INTRODUCTIONS

Lexine looked around at the people in the room with her. They had engaged with each other throughout the meal. Inside jokes were said making her feel left out half of the meal. Once or twice Christana or Aurinda tried to include her in conversations, but she gave them one-word answers which made it very awkward.

To Lexine's left sat a girl with lilac hair that was cropped to her chin on the left but flowed to her mid-back on the right. The girl was dressed in a pale blue wrap like material wrapped around her chest and left her navel area bare. She barely spoke a word during the dinner, concentrating on her meal and a book that was balanced on a plant leaf. The plant seemed to have sprouted from the armrest of her seat. Lexine chose the wise decision not to comment.

To her right, the boy with purple hair sat. She was tempted to move over and ask what dye he used to make his hair so vibrant but refrained from doing so when she remembered how intimidating he looked when she walked into the room earlier. He was dressed in a purple vest showcasing a tattoo on his left forearm. It winded down and disappeared beneath his wrist. He was speaking animatedly with the boy with bubblegum pink hair who sat to his right.

She cleared her throat a bit. She had no idea of what they judged the ranks with, so her best guess was that she was going to be the last to introduce herself.

She watched with interest as the atmosphere in the room changed and everyone perked up seriously. She had no idea why, but this made her extremely nervous.

"I guess that means I am going first." Aurinda stood up and brushed down her leather skirt. It fell to her knees and was the same color as Adley's.

"I am called Aurinda Kirk Zavilina of the Zavilina household. It is a pleasure to meet your acquaintance." she gave Lexine a small bow at the waist. Lexine, unsure how to respond, gave her a small nod.

Christana giggled as the blue-haired girl sat, "This is the first I have seen Rinda so serious." She turned to her side and pinched Aurinda's cheeks. Aurinda slapped her hands away and blushed.

"Christana." Artin silenced her.

"What did I do now?" she puffed her cheeks in a pout and slouched back into her seat with her arms crossed in front of her. Artin rolled his blue eyes at her.

"I am next." The lilac haired girl next to Lexine spoke up and stood. She was fidgeting with her fingers. The book she was reading during the dinner was closed and lay on the leaf. Her eyes stayed down. "Quira Zephrami Oneara. I am under the Vesna family. It is a pleasure to be in your presence." she gave a small curtsy and sat back down. Quira's eyes traveled meekly to a dark-haired girl who sat next to Taevlin. The girl gave her a nod. This seemed to give Quira the chance to relax as a small and barely noticeable smile fell onto her lips.

"This one is next." the boy with bubblegum pink hair who sat two seats from her to the right spoke up. He smiled and stood. He brushed his hair from his face with a flare and gave Lexine a smile. Lexine rolled her eyes at his attempt to flirt. She had to give it to him though, he had a charming smile. He gave her a bow at the waist, "This one's name is Meddy Shahid of the Maynar household. Pleasure to meet your acquaintance." He gave her another charming smile. Lexine, however, was busy looking at his pink hair. It was as vibrant as the purple seated next to her and did not look dyed. Maybe there was a magic in this world that changed hair color? If so, she wanted one to dye her hair too. Maybe dark blue?

"Do you flirt with everything that has two legs?" the boy who sat next to her with purple hair asked flicking him on the back of his head. Meddy pouted and rubbed the back of his head. Lexine's mind flicked to the memory of the two holding weapons at each other. Were they friends or enemies?

"I do not." He stuck his tongue out at him.

"He does." Aurinda and Adley said at the same time. The rest in the room nodded apart from Taevlin and the raven-haired girl who sat next to him.

"Remember that time that noble girl who came to see the colosseum with her father pushed him and he fell into the mud because his flirting was making her nervous," Christa said laughing. A few of them nodded with chuckles. Even Taevlin cracked a smile.

Lexine couldn't help but chuckle nervously as she was not there at that time so she did not say anything.

"I'm next." The purple-haired guy next to her said standing. He gave her a bow, "I am Raveer Sosaar of the Zephrami pack. The kitchen is out of bounds unless you want to cook. If you can't cook, do not come into the kitchen." He glanced at Aurinda after saying the last part.

"It was one time!" Aurinda shouted indignantly and shot him a glare. Her blue hair bobbed around her as she said this.

"You burnt down the kitchen!" Raveer said and crossed his arms.

"How was I supposed to know you are not supposed to leave something baking and go to train?" She retorted. Artin's eye twitched in irritation. He was a perfectionist at heart and when something did not go as planned, he got irritated.

"It is common knowledge," Raveer smirked. He liked pissing off the blue-haired devil. Adley gave her sister a pointed look which shut her up immediately.

"I am next." Adley cleared her throat, "We have already met." She got to her feet. "I am Adley Shela of the Zavilina household. I hope we can be good acquaintances." Lexine gave her a small smile as she bowed even though she felt like running to her new room and hiding under the covers.

Adley sat and a few seconds passed but no one spoke up. "Cardial stop throwing a tantrum and introduce yourself to our guest."

The brunette who was about to be burnt to a crisp by Christana grumbled something incoherent under his breath before standing. He gave a glance at Christana who was concentrating on her red hair. He sighed heavily, "I am Cardial Gramin of the Zephrami pack." He gave her a small bow before sitting. All this bowing was making Lexine feel like royalty. She sighed internally.

The blonde who sat next to Cardial stood and gave her a smile, "It is my turn." Lexine immediately recognized him as one of his kidnappers. A frown graced her features. His name was Sevin if she remembered correctly. "I am Sevin Queswar of the Brashwa pack. We have already met, and I welcome you to the academy." He gave her a bow at the waist like everyone else before him had done.

Remembering her manners, Lexine muttered a small, "Thank you,"

The dark-haired beauty who sat next to the brooding Taevlin stood. All her movements were refined and elegant. She gave Lexine a small cordial smile.

"I am Desire Krimnon of the Vesna household." She bowed, her movement fluid-like leaving Lexine mesmerized. If she was on earth she would have made a great idol or model. Her brown earring glinted in the light. Lexine once again found her gaze stuck at the dangling object as she sat.

Taevlin stood up next and his presence directed Lexine's attention to him.

"Taevlin," was his only word he uttered before he sat. He did not seem the slightest bit friendly. It was as if he was the one that had been kidnapped.

Christana noticed his frown and turned to smile at Lexine, "Don't mind him. He's grumpier than usual." and shot a glare at Taevlin. This made him frown deeper. "It's my turn. I am Christana Vaslam of the Verancy house. Welcome to Eirene academy." She curtsied. Despite her being loud and the slightest bit irritating in Lexine's eyes, she was as graceful as Desire was. Maybe they were royalty in this world? Artin stood running his hand through his red locks.

"That accounts for everybody except I. I am Artin Keina of the Verancy house. It is a pleasure to have you here." He bowed and sat leaving everyone looking at Lexine. They expected her to go next?

Lexine internally sighed and dragged herself to her feet. "Um, I'm Lexine Woods. I'm seventeen, well eighteen in a few months," she mumbled the last part. "I hope we can get along." She said before giving an awkward bow like she had seen everyone do. Was she introducing herself in a new school on earth? Lexine mentally smacked herself. It was almost as if she had flown back to middle school. However, she could not take back how she had introduced herself.

Artin stood after she had sat. "Now, what I am about to disclose is to stay inside the walls of this house." "Our new housemate is human." A few of them gasped and Desire even raised her brow. Did they not know?

Was it that shocking?

Christana, Aurinda, Adley, and her three kidnappers did not seem shocked because they already knew.

Meddy raised his hand, "Do you not mean an Anthropoid?"

Lexine turned her gaze at Meddy confused. She had never heard the word before. "Anthropoid?"

Christina explained to a confused Lexine, "During the great war between species when humanity was afraid of the impact our kind would have on them, they declared war. At the time there was a group of people who felt that it would be easier to take out humans if they boosted their power. Most of the armies were trying to subdue this organization at the time because they went against everything our kinds believed in. To prevent humans from being caught in the middle, Shadow beings were given the task of creating the gate that separates humans and our kinds. As a result, those humans who were on the our side of the gate were trapped here. They evolved to become Anthropoids."

Artin nodded, agreeing with Christana's facts. With a smile on his face, he informed the rest, "She is fully human. She was born and raised on the other side of the Gate."

Raveer pushed his glasses up his nose, "Surely you jest Artin. I cannot be the only one who feels her energy signature right. It is almost up to par with Artin's if not higher. How can she be human?"

"She really is human. Her energy signature is what allowed her to be admitted to the Academy." Artin replied.

Cardial frowned, "And how sure are you she is not here to kill us?"

"The headmaster approved of it." Artin replied calmly.

"But what if she is dangerous to us." Cardial shot back, "You know how history went down Artin, their kind tried to kill us. They cannot be trusted." He shot Lexine a dirty look.

"You cannot be serious," Christana threw a fireball the size of a pinball at him. It singed the sleeve of his brown woolen jacket. He ignored it as if he had just not been burnt. "That was years ago. Long before your grandparents were even born. You, of all people, should know not to condemn a person based on the thoughts of a few."

"Anthropoids have lived in peace on this side of the gate for eons and nothing has ever gone wrong," Adley said, siding with Christana. Sometime during the argument, she had tied her blue length hair in a high ponytail.

It was clear Cardial did not like her one bit. Lexine sighed as the argument continued.

Artin's eye twitched in frustration, "She has been placed under our care by the headmaster." His voice was not all that loud, but it caught the attention of the others.

This brought another line of argument among the housemates. Cardial was against having Lexine in the school.

"The only reason we have lived in peace with the Anthropoids is simple. They were on the verge of losing. They would have been wiped out. That's the only reason they agreed to a treaty. How sure are we she is not going to be the start of another war."

Christana stood pointing a finger at Cardial. "There isn't going to be another war!" She slammed her hands on the dining table cracking it from one side to the other. She gasped in shock and moved a big step back from the table pushing her chair down with so much force that it broke in half.