Knightwood was a stunning piece of architecture. The multiple buildings reminded me of the medieval times, the surrounding buildings were made up stone, giving off an ancient vibe. I had to thank my younger self and my determination to research architecture, and how I could build a castle in my room. Talk about childhood goals.

The main building, which held most of our assigned classes was a in a gold castle. A gold freaking castle!!! I always dreamed to have a castle of my own; a gold glittering castle would be a fine home to live in. Even though it’s not technically mine, I can pretend it is. No harm in dreaming. The school even had a gold medieval gate, the tips in forms of arrows and the center having Knightwood with a spiral crest in the middle.

We approached the entrance way, my eyes searching for Elias, who had promised to be here waiting for us. My eyes locked, however, on an individual with stunning blonde hair. It flowed down to her lower waist, the curls full and streaming in the breeze as it passed.

“EliaseAnne.” Ryder called out, taking the lead to approach the woman.

I couldn’t help but stop in my tracks as she turned around. My Starlight gods, she was absolute perfection. She was five-nine, her long legs complimenting her curvy figure.

Although her height gave her the advantage of looking smaller. She was wearing a black short skirt and black blouse. Dazzling gold streaks seemed to dance across her skirt, sparkling in the sun’s light, the same streaks outlining her blouse. Her gold bow tie was stripped with black, diagonal lines and hung loosely around her neck, while the emblem on her left breast pocket sparkled a mixture of gold, black and green. She was wearing black wedges and holding a small purse.

Her eyes were a brilliant emerald green, the resemblance reminding me of Elias, though hers glowed ever so slightly. It could have been the sun deceiving me, but the glow was soft and mystical looking. Her overall outlook was simply breathtaking. Was she related to Elias in someway? Her name was similar to his. Maybe they were siblings, definitely related. I couldn’t help but take a moment to look down at my appearance. I wish I was taller.

“Oh, sweetie trust me. You don’t want to be tall. It can be a real hindrance at times. Not all the men here are like these boys and their five-eight plus stature. It’s a real pain in the ass when you’re trying to find a boyfriend who’s taller than you.” A bubbly, high pitch voice explained, so close it made me flinch. I hadn’t realized the blonde beauty had moved from her previous spot and was now standing before me. How did she hear me from that distance? Ugh, I need to stop speaking my thoughts out loud.

“So, you’re Makoto! The boys have told me so much about you!” She gleamed, embracing me. I froze, my body going stiff at the sudden form of contact. Do girls hug one another when introduced?

“Um, yes. My name is Makoto, but you can call me Mako. I hope they said wonderful things like how funny I am.” I replied, gathering the courage to hug her back. Though it felt strange to give a complete stranger a hug, it also felt nice. I kinda loved hugs. She withdrew from our hug, clapping her hands together.

“YES! Elias told me how entertaining you were during breakfast. I’m assuming you got to meet Leo too. I don’t know what Ryder sees in him, such a complainer. My name is EliaseAnne, but my close friends, which between you and me, is the group of testosterone over there, call me Eli! You pronounce it like E-L-L-E but I spell it as Eli. I always confuse people into thinking I’m a boy, only to leave them speechless when they meet me in person.” She explained, gesturing to Ryder, Daniel and Marcus who were a few feet away, peering at our exchange before elaborating on the uniqueness to her name.

Her smile was so brilliant and welcoming. I felt as if I’d known her all my life. Oh yes, we would get along just fine. As I took another moment to admire her appearance, I wondered what spirit she carried.

For many individuals, they usually had some distinct physical characteristics which hinted what their spirits were, for example; Daniel and his gold eyes, a common angel spirit trait or Marcus and his broad bulky structure could hint to him being a bear shifter. I would have to ask Marcus if he was a bear shifter. Though I personally despised them, I couldn’t hate all bear spirits over a few rotten guards.

Please tell me she’s a unicorn shifter or something. There was no way she could look so…mythological and not be a unicorn. She burst out laughing, her voice riding on the wind, the sound like tinkling bells.

“I wish! Sadly, I’d probably be rated as the devil’s advocate compared to those pure holy beasts.” She chuckled.

I guess unicorns weren’t real. The one creature from all those fairy tales I wished was real. Wouldn’t it be nice to meet one? I guess I should scratch that off my mission list.

Eli leaned in towards me and whispered.

“They are very real, lovely.” My eyes widened, cursing under my breath for speaking out loud, again before her words sunk in.

“No way! You’re just playing with my heart strings.” I argued back in a hush voice, my eyes probably the size of saucers. She smiled wickedly as she nodded.

“If you get good grades, sister Eli will introduce you to one. What do you say?” She stated with a wink. A grin formed on her cherry red lips.

“Sign me up!” I replied happily. Meet a unicorn, mission selected. I could feel my spirts excitement oozing into my mind, seemingly happy to get a chance in meeting such a creature. Sure, Lily and Lexi were also in the mythical creature category but let’s take a moment to think about it; A FUCKING UNICORN. I would have to tell Midnight later.

“We’re going to be good friends Mako! C’mon. I’ll show you around. Welcome to Knightwood Academy, where people across the realms come to be the best of the best.” Eli announced, twirling around once with her hands spread wide, before bowing before me.

“Let’s go!” She ordered, pointing forward. I couldn’t help giggling at her dramatic introduction, happiness blossoming in me at having a new friend, especially one who was a girl. It had been so long since Lily…I was overdue for some girl time.

I smiled as I watched her march forward. I bet Lily would have gotten along with her too. I quickly shook off the guilty feeling that attempted to consume me. I had vowed not to sulk anymore. I’d live and enjoy this moment, for the both of us.

“Mako! Why you are still standing there?” Eli yelled from a few feet away.

I laughed, speed walking forward to catch up. I could see the boys out the corner of my eyes, not to far behind. I assumed they wanted me and Eli to have some girl time, or they had their fair dose of Makoto for the day.

When I reached Eli, she reached out and grabbed my hand. I glanced up, her radiant smile made me want to smile all day long.

“I don’t know what you’ve been through Makoto, but don’t let it consume you okay? We’ll support you no matter what.” Eli said softly.

My eyes widened as my heart ached at the sound of her reassuring words. They made me love her even more.

“So, we’re friends?” I asked hesitantly, my voice barely a whisper, the sudden fear of rejection creeped in me. Her smile widened as she tightened her grasp.

“We are definitely friends.” She whispered back.

 

We walked towards the rank office; Eli still holding my hand. The halls were a crowded, chaotic mess; the big exterior deceiving anyone into thinking the interior was also big. But it could have also been the absurd number of shifters crowding the halls, rushing to get to their classes. I was grateful for Eli’s willingness to guide me. Without her hand clutching mine, I would have been lost in the sea of students. We reached a red door, RANK labelled in the middle. Eli pressed her hand against the door, a magical symbol surging to life before unlocking it.

She opened the door, pulling me into the room. We both let out sighs of relief, having escaped such chaos. If I had to wake up early just to avoid that catastrophe, I would. It wasn’t till we were in the calm quiet office before I remembered Elias’ promise to meet us at the entrance.

“Elias! He said he would meet us at the entrance, but he wasn’t there... what if something happened to him?” A moment of panic surged through me. He didn’t look like the type to be late or break his promises so why hadn’t he been there? I heard a gentle snicker, the sound caused me to look up into Eli’s dazzling emerald eyes.

“Don’t worry about Elias. He always says he’ll come to class but never shows up. Knowing him, he’s probably relaxing in the forest, napping or something.” She mused, cheerfully. I was still worried. Why would he make the comment about meeting us at the entrance and then not show?

 “Is this where I get my rank?” I questioned, as I tried to distract myself from my concern, staring at the weird machinery around me. There were five vertical standing pods against the wall across from me. It was my first time seeing such machinery, and it piqued my interest. The white shiny pods reminded me of modern caskets; though, I hoped they didn’t bury shifters in them like the Egyptians did to their royals. That had been an interesting chunk of history that I’d read up on. Only a piece of clear, square glass was located on the top half of the pod, the remaining half displaying various buttons and a small screen; its purpose probably to show the shifter’s vitals or results?

“Just in time Makoto. I’ve been waiting for you to arrive.” A familiar voice announced.

Karen emerged from a curtain displayed on our right, her bright green eyes reminding me of trees. She was wearing a black skirt and white blouse, a white lab coat resting on her slender shoulders. Her glasses were perched on the top of her head, the silver circle rimmed glasses flashing in the light.

“Is this a hard process?” I inquired, becoming nervous. I wasn’t a fan of medical examinations. The familiar sight of her lab coat made me cringe, memories of being tortured and forced to participate in another row of experimental testing flooded my body with fear.

I felt a hand grasp mine, and the action made me jump and turn my head to my left, Eli stood there with a blank expression on her face.

“Mako, relax. It’s not the facility. The boys explained to me some of what you’ve been through – you’re safe here. Trust me. Ranking is just done to see how strong you are both physically and mentally. It won’t hurt you, promise.” She reassured me, her voice filled with sincerity. I took a deep breath, before nodding.

“We’ll get the mental aspect over with and then I’ll assess your physical capabilities through some exercises. Eli will be here the whole time, so if you get nervous or afraid of anything, just let us know. Okay?” Karen explained.

“Let’s get this over with then.” I encouraged, taking one more moment to squeeze Eli’s hand before letting go. I walked towards Karen; she gestured me towards one of the pods.

I stared at the pod before me with spite, my hands clenching into fist as I gathered my courage. Karen approached me, her hand lightly tapping my shoulder. I looked up to see her soft smiling face.

“It’s safe and harmless. If you start to panic, press this red button and the pod will open up.” She assured me, placing a small device in my hand, the red button placed in the middle. I nodded, glancing back at the pod. I shall conquer you.

Karen assisted me into the pod, my body still tensed by the enclosed space. The interior surface was cool, helping calm my racing heart and growing feelings of anxiety. This is not the facility Mako. You can do this.

“We’re here if you need us Mako.” Rose reminded me, her voice soothing my fear of being alone in this piece of metal. Thank you. I took a deep breath, allowing the tension to leave my shoulders as I relaxed.

“I’m going to begin Mako. This shouldn’t take longer than five minutes. This pod will calibrate your magic levels within you, taking into consideration your spirits and their levels of strength.” Karen explained. I nodded my approval to her through the glass, allowing my eyes to close, waiting for the assessment to begin.

The pod hummed to life, a soft flow of mist surrounding my body. My body froze at the new sensation, but relaxed as I continued to listen to the humming sound. Hmm, this isn’t too bad. I let out a yawn, feeling a warm sensation go down my body; a gold light roaming up and down, scanning me slowly. I paid no mind, my eyes drooping, as I began to feel sleepy, my mind drifting. I’ll just close my eyes for a minute.

 

***

“LET ME SEE!”

I groaned, gripping the curtain as if my life depended on it. Fuck this school; fuck this uniform, hell to the bloody no! I am not walking around this school in this piece of attention seeking fabric!

“You’re simply mad cause you’re not one for attention.” Rose said smoothly.

“Attention? I’M A FUCKING TARGET WEARING THIS!” I screamed back.

My physical and mental testing went smoothly, the results coming back in less than ten minutes. Those scores had been added together and determined which rank I would be for the rest of the school cycle.

The boys and Eli were all gold ranks; the only gold ranks in the entire school. Ryder, Elias and Eli being a fraction away from pink rank. Eli had explained that Karen had altered their tests slightly, not wanting them to catch too much attention. Not like their group of gold ranks didn’t contribute to their immense popularity.

Here I was, attempting to hide away in the rank office for the rest of my existence, or at least until that agent returned from Heila so I could skedaddle away, home. Eli continued fighting to see the colour of my uniform, the black and PINK uniform. Why couldn’t I be normal for one bloody moment!

The opposing force from the other side of the curtain suddenly disappeared, causing me to fall, with a shriek, backwards onto the medical bed behind me. The curtain slid open, revealing a pissed off Eli, her eyebrows pulled together as she stared at me in fury. The moment her eyes landed upon me, they widened, so big I thought they would explode.

“HOLY MOTHER OF STARLIGHT!!!! You’re a PINK RANK!!! My gods, Karen! Couldn’t you have like, I don’t know, dimmed her magic down a bit…or a lot!” Eli cried out. Karen came into view, her hands crossed over her chest as she raised her hand to fix her reading glasses which were now on her face.

“I did. If there was a rank past pink, Makoto would fit the category. She’s pink by default. Anymore tampering and her results would be invalid. I’m not too surprised though. Myself and Professor Oxwell expected this to happen.”  I frowned. Expected me to be an overpowering neon pink highlighter?

“It’s not THAT bright you know. You’re just different.” Eli argued, rolling her eyes at my dramatic behaviour. I groaned, not caring about my talking out loud issue.

“I guess we’ll have to determine where you’re going to sleep. We don’t have a special housing complex for pink ranks compared to the gold ranks, seeing as we’ve hadn’t housed an official pink knight in cycles.” Karen pondered.

“Karen! There’s no way she can stay at the normal dorms. They would challenge her every five minutes for being different! She has to stay with us!” Eli urged. Karen glanced at me, her eyes roaming down my uniform before sighing.

“You do have a point. I’ll talk to my dad. It may cause another uproar but she’s entitled to such privileges as a pink rank.” Karen concluded.

“Fuck being different. Been there, done that, no thank you. I want a refund please.” I rambled under my breath. Yes, I must have committed an evil deed in my past life to be cursed with this privilege.

“Look on the bright side; at least pink is your favourite colour.” Hope mused, her voice filled with sympathy.

“Maybe you’ll get free food and get to skip class.” Lexi encouraged.

“You’re just trying to find an excuse for her to eat and be a bad student, aren’t you?” Lily questioned.

“Maybe. Food is life. Plus, the word class sounds boring. I can only imagine.” She pointed out, proudly.

Stop. Talking. Now. I ordered, pushing all of them out of my mind. They weren’t helping me in my current dilemma and it simply pissed me off. I didn’t want to be optimistic; I wanted to get the hell out of here. I could feel the anger within me grow. I didn’t want to deal with being the eye of attention. All that promoted was people talking behind your back. No, scratch that, they had no shame in saying it to your face.

The memories of how everyone treated me at the facility surfaced. I was the Owner’s favourite and they hated me. I stood out and all it ever provided me was vicious words and evil stares. I could feel my hands trembling, the fear attempting to cripple me. I could feel the ground below my feet tremble weakly.

Eli came towards me, placing her hands on my shoulders to stare down into my eyes, her expression stone cold serious.

“Makoto! Stop. Your stress is shaking the building.” She ordered. I stared back at her in defiance, causing her to lift her eyebrow at me. I let out a huff, breaking eye contact to glare at the floor, the small quakes coming to a stop. Fine, no crumbling the school to the ground for today. Eli sighed.

“Mako. You’re thinking too much over this. Being a pink rank isn’t only about being the talk of the school. You get tons of benefits too. Also, this is your time to make a reputation for yourself.” She explained. Reputation? New pink rank on the block. I couldn’t help but picture all the new nicknames I would acquire.

“Yes, reputation. You really think I’m going to let you act like a scared cat shifter in front of all those stuck up shifters. Nope, not happening. This is your time to be what I call, a bad ass bitch!” Eli proclaimed. Isn’t she confident? I’d love a dose of that.

“What did you mean by you ‘expected’ this?” I asked Karen, remembering her earlier statement.

“You’re the daughter of Arthur and Catherine, two of the strongest rulers in all the realms. Plus, both your brothers attended Knightwood in the past, ranking as pink but we tampered their results at the time, lowering them to gold. Back then, it caused an uproar, especially since we’d never had a gold rank before. They were the first gold ranks, not having any till Ryder’s group arrived. I didn’t expect anything less from you when we accepted your enrollment.” Karen explained.

I placed my hand against my forehead, giving myself a moment. I seriously needed to ask the boys what was Karen’s role in all of this, seeing as she knew a lot about everything. I guess another mental note to add to the list of things I need to know.

I sighed, lying back on the metal bed to stare at the ceiling.

“EliaseAnne?” I muttered.

“Yes, Mako?” She answered softly. I sat back up, meeting her eyes with determination.

“Teach me how to be a badass bitch.”