[color=gray][INDENT][COLOR=lightgray][SUB][SUP][H3][I]Previously...[/I][/H3][/SUP][/SUB][/COLOR]
[COLOR=DIMGRAY][Quote][i][color=darkgray]"...And as our returning students know, today signals the start of the Homecoming Trials. For our incoming students, you will get the full Pacific Royal experience as you compete in your assigned teams for the weekend for the honour of being the Homecoming Royals. These trials will also determine your house placement, so be true to yourselves and give them your all."[/color]

The crowd burst into applause as Jonas turned to accept a torch that was handed to him. Standing up from his seat, the House Canis faculty member; who Cass recognized as none other than his guardian's brother, Aiden Roth, suddenly ignited the flame with his heat vision. With the torch lit, Dr. Lehrer turned towards the bronze Chimera, lighting a flame in each mouth of the statue. 

[color=darkgray]"Let the 2023 Homecoming Trials commence!"[/color] Jonas shouted into the din of cheers. [color=darkgray]"All incoming students! You are to return to the Intake House before proceeding to the Southern Plateau. New students should proceed in their assigned teams. You will find a package on each of your beds containing everything you will need for this weekend, including your physical activity uniform. You are to report to the Southern Plateau by 1500 hrs and in this uniform. I wish each of you luck and look forward to seeing which House calls you home!"[/color][/i][/Quote][/color]
[center][img]https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/1047910123206627378/1080525294496120862/image.png[/img][/center]
[color=white]“Jonas?”[/color] 

Winter Caspian caught the Chancellor's arm as the older man turned to leave the stage, intent on making his way to the Southern Plateau. Ever since founding Pacific Royal Collegiate and University, Jonas had ensured he took part in the Trials and often sat in on the discussions for student placement, acting as an impartial arbitrator. Between Yakob and himself, it had been Jonas who always saw the potential in people, whereas Yakob knew better how to direct it. These talents are what made both men exceptionally fitted to their positions. 

[color=white]“I was wondering if we might have a word,”[/color] Winter requested, though her tone left little doubt in Jonas’ mind that it was more of a demand. 

[color=white]“Would this happen to be about the Director position?”[/color] 

[color=white]“Sir, with all due respect, there are a number of benefactors who believe that it’d be best to place a man of your experience in the Director’s chair and allow the school the fresh perspective of say, Summer Carlyle or even Viktor Bordeaux.”[/color]

Jonas paused, the friendly demeanor draining rapidly from his face. The twinkling familiar eyes suddenly turned cold and piercing as the older man spun around on the leather heel of his Oxford. 

[color=white]“I wonder if your parents knew they were raising such a frigid woman when they named you Winter.”[/color] Any sense of pleasantry was gone from Jonas’ voice. [color=white]“My dearest friend, a man I considered to be closer than brother was murdered, no assassinated, mere hours ago, and you come to me not extending condolences but instead prying me to see if I intend to compete with you for his position.”[/color]

Spinning back around, Jonas flicked his hand dismissively back towards Winter while walking away.

[color=white]“Get off my campus and go enjoy your chair while you have the chance, Miss Caspian.”[/color] Jonas paused before climbing into the vehicle waiting for him. The warmth suddenly returned to his face, as he spoke again, calling back to Winter.

[color=white]“We wouldn’t want it to get cold.”[/color] He smiled, his eyes however did not as the icy gaze never once blinked while maintaining contact with Winter. 

A shiver ran down the small woman’s spine as she found herself standing alone on the podium while the student body and faculty both exited the stadium grounds. 
[/INDENT][CENTER][COLOR=#455676][sup]________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________[/sup][/COLOR][url=https://www.roleplayerguild.com/posts/5407930][img]https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/1047910123206627378/1080163847022841937/image.png[/img][/url][/CENTER][indent][sub][COLOR=#798bab][B]Location:[/B][/COLOR] [I]Pacific Royal Collegiate & University[/I] - [I]Dundas Islands, Pacific Ocean[/I][/sub][sup][right][COLOR=#798bab][b]The Homecoming Trials #1.08:[/b][/COLOR] [I]The Tribulations of Freshman[/I][/right][/sup][/indent][COLOR=#455676][SUP][sub]____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________[/sub][/SUP][/COLOR][INDENT][sub][color=#798bab][B]Interaction(s):[/B][/COLOR] [I]None[/I][/sub][SUP][RIGHT][COLOR=#798bab][b]Previously:[/b][/COLOR] [I]For Whom The Bell Tolls[/I][/right][/SUP]
[INDENT][color=darkgoldenrod]"Long time hyperhuman; first time caller.  Never been to one of these shindigs before, so just out of curiosity, how many of us [b]WILL[/b] you be sacrificing to your gods in this thing for a good harvest this year?"[/color]

Cassander's attention was turned towards the source of the voice, finding no surprise upon discovering that it belong to none other than 'Banjo'. The age old rhetoric said that every class had to have a clown, and Banjo was gunning for the title between his name, his comments and general antics. To his surprise however, out of the corner of Cassander's eye, he caught a smile creep across Calliope's face in response to Banjo's comment. 

A statuesque beauty, Cassander would be lying to say he hadn't noticed Calliope. Her demeanor though was rarely as enticing as her appearance. A literal ice queen. If Banjo could thaw her, then maybe he wasn't so bad to have around after all.

[color=#D90037]“So [i]cool[/i],”[/color] A mocking voice called out in retaliation to Banjo's comment making Cass' head spin as he tried to locate the nearby voice.

[color=#D90037]“Look everyone, at the [i]cool[/i] boy challenging the system. He’s so edgy. No one’s evah thought to do that before!”[/color] 

Suddenly Cass wished he had been able to ignore the voice as his eyes located the source. While Trace wasn't the least human-appearing Hyperhuman that Cassander had come across on campus, they were the ones he saw most often and their inhuman eyes and borderline transparent hair still gave him pause. Cassander was often guilty of wondering what Trace had looked like before their Hype-Gene exploded. Most of them got off 'lucky', at least in a manner of speaking. Hyperhumans were often attractive, retaining their youth longer if the faculty were anything to go off of. But cases like Trace were what propaganda makers focused on, branding them all inhuman monsters.

Following suit with the rest of the student body, Cass stood from his seat. Taking a second to brush himself off, more out of habit than actual necessity. The campus grounds were kept nearly immaculate, though the older teen would be lying if he said he hadn't put together that the students themselves were the ones doing the bulk of the menial labour. His eyes wandered back towards the center of the stadium, starting towards the woman who had introduced Jonas and the man himself whom she was talking to.  

Cass' eyes were suddenly pulled across the bleachers as he watched a blonde amazon make a beeline for a familiar face he knew to be Haleigh Crawford. The wheelchair-bound girl had been assigned with him to aid in the mess hall and the two had spent more hours familiarizing themselves with various produce than either had anticipated coming to a school for 'gifted' youngsters. That said, barely a word had been spoken between them, but as low of a bar as it was, Haleigh was still the closest thing Cassander had to a friend on campus.

All the more reason Cassander's protective instincts kicked in when he realized that the amazon wasn't simply moving towards Haleigh out of the same familiarity, but because something was wrong. Cass had already planned on offering Haleigh a hand with her wheelchair, though the girl now kneeling beside the other teen definitely had him 'outgunned'.

Jumping over several rows of seats in front of him, Cassander tried to close the gap to get to Haleigh before being suddenly halted in his tracks. The sight of the familiar spade emblem on the amazon's bicep made Cassander realize that the blonde bombshell was more of an ally than he originally realized and that perhaps, he didn't need to play hero today. Awkwardly stopping, he hoped no one had seen his saviour complex override his common sense. Taking one last look to ensure, Haleigh was in good hands, he felt his cheeks burn for a second as his gaze lingered too long on the teen knelt beside his kitchen buddy. 

[color=#D90037]“Fuckin’ wanker.”[/color] 

Cass's attention was quickly brought back to his surroundings as he heard Trace continue to complain about Banjo before being caught in the wave of students moving toward the exit. He briefly locked eyes with Banjo who looked like he was about to respond to Trace before Cass allowed himself a half smile and responded.

[color=#8aaceb]"Hey, they may have said it. But we were all thinking it."[/color] He raised his hands dismissively, cobalt-coloured energy accidentally crackling through his fingers betraying Cass' manufactured calm demeanour. He was a little on edge and not just because of the situation moments ago with Haleigh, or the slight confrontation just now with Banjo, but because he had no idea what 'Trials' they were about to experience.

In his exploring of the campus, Cassander had asked around about the trials and not once had he gotten a straight answer, nor a repeated one. It was beginning to feel like after you got sworn in, you kept the secret of the trials or else Jonas would make you disappear. Given everything he had seen at this school, he wouldn't have been surprised if the rest of 'Blackjack' had to work together to steal a dragon's egg tomorrow.

Breaking off from the main throng of students, Cass meandered his way back towards the Intake House. The day was too nice to rush through and he knew there was a bit of time to retrieve his uniform and necessities before the shuttle carted them all off to the far side of the island to be, as Banjo so eloquently put it, sacrificed for a good harvest.

Finding himself at the fountain outside of the Administrative Building, Cassander's eyes were drawn to a plaque dedicating the fountain to Vanessa Bordeaux and the five other Hyperhumans who were lost during the Crestwood Hollow Incident. Of course, Cass had heard about the incident; he had lived in Crestwood Hollow for seven years. Back home Hyperhuman was a loaded term, the incident put Crestwood on the map and for all of the wrong reasons. Alexis didn't like to talk about those days, Calvin let on a little more but the way Cassander understood it, the murders were grisly and Alexis' brother, Aiden was right in the middle of it. In fact, so was Jonas as Cassander understood it. 

The name Bordeaux also stuck out to Cassander. Wasn't his bunkmate Axel Bordeaux? In fact, he was sure there was a Viktor Bordeaux on staff at Pacific Royal as well. No doubt, both were related to Vanessa somehow. As large as the Hyperhuman community was, it also felt like one big family at times. 

It was borderline eerie.

Speaking of eerie, Cassander had never spent enough time at the fountain to previously notice, but the water occasionally warped into the shape of a person, alternating between six distinct shapes. Looking back at the plague, it suddenly clicked as Cass jumped back. 

[color=#8aaceb][i]Couldn't just have a statue like anywhere else?[/i][/color]

While Alexis didn't recount the incident, she had spoken about babysitting a much young Vanessa, and how Vanessa and Aiden used to play under her watchful eye. She spoke in terms of endearment like one would speaking about a sister. 

A wave of homesickness passed over Cassander. The winds blowing off the Pacific suddenly seemed a little colder and he wished the blazer of his uniform provided the same warmth Calvin's jacket did. Ripley would be starting Grade 4 this year back in Crestwood. Cass smiled sadly into the crystal waters of the fountain. He could only help but wonder if she was as nervous as he was about the beginning school year. Swallowing the lump in his throat, Cassander turned his steely gaze towards the Intake House. 

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