge, then proceeds to give orientation in a nearly monotone voice. 

The subject matter is about what Rain expected after talking with Bright, but he does learn a few interesting things. First, right before the Divine Cycle hits and he's thrown into Asphodel, all the new Champions will be placed in a massive underground room lined with special chairs. The chairs can track the Marked students' states during the Crucible – apparently Marked leave behind a kind of ethereal tether in the mortal realm, but it disappears if they die. This lets the Academy keep track of everyone, and quickly collect them if they return from the Crucible. 

Second, he finds out that there's going to be one other person in the survival bootcamp with him...apparently, Chosen Sarge is the one who teaches it. He mentions that he heard one other person in the room, i.e., Rain, would be joining the single, existing student. So, that's something. 

Other than those points, it's mainly just a boring recap of what the Crucible is, how important teamwork is, and then a laborious review of the rules of conduct at the Academy. The latter all seem extremely loose to Rain, and he doubts he'll have any trouble following them. 

After the orientation ends, Rain watches the other students filter out of the room before him, lost in his thoughts. There are no classes for him the rest of the day, so he's got to decide how to spend his time. Eventually, he notices that, even though the rest of the students are now gone, Ronin is still sitting next to him. Worse, she's studying him with that creepily intense gaze of hers from earlier. Rain blinks nervously, then offers an awkward smile. 

"Uhm...Ronin...can I help you with som-"

Before he can finish the question, she cuts him off with a terse voice. 

"Tell me who you are..."

Rain's expression becomes bewildered, and he raises his eyebrows at her incredulously. 

'Gods, she really forgot me already? Un-fucking-believable...'

"I'm Rain...remember?"

Her eyes narrow slightly, as though his response agitates her, and her voice becomes a little lower.

"Which clan sent you here?"

Feeling a hint of agitation himself over her attitude, Rain has the urge to mouth off to her, and Unhinged doesn't give him the chance to reel in the impulse. He smirks disapprovingly and responds with a sarcastic tone. 

"Farlow's Orphanage in the Rim...what about you, Princess Legacy?"

As soon as the words are out of his mouth, and Unhinged is sated, Rain's mind calms and he swears at himself internally. 

'Man, I'm really killing it today...look at me go...I'll be swimming in allies in no time...'

Rain thinks he spots the slightest hint of confusion in Ronin's eyes, but then it vanishes and she just stares at him silently for an awkwardly long time. 

"Orphans don't survive the Trial..."

Rain grits his teeth in annoyance. He flashes Ronin a dark, unamused smile, and unbeknownst to him, his shimmering irises turn pitch black for a split second. 

"And Legacies are supposed to be all refined and polite, so I guess this room is full of disappointments, isn't it?"

Traces of shock suddenly flash across Ronin's expression, and her whole body tenses in alarm. For a couple of seconds, she stares warily at Rain, who's mostly unaware of the subtle change in her, then she relaxes slightly. She nods and rises from her chair, but doesn't take her eyes off him. 

"I'll be going, then..."

Rain's expression blanks, and he stares at her in confusion. 

'What an attitude change...'

"Uhm...sure..."

Not waiting for further comment, Ronin spins on her heel and walks quickly towards the door. Rain is left unaware, but she's still tracking him out of the corner of her eye until she's out of the room. When she's gone, Rain just stares at the door for several seconds with a bewildered expression. Then, he lets out a deep sigh and mumbles under his breath. 

"Guess I owe Bright an apology...maybe she's relatively sane after all..."