Ms.Tortoise told everyone to stay in the cell while she went to grab the equipments for them. "Meanwhile, I want you all to familiarize yourselves with your teammates."
This is getting harder. Nada will do the work for me. "Hey Aefia, aren't you going to come here?" Nada asked patting the floor next to her. Aefia looked at the way her voice came from.
All the team members were sitting in a circle where there was one space between Nada and Anasiy. Why do they always put me in the middle?
She walked up to the circle and sat cross-legged where her place was supposed to be. It felt like being back in kindergarten for the first time and playing icebreakers with the other students. This competition relates too much to my school life on Earth. I believe this competition theme is school.
"We are introducing ourselves first. Then we are going to talk about our past lives, Earth lives I mean." Anasiy explained.
"Sounds fun," Aefia answered, though she clearly hated talking about her own life.
"I will start! My name is Nada. My element is Polar Bear and I am a shopaholic. This here is my best friend and we both are from the same country." Nada said while pointing to Aefia. "We both studied in the same school and lived opposite each other's house. I am her socializer. She doesn't like being friends with anyone at school. I choose Aefia to go next."
"Huh..oh it's my turn?" Aefia was pulled back to reality. What will my weapon be like? What weapon does a seer or mage use?
"Yes! Or is there another Aefia in here?" Nada asked frustrated.
"I didn't think I would need to introduce myself because you just did it for me," Aefia said while trying to maintain a poker face.
"Just say anything!" Nada shouted at Aefia. Alright, alright! Calm down!
"My name is Aefia and..."
"She is a Wolf and she is from a rich family! She is obsessed with video games, and if she can't play them, then she reads novels. She barely studies but passes all her tests!" Everyone looked at Nada with a stern expression when she was finished. The bear fell into it's own trap. Aefia laughed internally. I knew it would happen.
"Why are you all looking at me like that?" Nada asked.
"Well, there you have it. All about me on Earth." Aefia said while smiling at Nada. "I choose Anasiy to go next."
"My name is Afanasiy. You can call me Anasiy in short. My element is Cat and I am an orphan. I grew up with my aunt and cousins and I had a hard time at school."
"Well, I know for sure that everyone has a hard time at school with bullies and homework and teachers, the list just goes on." A boy with green eyes and blonde hair spoke. "Alright, I will go next."
"I am Helio, my element is Lizard. I am fifteen, turning sixteen in two months, and I enjoy going to the skateboard park every weekend. I have an elder brother, and I live with my mom and dad, while my brother lives with my uncle in Denmark. As the youngest, I always end up helping my father with his export business in Greece." So the competition participants are from rare places like that but they also took participants from a country like mine? I thought it had a bad reputation attached to its name.
"I choose him to go next." Helio pointed to the person sitting next to him. A boy with hazel eyes and brown hair.
"My name is Diego and I have just turned sixteen. My element is Snake. I am from Spain and my hobby is watching Formula One races. I wished to be one from a very young age, but my parents won't allow it, so I accepted my fate."
"Wow, out of all five of us, Aefia is the youngest, having just turned fifteen," Nada spoke. I don't think that was necessary information.
"Then I am the oldest here," Anasiy answered. " I am turning seventeen in five months.
"You know that our ages are not needed now. Our bodies are all frozen in time until we go back to Earth where we age by only one month." Aefia spoke.
"Anyway, we are done with the introduction part, so let's talk about the things we did when we were young on Earth."
Nada clearly meant 'talk about your embarrassing past'. I hope a miracle happens and we don't have to go through it. For the sake of everyone. Aefia thought while covering her face.
"Nada, we already spoke about what we liked doing on Earth, why don't we skip this part and talk about something else?" Anasiy spoke while smiling at Aefia. 'Thanks for the warning', Anasiy spoke into Aefia's mind.
I completely forgot that Anasiy's cat element allowed her to read minds...how stupid of me. Thank you Anasiy! Aefia looked up and smiled, "Yeah, what if we spoke about our pets maybe?" Nowadays, it isn't rare to see someone with a cat.
***
While the teammates were playing icebreakers, Ms.Tortoise came in.
"Alright students, we are going to exit this cell and head out to collect your weapons. Also, don't forget to bring your pens." This so-called 'pen' is too elegant to be called a proper writing pen.
"You know, you seem like a person who talks a lot to themselves but you have a lot of thoughts and are rather quiet. I can sense that you have a talkative personality in you but you don't showcase it much," Anasiy came by while Aefia was walking all the way in the back of the line, just before Nada.
"I think I just fear what people might think of me as if I were such a blabbermouth," Aefia replied.
"Hey! What are you guys whispering about? I want to listen too!" Nada turned around.
"We were talking about Aefia," Anasiy replied. I like your honesty. Aefia thought knowing that Anasiy can read it.
The teammates were split up and sent to individual rooms. When Aefia entered hers, she noticed there was a bed, a box, a study table, and a chair.
"You will stay here until tomorrow. Meanwhile, open your box, there are equipments for you in it." Ms.Tortoise explained. She took two steps towards the door and turned around. "And one more thing, get some rest. I will come back within a few minutes to bring you food and explain to you about your equipment. Shifting between dimensions is tiring and drains a lot of energy." With that, she left the room.
Aefia sat down on the bed and placed the pen box on the study table. She laid down for a few minutes before yanking herself up again. Did I really forget the box sitting on the floor?
Aefia got up, placed the box on the study table, and opened its lid. The inside of the box was mostly red and black which Aefia thought represented her elemental colour. She took out a red chest with silver patterns engraved into its corners and opened it.
Inside was an ordinary kitchen knife with a black blade, a black handle, and a single red ruby at the end of the handle. It was in a black leather cover with a strap that could hang on a belt. This is my weapon? It looks all useless.
She then took out the pistol from the gun holster. Even the gun holster is red and black. These people care about aesthetics. Aefia thought while putting it away. She then took out an identity card which was the size of a passport.
She opened the first page and was taken aback that they had written down her name as 'Aefia Tober'.That's not my name! I didn't know this competition would set me up with a new parent whom I had never met in my fifteen years of life!
Aefia checked the remaining of the identity card.
Parent name: Avry Tober
Occupation: Private Detective
Company name: Employee of Robertstown Security Department
So I am a private detective? I didn't know I was employed by an unknown entity.
Beside the identity page was a badge which Aefia took off and took a good look at. It was an ordinary police officer's badge from Earth with a change of logo. The logo was a creature with a bear-like face, wings like a dove, claws like a tiger, and ears like a cat. What is that? A hybrid of four or more species?
Putting that away, she took out another item which was a brooch.
The brooch was probably made of silver or white gold and was heavily encrusted with small, brilliant-cut diamonds. The main body of the brooch was a crescent moon facing right, which was completely covered in paved stones. The pin mechanism was visible on the back of the moon section.
Three chains hung from the bottom curve of the moon. The center chain held a large, five-pointed star that was also completely paved with stones and had a detailed milgrain or beaded edge. The two outer chains held two smaller four-pointed stars on each side of the bigger star. The piece had a vintage, antique celestial jewelry aesthetic.
She then took out a notebook and a cloak. The notebook was black with blank yellowish white paper. Aefia estimated the paper to be around 120gsm, and the number of pages were somewhere between a hundred and ninety and two hundred.
The cloak was the most elegant of all the items she had gotten. It featured a black velvet fabric on the outside and the inside was red silk. The hood was long enough to cover her face, and there was a silver clip with a kite-shaped, clear gemstone to close the cloak around the shoulder.
The shoulder featured silver plate armours on each side with tiny chains dangling from the ends. The front of the cloak was only waist-length and it featured a three-tier ruffle with each ruffle ending with silver lacing. The back of the cloak was ankle-length with a red silk cape hanging from the right shoulder. It feels as if it belongs to the dukes and duchesses of fantasy novels.
Aefia tried on the cloak and strapped the gun and the knife to the inside pocket of the cloak. Just then, Ms.Tortoise knocked.
"Aefia, may I come in?" She asked.
"Hold on a minute!" Aefia replied. She quickly took off the cloak and placed it on the table. "Alright, you can come in." Aefia opened the door.
Ms.Tortoise entered with a tray and placed it on the table next to the cloak. "How do you like it?"
"I think I like this cloak the most. It has an inside pocket and it doesn't restrict my movements. It is not that heavy either,"
"This cloak has some special properties. Since your element is a mage, you will be using this in every mission or battle you face. I will explain it to you while you eat."
"But ma'am, I concentrate more when I am not eating. If I know the use of each equipment now, I will not forget it later or any sooner." Aefia walked to the table and withdrew the knife and the gun, placing them next to the cloak. "May I ask? Why did I get a simple kitchen knife as a weapon?"
"It's not a simple kitchen knife. It is a shape-shifting multiweapon. It changes its weapon type based on the situation. I will demonstrate how to use it during your training."
"Alright, so what about the cloak? What special properties does it have?"
"This cloak, when in the hands of the right owner, acts like a shield to prevent any injuries to its wearer. It also protects against evil magic and can resist any type of truth serum. It repels elemental magic from reaching its wearer and proves to make the most impact during a hand-to-hand battle." Ms.Tortoise said while touching the cloak.
"I remember how it had sapphires and rubies along the plate armour's edges and emeralds hanging from the ends of the chains. The last wearer was the King of the Demons' Dungeon and was handed down to the Queen who was murdered on the day of his coronation. The position is still vacant until today's date.
"This cloak was stolen and sold to the Guardian of Silence by mistake and the man in charge was punished gravely for his deeds. Unfortunately, the gemstones were taken off by then, and none of the twenty-three gemstones were found until today. They say killing beasts will return the stones. Although the stones are not of any use, they still elevated the look of this cloak." Ms.Tortoise explained while touching the area of the missing gemstones.
"So why did I get this cloak if it belongs to Kings and Queens?" Aefia finally asked.
"Because the Guardian of the True Future has high expectations for the Wolf element's owner. He said it in a revelation with his true voice. Although he also said that the owner would be too weak to start with." Ms.Tortoise said walking to Aefia's place. By then Aefia was sitting on the bed.
Aefia knew the meaning of this of course. But whether she would really succeed in saving Nikoan was uncertain. "Alright, I get it now. I will put effort into my power to do the best I can," Aefia stood up. "But first of all, who is Avry Tober? And why do I need to work as a private detective?"
Ms.Tortoise bit her tongue. "I didn't think you would find out this early but I will explain it to you from the beginning."