5-03: Rose Garden
The girls rushed around their dorm, trying to get themselves as cleaned up as possible. They're supposed to be meeting Rose Garden at their own dorm, so the girls really wanted to make a good impression.
Clean clothes, check. Shower, check. Tidy hair, check. Lilith watching the girls run around, check.
They made sure to do everything. The girls were filled with excitement and a little bit of fear. Out of all the teams to pick them as apprentices, it simply had to be the BEST TEAM IN THE ACADEMY!
"Where are my bras!?" Cassed questioned loudly.
"They're all in my room! You've practically moved in!" Veronica answered back, face-palming.
"She really did. I think the only things left in her room are a couple of miscellaneous items." Lilith said.
Veronica had known since the first day that she was the only one who could see or even hear Lilith. Which would either be a good thing, or a bad thing.
Aviris was the first to be ready, then Veronica by a few seconds. Cassidy took some time trying to find the perfect bra, but eventually finished. Leaving Eleanora to be the last, and still not ready.
"Elly! We don't have much time!" Aviris yelled.
Eleanora instantly came out of her room wearing an elegant uniform, similar to a military general's uniform, hair tied up tightly, and enough makeup to look like a doll.
"That's a bit too much." Cassidy said, holding back laughter.
Eleanora slightly blushed in embarrasment but cleared throat. "It's too late for me to change out of this now. So I'm going as is."
The girls sighed and hoped that they could still make a good impression. So, they left their own dorm and headed for the third year dorms.
When they got there, it was... different than what they expected. The girls thought it would've been similar to what they had, but the third year "dorms" were more like individual houses.
"Are you kidding me? The Academy has an entire village for the students, and yet first year live in those apartments? How unfair." Cassidy complained, gawking at he houses.
The houses were most certainly not a typical house Veronjca or Cassidy would see back in their village, but something more like what a really rich person would have lived in. Thick stone walls, a solid roof, and glass windows. The apartments were similar, but they were smaller and the walls were a bit thinner.
"Maybe I should use Charm on their leader and have them let us live their until we become third years." Veronica suggested, half as a joke.
"Honestly, I wouldn't say you shouldn't." Cassidy responded.
"Found it!" Aviris said, pointing out the house that said 'Rose Garden' Right at the front of the property.
"How convenient." Eleanora stated, making her way to the house.
The girls stood in front of the house, taking a deep breath. The best team lives here. And they're expecting these girls.
Veronica, as team leader, went up to the door and gave it a few knocks. Stepping back a bit, she waited in anticipation. Is Rose Garden kind? Mean? Constantly angry? Corrupt? Pure?
All of her inner questions were put to a halt as she heard footstep coming up to the door. Lilith, in her incoporeal form, stuck her head through the wall, just to get an early glimpse at who it was. But when she came back out, she only had a smirk.
Knowing Lilith, that could mean literally anything.
So, the girls braced as the door opened. Only to be met by...
"Hi! Glad you made it! Come in, come in!" Seraph had greeted them at the door.
The girls made their way inside, confused as to why Seraph had greeted them. In the living room we're the other members of Seraph's team; Sable, Kazue and Sirtia.
"Uh... what?" Veronica's brain stopped working.
"I'm so confused." Cassidy admitted.
"D-Did Seraph not t-tell you?" Siritia asked.
"Ah! I did not! Ahem!" Seraph posed herself. "We are the members who make up Rose Garden, and I am their leader." She said with a smile.
"Let me guess, image ruined?" Kazue asked Veronica's team, who nodded on response.
"I knew it... having Seraph be our designated leader would confuse the first years." Sable sighed.
"You have to admit, she's a great tactician though." Kazue added, with Sirtia nodding in agreement.
"A-Anyways, come, sit down, we have much to discuss." Seraph requested the girls to take a seat.
Seraph and her girls sat on one couch, with Veronica and her harem on the opposite side.
"U-Um... It's a pleasure to officially meet you." Veronica said, still focused on the good impression.
"Please, you don't have to be so formal! We're all friends here." Seraph requested.
Veronica blushed in embarrasment, but she slowly collected herself, glad that she actually already met Rose Garden before.
From this point on, it was leader on leader action. At first, the girls thought they would have to choose their words carefully, but since it's these girls, they shouldn't need to be as selective.
"Right. Okay. So, uh... what do we speak about now?" Veronica asked.
"Well, first I guess it's that, if you agree to be our apprentices, you'll be living with us for the rest of your year, and you'll also inherit both our team name and our house here, until you become third years yourselves and do a similar thing." Seraph explained.
"Live with you? I-I mean, it's an honor, but... are these places big enough for that?"
"They were built to have ten people in separate bedrooms, so I assume so."
"I see... so, say if you do agree, what then?" Veronica asked, wanting to know more before she officially agrees.
"So, for a while, we'll simply be going into the dungeon and go down as far as possible to get you girls some more levels, and perhaps some decent gear from special drops." Seraph started her explanation.
"The dungeon? Didn't the academy close it?"
"For the first and second years only. They can only go in if they are accompanied by a team of third years plus their guardian. In your case, you're in exceptionally good hands. Though, slight warning, the dungeon has gotten a bit..." Seraph trailed off.
"It's been rather lewd. Touching us in all sorts of places now and then." Kazue said as Sirtia gave an uncomfortable shiver.
"Oh my..." Eleanora was a bit flabbergasted.
"Ahem. Next, after that, we'll be bringing you and quests outside of the academy and dungeon. Which is going to be the hardest part." Seraph continued the explanation.
"And why is that?" Cassidy asked.
"A large majority of quests that we have to take often involve the... eradication of bandits, and sometimes other humans." She tried to say as gently as possible.
"You mean, we'd have to learn to kill people...?" Veronica asked, unsure if she'd be able to take a person's life.
"Sadly, yes. Unless you get lucky and never get a quest like that."
Everyone simply sat in silence, pondering what the academy is trying to do. Except for Aviris, who only sat in silence simply because the others did.
"You really shouldn't have to them that." Sable said.
"If I didn't, then they'd be even more freaked out when they suddenly have to do it without prior warning." Seraph responded. "For now, let's pretend like that will never happen. Okay?"
Veronica's team agreed. They didn't really want to think about it.
"So, once we get a hand full of quests, you'll get to do pretty much anything you want as long as we supervise you. Which also includes leaving the premises of the academy, and even taking jobs or quests in other countries." Seraph said, taking their minds off of the other thing. "And that pretty much wraps up everything you'll be doing."
"So, in short, you'll take us with you on certain activities to teach us through your own experience and what not, the we are to take on our own quests with you watching over us." Aviris condensed it all down.
"Yeah, that about sums it up." Seraph admitted.
"I see. Let me speak to the other girls for a bit to see what we think." Veronica said, getting up and leading her team over a bit further away.
"So, what are we thinking?" Veronica asked her girls.
"I... I don't know." Cassidy was still stuck on the previous conversation.
"Cass, look at me. We won't ever do that. Okay? Ever." Veronica comforted her.
Cassidy silently nodded and took a deep breath.
"Right okay. So. Um... I think they're good. I wouldn't say no to their request." Cassidy said.
"They are know as the best team at the academy, so we should probably learn as much as we can from them." Eleanora said.
"That's two. And you, Avi?" Veronica asked.
"I'm on board. If they'll help us get stronger, and learn tactics for multiple situations, that will really help us out in the long run." Aviris agreed.
"So, are agreeing to stay with them?"
The three nodded in agreement. They turned around and went back to the older girls to give them an answer.
"We'll gladly accept your offer." Veronica said with a professional smile.
Seraph stood up and shook her hand with a smile.
"Then go ahead and pick your rooms and get moved in. We'll start doing things after that."
The girls took some time to chat before going back to their dorm and started to pack everything up.
The girls were finally able to go back into the dungeon. Maybe they'll find some good things in there as well.