The Exceptions

The Academy

Lucian

Lucian grabs his uniform from his closet. He looks around at his incredibly small dorm room. Man, I wish to be a wanderer. He dreams of venturing outside The Academy just once, maybe even getting into danger with his friends just so he can have stories to tell for a lifetime. He thinks of his two closest friends, Mirai and Dawn. They have known each other for as long as they could remember, since they were all thrown into the neo-education system together. Deciding to forgo showering, he rushes to meet up with his comrades and tell them of his bizarre dream. Hopefully Mirai would say something witty or intelligent like she always did. He puts on his glasses, punches his code into the door panel, and leaves his dull room. 

What was I thinking, the entire academy is dull. Nothing ever happens considering the hellscape they lived in. It's sheer dystopia-ness made it feel like it was right out of a book. He sighs and continues to the mess hall. His identity melds with hundreds of other students walking around, all around his age. 

2 more years, he thinks, then I can leave this God forsaken place. After walking for a while, Lucian finds himself in the mess hall.

Darn. His friends aren't there yet. He leans against the table he usually sits at. Magic bursts and colorful lasers fly over his head as people begin to experiment in the early morning, while they have a clear headspace and aren't being forced by those damn tyrants of instructors. The room slowly falls quiet and all heads turn towards the entrance. 

Oh God, what is she wearing this time? Dawn appears through the crowd, thankfully dressed in only her uniform. Every man's eyes followed her as she walked through the cafeteria. She doesn't seem to care. 

"Heyaa!" she exclaims as she approaches Lucian. 

"Yo," he replies in an unenthusiastic voice. 

"Duck!" Dawn's eyes ignite and start glowing a fierce shade of red. He already knows what's about to happen, since she has done this everyday for the past month since she discovered her power. Dawn makes the shape of a gun with her hand and pretends to shoot at Lucian. He swiftly rolls to his right. Where his head once was, a tiny fireball explodes. After her eyes quit glowing, she grins from ear to ear. 

"Damn, that was awesome! That was maybe the fastest you moved out of the way! Remember the first time we tried this?" She immediately burst into laughter. Lucian grins. 

"Glad to see you survived another night too." 

"Aweee it ain't too bad Lucian." 

"Easy for you to say, you're lucky. You have your power. Every student with a power is automatically loved by the teacher's here," Lucian explains, losing his smile a little, before it grows wide again. "At least you didn't ignite your room in the middle of the night this time," he continues with a smirk. She blushes. 

"Hey, you shouldn't bring that up! The academy officials are still upset with me. It's not like I can control my dreams," she defends herself. Lucian smiles. It's tough not to when she gets embarrassed. At this point the mess hall attendees have stopped staring in their direction and continued their usual ruckus. Suddenly, Lucian feels a sharp jolt in his torso. 

"Gah!" He exclaims as he drops to the floor. Dawn starts laughing again. He whirls around to see Mirai smiling and waving. She snuck up on him yet again. The glare off her glasses adds a sparkle to her grey eyes. "Good to see you too," Lucian says as he drags himself back into an upright position. He gazes at her form, skin as white as paper, wide hips, beautiful hair... 

" Is this seat taken?" Mirai asks softly, forcing Lucian thoughts back into the present. As she's already moving towards the bench, Lucian motions for her to sit down. 

"You need to make yourself more noticeable for the guys, sweetie," Dawn instructs an uncomfortable Mirai, smirking as she sits on the other side of Lucian. Mirai sighs and looks down, shaking her head. 

"Hey guys?" Lucian interjects, trying to change the topic. Turning around, he decides that this is the best time to talk about his dream. "Last night I..." His sentence is cut short by the examiner walking in. Everyone silently rises, standing at attention. The tall, pale, pretentious looking woman only uses one word to start off every single day at The Academy, and that word is: "Training."