Rain battered the thin window pane in the grey early morning light, from her bed Lucy could see planes practising adverse weather manoeuvres. Anne and Mary were still asleep, having been at the academy a week she still wasn't used to it yet. Her first day had been confusing. She felt that nothing had been explained to her properly. Mary was nice yet distant and Anne didn't seem to care for her at all. The other two girls were still asleep in their beds that flanked the window on the far side of the beige wood-panelled room. Lucy sat up digging her toes into the red carpet.
"I think Anne or Lucy was supposed to tell me what to do today," Lucy thought to herself. Very awake and not wanting to disturb her sleeping roommates, she quietly changed from her nightgown back into her uniform and silently peeled the door open and slipped outside into the cold hallway. She had not been afforded the time yet to explore her new home. She set off and left down the corridor adjoining her bedroom. The doors she passed all bore a number like her own. She crossed her arms to fight the chill. She came to a large staircase with rounded marble bannisters. Looking down she saw Doctor Yates passing along the lower corridor holding a steaming mug in front of her. Lucy tucked herself around the corner hiding from her.
"Hello?" Yates called out toward the staircase and began to climb, unsure whether to run Lucy stayed breathing heavily.
"Oh Lucy, what are you doing up so early?" Yates asked, rounding the corner of the top of the stairs.
"Uh- I couldn't sleep ma'am" Lucy replied standing up straight.
"Oh need to use that with me, call me Daphne."
"O-ok Daphne," Lucy smiled.
"Come with me I'll get you some coffee."
Lucy followed Daphne as she descended the stairs and into the small kitchen she emerged from.
"Coffee? I didn't think we had that in Britain" Lucy asked
"Generally we don't. The academy has certain privileges that I get to exploit"
"Does it grow here?"
"Oh no, the climate is far too poor for coffee. We get it from the Americans"
"The Americans? Aren't we still at war with them"
"Ha, I suppose so. Only Addiscombe would care about that kind of thing though. Our problems are much bigger than some war over a destroyed base in the sea." Daphne said, stirring the coffee in the mug. Lucy sipped the boiling liquid. She'd never had coffee before the bitter taste surprised her. She must've made a face because Daphne sniggered at her. She beckoned Lucy to follow her out of the small kitchen back through the hallways to the lab she had been in the day before. The heavy doors clicked and slammed as the bolts moved back and forth allowing them to open. Doctor Yates moved over to her desk, dropping her mug with more force than was necessary, surprisingly the liquid did not spill over the side.
"Come on sit down here" She pointed at a chair opposite her and Lucy gingerly put her mug down and sat. "So how was your first day?"
"Well it was ok-"
"Scary isn't it, everyone else seems to know what they're doing and they're all so serious"
"Yeah, I suppose so"
"You'll get used to it soon enough, just don't get as serious as the rest"
"We had a compatibility test yesterday but, I don't think I did very well"
"It doesn't matter how well you did personally in those kinds of tests and you've been put into a hard team. I'm not sure if I should tell you this but team six recently lost a member"
"Did I replace them?"
"Yes, however, I wouldn't worry too much, the three of them didn't get on very well." Daphne looked away for a moment before asking "So did the other two tell you about what you've got tomorrow?"
"No, we haven't really spoken."
Daphne sighed, "That makes sense for Anne but I thought Mary was better than that. If you don't want to ask them, Woods isn't really that scary you can ask her."
"I wanted to ask something actually"
"Oh?" Daphne's eyes widened on the now energised Lucy
"Why didn't my powers manifest during the infusion procedure, the other girls said they caused problems when they had it done"
"Ah, well it materialises differently in different people. Maybe something did happen and we didn't notice people have had subtle powers before or maybe they haven't surfaced yet."
"Oh okay, I think they surfaced during the test. I touched a monster and it turned gold?"
"Oh, you cured one of Wood's monsters? Just from a touch? That's new. Usually she has to tame them over months. I'm sure she'll be happy with you."
"Cured?" Lucy asked inquisitively.
"Cured, tamed whatever word you like. Some think the monsters are belligerent by nature, some think it's a disease either way you seem to have calmed it down."
"Yes, it stopped crying when I did that."
"Mary has that ability. We assumed it was just water manipulation at first but it seems to be more similar to the emotion of sadness. A good way to stop organic enemies in battle."
"But, was it actually sad? I felt so bad for it."
"Well, it was certainly experiencing sadness, whether Mary is able to amplify existing sadness or create it we aren't sure yet. She may even transfer some of her own."
"Her own..." Lucy said thoughtfully.
"Much better to ask her, I imagine." Daphne noticed that Lucy had not touched her coffee much since they sat down and looked towards the clock on the wall. "It's almost 6 O'clock, best you get back to your room now. Don't want anyone thinking you've run off."
"Oh yes okay. Thank you, Doctor"
"Daphne"
"Daphne" Lucy replied and they smiled at each other as she got up to leave. Daphne put on a glove and picked up Lucy's mug. Pouring the remaining liquid down the sink she then threw the mug in a nearby bin.
Lucy returned to her room to see the other two awake and getting ready.
"Where have you been," Anne asked accusingly "I assumed you'd run away"
"No, I just went for a wander" Lucy replied innocently. Mary smiled silently from behind Anne. "You were supposed to tell me what our schedule is."
"You never asked," Anne replied and turned to rummage in her bedside chest of drawers. She handed a piece of paper with a table drawn on it. "Here."
The paper had a large table drawn on it, the days of the week had been designated a series of appointments.
Monday: 06:00: Breakfast - Mess Hall
07:00: Basic Training - Training Field - Captain Woods
09:00: History - Class 2-A - Professor Hudson
10:00: Sword Training - Class 3-B - Major Smith
11:00: Monstology - Class -1-A - Professor Jones
12:00: Lunch - Mess Hall
13:00: Mechanics - Class 0-F - Mr Roberts
14:00: Basic Magic - Class 2-B - Mrs Cook
15:00: Etiquette - Mess Hall - Mrs Wright
17:00: Free Time
18:00: Dinner - Mess Hall
19:00: Free Time
21:00: Lights Out
Lucy sighed seeing her now deeply structured life. It being nearly 6 O'clock now the three of them left their room to head to the mess hall. The large hall was littered with tables. They were some of the first to arrive it seemed. Lucy followed the other girls to the canteen and like them collected a tray. She saw trays of egg, toast and brightly coloured spheres she'd never seen before. Eyes widening at a large orange ball she picked it up.
"What's this?" Lucy asked the others.
"That's a grapefruit stupid just how poor are you?" Anne replied coldly.
"They're very good," Mary added.
She was surprised to see both of them lift heated jugs of the brown bitter drink Doctor Yates had given her earlier and pour them into their own mugs, "they actually like that stuff" she thought to herself holding her tray with a lonely grapefruit sitting on a plate in its centre. Anne had picked up toast and eggs, Mary toast and marmalade. The girls ate in silence as the hall grew ever more full of other girls, soldiers and teachers. Some of the Aircrew had arrived still in their distinct uniform loudly joking with each other about near misses and aileron rolls. She cut the grapefruit in half digging a spoon delicately trying not to unbalance it. The burst of flavour in her mouth was unlike any other fruit she'd had before, like coffee, she was sure it wasn't native to Britain and was another of those Academy luxuries. Looking at the schedule she saw she had basic training with Captain Woods next, somewhat happy at the thought to see a familiar and apparently friendly face. Sometime after finishing Anne left without saying anything and Mary opened a book she had brought with her down to the hall. All the other tables were raucously loud compared to theirs. She hoped breakfast wouldn't always be such a solemn affair.
The rain had let up by the time they were to assemble for basic training. First, they were to do laps. She baulked at the idea of running around this large field twenty times, she was certainly not unfit but this on her first proper day seemed impossible. None of the other girls in the group of twenty seemed phased. Woods shot her pistol into the air to signal them to begin, but this time no monsters appeared. She began to run, and her legs moved with such unnatural ease. She felt herself half leaping rather than running or that she was gliding across the surface of the wet grass seemingly very able to keep up with the rest of them. After twenty easy laps, she didn't even feel the slightest bit out of breath. Next was Drill, Lucy had not taken part in something like this before but just tried to follow the actions of those around her. She'd seen something like this in the town square when she was younger and seemed to fall in line well enough not to pull Wood's ire. She was asked to do pushups which she was never very good at but now she felt as though she could do a thousand before breaking a sweat.
After training she had to find her way to classroom 2-A, somewhere on the second floor. Making it just in time she entered forgetting to knock worrying she was late and saw a room covered in bookshelves. in the centre, there were a circle of red leather armchairs and a cavernous fireplace. She was hard-pressed to think of any other room she had been in that could be described as comfortable as this one. In the chair closest to the fire sat an old man who was draped in a maroon wool blanket. Though slightly reclining he kept a sense of authority and prestige.
"Ah good morning my dear girl, don't worry you're not late we were just getting started," the man said kindly. There were three other girls sat in some of the armchairs. "Now I must say we weren't expecting to have another recruit this early so you'll have to catch up with the other girls fairly quickly I'm afraid." Lucy chose a seat and glanced at the other girls who were sat patiently. "I am Professor Hudson, good to make your acquaintance, uhh" he stopped himself and looked at her over the pair of spectacles he had dangerously balanced on the edge of his nose.
"Cornwallis, sir."
"Ah, Cornwallis of course. Shall we begin?" He began to read from a large tome had been laid out on his lap. He'd started somewhere in the middle of a retelling of The War of the Roses. Two of the girls began to write notes awkwardly balancing notebooks on their thighs, the third girl sat deep into her chair her eyes opening and closing slowly.
"Hey, hey, Edna" one of the girls whispered as she nudged the drowsy one. Without a pen or anything to write on Lucy listened intently while staring out the window onto a large forest on the edge of the grounds.
Hudson's lesson came to an end and Lucy had to now find Class 3-B which was up one floor. This time much more punctual she knocked on the door before entering.
"Lucy Cornwallis I presume?" a tall handsome man asked her his blonde quiff shining in the light streaming through the high windows. this room was very much bare apart from the desk he was leaning on. "I'm Major Smith, today we will begin your sword training. Now, how much practice have you had with your chosen weapon?"
"None sir," Lucy said reflexively.
"None? Why did you choose it then?" Smith chortled
"I didn't sir, I think it was left by the last girl."
"Are things really so dire as reuse another's weapon so soon," he said so himself thoughtfully. "No matter, we'll see if you have the aptitude for it." For the hour Lucy didn't even touch a sword instead the man taught her footwork and stances.
Her next lesson was monstology, in the classroom -1-A. Without much time she darted down the nearest flight of stairs aiming to get to the basement. Inside -1-A she found a white-coated woman, the same as Yate's. The class was more full this time. There were no tables so Lucy joined the back of the group of 15 or so girls. Pushing through so she could see she met eyes with Anne across the semi-circular group and saw Mary beside her. In the centre was a small lizard-like creature in a roofless cage. The lizard had an elephant-like trunk and 6 legs.
"Good, everyone is here" The professor said throwing small pieces of bread and noting how the lizard would be able to path to it without turning its head.
"You see, some monsters have the ability to locate targets without their eyes. They can use their other senses just as effectively. So when in combat with monsters such as this Leviathan here." she explained.
"Leviathan?" a ginger-haired girl who stood out from the crowd due to her brightly coloured scarlet tartan skirt compared to the other's green-brown khaki, spoke out of turn. "Leviathans are giant sea monsters this thing is tiny."
"Yes, they can be but this one is a baby, we collected her egg from the channel a few months back. Eventually, it will grow too large to live here and we will need to set her free." The lizard flopped onto its back and fiddled with its long trunk with its many appendages squeaking. "But for now, she's perfectly fine here with us." As the lesson went on the professor explained the strengths and weaknesses of monsters in the saurian class. Keeping the distinction these were not actually reptiles as they, like all monsters, arrived on Earth through manna deposits. More importantly, she imparted the wisdom that monsters are not evil. though they may wreak havoc on the world they are simply animals and it's best not to hate them as hard as that may be. After monstology ended Lucy took herself back to the mess hall to have lunch. She couldn't find Anne or Mary so she ate alone.
Lucy thought mechanics seemed like a dull subject. She had no interest in the workings of machines. The aged teacher Mr Roberts drew complicated diagrams of ark furnaces on the blackboard. He explained the vulnerable parts of standard-issue Whitworth Mechs. Lucy noticed the older girls in this class were more attentive than the younger ones. Having heard the stories of Victorians since she was young, she was surprised they took these hulking machines as serious threats. Victorians are supposed to be elite soldiers whereas in The Great War, these machines were sometimes brought down by regular soldiers and artillery. She noticed that diagrams of mech units on class walls had cockpits in them, how were mechs still a threat if they are piloted? There isn't anyone who would oppose the British military on the island so who is piloting them?
Basic Magic was the lesson Lucy was most excited about. Magic had come to earth through manna and now after years of waiting, she finally had some of her own. Like with sword training, the lesson was one-on-one with the teacher again. Mrs Cook welcomed her into the classroom.
"Now I've heard from Doctor Yates that you didn't seem to manifest anything during infusion is that right?" Lucy nodded feeling embarrassed by the question. "However, you tamed a monster, not too many hours after. Everyone who undergoes manna infusion manifests powers of some kind and you as a young girl will certainly have magic as strong as the rest of our Victorians here." Mrs Cook was lecturing from in front of a blackboard, her hair long and curly hair obscuring some of her flowing robe-like black dress.
"First we'll have you trying basic elemental magic. See if you can light this candle," She gestured to a single candlestick on a table in front of them. "See, just imagine the wick igniting, sometimes it helps to make some kind of hand gesture about the desired area of effect," she waved her hand over the candle a small flame burst out of thin air, pulling her hand back across the flame was doused. Cook gestured for Lucy to try. She held out her hand splayed over the candle and focused her energy into her palm. A feeling as though something intangible fell out a small flame appeared. Lucy was ecstatic, she knew she'd be able to perform magic as soon as her application to the academy had been accepted but she was here doing it. She really produced a flame from nothing but focus. "Good. Now remember you can't create something out of nothing so you will expel manna energy when performing magic. Manna infusion when performed during female puberty seems to allow for the natural generation of manna within the human body. The more or stronger magic you perform the more fatigued you may feel as your body tries to keep up. Be careful overexertion can lead to death." Cook had Lucy for the remainder of the lesson moving water from one container to another without the use of her hands and directing the growth of vines around a pencil.
By 3 O'clock Lucy had etiquette lessons, as so it seemed all other Victorians at the academy. This was the first time Lucy had seen them all gathered in one place. There were fewer than she'd expected counting 27 in total. A well-dressed woman stepped into the room and greeted them all. Her grey hair was tied tightly back and her nose was lifted firmly in the air.
"The general informs me you girls have not been taught proper etiquette during your time here. As you all know though you may be soldiers it is of the utmost importance that all young girls know how to behave and what is expected of them in all situations. I can promise you the ballroom is just as much of a battlefield." Mrs wright had the girls practising the proper courtesies and lining up cutlery the right way on the tables that had been immaculately laid out in fine clothes and candles much unlike the scene during breakfast and lunch. The girls seemed to dislike this lesson but Lucy found herself rather enjoying it.
Lucy sat with Anne and Mary again at dinner that night.
"Do you like it then?" Anne asked breaking the silence.
"What?" Lucy replied after swallowing a large piece of potato she hadn't finished chewing yet.
"The academy, is it everything you ever dreamed of?"
"Yes, I do like it."
"Well, I'm sure anything is better than where you came from. Where did you come from anyway."
"I grew up just outside Oxford on a small dairy farm." Lucy felt self-conscious about this for the first time telling Anne.
"Hah, I knew it. Everything about you screams working class."
"Where did you come from then?" Lucy snapped back angrily. Mary seemed rather amused by the exchange happening before her.
"I'm sure you've heard of the Laforey family."Lucy had. After the war the Laforeys, a once aristocratic family managed to survive the cataclysm, aided the government in the relocation process of much of the population to Oxford following major attacks by the now rampant monster population. Since then the Laforeys have been an important part of the running of Oxford and the British Government. "I'm Victor Laforey's daughter," Anne said proudly.
"If you're a Laforey why did you become a Victorian?" Lucy asked
"I wanted something different from that stuffy life. I wanted to have an adventure." Anne said. "Wasn't that etiquette lesson boring, I don't know what Addiscombe is thinking making us do things like that. It was like being at home again."
"I actually kind of liked it" Lucy said.
"Well, this is probably the first time you've ever eaten out of something that wasn't a trough let alone experienced high society I'm not surprised you liked it."
Before Lucy could respond Mary asked "Did you learn anything about your powers yet in your magic class? Y'know what you did to the forhan?"
"Not much they told me I tamed it but I'm not really sure what that means to be honest," she said calming from Anne's offence quickly.
"I'm excited to find out what magic you excel at," Mary said.