Blessing of the Seas

Bennett blinked, wary of the situation.

What the hell am I supposed to do in this situation? I knew she went to this Academy… but I never expected to see her! I thought she was somewhere else… specifically not here, Bennett thought. Also, I realize I’m starting to panic far more often than before, when I would go out and take on bees the size of my hand.

At this specific thought, Bennett suddenly grew calmer. A fleeting thought made him question whether or not his constant panic had something to do with Luna, who was very much interested in the girl who literally had an Avatar.

Also, why is there so much static electricity in the air? It’s tingling every hair on my arms-

“What could you possibly be thinking about that is more important than the question I’m asking you?” Reah Justyce, the youngest person to ever wield an Avatar, snapped at Bennett.

A slight tinge of annoyance grew in the back of Bennett’s mind as he realized that he already disliked this girl. “You’re not the most important person in the world, y’know,” he unintentionally muttered. “Some people could care less.”

As he realized he said this, he was about to curse when he instinctively reacted to the gathering of Lightning in front of him, using a Flicker to move away as a spearhead smashed into the ground where he had just been.

Bennett tightened his grip on Luna’s legs as she finally looked up in annoyance and smacked his forehead lightly. He didn’t notice this however, as he was already reacting to another spear, which genuinely surprised Luna, who yelped at the spear that had nearly went through her eye.

He pulled her off of his shoulder and unceremoniously swung her onto his back, dodging yet another spearhead.

“What the hell?!” He yelled. I’ve never met anything or -one who had such a short fuse. “You could’ve killed her!”

Before he could react, he was suddenly flying backwards, his stomach burning from a kick he could barely perceive.

She’s way faster than me! And I barely had time to activate Flicker! Also, how did I react to tha- SHIT!

In a panic, he somehow was able to quickly develop a Lightning Strike and throw it at his feet to launch him in the air, quite painfully, that was. He found himself five yards in the air and very much vulnerable, Flicker still on cooldown-

Wait. No it’s not. I really hope this doesn’t hurt Luna.

He threw an Anchor with Flicker and teleported to the ground, feeling a weight off his back. He looked up in a panic to see Luna falling out of the air, another spear hurtling towards her. She had a baffled expression on her face, looking down at him.

“Really? You can’t take someone with you when you use an Anchor, idiot,” a voice said from in front of him.

In a moment of clarity, Bennett immediately chopped off 70% of his HP and launched a Bloodbolt at Reah, thinking it would be futile, but when her eyes widened in sudden surprise, he knew it would hit, and it sure did.

Immediately, she was launched with an explosion that popped his eardrums over the crowd that had been previously watching her and in front of the man whose eyes were now open and watching with mild interest at the girl who was quickly standing up. Bennett then realized Luna was still falling, and, with a final effort, used the now available Flicker to fly up and catch her, smashing into the ground in a daze.

What… the hell just happened? He thought trying to process the last few seconds that there was no way he could have possibly perceived normally.

***

Luna, in her infinite power and wisdom, had absolutely no clue what had just happened in the past few seconds.

Yes, she perceived it and remembered it perfectly, and could have reacted if she had the awareness, but she had barely been paying attention until she found herself in the air, Bennett suddenly gone. Then, there was an explosion of red Lightning and she was now sitting on Bennett’s chest, who was clearly in a daze along with her.

What- why is Bennett almost dead?! She thought, her previous train of thought already lost to panic.

He groaned, sitting up as she placed her hand on his chest, already pushing Overheal into him, not holding back.

“Oof. Sitting at a clean 10% HP from whatever just happened there,” he muttered. “And she’s ba-”

Before Luna could react, the face of the girl who had most likely nearly killed her appeared above them, looking very much infuriated. Bennett looked up at her nonchalantly, clearly tired already.

“Are you done? I really just wanted to look at the classes, not get beat up,” he sighed, looking up, then cringing at the fury on his face. “Uh, is there something-?”

“What was that?” She hissed, grabbing Bennett by the shirt and causing Luna to fall off of him and roll slightly away. The girl didn’t notice as Luna stood up confused. “How did you, a Level 2 nobody, nearly take 10% of my HP with a single hit? Who even are-?”

Suddenly, pure terror was evident on the girl’s face as she dropped him. “Y-Y-Yasmine?” Her face paled as she looked at Luna. “You’re also- oh no.”

She backed away in terror, muttering, “Oh gods, she’s going to absolutely kill me. I didn’t mean to-”

Before she finished her sentence, she shook her head and, in a burst of Lightning, disappeared.

What… the hell just happened? Luna thought, trying to ignore the very much baffled looks from the crowd of students who had just watched this play out along with Yelena, who was still standing in the same place, a large hole in front of her and looking very much confused.

~~~

After the very much confusing and quick fight, both Luna and Bennett found themselves in the infirmary for the second time in the day, this time at nearly nighttime. The healer who had been tending to them sighed as she finally finished with Bennett’s head injury, which Luna wasn’t sure how he’d gotten, but it was probably when he had caught Luna.

“How do students always manage to get hurt in their first days here?” she grumbled. “You children always seem to get into fights with the wrong people.”

Bennett raised his hands in defense. “This was aggravated assault, madam. I had nothing to do with it… mostly.”

She hit him on the head with what looked like a ruler and glared at him. “Now I know I’m going to see you here often, Bennett Yasmine. I don’t care who your mother is, so you better start getting a hold of yourself, or I swear-”

Bennett looked at Luna meekly, who sat next to him, amused. I’m just making a guess here, but I would assume Bennett’s mother came here. A lot.

“Right, right, I understand,” he responded, interrupting her. “Are we good to go, by any chance? I’m sure my sister is losing her mind right now… and I’ll maybe have a few burns.”

“Is this girl not your…” the woman looked between the two of them before some sort of understanding dawned upon her face. “Ah, yes, of course you can go, you two,” she said, suddenly seeming very compliant. “But I swear, if I see you here tomorrow-”

“Yep, yep,” Bennett said, scooping Luna off the bed they were sitting on and dashing to the exit. “See you later!” He called, quickly opening the door, sliding through, and closing it with a sigh.

She looked up at him as he deflated, looking aimlessly at a wall. “Dang… today was chaotic, wasn’t it, Lu?”

Luna, unable to do much else, let out a sound of agreement and poked his cheek. He looked at her and smiled.

“Well, we might as well go find Lena before she literally explodes; it would be in our favor.”

With a nod in response, the two of them (well, Bennett, since he was holding her) went down the halls, towards their dorms where Bennett had apparently made the assumption Yelena would be.

Hmm… I wonder if I would call him “Ben” if I could speak in any capacity. Also, I’m still a bit confused. He was at 30% HP when I healed him earlier. I brought him up to 260%, but he still had injuries. How exactly does it work? It could possibly be just a way to show battle readiness, which now sounds dumb as I think about it. More likely, it’s most likely showing how able they are to make an action. Kinda like that Earth tabletop game… DnD, was it? When your hit points reach 0 in that, you’re not exactly out. You can be revived and continue to fight. Is it more like that, but if you reach 0%, you just die, at least if Bennett used Blood Magic to drop him there. More likely, you’d probably be knocked into a comatose state, where you are on the brink of death, but can still come back, just unable to fight. It’s interesting, to say the least. I’d love to experiment more, but I’d have to see-

Bennett suddenly began to laugh, snapping Luna out of her thought trance. She gave him a confused look and he just kept laughing for a while before clearing his throat.

“Sorry, it’s just… I just got a new Skill. You’d never believe what it’s called,” he said, holding back another bout of laughter.

As he explained the Skill to her, she grew more and more annoyed, until she began smacking him with her tentacles as he began to laugh again.

___

You gained a new Skill!

NEW! Hitch-hiker - Level 1

Hitch-hiker (Utility)

When carrying another, you gain a (Skill Level * 5)% increase in movement speed but take 20 - (Skill Level * 2)% more damage each. Additionally, you both gain (Skill Level + 10)% Skill Damage and it will be more difficult to knock the one hitching a ride off of you. If the hitcher uses any Support/Healing Skill on you, it will be (Skill Level * 5)% more effective. Any AOE Damage/Debuff Skills that you use will not damage the hitcher and when using a self-teleport Skill, they will be transported with you

Duration : Until the hitcher is knocked off.

*Note : This skill has been gained after battling with a hitcher excessively.

___

~~~

“I get it! Could you stop now; that hurts!” Bennett complained as his sister pulled on his ear, somehow able to reach it. “I was already chewed out by the Healer in the Infirmary for being there!”

Yelena glared at him. “As you should! You pissed off someone you literally cannot afford to piss off because you just can’t keep your mouth shut and nearly got Luna seriously injured! Hasn’t Mom already hit you over the head enough times cause you can’t keep your mouth shut sometimes? It feels like you intentionally piss everyone off around you!”

Bennett looked away meekly. “I mean… I was right, wasn’t I?”

Yelena let out a huff and let him go, letting him rise back up to his full height while he rubbed his ear.

“Fine. You were. I don’t get people who think they’re on top of the world sometimes. According to about 99% of the people we’ve met so far while here, Mom could probably whip them up and over their asses in a heartbeat,” Yelena muttered. “Speaking of…”

“Yeah… Based on her reaction to our name, Mom’s probably already done so and would do it again,” Bennett said. “I dunno what she did, but if it could terrify her, we better watch ourselves.”

Yelena smacked Bennett’s arm and he snorted, patting her on the head. Luna swung her legs back and forth, watching the two of them interact with interest. She couldn’t lie to herself: she had definitely developed an interest in the two of them and their growth. She knew that it was probably a stretch, but she’d probably- no, wanted to- be there to see everything as they grew stronger. Who knew, maybe they’d turn out to be pretty strong.

I still wonder… What am I meant to do? I know I’m here at this school now, but I’m just assuming, apart from the spats Bennett will get into, it will be a relatively normal life… which I’m all for, surprisingly. But… Why did I awaken now? What brought me to Bennett… or was it just chance I’m with such a nice person, who cares so much about me-

Luna blinked. What? Why am I thinking like that? That felt… weird. I don’t like that at all. She repressed the strange feeling bubbling up in her chest, causing her heart to beat faster than normal, shaking her head. At least I can stop it. That’s an upside.

Bennett then sighed. “We should probably go over to the dining hall for dinner now, then. I’m starting to get pretty hungry.”

Luna perked up and Bennett gave her a wary look. “Try… to not eat as much though. That didn’t go so well.”

He’s probably right… that might explain why I was so slow to react earlier. Eat less is a good idea-

~~~

“Luna, I did tell you to eat less, didn’t I?” Bennett muttered. “I’m pretty sure that you even nodded.”

Luna let out a noise of content as she rested on Bennett’s back arms over his shoulders. Tyreese snorted from the side. “Man, let her eat as much as she wants! Look at her! You can’t deny how adorable seeing her not smack me is- OW!”

A tentacle whipped out from Luna’s side and hit him the the side, causing Tyreese to bend over, groaning. Mia kicked him from behind, pushing him forward.

“That’s what you get, moron,” she said, walking past him with a huff. “Quit being insensitive.”

She pushed her hair out of her face and looked at Bennett. “Anyways, you never said exactly what happened out there. All I heard was that you got into a fight with somebody by the name of Reah Justyce?”

Bennett and Jennifer looked at her in confusion, Tyreese too busy staggering along to do so.

“Y-you don’t know Reah? She’s a Lightning Battlemage who got an Avatar last year, in her first year! She’s the youngest person in history to ever get one!” Jennifer said, sidling up next to Bennett, who Luna had a suspicion that she liked, something that caused some sort of feeling of defensiveness to rise up in her.

“Exactly! You really don’t know her? She was sent to the middle lines! That… now that I think about it, it’s not really an achievement, now, is it? Who would want to fight the Elves?” Bennett questioned, looking back at Luna, who he adjusted his grip on so she wouldn’t slip.

“Correctamundo!” Tyreese suddenly piped in, appearing on the other side of Jennifer. “Plus, they’re all pretty good-looking, from what I’ve heard.”

“Uh huh,” Mia said. “Clearly, they don’t care much about her, since I haven’t heard of it.”

“You say it like you live with Elves,” Bennett muttered. “Wait-”

He went silent when he saw Mia’s withering stare. “Don’t ask questions. I don’t have the time for them.”

Bennett opened his mouth to speak, but seemed to think better of it as Mia walked forward, towards their dorms.

Under his breath, he muttered, “Then what do you have time for, other than making others feel like they’re worthless in your presence?”

Mia paused for a moment, as if she’d heard him, before shaking her head and continuing onwards.

I wonder what her goal here is. Luna thought. Mine, currently, is to sleep for a long while. Preferably after a bath.

Eventually, the five of them made it to the Dorms and, after bidding goodnight to Yelena, who looked very displeased to not be with Bennett, like usual, they finally went back into the dorms. Mia, who was already there, looked back at them with a huff.

“Finally, we can actually establish some ground rules,” she said, looking at each of them in turn.

“Ground rules?” Bennett inquired.

“I thought they were already pretty clear,” Jennifer said. “I mean, just… don’t do anything dumb that might… cause certain things.”

Mia rolled her eyes. “Yes, obviously don’t get pregnant or something as stupid.”

Jennifer blushed furiously, looking away from everyone else. Bennett however, frowned.

“Firstly, who has absolute idiocy for that to even need to be stated? And secondly, are we going to come up with some some before-”

“No. I already came up with them,” Mia interrupted.

Bennett stared at her. “...Without talking to anyone about it?”

“Were you here? That should be answer enough.”

He stared at her harder and she shifted, some nervousness leaking through her confidence. “Riiiighhht… and they don’t infringe on basic living rights, do they-?”

“What impression do I give you?! Of course they don’t!” Mia snapped.

“Well, as I'm sure we all agree, you are definitely the most bossy person here, other than Luna, but she can’t exactly talk,” Bennett started. “You’re pretty much a coin flip on whether or not you’ll verbally abuse someone or actually treat them like a living being. You also seem to care less about others and focus on yourself, especially proven from the Exam. During that, we all attempted to work together, including Tyreese, by some miracle-”

“Hey!” Tyreese interjected. “I’ll have you know-”

“-The only reason you worked with us is because I asked you to make sure Jennifer wasn’t harmed? Exactly. You, however, didn’t even attempt to communicate and I was poisoned 27 times because of your carelessness. That’s why I was in the Infirmary for as long as I was. And most of those was because I was trying to keep Jennifer and Tyreese from being completely disabled from it.”

Luna could faintly remember Bennett somehow being poisoned a few times, but 27? Luna looked up at Mia, who’s face had gone white and her facade completely torn down as Bennett kept going.

“By all intents and purposes, you contributed both the most and the least. So, before you go and ‘set ground rules’ and wonder why I’m being so starkly different from normal, you should think about your mistakes.” Bennett groaned. “Damn… I sound like my Mom, don’t I? No wonder people say I’m like her… though at this point, I hardly know her. Anyways, just think about it. We can set these ‘ground rules’ tomorrow.”

***

As Bennett walked away, Luna on his back, Mia stared at his back, her thoughts completely torn.

Did I really cause him so much pain? What-

“Geez, I didn’t think one guy could be so scary, huh? Good thing he’s on our team…” Tyreese grumbled. “I need a shower.”

He waltzed off to a room that he’d chosen earlier and closed the door behind him as Jennifer meekly walked up to Mia.

“Y-you probably shouldn’t think too much about it. I’m sure he’s pretty tired; he’s been to the infirmary twice in two days and probably has enough on his table personally, don’t you think? Maybe… just try to think a bit about how others may feel? I do it sometimes and it helps to interact…?”

Mia blinked and, gathering herself, let out a huff. “Whatever. He can complain all he wants; I couldn’t care less.”

“And she’s immediately decided to ignore me,” Bennett muttered from across the room, not knowing that Mia could hear him. “Damn nobles.”

Mia flinched at this, unable to stop the feeling of disgust at herself from arising.

Then he frowned. “Uh… Which of these rooms are belong to you two?” He asked, looking back at Mia and Jennifer with a defeated expression, completely different from just a moment ago. “I, uh… don’t want to intrude.”

Jennifer blinked. “Oh, right! Luna did go into my room earlier. Mine’s the second door and Mia’s is the last. There’s bathrooms in each of them, as far as I know. The names are on the doors. Just touch one.”

“Thanks!” He responded cheerfully. “This one’s yours, Lu. You gotta get off now.”

Luna, who Mia assumed was most likely either Bennett’s sibling (Which was less likely than the alternative), or his wife, based on the fact that she shared his name, let out a noise of annoyance, wrapping her tentacles around him.

“No, you are not sleeping in my room,” he said, trying to pry her off. “It’s not that big of a deal!”

Jennifer and Mia watched their exchange, the idea of Luna being Bennett’s overly clingy wife seeming much more likely by the second as she refused to let go of him.

***

Luna blew bubbles in the hot water of her bath before sighing and finally getting out, walking out in front of the full body mirror and finally looking herself up and down for the first time.

Wow… I really am small, huh, she thought, turning in various directions, looking at herself. No wonder Bennett treats me like a child sometimes. I look like one, though, functionally, I have the functions of a sixteen year old Seaborn. Wait, doesn’t that mean I could technically have children in this small body?

An image of popped in her mind of Bennett and her- Luna shook her head rapidly, seeing her face go red in the mirror near immediately. No. We are not thinking about that. Especially not with Bennett. I do not need to think about that… currently.

Luna cursed herself as a stray thought in her mind found the prospect…slightly appealing.

I barely know the boy and I’m already thinking of… ENOUGHIMGETTINGDRESSED, she forced into her head.

Luna stormed out of the bathroom, towel around her, and began to rummage through a dresser, where she found a nightgown that somehow fit her perfectly. After fully drying off and getting dressed, she stood in front of the bed and frowned.

Huh… feel kind of lonely without Bennett or Yelena here. Strange.

Luna shrugged before jumping into the bed and snuggling into the sheets gleefully. Two hours later, however, she found herself, despite her exaustion, unable to sleep comfortably.

Luna let out a growl of annoyance, sitting up and looking out the dark window, which, through it, she could see the night sky and unfamiliar constellations. After a moment, she stood up and looked out the window in awe at the beautiful sky, suddenly wanting to study if for hours.

Not now though. I need rest for tomorrow. Who knows if I’ll actually learn something. But… it doesn’t help that I can’t sleep.

A sudden thought occurred to Luna as she looked at the door to her room before grabbing an extra blanket and opening it.

***

Bennett yawned, rolling over as the rising sunlight shined on his face. “Lemme sleep a little longer, Lena…”

After a moment, he opened his eyes and sat up with a groan, trying not to stare at the sunlight that flowed through the windows. He stretched his arms and tried to not roll Luna off the bed-

Bennett blinked, slowly looking at the small, sleeping form of Luna laying next to him, holding onto his shirt. As he sat up, she let out a quiet hum of displeasure and curled up closer to him. With a slight moment of hesitation, he shook her slightly.

“Luna, get up,” he said quietly.

She let out a whimper before he watched her tentacles start to wrap around him. Before he had time to react, she completely held him in her tentacles, restricting his movement almost completely. Bennett sighed, looking at her for a few moments. Then he Flickered off of the bed, leaving Luna’s tentacles completely empty and probably doing minor damage to her, but she didn’t react to it, instead rolling over, three tentacles hanging over the side of the bed.

“Seriously?” Bennett grumbled, slowly walking back over to her, still tired. He bent down next to her and debated on how he would wake her up. “Didn’t I lock my door?”

Looking at said door, he frowned as he noticed that the lock was very much broken. “Did she seriously break the lock to get in here? How?”

After a moment, he simply sighed before finally poking her cheek. “Luna, you’re late. You’re going to miss class.”

She suddenly shot up, making a noise of surprise as she looked around, still half asleep. Eventually, she laid eyes on Bennett looking a bit dazed. He simply stared at her, unimpressed. After a moment, she realized she was completely in the clear and glared at Bennett.

“What? I’m not the one who broke my lock. Plus, you did wake up after me, so I’m technically right. Anyways, what were you doing here?” Bennett spouted.

Luna poked him with a tentacle sleepily before slowly leaning back, obviously about to go back to sleep.

“Oh, no you don’t,” Bennett snapped, lifting her out of the bed, eliciting a yelp from the small girl. “You still need to get ready, now shoo; you’re not staying in here while I get dressed.”

After effectively punting Luna out of his room, he stood there for a moment looking around his room for a few moments.

“Man, even at school, I can’t even be alone. Not that it’s that big of a deal,” he said aloud. “Hmm… I wonder how exactly Beast Studies is going to work…”

***

After being unceremoniously shooed out of Bennett’s room, Luna huffed.

Fair enough, She thought, looking at his door for a few moments. Should I try to stop acting so childish? Or should I just fix the lock? How do you fix locks? Maybe that’s a problem for another time…

After returning to her room, she rummaged through her new dressers, somehow only able to find the new uniform from the given outfits.

But… it’s too big…Where’d my clothes go?

She then remembered giving her dress to Bennett the night before, who said he’d get it washed… somehow. She wasn’t sure what exactly he’d said, as she’d been exhausted, but it was something along the lines of him going out to find a laundry area.

With a sigh, she left the room again and, after a few moments of debating, she knocked on Mia’s door, which almost immediately opened. Mia looked down at Luna, who was holding the clothes that didn’t fit.

“...What are you doing here?” Mia asked suspiciously. “And why are you holding your uniform like that?”

Mia, undeterred, lifted the clothing in front of her, showcasing that it was too large. Mia stared at her for a few moments, clearly understanding what Luna was trying to convey, but attempting to process what she should do. After a moment, she sighed, deflating.

“You want me to adjust it for you? Why exactly do you think I can do this?” she asked, unmoving.

Luna huffed, pushing them towards Mia. Her eye twitch before finally giving in. “Fine. Come in, I guess.”

Luna triumphantly walked past Mia, who mumbled under her breath about overly pushy people, which Luna couldn’t possibly understand. The moment she entered, Luna was bombarded by the scents of many types of plants, some of which she recognized, others she didn’t.

Mia walked past Luna before grabbing the clothes from her arms and pointing to the center of the room. “Stand there.”

As Luna shrugged and walked over, she studied the room further. The place was almost completly covered in plants; even the bed being replaced with what looked like… some sort of plant with a fluffy material all over it.

Right. An Elven bed. They grow from buds, shaping themselves into a bed-like shape. I used to have a few, didn’t I? I adored them in my younger years, as uncontrollable as I was.

The walls seemed to be made out of wood and had vines crawling all over them. Luna even swore she caught a glimpse of some sort of animal scurrying about the vines. Some of the wooden walls seemed to quite literally grow out into a desk. She saw that the dresser was also the same, growing out. She then spied some sort of fruit hanging from the roof that glowed softly.

Glowberries, huh? Basic, but gets the point across. Taste pretty good as well…

“If you even attempt to eat a single one of my glowberries, I’m kicking you out,” Mia snapped, rummaging through a drawer.

Luna flinched, pulling back a tentacle that she’d involuntarily reached out and making a sound of affirmation.

After another moment, Mia turned back, holding a vine that seemed to stretch out strangely.

She sighed. “Take your nightgown off so I can properly measure you. Now.”

Luna tried to keep her face from scrunching up, but only half succeeded. I get the feeling I’m going to get poked a lot.

~~~

It turned out she was only half right. Luna had only gotten poked twice and she now had a perfectly fitting uniform which she still wasn’t sure she liked much. It had her name on it, with Yasmine set as her last name.

Are people going to judge me just because I have the name of some famous woman who also happened to be the mother of my… Luna started the thought. In the middle of it, she frowned, a deep confusion penetrating into her mind. Wait… what do I consider Bennett to me? A friend? A companion? Well, I’m kind of the companion here, but no need to think of the details. What would other people think of us? What do they think?

She slapped her own cheeks as she looked into the mirror and she, against her own judgment, decided that it was way too adorable and would do it in front of Bennett, if just to see his reaction.

Luna let out a childish giggle before covering her mouth, blinking rapidly. I… haven’t felt like this… for a long time, now have I? The feeling of… genuine happiness. I don’t think I’ve ever felt so excited for something. It’s like I want to keep showing Bennett new things, just to see his bafflement, then to see his smile…

Hmm… Luna frowned at her suddenly red cheeks. I still don’t know why that happens. But, whatever it is, it clearly only happens when I think about certain things, namely spending time with Ben. You know what, I like Ben better than Bennett. Doesn’t Yelena call him that?

After thinking for a few more moments, she shook her head and poked her crystal that was still around her neck. So Beast Studies is our first class, huh? I wonder… would that be outdoors-

She was interrupted on a knock on her bathroom door and a surprising voice behind it.

“Luuuunnnnaaaaa~” Yelena’s voice called. “Ben’s waiting for you. You two are gonna be late for your first class! Hurry up, I wanna see you in your uniform.”

Speaking of said uniform, Luna decided to study it a bit closer. It was mostly dark-ish, with streaks of blue, probably representing Water, on certain points, such as where it met her wrists, around her neck, and her waist, where she could feel it was slightly cut off to allow her to move her tentacles, yet still covered most of her stomach. Part of it was still visible, but it was just enough that she could freely move her tentacles.

Great thing they’re positioned above my waist slightly… Luna was pretty sure, with a normal Seaborn, the area around her stomach wouldn’t be seen since her tentacles would always be out since, unlike Luna, most Seaborns (With some exceptions) couldn’t exactly store their tentacles, which, thinking upon it now, would explain some of the surprise of people around her when she let them out. Luna wasn’t exactly sure how it worked due to her mildly fragmented memories, but they seemed to kind of grow out of her, looking a bit strange when she saw them grow for herself.

Should I just keep them out? Or only let them out when necessary? Luna thought as Yelena knocked on the door again. Eh, I’ll figure it out as I go.

The rest of the uniform was pretty basic, basically just being a long sleeved shirt and pants, with a strange-looking belt around her waist, which she was a bit skeptical about at first, but eventually was forced to put it on by Mia.

“Lu, seriously, we’re gonna be late for our first day,” Bennett’s voice dryly said, clearly mildly annoyed. “And get off of me already, ‘Lena! That’s weird!”

“But I’m homesick! This is the first time we haven’t been in the same room during the night!” Yelena whined. “I don’t wanna let go!”

There were the sounds of the twins scuffling for a few moments as Luna walked to the restroom door and opened it. She found herself staring at Bennett and Yelena practically wrestling, Yelena on his back with her legs wrapped around his waist, clutching him as if it the first time she’d seen him in years as Bennett tried to pry her off, in the middle of pushing her off his back when Luna walked out.

Yelena’s uniform was basically the same as Luna’s, but (of course) larger and covered her stomach completely, along with the pulsing, flame-like bands in the same places Luna’s were in. Bennett, however, had more of a cloak… though it was a tad bit too small, so it looked more like a cape. The white, pulsing strips on his clothes didn’t distract from how funny it was to see the cloak flapping behind him.

When Bennett saw Luna’s expression, he scowled and pulled the cloak off. “I knew that looked stupid.” He held it out in front of him and frowned at it. He then blinked before looking at Luna again, who was suddenly struck with a wave of unfounded shyness.

After forcing it down, she put her hands on her hips and let out a self-important sounding huff. Bennett rolled his eyes before suddenly picking her up like usual.

“Now your dress isn’t all in the way. Makes it far easier to pick you up without any unintended effects,” he said, seeming relieved.

She rewarded this by hitting him in the head with a tentacle.

“Ow… Now I know what that space in your shirt is for,” he muttered, rubbing his head as she wrapped a tentacle around his waist to keep balance better while also having full use of her hands, which she put on her legs, unsure where else to keep them.

“Hmph. I’ll just deal with you later then,” Yelena mumbled. “Anyways, we have like ten minutes to get to our first class. Mine’s on this floor; where’s your guys'?”

“We’re outside for Beast Studies,” Bennett said, Luna nodding with his words. “I wonder how bad it could possibly be.”

~~~

After around five minutes, Bennett had given up on looking for the class by going through the halls and had just used Flicker to go through a window and land in the lawn below, where a group of surprised students watched Bennett and Luna fall out of the air.

Bennett face-planted into grass, with Luna sitting on his back, not a single blade of grass on her. Bennett lifted his face out of the ground and spit out a chunk of dirt and grass.

“I really need to Level that Skill. I thought it was fifteen yards down… clearly not. And the acceleration is absolutely insane,” he muttered, lifting himself off the ground, carefully carrying Luna while wiping off the residual dirt.

She used a tentacle to wipe off the rest that he hadn’t gotten as he rose above the rest of the class, looking a bit glum. Luna immediately spotted a familiar face and she was also immediately set to a glum mood as well.

“Man, you really like to make an entrance, huh?” Tyreese snickered, looking up at Bennett.

“No.”

“I would think, being the son of such a- OW!” Tyreese yelped, hopping away from Bennett, who’d unintentionally shocked him. “What was that for?”

Bennett frowned, looking at his hand that he’d reached out to stop Luna’s tentacle from smacking Tyreese, which a shock had jumped onto Tyreese.

“Huh. I dunno,” He responded. “I didn’t try to do-”

“Come on! How come she’s not getting shocked; you’re literally holding her!” Tyreese complained. “This is discrimination.”

Tyreese continued to grumble as the rest of the class lost interest in Bennett and Luna, who awkwardly just stood there, above the rest of the class. For a few moments, the two of them were silent, Luna simply swinging her legs in boredom. After a moment, she stopped and sniffed the air.

Bennett looked at her strangely. “What’s wrong?”

Why do I smell a Wolf-kin? She thought, her face scrunching up. Wait-

“So you're my first class, huh?” A disembodied voice said, clearly female. “Interesting. Clearly, none of you have any experience with Beasts.”

Luna’s entire body tingled as Bennett tensed slightly.

“Something’s underground,” he muttered. “What-”

Before he finished his sentence, he Flickered up into the air as the ground exploded below him. Some of the class scattered, but Bennett already had his daggers out and Luna on his back as the large, earthen wolf crawled out of the ground and growled at him as he landed on the ground.

He watched it warily for a few moments before moving slightly to the side as it charged him. “Luna, how hard can you hit things with your tentacles?”

In response, she swung at the thing, making sure to hold back a bit since she wasn’t even sure how hard she could hit, and promptly shattered half the rocks covering its body. She then pulled on Bennett’s shirt as she noticed it shifted nearly imperceptibly, almost too fast.

This has to be as least 20 times his Level- wait, Luna thought. I just completely destroyed the rocks. There’s no way they’re that weak unless it’s intentionally holding back…

It’s a test, isn’t it?

Bennett, trusting Luna far more than she would have expected, kicked to the left as it crashed into the ground next to him. Without missing a beat, he threw himself onto its head and lowered his daggers’ tips to its eyes, ready to plunge them into its skull. However, he stopped when the wolf went still, looking up at him with a somewhat pleased expression. Luna saw the telltale signs of him frowning before panic flashed in his eyes and he Flickered as the thing’s entire body exploded into rocks and dust, nearly turning the two of them into a pincushion of rock shards.

He landed a decent distance away and stared at the dust with a confused expression.

“Those wolves can’t do-”

He suddenly froze in place as Luna’s perception of time went into overdrive, the entire world slowing down a fraction of a second before Bennett would have been completely cut in half by a halberd bearing down at his stomach. Bennett, to her surprise had already slightly reacted, having moved slightly as the Wolf-kin who was infinitely faster than him, had used the dust to dash at him and make an attempt to cut him in half.

Damn it, Luna thought. How do I diffuse this statement without getting discovered?