9

Chapter 9

Central Plaza, Cornell Academy, City: Three Prongs Fork, Republic of Shantu, Continent: Barat, Year 2050, Planet: Grimoire

As Anara made a quick departure from the Lamberton Building, she was somewhat worried about the receptionist. It occurred to her that some of the people loitering in the lobby were individuals who had nasty personalities. "Should we have stayed there after all?" Anara murmured.

"Nope, the lady can handle herself," Ambrose reassured her.

"Besides, I sent a warning alert to the owner," Sherpa added, much to their shock. "As soon as I realized who was about to turn ugly, I sent other messages as well." he shook his head. "I don't want another repeat of what happened earlier," Sherpa told them bluntly.

Leave it to Sherpa to do something so practical and logical, Anara sighed with relief.

Well, that only meant that they had temporary relief from those particular pursuers. "I would love it if they finally got it through their thick heads that I'm not interested in them." Anara grimaced. "They're so disgusting and greasy." She disliked those particular nobles. From the beginning of their attendance, those nobles pestered Anara, Jennifer, Holly, and Sapphire nonstop to be their concubines or mistresses.

That pestering became worse as they raised their ranks within the hunting and adventuring guilds. for whatever reason, those creeps couldn't handle the idea of strong females not being under their direct control. Now they stooped to nastier tricks to bring them to heel. Unfortunately for those damn nobles, the siblings wouldn't bow to their notions of supremacy and that was causing serious problems.

Acts of sabotage were extremely common nowadays and it meant they had to be on guard constantly. It was becoming exhausting, but soon, the current batch of nobles would graduate and return to their respective homelands. At least that's what Anara heard and hoped it was true. She never wanted to see their faces around here again after the summer break began and ended with a new term beginning.

"Well, this time I think we can leave it to the authorities to deal with those pesky nobles," Holly commented. "I believe they crossed too many lines and boundaries this time."

Jennifer nodded. "They were stupid enough to implicate other academies' gangs as well. That is going to anger quite a few boards of directors who don't want their reputations to get dirtied through this activity."

Hah as if some of those academies even had reputations that weren't always badly tarnished. Anara snorted in disgust. "Well, whatever, I do agree that we need to finish this soon."

Some bleeping got her attention. "Oh, what's this?" She examined the latest information update. "Goodness, well isn't this convenient?" Anara would make sure not to abuse the new privileges granted due to the unusual circumstances.

Her delight quickly waned when Ambrose suddenly exclaimed. "Oh right, there's going to be emergency shutdowns." He looked at them with concern. "This time it is for some other judicial buildings and warehouses that normally would be open late."

Sherpa frowned. "Not only that but I think the smoke is creating a different kind of weather formation that isn't going to make for good evening repartee." He gestured to the sky. "Isn't it getting too dark?"

"Yeah, and the temperature is dropping too fast." Holly shivered.

Up to that point, Sapphire remained quiet. "Erm, I think this is the nature elementals protesting what is happening." She spoke softly. "We need to quit wasting time."

With the comments flowing in to ensure they didn't dawdle further, Anara sighed. "I get it, let's go." They really did need to get to the Requisitions Office. "I just hope we make it there in time." She muttered and led the way to their most important objective.

The rapidly declining warmth alerted Anara to the fact that they had to hurry. "We need to make this quick." She only needed two sets of uniforms. "Luckily I had put in an order for updated measurements earlier in the week." Anara reflected. "I'm glad I remembered." She just hoped that no one would cause a ruckus because of their appearance.

Lately, it seemed that people caused problems wherever they went. Anara wasn't sure of whether it was her, her sisters, or just their appearances in general. Whatever it was, it was aggravating, and she wanted it to stop.

The Requisitions office was still open much to Anara's relief. Just as she walked in, there was an odd upheaval causing the roads and cobblestones to ripple beneath her feet. Anara yipped in shock, and she staggered. She and her siblings all teetered precariously from the unexpected shift.

The authority figures simply rolled their eyes and helped them maintain balance. "Well, I'm guessing that took care of a few meddling intruders over at the Lamberton House." One of the men commented with amusement.

What did that mean? Anara glanced at them bewildered.

"Just some wastes are now baiting the larger predatory fish that we need to clear out of the canals." One of the men shrugged.

A woman added. "It doesn't mean those obnoxious brats will die, they'll just get a good scare thrown into them."

Mmmhmm, in other words, they couldn't interfere. "All right," Anara nodded her head. She turned her attention to the desk where to check in and discovered several boxes with their names waiting for them. "What's this?"

Oddly, Anara didn't remember having this much ordered on file. She inspected everything with mild confusion as she glanced at the others who shook their heads. Finally, she looked to the gathered men and women who watched cautiously. "All right, so what has happened?"

All of the gathered men and women sighed. "So, here's the thing."

Before anything could be clarified, another tremor ripped through the ground scattering everyone into tumbling around on the floor and thudding against walls.

The ceiling rippled but remained stable. Anara put her hand on the wall she'd landed against. "That's ominous." She glanced warily at her siblings. Now really wasn't the time for anyone to make mistakes.