CHECKMATE.

ANYA.

I entered my room, not even bothering to try and find my roommate in the field earlier. I was exhausted from all the acting I had to do today. Slamming my back against the black door I let out a groan. I was so sick of all this creepy bullshit. If it wasn't already obvious, something was deeply wrong with this school, and now more then ever I felt I had to get to the bottom of it. Zaid circled me in confusion, not sure why we rushed upstairs so quickly.
"Don't you want to meet your new roommate?"
I sighed, not sure how long I could put up with him. I wasn't going to lie, Zaid was growing on me, but just knowing what he was made it hard to communicate with him. I still feigned a week smile, trying my best to come across as understandable.
"Sorry, I do. I'm just rather tired. Don't worry though, they'll be here soon anyways, right?"
He nodded thoughtfully, flying to his perch on the room's purple stained glass window.
"I suppose."
"Good." I launched myself onto the bed nearest, surprised by how comfortable the black and purple sheets were. "Glad we're on the same page."

".....Are you sure we are?"

Before I had time to respond the door creaked open, causing me to sit up alertly. Standing in the doorway was a tall and slender person, their green eyes giving me a friendly glance. They had scarlet red hair and dark skin, long locks of hair tied into a high ponytail. Their neck was adorned with their familiar - snake -  which almost resembled a crude necklace around their neck. On their waist was two twin boomerangs, each having blades at the ends.

Interesting.

"Yo." They waved at me, a wave which I returned.
"I'm Ezra. Ezra Maxine. And before you ask, I use they/them. Nice to meet you."
"I'm Anya Mazhar, she/her. Nice to meet you too. Sorry I wasn't looking for you downstairs. I got pretty tired." I laughed sheepishly, trying to come off as endearing. Fortunately, it seemed to work, as Ezra gave me a grin.
"No worries, girl. That was a pretty exhausting experience....I don't blame you."
I stared at them thoughtfully, recalling what their ceremony was like. They were assigned Bishop. But rather then seeming concerned or disappointed like the others, if memories served correctly they were pretty happy, even if it just meant slightly above a average.
"Yeah." I agreed, gesturing for them to sit beside me which they did, their familiar slithering off into their side of the room. Seeing my concern they laughed, clearly unbothered.
"Don't worry about Amity. She's pretty chill. Only bites if someone hurts me."
"Good to know." I was relieved to know that Ezra was a lot more...sane then other students I've seen to say the least. They were clearly an outgoing and understanding person, something which really helped me to converse with them. Don't get me wrong, I still didn't trust them (just like I just no one here) but if manipulated properly I could see them being a valued ally. The two of us continued to talk with one another, trying to get to know each other. I lied about most of my past of course, just telling them that I was raised by a single mother in Karachi for all of my life and learning how to fend for myself. This was only a base level of description of my life of course, completely excluding the hours of secret training and lessons. Ezra, in contrast, seemed a lot more open. They told me about how they were a child out of wedlock, and were almost immediately pushed into an orphanage as a result. They told me about how the environment there was harsh, and how they needed to stay on top of their game in order to even stay alive in such an environment.
"I had to fight to even eat every night." they said, relating such depressing information alarmingly casually. "Though I suppose all of that made me prepared for the world. Eventually, I was adopted by my moms, and now I'm prepared to change the world by attending Schaken! I want to help kids like me, whether it be via protecting them and their rights or just making them smile." They laughed, smiling warmly. "I know it sounds silly. But it's kind of my dream."

It took everything in me not to gag. Lord. What a cliche motivation. I fake laughed back, trying to act like I cared. "That's great, Ezra. To be honest, I don't even know what I want to do after Schaken."
Burn the school to the ground, duh.
"That's okay too." Ezra responded, falling for my lie.
"It's not easy for everyone to figure out their future immediately. That being said though, I'm sure you'll figure it out the more time you spend at Schaken."
I nodded, surprised by my hesitance. I didn't know if I could do this. I barely lasted a day. But whenever I remembered my mother's eyes filled with hatred, I knew I had to.
For me.
For her.
——————————————————————————————————————————————————————
As the night loomed over us, Ezra and I had both went to bed. I had waited a few hours to ensure they were asleep, relieved that familiars instantly fell into deep sleep at the night. I definitely wouldn't have been able to make this transmission with Zaid up.

Crawling out of my bed and out the room, I headed for the central tower between both campus buildings. This was mainly used for communication before curfew, but after that time it was vacated. As I walked up the long and narrow steps, I couldn't help but grow giddy. After an entire day of pretending to be someone else, it meant the world to me that every week I'd have her to be myself towards. Reaching the top of the summit and adoring the expansive scenery. Even though I knew this was a land of treachery and fear, it looked awfully beautiful in the dark hours of the night. The sky was a deep shade of purple, stars decorating it like a pelt of badges, shining down and watching me. I grabbed my phone, smiling when I realised it was my mom calling.
"Hey mom!" I exclaimed, incredibly excited.
"Hello sweetheart!"
God. It felt so good to hear a familiar voice again. Unfortunately we could only do audio calls due to the airwaves in this world jamming cameras, but just hearing her was enough.
"So." I began. "There were a couple of setbacks. But, everything is going to plan. No one suspects a thing."
I recounted the events of the day, glad I had someone to vent to.
"Oh lord." She finally said, processing it all. "You're so strong, hun. Those damned monsters are horrible. I'm glad we'll make them pay."
"Yeah." I sighed. "I'm glad too. And trust me."
My eyebrows furrowed.
"They will pay."
As we said goodbye to each other I hung up, already missing her. I turned around, facing the entrance, ready to leave. But in shock and horror, I realised someone was standing right in front of me.

"They'll pay, huh?" Frederic said, laughing to himself, his blue eyes contorting with contempt, disgusted by my very presence. Something about such a perfect face turning into rage was deeply insidious and terrifying.

"Now just who were you referring to?"