Chapter 93: Safer In The Human Dorm
"Nothing is more terrifying than discovering the rules have changed and no one will tell you why."
~ Rebel Beast
------------
Aria was the first to step out of her room, having never been the type to spend an hour getting ready. She barely made it three steps into the living room before Variant gasped dramatically.
"Oh, no, no, no. That is absolutely not happening."
"Oh, God, no," Valerie agreed, looking personally offended.
Aria stopped in her tracks and looked down at herself.
"What?"
She was wearing a pair of oversized gray sweatpants, an equally oversized black T-shirt, and plain white sneakers. Her dark hair hung loosely around her shoulders, having brushed it after showering.
"What’s wrong with this?"
Valerie stared at her in disbelief.
"On any other day, if you’re staying in your room, binge-watching documentaries, or planning to spend the entire day avoiding civilization, by all means, dress like that." She motioned toward Aria from head to toe. "But you cannot walk out with us looking like... this."
Variant folded her arms with a solemn nod.
"People always think women dress up for men." She scoffed. "They’re wrong. We dress up because it makes us feel good. And because crushing the confidence of other women is an added bonus."
She smiled sweetly.
"Mostly the first one."
Aria wasn’t sure whether she was joking.
Before she could ask, the two girls began circling her like stylists assessing a client.
"The sweatpants can stay," Valerie decided after a thoughtful hum. "They’re fitted enough to work." She pinched the hem of Aria’s oversized shirt. "But this has to go."
"What?" Aria frowned. "It’s comfortable."
"Fashion is not comfortable," Variant replied, walking behind Aria and gathering her long dark hair into her hands.
Aria immediately stiffened.
"What are you doing?"
She didn’t answer. Instead, Variant tilted her head thoughtfully while lifting Aria’s hair into a loose, messy bun, allowing a few soft strands to fall around her face.
"There." Valerie stepped closer, studying her critically. "Definitely better."
"No..." Variant murmured, adjusting another strand. "Leave these pieces out. They soften her face."
"You’re right," Valerie agreed. "They also bring out her eyes."
Aria looked between the two of them.
"Um... hello? Does my opinion count?"
Neither answered.
Valerie reached out and pressed a hand against Aria’s waist. Aria immediately slapped it away.
"Hey!"
"I was measuring."
"With your hand?"
"Yes."
Valerie sounded completely unapologetic.
"I think a cropped T-shirt would do her justice." She looked Aria over again. "She’s got a nice waist, and that little bit of midriff deserves to see daylight."
"I am not showing my stomach."
"You’re showing, like..." Variant pinched her fingers together. "This much." She demonstrated a gap barely wider than two fingers.
"I’m not comfortable showing off my body," Aria protested.
"Don’t worry. I respect that," Variant said.
Aria thought she’d won, only for the chipmunk to add,
"So just do it for today."
Aria groaned. To think she was no longer in charge of her own body.
Variant said, "Think of it as your initiation into House Therion. Once we’ve completely humiliated the other houses and their human intakes, you can go back to dressing however you want."
Aria paused. She must have heard wrong.
"What are you talking about?"
Valerie looked equally confused.
"The other houses?"
"No." Aria shook her head. "You said their human intakes."
"Yeah." Variant frowned. "The other contestants have already been distributed between House Aetheris and House Ophidian."
"Exactly. How?"
Variant and Valerie exchanged puzzled looks.
"Wait..." Variant said slowly. "You didn’t know that?"
"No," Aria answered immediately. "We were all brought to House Therion, and that was it. Nobody told us where the others went. I just assumed they’d all been taken back to the human dormitory."
"Oh, shit. Dimitri." Realization dawned on Valerie. "The beta never actually introduced you girls to how the academy works."
She rubbed her forehead before muttering under her breath, "Leave it to a man to forget the most important part of the explanation."
Right at that moment, the door to Brittney’s room swung open, and Aria found herself doing a double take.
Guess someone had taken breakfast a little too seriously.
Gone was Brittney’s long brunette hair. In its place sat a sleek jet-black bob that framed her face perfectly, the blunt bangs grazing just above her eyebrows and making her look effortlessly chic.
She had traded her sleepwear for a pair of high-waisted beige wide-leg trousers that hugged her waist before flowing elegantly to the floor. A cropped black graphic T-shirt left just a sliver of her midriff on display, while a pair of black-rimmed glasses completed the look, giving her the perfect balance of playful and sophisticated.
Brittney Thorne looked like she’d walked straight out of a fashion campaign.
Variant’s eyes immediately lit up.
"Now that," she declared proudly, "is what I’m talking about."
As if Trisha couldn’t let Brittney have the spotlight for too long, her bedroom door swung open as well.
And she stepped out.
Just like Brittney, Trisha Thorne had dressed with every intention of turning heads.
Her long brown locs had been pulled back beneath a silky navy-blue bandana, leaving the soft curls at the ends to spill over her shoulders and down her back.
Layered silver necklaces rested against the denim corset-style top that hugged her figure, its asymmetrical hem revealing just enough skin to tease the eye without giving everything away.
The faded wide-leg jeans sat low on her hips, decorated with stitched navy stars and distressed patches that somehow made the outfit look effortlessly cool instead of messy. White platform sneakers completed the look, while oversized black sunglasses rested atop her head like the finishing touch.
Brittney folded her arms.
"Oh, so we’re competing now?"
Trisha rolled her eyes.
"As if you’re worth my opponent," she jabbed.
While Brittney and Trisha were busy quibbling, as they were so fond of doing, Variant turned to Aria.
"How are you friends with these two, yet none of their fashion sense has rubbed off on you?"
"Well, technically, we only met a few days ago," Aria replied dryly. "And definitely not because we’d have naturally become friends in real life, but because we were all sentenced to the same death game."
Variant got the point.
"That mouth of yours is going to get you into trouble around here," she said.
"You asked," Aria said with a shrug. "I simply answered."
"I think that’s the least of our problems right now," Alek cut in. She looked directly at Brittney and Trisha. "Aria and I just found out that, just like us, the other girls have been assigned to House Aetheris and House Ophidian."
"What?!" Brittney and Trisha exclaimed in unison.
Trisha asked Aria. "Is this true?"
Aria nodded.
"Unfortunately, it’s true."
"That cannot be!" Brittney wailed dramatically. "I was planning to rub the fact that I now live in House Therion all over Karen Donovan’s face. It won’t have the same effect now." She stuck out her bottom lip in disappointment.
Aria turned back to Valerie and Variant.
"How do you know all this? Did Professor Maverick intentionally keep it from us?"
The two girls exchanged a glance.
"Whether Alpha Maverick deliberately kept it from you or simply forgot, we have no idea," Valerie admitted. "But everyone in Bestiaris already knows."
"How?"
"We have an academy social app," Variant explained. "Think of it as the heartbeat of campus life. Every event, every scandal, every fight, every rumor, every relationship—it all ends up there sooner or later."
Valerie picked up where she left off.
"The biggest account on the app belongs to two very loud parrots who call themselves Lord Plumage and Lady Mimic. They’re practically celebrities around here."
"They’ve got spies everywhere," Variant added. "Students. Probably staff too."
Valerie continued. "They somehow find out everything that happens inside Bestiaris before everyone else does. If you sneeze in one corner of the academy, don’t be surprised if it’s headline news by lunchtime."
"So when today’s article went live," Variant finished, "they revealed that the surviving human contestants had been divided equally between House Aetheris, House Ophidian, and House Therion."
"I don’t get this." Alek’s mind was still reeling. "Didn’t beasts hate humans? They even went as far as killing some of us to send that message loud and clear. So what’s all this?"
"That," Variant replied, "is the same question everyone is asking. But I guess, in a way, House Therion saw this coming. Alpha Maverick has been protective of humans from the very beginning. If there was anyone who would’ve done everything possible to keep you girls safe, it would’ve been him."
"But Rhydian and Caelis?" Valerie frowned. "We have no idea what their endgame is. Dragons hate humans. They genuinely believe your kind is the weakest species to ever walk this earth. Humans are fragile, and weakness goes against everything dragons stand for."
"And the serpents?" Aria asked.
"Humans and serpents have never gotten along," Variant answered. "That said, I’d argue it’s easier for humans and snakes to coexist than humans and dragons. Even so, serpents aren’t exactly known for being trustworthy."
"So maybe you still have a reason to smile when it comes to Karen Donovan," Variant said, her expression brightening. "Out of the three houses, none respects humans more than House Therion. If I’m being honest, I think your contestant friends would’ve been safer back in the human dormitory than wherever they are right now."