I
IAmEnzo
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"Stay in here and don't unlock the door for anyone except for me."
Another distinctive whistle tore through the sky outside, followed by a loud bang and rumble of the earth. Whatever event transpired outside seemed to affect everyone in the Daugherty. The flashing lights beyond the windows despite it being well past bedtime, the sounds of rushing footsteps just beyond the saferoom's door. All of it terrified Camilla as she found herself nearly choking on her own tears. The 6 foot tall man knelt down to Camilla's much smaller height and lifted her head up with a finger under her chin.
"Don't cry, Camilla. I won't be gone for long."
The man's attention turned to the slightly older boy to Camilla's side.
"Protect your sister, okay? You're the man of the house now, Logan."
Logan, who struggled to keep a calm and collected expression, hesitantly nodded in response to the older man's words.
"What if you d-don't come back?" Logan quirked.
"I will come back. Just wait for me."
The older man rose to his feet as another loud explosion rocked the entire settlement.
"I love you both."
At once, the man's body converted into a fast-moving cloud of smoke that trailed up into the ceiling's vents, leaving the two children alone inside the safety of the Daugherty's saferoom. Despite having the safety of her usually confident and skilled older brother Logan, Camilla couldn't find the strength to hold back her tears of fear and worry. Just where were the other children? Who was attacking such a peaceful little abode? At this point, not even the abundant fluff of Kenshi's fur could quell her bellowing.
"Camilla?" Her brother took hold of her shoulders.
"Camilla!" He began to shake her.
"CAMILLA!" shouted a different voice that awoke the girl from her nightmare. Sleepy eyes dilated and focused in on the only thing in her field of vision; A disgruntled face with reading glasses.
"Maggie..?"
"We're late, Camilla! Club registration is going to start in a few minutes!"
Camilla slumped her back against the hard stone of the apartment block as if the words the girl spoke had gone through one ear and out the other. Maggie, who was a fellow classmate and the only true friend of Camilla, had gone through the trouble of searching for Camilla on this big day of theirs. Today was the day that student-governed clubs started receiving their first batch of members. The only issue was that their 'leader' was off sleeping in an alleyway a dozen blocks away from school grounds.
Another distinctive whistle tore through the sky outside, followed by a loud bang and rumble of the earth. Whatever event transpired outside seemed to affect everyone in the Daugherty. The flashing lights beyond the windows despite it being well past bedtime, the sounds of rushing footsteps just beyond the saferoom's door. All of it terrified Camilla as she found herself nearly choking on her own tears. The 6 foot tall man knelt down to Camilla's much smaller height and lifted her head up with a finger under her chin.
"Don't cry, Camilla. I won't be gone for long."
The man's attention turned to the slightly older boy to Camilla's side.
"Protect your sister, okay? You're the man of the house now, Logan."
Logan, who struggled to keep a calm and collected expression, hesitantly nodded in response to the older man's words.
"What if you d-don't come back?" Logan quirked.
"I will come back. Just wait for me."
The older man rose to his feet as another loud explosion rocked the entire settlement.
"I love you both."
At once, the man's body converted into a fast-moving cloud of smoke that trailed up into the ceiling's vents, leaving the two children alone inside the safety of the Daugherty's saferoom. Despite having the safety of her usually confident and skilled older brother Logan, Camilla couldn't find the strength to hold back her tears of fear and worry. Just where were the other children? Who was attacking such a peaceful little abode? At this point, not even the abundant fluff of Kenshi's fur could quell her bellowing.
"Camilla?" Her brother took hold of her shoulders.
"Camilla!" He began to shake her.
"CAMILLA!" shouted a different voice that awoke the girl from her nightmare. Sleepy eyes dilated and focused in on the only thing in her field of vision; A disgruntled face with reading glasses.
"Maggie..?"
"We're late, Camilla! Club registration is going to start in a few minutes!"
Camilla slumped her back against the hard stone of the apartment block as if the words the girl spoke had gone through one ear and out the other. Maggie, who was a fellow classmate and the only true friend of Camilla, had gone through the trouble of searching for Camilla on this big day of theirs. Today was the day that student-governed clubs started receiving their first batch of members. The only issue was that their 'leader' was off sleeping in an alleyway a dozen blocks away from school grounds.
"I told you that you could stay the night over at my house. It would have been so much better since I live closer to it than.. this!"
Camilla muttered incomprehensible words with her face mashed against the stone wall. A few seconds of silence passed before the realization finally hit her. Camilla's eyes shot wide open and she jerked to life like she had been hit by a lightning bolt.
"The club!!" She shouted out of panic. "Maggie, the club! What time is it!?"
"It should be lunch time any moment now..!"
Scentia's lunch time was just before the various clubs opened their doors to the other students. It was their opportunity to apply the finishing touches to their club rooms and make sure it accommodated the predicted number of newcomers.
"Where's your uniform? You have to hurry up!"
"I know, I know. Go without me, I'll catch up!"
Maggie didn't hesitate. With a nod, the student marched off around the corner and back in the direction of the school. Camilla on the other hand was ill-prepared for the task ahead of her. A track jacket over a T-shirt and jeans. On top of that, everything was dirtied thanks to having slept in an alleyway. Luckily, she had her uniform hung on the top of a steel stairwell leading to the roof of the relative building. It was out of the sight of most individuals so it didn't worry her at all.
At the roof of the building was an array of objects sorted by it's weight. Camilla used these random objects to test her abilities every day after she woke up. Today, she carried a block of cement to the very edge of the building and took a deep breath. As soon as the block was shoved off of the roof, she disappeared in a flash. A brief blur zipped it's way across the rooftop towards the building's water tower, leaving behind discarded clothes. A blast of water from the tank covered the blur before it zoomed by the waiting uniform, taking the clothes with it. By the time the blur ran it's way down the stairwell and back down to the alleyway, the cement block had finally landed on the ground. Camilla clicked her tongue in frustration having been nearly tied with the falling object.
"Still having troubles turning." She admitted to herself. Every day she performed this test to measure how fast she had gotten since yesterday, and every single time she had trouble changing directions. Her body protested and her bones threatened to snap the moment she tried to curve her trajectory. Acknowledging her need for improvement, she used that same superspeed to race back towards Scentia's grounds.
An exhausted Maggie nearly took out two or three students on her way to their designated club room. Lunch time was just about over and Maggie was the definition of a mess. Ruffled hair, lopsided glasses, and no time to rest. Eventually she came up to the room whose sign had 'Astrology Club' taped over it's original name. As she struggled to obtain the keys given to her by one of the teachers, her elbow easily bumped the door open to reveal a well-prepared Astrology Club and a readied Camilla.
"C-Camilla?" Maggie stammered. "How did you..?"
"Welcome to the Astrology Club!" Camilla shouted with a playful grin on her face.
The club was nothing like the mess they had left it yesterday. The ceiling was painted a nice color representing outer space and it's stars. The walls were covered in fun facts, motivational phrases, schedules, and even a zodiac-sign calendar pinned on the correct date. The center of the room was merely a round-table for the members to discuss club activity. Today it would be used as their interviewing table. Off to the side was various equipment - all of which was notably pricey. Rather than inquire on how Camilla was able to do all of this, Maggie prepared for the onslaught of students they were expecting. Maggie slammed a stack of papers in front of Camilla.
"These are all of our applications." She declared.
Slowly, Camilla looked through each and every form they had gotten. "Aimi, adorable.. Frey, badass... Jackson-.. Hey, he looks kind of violent in this picture. Is that blood?"
"He's probably a cook or something, and that's splattered ketchup." Maggie added.
Camilla shrugged and continued.
"Hmm.. Oh! Versai's pretty!"
"They're always prettier in pictures than in person." Maggie added once more.
"Hal.. He's pretty good looking, don't you think?" Camilla asked. Maggie hid the lower half of her face behind a book she suddenly decided to carry. "Mhm."
Parting with a suspicious look, Camilla moved on.
"Gerhard.. is twenty? Wait, he's a first year student.." Camilla was silent for a moment. "Mm, that's interesting."
"And the last person... is twelve? He looks kind of sad." Upon further observation, the desolate look in Fran's picture reminded Camilla of Logan. "I bet he has a story to tell." Camilla sorted the applications together and took a deep breath. "I should fill out my own form while I wait.."
"These applicants should be showing up any moment now."
"Well then, here we go."
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