109: Eavesdropping on Conspiratorial Murmurs

The fifteen minutes of idle time after Angelica passed in the blink of the eye. Everyone, still muddled by the morning’s cold, just talked with the people beside them about mindless topics—makeup, sports, or work. Once someone’s phone alarm went off though, the sound of chairs being dragged across the floor filled the room, drowning out the conversation until everyone filed out of the room to let silence reign supreme once more.

As they walked, they blended in with the crowds, and over time, they began to disperse within the crowd, just moving along to the similar stadium-like setup the school had created for Slade. Nyssa kept a hold of Celeste’s hand as they drew curious glances from the surrounding crowd. The whispers didn’t bother her, but she felt people had begun to inch closer to her identity.

“She’s the new Class Zero student, I’m quite sure of it.”

“I remember doubting if it was her up close last time after we saw her during Slade’s event, but I think it is.”

“No one else has white hair right?”

“Well, I think there’s another natural one in Class Two, and there’s that one girl in Class One who’s been doing it for a couple years. Still a rarity for sure across campus though.”

“Plus, man, use yo eyes. That’s Celeste right next to her, that might as well be perfect confirmation. Ain’t no way Celeste is going to be touchy with anyone but a classmate. If that’s the rumored one, why wouldn’t she be kind? Think about it.”

“I... guess, yeah. Only one person entered this year, and its a cute girl, I guess I can see how someone would be overprotective of her... Shi... I think even I’d be protective of her. I love younger girls!”

“PAUSE.” “AYOOOO.” “Hol’ up. Officer its this guy right here.” “You don’t gotta phrase it like that, alright...” “Didn’t know you were ew like that, man, lock in.”

“Lock in?? The hell you mean lock in, I am locked in. I trained for weeks for the boat race. You’re not finding someone more locked in than me.”

“No, I’m saying LOCK INTO BEING A GOOD PERSON. You, stupid... stupid balloon, filled with nothing but helium.”

Having eavesdropped on an entertaining exchange, Nyssa felt a touch of a crestfallen feeling well up within her stomach as she split off from the group. She and Celeste walked over to Class Zero’s separate dedicated seating area, confirming the suspicions of the past group.

“Come in, come in! Let’s get seated everyone, I want to get this boring talk over with sooner rather than later!” Roxanne’s voice came echoing over the speakers. Her brown hair took on a close to mane-like quality, blossoming out around her as she strode around on stage in an elegant suit. Beside her stood Angelica with her arms crossed. Wearing a suit of her own, her sunglasses and straight black hair created an icy image. A bodyguard willing to sacrifice their safety at the drop of a pin.

People mulled about though, and Nyssa sat around for an entire ten minutes before the crowd had quieted down enough for the speech to begin.

“I’m Roxanne, as you all know, I’m an active hunter. My guild and I are among the top ranked hunting guilds in the entire world. In fact, we just came back from a government sponsored mission to suppress a leviathan rampage.

“Today, though, since I’m sure most of you know enough about my life, in part because I was what some would call, a star character in the life of the last speaker who came to talk to you all, I’ll be going more into detail about professional development topics. Well, that’s what I was instructed to tell you all about anyway. When we get to the question and answer section, I’m down to answer any and all questions, don’t hold back!”

Once the talk began in full though, Nyssa dozed off.

... she just couldn’t help it! She couldn’t take Roxanne seriously! She had seen how Roxanne flipped a coin between being a hunter and hero!

“... And I’d like to emphasize the importance of being open to any and all opportunities...”

“... There’s a saying I’ve applied in the past, though not well... That if you really can’t choose, flip a coin, and when you want it to land on one side while its in the air, you know what you truly want on an instinctual level...”

“... not that I really followed through on that...”

“... But i’m still happy! And that’s a big thing I want to reiterate...”

“... Like people such as Slade, are the ones you truly want to look for when considering traditional career development. He went through an entire shift of what he loved, and has reached the same level as me while being younger by a handful of years. He built his organization from the ground up while I half-inherited, half-built mine...”

“... My point is that many people in this academy, not even this one, but all similar academies as well, view life as a fork once they graduate. Hunter, or Hero?”

“It’s not that simple. Doing what you love can look very different from what you expected, and the two sides are very interconnected. Skills from one are always helpful on the other side. So never feel like you’re making an irreversible choice. Plus, if you don’t like either, a career can look like a lot of different things...”

“... Logistics.... Teaching... outreach... publicity... government...”

“There are hundreds of potential other branches you all can take your education and go into. Even if it doesn't necessitate your powers, the mindset that’s being ingrained into you all is truly an invaluable skill. It’s something that will carry you far in life, no matter what you choose to be. Even if that’s a human potato who sleeps for more time than they’re awake.”

With Roxanne’s last comment, Nyssa jolted back awake. Celeste and the others sitting around them ended up laughing, but Nyssa, herself, could only let out a faint huff of annoyance. Slade, she knew, would never say something as audacious as this!

Following a few more comments, and a couple more slides, Roxanne wrapped up her speech to a raucous amount of applause.

I didn’t think it was that good... she made too many tangents...

Nyssa, influenced perhaps by the fact she had known Roxanne her entire life, and didn’t feel the starstruck feeling many others did, or perhaps by the jab her older sibling had thrown in the middle of the speech, harrumphed to herself while clapping nonetheless.

“Now though, we start the question and answer section. I need to sit down though,” Roxanne wiped a faint bead of sweat off her forehead as she took a seat on the center stage. “I’m getting old, goddamn. I need some rest after just giving a talk!”

Before anyone could think of calling her old though, Roxanne put a hand up and changed the topic. “Informality is welcome though. No need to treat me like an honored guest. Treat me like your older sister, my sibling is your age after all.”