Day Two

"Everything's going smoothly, sir. Pretty much as planned... but.. sir.. With all due respect... is there a reason you didn't just send Blackout in?" The man stood before the desk in the well lit office that smelled like old leather book bindings. That made sense considering there was a full book case on either side of the room. Behind the desk sat an older gentleman with salt and pepper hair and brown eyes. He was listening, but he was watching the movement of the people outside of his window.

"Because, Frank, those people would have been able to handle Blackout. And I don't need to explain my actions to you, you just do as I say.. now go and fetch the girl, I want to meet her myself. See what all the fuss is about."

"Well, Boss.. uh.. she kinda got into some trouble last night." He put a hand up quickly, "Nothing major. Just.. tried to go past the parameter and a guard had to subdue her. She's okay. She's just.. unconscious."

As Frank continued, The Boss brought his hand up to pinch the bridge of his nose and massage in an exasperated gesture. "...She should be alright by now... bring her by anyway."

"Yes, sir." Frank saw the opportunity to get out of his bosses way before he'd get his ass handed to him and he took it, bowing and backing out as quick as possible.

"And Frank. Get me the name of the guard."

"Y-yes, sir.."

----

About twenty minutes later, Isa was being led inside by a female nurse. She had no visible signs of injuries and seemed to be quite alright.

"How are you feeling this morning... Isabella?" The name on his desk said Mr. Rolland. Isa knew that name to be the headmaster of this.. school. He had a file in front of him that he was looking over with Isa's picture attached to the front page.

"Fine.. thanks.." She was still a bit suspicious as to why she was in the office..

"I heard you had a bit of a nasty fall last night.."

"Yeah, uh. I don't remember it.. so I must have hit my head pretty hard.. but I'm okay now." Isa was surprised to wake up in the infirmary that morning but they treated her well and took care of any pain she had.

"Well, let's not do that again, shall we?" He smiled to her, making light of the situation. "I just wanted to meet you so that I could formally greet you and welcome you to our school. I'm Mr. Rolland, your headmaster" Mr. Rolland extended his hand out to her to shake, which she did.

"Isabella Cantaria," Isa gave her parents last name.. apparently she had forgotten they were no longer alive.. and that she had a new family now.

"It is very nice to meet you, Isabella. Or I hear you prefer Isa?"

Isa nodded.

"It's very nice to meet you.. Isa." He smiled and sat back in his chair. "I'm sorry you weren't able to get your own cabin. Obviously with a new student coming in the middle of the year it's a bit complicated when we only have twelve teen cabins. But your parents were very persuasive on getting you in here and we really think this program is a great fit for you. How do you like the campus? We sort of gave Warpaint the job of being your unofficial tour guide yesterday." He smiled again and waited for her response.

Even with the headache.. and the black out.. and the great treatment this morning, Isa couldn't shake that feeling that she wasn't supposed to be there... but every time she started to focus on it her mind changed. She looked a bit hesitant before she responded.. not quite liking this guy. He was all smiles and familiarity but she could sense a fake from a mile away, that much hadn't changed about her. "It's nice. She's cool, she showed me around and stuff." Keep it brief. Adults always expected short, shallow answers from teens anyway.

Mr. Rolland nodded, observing her. "Well, I won't keep you from breakfast any longer. I just wanted to meet you face to face. I'll be seeing you around campus." He grinned as he nodded for the nurse to see her out.

Once Isabella was gone and the door was closed, he looked down at his hands.. "...Interesting.." And his gaze rose to look around his office as the furniture began to shift around him. His desk pulled away from his lap and seemed to vibrate and pulsate before the legs began to prance individually like some sort of office desk shaped puppy and the guest chairs stretched their arms above their heads like people beginning to move after sitting for a long time.. "Very interesting.." he narrowed his eyes as he focused on one of the chairs.. extending his palm toward it while he manipulated the power he'd drawn from Isa's handshake.. The chair began to shake and rumble as if something was fighting to burst out of it until suddenly it began to splinter and break until finally the pieces fell to the floor in a useless heap. He raised the other hand as the opposite chair stood up completely, it's front two legs forming feet, the back to legs melding into the rest of the chair as the wood molded and bent itself into the shape of a wooden knight. It rose both fists in a ready position and took a half step back. Mr. Rolland, or The Boss, watched.. amused.. and laughed before both chairs shifted back into their normal state. "I like her.."

---

The rest of Isa's day went just as the previous day had. She didn't remember sneaking out or taunting the guard but every time she looked at the guards she felt the urge to keep away from them.. when she returned to her shared cabin in the afternoon before lunch she found Warpaint wasn't there and she hadn't seen her in classes all day. She poked her head out to see who was near enough to call for.

"Hey Scepter. Where's Warpaint?"

"She had a field trip today. She'll be back tonight. She didn't tell you?" The tall skinny boy replied.

"Nah.. What kind of field trip?"

He just shrugged and went on his way.

"...well fuck you too, then.." Isa mumbled and went into the cabin. "Oh well, at least I get some alone time." Aaand that meant she could snoop Warpaint's art! So she did! Isa took her time peaking under every sheet or cover and eyeballing the artwork that her bunkmate had been working on. One in particular caught her eye. It was the large one that Warpaint had been looking at when she spoke of being destined for other things.

As Isa drew back the sheet that covered the oil painting she felt a shift in the atmosphere around her.

This one seemed to have more.. power to it. More intent.. more... meaning. More feeling, even. The other paintings, they had power to them, too. Isa could feel it radiating off of them but this painting made her want to back away else she'd get stuck staring at it. It looked like a painting but felt like she was watching a person being created. He wasn't finished yet. The outline was sketched onto the canvas in a faint gray pencil but only half of the painting was fleshed out with the oil colors. Suddenly the alarm went off and the announcements began. It was lunchtime. She dropped the sheet and rushed out as if someone had just caught her peaking at Christmas gifts a day early.

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