The Cloud Haven School used its gym hall as the venue for its graduation event, but it was completely different to what the students were accustomed to seeing daily.
It was professionally decorated to look like a high-class banquet hall fit for a king's birthday party. There was a small stage erected at the back of the hall, tables set up with plenty of fancy snacks and a bar for those who wanted to get lit, 46 round tables with 6 chairs placed around each table and the colour scheme of the event was easily noticeable to be gold and white.
As the sun began its descent and slowly disappeared below the horizon, students from the Cloud Haven School started arriving, filling the hall with chatter and laughter.
A group of 8 boys, all neatly dressed in a black tuxedo and each wearing a different coloured tie, walked into the school grounds and arrived outside the gym hall.
DT: "Woah, the gym hall looks sick. I thought I was at the wrong place for a second."
Jaxon: "Yeah, it looks great. Whoever was in charge of decorating the hall did a good job."
Timo: "Forget that, I heard a rumour that the principal used his connections to hire a popular idol group to perform for us tonight."
Asher: "Fatty you care way too much about girls who will never pay any attention to you."
Timo: "Tsk says you, with your skinny sausage-shaped body."
Jude: "Can we keep it civil for just a few hours please gents? Just a few hours where we keep the insults and fighting to a minimum."
Alex: "That's impossible with these fools, you're wasting your time with them Jude."
Timo: "Hoh, look at this pompous ass, Mister 'I'm a personal disciple of a Core Haven Elder and I force girls to marry me guh guh guh'."
The 6 other boys side-eyed each other while trying to keep a straight face, but the more they looked at each other the harder it became.
"You better watch your mouth. I heard that your father's mercenary group has been out of work lately and struggling to make ends meet, even going so far as to ask my father for a loan. It would be a pity if he denied it and your father's mercenary group disbanded, don't you think?"
"Is that a threat?"
"Depends how you take it."
Timo and Alex stared at each other for a long time, neither willing to back down. Timo wasn't afraid of Alex one bit even though he placed lower on the student rankings.
"Gents relax, it's supposed to be a joyous occasion, let's not ruin it by getting into a pointless squabble." Jude 'the mediator' stepped in to calm the situation down. A small crowd had formed around them and he didn't want to make this bigger than it should be.
Jude looked past the two boys to see Jaxon, Asher, DT and Jett staring at Alex as if waiting for him to make a move.
'Alex, just walk away, damn it.'
Luckily for Jude, Alex did just that after realising that it wasn't worth it getting into a fight now. The only reason he hung out with these fools was because Jude seemed to enjoy spending time with them. In his eyes, these boys were nobodies and sooner or later the gap in strength between them and he would be like heaven and earth so, he scoffed and walked away like the bigger man.
When Alex entered the hall and disappeared from their sight, Jude looked at Timo with admonishing eyes.
"Dude, I told you not to mention that. Now he knows I told you."
"So what? He thinks he's better than us just because he has a Sky-grade Physique. I'm tired of his condescending tone whenever he speaks to us."
"Timo's right, I was also getting fed up with him and the fact that he threatened Uncle Stein's mercenary group pissed me off." Asher stepped forward to back up his friend.
"Argh, enough about this, let's just get inside already and enjoy the rest of the night." Jett walked past everyone and entered the hall, the others followed behind him.
––––
"Hurry up, we are going to be late!"
"It's alright if we get there late. Since we are the Four Rookie Beauties we can use the fashionably late excuse and everyone will accept it."
"But if we get there last won't everyone be staring at us when we walk in?"
"Girl, how are you not used to people staring at you yet?"
"I don't care about strangers, but these are people that we see nearly every day and it's not every day that I wear makeup and dress in fancy attire."
"Calm down, Jiang Xia, you look fantastic. You know what they say, 'If you got it, flaunt it'."
"Yeah, you're right."
Witney, Talia, Jiang Xia and Gia walked casually through the streets towards the Cloud Haven School. The tip of the sun was barely peeking above the horizon by the time the girls left their residence after Witney had to reapply her makeup and redo her hair.
"Why couldn't the wolf cubs carry us, it would've been so much easier," Gia complained, she had already taken off her heels and was walking barefoot, her heels dangling from her hands.
"Because Vasari said he doesn't want them to be domesticated so that means we can't use them as mounts."
"Those boys could already be called house dogs with the way they act."
The girls shared a laugh while reminiscing on all the nonsense the quadruplets caused them during the last year and a half.
20 minutes after the sun fully set, the girls arrived outside the school gym. They didn't wait for any introduction and walked through the open doorway leading inside the hall.
At first, nobody noticed them, but after walking further inside some students began to catch sight of them which led to more and more students stopping their conversations to admire the elegance and class of the 4 gorgeous young women walking past them.
There was no doubt that they were in a league above the other girls in the hall not just in terms of beauty but also in terms of strength and potential.
"Talia." The girls stopped walking in unison when they heard someone call out one of their names. They all knew who the owner of the voice was and it was no surprise when they saw Alex walking towards them with a bright smile on his handsome face and a bouquet of roses in his hands.
The boys watching on the side wished they had the confidence to approach these seemingly impossible-to-reach beauties.
The only boys who had no desire to replace Alex were Timo, Asher, Jett, Jaxon, DT, Hassan and Jude. They knew who the hearts of these women belonged to, so there was no point in having any dirty thoughts towards them, they went so far as to think of them as one of the boys.
A few girls spectating the scene felt their hearts flutter when they saw Alex's dazzling smile and the infatuated look in his gaze when he saw Talia, they so dearly wished they were in her shoes right now.
Talia, however, had no apparent reaction and watched Alex approach with a neutral expression.
"Talia, you-you look amazing tonight. I uh bought this for you, I hope you like it." Alex said as he held out the bouquet of roses in front of him. His hand was shaking slightly and his nerves made him stutter a couple of times.
Nobody mocked him though, at least he dared to do what many other men wouldn't even dare.
"Thank you, Alex. You too, look dashing." Talia received the flowers with a practised smile and paid back the compliment.
Alex was just about to ask Talia for a private chat when Principle Balan suddenly walked onto the stage, drawing everyone's attention to him.
"Welcome, students to your graduation party!" A loud burst of applause echoed throughout the gym hall. When the applause died down Principal Balan continued, "Tonight is a night of celebration as it is your final day as students. Tomorrow you will be recognised as fully-fledged Outer Haven Disciples and you will experience what being a disciple of this amazing sect is really like.
On behalf of all your teachers that have taught you these past two years, I would like to say that we are proud of you and believe that you all have the potential to make it far as long as you continue to cultivate diligently and remember their teachings as it will help you for your entire life.
Anyway, we will start with the award ceremony before we oldies will leave you, youngsters, to party. Please take a seat at one of the round tables."
All the students applauded Principal Balan off the stage then quickly found a seat and the award ceremony started soon after. Miss Covington came up on stage and was given the job of announcing the winners of the awards.
Besides announcing and congratulating the top 50 students of the past 2 years and awarding them Cloud Points, there was also a small miscellaneous award ceremony which was just for the students to have a bit of a laugh. Categories such as best dressed, moment of the year, best smile and a few others.
"The award for best hair goes to…DT!"
The students started laughing and whooping after the winner was announced.
Asher: "Yeah, DT!"
Jaxon: "DT, you're my inspiration!"
Timo: "I love you, DT!"
Jett: "Deserved winner! What a fabulous head of hair!"
DT felt like digging a 7-foot-deep hole and jumping into it.
"Come up and accept your reward DT." Miss Covington didn't ease his embarrassment by making him get up on stage in front of anyone.
"Fuck I really hate you guys." DT softly growled in frustration and embarrassment before getting up from his chair and walking on stage. The laughter from the crowd intensified when they saw the shiny, hairless dome of DT.
"Congratulations DT." Miss Covington said before shaking his hand and pulling a wig from her spatial ring. "This is for you."
DT mumbled a few PG18 words before 'graciously' accepting the award and walked back to his seat.
"DT put on the wig. I wanna see how it looks on you."
"Fuck off."
"The final 2 awards are the 'Cloud Haven School King and Queen' that you, the students, will decide who the winners will be. At the front of the hall, there is a voting booth where you can vote for your Cloud Haven King and Queen. The winner will be announced later tonight by the guests we have invited to entertain you."
The students started whispering amongst each other about who they would be voting for and also who the surprise guests could be. Rumours were floating around about an Idol group coming to the Cloud Haven Sect, but there was no way to confirm it.
"That's it from me today. Before I leave, however, I've been given the job of announcing the guests on stage, so please give a round of applause to Idol group Y5A!!!"
Miss Covington disappeared from the spot and 5 pulchritudinous women walked onto the stage from behind the curtains.
The students went crazy when they heard the name of the Idol group and even crazier when they saw the 5 women on stage.
"Oh my god! Oh my god! OH MY GOD! IT'S Y5A! IT'S REALLY Y5A!"
Timo squealed in excitement and sprinted towards the stage to get the best position possible. He had already taken out some colourful glow sticks and tied his navy blue tie around the top of his head.
Other students, mainly males, followed his lead and soon a small crowd formed before any of the girls on stage could even say a word.
"Hello, soon-to-be disciples of the Cloud Haven Sect. We are Y5A and we have some songs to perform for you tonight. Are you ready?!"
The woman in the centre of the 5 spoke into a dazzling gold microphone. They all had glitter in their hair which made it sparkle in the lights and each of them wore cute yet sexy outfits which was revealing but not too much, leaving Timo and others drooling for more.
"Yeah, I'm ready!"
"Woohoo!!!"
"Kaammaaan!"
"Y5A for life!"
Jude, Alex and the 4 girls were stunned speechless while watching the show from their table.
"What is happening, did our graduation party just turn into a pop concert?" Jiang Xia asked in disbelief, her tone contained bitterness and helplessness.
"Seems so, but I don't mind, they are smoking hot. Do you think I have a chance with one of them?" Jude asked while staring with unblinking eyes at the idols singing and dancing on the stage. Their movements were simple yet elegant, sexy yet conservative and coupled with their singing, was a really enjoyable watch.
"Who knows. Well, we might as well enjoy it, we might never have a night like this again." Gia got up from her seat and held out her hands towards her friends, "Are you girls going to come to dance with me or am I going to be all alone out there?"
Witney, Talia and Jiang Xia glanced at each before nodding and joining Gia on the dance floor leaving Jude and Alex alone at the table.
"Dude, this is the perfect time to dance with Talia. Go before you regret it." Jude urged Alex on, but he seemed uninterested in the idea.
"No need. The Cloud Haven School King and Queen are supposed to share a dance, so I will dance with her then."
Alex said after closing his eyes and leaning back into his chair, his legs crossed and he assumed a laid-back posture.
"You seem confident that you and Talia will win."
"Of course. I ranked first and she ranked second. She is the most beautiful student while I am the most handsome, it's obvious who everyone will vote for."
"Yeah, okay…"
On the outside, Jude agreed, but he couldn't help but think of a tall, muscular and divinely handsome young man that everyone seemed to forget about.
'He's gotten a lot more cocky after Vasari left for his mission and he accepted that Core Haven Elder as his master. Maybe they were right…'
Jude glanced at the closed-eyed Alex one last time before getting up and walking towards the stage. He expertly weaved through a crowd of students until he got to the front where Timo and the others were waving around colourful glow sticks.
"Ah, Jude there you are, here take these glow sticks!" Timo quickly noticed Jude behind him and passed him his glow sticks before taking 2 more out of his spatial ring. He was prepared for every possibility.
Jude smiled before taking off his white tie and tying it around his head like the others. He unbuttoned his blazer and the top button on his shirt collar before he too started jumping along to the beat and singing tunes he's never even heard before.
––––
While the graduation party was well underway, a massive spaceship designed like a fancy cruise liner landed on a large strip of tarmac.
Inside the cruise liner spaceship, a short old man was standing behind one of the many closed doors in a long hallway.
*Knock Knock Knock!*
"Young man, we have landed. Stop faffing about and let's go or you will miss your graduation party!"
From inside the room, a deep, husky voice answered back in a relaxed manner.
"Old man, there's no need to shout, I heard your announcement through your loud ass intercom."
Elder Equus saw the doorknob twist left and slowly open to reveal Vasari wearing a nifty white tuxedo with a black bow tie and black pointy shoes which perfectly matched his black blindfold. His hair was neatly done in a 'half up half down' style which, according to Hiromi, was the new 'in thing' she saw on the Mananet after stealing his phone and playing around with it.
"Do I really have to wear this suit? It's kinda tight around certain areas."
"Ugh, stop complaining and man up. Come on, let's get you to the event."
"Ah, wait, could you take me to the Cloud Stables first…"