MATTHEW'S POV
"I suppose you know how to keep a secret?" The principal said. I stared at him for a few seconds. Then I realized all of this couldn't be revealed to the public.
'But rumors are already spreading. Are they aware of that? Maybe it's best to tell them.'
"Sir, I don't know if you are aware of this but... Rumors about the elites had already spread. The thing is... Whoever spread that rumor had it spread in a detailed way." All of their eyes widened. The principal had to sit down on a chair to avoid falling on the ground. I gasped and took a step back at the sudden action.
"Dad!" Ashley rushed to the principal's side, worry evident on her face. "I'm fine, Ashley. It's just..." Mister Angelo sighed, his face was paler than before. He looked at me. "When did you hear this?"
"When I first came to the school, sir."
"So not that long... But we can't be sure. Who knows how long it really is since the rumor first spread." The principal mumbled. "Who did you hear it from?"
Stacey appeared in my mind. The girl who looked up to the elites. If I said that she was the one from who I heard the rumor, would she get fired? Or would they just question her? I couldn't take any chances.
"Oh, from someone inside the school. I don't know her name." I lied. It left a sickly feeling in my stomach. Still, I just couldn't mention Stacey. If anything, I'd rather be the one to ask her.
"I see. You can proceed to your daily routines, young elites. I need to do some... Researching." After that vague reply, the principal went down the stairs and exited the building.
The elites were quiet. They all looked so deep in thought. Guilt suffocated me.
'My first day being an official elite and I already caused trouble for everyone. Great.'
"Come on, Matthew," Samuel called out to me. "Let me tell you how our routines happen around here." He said with a gentle smile, probably to assure me everything was okay.
'I hope so.'
He gestured for me to seat on the chair across from him. I walked closer and sat on the chair. "We study the normal education first. That will go on for about an hour. Then, we have lunchtime. We need to pack our own food so we wouldn't go to any normal buildings just to buy from a canteen. I figured you wouldn't know this, so I made extra for you."
'This guy is a blessing from heaven.'
"Then, we'll train in that fighting ring you saw earlier. I think you need to get used to summoning a soul protector fast."
"I can summon a soul protector in this world?" Samuel laughed at my baffled expression. "You can summon it anywhere! Just make sure it's in a place without daylight. They're like vampires. They hate daylight."
'So that's the reason why there were no windows in that room.'
"While the others train, we will take turns guarding the building outside. Troublemakers would do anything to have a peek inside, it's annoying." Samuel sighed.
"You got that right, captain." A familiar voice spoke. A guy with brown hair that was gelled back and dark green eyes walked up to us. I immediately recognized him.
'He was the one that I ran into on my first day! The one who threatened me.'
"Sorry for what I did the other day. I was just in a bad mood. I thought you were one of those troublemakers who don't know when to quit." He offered me his hand to shake. "The name's Travis. Travis Finnegan."
I shook his hand. "I'm Matthew Martinez."
"I know. The guy who was late to summon his soul protector." He snickered.
'It's not necessarily my fault... I didn't know I was even capable of doing such a thing.'
"Anyways," Samuel changed the subject. "Normal class is about to start. I hope you're ready for boredom."
"Who's teaching?"
"Miss Ramirez."
"Is she an elite?"
"Yes," Ashley answered. "Now, she just wants to be an ordinary teacher. I still think it's a cover-up though, to lessen some suspicions. And honestly? It's a nice plan."
After Ashley said that, a woman who was in her early 40's entered the room. Her black heels clicked on the floor with every step she took. She held a confident posture with a bright smile plastered on her face. She seemed approachable. She stopped in front of the blackboard and turned around to face us.
"Good morning class! I see we have a new student here with us." She eyed me. "Where were you?"
'Asleep for three days, I guess.'
"He was recovering from summoning a soul protector for the first time. You know how it is, miss Ramirez." Samuel answered for me. I appreciated his thoughtfulness. I was waiting for the obvious question that was about to be asked. "Yes, I certainly know the feeling. Why just now though? I heard you're already seventeen years old."
"Well, I was not informed about it." I scratched the back of my neck.
Miss Ramirez and the whole class gasped. Then, I could hear the elites whisper among themselves, their eyes focused on me. I gritted my teeth in annoyance. "Didn't your parents tell you about it?"
I know I shouldn't be blaming my mom for hiding this from me, but I still didn't know why she would do it. I had something to protect me from those creatures, even if it did cause me pain, I still deserved to know.
"No, they didn't," I said forcefully. Miss Ramirez looked like she still had more questions. She held back though, I was thankful. I didn't want to keep hearing the same questions that, even I, didn't have the answer to.
"Then, since you're new here, we'll be doing introductions again."
And so, the elites introduced themselves. One by one. There were so many of them, I couldn't keep up with the names.
"So today, we'll be discussing history. In the 1920s, the Americans..." I took down notes. Miss Ramirez was teaching about World Wars. This went on for about an hour. Samuel leaned closer to me and said in a whisper, "This is where the best part happens."
As the clock ticked towards the last minute, the 'normal' discussion ended there. It became a bit more... Elite.
"Do you know about the legend of Selene?" A chorus of 'yes' filled the room. When I didn't answer, Miss Ramirez continued.
"Our powers came from her. It is said that she fought with the king of the underworld. Nobody knows the true reason for it. The fight escalated to the point where the king created ventifios to wreak havoc in the human world, a place that Selene dearly cherished at the time. Needing something to counter it, Selene made us. A special type of human who could summon a fragment of their soul to protect this world and keep the ventifios away from it."
'So that's why those things exist. What could've happened for the king to be so mad though? To push him over to the edge.'
"She also gifted us the moon. Do you know why there's a waxing crescent, waxing gibbous, waning crescent, waning gibbous, first quarter, third quarter, new moon, and a full moon?" She said all of the phases of the moon. I was astonished. I was getting interested in the topic.
"For us, it's because the moon is the source of our powers. We get a little stronger every time the moon phases towards full. But when it comes back to being a new moon, then it's the complete opposite." Miss Ramirez's expression darkened.
"The moon needs to recharge for us to use its power again. The ventifios have minds of their own. They know when exactly to strike. Whenever there's a new moon, the ventifios are going to be stronger than ever. So when going to the Night Fog Forest, I suggest you split up. Not too far from each other though, just the right distance for you to help one another."
I got the feeling that miss Ramirez was the strategist of her batch.
And at that, lunchtime came. We bid goodbye to miss Ramirez. Samuel brought out two red lunchboxes. "Here! I hope you like omelets."
I accepted it gratefully. I opened the lid and saw what looked like a fluffy, yellow egg. It looked appetizing. Samuel handed me a spoon. I took it and took a small bite of the food. Cheese, salt, ketchup, oyster sauce, chicken, and fried rice graced my taste buds. Hidden inside the egg was fried rice.
'Wow! Don't judge a book by its cover! On the outside, it looked simple. But it's so delicious!'
Samuel looked at me expectantly. "So? How is it?" I could see in his eyes that he wanted compliments.
I placed the lunchbox down and put on a disappointed face. Samuel noticed this and frowned. "Is it that bad?"
I slowly turned my head towards his direction. "This..." I motioned to the lunchbox and paused for effect. Samuel looked like he died inside. He probably thought it was disgusting when it was actually the opposite. "... Is the best thing I ever ate."
Samuel blinked. Once. Twice. Thrice. Then, he cracked a smile. I could see an imaginary tail behind him wagging. "You got me for a second there. How dare you play tricks on me like that."
I laughed when he started to playfully punch my shoulders. "I'm your captain! Don't disrespect me."
"Since we're on the topic..." I blocked one of his punch. "Who's the captain of the other batch? Aren't there two?"
"It's Zed, the guy you met earlier and the one who bought you clothes."
"Why are there captains? If you don't mind me asking."
"Not at all. Well, somebody needs to take the lead. Also, it's to determine whose batch's turn to go down to the underworld. For each captain, we'll take 15 people in all."
"You must be powerful if you got promoted as a captain."
Something flashed in Samuel's eyes and his expression darkened momentarily. Then, he smiled proudly like nothing happened. "You betcha!"
'That was weird... Was it just my imagination?'
I snatched the lunchbox again and continued to eat the scrumptious food Samuel gave me. "Hey, Matthew. If you don't mind, I gotta go check on my sister. It's also her first time summoning a soul protector." Samuel stood up and notified me. I gave him a thumbs up and resumed eating. He left.
The classroom was filled with the noisy chats of the elites. As I scanned the area, my eyes stopped on Ashley. She was eating alone like me. Even as she ate, she still wore that serious expression.
I knew from the very start that she didn't like me. Maybe this was my chance to make it better.
I stood up from my seat and walked closer to Ashley. She saw me coming and sighed irritably. "What is it now, Martinez?"
I nervously rubbed the back of my neck. I didn't think this through. I didn't know she could be so intimidating just by saying a sentence. "I-I saw you eating alone a-and I was wondering if I could sit beside you?"
'Nice going, Matthew.'
Ashley huffed and continued to eat her sausages and chicken tenders. "Do what you want."
I didn't hesitate to sit on the chair next to her. Awkward silence dawned on us. I needed to say something fast.
"So... How's the life of being a daughter of the principal?" I didn't have any other thing in mind. Ashley froze. She gripped her silverware tightly. "It's fine." She said through gritted teeth. I struck a nerve. I knew I did.
There goes my chance of befriending her.
I excused myself and went back to where I originally was, afraid that I might make Ashley even more uncomfortable and suffer her wrath. I spotted Samuel looking for me. When our eyes met, he asked. "Where were you?"
I secretly pointed at Ashley, her face was gloomier than before. "Yikes. What did you do?" Samuel winced. I shrugged and put my hands up. "I only asked her what it was like to be the daughter of the school's owner."
"You shouldn't have done that, Matthew." Samuel sighed. "For an unknown reason, she doesn't like talking about it. We learned that the hard way." He shivered. I looked back at Ashley to see her walk right past me and slammed the door on the way out.
The rest of the elites were quiet, confused about what had gotten into Ashley. I ran a hand through my hair. 'Why do I always make it worse?'
Samantha tugged on my sleeve. "Is something w-wrong? You l-looked distressed."
I smiled and patted her head. "Everything's fine, Samantha. I just brought up a personal topic."
Samantha handed me her lunchbox. "You can have some o-of mine if you want m-more."
'The Del Rosario siblings are angels. No one can change my mind.'
"Thanks, Samantha. But I'm quite full." Samantha nodded and finished the rest of the omelet.
Lunchtime had ended. We were all going towards the training room. Ashley had gone first and was practicing shooting at the side.
"Why didn't we hear that?" I was bewildered. "The walls are soundproof." Travis said in a 'duh' tone. The elite building had so many mysteries. The building was a mystery itself - with an unopened door, strange artifacts, a training room, languages that a normal person wouldn't understand, these things were not for the faint of heart.
"We'll get shooting with the guns later. Who's turn is it to guard the building?" Samuel asked. Zed and a girl with brown hair - I think her name was Emily - raised their hands. Samuel nodded. "You may get to it." The two went down the stairs.
"After them, you're with me at guarding the building, Matthew. We change shifts every thirty minutes." Samuel said. I hummed in understanding.
Samuel went up the fighting ring and I followed in suit. He pulled a hidden lever and black smoke emerged from a trap door. "Get ready."
The smoke transformed into a ventifio - red eyes, six arms, duck feet - exactly alike. I knew this wasn't the real deal, yet I was stuck in place. Fear was holding me back.
"Matthew, your soul protector, now!" Samuel shouted. With a shaky hand, I snatched the red button on my sleeve. The Ventifio roared as I did this.
Panicking, I flipped the red button. Nothing happened. The button landed on the ground with a 'clink'. The ventifio dashed forwards, claws out. I was paralyzed in fear.
Samuel pulled the lever down and the ventifio was sucked back into the trap door.
The room was quiet. Not a minute later, laughter erupted from the elites.
"What was that?"
"Are you kidding me?"
"Wow, so powerful."
"Good show!"
My face turned red in embarrassment. I stared at the red button while breathing heavily. I picked the red button up and examined it.
'What did I do wrong? I-I can't remember how I summoned my soul protector!'
I looked around me, the elites were pointing at me while laughing loudly, some were even imitating me when I raised my hands to protect myself from the ventifio. I wanted - no - I needed to get away from the mockery, laughs, and the shaming. I quickly got off from the ring and ran towards the exit. I could hear Samuel, Samantha - and I think I also heard Ashley - call out to me.
The door was a few feet away. Scanning my button and saying 'soul protector', I pushed the door open. Zed and the girl flinched when I burst through the door. I didn't mind them, I kept running. I didn't watch where I was going. I didn't care, as long as it was away from the elites. After a few minutes, I stopped.
I was trying to catch my breath. Looking up to figure where I was, I saw the familiar structure of the dorms.