(Outdated) The King of Elements

The Feast

"Ha. Good luck with that," a young man said from beside them.

"If you hadn't noticed, these tables are pretty full." a slightly lower voice called.

One of the young men, a short man with short and unkempt blond hair clapped him on the shoulder. "Look guy, I feel your pain. I really do. I've been sitting beside this dick-weed for what seems like ages." He pointed at the boy with curly, black hair who was sitting adjacent of him with his thumb.

"What's that supposed to mean, butt-munch?" he said, glaring at the boy with his emerald green eyes.

"Exactly what I made it sound like." He took his hand off of Michael's shoulder.

"Don't make me come across this table," the blond boy said, rising to his feet.

"What do you want, an invitation?" the young man with black hair said as he backed away from the table, allowing room for the blond one, and outstretched his arms. "Come catch a free ass-whipping."

"Does this look like the time or the place for this?" Megumi asked above the rising voices of the rows of people. She looked sideways at the boys with her head resting on her fists.

The two boys looked at her for a moment, then turned to each other. "This ain't over," the blond one said, a smile cracking across his face.

"Not by a long shot." The black-haired one grinned as the both of them took their seats. "So, as I was saying before this boy interrupted me-" he shot a quick glare at the blond one, who flipped him off, "our parents sent us up here about fifteen minutes ago. They said something about awakening our inner 'animal'-"

"He said 'Amian,' jack-ass," the blond boy cut in.

"Inner Amian, since Jason wants to be so specific. We've been told to wait for some guy named Toney Gladestone-"

"But the guy hadn't showed yet." Jason interrupted again. "And Jerek and I have been starving since about two o'clock. I'm thinking about just saying screw it and take a bite," he said as he reached for the large silver pot.

As he lifted the lid, a voice called out from the far end of the room. Toney stood behind a mahogany podium, grinning from ear to ear as the room fell silent. "Good evening everyone!" he began. "I am Toney Gladestone, the headmaster of this academy. If your parents didn't tell you before, the allow me to welcome you to the Reiax Academy. I'm sure that you all have plenty of questions about where you are, and more importantly, what are this 'Amian' race that you may or may not have heard of.

"Firstly, this school was founded by King Reiax de Amita, one of the most important kings of our civilization. He not only started a school that would teach all that wanted to learn of their Amian powers and how to control them-" the crowd of students began murmuring to each other, "but, he also vanquished an evil and powerful being who called himself 'Aggaron.' Aggaron used his dark magic to control the minds of anyone that he saw fit, and in the end, it almost caused the end of the Amian race. However, after a long and terrible war, those who minds were still taken over by Aggaron fled to the southern half of our planet, Amity. A replica of the sword that he used in combat is still in use today as an item that traps the dark souls known as Edge Walkers into a forest that this very building was built around."

The students began to speak lowly again, terrified about the fact that the building that they were in had been built around a forest where evil spirits resides. Toney raised his hand, silencing the students once again. "Don't worry about the Edge Walkers. I can assure you that if you follow our directions correctly, you will not be in any life threatening danger." He cleared his throat as he began again. "Now comes the second question, 'What are Amians?' Amians are a guardian race that protects the Human race, as well as the Amian race, from the dark magic of Aggaron and otherworldly creatures. And how are we able to do that? One of the five elements that make up the world. Fire, water, nature, air, and finally spirit. One of these elements rests in each one of you, which will be awakened shortly.

"Now then, we have been in a time of peace for quite some time now, until we caught glimpses of Aggaron's presence once again. In order to ensure that every one of age can rightfully defend themselves, we encourage everyone to take these lessons seriously. Whether you use the elements to fight or not, you still must learn how to control them for your own protection." His grin returned to his face as he said, "But I feel that I've rambled on for too long. I can tell that you all are starving, and these enticing scents doesn't help. Assuming that no one has tried to sneak themselves some food, you may begin feasting-" At once, all of the students began reaching for the dishes in the middle of the tables. "And once you're done, we may begin the entrance exams!" Toney concluded, raising his voice over the clatter of dishes.

Dre lifted the golden lid off of a silver plate. He salivated at the sight of the slices of roast beef circled by pieces of lettuce. On the right of it was a large, steaming pot of beef stew, to its left was a large crystal bowl of mashed potatoes. "Yeah, buddy," he said, his mouth watering. His hunger kicked into overdrive as he loaded a plate full of the beef and mashed potatoes. He sliced through the moist meat and fell into heavenly bliss as he munched on the best tasting roast beef that he ever had the pleasure of eating. "Dude, there's a party in my mouth."

"This is really good!" Megumi said ecstatically as she stuffed her face.

"I don't think I've ever seen anyone so happy just to eat," Dre said, noticing her wide grin.

"Bite me, Dre," she said without a hint of malice.

After a moment of eating in quietness, Keiko finally broke the silence asking where Dre and Megumi were from.

"I'm originally from Japan, but my family and I moved to Prescott, Arkansas," Megumi said as she turned her attention to the beef stew.

"I'm from Prescott, too. Lived there all my life," Dre said after struggling to swallow two large spoonful of mashed potatoes.

"What a coincidence. Me and Michael are from Prescott too," Keiko stated, beaming at Megumi.

"Don't bring me into a conversation that I have no intention in participating, Keiko," Michael demanded in his calm, cold voice. "We don't associate with strangers."

A hostile silence befell the group until an olive skinned, older man with short, black hair appeared behind Megumi. "How's everyone liking the feast?" he asked lightly, his smile making his lightly wrinkled face more profound. He had a large scar crossing his right eye and a sharp, angular face.

"Ith vewy good!" Megumi said, her mouth still full of food. Everyone else nodded in agreement with Megumi.

"Good, good. Your name is Michael Eagle, correct?" he asked as he looked at Michael. "And yours is Keiko Tsusaki?" he asked, turning his attention to Keiko.

Michael lowered his spoonful of stew back into the bowl and glared at the man. "How do you know our names?"

"Lucky guess, I suppose," he said carelessly as he shrugged. "If you two wouldn't mind meeting me by the exit before you leave, I have something I would like to discuss with you."

"And just who are you?" Michael asked him, the coldness in his voice not letting up.

"I'm Zero, one of the teachers of this school. I'm a Spirit elemental, which gives me the ability to sense spirits. I felt something different from you two, so I decided to read your mind to get a little more information. I'm guessing that that was a mistake," he said through a chuckle. "So, can I expect to meet you two?"

Michael went silent for a moment before he returned to his bowl of stew. "Yeah, whatever."

"Good, good," Zero said. "Hope you all enjoy." He walked further down the table.