Strange Encounter

She stood there over him smiling, she even giggled a little to herself.

"Remember that you may adjust the rules to the fight however you wish."

"Don't tell me something I don't already know you wretched dog."

She simply smiled once more in response to Logdra's insult and turned away. As she began to walk down back to the front of the class, we made eye contact. That was the first time I noticed them; her eyes were not normal. They were like fox eyes with thin long pupils and had a pink iris glow to them. They were menacing to gaze upon, it sent chills down my spine.

Once she made her way to the front, she said something to the teacher who then allowed them to leave. Briefly after, Ms. Velerouge dusted herself off, breathed a sigh, and looked towards the class.

"Introductions are over. Dismissed."

She seemed unfazed by the events that had just taken place, with that she left. The class sat there still absorbing Logdra's commotion. I looked at Blitz and found him staring at Logdra, he seemed to be debating something with himself in his mind. I reached over and grabbed his shoulder.

"Blitz you good?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. I'm just thinking."

"About what?"

"Thats a surprise!"

He suddenly seemed to be in a better mood. He got up and began to stretch, and as he did so, the others in the class began to get up and guided themselves out of the classroom. We watched them all leave until it was just me, Blitz, and the now infamous Logdra. It was quiet until Logdra finally decided to get up off of his back.

"What are you two losers doing here? Hung around to get a last laugh?"

Logdra seemed more levelheaded now than he had been all day. Despite that fact he still had something about him that made him seem angry, even if he wasn't trying to deliberately show it. Blitz then walked up towards him with a cool calmness.

"No, I want to assist you."

"Assist with what?"

Blitz then held out his hand for the still knocked Logdra to grab hold of.

"You decide the rules for your fight, correct? So, allow me to join you, a tag team effort. There's three of them, so why not make it a three on three!"

Logdra grabbed Blitz's hand and got up. The two then looked back at me expecting me to say something.

"What?"

"Well, what do you say Hugo, want to take on the Mesophites?"

"I think I'll pass."

"Come on now! You can't lie to me anyone now that it's out that you're a Vanrouw, I know you want to fight."

"I didn't think it was gonna be that obvious."

"Well, it is. So, what do you say?"

My own name sent chills down my spine, but he had a point. I came here to become stronger and fight strong people. The Mesophites seemed like they had their own way of fighting, I couldn't help but wonder how they did fight.

"Alright fine, I will join your fight, but do not think for a second I am doing it out of hatred for them. I am merely doing it fot my own benifit."

Logdra looked at me with a face of disappointment. Disappointed in the fact I did not share his or Blitz's opinions of the Mesosphere.

"Just don't hold me back."

With that final statement, he marched his way out of the room. Blitz waved me goodbye and followed his second new made companion of the day. I decided to take this time to walk around now that there was no longer a precognitive schedule for the day. I started to familiarize myself with some of the locations of the other classrooms. I then decided to see the statue that had caught my interest earlier. As I made my way through the courtyard, I found myself standing before the grand statue, marvelous in design and material. After gazing up at it, I looked down at the words carved at the bottom. They read

In honor of the fastest being alive, the one known as the God of Speed.

The God of Speed. He only ever goes by that title, forsaking his "mortal "given name. There are rumors of him being arrogant and disrespectful, but with the gift of being born with the maximum number of Stat types on top of them all being high valued Speed Stats, could you blame him? It's said he can move fast enough to travel around the entire circumference of the Stratosphere in minutes and has the ability to even move faster than the way we perceive time.

"Amazing, isn't it?"

I turned around and found myself staring at the human fox. Her eyes glaring into my soul, sending chills down my spine similar to earlier.

"We haven't formally met. My name is Sheeva, but you may call me whatever you like."

She smiled and held out her hand, prepared to give a handshake. I stared at it for a moment before accepting.

"Hugo, the name is Hugo."

"What a nice name Hugo. So, what do you find so interesting about this statue that has got you staring at it for so long?"

I didn't realize how long my thoughts had kept me standing there. The sun had already started setting and there were no other students walking around the campus it seemed.

"How long have you been standing there watching me stare at a statue!?"

"Long enough to say that I have learned something about you."

She spoke with a gentle tone. It felt welcoming and gave the impression you didn't really need to worry about what her words may have truly meant. It was a confusing feeling, an almost dreamlike feeling. As I opened my mouth to say something, I was stopped by a new voice.

"Sheeva!"

I turned around and looked up. Sitting on top of the statues' left shoulder was the moth masked one. He stared down at the two of us as he sat there with a pose ready to pounce on something.

"Are you coming?"

"Just give me a minute will ya!"

Just as Sheeva sighed and was getting ready to speak, she was prevented from doing so by another voice.

"But Shiv, we have been watching this guy for a good half hour now! Don't you think we should analyze the rest of the place?"

Emerging from behind the statue was another voice. His design left me with unease as he walked towards me.

"I mean our new friend Hugo here wouldn't be offended if we happened to leave now, right?"

As he faced me, I could make him out more clearly. His black cloak was cleaner than I thought, and underneath it I could see silver armor pieces covering his abdomen and chest. His hands were claw like, carved of metal. Then there was his face, it was covered by a pitch-black mask, so it seemed like he had no face from any other distance. It was confusing though to make out if his teeth were a part of the mask or an actual body feature of his, it was hard to tell. Then to top it off there were his two big metal horns that came out through his hood. He smiled and held out his hand.

"Sorry for my sister's strange habits, the name is Phobos"

I reluctantly shook his hand as it was sharp and made of metal

"My name is Hugo."

"Yes of course! I've heard."

He had a strange way of talking; he made it sound like he was a court jester, but with the purpose of tormenting you instead. Whatever the cause for his way of talking was, it only added to the fear his appearance gave me.

"Ronan, are you ready?"

The one on the shoulder leaped off of the statue with finesse. As he landed in front of me, his details were more vivid as well. His metal mask and prosthetics resonated their bronze color in the setting sun. I could also see the small metal plates that all conjoined to make the mask he wore, which complemented his messy silver hair. As he stood straight up from his landing pose, he looked at me. He didn't say anything, just stared at me with the bug like eyes he was gazing through. Phobos then made his way in between his two companions, and as he turned his back towards me, it was made clear. He had a metal like spine center of his cloak, stretching from his shoulders narrowing down to what should be his tail bone area. There were also six flaps aligned with the spine, which must have been where his currently unseen tentacles came from.

"Are we ready, Shiv?"

"Yes, we are."

The three of them began to walk away towards an area I had not had the chance to view yet, and as they did Sheeva looked back and gave a sneering look towards me.

"Goodluck tomorrow, Hugo."

After that they were gone, and I was left with a deep sense of uneasiness. Not once did I mention anything about today or the fight, yet it seemed like she had already known. It was no guess; she spoke with confidence as if she just knew. After making my way to my dorm room, I found myself in bed. My irritating roommate wasn't here, so I had the perfect chance to get some sleep without him possibly bothering me. As I drifted off, I thought about today. It was a long day, longer than I ever would've anticipated. I met Blitz as well as Sheeva and Phobos, their names solidified in my mind for the significance they had given today. I only wish that now I had formerly introduced myself to the moth looking one.