Michelle laughs. "Trust me, human, you don't want to start making comparisons in that area. Max could throw you about a mile, Sonia could have most of the blood out of your body before you'd have time to realize, and I've been engineered to be the perfect living weapon, if I decided I wanted to search for career opportunities in that area." She notices your slightly resigned expression, then shakes her head. "If it helps, you've kept up so far. I can't imagine many humans pulling that off."
You nod. You're not really sure if it does help, but you suppose that it could have been worse.
Both you and Michelle continue on in silence.
Next
"Here we are," Michelle announces after a few more minutes of walking.
You look up. You're standing in front of a large pair of school gates. Unlike the Cavalcade Academy gates, they're made of bright, shining brass. They're also standing wide open, as though in invitation for your party to walk down the cheerful cobblestone drive. In the distance, you can see several brightly colored school buildings.
A plaque next to the gates proclaims this to be "ST. MARY'S SCHOOL FOR THE LEADERS OF TOMORROW." The seven of you regard this for several seconds.
"Leaders of tomorrow?" Sonia says. "Is that how humans work? Go to the right school, and you end up running the country?"
"Yes," you, Val, Michelle, and Renault say together.
"Interesting," Sonia says. "My grandfather had to eat the heart of his clan's leader and crucify his acolytes to take control; no one asked what school he'd gone to." After a moment's reflection, she shakes herself. "So how are we getting in?"