The open window of the car let in a cool summer breeze. It kept the humid summers of the countryside from sticking to their skin. The car passed by farm after farm. The crop fields greenery spanned across the tall mountain ranges for what seemed like miles. The black Prius Jean found himself riding in jolted as its suspension dropped. Jean woke up instantly. He looked at the clock on the dashboard from the backseat. It was nearly five in the afternoon, which mean Jean had been asleep for three hours.

Elton steered the car carefully through the rough terrain. The sound of dry gravel cracking beneath the tires filled the rest of their journey. The car approached a large, intricately designed metal gate. Two men, both wearing odd eye covering helmets and a navy blue uniform, approached the car from a security box.

“How can I help you?” one of the men asked.

Elton pulled out his badge to show the man.

“I’m here to transfer the asset,”

The man peeked his head down to see Jean. He took the badge from Elton and passed it to the other man. He took the badge back to the security box. A second or two later, he came back and returned the badge to Elton. He gave Elton a nod before turning around to whisper something to his friend. Jean hesitantly turned his head back as they passed through the gates. Jean managed to catch a glimpse of the two men staring at him intently with a look of disgust on their face.

Jean turned back around and sat silently until the car came to another complete stop.

“We’re here,”

Jean looked out the window to see a large man holding a cane standing at the front of an enormous door. However, to Jean, it seemed as though the size of the old man trumped the grandiose nature of the door. Despite his bald head and a graying mustache, his shoulders were broad and his body was muscular. The suit he was wearing seemed as if they would rip from even the slightest movement of his muscles.

Elton got out of the car and Jean followed. The old man greeted both of them with a massive grin. His massive hands reached out for a handshake. First Elton shook his hand with Jean following after. The pace of his handshake was fervent, shaking it quickly before letting go.

“It’s good to meet you, Jean, I’m Elliott Davis, a professor and the headmaster of the academy. Feel free to call me whatever you like. I’m looking forward to having you at the academy,” he said with a deep gravelly voice.

“Thank you for having me, professor Davis,” Jean responded reluctantly. There was still a sense of doubt and uncertainty within Jean. Everything around him was happening so fast. He hadn’t really had any time to mourn any losses nor was he able to collect his thoughts. Unfortunately, there wasn’t much Jean could say or do to alter the situation.

The three of them walked in through the large doorway into a wide foyer. It was filled with students socializing or those making their way to their next class. The chatter was interjected with greetings aimed at the headmaster.

“Good morning, Headmaster,”

“Morning, Professor Davis,”

The headmaster made sure to return a greeting to all the students as he walked past them. The sea of people naturally parted as he made his way to the staircase at the back of the foyer. After the initial rouse of energy subsided, people began to take notice of Jean. Jean could hear the whispers in the crowd.

“Is he new?”

“Looks a bit old to be starting now,”

There were a few chuckles among the quiet chattering near Jean. Jean hunched his shoulders forward slightly and tucked his head down as he followed behind Elton and the headmaster. Eventually, they found themselves at the end of a hallway on the second floor. The headmaster opened the door to a large room with walls lined with books and different tools and weapons. In the center of the room, on top of a circular gray rug, was the headmaster’s desk.

He pulled out a large parcel from one of the drawers and handed it to Jean. He pointed his hand towards the empty seats in front of his desk.

“Take a seat,”

Jean and Elton listened. The headmaster also sat down in his executive chair. The leather seat creaked as the headmaster sat his large body down.

“Inside that parcel is everything you’ll need for now,”

Jean opened the package to find new uniform along with what seemed to be door keys. Other than that, he pulled out a few pieces of paper with his class schedule and room number on it.

“Thank you, sir,” Jean said as he put the items back into the package.

“No need, I am very aware of your situation. If anyone attempted to enroll here at your age, there would be a lot of hoops to jump through,” the headmaster said.

“Most of the students here are enrolled from between the age of four and six,” added Elton.

“Is that why the students were looking at me weird?” asked Jean.

“Maybe. You do give off the new student vibe,” Elton replied with a chuckle.

The headmaster adjusted himself in his seat before speaking.

“Don’t mind the other students, they aren’t aware of your situation and that leads me to talk about the conditions in place for you. The Hunter’s Association, well at least the few that are aware of your genetic nature, aren’t too keen on you being accepted here. So, they’ve allowed you to attend assuming you follow these rules,”

Jean nodded, signaling the headmaster to continue.

“You must not let anyone find out about being half-beast. You must attend all of your classes and pass accordingly. You are not allowed to participate in any sparring practice with anyone other than a professor that knows about your situation. You must have weekly check-ins with either Dr. Elton or Dr. Evelynn. You must remain on campus at all times. You will be under strict supervision from informed staff. I could go on but those are really the only major ones you’ll need to worry about,”

Jean looked overwhelmed by the large list of rules that was just said to him. Even Elton seemed to have reeled back a bit in his chair upon hearing the conditions. And as the headmaster had said, those were only the major ones.

“I- I see. I don’t think I’ll have any problems following those rules,”

The headmaster gave Jean a smile as he clasped his hands together on the desk.

“I’m glad to hear,”

There was a knock on the door. The three of them turned their attention to the door as it opened. Klaus stepped into the room wearing his usual attire. He adjusted his blazer as he pulled a smoke from his pocket and lit.

“Glad you could join us, Klaus. Is it okay for you to be smoking in front of Jean?”

Klaus smiled as he walked up to the desk and took a seat in another empty chair.

“Sorry Elliott, but Jean has never seen me not smoke,”

The headmaster simply returned the smile and replied;

“Well as long as Jean doesn’t have an issue with it. Well since Klaus and Elton are here, I’ll have someone show Jean around,”

The headmaster picked up the phone on his desk and dialed a number. After a few rings, the call connected.

“Could you send Eve up to my office? Yes, thank you,”

“Eve as in Dr. Evelynn?” asked Jean.

Klaus and the headmaster let out a laugh. Klaus took a drag from his cigarette and said;

“No, unfortunately, Dr. Evelynn isn’t going to be arriving until later tonight. This Eve is, uhm, let’s just say she’s unique,”

Jean cracked a wry smile as he asked;

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

Jean’s question was answered when the door opened from behind them and in walked a girl, no taller than five-feet. The hood on her black overcoat was down, letting her light blonde pigtails hang in front of her chest. Her arms were hidden inside her oversized coat sleeves. She brought up her arm, still hiding inside the sleeves, to push her round glasses up. Her eyes looked cold and emotionless, yet somehow beautiful and mysterious. Jean wondered if she was like one of those girls in the comic books he had read growing up. Cold-hearted exterior, but her true emotions are locked deep within her sort of thing.

“You called, headmaster?”

Even her voice carried an icy tone.

“Yes, thank you for coming Eve. This here is Jean, please show him around while I finish this meeting,”

She nodded in response and immediately turned her attention to Jean. Jean got up to greet her as he reached his hand out for a handshake. She looked at it his hand, then scanned the rest of his body. Jean found himself giving her a nervous smile. She didn’t react at all to Jean’s greeting. Her hand softly grabbed the sleeve of Jean’s outstretched arm and pulled him toward the door. Jean looked back at the three men sitting in their chairs and attempted to wave goodbye as he was being pulled out of the room.

_______________________________________________________________________

“Elliott, I’m grateful that you agreed to allow Jean into the academy,”

“Er, if I may interject, why exactly did you agree to accept Jean, Headmaster Davis?”

The headmaster let out a sigh.

“Klaus and I have known each other for quite some time and we’ve been through a lot together. I’ll be damned if I don’t try and do something to help. Perhaps it’s against my better judgment as a teacher. But, as a friend, I can’t bring myself to turn my back on Klaus,”

“I see. Considering the circumstances of Jean’s birth, I can understand why anyone would be reluctant to take Jean in. But, I have to ask. Klaus, does Jean know about your involvement?”

Klaus shifted in his seat momentarily.

“I’d rather him not know about it for the time being. If anything, I hope he doesn’t find out at all,”

“As a father, I can understand your point of view, but I don’t think that will be your choice to make,” said the headmaster.

Klaus crushed out his cigarette in a nearby ashtray.

“And that’s what I’m afraid of…”