Chapter Eleven

I'm the last one to wake up. Veda already has clothes layed out for each of us. She sits in front of the vanity doing her makeup. Melina sits on the bed. I stretch and stand up. Veda turns around, applying her eyeshadow.

"Good morning!" she says enthusiastically. "I've got stuff put out for you over there. You can shower if you'd like after Dylis is done." Shower? Man, this place has everything.

After a refreshing and much needed shower, I put on the clothes Veda has for me. It's just a plain and simple dark yellow v-neck (to match my eyes I suppose) and jean shorts. I put my sopping wet hair in a side braid so it doesn't get my back all wet.

When I walk out of the bathroom I see that all the guys are here too. And I can tell by the smell that some of them didn't shower (unfortunately).

"Hey Lil," Ajax greets me. I wonder if he knows that he was drunk last night.

"We're all going to go to breakfast now," Veda says. "Make sure you have your ID cards from yesterday." I grab mine from off of the floor and shove it into my pocket. Then we all head out of the hole and off to the cafeteria.

I decide to stay barefoot. Veda had offered me a new pair of shoes, but I declined. The dirt feels nice against my feet, like a little massage. I pay no mind if dirt gets in my nails. I see that all of they guys are barefoot as well...well besides Misto, whose tennis shoes are completely thrashed from the day before.

The cafeteria ladies gives each of us what looks to be a bowl of oatmeal and some sort of bright red, then asks for our IDs. I hand mine over a bit nervously, but she only gives it and my eyes a quick glance before letting me pass.

We sit at the same spot as yesterday and eat our mush. Then Calix tells us what he plans on us doing today.

"I think I'm going to take y'all to the AMTA today," he says taking a sip of his drink.

Skytus nearly does a spit take. "You want to take them to the AMTA?! Why on earth would you want to show them all that? They just got here!"

"What's the AMTA?" Velotz asks. I haven't heard him speak in a while. He hasn't cracked a joke or said anything random like he normally did. Maybe his experience with the lake changed him.

"Don't worry, you'll find out after breakfast," Veda says. Huh. Part of me asks myself why she wasn't even fazed the slightest when Calix brought up the AMTA, yet Skytus didn't seem to want to even have it brought up. She wasn't a bit surprised whatsoever. I shrug to myself and think nothing of it. We finish our oatmeal in silence.

We walk as a large group to the AMTA, whatever it is. Dylis talks to Skytus, Ludo to Velotz, and Calix and Veda whisper things to each other while leading the way. Misto, Ajax, Melina, and I bring up the rear.

"What do you think it is?" Ajax asks, clearly excited.

"Who cares?" Misto says, hands stuffed in his pockets. "For all we know it could be some stupid shopping center or something."

"Orrrr, it could be some super awesome place like yesterday," Ajax replies.

"Everything seemed awesome to you yesterday, you got all drunk and stuff," Melina says. "It was that green stuff that girl told you to drink....and you only took one sip."

"Whaaaaaaat? I was not drunk. At least not that drunk."

"Oh really? Then how come you were pacing the room saying how much you loved bananas and worked a project diva outfit like a professional dancer for hours?" Misto says, smiling a bit for the first time in a while.

"What?! How would you even know that? You roomed with Skytus. And I would never say that, drunk or not." He crosses his arms.

"Calix told Skytus, who told me. And he recorded it on some digital thing....it will haunt you forever..." Misto says sarcastically.

"Oh jeeze..." I laugh. We laugh at Ajax until we finally come upon a very large archway, with the words 'Alcibus Military Training Academy' hanging on an old looking sign above it.

"Here we are!" Calix says. Veda smiles.

"Military training academy?!" Misto shouts. "You want us to join your military?! If that's what you want then I am out of here."

"No no no you've got it all wrong!" Veda says. "You don't have to join the military! This is the training center, where we can practice our weaponry skills. Not many people know where this place is anymore. We have the whole thing nearly to ourselves."

We all give each other nervous glances. Why would they want to take us to a place to practice using weapons? What's the point of that?

"I told you we shouldn't have shown them," Skytus says.

"Let them think about it," Ludo finally speaks. "I'm going in. See ya." He jogs into the training center. Skytus rolls his eyes and follows.

"It wouldn't hurt checking it out..." Dylis says. "I mean, its not like we'd be doing something more interesting back at the hole."

"That's true," Ajax says. "And it'd be pretty cool to learn how to use a weapon..."

"I don't know...I don't really see a point in this..." Melina says.

"Aww come on!" Veda says. "It'll be fun! If you don't want to use the weapons you could practice tumbling, now that is fun.

Melina ponders. Misto speaks. "I don't see a point in this either." Veda pouts her lips and blinks, I'm assuming that she's pretend crying. "Oh alright," he says. "But I'm not going to like it." He walks in with Veda, who now has a smile on her face.

"Okay, if Misto agreed to go in it can't be bad at all," Ajax says. "Let's go!"

Calix smiles and leads the rest of us in.

The center is enormous, even bigger than Par's. There are a million different stations with a different weapon at each one. There are swords, axes, bows and arrows, knives, clubs, there are just too many to name. There are also large mats and bars on one side, probably for the tumbling Veda was talking about.

There are a few people in here already besides us. There's an older guy with a buzz cut, maybe around nineteen or twenty, and a girl who looks around our age with reddish brown hair up in a messy bun. On the other side of the room there's another boy and girl, the girl resembles the other. She has the same hair, only it's a little more red. Both the guy and girl look our age if not a little older. The all wear similar clothing, black tops with olive cargo bottoms and jackets. They have Some sort of crest on the sleeve.

The girl with the bun's shirt is more of a crop-top, and her cargo pants are actually short shorts. The older boy scolds her.

"Are you trying to look like a whore? I don't think this place actually makes uniforms like that. I mean seriously; your stomach and legs are completely vulnerable!" he exclaims.

The girl crosses her arms. "I do NOT look like a whore!"

"I'm sorry Myana," he says. I guess the girl's name is Myana. "But seducing isn't an official tactic in the AMTA Tactics Handbook. Now, I suggest you put an actual shirt on before Devon comes and squeezes your muffintop."

"I DON'T HAVE A FRIKIN MUFFINTOP YOU DINGUS!" Myana screams. My goodness someone has a temper.

The other reddish haired girl comes over. "Oh jeeze, is Myana being a slut again?" she says.

"You guessed it," he answers.

"I'M NOT BEING SLUTTY!"

The dark haired boy across the room all of a sudden comes over to them. He gasps, "Oooooh her muffintop!"

Myana groans loudly and storms off to the mats.

"I was just observing," the buzz cut guy says, putting his hands up in the air.

"I think she's on her period," the girl says.

"No, she's always like that," the dark haired one says.

"I CAN STILL HEAR YOU!" Myana screams, stomping back over to them.

Calix slowly walks to them. "Umm, maybe this is a bad time to introduce you guys..." he says to them.

Myana suddenly snaps out of her mood. "Oh no, everything's fine!"

"Oh god-" the dark haired one begins to say, but is cut off by Myana squashing his foot. He yells in pain. "GAH! WHAT THE FU-" the other girl clamps her hand over his mouth.

The one with the buzz cut continues scolding Myana. "Oh gosh. How are you supposed to run in those?" He motions to her black combat boots with high heels on them. "You'll fall flat on your face and twist your ankles!"

"Maya has heels on hers!" Myana points to the other girl, who must be Maya.

"Yeah, but hers can come off, you glued yours on," he says. Myana gives him a death glare. "I'm just being a realist."

She scoffs. "Oh please! You're so judgemental!"

"I'm concerned for your safety!"

"You aren't my mother!"

"No, but I am your father...figuratively."

"EW! WHAT THE HELL?!"

"I'm just a figurative father concerned for my figurative daughter's safety."

"Is it hate on Myana day or something?!"

"No," Maya says.

"Then quit hating on me!"

"Well it's not dress-like-a-slut day, and you're still doing it," she says bluntly.

"GRRRRRRR"

The dark haired one speaks. "No, dress-like-a-slut day is Friday night at my place." He winks.

Maya looks at him cooly. "Perv."

This whole time the rest of us just stare at them awkwardly. Then Veda steps up. "Uh, guys? Yeah, hi. Umm this is Ajax, Melina, Liliya, Dylis, Misto, and Velotz. They're new here..."

Buzz cut speaks. "What do you mean 'new here?'"

Veda takes a deep breath, then takes the group off to the side, filling them in on how we got here I suppose.

"The red haired ones are Myana and Maya, they're sisters," Calix says. "The older guy is Tannex and the other guy is Devon. Myana's fourteen, Devon's fifteen, Maya's sixteen, and Tannex's seventeen. We know them because we went to school with Devon and Myana."

Veda comes back with them. They all have smiles on their faces, whether they are forced or not I don't know. "Uniforms are in the back," Devon says. "If you're gonna train here, you have to wear AMTA official uniforms, unlike Myana over there." He gets his foot stomped on again.

"Just come out when you're ready," Maya says, rolling her eyes. Then they all go back to their stations.