Chapter 2 - Tests

Omisha found herself in a dream. She was running on rocky terrain and she could feel something was chasing her. She wasn't sure what, but she felt the need to keep running.

She wanted to turn her head around to look at what was chasing her but she couldn't for some reason.

Unbeknownst to her, the chained scythe given to her earlier was starting to pulse with energy. As she ran, she suddenly tripped and her body skidded across the ground, kicking up dust.

She cracked open her eyes a bit and saw a shadowy figure through the dust, walking towards her, leaving big footprints in the ground. It stopped in front of her, looking down at her with blood-red eyes before reaching out its hand.

Suddenly, her eyes snapped open as the chained scythe sent a wave of energy. She sat up quickly, breathing heavily with wild eyes. "W-what was that…?" Omisha whispered, a slight tremble in her voice. She then winced as she touched her arm. Slowly, she looked at it and saw that her arm was covered with blood, scrapes, and bruises.

"W-what?"

Omisha took a few minutes to try and process what had just happened. With a sigh, she stood up and carefully tip-toed out into the lounge and turned on the light. She walked over to the mini kitchen to quietly look for the first aid kit.

Suddenly, she heard footsteps and she looked up to see Ash walking into the lounge. He stopped as he noticed the light and then her.

"Why are you--" he broke off as he noticed her arm, "What the hell? What happened to your arm?"

"Ehehe…" she laughed awkwardly, "Well...um honestly I don't know myself…"

"How can you not know?" He muttered and she shrugged. Ash sighed before walking over to a drawer and grabbed the first aid kit. He motioned to Omisha to sit down and sat down next to her. He opened it up and grabbed an alcohol rubbing pad before cleaning her injuries. After cleaning the injuries, he wrapped her arm with a gauze.

"Thanks…" Omisha murmured.

He didn't reply as he closed the first aid kit and placed it back into the cabinet and sat back down.

"So you're sure that you have no idea where those came from?" pointing to her arm and Omisha hesitated.

She hesitated for a few seconds before finally opening her mouth, "I...w-well…you see…" she stuttered, unsure how to word it, "um...well...I was having a nightmare where I was running from something, then I tripped and fell and then just woke up with this injury,"

There were a few seconds of silence from Ash as she sat there, avoiding eye contact. He sighed and rubbed his forehead with his hand.

"That's not possible." He muttered and she huffed.

"Oh? Then expl--" she was cut off as Ash shook his head.

"No, not what I meant. What I meant was that someone tried to attack you through your dreams. That needs powerful magic and I'm pretty sure those shadows don't have enough magic to do that." she blinked in surprise.

After a minute or two, Omisha finally processed what he said, saying, "Wait. We can be attacked in our dreams?"

Ash sighed at her slowness. "Yes, Omisha. You can be attacked, even in your dreams." He remarked with annoyance evident in his voice.

"Well, jeez. Sorry, I asked." she replied, insulted and Ash snorted in response. Omisha glanced at the time and noticed it was 3:48.

"Oh yeah, why are you awake this early?" She asked.

"It's because I heard you."

"Oh, sorry."

"It's fine. I was already awake."

"Um...well...I'm going back to bed...night."

"Yeah...night…"

Omisha walked back to her room tired and flopped onto her bed.

Omisha woke up exhausted and had to drag herself out of bed. Hazily she walked into the bathroom to get ready, greeting Phoenix who was brushing her hair.

After a while, she finally walked out into the dining room to see everyone at the same table. "Hey..." she sat down with her cereal and everyone waved back.

"Wait! What's wrong with your arm?!" Katherine asked alarmed and everyone, but Ash, looked.

"O-oh...uh well, about that…" Omisha trailed off, not sure how to respond.

"She probably got hurt on her way here." Ash answered for her.

She nodded quickly. "Y-yep! That's why I was late!" she stammered out.

They stared at the two suspiciously for a second before shrugging and letting it go. "If you say so…" James replies.

Breakfast stayed silent for the next minute but conversations started up once again.

She glanced at my schedule to see today was normal classes.

I thought I could get away from math and shit, but NOPE! Omisha thought before sighing.

"Oh yeah Omisha, you ready for the physical exams for PE today?!" Phoenix asks.

"Wait. What?" she replied.

Phoenix stared at her for a few seconds before standing up quickly. "YOU FORGOT ALREADY?!?!"

"AH! I'M SORRY!"

"Now now, let's settle down." James spoke.

Phoenix sat back down, stuffing her mouth with food, "Sheesh. How could you forget about the exam anyway?"

"It just slipped away." Omisha replied, scratching the back of her head.

Tyler leaned over to James, "what are the exams testing on again?"

James sighed, shaking his head in exasperation before replying, "They're testing on your endurance, speed, stamina, flexibility, and physical strength."

"Oh cool! I'm pretty sure I'll be great in all of them!" Tyler boasted with a toothy grin. "What about you guys?"

"Flexibility." Both Phoenix and Katherine replied.

"Endurance I guess." Ash muttered with a shrug.

"Speed." James spoke sipping blood from his cup.

"What about you Omisha?" Katherine asked curiously.

Omisha shrugged as she ate her cereal. "Not sure yet."

It was PE and everyone was getting ready for their physical exam.

Omisha had her hair up in a ponytail and was wearing a gym uniform as she stretched her arms and legs.

Phoenix and Katherine soon came up to her.

"You feeling excited?!" Phoenix asks energetically.

"Nope." she replied boredly.

"Wow, really?"

"Yep."

"Hmph. Why are you serious all of a sudden?" Phoenix asked.

Omisha shrugged as she finished her stretching.

The first two tests were both competitions. The first test was a race, testing endurance, speed, and stamina. The race course had no obstacles and instead you had to run 2 miles.

The second test was slightly easier, testing flexibility. Students just had to do a small course using their acrobatic and gymnastics skills. Some students ended up in the infirmary though.

The 3rd test was something of a boxing match, testing strength. The objective is to defeat the opponent, get the opponent out of bounds, or getting them to surrender.

An assistant came up to Omisha and asked if she wanted to use boxing gloves.

Omisha declined, instead grabbing some bandages. She started to wrap her hands with the bandages as the others came up to her.

"You're not going to use the boxing gloves?" Katherine asked surprised.

Omisha used her teeth to rip of the excess bandages and muttered, "Nope."

Tyler lifted his arm and started to flex his muscles, "Why use the bandages? These gloves are way more comfortable."

Ash hit him in the head muttering, "Stop showing off and get ready."

Omisha laughed awkwardly before answering, "I'm more used to bandages. Boxing gloves weigh down my hands so it makes it harder to punch." she explained as she rechecked the bandages.

"Suit yourself then." Tyler replied with a shrug.

"Everyone, please gather around the ring for your physical strength test." They announced.

They gather around the ring and waited for instructions. It was simple; Wait for a pair to be called up and fight. First one to either step out of bounds, lose, or surrender fails the test. If time runs out and both are standing then they both pass.

Katherine ended up going first out of everyone and went against a shapeshifter named Lou. The match went by quickly, with her failing. She sulked back to the group murmuring, "I'm not a fighter…"

It was James' turn next and his opponent was a werewolf. They both kept up with each other and the fight lasted until time had run out. Their match was declared a tie.

Omisha was called up next after another set of matches went by.

She climbed into the ring and was faced with a female demon in her human form. Omisha got into position and waited for the match to start.

As soon as it started, she ran up to the demon, quickly elbowing her in the stomach.

Omisha flinched at how hard her muscles were, but could see the demon had also flinched.

The pair continued to throw punches and kicks at each other, some landing, some not.

It was finally at the 5-minute mark and they both knew they had to finish this. Omisha thrusted a leg up into the air and swung it around, hitting the demon's cheek. She staggered sideways from the force and turned sharply, glaring at Omisha with glowing golden eyes.

She stomped over and loomed over Omisha before thrusting her arm, trying to punch her.

Omisha ducked out of the way and punched upwards, hitting her jaw.

The demon fell backwards with a groan and held her jaw.

The bell rang signaling the end of the match. The girl was still on the ground, therefore Omisha was declared the winner.

Omisha glanced at her and sighed. She crouched down next to the demon, holding out a hand. "Here, let me help you."

The demon propped herself up with a hand. She glared at Omisha before slapping her hand away. She stood up and glared at her one last time before storming away.

Omisha soon noticed the pain and glanced at her wrapped knuckles. The thin, white bandage was stained with red.

The coach had also noticed the blood and told her to head to the nurse's office. With a nod, she walked away, stopping to wave to her friends.

Omisha came back into the lounge with her knuckles and other body parts wrapped in bandages. She flopped down onto the couch with a groan.

Katherine scooted over to her, glancing at her bandaged body parts, "Why are you wearing so many bandages?".

Omisha propped herself up, but immediately regretted it and flopped back down with a hiss. "That girl's muscles were pretty hard, so I fractured some of my bones..."

Phoenix leaned over. "Wow, those look like they hurt."

Omisha looked at her with a sullen expression, "Yeah, no kidding."

"Honestly I'm surprised you managed to win." Ash spoke looking at her from the corner of his eye.

Omisha sat up sluggishly, "Well I guess it's because I took some self defense classes."

"That doesn't sound convincing."

"Too bad." Omisha replied as she and Ash glared at each other.

"Hey now, let's not fight." Katherine came between the two of them with an awkward smile.

"Fine." Ash muttered looking away.

Omisha sighed before remembering something, "Oh...by the way, how did you guys do on your matches?" she gestured to Phoenix, Tyler, and Ash.

Phoenix sighed in defeat, "I lost my match, Ash won his match, and Tyler somehow lost his match as well."

Omisha looked at Tyler, who was sulking, before asking, "You lost?"

He nodded with a down-cast expression.

"Well...that's a surprise…"

"It is." James nodded with a chuckle.

"Aren't you supposed to be an alpha, Tyler?" Phoenix teased.

Tyler sharply looked up, glaring at her, "I am! But that guy was way too overpowered!"

"No, you're just weak." Ash deadpanned.

Tyler turned to him, "Bro! What the hell?!"

Katherine stood by him with a gentle smile, "Oh, come on guys, let's not tease him anymore."

Tyler brightened, "Yeah!"

The rest laughed hysterically and Tyler glared at them, "Thanks a lot, you guys…" he muttered.

Phoenix then brightened and James noticed first. He sighed before asking, "What is it Phoenix?"

Phoenix grinned slyly, "So glad you asked, James! Let's do a study party!"

"A what?" Omisha glanced at her in confusion.

"You heard me, a study party!"

"...I got a bad feeling." Katherine murmured.

Omisha nodded, "Same."

After a minute of thinking, James sighed, "I guess we can try it."

Phoenix puts a fist into the air with brightened eyes, "Yay! Come on!" She replied loudly before quickly flying out of the door.

Omisha sighed and begrudgingly stood up, flinching at the pain that shot through her. Katherine was quick to help and they slowly started following after Phoenix.

They walked into the library quietly and managed to find a free table with enough chairs. On the table was a tablet.

Omisha picked it up, "So what's this for?" she asked, inspecting the tablet curiously.

"It's a tablet where you find the book that's in this library and it'll be flown to you!" Tyler informed her enthusiastically.

"Hold up, "flown" to us?"

"Pixies." James replied stoically, grabbing the tablet and tapped a few things.

In a few seconds, a pixie, otherwise an orb of light, came flying towards them with a book floating in the air behind it. It gently dropped the book onto the table before flying off.

Omisha soon noticed that there were more pixies in the room. She stared in awe before glancing at the book, "Magic and Supernatural Encyclopedia".

"Why did you get this?" she asked.

James picked up the book and turned to her, "You seem to have no knowledge of the magic world so have this. It'll help you."

"I feel insulted."

He ignored her comment and dropped it into her hands. Omisha's hands immediately fell from the weight. "Woah!"

"Careful, it's heavy."

"Warn me ahead of time, won't you," she hissed.

He shrugged, turning away back to the tablet.

"What are we going to study anyway?" Phoenix asked and everyone looked at her.

"You were the one who wanted to start a study group!" Tyler growled.

She shrugged, replying, "I just started it because I didn't know how to do the homework."

Everyone stared at her with a wild expression before Ash sighed in exasperation and face-palmed.

"Just why?..." he muttered under his breath.

"Well, what test do we all have?" Katherine asks.

Omisha thought to herself, "Isn't there a math test next week?" She asked

James nodded, "Yeah."

Phoenix grinned, "Then let's study that because I have no idea how to do math!" James sighed,"Here," he gave the tablet to Phoenix, "think about what you need and get it, then pass it along."

"Alright!" Phoenix replies enthusiastically and started tapping on the tablet.

Soon enough the tablet went all the way around the table and we got our books.

Omisha decided not to get any books and instead read the encyclopedia. She opened up the first page and started to read.

Time passed and as she read more of the book, she grew more fascinated. There was so much information in the book that she never knew. There wasn't just info on supernatural creatures, but also on magical objects and terms.

Soon, Omisha landed on a page titled "The Grim Reaper". Huh? She thought to herself curiously and started reading.

"The Grim Reaper is a hooded figure that carries a scythe. Not much is known about him/her. All that is known is that the Grim Reaper appears when someone dies. He/she guides the victims to the underworld and protect the traveling souls from outside interference.

The first recorded appearance of the Grim Reaper was back in ancient times of the first advanced civilization, the Elves. Soon, the reaper started to appear in many more transcripts, most notably in the Black Age of human civilization.

There have also been many cults related to the Grim Reaper. The most notable is the cult, Reaper's Death. It is dedicated to finding a way to live forever. They claim that the Grim Reaper does not live forever and that he/she has an heir. These claims have not been confirmed though.

On the next page was a photograph of the scythe the Grim Reaper held. The handle was long and distorted with many thorns sticking out near the end. The shiny grey blade was long and thin and its width narrowed as it went on.

Omisha flipped to the next page but flinched as someone put their hand on her head. She sharply looked up and saw Ash.

She glared at him with a pout as he lifted his hand and glanced at her.

"It's time for dinner, come on." he spoke.

Omisha closed the book, "Oh."

Ash glanced at the book, "You can just leave it on the table."

"Ah ok," Omisha placed the book on the table and followed after him.

They walked in silence before Ash spoke up, "You really got into that book, huh?"

"Huh? Oh, uh I suppose so…" Omisha laughed awkwardly.

Ash smirked, "What a bookworm." He teased.

Omisha pouted and crossed her arms, "Yeah? And so what?"

He chuckled, "Never would've guessed it."

Omisha glanced at him, "Now that I think of it, that's the first time I heard you laugh."

"Hm, I guess it is."

They grinned at each other and continued to walk.

After dinner, they walked back to the lounge with the group. Phoenix and the others sat down and turned the TV on.

Omisha glanced at the show. It was a kid's show. "You guys are really gonna watch this?" she asked.

"Yep!" Phoenix replies not looking away from the screen and Omisha laughed.

She then glanced at the digital clock on the side table. The glowing red numbers read 8. Omisha sighed as she remembered she had homework and got up.

"Where are you going?" Tyler asked

"Homework." Omisha replied with a groan.

"You didn't do it?" Katherine asked.

"Nope." she replied and walked into her room.

Sitting down at her desk, she spent another hour trying to finish her homework. What a pain… she thought to herself. The pen she held in her hand scratched at the paper as she started to write.

After answering the last question, Omisha stretched her back with a groan and stared at the ceiling. Sitting straight, she neatly stacked up the papers and stuffed it into her bag.

She then noticed the empty cup sitting on the desk. She picked it up and walked outside, peeking into the living room. Everyone was still sat in front of the TV, with Katherine and Phoenix asleep.

"You guys are still watching TV?" Omisha asked.

"Yep." Tyler replied quietly and gave her a thumbs up.

"Ok…" she replied awkwardly and walked into the mini kitchen. Turning on the sink, she cleaned the dishes while thinking. The Grim Reaper...There's something about him… but what?

She flinched as she felt a tap on her shoulder and looked behind her to see Tyler.

"Oh, hey Tyler, you scared me." she spoke with an awkward laugh and he chuckled.

"Sorry." he replied and handed some plates to her.

She placed them in the sink as he started to speak.

"So...whatcha thinking about?"

"Ah...nothing, don't worry about it." Omisha replied and continuing to wash the dishes.

"Oh come on, tell me." he begged giving her puppy eyes.

Omisha paused and giggled, "Puppy eyes can't work on me."

He stopped and pouted, "Fine." he walked out as Omisha continued to wash the dishes.

After washing the last dish, she turned off the faucet. Grabbing a piece of a paper towel, she walked out of the kitchen, drying her hands. She peeked into the living room once again.

They had finally turned off the TV and James and Tyler were picking up the sleeping figures of Katherine and Phoenix. Ash was nowhere to be seen.

Omisha yawned after quietly saying good night and walked into her room. She changed into her pajamas and flopped onto the sheets of her bed, immediately falling asleep.