The Academy

1

Jackson Perez was an odd child; she always had been, the first clues of this were her two differently coloured eyes, one startling green while the other was an ocean blue, the next was the fact of just how light her hair was, though not entirely white it was a bleach blonde with even lighter streaks occasionally added in. Her skin was rather light for someone who'd lived in the sun most of her life. Her mother used to joke that she was an angel, or at least a miracle since that's all her parents wanted, a child. The day of her sixteenth birthday was probably the weirdest day of her life, having woken up to her mother yanking the curtains open she groaned as she pulled her duvet over her head to hide from the harsh sunlight.

"Alright Jackie, wake up." Her mother urged, using the nickname she'd preferred over her regular name, Jackson had always found her name to be too boyish, not that she complained, she just found it annoying when people expected her to be a boy because of her name. She poked her head out from under the covers ever so slightly, "Can't I stay in today? It is my birthday after all," Jackson wasn't one who enjoyed school and she'd rather hang out at the skate-park than in a classroom all day long. Also, she had something to hide from her mother, she'd fallen the day before and now had a large cut on her arm. Sure, she should've told her parents, but she didn't want to bother them. She shifted in her bed to hide it away.

Melissa Perez sighed and looked down at her daughter, she didn't know what to do. She wished that Jackson would put as much effort into her schoolwork as she would anything else, she smiled and sat on the bed, "Just this once, then tomorrow you'll be going to school again." She said, playing with Jackson's hair ever so lightly, "Besides, you got to come downstairs if you want your gifts." Melissa always knew how to get her child out of bed, be it a homemade breakfast or even simply asking if she wanted to help with baking something.

Another odd thing about Jackson was how easily she could contain knowledge, by the age of ten she already knew how the human body worked, and could name each bone without hesitation, and by the age of thirteen she already knew how to solve most puzzles the doctors had given her. As a result, she'd been referred to Dr. Brown, a psychiatrist in California, though the drive was long she'd been going since the age of fourteen. Jackson nodded and sat up, careful to keep her arm hidden, "Sure Ma, I'll come down in a few minutes just let me shower." She promised as she stretched her legs without moving too much.

"Alright love." Her mother replied before standing again and leaving the room, letting Jackson do what she needed to do. Jackson threw the covers off her legs and got off the bed, she sighed softly as she looked at her arm, the amateur bandage she'd done in a hurry was daubed with blood. Her eyes rolled unwillingly as she pulled it off, looking at the lesion that had come from a stray tree branch, she frowned, just the night before it had been wide open and now there was a mere scar left in its place, her heart sped up in alarm. She could hear the light footsteps of her brother running on as well, "Come on Jackson, you got to get-" he froze, looking at her as she stood there in panic, unsure of what to do.

Jackson was soon distracted by the sound of the doorbell ringing, she looked at her brother and shook her head, pushing past him she bounded down the steps, still trying to hide her arm. Before she could open the door it was opened for her, a rather young man stood there, a box and a strange tablet in his hands, he looked at her, "Miss Perez, I do believe these are for you." He held the box out to her with a smile. Jackson took the box from him and pulled the ribbon off, inside was what looked like a uniform, the shirt was a light red while the blazer was a much darker red, the pants that followed were black and the boots sitting at the bottom were military style yet solid black. The familiar shape of a sword sheath also revealed itself.