Academy for Specials; The Ash Legacy

Chapter 5

A portal had appeared in my room and a strong force from the other side had pulled me in.

I recognized it as a portal because I had seen it severally in comics.

But then, if it had appeared in my room then all of this was…

No! 

"Don't say it Kastin." Somehow, those words never came out of my mouth.

I was now traveling through a hole with many bright colors at a speed that shouldn't be real.

It felt cold in here and I felt like puking but I didn't.

Eventually, I landed on something really hard and I puked.

When I felt a little better, I took time to take in my surroundings.

Right now, I was in a really dark place but it wasn't so dark that I couldn't make out the giant door in front of me.

Where did it lead to?

Do I push it?

What happens if I'm not dreaming and I end up in the worst places possible?

No, this couldn't be real.

It had to be a dream and maybe when I push those doors open, I'll return to reality.

The thought of returning to reality made me feel better.

Soon, the only thing I would have to worry about would be my Aunty's family and my last examination in highschool.

Chorazin would be nothing more than something from my dream.

Who knows? I could even forget about it.

A lot of people forget about their dreams when they wake up and hopefully, I would be one of them this time.

Happy and eager to get this over with, I walked toward the door.

"Kastin Ash, son of Q-grader Specials Liam and Ava Ash." A deep voice that didn't give off its gender boomed in the darkness.

I was startled at first but then, I consoled myself with the thought that this was just a dream. I might as well play along.

"Welcome to Academy for Specials. Do you agree to using your abilities for good? If yes, push the green button. If no, keep your hands by your sides and you would be transported back to your city." 

I thought for a while.

Which of the decisions would help me go through that door?

Being transported back to my city might be the one but pressing the green button that had appeared out of nowhere might be the one too.

"Do you agree to using your abilities for good, Kastin Ash?" It asked again when I made no move to press the green button.

My hands were still by my side so if I didn't make a decision soon, I would be transported back to my city.

It had said something about my parents being Q-graders or whatever.

The fact that everything that I thought was not real kept revolving around my parents made me uncomfortable.

"Yes, I agree to using my abilities for good." I said and pressed the green button.

"There's no going back from now. Your journey forward from here would be a difficult one so I'm going to ask again and for the last time. Do you agree to using your abilities for good?" It asked again and I felt a little doubt in my heart.

I didn't even know what I was doing, I just needed to leave this dream.

"Yes, I agree to using my abilities for good and good only." I left my fingers on the green button.

I heard a clink of metal and the doors went open.

A bright light came from the other side.

It was so bright, I had to look away.

"Welcome to Academy for Specials, Kastin Ash." 

Without moving, I found myself on the other side of the door and it wasn't a call back to reality.

I was in some sort of school.

School was what I could come up with since almost everyone here was on some kind of uniform.

It wasn't like the uniform at the highschool I attended in Sidon, it was more like a suit.

Green jumpsuits with black sleeves, a zip at the front and black designs at certain areas like the thighs and the lower back.

Everyone was on black boots making me with blue worn out sneakers and old casual non-black and non-green clothes look like a joke.

This couldn't be a dream and it definitely couldn't be insanity.

I looked behind me but there were no doors.

There was nothing more than vast endless land.

I looked ahead at the big buildings in the school environment.

Everyone seemed to be busy, too busy to notice me.

Girls walked in groups and boys showed off their strengths.

"Where am I?" I muttered, my legs finally moving.

"Welcome to Academy for Specials!" A high pitched voice squealed behind me and I had to cover my ears.

My supernatural hearing ability made her voice sound louder than a normal person's voice should be.

Except, she wasn't normal.

I turned around and saw a really tall orange haired girl smiling at me with the kindest face.

Her hand was stretched out for a handshake which of course, I didn't take.

She retracted her hand but still smiled.

"Oh, I forgot it takes a while to adapt. Well, I'm Magda; B-grade Special." She introduced herself.

I observed her for a while in my confusion.

She seemed nice so I could ask her what the hell was happening.

"What is all this?" I asked her.

"This is Academy for Specials A.K.A School for Specials…." She started, walking further into the school, I joined her.

"It was founded by two Q-graders, the greatest specials the academy had ever known. Regularly, different Specials from all over the world is brought here."

"Some Specials are born with special abilities maybe from having parents that were Specials or pure luck while others get their abilities from laboratory accidents. Either way, they become able to do things ordinary humans can't."

Just like I started doing things no one should be able to do.

"A-grade specials are sent to watch them in their cities to ensure their safety and by safety I mean that nobody else knows about their abilities and they don't get them."

When she mentioned they, her face darkened.

I was wise enough to know this wasn't the right time to ask who 'they' were.

"Anyway…" The smile returned.

"An invitation to join the academy is sent to them soon after their abilities kick in. I'm sure you know what it looks like."

Of course I do!

It was a cursed black envelope that wouldn't just burn and disappear forever.

As if knowing what I was thinking, she addressed the matter of the envelope.

"It's for their safety that they join the academy. Those who don't gets captured by them but some are lucky to be left alone."

"Why?" I asked.

"The ones left alone are usually low grade Specials. They turn out as local criminals in their city but they're not bad enough to cause severe harm. You made the right choice agreeing to join." She giggled and I smiled.

She seemed so relaxed with everything so she must have been here for long enough.

I have been in this dream for long enough to realize that it wasn't a dream so I might as well know what I had gotten into.

"How long have you been here?" I asked her.

"A month. Don't worry, you'll love it here." Her eyes widened in happiness.

She must love it here.

Watching some guy uproot a tree, I could already tell that I was definitely going to hate it here.

It was a school after all, there were going to be bullies.

"What's your…uhm…. special ability?" I asked her.

"I'm a banshee. There are a lot of banshees in the academy but only few are A-graders." I guess that could explain why her voice was so loud.

She looked around with hearts in her eyes like she just couldn't take in the beauty of the academy.

It was beautiful but I didn't care.

I wanted to know if the Q-graders Magda had spoken of were my parents.

They couldn't have been specials, right?

They definitely couldn't have been the ones who founded the academy.

"I'm Kastin." I remembered that I hadn't told her my name.

"Nice to have you in Academy for Specials, Kastin." She offered a handshake again which I took.

"What are your special abilities?" She asked me and it came to my mind again,

Chorazin.

"It's fine if you don't want to say it. Not everyone likes sharing their abilities." She shrugged and while I looked for every hint hint of offence in her, I found none.

"I really don't know, yet." I answered and she nodded.

"You're going to have to see the Principal to get acquainted with your dormitory, uniform and classes." I nodded as she spoke.

"Uhm…how do I get there?" 

"You'll be fetched." Was her only response.

Fetched?

What did that even mean?

"Speaking of classes, I have one right now. We'll catch up, Kas." She left to join some girls who stared at me like I was an abomination.

No one had called me Kas in a long time since my parents' death.

If there was anything about Academy for Specials that I was going to like, it was definitely Magda.

True to Magda's words, two students fetched me and took me to the Principal.

"Welcome to Academy for Specials, Kastin Ash." 

The two students stared at me weirdly as the Principal said my name.

He was a fairly tall man in a grey suit, facing the window which was made of glass.

He was probably watching the students from up here.

Now that I thought about it, if this was the Principal then he must have been the one I was speaking with through the invitation.

"The journey here must have been tough, I apologise for that. The portal between the academy and human cities is still under repair." He apologized, turning around.

If the portal was under repair then something must have happened to it.

Did it have to do with the 'them' Magda spoke of earlier?

As he turned around, I saw his face.

"You!" I seethed.

He was the damn creep.

I rushed at him at a human speed and grabbed him by the collar however, the students tore me away from him before I did anything else.

"Why didn't you tell me about any of this from the beginning? You made me think I was crazy!" I yelled at him and he only stared at me with something that looked like confusion.

Just then, another student walked into the office.

He looked exactly like the Principal but with the uniform on.

"Oh! Hi Kastian, I see you made it. Welcome to Academy for Specials." The principal in the student uniform waved at me.

"What the hell is happening here?" My body went limp.

"What have you done, Ivan?" The principal in a suit sighed, rubbing his forehead.

"I was just having fun watching our new special." He raised his hands like someone surrendering at gunpoint.

"You can't just turn invincible in the middle of a conversation, Ivan!" The Principal was mad but apparently, Ivan didn't care.

However, I was still able to see him.

His short black hair changed into a long blonde one that fell a little past his shoulders.

What the hell?

His nose became thinner and his grey eyes changed to a deep blue.

His average height increased into something taller.

Every other part of his body changed until he was someone else entirely.

When I saw the Principal's eyes zero on him, I knew he had made himself visible again.

"You called for me, Principal Bradford." He ignored the glares he was getting from everyone in the room.

The Principal sighed, probably giving up on Ivan.

"You will show the new special around and inform him of everything he needs to know as a part of this academy. Keep him updated until the orientation for the new specials." He instructed Ivan who didn't even look like he was listening or interested in doing anything the Principal wanted him to do.

"Why do I have to babysit the ignorant Ash?" He stared at me with boredom.

He must have been here for much longer than Magda. 

He should be able to tell me everything I needed to know about Chorazin and my parents.

"He'll be staying in the dorm next to yours. Leave with him." The Principal took his seat and dismissed the other students.

"Ugh! You're such a pain in the ass." He grumbled.

Ivan walked to me and took my hand.

Of course, how had I forgotten that he could teleport?

Once we were in my dorm, he tried to leave but I grabbed his shirt.

"What the hell is Chorazin?"