The Spiritguard

By lunchtime, my eyes are burning and I have made little progress. The same could be said about almost anyone in my class, though. The exception would be Kavella, who already knew the technique, somehow. Out of everyone else, Kael came the closest to being successful. His level of concentration is through the roof! He focused so much his eyes started to glow. Of course…that was the point. I think I know why Kael was successful and nobody else was. He's the only one who knows where the hell a retina is.

 We walk over to the cafeteria at lunchtime, slightly behind all of the other students. They rush ahead, for some reason…I guess they're hungry. Me, I never have much of an appetite, and Kael would follow me to the end of the world.

 "That sucked, hard."

 Kael frowns when I say this. "I thought it was really interesting," he squeaks. "Sigmund, you know being a Spiritguard isn't all just about swinging around a sword like a maniac, right? There's a lot of information we need to know. We're supposed to be the defenders of an entire country! If we can't even tell what a Spirit is and what isn't a Spirit—"

 "Don't matter, if it attacks me I'll send it right back to the Spirit World." On that, Kael rolls his eyes. Or his retinas, I dunno.

 We reach the cafeteria behind everyone else and we both grab the trays next to the kitchen door. Kael moves in first. There's only one thing on the menu, and there's a nice-looking young lady serving it. I wish the food looked as nice as she did. I swear I can feel Kael's judging gaze on me right now. That boy can read my mind.

 The lunch lady plops down some thick brown paste on Kael's plate, and then I'm up. She gives me a heaping helping, and I look down at my plate.

 "Excuse me…" I say as I detect chunks of beef and chicken mixed around in the gruel. "I'm a vegetarian, ma'am…I can't eat this."

 "Then you don't eat," she shrugs. I open up my mouth to complain, but then realize I have no right to. After all, I'm just a trainee and I'm eating for free.

 Kael and I walk over to the nearest empty table and sit down. I stare at my food with horror, and Kael looks at me with a certain sense of pity.

 "I'm sorry, Sigmund. I have some snacks in my bag, do you want those?"

 I shift uncomfortably. "I'd say yes," I start, "But chances are they're not going to have vegetarian options tomorrow either. I…I either have to eat this garbage or starve to death."

 I look back down at the murky brown stuff on my plate. The brown sauce is a mixture of blood and spices, I'm assuming. There's one pitiful piece of potato in the mix, and the rest is a medley of shredded animals. Something run over with a wagon, I'd wager. I stab at the potato and try to wipe off all of the juices before sinking my teeth into it.

 It's not that bad. They put a lot of pepper in the sauce, which I like, and it gives the potato chunk a nice little kick. Of course, that's probably the only part of the meal I'm going to enjoy. As I look down at the rest of it, it's very clear I'm not going to be a happy camper.

 Kael is shoveling the food down like a beast. He loves meat, especially junk like hamburgers and steak. He doesn't eat much of it though, because he has so many meals with me and my vegetarianism. Apparently this stuff tastes heavenly to a meat-lover. Like 'grandma's stew' as Kael goes out of his way to point out. I guess I can give it a try…

 I get a bundle of chicken bits on my fork. I remember chicken was slightly less disgusting than beef, so I think that's a good place to start. And at least I think it's chicken. I feel my throat tighten up, but I shove the fork in my mouth regardless.

 I feel a light shiver crawl down my spine as the slimy meat is mashed up in my teeth. I want to spit it out, but if I don't get used to it now, I might die here. After the first taste of the meat, I feel pretty full. Like…I couldn't dare eat another bite…

 Just as I feel like I might lose what little food I had to eat today, someone plops down next to me and shifts so that they're facing me. I turn to the left, and I'm greeted by what may be the largest eyes in existence. For a human, anyway.

 "Hey!" she bounces up the moment I look at her, like being seen is exciting to her. Her large blue eyes are shimmering with all the goodness and kindness you'd expect from someone who just slams down next to you while you're trying to enjoy a delicious meal.

 She holds out a hand to shake, and I take it in mine. Her skin is light and fair, and as I look down at my hand that's currently grasping hers, I can see the difference in our skin tones. I'm a much darker color than she is. I'm used to that. I glance up from our interlocked hands to glance into her eyes. She's got a slightly crooked nose, one that juts out a bit on her face. I can tell her lips are a little chapped, but she looks like she otherwise keeps up the rest of her face. There's a small trace of makeup on her that I can make out, and she's definitely wearing a tiny bit of eyeliner. Some foundation. Trying to cover up the acne all over her chin and cheeks, maybe.

 She has rich, deep brown hair, like the color of chocolate. She's wearing it in a ponytail, but I can tell if she let it loose it would be pretty long. I like long hair, though, nothing wrong with that.

 "I'm Mira!" she giggles. Her voice is sweet and angelic, and I wonder if she's a singer. There's a bit of melody to the way she vocalizes her words.

 "Sigmund. Nice to meet you," I say. She smiles so big her eyes close, and then she turns to Kael and shakes his hand. Kael is nervous, of course. He's never been good at meeting new people. In fact, other than Lance, me, and our parents, I can't even think of anyone else Kael has spoken to in life.

 "K-Kael!" he announces. Mira claps her hands together and lets out a sigh of relief.

 "So Kael and Sigmund, the two handsome and mysterious boys of class 115!"

 I take the compliment immediately and flash Mira my best smile. "The handsomest, and most mysterious boy of class 115," I wink. She giggles and blushes when I say this. What can I say? I'm a natural-born lady killer. 

 "You're too funny!" she says. I think I'm being casually ignored. "I had a bunch of friends that I made today, and I was asking them all about you two, and like…nobody knew who you guys were! So what's your deal? Do you know each other from somewhere else? You two seem close! Wait. Are you two…dating!?" She squeals like she just uncovered some big mystery that's been ongoing for years.

 "Uh, no," I grimace, although if I was attracted to guys I could do a lot worse than Kael. "We're both from here in Arcona Village. We grew up together, we've been best friends since…well, since as long as I can remember."

 "Aw, that's so sweet!" Mira holds a hand to her heart. Mira is a bigger girl, I notice, which is not to say that she's fat. She's curvaceous, and she has, uh…well, her chest is a lot bigger than all of the other girls here, and her thighs are too. She does have a thin waist, though, and from what I can tell she's a little bit on the short side. If I had to guess, she'd be around 5'3, a bit shorter than Kael. That should make him feel good, he's not the SHORTEST one here.

 "I had a best friend, too, back when I lived in Greenwald Village. Oh yeah! I'm from Greenwald, so it wasn't too much of a trip to get here. I actually visited Arcona Village a bunch of times, because my aunt lives out here!" Her word vomit is interrupted by an awkward, probably forced giggle. "I'm going to stay with her when I'm on break. I initially wasn't thinking about being a Spiritguard, I wanted to be a fashion designer, but my boss basically told me I was terrible, so…here I am!" She did the laugh again. I don't like the laugh. HE-HE. 

 She bats her eyes and I wonder what I'm supposed to say. I don't have much experience dealing with people like her. Hmm…to be honest, I don't have much experience dealing with women in general. They're a strange bunch, I have to admit.

 "You seem…nice," I say. Kael chuckles a little bit, but she doesn't notice. I'll have to hit him later for that.

 "Yeah! That's what everybody always says. I've met a bunch of people here so far, there's so many cool people here! I'm actually really, really, really glad I decided to become a Spiritguard now because I wouldn't have met you guys, or any of the other people here! I heard you two haven't talked to like, anyone yet. Are you guys really shy, or do you just like being mysterious?"

 "Well," I admit, "I'm kind of a loner, and Kael here is kind of shy, right?"

 "W-well, yes…" Kael says, his face turning a little red from embarrassment.

 "Teehee! Don't you worry one little bit, Kael! I'm sure you'll warm right up to everybody in no time. Everyone here is super nice from what I can tell, and I bet we'll all be close friends in no time! I'll see you two later, okay? I want to introduce myself to the rest of the group!"

 Kael gives her a light wave. "See you soon, Mira," I say as she giggles and scampers away.

"She seems nice," I say, turning to Kael.

 "Yeah, definitely."

We spend the rest of lunch chatting, just the two of us. Kael slaps me when I mention that Mira is kind of cute. 

 We go back to lecture after that, and we all learn a little more about the Animus technique 'Bright Eyes' and then practice it some more. After that, all the girls are led off by the female Instructor and all the guys are led off by the male Instructor.

 We're brought to the barracks and told that since it is low on space, we would all have to fit three per room. Kael and I sharing a room is a no-brainer, but when he says three per room, I start to worry. We haven't actually made any friends here, besides Mira. Who are we supposed to ask?

 Everyone starts getting into groups and claiming rooms, and I get that feeling that I've felt way too many times in my life. I start to feel like nobody wants to get to know me or have me around, because all of the other guys seem to have their stuff together already. I think that until I feel a light tap on the shoulder.

 I turn and see a tall, lanky redhead standing next to me. He's about as much taller than me as I am taller than Kael, which is quite a bit.

 "Hey, do you two need a third person?" he asks very politely. "I haven't gotten around to socializing today, so I'm not too familiar with anyone."

 "Yeah, we need a third. What's your name?" I ask with a smile. I feel so relieved that I'm not a reject. Although, looking over this kid, he doesn't quite seem like the sporty, militaristic type. He's kind of like a giant, ginger version of Kael. He's got small blue eyes, a tiny nose, and his milky white skin is covered in freckles.

 "I'm Marc Olsen," he grins, and he holds out a hand. For the second time today, I'm getting a vigorous handshake. Looks like Mira and Marc are our first two Spiritguard friends.

 "Sigmund Felice," I reply. I figured since he gave his last name, I'd give mine.

 "And…what about you?" Marc turns to Kael.

I can tell immediately that Marc is not shy, but rather he is very soft spoken. He's a very polite, considerate, and kind person. I can tell that immediately. Not only that, but I can tell this guy is (kind of) a doormat. He doesn't have an aggressive bone in his body, and I wonder if people ever walk over him or pick on him because of that. I also wonder how he ended up in the Spiritguard.

 "Kael Weston," my best friend says, following suit with his last name.

 Marc nods. "It's nice to meet you, Kael and Sigmund. Do you two want to take this room right here?" Marc looks up to the door we are standing closest to. Sure enough, most of the other guys are split up down the hall into their groups and having a ball over there. I notice Lance standing a bit on the outskirts of his group. It doesn't seem like they're too friendly to him, but he seems like he wants to be friends. I feel bad for him for a total of five seconds, when I remember how many times that guy has beaten me up.

 "Well, we should get settled," Marc smiles. "I've been carrying my bag around all day, and it's quite heavy."

 On those words, the three of us walk into the room that will be our home for the next two years. It's larger than I thought, about the size of my bedroom at home. I half expected all of us to be crammed into a broom closet. There's a bunk bed to the left and a single to the right. There are also two desks, presumably for studying, a nightstand next to the single bed, and a dresser that I'm assuming the two people on the bunk bed have to share. In addition to those things, there is a lamp in the room. That's about it.

 "Kael and I can take this half of the room, we're used to sharing a space," I grin. "You can have that half, Marc."

 "Thanks," he says.

"I'm assuming you want the bottom bunk?" I ask Kael. He slaps me for some reason.

 The rest of the night passes with very little disturbance, as Marc falls asleep quickly and sleeps very heavily. I stay up late into the night, even after Kael goes to bed, as I think about my dream from the night before. No matter how hard I try, I can't remember anything about it.

 On that note, I take a deep sigh and creep out of my uniform. I don my nightwear, and I'm asleep in a matter of minutes.