Lexie had seemingly unwittingly walked right into a school assembly.

That was the only way to describe the scene. The hall was filled with about three hundred people in uniform robes, and on a raised stage sat about two dozen adults, who she guessed were the professors. It reminded her very much of the scene in Harry Potter when they were all having dinner and getting sorted into different houses, except instead of dinner tables, they all sat in pews facing the stage.

Lexie swallowed. She wished Biufur had clarified what she would be walking into. This was not at all how she wanted to make her introduction to the school. She thought she would have a few hours at least to settle in before she had to start meeting people.

Damn it.

Nerves multiplied in her belly. There was a bespectacled woman in the front of a podium who Lexie guessed had been giving a speech. Behind her, sat a white-haired man who somehow looked old and young at the same time. He perked up at the sight of Lexie.

"Can I help you?" the woman asked, frowning at Lexie. Murmurs from the crowd accompanied the question, as well as a gasp of what Lexie could only describe as recognition. She immediately felt a wash of social anxiety. Her feet felt rooted to the ground, and her throat closed up as she felt the weight of the stares.

Lexie was so self-conscious that she didn't know what to say or what to do with her hands. She put them behind her and she thought she heard someone hissing her name, but then was distracted when the white-haired man basically stumbled to his feet and headed straight for the microphone, bumping the woman out of the way to announce loudly, "Lexie Sparrowfoot!"

Lexie jerked as the sound boomed and bounced around the room. A few other people winced. She answered immediately, like she was in the military, "Yes, sir. That's me."

"Of course." The man immediately began rambling. "I completely forgot that you were supposed to be arriving today. It totally slipped my mind as a matter of fact…oh dear, I'm sorry, I don't know if we got your room ready…did we, Mr. Xander? I hope you found the place okay, I was supposed to meet you at the gate and give you a tour with your assigned mentor, but I didn't even get around to that part…it's just been a crazy set of days and there's been so much on my mind, and I know it's no excuse but the planets were in an odd alignment today which I suppose should have warned me that something was amiss. This is completely on me. My head was in the clouds." He probably would have gone on and on about his various failings had the woman next to him not nudged him to get him to stop.

Suddenly, someone put their hand up and announced loudly, "I'll give her a tour."

Lexie could have recognized that voice anywhere, and she met Xena's eyes in the crowd. Xena looked pretty ecstatic to see her, and Lexie smiled right at her.

Journeyman didn't seem like he heard Xena's offer because he kept mumbling. Another professor in gardening boots who had a severe expression also stood and rolled his eyes. He slid his hands into his pockets as he climbed down from the stage. Before he could reach Lexie, the woman who had been talking said, "If she's to be a new transfer, then she should probably stay for this assembly. After all, this information will likely concern her too."

Journeyman hesitated a bit and said, "Yes, maybe that's the right thing to do. Lexie Sparrowfoot, could you please take your seat for now? We'll show you around later."

Lexie nodded. There were a few empty seats at the back which she would gladly sink into, but Xena was pretty insistently gesturing to a space beside her. Dewie was on the other side of Xena, giving Lexie a happy wave with Jace beside him, giving her a thumbs up. The problem was that they were seated somewhere in the first few rows, which Lexie quickly figured was probably assigned seating for first years. So Lexie had to walk down the aisle, past the group of fourth years, third years, and second years, all of whom were staring at her pretty openly as she made her way.

Lexie swore she could also feel the glares on her back. There was both curiosity and animosity in the air, and she wasn't sure which of those was stronger. Maybe the <All Eyes On Me> card would have told her if she'd activated it before coming in.

That reminded her that she needed to fix her starter deck soon, so she could start leveling up. She was still conflicted about which deck to choose for that and had gone back and forth on that decision for the last week.

When she reached the pew where her friends were, a few of the other students scooched back to allow her in. She murmured her thanks and breathed a sigh of relief when Xena finally dragged her into the seat.

"You made it," she hissed, and Lexie nodded as the woman resumed speaking.

"For the benefit of our unexpected new student, I will shortly summarize the points we've already touched on. Due to the increased villain activity, in recent weeks, third years, second years, and very occasionally first years will be actively called upon for Hero work. You will be accompanied by either a third or fourth year, a professor, or a hero in the field. Training at the academy will also be a lot more hands-on, even for students who were previously assigned as Hero Support. Everyone will have to be prepared for the possibility of going into fieldwork."

A few people grumbled, though some sounded excited.

Lexie wondered if this applied to her since she was officially here as a research student. Probably.

"The last tragedy showed the need for each and every one of us to be prepared for anything, no matter where our individual skill set lies. Some of our students truly showed exemplary bravery and proved their mettle in Hartville." The woman's eyes scanned the crowd, and Lexie had a feeling she was talking about Torin Firerbigner and Xena. "On the other hand, some of you fell apart under pressure and sadly showed that you were not prepared for life as a [Hero]. Given that, we will increase the number of simulations you face every month, and those who fail more than half of those will be dropped from the program."

There was a ripple of unease and some discussion at that. Lexie was also confused. Reportedly, there weren't enough [Heroes] to go around as is. Did they have the luxury of dropping people?

The woman's next statement answered her question.

"There are other hero academies, with students who yearn to be a part of Victoire's program. We will be accepting those transfers on a case-by-case basis for those who show promise. Of course, we only have so much space, so we can't accommodate everyone, which means that anyone who is not up to par will be terminated from the program, and their place will be taken by a more prepared hero from an outside school. You are free to then take that person's place at their previous institution if you want."

"That's wild," Xena whispered. "The attrition rate is already atrocious for first years. We've only been here a few months, and like a quarter of the class has already dropped out. And now they're going to make it even harder for us?"

"Yeah," Dewie looked a little spooked by that and swallowed. But when Lexie met his gaze, he gave her a weak smile. "I'm sure I'll be fine."

"Of course you'll be," Jace said. "You've been doing much better lately. You almost saved the mannequin in gym class yesterday."

"That's because I was conveniently located where it was hidden."

"Exactly. As my grandfather used to say, 'Luck is the best type of superpower.'"

Dewie didn't seem convinced by that, but Lexie tuned back into the announcements.

Someone stuck their hand up and asked, "How many more simulations will we be doing, Professor Melisandre?"

"About twice the amount," Professor Melisandre responded. "Additionally, first years will also begin simulations in a few weeks. You will first face the simulations as a team, and then you will have to face them alone. You must pass at least half of those for you to continue with the program."

The whole crowd groaned like they'd been told the most tragic news they could imagine.

"Is it that bad?" Lexie asked.

"Yes," a girl from behind volunteered, and Lexie turned to stare at her. It was the girl who'd been so desperate to be Xena's friend. Henrietta or something. "I've heard the second years talk about it, and one guy wouldn't stop crying after he came out. And another one puked blood. At least one person has fallen into a coma during simulations, and another person reportedly went crazy. They had to take it down a notch after that."

Lexie shuddered. Yeah, that sounded bad.

"Even though the cut-off mark is fifty percent success," the professor continued. "We will pay special attention to students who perform better, in the sixty to seventy percent mark. Of course, we already know one of you has broken the record and now boasts an eighty percent success rate, so we know it's possible to achieve such feats at this difficulty. Therefore, we will not be reducing the difficulty level and will rather be looking for ways to make it more challenging."

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

"Damn you, Torin Firebringer," Xena murmured and Jace chuckled.

"Finally," Professor Melisandre said. "As some of you may have heard, there will be sign-ups ongoing around for those who want to volunteer to partake in AFC matches at the end of the year. It's not compulsory by any means, but you do get extracurricular points for it. Part of hero work is maintaining a public persona, and so this aspect should also help you with a favorable hero profile in the future. That is, if you don't screw up. As a higher-profile hero, you get to represent the association at events, and you get more sponsorships, which gives you more freedom to choose your service location. It's not for everyone, sure, but it is something to think about."

There was a murmured response for that as well. Some people looked excited, and others simply looked disdainful. The disdain reminded Lexie of Torin Firebringer when he'd beaten Top Dog. She wondered whether Torin was forced to participate for whatever reason. He certainly didn't look like he wanted to be there, nor did he have any respect for the AFC and what it stood for.

Distracted, Lexie looked past Henrietta to see if she could spot Torin, and she found him almost immediately staring straight ahead. He was seated between Kai Skysoarer and another boy whom she didn't recognize. It wasn't hard to find him. She simply had to follow the glances of more than a few other girls in the room.

He must be like the most popular guy in school, Lexie thought, and nearly laughed to herself. It was just like high school all over again.

"Are there any further questions?" Professor Melisandre asked.

None was forthcoming, so she nodded.

"Well, as you know, dinner is at 5:50 today, and Lobster Bisque, I'm assured, is divine. Till then, you may go back to your classes."

They got up, said what sounded like Latin words in a chorus, and began to leave the hall. Xena grabbed Lexie's hand as she followed the crowd filing out of the seats. "That was some entrance."

"I know." Lexie cringed. "I was just looking for Headmaster Journeyman. I didn't think that there was a whole assembly going on in here or anything."

"I'm really happy you're here, Lexie," Dewie said, beaming, and she smiled back at him.

"I'm happy you're here, too. Hey Jace."

Lexie smiled brighter at the other boy, trying to look as pleasant as possible. She felt a little guilty for how cold she'd been to him when they'd first met, and even though she'd tried to hide it, some of her displeasure must have leaked through. Plus, he'd literally seen her torture a girl. God only knew what his impression of her was now.

Nevertheless, Jace winked like they were long-lost friends with inside jokes. "Hey, Lex. I heard you're going to be our new roomie."

She raised an eyebrow. "I am?"

Xena nodded. "I pulled some strings. We were going to surprise you because we thought you would get here all nervous about rooming with someone you didn't know, and then I would totally be your hero by announcing that I got you in a four-person suite with Dewie and Jace and Ava."

"Oh. Nice. Thanks." Lexie didn't know who Ava was, but she hadn't even thought about the fact that she would have to room with a stranger. The week had been so hectic, she didn't have time to think about something like that.

"No problem," Xena said. "You're not allowed to room with me, or else I would have made it happen. Lionel and I do some pretty dangerous training sometimes in my room, and he said it might affect anyone within a certain radius. It's why they have me in the Lighton towers, that's like a five-minute walk from the rest of the dorms.

Lexie nodded as she walked. Her eyes met Torin's for a brief moment, but they both looked away quickly enough. And then she spotted someone familiar, moving through the throng.

"Is that Veronica?" Lexie asked.

"Yeah," Dewie answered.

"Huh." She looked different. She'd cut her hair short and dyed it, apparently. That was odd. She used to have long, luscious curls that even Lexie was jealous of.

Lexie didn't have much time to ponder. Headmaster Journeyman was waiting at the entrance for her with an apologetic smile on his face. "I'm so sorry, I forgot about your arrival, Lexie Sparrowfoot. It was on my calendar, or at least I thought it was, but I didn't get an alert today, and I swear someone might have purposely deleted it because I could have sworn–"

"That's fine," Lexie said, mostly to stop him from babbling again. "I'm here so…all good."

"It is indeed very all good," he said. He gestured to the man in gardening boots beside him, the one who'd gotten up earlier. "This is Mr. Xander, he's our groundskeeper. He will show you to your dorms, and they will also inform you about what your curriculum is going to look like. Of course, we'll be having our private meeting one-on-one tomorrow so I can get a full grasp of everything you would need for your research project, but if you have any burning questions you need answered this instant, Mr. Xander will be happy to."

"Oh, thanks." Lexie wasn't so sure about that. The Groundskeeper didn't look like he was happy to do anything of that sort.

"I can show her around and answer her questions," Xena said. "I don't have any classes till later this afternoon, so I have nothing to do."

"Me too," Dewie said.

Journeyman shared a look with the groundskeeper, who shrugged.

"Excellent, Xena Lightlark," he said. "Well, then the four of you may carry on."

"Thank you," they parroted and walked outside.

Unfortunately, Jace did have a class, so he left the three to continue their journey, chattering with themselves. Lexie saw that her father was no longer by the gate and got a bit worried. Was he gone? Or did he get in trouble for being here?

"Gimme a second," Lexie told her friends as she returned to the gate to search for her dad.

She mentally sent him a text.

Lexie: Hey, Dad, are you still there?

He responded instantly.

Aiden: Yes. I'm in one of the outer gardens with Biufur. Do you want me to stay?

Lexie: No. I just wanted to say goodbye. I'll find you.

And she did find him in a garden outside the gate, squatting over a rosebush with the other man.

"Dad."

Aiden looked up and smiled. "Is everything okay?"

"Yeah. I met Xena and Dewie, and they're gonna show me around."

"Excellent. Your stuff's already in your room, so you don't have to worry about that."

"Great." She gave him a big, tight hug, inhaling his comforting scent for what would be the last time in a long while. "I'll see you soon."

"Yes. There's a visiting day in a month or two, and I'll be here. Of course, you can always call me whenever you want, and if you ever want to come home…"

"I know." Lexie nodded. "Bye, Dad."

"Goodbye, honeybee." He kissed the top of her head and watched her as we went back inside to join her friends.

As Lexie, Xena, and Dewie continued down the path, Lexie observed her surroundings. The campus was vast, with multiple towers interconnected by courtyards and balconies arranged in a maze-like hedge. There was ample greenery, summer huts, and the faint scent of pine and sea salt lingering in the air.

"You can see the sea from my suite," Xena said. "We can go there later after we check out your room."

"Okay," Lexie said. As they walked, Xena and Dewie pointed out their favorite parts of the campus. For Xena, it was a vintage outbuilding near the forest that acted as a toolshed.

"It's sick," she said. "But Biufur always goes crazy whenever I try to take pictures there. Something about security and whatnot."

Dewie's favorite spot was on the top floor of one of the towers because it was quiet and sat above the kitchens, so it smelled like whatever dessert they'd made that day.

He also showed Lexie where he'd seen the large eagle the first time he came to campus. He showed it to her as they spoke about his extra lessons.

"They're the only classes I'm doing well in," he said a little sadly. It turned out he was struggling with almost every class, and he'd been too embarrassed to admit it.

"It's okay," Lexie told him. "Now that I'm here, we can study together. I'll help you."

"But we won't have the same classes together."

"True, but I can help where I can." She frowned. "Speaking of which, how do I pick classes?"

"There are some core classes and some electives," Xena explained. "Everyone has to meet with Journeyman who personally approves their classes."

"Everyone?"

"Yeah. It can take a while, but since you're here in the middle of the school year, I think he can do yours immediately."

"Oh, you should definitely take Hero History," Xena said. "It's like the easiest class, especially if you like reading a bunch of crazy stories. Or you might like herbology more because the kids I know who take it mostly sleep in that class. It's not very useful."

They got to Lexie's room, and Xena continued talking about which classes she recommended, with Dewie pitching in here and there.

The room itself looked like a nicer college dorm room, and she shared it with a girl called Ava who wasn't around. But her roomie was apparently quite fastidious, as her bed and her desk were very neat with stacks of books in the corner.

"I think she's a research student too," Dewie mentioned.

"Oh, that's nice," Lexie responded, wondering vaguely what her research was about. Lexie's bags were already there on her side of the room. She sat on her bed, and her best friends sat beside her. All three continued catching up like they hadn't just seen each other a few days and a few weeks ago, respectively.

They didn't end up going to Xena's room, because pretty soon, a few hours had passed, and both Xena and Dewie had classes, and Lexie had to nap from her long travel.

After they left, making plans to be back by dinner, Lexie lay in bed, thinking about her dad and her home, missing both terribly, and wondering if she'd made the right choice.

This is fine. She told herself. Everything will be fine.

She wasn't sure when she fell asleep.

All she knew was that she was crouched underneath a table, hiding. The room was dark. A cloying mist hung over everything. Her heart was pounding louder than her ratchety breaths.

She didn't know who or what she was hiding from. Just that, no matter what, she couldn't let him find her.

Who's 'him'? she wondered vaguely, but she didn't get an answer.

"Lexie." She heard her uncle's voice.

Uncle Max, she wanted to call out to him, but she was too scared that the other man would find her.

"Lexie," he said again, and suddenly she was crashing to the ground.

She came awake in a rush, only to find her head submerged into water, her hands held down as someone or something tried to drown her.

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