The morning did not arrive with calm for Lydia; it arrived with urgency and a painful reminder that even though she was out of harms wsy and could finally be comfortable, she still had to get her ass up!.
Phantasia's voice cut through her sleep with a persistence that did not allow negotiation. Lydia knew she was right even though it was a huge inconvenience.
"Wake up!" She yelled at a sleepy Lydia When Lydia opened her eyes, confusion met her first, for a moment everything seemed stranfe and distant...then memory rushed in behind it. The academy. The dorm. The evaluation. She sat up abruptly, hair disordered, mind racing ahead of her body.
"What time is it?"
"Ten," Phantasia replied. " And You are very late."
Panic replaced drowsiness with immediately. Lydia gathered her toiletries and asked for the bathroom, only to learn it had been beside her all along.
Every dorm, Phantasia explained, was built to accommodate the needs of creatures that valued privacy for different reasons.
Lydia did not listen fully. She was already in the bathroom...She washed, dressed, and composed herself with hurried precision, emerging presentable but unmistakably rushed.
"Oh! I don't know where the evaluation would take place" Lydia groaned and Phantasia hovered in for her.
"Don't worry roomie i can take you there" she said as she led her out of the room and down the corridors. The location for the evaluation was the school theatre which was quite a tiring walk from the dorms.
They arrived at the theatre to find Mrs Raquel waiting.
"You're late."
The statement was not loud, yet it carried the weight of expectation.
am so sorry Mrs—" Lydia stopped. She didn't know her name.
"It's Raquel. Mrs Raquel."
"I am so sorry, Mrs Raquel. I overslept. It won't happen again, ma."
"It better won't. This is still a school before anything else."
"I understand, ma'am."
She slipped into a seat and looked around, she apparently wasn't the only newly admitted student here and lost of them looked like they knew what they were doing...Phantasia then leaned in close.
"Good luck. I have class. I haven't even prepared," she whispered and before Lydia could even reply her she phased out through the wall.
Darkness settled immediately as the lights dimmed. And immediately the theatre projector came to life.
Mrs Raquel did not pace the stage like a friendly lecturer.
She stood still. Hands behind her back. Chin high. And when she spoke her Voice was calm, controlled and experienced in a way that almost felt comforting..
"Welcome to Bale Academy.
You were not brought here because you are special. You were brought here because you are dangerous — to yourselves, and to others — if left untrained."
A faint murmur moved across the hall all traces of comfort they had just sensed gone in the wind.
"This academy houses, monsters, demi-humans, spirits, hybrids, and other beings. You will sleep in the same buildings. Eat in the same halls. Learn in the same classes.
The school sas created on the philosophy that separation breeds war and Proximity breeds tolerance."
She began to walk slowly.
"Some of you come from monster clans that believe humans are food. Some of you were humans who were raised to believe monsters are myths or enemies. Some of you are spirits who have never spoken to a living person before. Yet here, you will sit side by side."
She stopped.
"And you will behave." she said calmly but Lydia could feel the goose bumps and she was sure others could too.
Her eyes swept the room.
"Bale runs on a Star Ranking System. From One Star to Seven Stars. Your stars determine your access, your privileges, and, whether we like to admit it or not… how other students treat you."
A slide appeared behind her on the screen showing silhouettes marked with stars.
"A One Star student cannot access restricted libraries. A Three Star cannot enter combat arenas without supervision. A Five Star can represent the academy in inter-race councils. A Seven Star…"
The next slide showed golden shillouete portraits.
"…is recognized as a Top Student. They have earned influence. They have proven control over their abilities. Their voices carry weight among students and staff alike."
She folded her hands.
"Do not misunderstand. This is not a popularity contest. It is a measurement of discipline, mastery, and threat management."
She continued.
"Now, societies."
Another slide rolled in, it contained what looked like emblems or crests.
"Students naturally gather by race and heritage. Wolf clans stay with wolves. Serpents with serpents. Spirits with spirits. Hybrids often form their own circles. Demi Humans tend to cling to other humans."
A faint, knowing look crossed her face.
"We do not forbid this. Identity is important. What we forbid is hostility between societies."
Her voice then sharpened.
"Last year, a Minotaur society blocked the cafeteria entrance because a group of sirens were 'singing too loudly'. The year before that, a vampire coven attempted to enforce a feeding schedule on willing humans in the human world. Three years ago, a phoenix student set an entire dorm wing on fire because a water nymph 'kept dampening her flames'."
She let the silence sit for them to catch the henious acts committed by these students..
"We corrected all of it." he said sternly.
She then resumed walking.
"Romantic relationships are allowed. Encouraged, even. Bonds between races reduce prejudice. A wolf who loves a demi human is less likely to hunt one. A spirit who befriends a demon is less likely to fear one."
Then her tone hardened.
"But be careful."
A few students leaned forward.
"Some pure-blood clans still practice ancient dominance customs. Harems. Claiming rituals. Possessive bonding. If you find yourself in such a situation unwillingly, you report it. Immediately. The school is actively dismantling those traditions."
She glanced at them pointedly.
"Do not become someone's collection."
A ripple of uneasy laughter moved through the hall.
"Here, regardless of your origin, you are expected to follow Bale's order. You do not bring forest laws here. You do not bring ocean laws here. You do not bring clan laws here and most certainly not human laws"
Her voice lowered.
"You follow Bale's law."
She gestured to the screen one last time.
"Outstanding students who achieve Seven Stars are recognized publicly, not to intimidate you… but to show you what control looks like."
The portraits appeared.
Gasps filled the room, the people that appeared in the portraits....the men, they were absolutely stunning and oppressingly hot.
Lydia's attention caught on a familiar face.
The boy she had collided with.
Except now, there were two of him. One with shorter hair, the other longer. Twins. Serpents. She observed this without emotional commentary, storing the information as one more unfamiliar detail in a day already heavy with them.
"They were once where you are now. Confused. Unawakened. Untrained. Potential disasters."
She faced them squarely.
"And now they are the academy's pride."
A pause followed
"In a few minutes, you will undergo your Awakening. You will discover what you are. Some of you will be proud. Some of you will be afraid. Some of you will wish you never knew."
When the lights returned, Mrs Raquel asked for questions. None cane
Then Mrs Raquel clapped once.
"It is time for your awakening."
Excitement replaced dread among the students.
Lydia felt curiosity stir within her as well. Whatever she was, it had come from somewhere. Perhaps her mother.
"One of the Top Students, Neleus Bale, will assist us."
She said and urshered in a talk blue haired boy, He stepped forward from the shadows with a composure that felt almost aquatic... It was calm, deep, and difficult to disturb. In his hands rested a crystal sphere upon a red cushion.
Then the awakenings began.
A girl touched the sphere and amber light spread through it. Horns emerged through her hair, coarse fur spreading along her arms. A minotaur hybrid. Lydia began to wonder how iit even fit for her mother
A boy followed. The crystal flared white. Frost traced his skin as cold escaped his breath. Yeti descent.
Each transformation was met with murmurs, applause, recognition.
Then—
"Lydia vale."
The sound of her name felt louder than it should have.
She approached.
"Go on," Mrs Raquel said.
Lydia placed her palm on the crystal.
For a moment, nothing happened.
Then the sphere ignited.
Not with a single hue, but with a dense violet radiance that filled the theatre in slow, deliberate light. The air changed. It thickened, charged with something suffocating.
Heat moved through Lydia's body in waves. Her fingers tingled as her nails lengthened into delicate points. Her hair darkened visibly, strands deepening into a rich, saturated purple. A pressure built at the top of her head it was intense but not painful.
Then two ears emerged through her hair as she felt her human ears completely dissapear she was panicking what was happening? Was the thought that ran through her head as everything happened
A murmur spread across the hall from other new students but this one was no longer excited but unsettled, not that it was scary, it was just the difference of everything.
Her skin brightened with faint luminosity, as though lit from beneath. As she felt Her senses sharpened abruptly. She could hear distinct breaths across the room, she could hear the Fabric shifting and she could hear Hearts beating too.
The crystal began to vibrate in Neleus's hands.
He was no longer calm and composed like he was meant to be infact, his hands was subtly trembling.
Mrs Raquel stepped closer. "What is it?"
Neleus did not look at her. His eyes remained on Lydia.
"Aren't those fox ears?" he said quietly.
"Sure we have fox beastmen i Don't see why..." She stopped talking abpurtly as she was cut short by the scene before her..to a now confused looking and awakened Lydia. Who was busy examining her newly aquired features.
"That's impossible..." The woman muttered
"What?" Neleus asked, perplexed
"She's a kitsune...the breed hasn't been seen in a hundred years," Mrs Raquel added.