Ariel's weapons were swaddled in a thick, red cloth, whilst she wore a simple cardigan sweater over a yellow shirt, her skirt falling over her knees, halfway down the calf. She wasn't requested to wear a uniform, and the other recruits didn't seem to have been requested to either, as everyone gathered in the Rats Zodiac's Gymnasium.
To Ariel, she could only assume that this was a temporary stay, as it appeared that everyone she could recognize from her own training was here, and which Zodiac they would all go to had not yet been decided. A girl with long golden locks stepped up beside Ariel, stretching, "Who do you think we're going to see?" Following behind her was a bear that looked to have just been exiting their cub years. She picked them up, hoisting the animal over one shoulder.
"Do you know all of the captains for Grief?"
"No?"
"Then... why would I know?"
"I thought you were a know-it-all or something. Apologies. Maybe you aren't as smart as I thought you were."
Ariel clicked her tongue, "What? Do you think I'm a walking encyclopedia?"
"Didn't you say you were sheltered? Like, isn't that the only thing you could do?"
Ariel rolled her eyes, ignoring the girl, her gaze moved to a balcony in the gymnasium that overlooked the recruits, watching as two captains, identifiable by their long coats, entered the room, both ranked 6 to 7 respectively.
The golden-haired girl leaned over to Ariel, having to somewhat kneel due to her height. "I think the Rank 7 one is the leader of the Dragon Zodiac. What do you think?"
"Rat and the Dragon, respectively."
"I thought you didn't know?"
Ariel just gave her a look as the two captains rested on the railings above, the recruits looking back at them. A man, tall with a single eyepatch over their right eye, thin black hair falling over their coat, with sharp facial features, the Dragon Captain, and beside them, a younger man with short brown hair wearing round sunglasses, the Rat Captain, who stepped forward, the Dragon Captain taking a step back.
"Greetings, recruits. It's a pleasure to meet you all." They scanned for a moment, "Luckily, there doesn't seem to be any late shows. I'm the Captain of the Rat Zodiac, as you most likely can tell by the green coloring that you all can see in the inner lining of my coat." They flared the cape of their coat out for the recruits to see. "My name is Tusk. Behind me is Date, the Dragon Captain," They gesture to the red lining of their coat's cape. "We'll be overseeing this year's orientation ceremony and distributing recruits into their own Zodiacs. With that, your individual Captains will walk you all through the specifics of your own Manifests."
On the ground floor, a man appeared, holding a box with a single open hole at the top, his face having a thin, black, opaque shroud draped over it.
"All of you will take a slip from the box, and if the color is associated with a specific Zodiac, that is where you will be placed!"
"Are they leaving it to random chance?" The golden-haired girl mumbled as those closest to the shrouded figure began to approach, one at a time, grabbing a slip from the box. "Makes me more worried than not."
Ariel looked to the girl beside her, slowly shifting through the crowd as it thinned by each second passed. "Why does it?"
"Randomness means that... we really are just pawns, y'know? Whoever remains will be strong, but the larger the group, the weaker it is, the more casualties it suffers. Do you get what I mean now?"
Ariel grimaced. "We'll be fine."
"I'm confident." She glanced at Ariel's swaddled weapon, "I think you'll make it. I'm more worried for my little buddy."
"How does the mortality rate look for members of Grief?"
"Less than being a Huntsman, ironically enough, but they don't have all of the regulations that Mercury does since Venus is a Mercenary-based Sphere, whilst we're essentially scientists that can put our dukes up, y'know?"
"A little better than Gardner's, naturally, I'd say."
"No shit." A beat, "They'll definitely have a better rate than we will, at least... being in Wonderland is probably the safest place you can be in Mercury."
Whilst we're in the most dangerous, huh? Ariel pressed her lips together, tight, unable to contain their anxiety.
"Just pray that you don't get the Goat."
"Why is that?"
"They're cursed, y'know? For some reason, they're just doomed to accidentally stumble upon the most dangerous missions you can get as a Grief member."
"I need to start listening to rumors more often."
"Yeah, practically holed yourself away whilst in training, huh?" The girl scoffed.
The Yellow Card. Ariel held it, pinched between her fingers. The color of the Goat Zodiac.
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"Manifests consist of Four Principles and Five Domains." I've never heard of anything like that before. The taciturn man in front of me held up four fingers, then five with his gloved hand in front of a group of twenty-four, the others around me looking as if they did not care for their surroundings, or completely defeated due in part to the card they had pulled to get here. "Change, Integrity, Authority, and Creation. Something that can apply multiple Principles that do not fall under the typical Four Domains is referred to as a Balanced Manifest."
A girl with velvety black hair falling down her back raised a hand. "Sir..."
"Yes?"
"I've... never heard of any of these terms before regarding Manifests. I thought there were only Four Principles?"
"It's a lie, that's why, or rather, information that is obfuscated from some, as it isn't entirely necessary to regale it, but I describe it now for those who can see the aura of other Manifests, that if you see anything that fits the other Domains or are Balanced... run. I think it is fitting that I speak to you on this now because my expertise in a Domain gives me a step up physically and fighting-wise to the opposing person wielding a Manifest of their own."
"So... what are the Five Domains?"
"I'll correct myself there; there are only four excluding 'balanced'." He signed the number four with his hand, "The Principles... Change; Blue, Integrity; Orange, Creation; Purple, Authority; Red." Bringing each finger down with each Principle. "Balanced is a vague assortment of colors that do not quite match or mix, whilst a Domain is a perfect mix between two Principles. Change and Integrity make the Pale, or Life. Change and Authority create Conquest, which takes on a Violet colorization. Authority and Creation create a deep Crimson, representing War. Whilst finally, Integrity and Creation give a greener hue, representing Hunger."
The room was silent, everyone just thinking about what he had said. The distinction is still not fully clear, but it felt more as if it were a cautionary tale being told to us rather than information regarding our own Manifests or abilities.
I suppose none of us were meant, or will ever reach, such heights, to begin with, which is why it was worded in such a way.
With all of that addressed, I scanned the room, catching about twenty or so employees in our midst. We hadn't been put into our uniforms just yet, but I couldn't help but speculate how we'd all look at the end of the day.
Soon, our Vice Captain entered the room, standing side by side with Nora. Alex Lee...
A taller girl with short black hair and sunken dark eyes raised a hand, "Is that all, sir? Do we leave now?"
Nora turned to face her, "Yes, you'll all be getting new, more permanent accommodations compared to the lodgings that you all were provided before. You all will be able to make your own permanent set-ups, et cetera. Houses are lined just outside of the Goat Zodiac's facilities."
"Oh? We all get our own house or something?"
"Something like that. Only has one bathroom, one living room, one bedroom, one kitchen, you get what I'm saying, yeah?"
"Just enough for one person and stuff, yeah. I get it."
"You should all be getting a text soon to your specific addresses. If that's all you wanted to know-- tomorrow is the day all of you will get a basic rundown on how missions work and a basic overview of our grading system for Apostle and TULPA entities and how you can-- Blah, blah, blah, identify this and that. You get the gist. Along with that, your first mission is tomorrow; be ready."
I raised a hand, "Wait, on top of that?"
"Yes, now go."
We're really jumping straight into it, huh? It's not exactly ideal, but I'll just trust that they won't throw the hardest tasks at us first and foremost, without any prep or warning. I guess they just want us to become familiar with our living arrangements first? There's still a decent amount of time in the day... I won't ask.
Some figures in particular stood out to me amongst the crowd. One was an especially tall... woman? I believe they're a woman. They obscured their form with a hoodie, even going as far as to wear a mask, I believe. She towered over the others and was like a giant amongst us, easily reaching about two meters tall, I'd say.
Then there was that tall, pale girl from earlier. She had bizarre tattoos running along her arms that wrapped around her biceps like snakes. She seemed unnaturally thin, so thin that it was hard to believe that she could even hold herself up with that sheer lack of muscle mass on her body. Makes me wonder how she got through the physical exams that led up to this moment.
One other girl was around my height, had a massive hound at her side, too. It wasn't that unusual to see others paired with animals, but I couldn't help but notice. She had shoddily cut short black hair and a newsboy cap on her head. I think she may have had longer hair before this-- maybe double braids? Her-- if you'd even consider it a bob, split at two ends that seemed to wrap around each other. Most likely a remnant of her previous hairstyle?
When I finally got to my room, I didn't exactly have a lot to my name, so unpacking wasn't much of a challenge, at least compared to filling the fridge enough to keep me alive for the week. They hadn't bothered giving us any basic supplies, but I guess they expected us to use the pay we acquired from training.
I can't tell if they're cutting corners or being overly generous for 90% of the time that I've been in this damn Sphere.
I had a dream that night about my father. I dreamt that I was back in his palace, aimlessly wandering its halls, bare feet against marble. I looked into his observatory, the door cracked as a beam of orange light fell into the hall.
The nearby fire lit his hair up like a raging vortex of flames that rolled down his shoulders in wild, flitting curls. His sharp golden eyes focused on the pages of a book he had grasped in both hands, and a small goatee sat on his chin. He always had that cold, unfeeling expression on his face. It made it impossible to read him. I felt disconnected, unable to fathom the waves in front of me.
He put up a wall of fog that I could not push past.
The only contact I had with the outside world was Auntie during those days. The dream didn't go anywhere else, really; all it did was make me recall the words she had told me about that man.
He was never kind, he was never mean, he was never aggressive. He was nothing-- perpetually looking down at the people around him.
Felt more like a doctor testing drugs on a rat than his daughter. If I hadn't been reading, playing games, and watching movies, I'd be poked with needles, strapped to chairs, and changing in ways that I could barely understand.
One day, I woke up with gills right over my ribcage.
He had turned me into a mutant.
I don't hate having mutations, but there is no denying that the risks and stigma behind my kind unnerved me. I keep such things to myself nowadays. I would rather not be looked at with disgust or disdain for traits I had no control over, after all, but I cannot deny that the positives outweigh the negatives.
I love drifting underwater, not having to care if I'd drown or not. I'm faster underwater as well. A blessing and a curse, one may say.
My Manifest allows me to soften or liquify objects that I touch, or morph my body in a variety of ways that could give me an advantage in or out of combat. I'm capable of making myself look more "aquatic" than I choose myself to be, but I can technically change bodies other than my own as well, to a lesser degree.
I can soften someone's skin, like lotion, or seal wounds. I can remove rashes, burns, temporarily seal someone's mouth, and temporarily fuse body parts together. I have a fair amount of versatility, but not a lot of time to utilize it.
Most uses of my Manifest on a human body are more useful in cases of medical care, shutting someone up, or in cases in which a person is in a state of unconsciousness.
I can technically change temperatures as well, but the range is incredibly shoddy. To be honest, the potential my Manifest holds is a lot more than I can handle for the most part. I've only really trained with employees in my father's palace after all, so I only have so much experience. Concentrating on so many things at once can be incredibly difficult at times, after all. As far as I can tell, I can only do one or two applications of my ability at a time.
The next morning, we were called back over to the gymnasium. With that, I had a thought. Can I make things slippery? My ability relies heavily on my own personal knowledge of what is, or isn't, scientifically possible, but if my ability can change what state certain objects are in... couldn't I make the floor slippery for myself?
Would it be possible to skate over the object to increase my speed?
Of course, I immediately tried it.
The range of my ability is always at a distance of about a single meter away from me, so I just remove the friction of the floor by just a meter away from me every... 100-300 milliseconds, since using a Manifest is similar to utilizing a limb. It shouldn't be too difficult. The delay is small enough that it should be possible.
I stepped out from my home, planting my feet on the ground before taking another step forward, squaring myself so I don't immediately fall as I begin sliding slightly across the ground.
I stopped myself, taking off my shoes, "It's harder with these things on." Wrapping them up with my weapons before throwing them back onto my back. So I... take a foot back, then the instant I launch my momentum forward, I remove the ground's friction?
I threw my foot out across the ground and began rocketing from one end of the facility all the way to the gym area, where a crowd was slowly dwindling into the actual building itself, whilst I kept myself gliding forward. It was hard to whip my head up from the ground and back up over and over again, so that at some point, I forgot that people could be in front of me.
I learned the hard way that I should've stopped earlier, as I'm slammed, no, caught by something big. The ground returned to normal, and I stumbled over myself. "I-Sorry I..." I looked up to see the figure, and it was the large woman in our midst, looking down at me.
I instinctively recoiled as a single massive hand the size of my head corrected my stance. I could see a single braid fall out from behind their mask, a golden ring near the base of their scalp, their hood suspiciously pushed out on the two sides of their head, where their ears would be.
"U-Uh... I-I'm sorry, I wasn't paying attention."
They stood there for a moment, staring at me. The more I look at her, the more I start noticing things about how they wore their uniform, especially the bizarre fur belt that is latched to the side of their leg.
She simply nodded at me, entering the gymnasium on her own.
I sighed, straightening the cap atop my head. I couldn't help but blush, embarrassed by the carelessness I had shown not too long ago. It was out of character for me. I'll practice paying attention to my surroundings whilst doing skating from now on, I suppose.
"Four recruits quit last night, leaving only sixteen of you left."
I wasn't shocked to hear it; the others didn't seem all that surprised either.
"Now that's it's just the sixteen of you all..." Nora paused, "We'll continue as normal. To be honest, we've only ever needed seven or so people to keep this Zodiac running and have been able to handle most cases with just the Vice Captain and me for some time now."
Now that was a surprise to hear.
"In all honesty, however..." He scanned us all. "I suspect that only ten of you will be left by the end of the month." A beat, "Unlike Venus or other Spheres that employ you all in such a manner, we're much more lenient in our job security. If someone quits Grief, that just means that they've been made into a Gardner, or are simply a background tester."
Once again, I can't tell if they're cutting corners or are incredibly generous. Might lean on them to cut corners since they're still a Sphere after all. I remembered what Zlatan mentioned to me yesterday. I'm pretty sure what she was getting at is that the more bodies there are, the more expendable you are.
The houses are made to be indistinguishable from one another. If someone had only been there for a few days, it's easy to just send another newbie in as a response, but the longer they remain, the more indispensable they become.
"You all will be split into two patrols. One with me, the other with the Vice Captain. You all will then be split into two teams individually on those patrols by your designated instructor-- if I am your instructor, I'll just say it now, don't stir up too much trouble, but you're guaranteed to stay alive while I'm around. Alex is different; she's incredibly competent, but she's a lower rank than me, which means there is only so much she can do if you get yourself into a shitty situation, along with other restrictions that'll not be specified at this time."
What does that mean?
"If something happens, report back to her immediately. The same goes for me, but you have a bit more leniency, let's be honest."
I'd typically think he's insulting her right now if it weren't for him being a Rank 7 employee. That means he's on the level of a Trapper, whilst Alex was a Rank 5 employee. There is also one other problem. Employee rank does not necessarily mean that they're more experienced or powerful than some other low-rank employees.
The higher the rank, the higher their survivability. Think of someone's rank as a Win/Loss ratio, though; regardless, it means that they're incredibly competent. If they've gotten this far, this means they're still strong enough to face foes that would slaughter the rest of us for sure.
"Also, lucky for all of you," Nora gestured to a man wearing an open windbreaker jacket. This wasn't a member of Grief; this was a Huntsman. "We will be attaining the assistance of a Huntsman from Venus on the level of an Officer."
They had short black hair, dark skin, and sharp black eyes. They smiled, waving to the rest of us. "I'm Horatio Levet. I am specifically the guard Theodal Hauser. I'm hoping that I'll be of help." And he bowed.
Didn't know people could have guards.
Nora raised a hand up to recenter our attention back onto him. "However, he has similar restrictions to Alex, though they are a tad more lenient due to his overall strength."
A beat.
"With that, let's begin."
8 per team, split into two different groups of four. Alex chose me to be a part of her team along with a few others. We hadn't been split just yet, and Nora was the first to leave the gymnasium with his own team.
"Alright! We have that all handled, yes?" Alex clapped, a sigh following it. "Let's go."
The girl with a hound at her side, I had come to learn, was called Dorothy. She spoke up, a hand raised, "Where are we heading?"
"The Limbo Circle in Venus. Should be a good place to start for all of you."