I threw on my slippers and opened the door.
"Oh, it's you, Leon."
Daleon, or Leon for short, is only a year older than me, yet his height makes that hard to believe, seeing as he's at least four, maybe five inches taller than me. His demeanor and attitude also play a pretty good role in that. He reminds me of the Disciples—calm and understanding.
But around me, he always seems uncomfortable.
Or maybe he just pities me.
"Why are you still in your uniform?" I asked, my eyes wandering over his tattered outfit.
He glared down at me.
"I was helping Ms. Lena."
As we made our way down the hall, I could hear distorted voices coming from the Nave. We walked through one of the side doors, and after a few glances in our direction, the once-loud room went dead silent.
Ms. Lena was the only one who continued talking.
Daleon and I split off. He continued toward Ms. Lena while I headed toward Nesto, who was sitting by himself on the second bench.
As I got closer, it became very apparent that he was sleeping.
I sat down next to him and looked over at Daleon, who was still talking with Ms. Lena. After exchanging a few words with her, he walked toward our bench.
Noticing Nesto was fast asleep, he calmly tapped him on the shoulder.
"Nesto, wake up."
Nesto's eyes slowly fluttered open.
"Wait, what?"
He rubbed his eyes, and then his face went pale.
"I wasn't sleeping!" he shouted.
Everyone turned around, looking at him with different expressions.
"You don't have to be so loud, Nesto. I was merely waking you up," Daleon muttered while rubbing his ears.
"I'm so sorry, Daleon."
Looking at Nesto, one would think he'd turned into a ghost.
"Just try to stay awake next time."
Daleon turned around and walked past me, taking a seat as the side door to the Nave opened wide.
Selina peeked inside, then stepped through, quickly walking over to Vira and taking a seat.
Ms. Lena walked over to the pulpit and took a deep breath.
"Now that everyone is here, let's begin."
She pointed toward Vira.
"Vira, may I use you for a demonstration, dear?"
"Of course, Ms. Lena," Vira said politely.
She stood and walked up to the pulpit. Ms. Lena took out a silver chalice and a Lathumite knife.
"What are these for, Ms. Lena?" Vira questioned, poking at the chalice.
"I'm about to tell you."
Ms. Lena turned to face everyone.
"Another step in everyone's training is gaining a position within the standing hierarchy."
She took a step forward.
"This means you'll have more than one goal. Your goal isn't only to become powerful individually, but to become stronger as a whole. None of you will accomplish everything alone. Your individual skill sets will matter, and the stronger you become, the greater the opportunities will be for you, your comrades, and the Sanctum."
"What do you mean, the Sanctum?" Norm asked.
"Just opportunities."
That's pretty vague, I thought to myself.
"Now let's proceed with the demonstration."
She walked over to Vira.
"May I see your hand?"
Vira reluctantly raised her hand.
"It will sting, but only for a moment."
Ms. Lena took her hand and made a quick cut across her palm. Vira immediately pulled her hand back.
I instinctively jumped to my feet.
"What in Karoth?" I muttered.
"Sit down," Daleon said. "She will be okay. You have my word."
"You expect me to sit down?" I said, glaring at him.
"I do. Even if she was in danger, what could you do exactly?"
He didn't take his eyes away from the demonstration.
"Fuck you."
I reluctantly sat back down, keeping my eyes on Vira. She was visibly shaken, clutching her hand.
Ms. Lena grabbed the silver chalice.
"Now, Vira, hold your hand out."
Vira hesitated before holding out her hand.
"Now let your blood fill the chalice."
Ms. Lena looked around. Everyone was staring at her in shock—well, everyone except the Disciples and Daleon.
"She will be okay," Ms. Lena said in a calm and collected tone.
How are they so calm? What is going on? I wondered, clenching my fists.
Ms. Lena cleared her throat and began to speak.
"Simple and easy. This is the only way we can collect the data we need—through your Lathium blood."
"Are you okay, Vira?"
"Y-yes," Vira said, her body still visibly shaking.
"Okay. You may go sit down."
Ms. Lena handed her a roll of stretchy white silk.
"Make sure to wrap your hand."
Vira turned and walked back to her original spot.
"Alright, now let's continue. To make this less chaotic, everyone in the first two benches, form a single-file line."
Everyone in the front two benches stood and walked over to Ms. Lena, forming a single-file line as instructed.
One after another, they went through the same process. Once they were finished, everyone from the first two benches returned to their seats, each carrying a chalice in one hand with a white wrap around the other.
"Alright, next row."
Daleon, Nesto, and I stood up, ready to continue the same cycle.
"What bullshit," I muttered.
"Chill out," Nesto said.
"Yeah, sorry."
We reached the front. Daleon was first and was already proceeding with the process.
"Kroven."
A soft voice echoed around me.
It wasn't Ms. Lena's.
It wasn't Vira's.
It was gentler. More certain.
I looked behind me, but everyone was still watching the demonstration. Nesto looked at me and let out a tired yawn.
I turned back around. Daleon was already wrapping his hand. Ms. Lena handed him his chalice. He grabbed it, then turned and walked back toward the bench.
Ms. Lena pulled out another chalice and handed me the knife.
I took the blade and hesitantly
put it against my bare skin.
"Kroven!"
A ringing echoed through my head, loud and disturbing.
I dropped the knife and covered my ears, squeezing my eyes shut. Slowly, the ringing faded, replaced by the sound of splashing waves.
"Nesto," I called out.
I opened my eyes.
Beautiful green land stretched out around me.