Awakening [GxG]

21b

The day before the Finals, Narvari met her friends in the Academy Lounge to catch up on things. Yanvirrak narrated excitedly about their undercover mission. Their mission took place in a high school in Johannesburg and it involved tracking down two demons who had shape-shifted into students. The demons lured several unsuspecting students into their lair to feed on their hearts. After Yanvirrak explained how he heroically defeated the demons and saved the students, the conversation drifted to Narvari's Finals.

Eventually, their conversation drifted to Narvari's Finals.

"So what should I expect from the Finals?" asked Narvari

"I can't really say," Yanvirrak said. "It's different for every rookie."

"What was yours like?"

Yanvirrak shrugged. "Trixan sent me to a village in Liberia infested with demonic plague. She said I would pass my Finals once I eliminated the plague. I found the source and got rid of it."

"You make it sound simple."

"It was not, Shar. I almost died."

Narvari laughed but then froze when Yanvirrak's signature grin didn't appear. "Wait, you're serious?" She gaped. "You know, what? Now that I think about it, Trixan left me back in a simulation where I almost died. She says she cares about us, and I believe her most of the time. But sometimes, I don't know. It's like she doesn't care."

Yanvirrak looked at Narvari like she had said the most inane thing in the world. Even Pheera didn't look pleased. Unlike Yanvirrak however, she just smiled politely. One of those smiles that said, I don't agree with you, but I hear you.

"If there's one person who cares about us, it's Trixan," said Yanvirrak. "Her training methods can be rather extreme but it's for the best."

"Is that what she told you?"

"No. I just know it. You don't understand yet because you've never been on a mission. The job of a vanquisher is probably the most dangerous in the world. We're always at risk of dying but Trixan ensures that we have a fair chance at survival by putting us through the hardest of training."

"Even if it kills us?"

"Don't be a drama queen, Shar. If your training kills you, chances are that you were never meant for a real mission."

Narvari bit her lips in silence. Yanvirrak was probably right. Narvari might have never been on a mission, but she had seen one for herself. Her own home had been that mission and those vanquishers involved had almost died.

"Don't misunderstand Trixan, Narvari," Pheera interrupted her thoughts. "She might put us through harsh training, but she will always intervene when she sees we have no chance of surviving."

"So she'll intervene if something goes wrong during my Finals?"

Yanvirrak laughed. "Someone's scared."

Narvari rolled her eyes. Ignoring Yanivrrak, she asked Pheera, "Will Trixan really intervene?"

Pheera nodded and put her hand on Narvari's shoulder. "But I don't think you want that." 

Narvari tensed. "Why not?"

"Because her intervention is proof that you're not ready to become a junior vanquisher. You'll train another year until the next Finals."

"A whole year?" Narvari's jaw dropped. "Damn, you are right. I don't want that."

"I know." Pheera smiled. "That's why you have to pass your Finals at all cost. Trust me, many missions are more difficult than the Finals. Trixan ensures that the difficulty level of your Finals matches your own capability. If you can't survive that then you can't survive on a mission."