Welcome to Gaia! ::

Deep in the country and well away from neighbouring towns, there is a boarding school called Brookrose. Brookrose is a quiet school, not particularly well-known or prestigious, that can be attended by invitation only. Their standards for students are a little different than most schools; neither grades, money nor sports prowess will get you in. Only children showing unnatural abilities, termed 'psychic children' by hysterical gossip rags and believed to be a myth by everyone else, are allowed to attend.

Students are told that they are going to Brookrose to learn how to control their powers, but in reality, they are being sent away to hide them from the 'normal' people who think that psychic powers don't exist; the reality of these children and their abilities would potentially disrupt society as they know it. In order to keep them there for as long as possible, the school goes from middle school all the way to the college level. The 'classes' the children take actually hinder rather than help their powers. The true goal of the school is to re-educate them until they are capable of living as normal humans, not that the children in question know that.

When the kids graduate Brookrose College, they are separated into two groups. Those who have had their powers hindered to the point that they are basically normal are allowed to return to society after having two procedures done: a highly experimental drug is given to them to cloud their memories of their childhood and school years, and they are surgically sterilized. They're returned to the 'real world' with a flickering and uncertain memory, and no possibility of ever creating more children like them.

Those who have managed to hang onto their powers? They're taken to the 'nurse's office' and they're quietly euthanized. It's claimed to be a necessary sacrifice for the good of all.

The surviving graduates don't remember what has happened to them. No one outside would believe such a tale. The children of Brookrose have only themselves, one another, and their extraordinary abilities to rely on if they want to get out unbroken and alive.

The students come from all over the country, to a one invited by the school—coincidentally, they are usually invited shortly after they have lost control of their abilities somehow and are feeling awful, separate, wrong. Looking for any way to learn to control this unknown ability they have, the students have come to Brookrose hoping for salvation, but they will find no such thing here.

Psychic children are powerful, and the students of Brookrose are no exception. Aside even from their abilities, all are unusually strong in some way—mentally, emotionally, physically. They must be in order to cope with the extraordinary changes that they have been through. The Brookrose children are not human as society knows human, and for that, they have suffered. For that, they have grown strong.

For that, they will be punished yet again.

As of yet, the children do not know why they've truly been brought to Brookrose. If they ever discover the truth, their choices will be simple.

Accept.

Fight.

Or flee.

June.

The ceremony was over, and Philip waited to greet his mentoring students for the last time.

The five of them clustered around him, laughing, happy, excited about the graduation gowns they wore and about the future they were heading into. There was something missing about them, though—something that felt wrong for students who had everything ahead of them. Some light in their eyes had died, some part of them was gone, and though Phil knew what was missing, he still had to work hard not to worry. They would go on to live normal lives, these five, with no memory of what they’d lost. The surgeries, the treatments had all occurred last week—they would get to remember this day as their day of triumph rather than grief.

“I’m so proud of you,” he told each of them, and he meant it. “Write to your teacher once in a while, hey? I’m an old man and I like my snail mail.” He knew he wouldn’t hear from them. He never did. And that was all right—if he ever did, he didn’t know what he’d say.

Kaylie laughed and poked his shoulder. “Okay, old man,” she said affectionately as the others floated off, one by one. “But you’ll have to get with the times someday.”

He remembered how she’d been when she’d arrived, a terrified seventeen-year-old so horrified by what she had done. She’d never have to worry about it again—that psychic power, once blazing inside her, was gone now. There wasn’t even a flicker left of it. She could be happy. She could be normal.
(and if she ever reached for something inside, ever felt like something was missing, it would be dismissed eventually)

“Someday, but that day’s not today,” he said, trying to sound more firm and less like he was laughing. “Now go on, get out of here. I see some folks who’re also very proud of you and probably want to say so.” Pushing her lightly towards her parents, he added, “Don’t get too drunk while you’re out partying—those post-graduation hangovers are hell. Uh, I hear.”

Watching her beaming smile as she went to greet her parents, Phil felt the hollowness of the day more keenly. This should have been a happy day, for all of them, but all the joy was nothing but surface glitter. There were parents who weren’t in the crowd because their child wasn’t graduating.

They never would.

A crisp voice by his elbow said, “Philip.”

Turning his head slightly, he replied, “Natalia. What can I do for you?”

Normally he would have used her last name, spoken to her with more deference. But his mentoring students were gone and the graduates were happily focused on parents, family and friends. No one was listening to a teacher and the administrator.

“We need you for cleanup,” said Natalia. She looked as though she’d stepped straight out of a magazine, all professional dress and perfect smile—for the benefit of the parents and graduates, of course, not for him. After watching several of these ceremonies, he knew she’d keep that smile on until the last parent and the last graduate were gone. The discrepancy between the smile and the words would have been horrible if he weren’t so used to it.

“It’s finished, then?” he asked, with a sense of dull sorrow.

“Of course.”

Natalia was so practical.

“If you would?” she added, lifting a brow at him.

Without answering, he walked away. His feet brought him to the small brick building at the side of the school eventually—he knew where he was going. Poking his head in, he spotted the nurse tidying the bottles that contained all the daily remedies that a school full of active kids required. The woman didn’t even look up as she said, “Storage room three. Just like always.”

With muttered thanks, Philip made his way around to the back of the school, where there was a row of storage sheds. Students and teachers kept things in most of them—bicycles, books, anything that didn’t fit in their dormitories. But there was one shed that no one used, aside from once a year. Fishing through his keyring until he found the right one, he went inside.

There was no smell—they kept it clean. As his eyes adjusted to the dark, he saw the plastic tarp in the centre of the room. It was clear plastic, clear enough for him to see the pitiful piled bodies underneath. He could have turned on the storage room light, but he didn’t; he didn’t want to see the faces. Sliding a hand under the plastic tarp, he waited until his hand met cloth. Once it did, he focused and felt the gratifying surge of power.

By the time he left the storage room, locking it behind him, there was nothing under the plastic but a small pile of dust.

~

September.

Celia walked into her dorm room for the first time, pulling her suitcase along like a ball and chain. The room was the same size as her room at home. The institutional white walls and grey carpet were cold and about as bland as it came. It didn’t faze her; she knew institutions. This was no different from what she’d seen before.

Most importantly, it was perfectly, blissfully empty. She was in the room alone. There was no one here. She sensed nothing. It was exactly what she wanted. Setting her suitcase down with a small, relieved sigh, she flopped onto the bed. Maybe things would be different here. The teachers seemed nice, and they’d said they would help her with all the things she saw, and it would be all right. Maybe they even could. Wasn’t that what this school was for?

“You dropped this.”

Sitting up with an alarmed squeak, Celia stared at the doorway where an older girl in an ugly brown dress was standing, holding an envelope. She scrambled off the bed, puffing a bit, and took the envelope back. “Thanks,” she said. Feeling like she should add something, she said, “I’m Celia.”

The girl shrugged and turned to go.

“What’s your name?”

“…Elsa. I’ve—”

“I just got here,” Celia continued. Trying to be subtle, she peered at the older girl, trying to see if she could see through her. “It seems…nice.”

Elsa laughed harshly. “You keep thinking that. Look, I have to go.”

Celia watched until the other girl went around the corner of the hallway. Then she crept out of her room, taking her key with her, and followed—she had to see if Elsa disappeared.

Poking her head around the corner, she came face-to-face with a tall, angry-eyed brunette. “S-sorry—” she faltered, backing up, but instead of moving on, the girl only glared down at her ferociously. Celia began to get that tingling, terrified feeling that told her…

No.

“Get out of here!” the girl hissed. “Get away, get away from here—”

“W-what?” No, no, no—

“Get out of here!” The girl’s voice rose to a scream, but no doors opened. No one came out.

And Celia knew no one else could hear her.

No!

It was about ten minutes later that the dormitory’s adviser found Celia sobbing in the middle of the hallway, completely alone.

Short steps, deep breath
Everything is alright
Chin up, I can't
Step into the spotlight
She said, "I'm sad,"
Somehow without any words
I just stood there
Searching for an answer.

June Ribbon

It was a time for new clothes this year, she grew a little differently each couple of years. One of her teachers offered to go with her to view her progression in public, this was a month or so ago, and she did about as fine as the school would hope for in their students. She was quiet, a little overbearing by the amount of people, and needed a break once in a while to sit.

She was pulling along a suitcase with some old clothes in it, just along the hallway slowly, she'd take it towards the mailing area to have them box and shipped out towards good will. Walking down the hall she noticed a dorm adviser and a girl crying just near the open door of a room. She wasn't as fast to action as the adviser, she figured he'd help her out, otherwise it seemed their meeting would have to wait. June turned a blind eye with a sympathetic smile, not wanting to embarrass the girl of any prying eyes other than that of authority. She's progressed over her years here, but her personality overall hasn't much changed. The way she carried herself, it was hard to tell since she moved in a graceful manner though still seemed fragile and timid. Distant eyes that were always watching curiously for every inch of detail.

Why do my words
Always lose their meaning?
What I feel, what I say
There's such a rift between them
He said, "I can't
Really seem to read you."
I just stood there
Never know what I should do