Fifteen.
Iris's POV.
Things have been pretty busy here at Crest Hill. Students from other schools have been transferring here every since I won the 24 warrior challenge. Training in preparation for the war was taking place here since this was where the Elysian was discovered.
I knocked on the door of Mr T's office and waited patiently for a response.
" Come in."
I walked in to see Mr T sitting behind his desk with a ton of paper work in front of him. Emily came in through the door connecting their offices looking tired.
" Can I have a minute?" I asked and they sighed.
" Yes. Anything to take my mind off all this paper work." He replied.
" What is it?" Emily asked yawning while unconsciously rubbing her belly.
" I'm quitting school work so I can focus on training." I said.
" What?!" They exclaimed.
" Great!, Another thing to add to the ever growing list of problems I have to solve." Mr T muttered massaging his temple.
" Iris." Emily sighed.
" You can't quit school work. You just came back. You've missed 4 months of school work just because you were training."
" She right Iris. You've already missed a huge chunk of your junior year you can't quit."
" But I don't need-"
" You are need to learn. After all this blows over, you're gonna have to go to college or get a job. Your training won't matter then."
" I've already learnt all that I have too!, The Elders tutored me."
" Iris it's not possibly to learn your entire syllabus within 4 months."
" Yes it is. And I can prove it."
" Iris, look I'm really tired we'll talk about this another time."
" No!, Let's talk about it now. I'm not going to waste my time in classes learning things I already know when I could be training!"
" Okay, fine!, How do you intend to prove it?" Emily asked and I smiled.
" The ολότητα." I replied and they sighed.
" Iris." They sighed.
" I'll take the test and if I get less than 90% I promise I'll attend all my classes and I will never bring this up ever again."
" Fine. We'll let you take the test."
***
" Yo!" Chris greeted as Bryan and I walked out of our dorm room.
" Morning!" Bryan replied and I smiled in response.
" You guys ready?" I asked.
" Yeah but first, we have to pick Rose up."
" And Savannah." Chris piped up and I rolled my eyes.
" Sure!, Rub it my face that you both have girlfriends."
" I don't know why you're complaining. You have something way better." Chris said as we made our way towards the entrance of the girls'dormitory.
" And what is that?"
" A mate." Bryan replied as Rose and Savannah came out.
They both gave their girlfriends a kiss and I rolled my eyes.
I finally realised that something was wrong, Iris wasn't with them.
" Hey, where's Iris?"
" I thought she'd be with you guys. She left really early this morning for her usual morning exercise."
" Speak of the devil." Savannah said as Iris walked towards us.
" Hey!" She greeted.
" One, where were you? And two, why aren't you dressed for school?" Rose questioned pointing to Iris's outfit which was a tank top and yoga pants.
" They didn't tell you?" Iris asked folding her arms smirking.
" Tell us what?"
" I quit school work so I can focus on training."
" What?!" We exclaimed and she smiled.
***
" How and why was Iris allowed to quit school?!, And is it also possible for me to quit?" Bryan asked as we barged into Mr T's office.
" No." Mr T and Emily stated blankly.
" Why did you let her quit?" Rose asked.
" Well she said she had learnt everything she needed to know while training with the elders."
" And you believed her?!" We exclaimed.
" Hey!" Iris said defensively.
" Of course not!" Emily exclaimed.
" Okay guys I'm standing right here, could you not insult me?" Iris said but we ignored her.
" We gave her the test.
" What test?" Savannah asked.
" The ολότητα?"
" The what?!" Rose asked.
" The ολότητα. It's a Greek word meaning entirety. It's pronounced Olótita. It's a test given to possible supernatural geniuses. It contains advanced questions on supernaturals and regular subjects." Bryan explained and we looked at him in disbelief.
" What?!, I'm not a total idiot. I know things." He said defensively.
" So what did she get?, 50?, 60?, 70?" Chris asked.
" A 100." Mr stated.
" Wow she really does know everything." Chris said and Iris smirked.
" Now if you'll excuse me, I have to get back to training." Iris said walking out of the room.
" She's changed a lot." Rose said quietly.
" Whatever happened to her must have been terrible." Mr T said and we nodded in agreement.
***
Today was our first day of training with Iris. Ever since the council made the decision that the 24 warriors would be at the forefront of the battle alongside Iris. I had mixed feelings about it. One part of me was happy because I was one of the best fighters in my fraction. The other part was terrified because it meant I was going to be at the starting line of the army.
" Hey!" Bryan greeted as he approached us.
" Awwn you came to wish me luck!" Rose gushed but Bryan shook his head.
" No. I came to see my cousin. Was I supposed to come wish you luck?"
" Cousin?" I asked.
" Yeah. She one of the warriors. She's an all shifter." He said and waved at a dark skinned girl with braids. She smiled and made her way over to us.
Bryan gave her a side hug before introducing her to us.
" T, this is my best friend Cole, and my girlfriend Rose. Guys, this is my younger cousin T.
" I know you guys!, You were the two fighters to successfully land hits on Iris! It's so nice to meet you."
" Likewise." I replied.
" So, is T short for anything?" Rose asked and she smiled.
" Tiara." She replied.
" As in the crown?" I asked and Bryan and T laughed.
What's so funny?
" No it's a Nigerian name, it's short for Tiaraoluwanimi." She replied and Rose and I looked at each other confused.
Tiara saw our expressions and laughed before walking away.
" Tiaralu- Tiaraola- Tia- Ughh!" Rose huffed in frustration.
" Babe don't stress it. Don't ruin my cousin's name." Bryan said and she glared.
" Line up." Iris barked as she entered the arena.
" And that's my cue to leave."
We scurried around and eventually formed an horizontal line facing Iris.
" Welcome to your first day of training with me. You should be both honoured and terrified the you are the frontiers of the final battle. This training is to prepare you as individuals and as a team. Cause like it or not, you're going to be working as a team even after the war." She said and we were all excited.
" But that's if you don't die in battle." She said casually and we sobered up pretty quickly.
" So I want you to forget where you're from and focus on why you are here. Everyone here is your family and therefore is your responsibility. Including me. I want you all to relax around me. Quit being so formal. Yes I am the Elysian but I'm also a teenager like you. I will be your mentor and your guide."
" You are expected to fight as a team, support the other warriors where they are weak. This makes it difficult to find your flaws and weaknesses. But you guys don't fight as a team. You fight as seperate groups under the same team. That's why defeating you in the challenge was so easy.
Take it from someone who has fought her fair share of magicians-"
" You've fought magicians?" A girl asked cutting in.
" Yes severally. And if you guys were to fight them now, you'd be dead and probably buried if you're not disembodied let me tell you magicians are vicious!" She said saying the last part in a sing song voice.
We laughed until we realised she wasn't joking and once again, we sobered up pretty quickly.
" Magicians are technical, they study their enemies to find flaws in their techniques. Once they can find it, they'll exploit.
But, never!, I repeat never attack a surrendered magician."
" But they're evil." Someone piped up and Iris shook her head.
" Not all of them. Some of them don't know what's right. They were taught, well brainwashed to think we're the evil ones." She said letting her words sink into us.
" Today we're not going to be doing much, I just want you to get familiar with each other. So, our first lesson: Socialize."
***
Bonghjornu!
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Hope you liked it.
Stay safe 😷.
Bye!!