Geo stared out the window of the tram at the rising sun, a sunrise that brought with it a small sense of comfort and peace for him. What aided in the feeling of peace was that for the first time in a long time Geo had gotten a good nights sleep, able to sleep without fear of being attacked by the Maestro. He stretched out his arms with a content smile before looking around at the other teenagers on board, each of who was waking up.
"I don't know why we have to do this so early," Zack grumbled as he rubbed the sleep out if his eyes, not aware that his glasses were crooked on his face. Bud let out a snore from beside the genius to show that he shared his friends thoughts, their actions gaining the both of them a look from Luna.
"I swear with how the both of you are acting it's like your forgot why we are here so early," Luna said with disappointment in her voice before she looked in a mirror, making sure she looked as perfect as possible for their trip to the school. "Ace said that just because the Maestro is waging war on our world doesn't mean that we can forget about our other responsibilities. And since Maestro has been our biggest concern, we haven't had time to register for class this fall. And as it is your first time attending high school, you need to put on a good first impression."
"Luna, keep your voice down, I'm trying to sleep," Sonia grumbled from beside Geo, before she groaned and began to stretch out her leg with pained looks upon her face.
"Your leg still bothering you?" Geo asked.
"Yep. I thought that the Lunar Diva's healing powers had managed to deal with my broken leg, but with how stiff and sore it has been maybe my healing powers aren't as strong as I thought," Sonia grumbled before she punched her leg once, only to immediately regret her decision a moment later. She then swung her leg up onto Geo's lap and crossed her arms. "I can't get it to stop hurting. Can you massage it for me, Geo?"
"Why are you asking me? You've got two perfectly good hands that aren't broken," Geo said with a hint of sass in his voice, getting Sonia to raise an eyebrow.
"Wow, a beautiful girl asks you to do her a favor and instead you just brush her to the side. No wonder you're so terrible with women," Sonia remarked while rolling her eyes sarcastically. Geo pushed her leg off of him, only for Sonia to retaliate by swinging both of her legs onto his lap. He tried to push them off, but Sonia grabbed his arms and tried to hold his arms. The two grappled with each other for a moment before Geo slipped off his seat and fell to the floor, getting Sonia to cry out in victory before she placed both of her legs on where he had been sitting.
"Sonia, can I have my seat back?" Geo asked as he stood back up. Sonia crossed her arms and stuck out her tongue at him, getting Geo to raise an eyebrow before he sat down on her legs. Sonia wormed a leg free and tried to kick him off, resuming their pushing match. But after a moment the two stopped and looked over to see Luna watching them with a look on her face neither of them could read. "What's the matter, Luna? You look upset."
"Nothing's the matter," she quickly said before pressing a button on her Hunter to bring up an image of the school. "Echo Ridge High. The closest school to all of our houses and the next step up in our journey to adulthood. That is where we are going today."
"Yeah, I already knew that," Geo said before Sonia put a boot on his face and kicked him off of her. He grumbled slightly as he stood up and walked over to Luna, sitting down beside her. "You want the seats that badly you can have them. Why are you even coming with us anyway? You don't go to school with us."
"Right..." Sonia muttered before she leaned back and rested her arms on her head. "I was talking with Ace yesterday after...everything...and we talked about your plans to come to the high school today." Luna noticed that both Geo and Sonia looked away from each other after she said "everything". "And we both agreed that it was best if I...joined your school."
"You're going to be going to school with us?!" Bud exclaimed with excitement as he shot up in his seat, terrifying the other four teens. "That's going to be so cool! We'll get to go to school with an idol and I can tell everyone that I've been friends with her for years!"
"Bud, we've been friends with another idol for years as well. Megaman," Zack reminded Bud, only for Bud to cross his arms and smirk.
"Yeah, but I can't go around and tell everyone that I'm friends with Megaman, can I? Even if they believe me, that would have the side effect of exposing Geo's secret."
"He's still an idol!"
"What good is being friends with an idol if I can't go around bragging about it?!"
"So what are your reasons for joining our classes this school year?" Luna asked while giving Bud and Zack a look to cease their argument.
"Like Ace said, we need to continue on with our lives. But all of us know that the Maestro is still alive," Sonia said matter-of-factly as she shook her head. "And he wants Geo and me to stay close to one another as often as possible, just incase the Maestro or Solo tries to pick one of us off. He may hate all of us, but he loathes me and Geo at this point, almost as much as he hates Celestia and Luna."
"So you sign up for classes at our school and stick close to us, hopefully dissuading Maestro of an attack," Geo pieced together before he gave Sonia a look. "But back to Bud's point, you are a celebrity. That means that word is going to get out that you go to our school. That's going to draw attention."
"Price I'll have to pay to make sure you're all safe," Sonia admitted with a shrug of her shoulders, before her face darkened and she lowered her head for a moment. "And having to deal with being a celebrity in high school isn't anywhere near as painful as it would be to lose any of you."
"You won't lose any of us, Sonia. We'll get through this together," Geo said with a confident smile, getting one out of Sonia in reply.
"Isn't that supposed to be my line? You trying to steal my material?"
"What can I say, you've rubbed off on me?"
The two began to banter with one another, leaving Luna to watch the two talk with a small smile upon her face, one that was both sad but understanding. She then looked up to see that the tram was pulling into the station for the Echo Ridge High School, causing her to clap her hands and gain the attention of all of the other teenagers.
"Alright everyone, we're here. Put on your best smiles and lets try not to mess up our first impressions!" she ordered as the tram stopped, all of the teens standing up the moment it did. They exited the tram with excitement and a hint of nerves, while Geo and Sonia looked up to see the sun and moon flying over their heads, with the moon needing some help. They each discussed with one another about their expectations, but the talking all stopped when they saw the building that was before them. It was as blue as the sky and had flickering images of waves that moved along its side.
"Welcome! You must be the Luna Platz group!" a man with a large mustache said with a laugh as he walked over to them, the badge on his Hawaiian shirt showing the teens that he was the principal there. "I see that all of you match the desciptions that Luna sent in. Call me Mr. Wave. Yes, it is like the ones that cover the building, you are not the first to make that joke."
"It's a pleasure to meet you," Geo said as he extended a hand towards the teacher, who shook it with a smile. He shook the other teens hands before he stared with awe at Sonia Strumm.
"I apologize for staring, but it's just amazes me that THE Sonia Strumm would want to enroll in my school," he said with some pride while he wiped away tears at his eyes. "It makes an old man proud to see someone so famous wishing to further increase their knowledge."
"Um, thanks?" Sonia said with a small chuckle before the principal got ahold of himself and stood up straight.
"Sorry. Come on in. Allow me to show you around!" he said before motioning for the group to follow him. As the group began to walk Mega and Lyra materialized next to their friends, Lyra looking around with interest while Mega looked less than impressed.
"This place doesn't look any different than the one you used to go to, only that it's larger," Mega grunted rudely, gaining him a look from Geo.
"I like it. It reminds me of the beach or the ocean," Lyra said with a nod.
"I'm glad to see that your wizards seem to be liking it. You'll all be glad to know that we have the newest technology to accommodate wizards and their personalities," Mr. Wave told them with another laugh. "But just wait till you see the inside of the building. That's where the real fun starts!"
"Thank you for seeing us so early in the day," Luna said gratefully, getting her a smile from the principal. "Normally we would have come later in the day, but with Sonia being super famous and all, we thought it be best..."
"That is perfectly understandable. I'm already dreading the chaos on the first day of class when everyone here finds out that a celebrity is going to my school!" the principal said with pride before regaining control of his emotions once more. He then waved a card across the door to the school, unlocking them and allowing him to open the doors for his guest. "Please, come inside."
The teens walked inside, eyes wide with what they were greeted with. The school was painted like the layers of an ocean, with the upper levels being a lighter blue while the floor beneath them was practically black. Numerous designs of fish decorated the walls, while facts about the sea were written every few feet.
"How does a school in one of the most technologically advanced places in the world be related to fish and not science?" Zack asked with a hint of disappointment.
"Because the sea is still one of the most interesting places in the world! Even with all of our advanced technology, there is still plenty about the sea that we do not know!" Mr. Wave said with a laugh before he began to point out different parts of the school.
"So what kind of clubs or special programs do you have?" Luna asked after the principal had described where everything was. "Anything like...leadership club or maybe...I don't know, therapy classes?"
"Hmm, an odd choice for clubs, but no, I do not believe we have anything like that here. Even the college that most of the students that graduate here go to barely have any classes for those subjects," Mr. Wave muttered, never seeing Luna's expression, an expression that looked as if she was making a difficult choice. "But we do have over a dozen clubs on deep sea exploration. I'm certain you will all love those. After all..."
"Do you think most of their food here is fish?" Bud whispered to Zack once the principal lost himself in his own words.
"How would I know?"
"Well, you'd better learn if you plan to study here," Luna informed Zack, but her words gained the principals attention again and he spun around to face them.
"Ah yes, thank you for reminding me. I have here the registration for the fall," he informed them as he brought up an image upon his Hunter VG, one that he sent to all of their Hunters. "All you have to do is show them to your parents...or in your case Sonia, your legal guardian."
"I'm my own guardian," she muttered before she and the others looked over the form. "I live by myself at my studio."
"Not that there's anything too serious here. Just some questions and information for our parents," Zack stated after he finished reading.
"This is too much for me," Bud groaned, getting Zack to face palm.
"Speaking of studio, I am glad to see that you are safe, Sonia," Mr. Wave said, turning everyone's attention towards him once more. "Everyone saw the attack on your studio on the news. Thank God Megaman was there or else...well, a source joy for many of my students would have been gone, as well as a bright and wonderful person."
"Yeah...I'm glad he was there for me as well," Sonia said in a soft voice, glancing over at Geo who averted his gaze from the girl. For a long moment everyone stood around in silence, before Mr. Wave cleared his throat and pushed a few buttons on his Hunter.
"Also, this is a little something I do at the beginning of every year," Wave continued before he sent all of them a document with hundreds of different names on it, getting the students to look at it with surprise. "It's simply a little raffle that we have and the winner gets a prize. If you're going to come here, then you should enter."
"Sure..." Sonia said before she signed the raffle, waiting until Geo had signed in before she summoned forth as much courage as she could and placed a hand on Geo's shoulder. "Geo...can I speak with you for a moment? In private?"
"Um, sure Sonia," he replied. Sonia flashed him a grateful smile before the two of them walked towards the exit, leaving the others to watch them go with interest.
"What's going on with them?" Bud asked as he signed up for the raffle as well.
"Come on Bud, even you can't be that dense," Zack said with some disbelief to his friend as he signed as well, but to Zack's amazement Bud shrugged his shoulders and pulled a snack out of his pocket. The principal began to laugh as Zack berated his friend for eating while they were being shown around, leaving Luna to stare at the exit that Geo and Sonia had walked out of. A sad smile crossed her face before she looked down at the raffle, sighing to herself before shaking her head.
'Maybe...it's for the best,' she thought to herself as she pressed a button on her Hunter and returned the raffle to the principal, being the only one in her group to not sign her name. 'Maybe she's what they need most right now...what he needs most right now.'