“Here we are,” Florence announced as the carriage pulled to a halt in front of a tall stone building, it had transparent glass windows and beautiful images carved into the stones, each image depicting a different species. At the center of the building, there was a tower with the Grey Academy crest on the front of it. The archway leading into the campus had levitating words that burned white across it reading ‘Welcome to the Grey Academy!’
“Are you coming?” Florence inquired, Henrik and her having already gotten out of the carriage and were waiting for her. She swiftly exited, picking up her bag that held all her clothes and belongings in it. Just like everything in Beastmora, it was enchanted. The bag itself was designed to be bottomless, meaning it could hold any amount of things; it had been a gift for her seventy-fifth cycle from her parents. Valeria followed her mother towards the entrance of the building; Henrik’s hand was tucked in Florences as she led them to the door by the archway. Once inside, Valeria discovered it was a little reception area, and there was a female merperson in a wheelchair with dull green eyes sitting at the desk, a smile across her lips. Valeria tried not to stare, but it was shocking to see a merperson on land. Most merpeople didn’t want to live on land because they couldn’t go twenty-four hours without being in the water, making it terribly inconvenient to live here.
“Princess Florence, how can I help you?” She asked, her eyes gleaming at their mother.
“Madame Neferna, I am checking my daughter, Valeria in,” Florence responded, gesturing with her free hand towards Valeria. The green gaze turned towards Valeria with a welcoming smile before she started typing at her projected keyboard. There were small talk and some paper signings before finally, the woman turned back to Valeria.
“Dutchess Valeria Tatiana Dracul, Welcome to the Grey Academy,” Neferna said before she handed Valeria a folder, the front had the Grey Academy crest upon it, “You’ll find your schedule, a map of the grounds, rules, accommodations, your Grey ID and everything you need. Your RA is on her way to give you a tour of the grounds.”
“Thank you,” Valeria replied, surprised she could manage to speak with how nervous she was. Her mother turned to smile at her as Neferna turned her attention to the projected blue screen. Valeria was still quiet as her mother and Henrik said their goodbyes, but before they left, she grasped her mom’s arm.
“What if I don’t find a specialization? Or what if I do and I hate it later?” Valeria asked, panic working its way into her throat.
“Valeria, it does not matter what you become or what you do, you will always be my daughter, and I will love you no matter what,” Florence murmured, brushing a piece of hair behind Valeria’s ear and then she hugged her tightly. Valeria felt herself calm down at her mother’s reassurance, “You’ve got all the time in the world, love.”
“Thanks,” Valeria murmured, pulling away with a smile, she felt much better now and more confident at the prospect of going in.
“You’re welcome. Now get out of my face,” Florence teased, giving her a soft push towards the female phoenix standing by the door with a welcoming smile and Valeria flushed at being caught clinging to her mom like a fledgling. The woman was about Valeria’s height with a wide nose and a warm smile. Henrik gave her one more wave before him, and Florence left the building.
“Hello Dutchess Valeria, I’ll be your RA for the summer session, you can call me Kamilah,” She said, stretching out her hand, and Valeria grasped her wrist in the traditional Kalissian greeting.
“Please call me V,” Valeria said, smiling as she followed the other woman towards a new chapter of her life.
* * *
Chapter Four
The Grey Academy
After a short tour of the school, Kamilah led her to the outer buildings surrounding the main campus where she would be living for the next two phases. The interior of the building was all polished wood, and soft furniture giving it an overall cozy feeling, it reminded Valeria so much of the Grey library. The buildings themselves were similar to the academic ones except they had names instead of numbers on the sides. In front of each of the buildings, there were different flowers, blooming at the entrance, corresponding with the name of the buildings. Each of the five residential buildings was named after a flower that bloomed at night including Casablanca Lily, Moonflower, Nightgladious, Evening Primrose, and Nottingham Catchfly. Valeria was in the Moonflower building on the top floor; this building held all beasts from seventy cycles to eighty cycles old. The walls of the hallway were covered in student art and achievements, the doors to the dorm rooms decked out in a colorful theme. They stopped in front of a door with a space theme, with names floating across the stars and Valeria noticed her own had been added.
“I know this is very nerve-wracking, but everyone here is really great when you get to know them,” Kamilah reassured, and Valeria smiled at the kind words.
“Thank you,” Valeria said before summoning her courage and walking into her dorm room but what she wasn’t expecting was to walk right into a fight.
“Gita! Ziana! Stop, break it up,” Kamilah shouted, moving to separate the two women. There was one with dark skin, short half black, half red hair holding a brown skinned female in a headlock. They were both shouting curse words at one another in venomous tones. After a bit of shuffling, Kamilah was able to force the two apart. The one in the chokehold was a wolf, and the other was a phoenix. They were being held by a sorcerer and elf respectively, Kamilah standing between them her hands on each of their chests.
“Ziana started it,” The wolf shouted pointing angrily at the one now known as Ziana which made her Gita.
“If you just learned to watch your mouth then it wouldn’t be an issue you psycho,” Ziana snarled her fists lighting up in flames, and the elf holding her quickly released her.
“It doesn’t matter, this is over,” Kamilah said, grabbing Ziana’s hand and absorbing her flames into her own, “Using your fire on another student is grounds for expulsion Ziana. Gita, do you want to spend another week in solitary?”
“No,” Gita grumbled with a huff, out the tense look in her eyes dampening just a little. Valeria stood there awkwardly as she watched the scene unfold in front of her.
“I won’t report you guys, this time but next time I will,” Kamilah said putting her hands down before moving to come stand next to Valeria with a long-suffering sigh, “This is Valeria Dracul, she’s going to be with us for the summer. Everyone say hello and introduce yourselves.”
“Hello Valeria, my name is Edith,” The elf who’d been holding onto Ziana came forward to offer her arm in the traditional Kalissan greeting. Valeria tried to control her expression as she came to stand in front of her. Edith had reddish-brown skin and black hair cascading in waves down her back, the right side of her face was breathtakingly beautiful. The left side had claw marks going from her forehead to her chin. In the middle of the scar was what she could only describe as a brand. It was circular with jagged lines, splintering out. Valeria felt like she’d seen the brand somewhere before but couldn’t think of where.
“It’s nice to meet you. I actually prefer V. Only my parents call me Valeria,” She said, trying her best to keep the shock from her voice. She’d seen scars before but never this brutal.
“Dracul, like the headmaster?” The sorcerer asked as she let go of Gita who had turned her glare from Ziana to Valeria. The woman looked every bit the typical sorcerer with white hair and purple eyes. She had a kind face, one that made you trust her instantly. It reminded Valeria of her older sister.
“Yeah, he’s my father,” Valeria replied, raising her head high as the sorcerer stared at her. Valeria was half expecting her to remark about favoritism or something along those lines.
“I’m Willow, this is my familiar Nyla,” Willow gestured to a black cat sitting on the desk. It had bright yellow eyes that watched every move Willow made with a flick of its tail, “She’s very friendly, so feel free to give her a scratch. She loves belly rubs.”
> “I’ll be sure to do that, thanks,” Valeria responded with a genuine smile for the first time since she’d entered the room. The next to step forward was the merperson who had been hiding behind one of the desks when she’d come in. She had light blue hair and milky skin stained with tears.
“Hello, I am Ji-woo,” The merperson sniffled her green eyes flitting nervously around the room as she wiped at the tears on her cheeks, “W-welcome to Grey Academy.”
“Ziana, Gita, your turn,” Kamilah urged looking at the other two in the room.
“She has parents, what is she doing here? Charity work?” Gita sneered looking her up and down in disgust.
“Gita, you are acting very rude. Why don’t you take a seat and calm down?” Kamilah said, pointing to one of the desks in the center of the room. Gita huffed before she silently went and sat down, her glare still trained on her, “Valeria, this is Ziana. She will be your partner.”
“What?” Ziana snapped, turning her fiery gaze to Kamilah, “You said I wasn’t going to have another one since this is my last cycle.”
“Ziana, V is new here and will need someone to show her around. You are the only unpaired beast in the same cycle as her,” Kamilah said calmly, “I know it must be hard since Mia...left us but-”
“Mia didn’t leave us. She threw herself into the sun like the coward she is,” Gita cut in with a sneer across her lips, and Valeria’s eyes widened.
“Watch your mouth mutt,” Ziana yelled her hair lighting up in flames, “Do you want me to kick your ass, again?”
“Enough, you two,” Kamilah shouted, moving to stand between them again, “You are acting like a bunch of animals and making a terrible impression on our new student. Ziana, take a shower, and cool off. Gita, come with me, we are going on a walk to talk about your attitude.”
The room was silent as Gita growled at Ziana before stomping out the door with Kamilah on her heels, Ziana let out an exasperated sigh before she turned and headed for what Valeria assumed was the bathroom and slammed the door shut. The noise seemed to vibrate the entire room, and it lapsed into a tense silence.
“Sorry about that V,” Edith said, breaking the silence with a grin, “I promise it’s not always like that around here. Ziana and Gita don’t get along. Gita holds a grudge against Ziana because Ziana’s parents arrested hers before they died.”
“If you say so,” Valeria mumbled staring at the door Ziana disappeared in, “Is she going to be okay?”
“Oh, Ziana, she’ll be fine. She just needs to cool off,” Edith said, shaking her hand dismissively, “Ziana’s been going through a tough time since her old partner walked into the sun. She’s usually very ni….well not usually that aggressive. Ziana will warm up to you eventually.”
“I hope so, I just left behind one pain in the ass, I don't really need another,” Valeria said an image of Demetri’s stupid smirking face coming to mind.
“Whoever really needs a pain in their ass?” Edith laughed and gestured towards another set of bunk beds on the other side of the room, “Let’s get you squared away.”
Edith helped Valeria to put her things into her designated dresser, which was situated next to her bunk bed. All of the furniture was made of a dark cherry wood that complimented the beige colored walls. Everyone had their own desk in the center of the room, each set of pairs having facing desks with their names etched into the lower left corner of the wooden desks. Each desk had their own decorations on them, and without looking at the names, she could tell which ones belonged to each of her new roommates. By the time all of her things were set up, Ziana had emerged from the bathroom. The phoenix appeared to be much calmer as she towel dried her hair, and stared at Valeria. Despite the anger issue Ziana clearly had, Valeria couldn't help but stare at the woman who was supposed to be her partner. She couldn’t tell if they would get along or not. Valeria was usually the hot-headed one and didn't know if it was wise to be friends with another.
“What are you looking at, Princess?” The phoenix snapped her eyes flaring at Valeria.
“I’m not a Princess, I’m a Duchess,” She replied, raising her head before turning away from Ziana.
“We are all going to be great friends. I’m sure,” Edith said with a giggle. She turned to look at the elf who perched herself on the desk beside Valeria and with a look at the elf’s smiling face she thought that she really could see herself being good friends with the Elven girl, Ziana was still up for debate, but Edith was kind and someone you couldn’t help but like. Valeria looked up as Kamilah came back into the room with Gita, who looked suitably chastised.
“Now I think Gita has something to say,” Kamilah said, nudging the wolf who sighed and looked at Ziana.
“I’m sorry you can’t handle the truth,” Gita said.
“Gita, you just earned yourself detention,” Kamilah stated sternly, frowning deeply at Gita who didn’t in the least look sorry.
“What? What about Ziana! She jumped me,” Gita exclaimed, angrily gesturing towards the phoenix.
“You deserved it,” Ziana replied with a shrug, and Kamilah sighed with exasperation.
“You both get detention,” Kamilah settled, glaring at both of them with her hands resting on her hips before she relaxed, to address the room, “Now, you all need to get ready for the internship fair. Ziana explain to your partner what the internship fair is while I get the rest of the floor ready to go.”
“Whatever,” Ziana mumbled with a huff as Kamilah left the room, Valeria’s other roommates went about getting ready for the fair and Valeria approached the phoenix.
“So-” Valeria began but was cut off.
“The internship fair is just a bunch of tables with different stuff on it, and you pick one,” Ziana explained before turning on her heels and walking away from her.
◆◆◆
Valeria and her roommates all made their way through the corridors, following the stream of beasts that led to the hall, where the career presentations were. The room was filled with tables that held various people standing behind them, smiling politely and welcoming them over. The wooden tables were all different careers and internships that the students could take up. It seemed like every job out there had one. Valeria looked over at Ziana who seemed bored looking at all the tables.
“So which one are you going to choose?” Valeria questioned, hoping to get Ziana to talk to her, instead of ignoring her as she had on the way down here.
“The GSI. I want to intern under the A team,” She replied, her arms were crossed, and she was looking out at the mass of tables, “I’ve been to others before, but the GSI is where I’m going to be. I’ve wanted that ever since I was a hatchling.”
“What made you want to be a part of the GSI?” Valeria inquired as they began walking down the aisle of tables and Ziana looked at her for a long moment before turning away.
“My mom was on Team B as First Lieutenant,” Ziana responded, “That is before she was murdered.”
“Ziana-,” Valeria started, but the phoenix was already walking away from her and into the hordes of beasts. Kamilah appeared out of the mass with a small smile.
“How is it going with Ziana?” Kamilah asked, and Valeria wanted to tell the truth, but she didn’t want to disappoint the phoenix.
“Um, she’s… she’s great,” Valeria responded before making an excuse and fleeing. She sighed and made her way through the different tables, looking at the Archivists table, the Griffin Trainer table where she made small talk with Emalia’s friend Serafina, the Creature Healer table, and finally, she caught sight of her Uncle Xander who was standing behind the GSI table. Then she thought of the files again and the secrets that lay behind them, the things that were being kept in the dark. Just like that, the curiosity was burning in her gut again, and she knew where she was going to intern. If she could become an intern at the GSI, then she could get closer and find the answers she was looking for. She made a beeline for the GSI table, Xander was talking to the small group that had formed a
round the table, and she waited until the others moved on to another before she approached.
“Hey, V,” Xander greeted and smiled at his niece, “How’s your first night going so far?”
“Awful, two of my roommates were fighting when I first got here, and my partner hates me,” Valeria whined with a huff, his lips turned down into a frown.
“She doesn’t hate you,” Xander reassured.
“How do you know that?” Valeria asked.
“I don’t, but I thought it’d make you feel better,” Xander shrugged, “Clearly it didn’t work, but if she doesn’t like you, then that’s her problem.”
“No, it’s my problem because we are paired up for the rest of the summer,” Valeria groaned, and Xander chuckled.
“Sorry, V,” He said before offering her a small pamphlet, “Can I interest you in a program about the inner workings of the GSI?”
Valeria took the offered pamphlet and looked down at the cover when a thought struck her, “Why are you here? You’re Captain of Team A, doesn’t that make you too important for this kind of thing?”
“It does, and that’s why I’m here,” Xander replied, “I enjoy talking to these kids about their future and its possibilities. I enjoy letting them know that I’m here to defend and protect them if they need it. It’s one of the better parts of my job. So which internship are you thinking about choosing?”
“This one,” Valeria responded almost immediately, and Xander’s lips twitched up at her eagerness.
“Are you sure? Don’t you want to look around at the other tables before deciding?” Xander asked, his lips were still turned upwards at her, and she nodded, “Being in the GSI is not all glamor and mystery, but just like anything there is good nights and bad nights. On a good night, you’re saving someone's life, and on bad ones, you’re getting people killed or letting a murderer get away. It’s a lot of responsibility.”
Beastmora- The Golden Six Page 6