Academy Showdown - Book I - Rise of the Phoenix

Prologue: Opening Day

THE YEAR WAS 3144. Forty-fourth year of the Contemporary Age. Summers end. Today was the day. The day she had been dreading for a long time. This day would define her future moving forward and that thought alone was driving her to the brink of insanity. After completing her morning routine, Emi sighed as she packed up her things, stacked her books, and exited her dorm room, locking the door behind her. At the moment, she was the only one there. Her additional roommates would be arriving at intervals. Three of them. Their names and backgrounds still hadn't been specified to her. Living with strangers, now that was something else she dreaded. Perhaps in an ideal scenario, they wouldn't be too problematic and the four of them could all get along, but Emi wasn't one for optimism.

As she stepped outside the girls' dorm, a cacophony of noise rang in her ears. Just a single block over was the daily hustle and bustle of Downtown Marlia City. Car and truck horns could be heard blaring throughout the city streets, while a news anchor spoke passionately about a story on a nearby big screen. Emi was too far away to make out any of the details, so she decided to make her way over to the courtyard.

A deep blood-red sphere, commonly known as The Yolk, loomed overhead in the bright blue morning sky, just below the sun. Its intimidating presence created a sense of foreboding, something that wasn't doing any real favors for Emi's current psyche.

Dammit... She thought, her teeth clenched. I am so not ready for this...

Minutes later, Emi walked past the gate and through the garden between the boys' and girls' dorms, her schoolbooks in hand. Looking around, she noticed plots of grass that encircled the cobblestone patio. The large fountain in the garden's center held an eight-foot-tall granite statue of Gaia, Mother of Terra. The fountain was surrounded by well-maintained greenery and a few mahogany park benches for students to sit and prattle on about their daily lives. It was also a popular meeting place for lovers, earning it the moniker "Leman's Footpath".

As she circled the fountain and made for the West Exit, Emi couldn't shake the feeling that she was being watched. Perhaps it was Mother Terra herself, keeping a watchful eye over her beloved children? Come on, girl, get it together, she told herself, shaking her head in self-admonition. It was only a statue after all.

You're just nervous. That's why you're seeing things. There's no way that... Hm?

When she reached the end of the garden and looked around, she caught sight of something... or rather, someone. Kneeling on the ground nearly a few feet away, sporting the Phoenix Academy midnight blue and orange, was a lonesome girl—but not just any girl—one with black hair in a short bob and large cat-like ears with tufts of white fur at their respective tips. Her arms and legs were noticeably wrapped in gauze.

A feline beastkin? Emi's eyes lit up. This was her first encounter with a beastkin her age. Demi-humans were still met with hostility in the northern parts of Empyrea where she grew up. Books and manatite telecasts (MT) were the only available sources of information for a young girl back then. Marlia City, on the other hand, was known as one of the most racially diverse cities on the continent of Taqora.

"Ugh..." The catgirl was hunched over, favoring her left arm. A spilled can of coffee lay next to her foot. Her hair was sopping wet, and her uniform shirt was splattered with large wet stains. Someone appeared to have poured the contents of the can all over her head.

Sweet Mother... Who did this to her? Emi thought, gritting her teeth. Bullying this poor girl and making such a mess so early in the morning... And for what? She could feel an angry heat rising within her petite frame. The catgirl's breathing was ragged. It didn't take a doctor to see that she was in a bad way. She needed medical attention, and fast. Without another thought, Emi approached the girl.