As we stepped out of the car, it was obvious that we caught the eyes of a lot of people. There were so many in fact that everywhere I looked at least five people from that direction stared at us, and I soon realized why. There weren't any cars other than Ms. Clare's car. We were an anomaly and I could probably also guess why there weren't any other cars. The academy had dorms and many students basically lived in the academy. So it was pretty rare to get visitors.
Elena who was dirty and bruised from me, suddenly glowed in green as her injury and dirt on her body disappeared. Ms. Clare glared at me, it was obvious she had casted the spell on Elena while Elena just gave me a mocking look. Suddenly two men came down from the sky and landed in front of us. They had a wary look and stared at all three of us.
One of them was fairly scrawny and had a white lab coat over him, his hair was a messy gray but his face had quite a youthful look. He only looked to be in his twenties. While the other one, he was completely red. Literally. His skin was red, his tuxedo was red, his hair was red, his leggings were red and as well as his eyes. He wore black sneakers though which was surprising. But it was his complete titan like size that was surprising. He stood at least 3 meters tall and completely lowered over everyone else.
The red dude was the one to approach us while the gray haired one stood behind and watched us. His steps were extremely thunderous, as if the Earth itself shook as he walked. But as he came closer to us, it became even more obvious that he wasn't human at all. There were tiny horns on his head that wasn't very visible from afar, but pretty noticeable now. His eyes had slits and looked lizardlike and there were stumps on each side of his torso, right under his arms.
"IDENTIFY YOURSELVES NOW!" The red guy ordered with a deep voice. It was commanding and extremely loud. As if a lightning strike happened right before my ears.
Ms. Clare though, still had a stoic face and she looked the man in front of us up and down before speaking.
"Gon, did you seriously forget what I looked like, even though I worked as a professor with you?" Ms. Clare said with a slight humorous tone. Her once stoic face turned into a slight smile though. She obviously knew who he was.
The red man though had a look of realization before staring closely into Ms. Clare's eyes. His own eyes widened and his slits for pupils widened enough to make it seem like regular eyes for a second.
"HAHAHA, CLARE ITS NICE TO SEE YOU!" The red man that previously had a serious and demeaning look, now became a face full of joy and he had a massive smile. His voice was way too loud though, to the point I was sure that the entire academy could hear him. He looked quite unserious now that I saw him like this though.
His attention from Ms. Clare became directed towards us though. He looked at me first with a curious gaze before switching to Elena, his eyes widened once more but stopped after a split second. I surely would've missed it if I wasn't paying close attention.
"Hey, hey, hey! No need to be so wary little girl and man, HAHAHAHA!" He said with once again a loud and deep voice.
But seeing how neither of us really eased up despite his attempts at comfort. He came up to me and held out his hand. His face was plastered with a wide grin and he completely towered over me. Although frightened by his looks and size, I eased up as he wanted me to and surely a friend of Ms. Clare wouldn't bully someone barely half his size. I shook his hands and although one finger of his probably overshadowed the girth of my arm, he also shook mine as well.
"HAHAHAHA, A NICE HAND BOY! PUT ON SOME MORE MUSCLES AND MAYBE YOU'LL LOOK LIKE ME!" He said as he wildly shook my hand. I could tell he was strong, unbelievably so. One serious punch from him and I'd probably be sent flying or just burst into flesh. And as for looking like him, sorry but I'll pass. I'm pretty sure it'd look bad for a pretty face like mine anyways.
He then stopped the handshake and moved over to Elena, who was standing stiff. Her previous face of mocking and humor as she watched me greet the man, turned into fear and fright. While my face mimicked her previous face.
'Psh, serves you right.' I mouthed to her, recieving a glare because of that.
The red man, well Gon now I presume, mistook Elena's glare at me, and thought it was directed towards him. He quickly held out his hand for a handshake but not even a second later, his body glowed red and he shrunk down. From the previous 3 meters he was around 1.9 meters now.
"HAHA LADY, NO NEED TO BE SCARED! I'M PROFESSOR GON HOW ABOUT YOU?" He shouted, but his previous thunderous voice became more like a humans voice and his massive figure looked way more human now.
Elena took up the offer and shook his hand, while also greeting him as well. "Hi Professor Gon, my name is Elena its nice to meet you!"
Although she said it with a cheery smile and voice, I could tell that she was extremely uncomfortable still. Which I took in like a meal. Her suffering was pleasure to me afterall, heh.
After their greeting though Professor Gon moved back to where Ms. Clare and the gray haired professor was conversing at. They didn't pay attention to us at all the whole time I realized, as if it was a daily occurance.
Seeing how Professor Gon was back, Ms. Clare landed her gaze on both me and Elena and signaled us to come towards her. We both did while she continued her talk to the gray haired professor.
"Clare, why won't you come back? Everybody enjoyed your presence here and you were also a great teacher! Don't be stubborn and resist just because of one incident, things have changed now."
"Oh really? That's how you want to label it now? An incident? You're truly despicable, Xye. That incident murdered-" She was cut off as she realized she lost her composure. Looking at us, she quickly changed the topic.
"Grey, Elena, meet professor Xye. He teaches artifact creation and is a ex co-worker of mine."
I gave him a little wave while Elena greeted him properly. But my thoughts still lingered on what Ms. Clare said though. What incident was she talking about? It was definitely connected to this place as Professor Xye also knew about it. And it's what seemed to cause Ms. Clare to quit being a professor.
"Ahem, it's nice to meet you both. Now Clare, back to what I was saying, this place could really use you again, you know? You were a genius!" Professor Xye said with enthusiasm after giving us a light greeting. From this already though, I knew I disliked him. He was someone who wouldn't let things escape his grasp.
Ms. Clare though, didn't answer him at all though, she quickly gestured us to follow her towards the entrance of the building. Me and Elena quickly followed while I looked back to see Professor Xye with a scowl on his face while Professor Gon had his grin as well.
Entering the building, it was massive. Just from walking in, the place was filled with people. There were tons of people with uniforms that ranged from various colors. And from what I saw, there were also multiple races, but it was kinda weird. Although it was weird enough to see different races, it wasn't that, that weirded me out, as I've learned that racism had long since been destroyed. It was the fact that these people, looked like races. They were all definitely different species from what I could tell but they all decided to be humanoid. They all stood up on two legs and had two arms, as well as a human face. But it was obvious that they were human at all.
My thought train was disturbed though as Elena quickly tugged me on the shirt and dragged me. It seemed that I spaced out again.
"Ugh, seriously stop spacing out this isn't the time for that. We totally lost Ms. Clare now!" Elena scolded me and yelled at me.
I looked at her with a "sorry" face before looking around in a 360 degree turn. Ms. Clare was completely gone from our visions as far as I can tell. Looking at Elena again, who was now slightly panicking, I decided to suggest something.
"Hey Elena, why not ask someone here? Just say we're new students or something and ask for a tour. Maybe we'll find a professor or something that can help us." I suggested with a tone of slight guilt, but my face was stoic.
Elena just stared at me though, her mouth slightly opened and her eyes widened. She definitely thought I was one of those muscle brains, seriously! What I suggested wasn't even that weird or complicated, it was like, commonsense!
"Wow.. you're actually right let's ask someone here. I'm proud of you, Grey." She admitted with a tone that made it seem like a parent realizing their child was growing up.
'She seriously thinks too little of me!'
***
Ms. Clare
'How did those children get lost? I know that they're better than that.' I inwardly thought, panicking. But before I could retrace my steps to find them, the scenery changed. From the dome filled with people changed into a simple desk, where an old woman was sitting behind. She looked at me with a stoic face and realized she was waiting for something.
Realizing my blunder, I quickly bowed towards her in a 65 degree angle. "I greet Headmaster Burnvice."
Still keeping my body like that, I waited until her approval, and soon enough she accepted my greeting. "What brings the traitor of Pygon to my establishment?"
Her voice was commanding and youthful, completely opposite of her old look. I quickly stopped my bow as I voiced my appearance here. "I've come here as a guardian, for two soon to be students to the Pygonrid. I've also come to ask of you-"
Before I could finish though, she tapped a finger on her desk. Her gaze was on me and they were icy as the coldest mountain. Just her staring at me, made me avert my eyes but I knew that when I came here, I've been asking for the impossible.
"The traitor of Pygon wishes to request something from me, how peculiar. Those two kids of yours must truly be your hopes and dreams now." Looking at me, her icy gaze turned into a gaze of curiosity. I wanted to voice my request once again but I couldn't, afraid to step out of line.
After staring at me for what seemed to be hours though, she closed her eyes and smiled. "Hmm.. I see. I'll do whatever request you have, as long as you promise me one thing. Be a professor here again."
"T-Thats.." I knew that it was a possibility but now that I've confronted it, I truly hated this scheming snake. But she would do whatever is best for this academy, even if it meant sacrificing it's very own students.
Before I could even let out a proper sentence though, her voice traveled through the air again. "Of course I won't be unreasonable. Your position as a professor will only last for as long as the two children you brought along are present, and from looking at their appearances, that's only around 3 years if they wish to graduate early, and 6 years if they intend to stay and harness the full properties of this place."
Looking at her with a shocked face, I quickly composed myself. This offer was definitely the best I could do and it was very reasonable. I could look over the children while also enjoy being a professor once again, albeit at this cursed place. Going over the possibilities and goods and bads. I made my decision.
"I accept your offer, Headmaster Burnvice."