After that we all concentrated on eating, or at least I thought we were. 

"Uh, guys. I was wondering if you've noticed all the animals here." Brynn said. We all looked around and she was right. There really were animals everywhere. But not the usual cats and dogs, no there were sheep, butterflies, birds and I even saw a leopard. 

"G-g-g-guys. l-l-look th-there." Miyoung stuttered pointing to the main door of the cafeteria. We saw I boy and his friends walk in and next to him was a lion, walking peacefully next to him and deer. 
"How is that possible?" Mia asked with astonishment all over her face.
I looked at the table next to us where some boys sat, with them Eli, and each of them had a animal near them. A dog, an owl on one’s shoulder, a meerkat and otter playing in the middle of the table and a snake curled up next to one’s tray. I was even able to see two white ears peaking up from Eli’s lap. A white rabbit.
“I don’t get it.” I mumbled. 

A boy walked past my face with a bird on his tray that sung while he whistled with it. I was caught in their song before being distracted by a bee that was flying around my head. I tried shooing it away but failed and after multiple attempts I actually hit it. “Sorry!” I said in shock before hitting my head with my hand. 

“Well, at least you’re not dreaming anymore.” Someone said. 

It was a boy from Eli’s table. I starred at him, not knowing what to do. 

“I’m Soohyun, Senior.” He introduced reaching out his hand. “I’m Ren, uh… Scholar.” I said shaking his hand. 

“I think you and your friends are a bit confused about the animals, right?” He asked and I nodded, not knowing if they were even listening in. “Can you tell me what it’s all about?”

He smiled and turned his chair to face me. “As you can tell, every student here has a animal with them. Well, everyone except the Scholars, you’ll be getting your Animins, that’s what they are called, soon.” He chuckled at the expression I had. “Ok, so you know that your parents are from a different planet, right?” I nodded “Ok and do you have pets at home?” I nodded “A iguana and a dog.” 

“Have you ever noticed anything strange on how your parents treated them?”  thought for a moment. 

“Well, we never put them in a cage…” I stopped since he was nodding. 

“You see those are your parents Animins.” 

“And what exactly is an Animin?”
“It’s an animal that is very similar to you and when you meet your Animin, it’s like meeting your second half. Your Animin is your best friend, conscience, parent, sibling, whatever you want to describe it as. And the most impressive thing about Animins is that you can share thoughts.” 

“So where’s your Animin?”

“You just whacked him before.” He said with a straight face. My eyes widened. “That bee was your Animin?” I asked with shock. He nodded. “Yup. And he’s a honey be, to be exact.” 

I paused and thought about it for a moment.

“Why aren’t you giving me thousands of questions?” He then asked. 

“Well, there’s a lot here that is different. Things I never thought would be possible so it’d be kind of stupid to say ‘oh I don’t believe that people can have animal friends that are like soul mates and that they share thoughts’ even though I’ve accepted the fact that there’s another planet out there and there are portals that lead there. It’d be kind of illogical.”
“That is very true.” I then saw a bee fly towards him and land on his shoulder. 

“Is that him?” I asked and he nodded. “Can he hear me?” He nodded again “And understand you. You can even ask him things and he’ll answer. Not by words, but through thoughts.”

“So you’d answer for him, right?” 

“Exactly. You’re quick.”

“Well, it’s not that hard to understand.” The boy next to him, the one with the owl on his shoulder, tapped him on the shoulder. “We have to go, but I’m sure I’ll see you around.”. 

“GET UP!! IT’S OUR FIRST DAY AND WE NEED TO BE IN THE ARENA IN HALF AN HOUR!!!!” Mia shouted at the top of her lungs right into Miyoung’s ears who then literally jumped out of her bed and ran into the bathroom. 

“WHY DIDN’T YOU WAKE ME UP EARLIER?!?!” She shouted while showering. 

“IT’S NOT MY FAULT YOU SLEEP LIKE A ROCK!!!!” Mia shouted back. I chuckled and shook my head as I buttoned my cardigan.

“I’ll go already and save you some seats, ok? You coming Brynn?” I said before leaving with Brynn by my side. 

“Where do you want to sit?” I asked here when we entered the arena. Barely anyone was there and the few that were were all playing with their Animins or talking to each other. “Um, let’s sit over there.” She pointed to a row a few steps in front of us. 

We sat down and it was instantly awkward. “So when did you parents tell you that you’ll be coming here?” I asked trying to lighten the mood. 

“On my birthday. Three months ago.”

“So you’re older than me!” I blurted without thinking. She smiled and nodded. 

“I actually already knew about this since my parents really don’t like secrets so as they raised me they taught me about Lanero, the emperors, the war with the Amnender Empire, how you find your powers and so on.”

“What actually happened during the war?” I asked. 

“Well, technically, the war isn’t over.”

Sorry, another booooooring chapter!! But I really wanted to update... 
[update: I changed it a bit, ok? For you who don't know: Before: Animins were palm sized animals tha could fly Now: Life sized animals that share thoughts.]