Dark Embrace

LXII - A Break of Dawn

I wake up to the sound of an alarm that is set dreadfully early. We're having a Trials exam today, and the professor figured holding it at 5 AM would be beneficial to the test. But the plan is ready; we — somehow — survive the classes today, and go shopping for costumes in the evening.

"Ugh!" Blair groans as she rolls out of the bed, faceplanting into the ground. I could swear I heard the floorboards crack from the impact. She, however, seems more than fine to continue napping. Is she made of steel?

It's not easy on me either, but Blair literally looks half-dead. I stumble over to her, pick her hand up and attempt to pull her standing. Or at least sitting up. The wet noodles that I call 'my arms' don't really help my case. Soon, having enough of my tugging on her arm, Blair grabs onto mine and single-handedly pulls me down to her. She's really strong. She wraps around me like I was a body pillow, and keeps on dozing.

I'm trapped.

She barely looks bigger than me, but the difference in our physique is clear. I feel like I'm in a bear trap. A bit warmer, maybe, but her zippers and metal bits do dig into me.

"Blair!" I cry out for help.

"Mmh..."

"We gotta go!"

"Mhm..."

"I can't move you, you gotta help me out!"

"Hmm..."

I struggle to lift my head away from her grasp to look up at her face.

"Umbra me!"

With a yawn, she opens her dopey eyes and lazily blinks a few times. I prepare myself as she takes a deep breath, and her eyes begin to spiral with black tendrils. Shortly, we fall through the ground into the umbragate I opened under us, before landing in the middle of the room, standing up. She's still clinging to me like I was her favorite column.

"Blaiiir!" I attempt to tear myself away, which finally works with the strength she provided with her umbra.

"Can we go?"

She reluctantly gives me a thumbs-up, and I shadow-walk us out to the field.

I see some of our classmates nearby, lumbering towards the obstacle course that must have been set up overnight. They seem to share our... enthusiasm. Bags under eyes, yawns all around, bedhead for everyone, except for Blair, of course. Sleeping on the shaved side, her hair is perfect. It even regained some of it's natural puffyness.

I see some early birds already observing the course, full of energy.

...

I'm a selunian, right? Can I absorb early bird energy? At this point I'm almost ready to give it a shot.

"Why do we even have a Trials class? I didn't think there was a way to make P.E. worse," I ask the girl slowly returning to reality.

"Dunno." Blair rubs her eyes. "This is the first year I've had it too. I thought I'd like it. I hate it."

"You've been here for a while now, haven't you? Why am I getting the same classes as you, even though I'm in my first year?"

"Everyone comes at a different age." She yawns. "So classes are a bit screwy. They have a system, or at least that's what the principal kept telling us."

"Right. I wonder if we're destined to be in the same classes." I look around, squinting.

"That's very romantic, Lay." She scoffs, misunderstanding me.

"Who's the principal by the way, Professor Delacroix?"

"Hm? No, he's just a prof." Blair turns to me with a raised eyebrow. Hey, at least she's mobile now.

But she's right. I'm not sure why I thought differently.

"Now that I think about it, I don't think I've met the principal yet."

"She's pretty reclusive. And probably has other shit to handle. You know, this isn't your average school."

Now that I have a better grasp on things, I do see quite a few students who don't seem neither helian nor umbran. Up until now we've been only doing physical exercises without any techniques, so I didn't even notice. They do like mixing their classes, huh?

We slowly congregate around Professor Lars, who begins describing the exam. To my surprise, I actually spot Destiny standing next to the professor.

"Alright, hope you had a good night's sleep, things are only going to get harder from now on."

His demeanor feels like he's watched way too many army movies. He thinks himself a drill sergeant. We're literally teenagers, I don't know who he's trying to flex on.

Pointing at the stage behind him, he continues, "This course will be your enemy today. Your grades will be determined by time of completion and hits taken."

Hits taken? Is that why Destiny is here? To like, rewind the body, as she did with Disco? I scoot to the side to observe the course myself.

"Grade 'A' is completion within fifteen seconds! One minute, a 'B'..."

Fifteen seconds for an 'A'!? As I look through the course, I'm certain I wouldn't even be able to run through it in a minute, if there were no obstacles. Let alone in fifteen seconds, with obstacles. It's fine, it's fine. If I'm careful, it should be manageable within like three minutes. I'm good with a 'D'.

"...one minute fifteen, a 'C', one thirty is a 'D'."

Yep, I'm fucked.