Chapter 14: Others

“Well,” Sofia said. “I suppose it’s not the worst thing in the world.”

“Speak for yourself,” Natalie muttered.

“We’ve already determined we’d be moving in together. So while unpleasant, it’s hardly something we weren’t prepared for.”

Their future as a potential team hadn’t been the only thing Jordan had prompted the three of them to talk about on their way to Tenet. The token system, too, they’d discussed ... or more accurately, pooling their resources to get out of the barracks. They intended to move in together.

Natalie supposed she was fortunate the Tenet campus didn’t function on ‘real currency’, and that just about everything—including niceties, and delving loot both, or anything else—functioned on their proprietary ‘tokens’. Because it meant she wasn’t behind the rest of the campus when it came to finances. They were all starting on even footing.

Which, Natalie had to assume was a bit of a shock to some of them, who’d grown up with silver spoons and droves of servants.

“That would’ve been when we had our own rooms,” Natalie said. “I was supposed to be free from you, in the barracks.”

The one redeeming quality of their starting accommodations.

“Hm,” Sofia said. “Yes. Well. We can’t always get what we want.” She returned to unpacking.

Natalie took the hint; they could ignore each other. If they managed that, then maybe this wouldn’t be the torture Natalie thought it would be.

As she went about the monotonous task of unpacking, she stole glances—subtly, as to not be caught staring—at the rest of her so-called roommates. Barracks-mates?

Despite the number of beds, less than half—maybe around a third—had their occupant nearby. Most people had come in, unpacked, then left to handle the rest of their in-processing duties, or otherwise to explore campus, shower, eat, or whatever else.

It was a colorful collection of people. Not only did Tenet draw applicants from all across the country—and plenty from neighboring, allied countries too—but fashion this far north was different from what Natalie knew. Or maybe that was the fault of Natalie’s upbringing in a rural area.

Either way, dyed hair hadn’t been common back home, as it was here. The girls with neon shades—pink, blue, green, violet—weren’t the majority, but maybe a third had the bright, eye-catching colors. Several had mixtures of the bright hues. Some only had streaks, rather than dying themselves entirely.

Natalie was a fan. Of the hair, at least. Not much the rest of typical northern Valhaurian fashion, which was, like the hair, bright and attention grabbing ... but too much so.

A few girls in particular, Natalie’s attention gravitated to. She continued to unpack, stealing glances. Some of them might be future classmates, and were, at a minimum, competition ... or potential delving teammates. Tenet’s years were too large to know everyone individually, but making connections would be important. Natalie didn’t intend to seclude herself.

The first girl Natalie’s eyes stuck to had short black hair down to her shoulders, streaked with a single bright, noticeable lock of blue. She was talking animatedly with someone else—a blonde woman wearing her hair in a ponytail, who was a tenth as animated as her talking partner. She seemed to be tolerating the conversation. Her responses, from Natalie’s subtle glances, seemed to be polite smiles and minimal prompts. The two girls were three beds to Natalie’s left, and on the opposite side of the hall.