Dreamjumper

Chapter Fourteen

"Don't worry about the looks," Luna said as she led me down the hallway. "We don't have too many non-transformed dreamjumpers here. Our sector is usually the one that has contact with them, shows them to Lius and then sends them off to the New York City base."

"So none of them really come into the academy then?" I asked, dodging an almost-loopy giggling girl with lime hair.

"No, almost never. The only reason you haven't been sent to the New York base is because you're in high school," Luna explained. "You can only stay here if you're between fourteen and eighteen, or if you're in any way involved with the academy."

"So if I'd been found after turning nineteen ..." I began, and she nodded solemnly.

"You'd be good for secretary work here."

"I guess I'm lucky, then," I said, before shifting my attention to a stray tendril of violet light.

Before the school had been turned over to the stampede of rushing dreamjumpers and luminates, Luna had cast an apparition over me. I hadn't been expecting it, my vision hazed by the allure of the Midnight Crusade, so I'd shrieked loudly when a shimmering violet aura started dancing dangerously close to my skin. Luna had shushed me with incredible patience, and explained that she had simply cast a form of protection over me; it was the only thing she could make decently solid, but it appeared to work. Several students of the academy reached out to poke the bubble every few seconds, then stood back to gawk at the strangeness of an ordinary girl strutting the halls in a force field.

"I bet you are curious about what we do here at the academy," Luna said, right before I was about to ask about it.

"Insatiably," I replied.

"Then follow me," she said, before ducking into a doorway marked "COMBAT D".

☽

"Good morning, everyone."

My head jerked up as a blue-haired woman entered the room. Cat-eye glasses perched atop her quick nose, pale grey eyes blinking back at the rest of the class.

There were no chairs in this arena – there was only a vast expanse of wooden floor, huge wardrobes that seemed to be secured by equally impressive padlocks, and open doors leading to a several rooms that each contained one person.

The students stood in a straight line facing their instructor, silent and rigid; they dared not meet her eyes, though she scanned each one of them with a trainer's intensity.

"I hope everyone went to sleep at a decent time last night. Today we'll be setting you up with some nasty apparitions," the woman continued, pushing up her glasses with an index finger.

She then turned to face us, her lips curling good-naturedly. "Luna, it's been a while. How wonderful to have you here today," she said with a small smile.

Luna returned the favor, and then replied, "It is wonderful to see you again, Genevieve." She then cast her gaze on me, prompting the instructor to do the same. "This is Anne Miller. She is a dreamjumper from Robbinson, only partly transformed."

Genevieve's eyes gleamed behind thin black frames, her interest suddenly piqued. "Is that so? Quite a rare situation, then."

Sharply turning away, she began to pace the front of the room, addressing her students in a commanding voice – though not so commanding that I missed the quiver of anticipation underneath. "Sector 56. This is the perfect opportunity for you to experience combat under pressure. You will be expected to perform with confidence and strong technique, regardless of the circumstances surrounding your situation. This will be the case both on the field and during your year-end examinations. I advise every one of you to give it your all during today's demonstrations, especially because we have a new Esoterican joining us today. First impressions are everything, 56!"