Hope's Peak Academy. They say it's one of the top schools in the world- no, the top school. Because everyone who goes there- the select few that go there, if I may add- are Ultimates. The best of the best in their fields. Absolute legends. The G.O.A.T.s. People with talents so great that you'd think they were given magical powers. Skills that one can't even begin to comprehend the level of. And then there's me.

Hi, I'm Sophie O'Reilly. The Ultimate Digital Artist, on a good day. I'm not sure how I ever managed to get that title, but here we are. Invited to Hope's Peak Academy. Like, how the hell did some kid like me get selected to go there? Friggin' Hope's Peak, like are you serious?

Sorry, sorry. I just can't believe I'm here. Standing in front of the front doors, the school building towering above me. The crest gleaming in the sunlight that's managing to peek through the clouds. I'm actually a student at the world's greatest school. Oh my god.

I take a deep breath, adjust the strap of my satchel over my shoulder, take another deep breath, force myself to stop bouncing, and finally take a step inside. The front hall is massive, with marble columns and tile floors in which I can see my own reflection. Upon seeing my reflection, though, I quickly tuck a loose strand of blue hair behind my ear and fix my posture. As a digital artist, my posture is obviously slumped and terrible from leaning over an iPad for hours at a time, but my new classmates don't need to know that. Shoulders back, head up... good to go.

But as I lift my head up, the world begins to spin and I begin to feel... dizzy. Did I move my head too fast? The world swirls in and out of focus, and no matter how hard I try to ground myself, it doesn't help. Finally...

The world goes black.

***

The first thing I hear are seagulls and the crashing of waves. I feel a warm, light breeze on my face, tugging on my hair. I feel the grainy texture of sand particles beneath of my arms as well. I don't remember Hope's Peak being anywhere near a beach.

I can see the sun through my eyelids, but still don't open my eyes just yet. Maybe I'm just dreaming, because this sure as hell ain't a school. I think back to the front hall of Hope's Peak, and how I blacked out. Oh no, I must've fainted from anxiety. That's really embarrassing. How am I going to show my face in public to some of the most skilled people in the world if I basically dropped dead at the thought of being in the same building as them? Maybe an introvert like me isn't really cut out for this kind of thing. Still, though, I do have to wake up from this before I humiliate myself further. Is there a chance that nobody's seen me on the ground yet?

I open my eyes. Bright sun immediately blinds me. I squeeze my eyes shut again. Man, I really must be passed out, because this dream is incredibly realistic. A side effect of having a big imagination, I guess. I open my eyes again. This time, my eyes are able to adjust some more to my surroundings. I'm lying beneath a palm tree, its thick leaves swaying softly in the breeze. Oh well, I'm definitely screwed by now, might as well enjoy this cool dream before I have to face the harsh, embarrassing reality that awaits me when I wake up. Then, I realize that someone's face is inches from mine.

I yelp, sitting up and scooting backwards in surprise. The person, a small figure with green eyes, jumps back a little.

"Sorry!" he exclaims apologetically. "I didn't realize I was too close to you!"

I take a minute to rest my poor, aching heart before I respond. "It's okay. This dream is really realistic."

To my surprise, his expression darkens. "Right. Um, this isn't a dream."

"What are you talking about?" I laugh. "I walked into Hope's Peak Academy for my first day today, but when I entered the front hall, I-"

"Got dizzy and passed out?" he guesses.

I pause. "...Yeah. But you'd know that because this is a drea-"

Slap. I shriek in surprise, my hand flying up to my cheek in shock. The kid looks appalled.

"I'm sorry!" he stammers. "I was taught to never hit a girl- but, I thought that if you felt pain, then- I didn't want to-"

He's right though- I very much felt that. In fact, I felt the sand, I felt the breeze, I felt the sunlight in my eyes...

"This isn't a dream," I say.

"This isn't a dream," he confirms.

"So then, how the hell...?" I trail off.

He shrugs. "No clue."

I then realize something. "Wait, if you were at Hope's Peak, that means..."

He gives an embarrassed smile. "Yup! Oh, I guess I should introduce myself. I'm Caim Fields, the Ultimate Steampunk Engineer!"

"Steampunk Engineer?" I repeat.

"That's right! It's my specialty. I mean, I can tinker with other stuff, but the real talent's in the steampunk stuff!" Caim grins, then turns red. "N-not to brag, or anything, though."

"Don't worry, that's not bragging. In fact, it's f*ckin' awesome."

"You really think so?" His expression brightens.

"Of course." I look around before adding, "So, are we just stranded on an island, then?"

"Well... more or less. It's not really a Lord of the Flies situation. C'mon, I'll show you. You're the last one, as far as we know." Caim motions for me to follow him as he begins making his way up the beach and into the verdant foliage.

"I mean, hey, I'm not complaining. I love tropical islands," I say as we walk. "I'd take it any day over a desert wasteland or something."

"Oh yeah, the island's pretty cool so far. We haven't done a whole lot of exploring, but we did split up to start getting a feel for the area. Because there were fifteen of us and we knew there'd be one more student in the class, I volunteered to come down here and wait to see if anyone else wound up where we all were when we first got here," he explains.

After a minute, the luscious grass, trees, and flowered bushes give way to a dusty road that we begin to follow.

"I don't think I ever got your name," Caim says suddenly, turning to me with wide eyes. "Sorry, I should've asked!"

"Don't worry about it," I laugh. "I'm Sophie. Ultimate Digital Artist."

"Digital artist?" he repeats. "Whoa. Sounds really cool!"

"Glad you think so. Though it's not nearly as cool as steampunk engineering."

"No, it's definitely cooler."

"Nope!"

The dusty road gives way to dirt as we approach what seems to be some sort of ranch. Behind wooden fences, cattle and other livestock graze in a green-grassed pasture. A barn and stable stand behind the corrals. And at the front of it all, a sign dangles above the entrance to the area, labeled 'MORANITY CORRAL' in painted white letters. I'm not sure what a 'moranity' is, but it doesn't matter as soon as I see two people emerging from the barn and approaching fast. They stop when they see Caim and then wave, only to notice me and immediately start approaching faster. Are they about to gang up on me? Because both of them are pretty intiomidating.

The first one, a wild-haired brunette, flashes me a grin. "So you're lucky number sixteen, huh?"

"Y-yeah, that's me," I say. Between the fur-lined-hooded vest and the necklaces of varying animal teeth, I'm slightly worried that this guy is a bit wild.

He must've caught me staring, because he laughs and says, "Relax, I don't bite. I'm Rori Andrade, nice to meet you."

"Wilderness Survivalist?" I repeat after he tells me his Ultimate talent. "That's... really cool. And explains the outfit, I guess."

"Relax, I didn't kill anything for these," Rori smiles. "The fur's fake and the teeth were given to me by my mom. I don't wrangle anything... sorry, what's your name?"

"Sophie," I say. Hard to be confident when I'm competing with bad*ss names like 'Caim' and 'Rori'. I'm hoping for a 'Fred' or something.

"Sophie, huh?" I turn to look at the second figure, and by god is she gorgeous... in a platonic way, of course.

Her long, dark brown braid sways in the light wind as she extends a hand. "Furfur Jaye, Ultimate Geologist."

I know damn well that my face flushed as I shook her hand. But she's pretty, okay? We're all a bit of a simp for hot women at some point. Also, her name definitely isn't Fred. Great- I still have the most basic name here.

"Sophie's the Ultimate Digital Artist," Caim announces proudly.

"That explains the colorful look," Furfur says, giving me a solid up-and-down look. "I appreciate a fellow person with half-dyed hair."

"What can I say? It's just that cool," I reply. God, that was awkward. I guess Furfur is just too cool for me. And just too cool in general. How is she not the Ultimate Bad*ss? The title of Ultimate Geologist doesn't deserve her.

"Furfur and I are gonna finish exploring the stable, but we'll be heading back to the hotel when we're done," Rori says, snapping me out of my very platonic thoughts.

"Okay.  Nice to meet you," I say before quickly turning and walking away, Caim hot on my heels.

"Hey, wait up!  I didn't realize how excited you'd be to meet everyone!" he says as he finally winds back up at my side.

Yeah, that and the fact that I needed to stop staring at Furfur like an idiot, I think. How am I the only one who was staring?

"Oh, I'm so pumped to meet everyone," I reply.  You know, like a liar. "So, where to next?"

"I mean, since we're already going in this direction, why not the hotel?" Caim suggests. "There might be some people there."

We continue back along the dusty road until a large row of what seems to be small cottages comes into view.  They're all connected by a bridge and rest above square pools of water that span the entire perimeter of each cottage. Not gonna lie, I'm kind of loving the aesthetic.

"Pretty nice, huh?" Caim asks, as if reading my thoughts.  "They're for us. They each have one of our names on them."

He squints down the line of cottages before adding, "Hey, I think I see some people!"

He is, in fact, correct.  I'm able to hear the argument before I even see the fight that's happening.  Luckily, I manage to see it quickly enough that I don't run face-first into the back of a large figure with a ram head printed on the back of his torn sweatshirt.  I don't know what this massive guy is even saying, but he's pretty pissed.  Until he turns around to storm off and nearly plows me over. 

"Who the hell's this?" He raises an eyebrow at Caim.

Caim smiles and points to me as he says, "This is Sophie!  The Ultimate Digital Artist."

I'm flattered that he keeps mentioning my Ultimate as if it's some sort of title.  Move over, 'Queen' or 'President', it's 'Ultimate Digital Artist''s time to shine.

"Oh," the guy grumbles, crossing his arms. "You're the last one, then.  Name's Tristan."

I am not surprised when I find out that he's the Ultimate Street Fighter.  I think I could've come to that conclusion on my own, but oh well.  That's one talent I'll be making sure to not forget.

"So, why were you guys fighting?" Caim questions.

Tristan narrows his eyes. "The little twerp doesn't think I can parkour."

"Well street fighting and parkour are two different things.  Besides, if I didn't film it, it didn't happen," a new voice interjects.

Behind Tristan is a less-muscular- but still muscular- young man in a beanie.  He has a small satchel of sorts- kind of like mine- slung over a shoulder.  He raises a hand in greetings towards me.

"Hey!  Sophie, right?  I'm Will Jones," he says. "If you ever need something filmed, I'm your guy."

"He's directed and shot so many incredible films and won so many awards, and he's just in high school!" Caim whispers into my ear. "I've watched a few while working."

"What about Tristan?" I whisper back.

"He's been to jail several times."

"Good to know."

I didn't even realize there was a third person until the sound of splashing draws my attention to the large pool standing a few yards ahead of me.  Sitting by the water's edge is a light-brunette in a baggy blue blouse.  He gives me awkward finger guns before moving to get his feet out of the water and come say hi.

"Nice to meet you, Sophie.  I'm Zeben, spelled Z-E-B-E-N," he grins.

"Hydroponics?" I repeat after he says the word.

"It's like farming, but you use fish to help the plants," he explains in what's probably the simplest possible words for the situation.

"So farming but cooler," I say.

Zeben laughs. "Definitely."

"I'd love to chat more, but if you're looking to get Sophie introduced to everyone, there's a group in the hotel lobby and restaurant," Will points out, gesturing to a building behind the pool. "Just a heads up."

"Thanks for the tip," Caim says to him.

"Nice meeting you, Sophie!" Zeben calls after us as we continue down the path.

My head is spinning. This all feels like a really awesome dream. Obviously it's not, thanks to Caim clearing that all up for me- my cheek still hurts, though- so that means it's actually happening. Which is a great thing. Still not sure how I got here from Hope's Peak.

But as of right now, I sure as hell ain't complaining.

***

(2366 words)

Sorry it's so long ;0; I wanted to fit in as many introductions as I could before ending the chapter. Initially, everyone got introduced in the first chapter, but obviously that would be way too long to put into a single chapter (there are in fact sixteen students this time! A FULL roster!!). Instead, I figured I'd just use whatever characters I'd already made the profiles of and run with it.

Also, that's why I haven't had much art in the art book. The profiles have been taking a lot of time. Thankfully, I've got about six more left to draw (maybe five? I think five-), so I can probably get out another chapter within the next few days. I do have a softball game tomorrow so if I somehow have time after I get home, I might be able to post Chapter Two.

ALSO ALSO none of the students were created specifically for this game! Try to see who you recognize from other stuff as we go ;)

Okay and on one last note I feel legally obligated to say that Zeben is definitely my favorite design. I didn't mean for him to turn out so well and he gives Rantaro Amami vibes for some reason-

OKAY OKAY THAT'S IT SORRY I'M JUST SO HAPPY THAT CHAPTER ONE IS DONE!