After Dobin went to his room to begin studying his Earth Ability, Lana unpacked her meager belongings. The last thing she pulled from her bag was a small velvet box. She carefully opened it and glanced at the golden locket inside as if she had not done it a thousand times before. She had memorized every line. Every curve. The design on front was that of a climbing rose with sharp thorns wrapped around a human heart so tight the thorns almost punctured it. Inside the locket were two pictures she could only assume were her parents. This was the only thing left with them along with their names. She wondered for the thousandth time who her parents were. Where did they go? Did they love their twins? Why did they leave two innocent babies behind to live such a hard life? And… Now that she was out of that wretched orphanage, did she dare wear such a valuable and personal trinket?
She decided to give her time here a test before putting her most precious item around her neck. She just finished stashing it away when she heard a squawk then a beep at her door. Her roommate had arrived.
"Oh, it's You!" Kattie Bree stated as she entered the room. "We didn't talk much at the assessment."
Knowing she was higher level than this other student, it was easier to remember her strength. "I'm not good with people. Are you from the Bree family?"
Kattie nodded, "my family worked their way into their favor as part of a faction and I was lucky enough to learn their ability. I'm not part of their hierarchy, but I'm grateful for the opportunity I have been given." Presenting the bird, "This is Sven. He's an intermediate level beast and is sort of a cross between a raven and a crow with a bit of eagle mixed in, I guess you could say. He's only been with me about 4 months so far so we are still learning about each other and becoming friends but he likes me so far. What was it you hit those targets with at the assessment? It looked like vines."
Lana nodded "Yes, they were vines. I'm an original and am still learning my ability. My brother and I are orphans." She paused, "I'm looking forward to being friends. I have had bad luck with that my whole life. I hope things with you turn out different. Perhaps we can get to know each other?"
Kattie looked a bit taken aback then nodded. "I'm sorry to hear that. I just figured we would be living together so we might as well get to know one another and get along."
Lana nodded and smiled "I appreciate that. My brother and I shared the same room and bed because we were even rejected by the others are the orphanage."
Kattie nodded with a huge smile, "I look forward to exploring friendship with you!"
Lana lay on her bed with her school tablet trying to familiarize herself with the device. She would be lost without her brother and she knew it. He did show her how to access her course materials along with other things. Why did this device not work the same way at the one for her previous school? After being bored to tears by trying to get ahead in her lessons, she put the tablet down and went to the library. She noticed the blond-haired boy at a table talking to the curly haired boy, the one that rejected the ability book, but the room was quite crowded. She perused the books, familiarizing herself with the layout. She noticed there were many books on the first floor, the section for first years. She stayed there pursuing topics and getting an idea of where everything was so she could study more efficiently. She decided to go check on her brother, look into dinner then return to the library until bed time. Exhausted, she collapsed onto her bed. There was much to learn.
She was in the school hallway and like so many times before, a boy with a high ability was beating on her brother. Her rage was growing inside her. The fight was at the other end of the hallway, at least a hundred feet from her current location. She needed to rescue him as she always did so she did the only think she could think of. She flipped and somersaulted around all the students, dodging here and there, kicking where needed as other students tried to stop her from getting to him. She came out of a flip and brought her foot right up under the chin of her brother's assailant and Dobin dropped to the floor. Jobe, the assailant, started to get up but she was too quick for him and stomped on his knee cap breaking it. He screamed in pain and Lana looked behind her to see her brother's condition. He was bloody and not moving. She turned back to Jobe and noticed he had moved to an almost kneeling position. Blood was oozing from his head and knee and it looked like his jaw was broken but she didn't care. The rage was consuming her as she screamed like a banshee and swung her leg with every ounce of strength she had toward his head. All she wanted was blood. Jobe's blood. Jobe's death. Inches before impact, Jobe was knocked to the floor as Stacy rescued him. Lana impacted with the wall and didn't even feel the pain. She screamed again with deeper rage.
She sat up on bed gasping for air having just finished her scream. Tears were streaming down her face and she grabbed her pillow and shoved her face into it, crying. Holding the pillow close to her. Hugging it so tight she would have squeezed the life out of it had it been alive. When she finally calmed down, she realized it was daylight and on the other side of her room, there sat Kattie Bree with Sven sitting on her shoulder. She had a concerned look on her face.
Lana wiped her tears from her face, "Did I wake you?"
Kattie smiled sadly "It's okay. Are you okay? That sounded pretty bad."
Lana nodded slowly. "I was so tired last night that I didn't meditate. That happens a lot when I don't meditate before sleep. I normally have to do it in the morning and evening." Looking down at her hands, "I have … a hard time controlling my emotions. Especially when it involves my brother or adults. Adults are the worst. When they push… Exert their authority…" Her voice trailed off then she climbed off the bed to sit on the floor and do her morning meditations. She sighed deeply, letting the bad memory escape her mind as she focused on nothing and grounding her energy, ensuring the white light entered through her feet, traveled to every area of her body and the excess left, before opening her eyes once more. Kattie had just gotten out of the shower and was finishing putting on her uniform so Lana took her turn in the bathroom to do the same.
*****
Dobin returned toward his room after leaving Lana's room. His watch still displayed the number "1" and he knew what that meant, not just for himself but for his sister as well. He was tired of her having to risk everything every day to keep him safe. While he didn't believe in the military and agreed with her stance, he had an ability book now. Just as he thought that thought, out of nowhere he was slammed into the wall. Also, out of nowhere, a tall bond slammed his assailant into the wall even harder. Grateful, he nodded and rushed off to his room as the taller boy nodded back. Safely in his room, Dobin opened his level 1 earth ability book and began to study. One day soon, his siter would be able to count on him to protect her instead of the other way around.