I will strive beyond this cursed bloodline!

The city hall... To be honest, Elizabeth was thinking ‘Ours is more impressive’ since she was comparing it with the one in her hometown… That seemed to be a trend nowadays. The one in her hometown was a monument to architecture and was built almost like a temple.

 

Perhaps her father had something to do with that?

 

He always said how the municipality buildings should be imposing. And since the mayor seemed like he didn’t want to make too many problems for her father, perhaps they had splurged on the national building on aesthetics or something?

 

She was feeling sorry for the poor man. She had seen him once or twice during the matches her father took part in. Especially during the sports session, and he was quite amiable with her, always bringing her candy and treats.

 

But she would leave that for another time, since right now the pink-haired girl was tugging at her arm, “Let’s go Eli-Eli!” saying as such and rushed her forward to the city hall. It seemed as if the girl didn’t want to spend much time in the streets.

 

Elizabeth had noticed how some people were starting to keep a wide margin from them, so perhaps her friend wasn’t feeling as well as she pretended?

 

“No rushing Rossie, they will not go away,” said the blonde girl while letting herself be dragged towards the stairs into the building.

 

She didn’t mind it that much since the limo that had brought them here had left without even saying goodbye after dropping both girls here. The guide made her wary. She never introduced herself, and since she was having a hard time even remembering how she looked…She was sure that some [Skill] were at play. Perhaps a passive perception lock? It was the only thing she could think that would get past the mental blocks her mother had installed in her.

 

Either way, they walked towards the city hall, and inside they found….Quite a gathering, there were students wearing uniforms in different styles and colors all over the place, it seemed that they had been among the last ones to arrive, this was mostly denoted because the office work in the front desk gave both girls a number with three digits on it.

 

“Let’s sit over there Eli-Eli.” Said the pink-haired girl who was still hugging her arm while guiding the blonde girl towards a couple of chairs on the back end of the gathering of students.

 

They all took notice of both girls, and some smirked at them for arriving late. Elizabeth ignored the looks and just sat with the pink-haired girl sitting at her side and leaning on her. Curiosity overwhelmed her as she saw everyone around and how they built the place.

 

The interior design left much to wish for. Since it was quite simplistic, it seemed as if they had forgotten both luxury and comfort for the people coming here. The chairs were hard and uncomfortable to sit on, there were very few AC vents to help regulate temperature. And while the seating left everyone with some personal space, it allowed some people to invade your space. Just like how Rossie was hugging her arm and didn’t have too much trouble doing it.

 

It appeared that the seating had been arranged in odd ways, with certain seats offering some level of isolation, and these areas were clearly marked.

 

A green lane on the floor denoted one area where everyone was seated quite closer one to another, this was the area where both Elizabeth and Rossie sat at.

 

Then there was an area denoted by a yellow lane, the seating was somewhat more separated, but most people here looked... Quite aggressive, the students and normal people there had a rugged appearance and she didn’t need to [Identify] them to know they held some type of self-enhancement skills.

 

After them there was a red stripe with some yellow lanes on the floor, here the seating was separated one from another, and a few people were there. These had some kind of energy or elements surrounding their body. Not like the student members that had elements around them.

 

No, these looked...Unstable. They jumped from their owners all over the place. Like they had a hard time controlling them.

 

And then...There was that poor girl. There was a girl sitting alone with a black tape on the floor surrounding her. This tape had both red and yellow stripes on it.

 

Why was she alone?

 

The girl in question had purple hair and a band on her upper arm with yellow and red stripes on her. Her eyes were changing between purple, brown, and then red. It seemed the girl noticed it since she glared straight at the blonde girl.

 

“Oh her? She probably had a bad trigger.” Said the pink-haired girl who was still snuggling in Elizabeth’s Arms.

 

It seemed the purple-haired girl had quite a good hearing since she intensified her glare on the blonde girl. She was dressed in a black T-shirt with a picture of the Juggernaut and the legend ‘Juggernaut Smash’. She had a pair of old rugged jeans and a somewhat pair of sneakers.

 

“Bad trigger?” Answered the blonde. “Don’t we trigger or awaken at a school?” At least Elizabeth thought they all had awakened at a school….

 

The pink-haired girl just smiled at her and snuggled quite hard on her arm. “ Oh, Eli-Eli you are so adorable I could eat you❤” said the pink-haired girl while licking her lips.

 

“Stop joking around Rossie.” Said the blonde girl while wondering if her friend was truly okay or was just pretending to not worry her, she was still wondering how to breach the problem she had shown her before.

 

“Miss Starbright?” Asked an office worker that had come after them. Just when Elizabeth was about to ask Rossie what she meant by ‘Bad Trigger’, stopping that train of thought.

 

“Yes?” Answered the blonde girl wondering if they would ask them to not make so much noise around.

 

“Perfect. The liaison is waiting for you….” He said then looked at the pink-haired girl who was hugging the arm of the blonde girl. “…And Miss Singh.” He said after looking at his tablet.

 

“Okay?” Answered back the blonde girl while standing and following after the office worker.

 

The people around them looked at both girls and started murmuring around, some spoke about how they had busted their chance of a quick registration by messing around, but among the different responses, there were a few that glared their way. Among them was the purple-haired girl.

 

“This way, the liaison is waiting for you both.” Said the office worker after he showed both girls to an office that seemed to be isolated from the rest of the building.

 

Elizabeth didn’t mind it too much and only gave a couple of knocks on the door, after which a voice came saying “Come in, it’s open.” She felt like the voice was familiar but couldn’t think of where it was from.

 

Entering the office got her the answer she needed though, “Selen Dawnstrike.” Said the pink-haired girl while narrowing her eyes at the secretary of the student council.

 

The office was quite simple, a normal desk with some papers that had pictures of both girls and some descriptions, the personal holopad of the orange-haired girl.

 

A couple of screens mounted in the wall that had some news playing, even if both screens had been muted so she could only see the anchor speaking and had no idea what he was talking about.

 

And of course, the secretary sitting there taking a sip from a coffee mug, who after seeing both girls just smiled inviting them in.

 

“Rosalina Singh…” Started reading the orange-haired girl while the door closed behind them both. “Orphanage girl who got adopted at the age of three by a rich couple who had just lost their daughter….” Said Selen, all the while the grip on Elizabeth’s arm got stronger and stronger.

 

“There were some suspicions about the orphanage having sold you, but since you had been returned by several families at that point, no actions were taken by the police force.” She kept speaking, the dread about how much Rossie had suffered started settling in Elizabeth’s gut. “Also it didn’t help that your new family had both money and power.” Added with a smirk on her face the orange-haired girl.

 

She then showed a picture of a trashed room on one of the screens on the wall. “Then we have this report that states how you awakened your magic at five years old, but by that point, you had assimilated into the family so you didn’t get returned to the orphanage nor the government tried to grab you. Quite lucky in the adoption weren’t we?” Finished saying the girl while smiling.

 

Elizabeth for her part was seething. She ignored how it seemed that Rossie had awakened magic almost 10 years earlier than she thought was possible. She ignored the trashed Room and the dark past that her friend had experienced, she didn’t have time to worry about any of that.

 

She just feel pure anger at the seemingly happy orange-haired girl who described the tragic past of her friend as if it was the most normal thing in the world.

 

And the shadows in the room felt her anger, as they started moving, growing sharp and in the form of spears from all over the place. “It is quite rude to snoop on a girl’s secrets.” Said the blonde girl while leveling her glare at the orange-haired girl.

 

Who only kept a placid smile on her face, even when the shadow spears kept getting closer and closer. “And then we have you...Elizabeth Starbright…” Started saying to the secretary of the student council, “Daughter to Jackson Brighton an army veteran, and Catherine Starlight a nurse with no known workplace.” And after she sent a photo to one of the screens on the wall.

 

It shows a side picture of both of her parents in their wedding, not much had changed from how they looked nowadays, her father in his non-powered form was quite lanky even if he was good looking and of course, her mother still rocking that good looking body that was obviously the product of magic.

 

“Native to Avalon like your Father…So we don’t have actual information about you besides the fact of where you were born and the schools you attended. No actual data. Your mother is native to Britania... But the information is lacking even though we know where she studied and lived...There is no actual proof of her living there. We do know that you are one of the few people that brought us a photo of the place.” And the picture on the screen was the photo of her family in front of their house, they had taken that picture on her 12 birthday and right now it should be on her nightstand.

 

The mere idea of people rummaging around her things made her angry. So much that she ignored the fact that it seemed that her mother was a nurse of all things.

 

“Your father obviously has his veteran’s pension. But since your mother has no current work address we can infer that either she doesn’t work or that she has a type of work that can’t be disclosed… But since you can afford that bracelet and got permission to bring pictures of inside Avalon…That the salary your family has is quite the amount.” Added Selen who then placed her holopad on the desk.

 

“And what is the problem with being able to carry a photo of my home?” Spat Elizabeth at the girl that didn’t seem to mind the dangerous and vicious-looking shadow spear that was encroaching on her.

 

“You seem to be misunderstanding something.” Said Selen while a white halo materialized above her head. “Eva might have a soft spot for you for some reason…” Started saying the girl who stood from her chair. “….And while she asked us, members of the student council, to make allowances for whatever you wanted…” And she started walking towards both girls, with each step she gave a wave of energy emanating from the halo above her head.

 

And with each wave of that energy, the shadows in the room started disintegrating, soon Elizabeth couldn’t materialize any shadow in the room, and her connection with the shadows felt weak, a powerful pressure started emanating from that orange-haired girl.

 

And she was transforming too, first a pair of white wings formed on her back…then another pair…and another, six white wings on her back. The halo above her head had materialized an extra one and on her back, another extra pair of white halos were hovering behind her back.

 

By the point she was in front of both girls, Rossie was already on the floor, her hands didn’t leave Elizabeth, but she felt as if she was about to pass out. And Elizabeth was only standing tall by sheer effort of willpower.

 

“…If we think you are a danger to Eva…” Started saying the orange-haired girl while she raised her hand towards Elizabeth. “We will strike you down, and no matter what type of backing you have you will die before they can react.” She said and then, as if it was a lie the pressure dissipated.

 

And Selen started walking back towards her seat “So play nice and don’t get Eva in trouble.” Said with a smile on her face, as if the whole event hadn’t happened. “We members of the student council don’t care if your parents are Heroes or Villains...Hell, you could bring this world to its destruction for all we care.” Continued saying that girl, while saying quite dangerous things.

 

“Also, Eva told us you have a [Skill] similar to hers to glean information about people, use it on me.” She said while making a come-on gesture. “I will allow it and let you bypass my defenses. It might be better to get my point across about how you must play nice.”

 

The blonde girl wanted nothing else but to ignore her out of spite and carry Rossie away, but…

 

The feeling of powerlessness and the dread of not being able to feel a stable connection with her shadows…She needed to know.

 

So she braced herself, molded her will, and directed it towards the node in her soulspace where the skill was. And after opening the doors to her mana and focusing almost as much as she could...She intoned “[Identify]” to see what kind of monster was this girl.

 

And when the information came back, she only could say one thing “What the hell?” for the information wasn’t what she was expecting.