The next morning Fate slowly opened the door to see her mother surrounded by bottles of liquor. She let out a sigh of relief seeing this since it meant her mother would be out cold for half the day. "Now, let's see where you left your money..."
Fate dug through her mother's purse to find a few bucks to get something to eat. She knew better than to take more than needed, or her mother would notice. Since her mother was out cold, Fate did not need to dress in skimpy clothing and walked out wearing what she would wear to school every day. She ruffled her hair and grabbed some dirt off the side of the road, smearing it on her exposed skin as she walked to the pod station.
"I won't be back for a few days, which is good. Maybe I can relax a little bit… I doubt it..." Fate knew just because she was not at home that she would still be targeted. She already had a bad feeling about this trip.
It was a good thing that she arrived at the school early. Because many of the other people in her class had also arrived. Fate munched on the strawberry-flavored bread she bought at the academy store and walked into her class. As always, the students began whispering as soon as she walked in. She ignored them and sat in her seat as normal. Her desk was covered in graffiti, just like her locker. At first, she would clean it all off every day, but this only lasted a few days before she gave up. Now the desk that should be a reddish-brown color was colored in many different colors.
She sat down and laid her head on her desk. It seemed her only safe haven was in class, where no one would normally start with her. This was, of course, not always a sure thing. "Hey, failure slut, I hope you are ready to die by some monster!"
Fate looked up to see the same girl she had to fight yesterday. It was the same girl she had pulled the dress down on. Fate smiled warmly and tilted her head to the side. "Well, if it isn't, miss hot pink. I bet all the guys last night were picturing that sexy underwear you were wearing while doing their thing under their bedsheets. But I suggest you shave a bit more down there. I mean, you had pub..."
"You fucking bicth!" Miss hot pink yelled out in rage and wanted to run over and attack Fate, but her friends held her back.
"Ella, don't let her get to you!" If it weren't for the fact that they knew their friend would get beaten up, they would not stop her. But since it was almost a one hundred percent chance that she would get beaten, they had to keep Ella from falling into Fate's pace.
Ella was shaking in rage but did not continue to try to attack Fate. She gave Fate a sarcastic smile as she let out a laugh: "Just you wait!"
Fate waved her off and rolled her eyes. She could not understand why this girl sounded like a two-bit villain. 'I guess they got something planned for me when we arrive at the portal planet. I wonder if I will be able to live through this...' Fate was now having second thoughts about going to this portal planet with her class. But she knew she could not run away now. Knowing she could do nothing about what was to come, Fate laid her head back down and waited for the rest of the class to show up.
*Slam!*
"Alright, you little shits, listen up!" Sergeant Greystone slammed the door to the classroom open and walked in.
Fate lifted her head when she heard the sound and frowned seeing the sergeant. Sergeant Greystone's eyes met with Fate's, causing him to sneer and look away as he continued: "All of you are to line up and get your asses in gear. We will be heading to the portal room now."
Fate waited for her class to begin leaving to line up herself. As she passed the sergeant, she could have sworn she heard him say something. But she could not make out what it was. They made their way across the academy grounds to a large domed building led by their teacher Lilth. The building seemed plain on the outside, but it was no ordinary building. No matter which city you went to, there was always a building like this. It was also the only building that was fitted with a special barrier that could block almost all attacks.
Although the inside looked like nothing more than a staging area for people to put on plays, the fact was that this was nothing more than a rouse for outsiders. In truth, the floor opened up, revealing a large pod that can hold at least one hundred people. Under this pod was a portal that sent you to the portal room, which was located deep underground.
"Alright, everyone file in!" The Sergeant ordered, as the floor before Fate and her class opened up. A giant egg-shaped pod rose up and came to a stop. After a few seconds, part of the Pod disappeared, leaving an opening for people to enter through.
Fate was happy this pod was bigger than the one at the pod station. At least she could stand away from the others. It also seemed the others wanted to stay away from her as well. Fate stood to the side and waited for the door to close. Because of how the systems of these pods worked, you never felt a thing when it moved. Before anyone realized it, they were already at their destination.
"Stay together!" Lilth yelled. She then waved her hand for everyone to line up.
Once again, Fate stayed at the back, a few steps behind as they walked out into a giant room. The walls were all lined with metal, with intricate blue lights quickly moving through the cracks of the metal plates. The ceiling was covered in many cables and lighting fixtures, and the floor was some kind of red cement. This room held a portal for every planet the trinities have settled on. The sheer size of the room was much bigger than any city. And what was more was that it was still being expanded even to this day. Round cylinder disks were propped up on platforms all over the room. Above each disk was a sign with skulls on it, signifying how dangerous the planet was. The planet they were going to was a new planet they had just built a settlement on. In order to get to it, they had to use the mini-portal system that would bring you to the portal's location. Just like the large portals for planets, these small portals were used to move people around the facility.
This was Fate's first time entering such a portal with her body alone. As her class began moving through the portal, Fate patiently waited her turn. It was only when she got close to it that she really took a look at the portal. The portal itself looked like a form of liquid plasma that swirled around in a circle. It was encased by a special kind of material that could not be found on Earth. As Fate was looking at it, she felt someone shove her from behind, sending her flying into the portal. She came out the connecting portal stumbling her steps. She turned around to the sergeant glaring at her as he passed through the portal.
He didn't even say a word to Fate as he walked over to Lilth, said a few words before turning to the students. "We will all be heading through this portal here. You will have three days on this planet. Your accommodations are already settled for you. How much you can level up is on you. If you hide in the settlement and do not go out, to level up is your own choice! But remember, if you do not level up, then you might as well become a punching bag for that piece of trash behind you all!"
Fate narrowed her eyes at the sergeant. The more this man spoke, the more she hated him. It was times like these that she really wished she had a system and was only faking being a normal human so she could sneak attack the bastard just like he had done to her.
"Alright, let's go! Move your asses! The longer you wait, the less amount of time you have!" Sergeant Greystone shouted as the portal in front of them began to fire up.
Unlike the other portals, this one was not silent as a loud humming was heard. Even the underground facility began to vibrate. With a loud whoosh sound, the liquid plasma formed a swirling pool in front of the whole class. It glowed vibrantly, lighting up its surroundings.
"Come on, let's go!" Lilth shouted and walked through the portal.
The rest of the class also followed after. Fate was once again a few steps behind. When she reached the portal, Sergeant Greystone was standing there. Not wanting to let him have the satisfaction of pushing her through like he did last time, she jumped into the portal before he could even react. Fate felt like her whole body was being pulled apart. Although there was no pain, it still felt very strange. Unlike the instantaneous transitions the smaller short distance portals did, the trip between planets was at least five seconds long. When Fate came out the other side, she almost hurled up the strawberry bread she ate. In fact, she was happy she didn't eat anything else, or she might have really puked if her stomach was full. Some of the other kids in her class did not fare any better. Some did puke or were hunched over dry heaving.
Although it was safe, portal travel was not for those with a weak stomach and took time to get used to. After pushing down the bile threatening to come up, Fate took a look at her surroundings. Unlike the portal room, the portal on this planet was out in the open. Although, this place was called a settlement and was large. The architecture still used quick pieced together buildings. They were basically big click lock buildings that snapped together. After a bit of welding here and there, they would be very strong despite their modular design. They were very good for new planets such as this. But the thing that caught her eyes the most was the line of humans with chains around their necks and shackles around their wrists and ankles. This was one of the fates for those who registered to work off-world to escape the slums. Although they were doing slave work, they were at least being fed. The promise of three full meals and freedom after a ten-year contract was what made many signup for such a task even if they were beaten on a daily basis.
Even Fate was going to register to get away from her mother, knowing this was what would have waited for her. Sadly she also knew the horrible truth that young women were subjected to many more hardships than men. But even knowing all this, she still planned to register so she could escape before anything bad happened to her.
"Alright, follow me! We will be taking you to the dorms." Lilth yelled and began walking forward, not waiting for those who were still feeling sick to respond.