At first, I didn't know what headquarters meant. Obviously, I knew what the word was, but I didn't know where we were supposed to be. But once I exited the RV, I was pretty sure I figured it out.

In front of me were tall, grey buildings. It almost looked like a campus or a university of some kind. It made me wonder what was inside, and I wanted to know if I'd ever get to see everything that this place hid.

"Wow," Kristie gasped, even more amazed than I was. And that was sure saying something.

We were greeted by someone in all black, which freaked me out just a little bit. The man was huge, and he said nothing to us. He just bobbed his head a little in a way to tell us to follow him, and he turned away and made his way inside.

I stared at the floor more than anything else. The floor was made out of what looked like pure marble, while we were walking on a red carpet that made its way all the way down the hallway we were in. There were doors on either side of us, with paintings on the walls that looked too old for me to decipher the year.

The man in all black suddenly stopped, which almost resulted in Anthony ramming right into him. The man held his hand up against a pad, which quickly scanned it before opening the sliding door. Instead of stepping inside like I thought he would do, he stepped to the side and beckoned us in.

We stepped inside, and the door immediately closed once the five of us were inside. The room was huge, filled with machines and tables with what looked like maps and plans on them. The machines beeped all around us, and I knew that that would get seriously annoying after a while.

"Wow." Anthony was the first to speak. "It's even better than I imagined it would be."

I knew he would be the most excited about this room. He probably loved computers and machines that he could mess around and do whatever he wanted with.

We suddenly heard the door slide open and the clicking of heels, so we all turned to see who had now entered. In came a beautiful woman with straight blonde hair, her grey pantsuit looking exceptionally clean and precise. This woman hadn't even spoken to us yet and I could tell that she was a very down-to-business kind of person.

"Hello," the woman greeted, holding her hand out for Aiden to shake, then for Anthony, then Dex. "It's a pleasure to meet all of you."

She turned toward Kristie, and they shook hands. The perky redhead greeted, "It's nice to meet you!"

She then turned toward me and offered her hand, but I didn't take it. I just stared at it, as if I'd never seen something like this before.

"I expected as much," the blonde woman smirked, retracting her hand and turning back toward all of us. "I'm Nay Burns. I'm one of your mentors that will be guiding you through your training here at the DAU."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Dex interrupted before she could continue on. "Training? We have to train?"

Nay smiled at the dark boy innocently, but we all could tell that innocent was the last thing Nay Burns was. "How do you expect to do well out on the battlefield if you don't train yourselves? You're not all experts at your powers just yet."

Dex definitely did not look excited over the fact that we had to train instead of going right out to fight whoever we were supposed to fight. I wasn't exactly happy with this either; I would have much rather gone out and fought right away instead of staying inside and training for who knows how long.

"It will be worth it, I assure you," Nay nodded now, as if she could read all of our minds. Wait... Could she? "We have to make sure all five of you are ready before we send you out to fight. We don't want you dying right away."

What?

I blanched, and everyone else on my team did as well. Nay let out a laugh, but it sounded proper and light. "Just teasing," she assured, but I wasn't so sure.

The door slid open again, and we turned to see who it was. It was a man that entered now, though he looked a lot more laidback than Nay did. He was wearing all grey as well, but his tie was loose and the buttons on his blazer were all undone. His brown hair was messy; a complete contrast to Nay's perfectly neat hair that flowed down her back.

"Hi!" the man greeted with a wide smile, shaking all of my teammates' hands just like Nay had. When he got to me, he didn't even attempt to shake my hand, as if he knew I wouldn't shake back. "You're Violet, I presume?"

I bit the inside of my cheek as a small smile threatened to show. "Yes, that's me."

The man nodded at me, but then turned back toward all of us. "Well, I'm Hank Rickards," the man introduced. "I'm one of your mentors, along with Nay."

I didn't really understand the whole mentor thing, but I didn't bother to ask. It was pretty self-explanatory, so there was no point in doing so.

Hank continued talking, but I quickly tuned him out as my eyes traveled around the room. It may have not been the best idea to not pay attention as soon as I arrived, but I already felt so overwhelmed I thought I could burst at any second. I could see Kristie listening with big eyes to every word he said. She looked like a doe, and I wanted ever so much to be a hunter.

I didn't know if I was the only one that could tell that Nay was annoyed once I focused in on her. Hank definitely couldn't tell as he continued with whatever he was saying, which I could assume was not important due to Nay's reaction. Now I really didn't feel bad for immediately tuning him out.

"Hank, you can be quiet now," Nay warned him, but it was as if Hank didn't even hear her.

He continued his story, and I could tell this was something that Nay was usually annoyed by. But even so, as I stood there, I knew that she was in love with him, even though she refused to admit it. And Hank loved her right back, even though he wasn't afraid to show it.

It was just something I was always able to do. I could always tell how people felt toward each other, but I was never able to tell how they felt about me. I didn't know if that was a part of my power or not, but I was almost too afraid to ask.

It was the same with Aiden and Kristie. I knew Aiden liked Kristie, even though his actions and how close he stood next to her gave it away, but Kristie was just too stupid for me to be able to figure out how she felt. Maybe I'd be able to understand once I got to know her better.

All of a sudden, a chill passed over all of us. When I reached up to rub my arms, much to my surprise, there was a frost!

"What the..." Anthony trailed off, rubbing at his arms to try to rid of the frost just like the rest of us. "What the heck just happened?"

"You're looking at Mother Nature right here," Hank now laughed, jabbing a thumb in Nay's direction.

Aiden's jaw dropped before he asked, "You're Mother Nature?"

She shrugged, as if it was no big deal. "I'm not the real Mother Nature; it's just something people would call me. Why do you think people call me Nay?"

I didn't know how I was supposed to react to this. But I really wanted to ask if her real name was Nay.

"Can you control periods, too?" Dex suddenly grinned, his arms crossed over his chest.

Nay smirked back at him. "Sure, do you want one?"

The grin on Dex's face immediately disappeared, and I couldn't help but laugh at him. It was what he got for asking such an inappropriate question like that.

"We'll be splitting the five of you up, for now," Nay began, her eyes making their way to all five of us. "Hank will take the boys to the practice course, while the girls and I have a little tea party."

Did I hear her correctly? Had she really said that we were going to have a tea party or were my ears deceiving me?

Kristie looked overjoyed, but I had to try my best to fight back a scowl. This did not sound like fun. I would have rather go fight crime while being completely inexperience than have some kind of tea party with the too-giddy redhead.

Hank turned toward the door, and he left with the three boys. So that left me with the ridiculously stupid redhead and the ridiculously intimidating blonde.

This should be fun.

"If you two will go out those two doors, there will be dresses for each other you," Nay instructed, pointing to the right door for me and then to the left door for Kristie. "There will also be someone inside to do your hair and makeup. Please don't try to take too long, please."

Kristie made her way toward the door, but I just stood there and stared at the woman as if she was completely insane. She expected me to change into a dress and actually let someone touch me?

Nay smiled at me sweetly, as if nothing was wrong. "Is there a problem, dear?"

And for some reason, I just couldn't speak. There was just something about Nay that made me not want to be rude to her. I honestly had no idea what it was, but it drove me absolutely nuts.

So I made my way toward my door, grumbling under my breath the entire time. I already knew I was not going to enjoy this in the slightest.

When I opened the door and stepped inside, there was a woman there, just like Nay said there would be. She told me her name, but I was barely listening and forgot it right away, since I knew it wouldn't be important later.

I stared at myself in the full-length mirror that was provided for me. I was in ratty old sweats and a dirty white t-shirt. I definitely did not look like the kind of girl that was about to go to a tea party.

It took me five minutes to change out of my clothes and into the dress, and then I had to wait for another twenty minutes as the woman did my hair and makeup. I kept my eyes shut almost the entire time, except when they had to be open for whatever she was painting on my face, and I refused to look at myself in the mirror as she was fixing me. I didn't think I wanted to know what I looked like.

But when I finally did look at myself in the mirror once she was finished, all I could do was stare at first. What I saw in the mirror was the last thing I expected to see. I actually wasn't terrifying! I was almost... pretty.

But when I stepped back outside to see Kristie, looking even better than she did before, any confidence I felt before was squashed right out of me.

"Wow, Violet, you look so pretty!" Kristie complimented, but I still couldn't help but feel like a troll standing beside her.

"Thanks," I muttered anyway, not wanting to be completely rude. "You do, too."

She giggled like she had most likely a hundred times since I had met her only a few hours before. "Thank you!"

She was wearing a pink dress, which didn't really surprise me, while mine was all black. Nay, on the other hand, was wearing a blue dress that complimented her perfectly. So there I was, standing next to two of the most beautiful women in the world, while I was just... me.

I felt like an even bigger troll.

"Welcome, ladies," Nay smiled now as she gestured to the nicely set table. "This will be your first lesson as a member of the DAU."

Kristie looked so excited, while I would have much rather been with the boys on the practice course. Hitting something sounded like a lot of fun right then.

We all took our seats at the table, and all I could think about was how this was all completely ridiculous. What would table manners have anything to do with fighting?

"Today, I'll be teaching you how to be elegant and graceful." She looked at Kristie, who was sitting up straight, and then to me, who was slouching. "For some, it may be easy, and for others, it may be difficult..."

I bit back a smart remark, since I was sure that would have just made everything so much worse for me. I might not have been the most graceful girl on the planet, but at least I wasn't annoying like the redhead next to me.

A sudden explosion caused Kristie and me to jump, but Nay just sipped her tea with her pinky up, as if something hadn't just exploded in the room next to us.

"I see the boys have begun," was all she said as she placed her cup back on the table.

I just stared at her, not believing that we were stuck in here while the boys actually got to have some kind of fun. What were we going to do in here, gossip while we ate crumpets? No, thank you!

"So, tell me why the boys get to blow things up while the three of us get to have a tea party," I practically ordered, almost through clenched teeth.

I almost expected her to hit me. Not because I assumed she was the kind of woman who would hit people, though she probably was. It was because I was used to getting hit when I talked back. It was almost nice to know that now, I could speak without fearing anything.

"Don't worry," Nay assured, that dainty smile still adorning her lips. "We'll be switching roles soon enough. We'll be the ones out on the practice course while the boys are stuck in this stuffy room in no time."

Another explosion rocked the room, but Nay still didn't react to it. She just continued to pour herself a cup of tea. Meanwhile, Kristie and I had no idea what we were supposed to be doing.

"There's more to being a part of the DAU than just fighting, ladies," the blonde began to explain now, and I was still trying to ready myself for the next explosion. "You also have to be classy. You don't know what situations you'll be put in. You don't know where you have to go to investigate. You have to be prepared."

I'd rather blow stuff up, in all honesty. But I knew I couldn't say that to her, so I kept my mouth shut.

"You're not going to have to physically fight all of your enemies," Nay continued now as she passed us each a cup of tea. "Some of them, yes. All it will ever be is physical. But with a lot of them, they're smart. They know what they're doing. They're not just going to burst in and rob a casino, or any other place. They're going to come inside and sit, eat, or just mingle with the people inside. The people that you're dealing with are smart. Not all of them, but most. You just have to be very prepared for whatever they throw at you."

I gulped, but I noticed no response from Kristie. I wouldn't have been surprised if she had zoned out and gone to her own little world. I wouldn't have been surprised. I couldn't help but wonder now how many worlds were inside her head...

"You girls are in here first, because I'm sure it'll be easier to teach this to you than it will be to the boys," the older blonde now explained. "Luckily, Hank will be dealing with the boys in here today so I don't have to. I won't be surprised if they start throwing crumpets and scalding each other with their tea."

I wasn't going to say it out loud, but I agreed with her. This team was definitely... something.

"Soon, all five of you will be training together in here and on the practice course," Nay informed us, but this didn't sound all that great. "The five of you are going to have to get used to each other, of course. Hank and I just thought it'd be easier to split you guys up first."

Maybe it was a good idea, but I couldn't have been sure. All I knew was that I wanted to get out of this uncomfortable dress and go blow things up.

After an hour of learning things that felt absolutely useless, we were finally finished. I thought I was going to collapse, but I couldn't help but hope we would now go get to blow things up like the boys had and they would come have a tea party.

"You can head back into the room and change into the suits that you'll need for the practice course," Nay told us now as she got up from her seat at the table. "The boys will be coming in soon to take our places, so I suppose you hurry unless you want them to see you."

Kristie hopped up from her seat, as if it would be horrible for the boys to see us in dresses. I honestly didn't even care, so I didn't run out of the room like she did. I calmly stood up and pushed my chair in, turning back toward the room where I was supposed to change.

I heard a whistle, and I automatically swung around to see the source of the sound. I wasn't really surprised when I saw that it was Dex.

"Well, you clean up nice," he informed me, but I didn't take it as a compliment.

He was in a suit and tie, all ready for the same tea party that I had been forced to go through. I wasn't going to admit it out loud, but he looked a lot better than he did in the grungy clothing he had been wearing beforehand.

I said nothing to him. I just stuck my nose up in the air and turned away. I wanted him to think that I was snotty and that I thought I was too good for him, but honestly, I just had no idea what I was supposed to say to him. I just didn't want to know he had gotten the best of me.

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It's late and I'm tired. I don't know if it's because I'm tired or if it's because it's late, but I can't spell Kristie. At least, I can't type it. Every single time I had to type her name in this chapter, it was Keirstie, or something like that, and then I had to go back and fix it.

The ancestors Hank was talking about were from an old story of mine that I've deleted. They're both played by actors that played characters in that story, so I thought it'd be kind of funny if I had them be related...

Now I'm going to sleep...

Please COMMENT, VOTE, and FAN! <3