The black car finally slowed down, Vivian looked out the window, and gasped.
Before her was a campus so grand it looked like a royal palace. Towering buildings that gleamed under the sun, surrounded by flowing fountains.
Above the entrance, enormous silver letters gleamed beneath the morning sun.
The National Sentinel and Guide Academy.
Vivian stared at it. It really was beautiful.
There were students walking across the courtyard in fancy uniforms.
Her old high school had been a concrete building with peeling paint, broken ceiling fans, and windows that refused to close.
This place had fountains.
The government really spent this much money on a school?
What else did they give these people? Private chefs? Private jets? Golden toilets? She wouldn’t have been surprised.
She had spent five years in the apocalypse watching people fight over cans of beans while the people with power disappeared.
And now she was standing in front of a school that cost more than the entire neighborhood she’d grown up in.
Looking at this paradise made her suddenly remember someone. Her childhood best friend. Jeff.
In this timeline, Jeff had awakened as a Sentinel last year. Vivian remembered how happy she had been for him. She’d called him over and over. I’m so proud of you. You’re really a Sentinel now! Does this mean you’ll get to go to the Academy?
But just a few weeks after he entered this academy, he stopped replying to her texts.
At first, she’d thought he was busy. Eventually, she’d stopped texting.
During the apocalypse, she never heard from him once. And she knew why. He was part of them.
Logan pulled the car up to the driveway and unlocked the doors. "We’re here."
’Compass.’
[Yes, Vivian?]
’Why do I have to be here? I want to throw up just looking at this place.’
[Because your survival rate increases if Host improves her Guide abilities.]
Vivian took a deep breath. Right.
She walked toward the front of the car where Logan and Wyatt were standing. Vivian forced herself to look polite. "Thank you for the ride, gentlemen. I appreciate it."
Wyatt didn’t even acknowledge her words. He turned around, and immediately began walking toward the entrance of the building. He didn’t wait for her, and he didn’t care if she followed.
Vivian blinked. Seriously? What the hell is his deal? Does it kill him to be a normal human being for one second?
Logan noticed her annoyed expression and let out a soft chuckle, stepping up beside her. "Don’t mind him. Come on, he’s taking us to the registration office so you can officially sign in, and get your dorm room."
As they walked behind Wyatt, Logan spoke, softly. "You really didn’t bring any bags. Are you planning to wear that hoodie and jeans for the entire school year?"
Vivian paused for a second. She looked down at her oversized black hoodie and faded jeans.
Okay, maybe I did make a stupid, impulsive decision by not taking any clothes from that house, she thought to herself. Whatever. I can survive it. During the five years of the apocalypse, we couldn’t even change our bloody, stained clothes for months. I fought monsters in rags. Why the hell would I complain about a clean hoodie now?
"I’ll manage," Vivian replied out loud.
Vivian leaned a little closer to Logan, keeping her voice low. "Is he always like that? The cold expression and the silence?"
Logan blinked, looking amused. "Wyatt?"
"Yeah."
"Oh, yeah," Logan whispered, shaking his head with a grin. "Don’t take it personally. He’s a stoneface. He rarely smiles at anyone in this academy. He’s basically a robot made of ice."
Vivian sighed softly, looking down at the floor. "I just thought... maybe I made a really bad first impression back at my house. I promise I’m not usually a violent person who dumps ash on people. I just had to put them in their place because..."
Logan immediately cut her off, raising a hand with a smile. "Oh, no. You don’t need to explain anything to me. I saw the way they treated you. Honestly, that stepmother of yours is a witch. Don’t ever apologize for protecting yourself."
Vivian looked at Logan, feeling a genuine gratitude. He was a Sentinel, but he actually possessed a heart.
They finally reached doors labeled Registrar Office. Wyatt pushed them open and walked inside, standing like a guard by the desk.
Logan stepped up to the front counter, smiling at the middle-aged woman sitting behind the computer. "Good evening, ma’am. I’m Logan, A-class Sentinel. We were assigned to bring in the newly awakened Guide from the eastern district alert."
The registrar nodded quickly. She tapped a few keys on her keyboard. "Ah, yes. Welcome to the Academy, dear. Please show me your awakening mark for verification."
Vivian pulled up her left sleeve, revealing the glowing silver sigil wrapped around her wrist.
The registrar gasped softly, nodding in approval. "A Healer Guide? Wow."
Before the paperwork could start, Logan tapped Vivian’s shoulder gently. "Alright, kid. My job here is officially done. I have a meeting to attend across campus, so I’ve got to run. I’ll see you around the school, okay? Don’t let the ice cube over there freeze you to death." He pointed a thumb at Wyatt.
Vivian smiled genuinely at him. "Goodbye, Logan. Thank you for everything."
"Anytime!" Logan waved cheerfully and walked out of the office.
The room became quiet again, except for the clicking of the registrar’s keyboard.
Wyatt stood in the corner, watching her every move with that same curiosity.
Vivian ignored his staring, focusing on the counter.
Within ten minutes, the registration was finished. The woman slid a tray across the counter toward Vivian. On it was a shiny gold student ID card, a pair of fancy, neatly folded uniforms, and a plastic dorm keycard.
"Your classes will officially begin tomorrow morning at eight," the registrar explained. "Your dorm room number is printed on the back of the card. Please sign the registry book right here, and you are free to go."
Vivian picked up the black pen. She stared at the blank line on the paper, her hand trembling slightly. Once she signed this, there was no going back. She was officially a student in the enemy’s den.
’Compass,’ she whispered in her mind. ’Do I really have to do this? Is there no other way?’
[Yes, Host. You must sign,] COMPASS replied inside her head. [This is the only way to change your fate, and ensure your daughter’s future. Sign the book.]
She gripped the pen tightly, pressed it to the paper, and quickly wrote her name: Vivian.