Lesson One - A Monster School Fic

Chapter Forty Two - Math Class

Geode leaned over from her desk towards Cray where he sat beside her, poking at his hair where it stood up straight on his head. "Are you still electrified?"

"A little bit," Cray told her, poking her hand and causing her to yelp as he shocked her. "I need to blow up a couple times before the lightning goes away completely."

"Not in the classroom." Fade turned around in his seat to regard him sternly. Cray just stuck his tongue out at him. At your desk, you hid a yawn behind your hand, rubbing at your eyes and resting your chin in your palm. It seemed Monday always came far too soon.

You and your friends had rested well last night, after the excitement of what was usually a quiet weekend. You were still a little sleepy, but you weren't sure whether that was actual sleepiness or just preemptive boredom of math class. Math class was usually either things you already knew, or just... not interesting.

You felt a nudge, and you looked up as Morpheus leaned over towards your desk. "Where's the teacher?" He whispered. "Usually he's here before us." You blinked at him, then up to the front of the classroom.

"I dunno," you whispered back. "Maybe he fell asleep again."

As the last of your classmates filed into the room from breakfast, they were followed by your teacher, who made his way up to the blackboard as everyone settled in their seats. "Good morning, class," he greeted you, and you sat up straight in an attempt to pretend that you were paying attention.

"I'd like to introduce you to a friend of mine," he went on. "He runs a similar facility to this one, only with fewer students and a more specialized curriculum." He nodded to the door at the back of the classroom and you turned as you heard the hinges squeak open.

The newcomer was a tall, jet-black man dressed in a formal suit, a trail of black mist that seemed to flow from his skin in his wake as he walked down the central row of the classroom. He didn't look at you, or anyone, for that matter, but you caught a glimpse of white, glowing eyes just like Herobrine's.

It wasn't until he reached the front of the classroom that he turned, standing beside Herobrine with his hands clasped behind his back. "Good morning, class," he spoke, and his deep voice reverberated throughout the classroom. "My name is Null. I am the headmaster of the Academy of Academic and Athletic Excellence.

"Unlike my compeer," Null continued, gesturing to Herobrine. "I have only six students. Them and I will be spending the week working in tandem with you, both for your sakes, able to learn from their greater experience, and for theirs to be able to pass on their knowledge." With that, Null looked expectantly to the classroom door, and you once again turned as six students filed into the classroom.

They looked older. You weren't sure if that was just due to the way they walked and held themselves, with practiced poise and grace, or their focus as they walked in a straight line up to the front of the classroom. They lined up beside your teacher when they got there, looking out over the class with passive expressions on their faces. Each one was dressed in all black, a black turtleneck with black, tailored slacks. Despite their cool demeanor, you could see them looking around at you, curious.

They were all monsters. On the far left was an enderman, this one a girl, and beside her was a spider boy whose three sets of arms were all folded behind his back. Next to him was a magma cube, her lava 'hair' tied up in a bun, and on her right was a stray, who looked very different from Kaden since he wasn't wearing a hood. Finally, beside Herobrine were a guardian girl, staring straight at Kai, and a blaze boy whose face was set in a stern expression.

"These are my students," Null told you, just in case that wasn't already very obvious. At the left side of the line, the enderman (enderwoman?) stepped toward.

"My name is Chime," she said stiffly, then stepped back.

"I'm Ezra," the spider piped up.

"I'm Elaine, and this is Zeph," the magma cube said as the stray lifted his hand to wave.

"I'm Amphitrite." The guardian girl's gaze never left Kai's.

"And my name is Flint," the blaze said coldly. With that, they broke formation, filing back down the center of the classroom to stand along the back wall.

Herobrine cleared his throat, drawing you and your classmates' attention back to the front of the classroom. "As he's told you, Null and his students will be joining us for the rest of the school week. I encourage you to spend time and learn with them even outside of learning hours. Now, since introductions are out of the way-" Herobrine clapped his hands once, and an array of numbers appeared on the blackboard. "Let's move on to the lesson." Null vanished in a puff of smoke, and you glanced back to find him standing in the back right corner of the room.

It was hard for you to focus on class with seven strangers standing behind you, but you tried your best, even as your mind swirled with questions and curiosity. You could see Kai sneaking glances over her shoulder towards the other guardian, who snuck her a little wave. It looked like they knew each other... or, at least, the other guardian knew her. Kai was a princess, after all.

After a couple of hours of struggling through class, the bell finally rang for lunch, and you lurched up straight to pack away your notebook in your backpack.

As you stood up and slung your backpack over your shoulder, Kai sprang up from her seat and hurried back through the desks, giggling as she threw her arms around the new guardian's neck.

"Amph!"

"Hey, Kai!" The guardian, Amphitrite, bent over to give her a tight hug, lifting her half a block off the ground. "How're you doing, kiddo?"

"Good!" Kai was beaming as she was set back on her feet, her tail lashing back and forth in excitement. "What are you- I didn't know-"

"This is where I've been since I left," Amphitrite interrupted. "It's my second year." She glanced up to find Null watching them, and she released Kai in favor of holding onto her hand. "Teacher, this is my little cousin, Kai."

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Kai." Null gave her a small bow, pressing a hand to his chest. You wondered if he knew she was a princess, or if he just bowed to everyone he met. "I had no idea that any of my students had a relative here."

"Neither did I." Amphitrite was grinning.

You tore your gaze away from their reunion to look at Null's other students, and how your classmates were reacting to them. Silvia and Isabelle were attempting (without much success) to be subtle as they whispered about the spider boy, Soliel was locked in a staredown with the new blaze, and Fade had already approached the enderwoman and engaged her in conversation.

You looked to the front of the classroom where Herobrine still stood, and he gave you a smile. One thing was for sure- this week was going to be interesting.