Multiple Settings Anima Studies

[Solirus]

Vision​

No one appeared to have a question, however, before resuming, Jaquie saw Lola enter the classroom and quickly take a seat, "Apology accepted, just be aware that you'll be standing next to me for the entire lecture if you're late again."

"Anyway, if no one has any more questions, I will continue. As previously mentioned, one of the abilities that we will learn of today is the ability to see anima. Now you may be confused at the statement, as arcanists we already have the innate ability to see anima whether we like it or not. However, there are limitations: when we see anima it appears incorporeal, ghastly even. Demons are no exception, we may see them, but they can also appear like ghosts, and we can't see their anima easily unless wounded. Lastly, anima can't be seen through physical objects. Now, what if I told you we could circumnavigate all those limitations with refined vision. Refined vision, as I like to call it, allows for several benefits, but the main ones we will explore are the ability to see anima through physical objects and more easily identify emotions. To actually start using refined vision, a method I found really works well is to simply close your eyes and try to see through them like if you had x-ray vision. Once you start seeing anima with your eyes closed, slowly open them."

Upon explaining this, Jaquie himself closed his eyes, his expression calm and confident. Those who tried the method would first notice the slight headache they received attempting it. After a bit, however, the students would find that darkness filled with brighter light in the form of the anima of their classmates. Each silhouette produced its own shape, color, and patterns based on their internal emotions.

When the students finally opened their eyes, they could see that the anima no longer blended in with their environment and instead popped brightly, even being visible through physical objects. Those who were more observant too would notice the umbrella lying on the ground had not a trace of anima. Instead, through the wall behind Jaquie, anima in the shape of an umbrella could be seen, the anima flowing in circles like a vortex.

"What do you all see? Do any of you need any help?" Jaquie asked, slowly opening his eyes back. Curiously, his anima was hardly visible, it could almost seem like it wasn't even there.

 

[seasonedcat]

Aries|Classroom
A sheepish smile spread across Aries's face as Jaquie reprimanded him, "My bad, Teach, I will try to do better tomorrow!" he offered out as he took his spot at the front, leaning against the wall beside the board. Aries didn't bother to listen to much of what the others were asking the teacher. It was all just fancy words with little use or meaning on the field. Spending time rotting in a classroom wasn't going to help these worthless excuses of beings from dying in the field.

Aries spent his time observing his favorite little waste of spaces, the demon parasites. First, he looked at Marianne, not that he knew that was her name. She stunk worse than the rest of them, drenched in the scent of an aristocrat. The way she sat and carried herself all made him sick worse than the rest of them. He wondered if her prestigious family had been there and if they had watched everything. He couldn't wait until the day he could rip her apart piece by piece and find out. She no doubt could justify her choices in befriending their enemy; they always liked to do that. Their money and heritage always make them think they are above everyone else and can break the rules and avoid the consequences.

his gaze flicked to Mariana while Marianne reeked of an aristocrat; this one was drenched in just the scent of demon filth. He doubted she came from any sort of arcanist family or any of renown. Maybe the ignorance of her decision made her think that taking in the parasite for power was a good idea. Perhaps this was the only way she could be 'useful'; otherwise, she would fall out of arcanist society. He wished he could get that choice. Either way, she had made the wrong one, and he couldn't wait until the day that he could teach her just how wrong it was.

as Jaquie mentioned Lola being sent to the front the next time she was late, his gaze flicked up to her, his sheepish smile returning. She could likely guess what fate had befallen him to lead to him being sent up front. Aries humored Jaquie's instructions, following them quickly and seeing the umbrella. This was far from the first time he needed to see anima; he didn't bother to comment on this, however, choosing to watch the class of useless baby arcanists attempt this.
interactions| Solirus
mentions| Juju _Yua Watanabe_ November Witch

 

[jmann]

Rook

Rook sat as the class went on, furiously writing notes as, to their dismay, Jaquie actually taught them about anima and demons. With Rook’s $3 notebook and and a half-empty pen, they were a force to be reckoned with. The whole class felt like a fever dream but Rook went with it. Every lull in the lesson found Rook’s mind wandering and drawing stick-figure diagrams of anima and demons.By the first 10 minutes, they had an entire page filled with chicken scratch handwriting a few demons battling super-heroes, and one hyper-realistic eye with the words “anime is the powerhouse of the soul” under it.

As the class went on, they moved on to a new exercise, seeing anima through “refined vision”. Rook closed their eyes. It was a real test of faith. You couldn’t see it unless you wanted to and even then only if you believed you could. Did Rook believe? They wanted to, but does it count if their belief stems from desire more than faith? It was the same reason they never attended church. The free biscuits sounded fun but it wasn’t something so easily faked.

Instead, Rook took a more logical approach. Instead of giving themselves to their new vision and hoping their heart was in the right place, they pictured what anima might look like. It was magic, so they imagined a swirling mass of colour and shapes. Like fireworks and water in oil. Beautiful yet ephemeral. They knew anima had to look something like that. If they were going to see anima that’s what they would see.

With eyes closed, they moved their eyes around the room, trying to picture what was on the other side. The big image of anima in their mind broke apart into smaller chunks as they began to turn around. Spread out among the students at their desks were smaller fragments of anima distinct in their own ways. With the realisation, Rook shot their head down, trying to see their own anima signature. It was a yellowish white colour that crackled and popped like bolts of lightning but swayed as they breathed like a fire in the wind. It moved chaotically in spasms and sometimes very little at all. It was real. Real demons, real magic. They could make it work. They could find their anima. Rook could brand themselves anew.

 

[November Witch]

Mariana Mirror

Status: Nervous, relieved & excited.

Mariana looked to the left as a man showed up. Someone she didn’t remember seeing in class the day before but had been there when she woke up from her possession. The demon had at least explained what had happened the day before… And other times she seemed to have blanks in her memory. It was reassuring to know she wasn’t going crazy, or dealing with memory loss, or even fainting in front of her classmates. However, it raised a new worry for Mariana. Did her classmates see her as a demon or a burden or a problem due to her possession? So far the demon seemed to be snarky, but it didn’t seem to be malicious. Maybe it was only because its life was on the line. But did that really detract from the fact it was helping Mariana and not hurting anyone else?

Mariana ruminated on the thought until her demon spoke up in her head.

‘Be careful of that one. I know that look in his eyes.’

It wouldn’t elaborate further, but Mariana would certainly take note of that. However, she was aware it was a demon giving her information. So, she would take it all with a grain of salt. She’d watch as he was forced to stand at the front of the class. It seemed as if he was watching her, as she saw his eyes stop on her momentarily. Though the biggest tell wasn’t seeing him look her way, but she could feel the way his gaze bore into her. A chill ran up her spine and she fidgeted in her seat. The demon was right, she could just feel an overwhelming presence from his gaze alone. But why? What sort of emotion could be so intense that it would make her feel this way?

The girl would shake her head and clear her thoughts as his gaze moved on and she was freed from its effects and her own thoughts on the matter. Sophia was next to ask a question and it made Mariana think, but the demon just scoffed in her head.

‘What is it with humans’ obsession with souls? We exist just fine without one.’

The demon muttered and would continue to comment on the other questions posed by more students.

‘I’m right here you know. Why don’t you ask the one who can tell you point blank. They must really not like you if they aren’t willing to ask the one who would know better than anyone here.’

It said in Mariana’s head in response to Marianne’s questioning. It just reminded Mariana of how little everyone thought of her…

‘What an imbecile. Do you think animals would just let humans enslave and kill them in the billions if they could use Anima? Of course not! They’d fight back and kill you all.’

Mariana could tell the demon was getting more and more annoyed and frustrated with everyone the more questions were asked. Mariana, however, wrote the questions down in her book, and would write down the answers the teacher, and the demon, gave beside the question. After a few moments, she’d grasp onto what he said next. Sensing Anima. More specifically, seeing it. The girl didn’t even know where to start with this, and immediately became nervous. Would she be able to do it? Could the others already do it? How far behind was she? While her mind was overrun with pessimistic thoughts, the demon partially took over.

Mariana felt something intrusive emerge from within her. Wrong, yet familiar in some way. It guided her in a way akin to a parent or teacher physically taking Mariana’s hands and guiding them into place on an instrument or a bike. Except it was all mental. She was guided by the demon and didn’t even have to close her eyes. Gradually, the Anima faded into existence, and she could clearly see everyone’s. The first she noticed was a person whose Anima was a white-yellow color that looked to be a mix of lightning or fire… It was odd, but a smile spread across her face as she found she was able to do it quite well.

‘Don’t worry, with me here, everything will be a piece of cake. You’ll be ahead of your peers in no time.’

The demon said in an almost bragging tone.

‘Thank you.’

Mariana would tell the demon in her head. Looking down at herself, there was an odd dark purple and red color that swirled, mixing in some areas and separated in others. It resembled water with the way it flowed around itself and how the red parts of her Anima seemingly dripped parts of itself away… It was likely the demon slowly losing some of its Anima, as they all did. However, it had told Mariana previously that because it was tied to her, at the moment, it was gaining more than it was losing. She supposed that was a good thing… Anyone who noticed this would also see that Mariana's right eye, at this moment, was the same red as yesterday when she'd been possessed.

“An umbrella.”

Mariana would respond to the professor’s question.

“Behind the wall.”

 

[Spoiled Bread]

Sophia Hughes
Location: Classroom

The professor's answer to her question was a pretty standard one. She got the same answer from her caretaker, or the professors in Trinity. Though she did notice that Mr. Lawphel didn't seems angry at her question, he appreciates it even, last time she asked this she was called into the disciplinary chamber. Sophia ponders whether she should ask something else to get elaborate answer but decided against it. Maybe for later or she should just ask it in private, She knows very well that not all students would like it if a particular student drags a topic for too long.

As Aries ended up standing next to the professor, Sophia being the one who sat in front of the professor's desk couldn't help but glanced at him too. She noticed that he practically used the opportunity to gaze across the room instead, like a predator judging which prey would taste best. The punishment definitely didn't work, yep.

Professor Lawphel continue with the lesson, this time with something he called refined vision. It wasn't until the professor demonstrated it that Sophia realized it was something she already learned during her many meditation class before. Clasping her hands as if she was praying, Sophia briefly closed her eyes and focused her thought. The moment she opened her eyes her vision had changed to something more akin to a thermal vision, but it detects emotion rather than heat. Sophia's looked at herself, her anima was mostly composed of bright yellow and white color, though there's several faint black lines that looks like blood veins here and there.

Scanning the the classroom with the vision on, Sophia was interested on how the other's anima would look. Rook's anima looks really excited as it jumps around him like electricity, she wonders if that's how he really feels or if she just misinterpret his aura. Mariana's aura definitely confirms her being possessed, Sophia was a bit worried that the demon's anima seemed to be flaring up briefly but since the professor's didn't seems concerned she decided to trust him. Speaking about the professor...

"Sir Lawphel, are you suppressing your anima?" Sophia asked him. She had heard about something like that before but never actually seen it in person so the fact that the professor barely had any detectable anima piqued her curiousity.

 

[Verite]

Valerie Vu - Classroom

​

Initially, Valerie had to furrow her brow a bit as Jacquie continued talking. Indeed, as he surmised, she was a bit puzzled at first at the notion of there being a difference between seeing anima, and truly seeing anima. But then, maybe she shouldn't have been so surprised. Probably made sense that there were more layers to this stuff. Thus, she remained silent as Jacquie continued to explain the phenomena of refined vision, and invited the students to try to activate this state of sense themselves.

Surely, it can't be that easy, right?

With a mental shrug, Valerie did as she was told and silently closed her eyes, attempting to strain her mind in order to tap in to this refined vision. All she got for her trouble was an odd headache, as if she'd thought herself into a state of pain. That was, until her vision began to brighten up and take shape as numerous colors suddenly filled her closed eyes. She gasped out softly in surprise; truthfully, she didn't think this would actually work. All she had to do was do it with feeling, and it worked? Well, maybe she just had a natural knack for this anima stuff after all!

"O-Oh, wow... Hehe, this is so cool..." Valerie murmured with a soft giggle, barely able to contain her excitement at this new revelation of what she could do. She glanced around, her eyes still closed, as she tried to take in the forms of her classmates' anima. Rook's energetic aura, Sophia's warm anima, and Mariana's... well, Valerie didn't want to say it looked off, for she hardly knew enough of this world to be able to tell what constituted as unusual, but something about it did look a bit out of the ordinary! Or should she say, extraordinary? Probably just because this was her first time trying this sort of thing. Nothing to worry about.

For her part, as Valerie opened her eyes and was exposed to the full breadth of the anima in the room, looking down at herself to take a look at her own anima's shape. It was radiant and bright. Attention grabbing, but not blindingly so. Her form was engulfed in a strange, almost ill-fitting mix of deep blue and warm pink, the same shade of blue that outlined the manifestations of white light she'd cast the day before, while the pink almost seemed to match her dyed hair and her signature jacket. An air that was undeniably Valerie Vu.

Ecstatic at the new world opened up to her, Valerie couldn't help but continue giggling in glee, like a young schoolgirl privy to a forbidden secret. Still, she kept her wits about her and also noticed the discrepancy regarding the umbrella, but remained silent about it, letting Mariana and Sophia voice her thoughts as it was.

 

[Yakov011001]

Nikklaüs had finally decided to give the lecture his undivided attention at the prospect of learning new techniques. Refined Vision, huh? Not a very cool name. But still something worth learning, for sure. Closing his eyes, Nikklaüs began to rifle through his soul looking for whatever the hell it was Jaquie had asked of them. Honestly, he ought to experiment with this in his own time; only with his first summoning of Zantetsuken had he become aware of his soul in the capacity of a muscle he could feel, actuate, or otherwise work-out. Now that he knew he could search it for new abilities, he had some side work to do. That though, was a thought interrupted by a headache that overtook him. Who the hell are you?

Me?

He felt a small schism in his mind in that fraction of a second, mended almost instantly. I'm you, bruv. Calm down. Right, only me. I don't know what I was thinking. I'm sure it's nothing. Hearing a small arcing of electricity beside him, Nikklaüs opened his eyes to see that Zantetsuken had summoned itself somehow. Perhaps as a result of his digging around in his soul the way he was. It ascended from a hole that appeared in the floor. It was then Nikklaüs noticed he'd invoked Refined Vision, seeing the Anima spiral inwards around Zantetsuken like it was pulling energy out of the air. Taking it into his hands to observe, the hole it had come from sealed itself back up.

It made Nikklaüs return to his notes with a fervor.

 

[Juju]

seasonedcat jmann Solirus November Witch Yakov011001
━ ◦ ※ ◦━​

Marianne could feel the malicious gaze of Aries long before she spotted those lightless eyes from across the room. It seethed from him, so much that she was absolutely sure that even someone without a drop of anima talent in their blood could detect it. To understand, without any spoken confession, that someone wished to kill you was perhaps one of the last primal instincts humans had left.

Likewise, one of the other remaining evolutionary heirlooms was fight or flight. Unlike dear Aries, stuck in front of the class like a caged lion on display, Marianne did not indulge in either of these simple instincts.

Marianne had seen his glare a hundred times. Sometimes the eyes were brown, sometimes green, sometimes red. Exposure had dulled its lustre. It is why she simply looked up from her notes and locked eyes with the spiteful lion in his little cage. She wanted to let him know that she knew. Then she returned to writing, as if nothing had occurred.

While Aries’ bloodthirst did not frighten her, it sparked a rage in her chest. To wish harm so recklessly, so mindlessly, was one of Marianne’s Cardinal Sins. It was people like Aries who shouldered the blame for the creation of demons. In a way, she half hoped he would attempt to attack her. Cutting him out of the picture would do the world a whole deal of good.

Annamarie turned her head to stare at Aries, her posture upright and tense. While she did not summon her scissors, her hand lay stiffly open in her lap, as if prepared to grasp its hilt at any moment. Throughout the rest of the lecture, her red gaze never strayed from Aries. If she had been paying any attention to Lawphel, it had been replaced.

The tension hung in the air even as the professor continued onward with the lecture. Compared to the speed of yesterday’s class, Marianne was surprised to already be covering Refined Vision. Mind you, it was a pleasant surprise. This was the only advanced technique she had managed to grasp, so at this rate it meant that soon she would be moving forward in her studies.

A few stray sparks of anima from beside her was enough to let her know that Rook was excited as well. Marianne couldn’t help but crack a smile, though she hid it mostly behind a lock of bangs. In a way, she was reminded of how triumphant she had felt when the basics finally clicked. It also took some effort to resist laughing at Rook’s overeager examination of their anima’s core.

In the corner of her vision, Marianne spotted an anomaly in her own. A little flair of rose. How careless, she thought. Sloppy technique from a lack of focus.

The rose bled back into the burning crimsons and stark black, solidifying into sharp points like the rest. Her anima did not flow or pulse, instead orbiting in thin and spindly lines, as if made of glass shards all condensed into a thorny sphere, like some long-spine sea urchin. The colours bled outwards along the quills, like ink in water.

Meanwhile, Annamarie’s remained untouched. The colours mirrored that of her twin closely, all burning crimsons and blacks, though there were more variations in the hue with flecks of white and violet mixed in. Unlike her twin, Annamarie’s anima looked like interlocked pieces bound together by a web of black, like a panel of gothic stained-glass. There was a delicate mix of chaos and order, held together in a beautiful latticework. At least, Marianne saw it that way.

Content with her anima's return to order, Marianne heard her classmate offer the professor yet another question. Come to think of it, the umbrella's location was odd, but this did not surprise her. Professor Lawphel's talent with anima control was impressive, so much that Marianne couldn't help but feel envious. To be able to mask one's anima so well would be a priceless boon. Once more, she was reminded of just how far she needed to go in her studies.

Hmm... he certainly lives up to the Lawphel name, she thought. I wonder what's his technique...and if it could be used with Annamarie.

Marianne's eyebrow twitched in annoyance when she sensed the tell-tale signature of Mariana's demon. The creature seemed to still be in an inactive state, meaning that Mariana was in control, but somehow she was wreathed in its anima. Was it helping her? Cooperation between host and demon was temporary in possession cases, as the creature often needed their host to survive. For this reason, Marianne thought little of it other than disgust.

The black spurs of her anima shivered.

While she intended to go back to reviewing her notes, something else caught her eye. Suspicious, Nikk's sword was summoned again. At first she had believed it to be a self defence mechanism, something that unfortunately supported her suspicions that Nikk could be possessed. Now, it mostly seemed like he just didn't have any sort of control.

Actually, after all the fuss this morning, she decided she shouldn't really care. In a huff, Marianne swiftly turned her attention elsewhere, back to her notes. There was so much for her to improve upon, there was no use worrying so much about her classmates. In fact, if she spent so much time with the study group then she was cutting into the time she would better use for training. She glanced at Rook's notes, witnessing the chaotic mess of scribbles and... is that a doodle of a demon? They actually did a good job at keeping notes, or at least she thought so. It was difficult to read most of the page.

Marianne narrowed her eyes. Balancing the two was merely a matter of time management. If she failed to accommodate both, it was merely a failure of organization and commitment. Her anima sharpened, glowing brighter as if just struck on a forge.

 

[Tiguidi]

COBALT ULAR
Location: Classroom​

The notetaking continued in fervor as Mr. Jaquie delved into refined vision, which allowed arcanists to properly perceive anima in a visual fashion. When fighting against spiritual beings, the power to sense them felt like an obvious skill to have. While Cobalt’s expression was blank, he was very excited at the idea of trying out all these techniques. So, seeing anima through his eyelids would be the first step...

Repeating the motions instructed by Mr. Jaquie, Cobalt closed his eyes and tried to imagine the normally-invisible force appearing before him. It felt strange to attempt this without really having an idea of what anima exactly looked like, but he figured it shouldn’t be too difficult to accomplish. In a way, he knew what he was looking for, after all.

It took him a few moments, as Cobalt was slightly taken aback by the sudden ache that assaulted his skull when he tried to concentrate, making his eye wince. But as the pain faded away, he was greeted with the abundance of colors in the classroom.

The first thing he noticed was his own anima. Much like how he used his anima art, he appeared as if engulfed in unnaturally-colored flames. But what emanated from him wasn’t a fiery aura of passion like what would usually be paired with flames, but more like a calm, gentle warmth enveloping his body like a cozy blanket. “That was… surprisingly easy…”, he mumbled to himself, examining the anima surrounding his body. He then took a moment to look at everyone else’s, noting the differences with his own. So everyone really had different and unique anima signatures. This was so fascinating!

Mr. Jaquie’s anima -or rather, his nigh-lack of it, was ironically most notable amongst the sea of colors, with the same being said about the umbrella next to him. Furrowing his brows in curiosity, Cobalt opened his mouth to speak but some of his classmates had the same thought as him and spoke up about it first.

"Sir Lawphel, are you suppressing your anima?" That confirmed his suspicions. It would make sense that something like this would be possible, especially if detecting anima felt so simple once one was used to it.

“An umbrella. Behind the wall.”, Mariana had said. Directing his gaze to the wall behind Mr. Jaquie, Cobalt’s mouth took on an ‘O’ shape as he noticed what she was talking about. Was it also possible to use anima to misdirect others using refined vision?

“Whoa-!”, Cobalt let out. He had seen something in the corner of his eye and turned toward Nikklaüs, surprised at the sight of his sword coming out of the floor. Was Nikklaüs expecting to fight again? Perhaps it appeared by itself? “Um, are you sure it’s wise to simply break the school’s -oh, no, okay, alright…” Cobalt’s voice trailed off as the hole in the ground promptly repaired itself once Nikklaüs plucked out the sword.

---

Solirus Yakov011001 / everyone in the class

 

[Yakov011001]

"Oh this?" Nikklaüs lifted Zantetsuken for a moment, answering Cobalt's question. "I just wanted to see how it channeled my Anima, or rather how my Anima channeled it. Look at this," He gestured to it, and then to the umbrella hidden by the wall. Then to each individual in the classroom. "We can see the Anima now, the energy. Look at how it's all emanating like an aura, pushing to fill as much space as it can. For each and every person, their Anima pulses outward. But here—" Nikklaüs highlights Zantetsuken again, but also himself. "—my Anima, it flows inward. Like a vacuum trying to fill an empty space." Nikklaüs' Anima, contrary to all the others in the room, was colorless and almost invisible. Instead, it looked like a distortion in the air, like a change in density or like the visual distortion of a heat wave.

"I just wish I knew what it meant," He reflected for a moment before regarding his inquisitor once again. "Cobalt, i'n't it, bruv? I didn't get much time with the lot of y'all yesterday, so I apologize in advance if I've mistaken some of your names."

Tiguidi

 

[Solirus]

Oneself
November Witch Spoiled Bread Yakov011001 seasonedcat Juju jmann Tiguidi Verite
​

Isaac carefully took notes on the class, appearing more calm now that his mind was working to learn something rather than overthinking social situations. Still, however, he avoided eye contact with the professor, instead trying to look at the board. It didn't help either that Aries stood at the front of the class, what seemed to be an attempt at humiliation turned into an opportunity for Aries to stalk all of them. It didn't sit well with poor Isaac, who stared at his notebook to avoid further eye contact. However, when the professor began talking about refined vision, Isaac pondered for a second, closing his eyes. What was it supposed to be like, to try and see through? Was it like trying to use your mind to open a door, except in this occasion it was like x-ray vision? Isaac attempted that and to his surprised it worked, followed by a headache, but now he could see so much more.

He saw the colors and forms of his classmates, their unique and fluctuating anima, it was fascinating, but if he could see them, then surely they could see him staring. Isaac looked down on himself, ashamed at the prospect that others might take his staring for creep behavior. As his anxiety rose, Isaac could more clearly see his anima. It was a light red storm from its epicenter and what Isaac believe to be his soul, purple, began staining it, further energizing the storm within him. His hands too went from the light red to a more bold and resplendent color. Could this be how he was able to use his power? He pondered, his anxiety dropping and his anima returning to a calmer light red.

“Great job, everyone, seems like most of you are already getting the hang of it.” Jaquie appeared pleased by the results he was seeing, “Good catch Mariana,” Jaquie turned to face the wall, “That umbrella is my real one, this one I have on the ground is a fake. Objects themselves can have anima, and it's pretty handy to have one yourself, but we'll talk about those later on.”

Jaquie turned to face Sophia, “You are very much correct, Sophia. This is one of two methods of hiding anima, which we'll discuss later today.”

“A bit premature, don't you think?” Jaquie jokingly spoke as Nikklaüs had seemingly used their anima art involuntarily, “Anima arts tend to be unique, variations are bound to occur.” Jaquie turned to face the entire classroom, referring to them all. “That being the case, I can't give normal lectures on developing anima arts without excluding the vast majority of the class. As such, I provide personalized tutoring lesson to help you further understand and hone your own unique abilities during my free hours. After class, I'll provide a slip to schedule said lessons, I highly encourage you all to find time for it.”

Jaquie then cleared his throat, “Anyway we'll continue shortly once everyone's accustomed to refined vision”

 

[Tiguidi]

COBALT ULAR
Location: Classroom​

Cobalt furrowed his brows at Nikklaüs’ statement, letting out a hum as he pondered. “True, you seem to be an exception to that rule -if it is a rule in the first place, of course. Even with refined vision, I need to focus more than usual to see it.” He tapped his finger on his chin before shrugging, giving Nikklaüs a relaxed smile. “But hey, we’re in the right place to learn what it means so I wouldn’t worry too much.

“Yup, it’s Cobalt.”, he added, brushing off the apology. “Err, I can’t say you missed that much. The tea party was fun and all -food was delicious, though it got a bit… awkward at a point…” He ended it at that, not wanting to be caught chatting during the lesson. He wouldn't want to stand next to the teacher for the whole lesson (or suffer any other punishment Mr. Jaquie had in mind).

---

Yakov011001

 

[Solirus]

Dismissed​

"Alright, we're now going to discuss identifying anima and hiding it." Jaquie said, turning away to draw another person shaped figure surrounded by anima. "I will introduce both ideas today, as we're running out of time for today's lecture." Jaquie finished drawing a second figure, this time with the anima enveloping them a lot smaller and closer to the chest. "Hiding anima is at best a neat little trick for arcanists which later becomes crucial once one deals with stronger and smarter demons. The main technique we'll learn today is suppression." Jaquie turned back to face the classroom, his anima became more visible, but soon started shrinking in size until only a small light could be seen coming from his chest. "Suppression causes an arcanists anima to reduce to the extent that it resembles the anima of a normal person. To accomplish this, you must simply pick an emotion to feel and suppress it to the point that it is no longer there. That'll take practice and at most if you all try it right now you might get 50% at suppressing your anima, so it's certainly something you'll have to practice a lot. However, one thing to note, is that suppression will make your anima dependent abilities weaker and make you more vulnerable to attacks, so practice it under safer circumstances."

With that topic swiftly explained, he bothered with no time to continue his lesson, his anima rising again. "Now, for identification, that's just a simple practice when using refined vision, anima is made from the emotions of people and aside from being unique per person, certain emotions can have similarities. Color, shape, flow, all those things can help you identify how a person or demon is feeling which can become useful to determine intention: perhaps the demon is afraid and is about to run away, or maybe it is fueled by nothing but bloodlust, and it's ready to pounce you at any second. These can also be useful against arcanists, figuring out their core emotion and then exploiting it through mental warfare. Now, why would we want to deal with other arcanists if our main job is to neutralize demons? Because bounties for arcanists exist, and competitions. There's also spirits, but that's a whole other can of worms that we won't have to worry about." For a second Jaquie leaned onto the board and looked up directly into the ceiling, a grin creeping into his face before facing the class again.

"Back on topic, the best way to practice identification is to used refined vision and observe the anima of people as they experience certain emotions and feelings. Sometimes their face will be a dead giveaway, but sometimes their expression will lie to you. Now before we wrap up this lecture, we'll do a little practice, I'll clearly feel three certain emotions, and you will all try and identify them, feel free to share them out loud or to yourselves"

Closing his eyes, Jaquie took a deep breath, his mind seemingly wandering. Slowly, his glistening and brilliant anima shifted to a dark blue color, the perfectly smooth corners melting away and lightly falling to the grown like droplets. The form of the sphere slowly breaking apart until it no longer resembled its former self and simply seemed to hang onto Jaquie's soul.

Soon however the mess that was Jaquie's anima swirled back into shape, it spun around in a golden yellow torrent, the waves of anima kept never ceasing, like a celebration of the soul they crashed against each other.

However, soon Jaquie's anima for the third time changed. The golden hues switched to a dark crimson red. No longer did the anima swirl, but instead it hovered expectantly, the anima felt dangerous, its shade enveloping everything around it with a single intent and desire. His anima seemed to gain spectral eyes staring directly upwards, and soon Jaquie opened his eyes staring upwards.

"I'd hoped that someone would've noticed, but since the beginning of the class, we had a special guest with us." From the ceiling of the classroom, a figure slowly seemed to materialize from thin air. It resembled a spider twice the size of a man with only two human arms. The most striking part of the demon was that it hugged the ceiling and hardly moved an inch, their gaze directly fixed onto Jaquie. Their anima too was striking, it was predominantly purple with spectral legs trying to dig out the ceiling, the flow of anima too was chaotic, but it all moved away from Jaquie's position. "That is a rank III demon, and what's special about it, is its ability to hide its anima so well that it can avoid detection from inexperienced refined vision. It hasn't tired anything because if it makes a move it'll die, but it is still so desperately tries to survive. So instead it hides, hoping for its escape. What do you think it feels?"

Spoiler

Instantly, Jaquie's anima morphed into a gray and unchanging sphere, seemingly unaffected by its environment. The demon reaching its breaking point, lunged at Jaquie, the intensity of its anima could be felt across the room, like the weight of a boulder on their shoulders. Jaquie remained composed and with a simple clap of his hands the demon was crushed paper thinly by an invisible force, the anima slowly falling from above like specks of dust and dissipating without a host to contain them.

"Apologies for that, the demon was getting too unstable, anyway by the end of the year, you should be able to take those types of demons easily." Jaquie's anima returned to a radiant white and clapped his hands again, nothing happening, "Class dismissed, however, before you leave for the day." Jaquie opened his desk and pulled out several sheets of paper and laid them in front of his desk, "Here are the papers to schedule private tutoring, fill them out whenever you can." Jaquie sat down on his chair, a tired smile covering his face, "If you have any final questions for today, feel free to ask them now, but besides that, you're all free to go for the day."

 

[Verite]

Valerie Vu - Classroom

​

Once the high of being able to see and register the anima of other people and objects began to die down, Valerie composed herself once again and got back to work copying Jacquie's lecture into her notebook, though not without a small but excited flutter in her heart as she realized she truly had entered a brave new world.

She nodded along at the teacher's words regarding suppressing one's own anima, and how -- naturally -- such an act was tied to one's own emotions. Suppressing emotion meant suppressing anima, and it took practice to accomplish this in any meaningful way. Despite Jacquie's warning that it should be practiced at their own discretion, Valerie found her thoughts wandering at that moment about how she would personally go about suppressing herself.

Her anima was all about making a splash. She could recall during her first encounters with demons, and despite the fear at meeting such unsightly monsters, she also felt a sense of jubilation once she realized that she could do something special, something normal people couldn't. A sense of joy at realizing she was privy to something others weren't. So what, did she have to go out of her way to suppress feeling happy? Sheesh, that sounded like a bummer in of itself, but who knows? It might make the difference between life and death if she was gonna continue down this rabbit hole of a life anyway.

Valerie thought of her father.

Her Ba. She loved him, but she couldn't deny, he was someone she felt a bit nervous to even think about right now. Just a week ago, her life had quickly hit a brick wall, what with college being a bust and her other resources drying up by the day, but she didn't want to tell him about that. In the interest of not hearing a lecture, but also because she just didn't want him to worry. Hmm. Valerie looked at herself, but found that the suppression in her anima was barely noticeable, even to herself. So much for that. No matter what anxieties she might come to associate with him, her father was someone she could always trust to make her happy. So then, what else did that leave?

Valerie thought of her mother.

Her aura quivered. The vibrant colors in the blink of an eye became more muted than ever before.

Her eyes grew dim for a moment as she pursed her lips. That's all she had to do. And she'd have to get even better at doing it as she'd go along. Figures.

Valerie cleared her throat softly, her head perking up as Jacquie proceeded to change the topic now to identification. Without another thought of that woman, Valerie went back to furiously writing down everything she could catch from him. How to identify anima and the emotions associated with it. She pursed her lips uneasily at the thought of the world of arcanists evidently being a bit of a cutthroat society where one had to snatch every opportunity for the bag at every corner, but on the other hand, maybe it wasn't so different from the normal world anyway.

Once Jacquie began to do a demonstration of manipulating anima with different emotions, Valerie narrowed her eyes as she tried to concentrate on the display. She was certainly able to observe the difference between each of the three forms, though if she had to put each emotion into words, she'd have a bit of trouble there. Not that she'd have much time to think on it before Jacquie would draw attention to something else, something that apparently had been watching them all this time.

"Huh? Who's--AIIIIIE!" Valerie began, before seeing the giant spider that had been watching over them this whole time. She let out a sharp shriek, and just as quickly, the demon was crushed to death by Jacquie's power. And as nonchalantly as if nothing had happened, class was dismissed. Her heart was still beating a bit from the startling sight of that shiver inducing creature. Valerie had no great love for spiders or any creepy-crawly really, especially one as big as that, and even though Jacquie left no trace of it, just the thought that it had been there the entire time made her want to vomit.

Barely able to hold herself back, once Jacquie officially dismissed them, Valerie in a hurry packed up her things and bolted upright, hastily taking a tutoring paper before practically making a dash out of the room, as though her greatest need in that moment was to just get away and find some place, anywhere, in which she could calm herself down.

Even as her emotions were a wreck, the logical side of Valerie's brain could only think, how utterly embarrassing for a grown ass woman like her to be that freaked out by some bug, even an overgrown one like that, but she just couldn't help it!

 

[Juju]

━ ◦ ※ ◦━​

Marianne was a little annoyed at the two boys talking in the middle of class, but her only objection manifested as a small sigh and the rolling of her eyes. For a school known for handling the most unstable cases of arcanists in the world, the obedience requirements in class were appallingly lax.

Eventually, order was restored and Lawphel continued on with the lecture. Marianne’s pen hardly left the paper, her eyes narrowed with focus. A mere 50% of anima suppression was unacceptable. The act was familiar to her, though she could not say she had the same grasp as the professor.

Then there was the matter of identification. While Marianne could confidently say the patterns of her family were usually clear to her, her skill in interpreting outsiders was quite lacking. This was not to say she never went to social events, it was just, well, her interactions were rather limited.

She examined the emotions offered forward by the professor and frowned with effort. The first one looked melancholic, like woe or grief? Maybe just general sadness? The next was wild and light… maybe the sense of relief or freedom? As for the last one, well, she could fancy a guess as soon as their ‘guest’ was revealed.

Annamarie stood from her seat in a whirl of motion that was all jerky movements and fluttering cloth. Her arms cranked back, fingers cloaked in vibrant red as she prepared to summon the scissors. She looked ready to launch herself into battle had it not been for Marianne placing a hand on her shoulder. The doll looked back at her twin and paused.

The air was thick with the demon’s anima, enough to let Marianne know it was far above both their talents. Letting Annamarie try her hand at attacking it would only spell disaster for her beloved twin. Instead, she watched with careful, suspicious eyes as Lawphel quickly dealt with their so-called guest.

“I imagine it felt quite desperate…” Marianne muttered in disgust. Her gaze traced the motes of fallen anima, “and a great deal of pain.”

Despite how quickly the demon was exterminated, Marianne’s face only held contempt, and not just for the creature. Her fingernail tapped against her desk as the professor apologized in a manner that would befit a minor inconvenience or lateness to a meeting. Was this some sort of power-boasting display? Or was this merely a measure of how little they could trust in the safety of these walls? Was it a threat? A reminder? Regardless, it only served to display a lack of responsibility from all those responsible.

If anything, it made it easy to pick an emotion for Marianne to suppress. Red-hot anger was boiling up, bubbling and sizzling at the back of her throat. Rage was not the right word, nor fury. Something was wrong, very wrong, and it needed to be fixed. Erratic, ugly brushstrokes were littering the canvas of a better picture. How disgusting.

Marianne closed her notes, tightly weaving away the desire for perfect retribution until it was a little spiked ball in her chest. She tucked her book and pen away within her purse and stood, expression porcelain. "Pardon me, Rook, but I'd like to have a word with the professor."

She made her way over to the front, where Lawphel invited questions to be shared. There she stood, flanked by her pale shadow of a twin. They both moved in sync, eyes level and staring with the same coolness.

“Excuse me, Professor Lawphel, sir. Do you mean to imply that this demon was capable of infiltrating the school and remaining unchallenged to the point it posed a potential threat to new students?” Marianne asked, keeping the annoyance from her voice with practised composure. As for her anima, well that remained to be seen.

As outspoken as she was towards her peers, it seemed that she could keep her anger on a very tight leash when faced against figures of authority. There were many, many other things she wished to say, but respect or perhaps fear kept her logical.

She added a little more pointedly, “Should students be concerned with their safety while traversing the halls and grounds? Had one of us arrived to class before you, they could have been seriously injured or worse.”

This was more than just a generalized concern for safety, it was personal. She knew all too well how insidious even the smallest of infestations could be. If one rat could get in, there was no telling what else could worm its way through next. A compromised defence was no defence at all.

Perhaps it was a good thing she hadn't arrived to class early this morning.

 

[Solirus]

Misunderstanding
Juju
​

Jaquie watched as Valerie swiftly left the classroom. He didn't appear too bothered by the display, but showed a slight hint of worry. Though, his attention snapped back to Marianne, upset to say the least at the idea that a demon had snuck into the academy. "The demon didn't sneak into the school, I dragged it into the classroom just this morning to show that even though refined vision can show many things, refusing to hone it can leave you vulnerable, and besides." Jaquie removed his glasses, staring directly into Marianne, his expression dead serious, "Your safety and livelihoods are guaranteed for as long as I am here."

Jaquie put his glasses back on, boldly placing both his feet on top of his desk as his demeanor relaxed.

 

[Juju]

Solirus
━ ◦ ※ ◦━​

Marianne didn’t flinch at the abrupt change in Lawphel’s expression. In fact, it put her mind at ease more than any word he could say.

The pins in her chest sharpened, but this time at her expense. Just like the clockwork, all the pent-up wrath turned inwards. It drowned out the relief that struggled to surface and washed over her thoughts. Foolish. Blind. She should have known better. This was a folly of observation, of reason. It was a projection of past trouble. Next time, she could not make the same mistake.

She cast her gaze sideways, pinned on some unimportant space on the floor. “Ah, I apologize for the misunderstanding then. I am unaccustomed to such, well, unorthodox methods. To think a third grade demon could be restrained in such a manner… I did not think it possible. I’d be curious to know how you accomplished it.”

Whenever she raised her gaze again, she immediately regretted it. Once again, he had propped his shoes onto a desk. Just what sort of manners had he been raised with? Any reverence she held was mixed with irritation and disgust. It was enough to almost crack her focus in suppressing her anima.

Oblivious to the two, Annamarie tilted her head and inquisitively peered up, where the remains of the demon’s anima fizzled out like dead embers. There was hardly anything left for her, but she seemed transfixed by it. Or maybe not. Her changeless face didn’t really support either, and her anima was almost as chaotic as the creature she was examining.

 

[November Witch]

Mariana Mirror

Status: Nervous, frightened & proud.

Mariana felt a small smile pull up at the edges of her lips. Despite herself and her mood, she couldn’t help but feel proud she was able to find something the others didn’t. Or, most likely, were too slow to catch. She was proud.

‘All that was because of me, you know. Don’t get all proud when you didn’t even do anything.'

‘Thank you.’

‘...At least you’re polite.’

A pause.

‘I don’t understand you.’

‘What do you mean?’

Silence.

The lecture continued. Well, only a little longer. Half of it was briefly going over suppression. The other was answering questions and talking to the students. He glanced at the ceiling momentarily after speaking about identification and emotions. Mariana followed his gaze, out of curiosity, and saw it. Something vaguely spider-like. Its Anima was odd and… Not right. Not like the others in the classroom. Mariana visibly tensed up as she stared up at it. It took her a moment to realize, but it was a demon. Something horrible. Icky and wrong. She felt a chill travel up her spine and a cold sweat broke out.

She risked a glance away towards her classmates. They didn’t notice it. She was the only one yet again… Mariana was starting to think maybe she did belong here, if she was picking things out before her classmates while being so inexperienced. Someone cleared their throat. It was her demon.

‘You’re welcome.’

‘Thank you.’

Her demon scoffed. The teacher simply carried on the lecture like it wasn’t there, acting out emotions for everyone to guess. But how could Mariana focus with that thing in the middle of the room! It was right above her classmates! What if something happened to them? Should she attack it?

‘Well, it would serve them right after how they treated you yesterday. I say you let it have its way with them.’

‘No, it's fine. It’s fine, right? It has to be. Surely the teacher knows… Oh! Maybe it's a test like yesterday!... right?’

Her demon let out a laugh in her head but didn’t elaborate. Mariana’s eyes glanced from the teacher to the demon and back.

“U-Uhm…”

Mariana raised her hand nervously. However, the teacher went on just as she finally decided to voice her concerns, and the topic was the demon she was going to point out.

“I-I did…”

She muttered out so quietly no one would be able to hear it. Well, that was what she got for not saying anything sooner, she supposed.

‘Speak up next time. Or, better yet, let me talk for you.’

Mariana ignored the voice, and focused on what her teacher was saying. However, such an obvious question was asked, she didn’t think she needed to even answer it. Obviously it would feel fear, maybe anger, desperation, rage…

When the spider lunged at the teacher, Mariana stood up and froze. In between wanting to help and wanting to run. But just as suddenly as it leapt at the teacher, it was crushed so thin it was basically a 2D object now. Mariana let out a sigh of relief, only to realize a few black tendrils had emerged from her body, ready to leap into action. As if they were itching to get into the fray.

“What are you doing?!”

‘Nothing… now that its dead.’

The tentacles retracted into Mariana and she shuddered, as this was the first time she’d seen anything like that come from her own body. A sigh came from her other half.

‘Too bad. No fun for us.’

“Fun?!”

Mariana tensed up, realizing she’d been speaking out loud for the past few moments. Thankfully, they were tense whispers. So they weren’t very loud, especially with others talking, it was likely her voice was drowned out. However, those close or with a very keen ear may have heard the few lines that had slipped out into the open air. She nervously sat back down, and straightened her clothing, an embarrassed look on her face. She looked down at her desk, attempting to calm her racing heart from the situation that had just spurred her heart into overdrive, and the accompanying embarrassment from her blunder.

However, she would also catch some of Marianne’s words with the professor. She sounded pretty mad. She used her refined vision with the help of her demon and observed Marianne’s Anima. She couldn’t see a change, but it was to be expected, she supposed. Mariana was brand new to this all.

‘She said grade three. Is that strong?’

‘Very. I remember when I was around that strong. I was still free to do whatever I wanted. Now I’m stuck inside disgusting, limiting, flesh and blood.’

Mariana didn’t know how to respond to that, so she let it be for now. Though seeing how mad Marianne got at the teacher made her want to say something, she soon apologized… Mariana wondered why. The still half possessed girl stood, and walked to the front of the class.

“I noticed it earlier, but I thought it was just going to be a test like yesterday. If I knew it was a big deal, I would have said something.”

She murmured to Marianne. Mariana didn’t know why she was. It wasn’t her responsibility. But she felt compelled to for some reason. Even the demon was asking her, sounding quite annoyed. Perhaps Mariana’s yearning to be accepted and acknowledged had something to do with it. However, it was true that Mariana also failed to grasp the gravity of the situation and just how powerful the demon was. Only having the words ‘very strong’ to describe it didn’t give her a great frame of reference.

 

[Yakov011001]

Nikklaüs thought on Cobalt's remark about the tea party. Awkward, in what way? He wanted to ask, but the lecture continued and Nikklaüs didn't want to miss out on anything important. Anima suppression though, was it something he really needed? I can hardly detect my Anima as is, will learning to suppress it actually even do anything? Whoa, whoa, whoa. What the fuck is that!?

His eyes snapping up, Nikklaüs was mortified to see a demon that Jaquie classified as Rank III. A spider of overwhelming size—like, at least Australia-level of fucked. Still, he held some comfort in Jaquie's disregard of the thing; seeing his demeanor left the impression that this was planned, even if he claims the thing was hiding. How did I not notice it? I must need more work than I thought. Jaquie immediately followed through on his unspoken promise towards his prowess by obliterating the damn thing instantaneously.

"Oh my good goddamn!" Nikklaüs couldn't help but shout, a bit startled by it's sudden crunching. Reflexively sliding his seat back at the motion, before taking a breath to calm down.

In that time, it seemed like Marianne'd found a bone to pick with their teacher. Something Nikklaüs couldn't help but shake his head at. Such a proud, headstrong woman, to so easily dismiss the confidence of a professional's many years of experience and prowess as reckless incompetence. You fuckin' stupid—ugh... He pinched the bridge of his nose.

Still, he needed her help with one other thing, as much as he hated how much he was asking of her. He wanted to experiment with Zantetsuken, but unfortunately he didn't have a very great way of doing that alone. Nikklaüs needed a sparring partner, but having witnessed all the anima arts in his class so far he really didn't think anyone else's would be able to help in that way. He could sign the sheet for private tutoring, but he'd be queuing up against the whole class. Who knows how long it'd take for Jaquie to get to me? He couldn't wait for any extended period of time to figure out the fucking fundamental basics of his arte what it does. Still, even if he was dizzy coming back to the dorms yesterday, he did catch a glimpse of the study group she was hosting. I don't want to get in the way. Especially when a study group like that probably wouldn't be his speed anyway. But that meant he was shit out of luck.

Unless—

"Hey, Poppet," Nikklaüs tapped on Annamarie's shoulder to get her attention. Marianne hopefully too busy with her strange challenge of authority to notice. "Could I borrow you for a while? I need your help. Or do I have to go through Marianne?" In hindsight maybe that last question was a bit rude, but he noticed she didn't seem to have a lot of agency of her own. "I'd've asked her already, but she seems to have a lot on her plate at the moment and I don't want to add anything more. Especially since I pissed her off—uh—again... this morning." He became sheepish on the tail end of his request. "I could—uh—teach you some ASL in return? Give you some way of communicating a small bit easier without help."

Juju

 

[Tiguidi]

COBALT ULAR
Location: Classroom​

Cobalt focused back on the lesson as the subject switched to Anima suppression and identification. Those were some of the advanced techniques he had hoped to learn today. Suppression to hide, and identification to, err, see even better. Yeah, that made sense. While he knew that emotions played a part in the manipulation of Anima, he hadn’t expected them to be that important. That fact made him a bit nervous -Cobalt wasn’t exactly the most expressive boy out there. Whether or not that was good or bad in regards to Anima manipulation was up for interpretation.

While Mr. Jaquie continued the lesson, Cobalt tried his hand at suppressing his Anima. ’Pick an emotion to feel and suppress it… He makes it sound so easy…’, he sighed internally. He pursed his lips as he attempted to repeat the process, brows furrowing. He could feel the soft flames that shaped his Anima flicker, yet nothing of note happened; his was still as bright as a beacon. ’No, this isn’t working…’ He tried again, trying to picture his thoughts and feelings diminishing, like fire lacking fuel. But unfortunately, his Anima wasn’t fire, and thus kept burning bright. He clicked his tongue -he was definitely doing something wrong. Well at least Mr. Jaquie and even Marianne would probably help him out.

The slight frustration he felt quickly got replaced by a brief instance of surprise at the reveal of the large, spider-like demon that had apparently been there the entire time. “The hell!?”, he exclaimed, his own Anima briefly flaring in response. It calmed down immediately after, as Mr. Jaquie utterly annihilated the demon -which looked pretty powerful, by the way. Cobalt couldn’t help but wonder if he could also attain such heights. “Man, what an end to the lesson…”, he mumbled.

A hand rose to adjust his ponytail as he watched with mild amusement Marianne get up from her seat and head towards Mr. Jaquie as soon as class was over. “Ohh boy, Marianne’s mad.”, he mumbled to himself, only loud enough to be heard by those close-by. And, as it tended to happen, Kare-ahem, Marianne got shut down by the teacher (yet again).

Of course, he didn’t hesitate in taking a sheet for private tutoring as he passed by Jaquie's desk. Now he wasn’t sure if Mr. Jaquie was forced to spend his free time tutoring students out of class hours or if he did out of the kindness of his heart but Cobalt wouldn’t waste that opportunity.

“Whew, didn’t expect the surprise at the end there.”, Cobalt mentioned once he got out of the classroom, shoulders slumping down. A slight headache still remained, maybe because he had essentially used refined vision for almost the entirety of class.

 

[Juju]

November Witch Yakov011001
━ ◦ ※ ◦━​

“Hmm? Why are you apologizing?” Marianne said sternly. Perhaps a little too much. Realizing this, she softened her words a bit and gave a more casual, understanding shrug, “What I mean to say is who could blame you for assuming as much? There’s no way you could have known. Not with a curriculum full of surprises, at least. Seems we all need to adjust.”

Speaking of apologies, Marianne probably owed Mariana one too after the fiasco yesterday. Although she was still a little irritated over her good intentions turning sour, it was her fault in the error of communications. Her chat with Nikklaüs last night had made her realize that being so harsh probably wasn't the best approach for the flighty girl.

Then again, was it really a good idea to bring it up when Mariana was already upset? In her head, she struggled to come up with some sort of words that wouldn’t make the girl cry again. Was it better to wait, or would that make things more awkward? Why was this so hard? It was so much easier back home.

In all her fuss, she almost glossed over an important detail. How did Mariana see the demon in the first place?

Marianne held a hand against her chest in shock, brows raised inquisitively, “Hold on a moment. You mean to say you could see through the spider’s obscurity? That's, well, that’s quite impressive!”

She held a finger to her chin, a storm of thoughts behind her eyes, unleashed through rambling words, “Theoretically, that should require an expert grasp of refined vision, not even counting any potential demon arts it may have used to mask itself. Why, it’s not even been a fortnight and… oh...”

Marianne’s face blanked, lips pursed, as it all clicked. It must have something to do with her possession.

Still, her eyes could not hide the glint of curiosity. Was this a case of some demonic symbiosis? Mariana hadn’t been in direct danger, so it was unlikely that this was merely self-preservation. If the girl could tap into this talent at will, then this was truly an extraordinary case of possession. At least, as far as Marianne’s knowledge went. Perhaps a trip to the family archives was in order.

“Hm, I see.” Marianne muttered, tilting her head to the side as she stared intensely at the girl in front of her, observing the messy anima, “Just what else can you do? Say, you wouldn’t happen to know the rank of that demon, would you?”

Despite the delicate topic, Marianne didn’t have the same righteous fervour as she did the last time she brought it up. Both she and her anima were focused, calm, and inquisitive. Of course, as was the norm with the more outspoken of the Montgomery Twins, this was not destined to last.

---

Annamarie's attention on the crushed demon was broken by a light tap on her shoulder. Nikklaüs could feel the stiffness underneath the black fabrics she wore, quite unlike the soft flesh that should normally create a shoulder.

Her head swivelled towards him, red eyes locked onto his own as he made his request. As he spoke, she tilted her head to the side in an inquisitive, or perhaps confused manner. Her response was simple. She nodded her head at his request for help, though it also came right after the question regarding “going through Marianne” first, making it a little difficult to tell just which part of the question she was agreeing to.

The mention of ASL seemed to pique her interest the most. At the mere mention of it, she brought a finger up to rest under her lips in a look of thought. She blinked.

Then, in a burst of crimson, her scissors manifested in her hand. Only this time, they were not the same sword-length blades. Instead, they were small enough to be considered an ordinary pair of fabric cutters, though they still kept the intricate detail and sharpness.

Annamarie held out a hand towards Nikk, snipping her scissors idly in the air with the other. It looked like she wanted him to place something, presumably his hand, onto her empty palm. She seemed to be offering some sort of help, though without a specific “help”, it may be a little open-ended…

The clicking of the blades was what alerted Marianne.

She instantly halted her conversation with Mariana, sputtering, “Annamarie?”

She whipped around, grasped her twin by the shoulders, and brought her close. With a half-turn, she positioned herself between Nikk and Annamarie. The scare had made her heartbeat quicken, and the one responsible summoned up the nearly suppressed anger yet again.

Of course it was him.

Gently, she cupped a shaky hand over Annamarie's scissors until the red motes fell down and evaporated. Her hand filled in the empty space, intertwining with the doll’s fingers and lowering her arm to the side.

Hand in hand with her twin, Marianne rounded on Nicklaus. Her eyes were narrowed, and her brow scrunched up into an all too familiar frown. There was more than just anger there this time, though. She seemed on edge, anxious beneath the outburst.

“Nikklaüs!? Just what do you think you’re doing?” she hissed, pulling Annamarie a little behind herself in an overprotective manner.

 

[November Witch]

Mariana Mirror

Status: Nervous, happy, & awkward.

“Because I thought…”

Mariana trailed off, fidgeting with her hands in front of her and looking at the floor. She didn’t know the answer to that either… Why was she apologizing?

‘Because you think it will make them pity and empathize with you. But you already learned they won’t. Just go back to your seat and sit down.’

The demon chided her. Mariana took a step back and was about to turn around and follow the orders until Marianne spoke up once more. Mariana listened to the other speak nervously, until an unexpected phrase of praise came from nowhere. Mariana’s face rose to actually look at Marianne and her eyes shone.

“R-really?”

She asked, meekly yet hopefully. Until the other’s face seemed to go blank and her lips pursed. Mariana’s own face mirrored the other’s and it fell a little. What was wrong? What did the other come to the realization of? Did she suddenly remember Mariana had a demon in her and remember she was supposedly evil? That’s what Mariana thought the others thought of her, anyway. But her next question simply confused Mariana further. What did that even mean?

“Uhm… I don’t know, I haven’t tried anything other than refined vision. But I don’t know what rank means… so I couldn’t tell you.”

She watched as Nik and Marianne started to get into it with one another. According to the demon, it happened yesterday too. Mariana didn’t want to be rude and leave in the middle of a conversation. But her demon was trying to get her to leave.

‘They obviously don’t care about your feelings. So why do you care about theirs? It's just a conversation, you can always talk to her later. Even if you shouldn't.’

It said, but Mariana wasn’t sure. They were at the teacher’s desk anyway, so she took one of the papers for the individual time slots and read it over as she stood there, trying to decide whether to leave or awkwardly stand there through the two’s bickering. It was obvious too. She looked nervous, awkward, and kept looking between the two and the stuff on her desk. She’d probably take any chance to leave this situation anyone offered her, be it a conversation or an invite to something. If not, she’d continue to awkwardly stand there while the other two fought amongst themselves.

‘I don’t understand you. You’re like a puppy in need of a master. Just let me take over and I can be that for you.’

 

[Yakov011001]

Nikklaüs raised a brow at Annamarie. The way you could see that she was in some level of thought was the closest he'd seen to an emotion from her. Then she flashed the scissors and it got him a little confused. What was the plan here? What was she cutting and/or severing? Surely it couldn't be him right? Nah, it's definitely me, it's gotta be. Still, if the Montgomery twins know better than he does, who is he to question? He brought his hand forward to place in hers.

"Nikklaüs!? Just what do you think you’re doing?” But Marianne forced herself between them at a speed and fervor he wasn't expecting.

For the first time, Nikklaüs flinched in the face of it and his heart started to race. The way she yelled at him, and even the way she said it: he wanted to get away from all the reminders. Hey, hey. Don't think about her, she can't hurt you anymore. Besides, it'd be stupid to project that onto Marianne, when he saw the anxiety that lie underneath her. Still, it took damn near every fiber of him to not run away at that.

"I-I just—I was only—" There was an uncertainty, a shakiness in his words that foiled his normally confident self. Use your words. "I had asked a favor of her. I thought that surely, you wouldn't want me bothering you again," His form shrunk as he continued, clutching the hand he'd offered close to his heart. "Maybe, I should ask someone else?"

Juju

 

[Silent Child]

Leo was so absorbed in his drawing that he barely noticed the professor's greeting. He rubbed his eyes, feeling the strain of staying up late. He quickly switched how he held his pencil from sketching to writing mode, realizing he had no notebook with him. He sighed, knowing he would have to use his precious sketchbook for taking notes today. At least the lesson involved some drawings, so he could blend them in with his own. He copied everything he could from the board, trying to retain some of the information.

He felt a sudden shift in the atmosphere when Aries entered the class. Leo sensed the hostility radiating from him, as if he was challenging everyone in the room. Aries was assigned to stand next to Mr. Jaquie, who seemed unfazed by his attitude. Leo wondered if this was part of Aries' plan, to get closer to the teacher and his secrets. Leo avoided looking at him, but he still felt the pressure of his intense gaze.

He also felt the defiance of Marianne, who was sitting in front of him. She gave Aries a glare that spoke volumes, before returning to her notes. Leo tried to peek over her shoulder, hoping to catch some extra details he might have missed, but he couldn't decipher her elegant cursive.

He had just snapped back to the lecture when Lola arrived, late much to his surprise. He didn't even notice she wasn't in class yet. He felt a pang of guilt, realizing he hadn't checked on her this morning. He was supposed to be a good roommate, but he had been too busy with his own problems. He gave her an apologetic look, hoping she would forgive him. The teacher scolded Lola briefly, before letting her take her seat and resuming the lesson.

Mr. Jaquie explained how to see anima, the life force of everything. Leo found this concept very familiar, as if he had done it before. It was more about being aware of your surroundings in a special way, rather than only using your basic sense. He focused hard, until he finally saw the anima around him. He was amazed by the sight. He saw his own anima first, which was a tiny flame of pure white. It was so bright that it almost hurt to look at. It seemed pure, but also fragile, as if any change in the environment would affect its color. He also noticed a faint trail of his anima, leading from the door to his seat. He wondered what that meant, but then it faded from his sight.

He looked around the room, curious about the others' anima. Valerie had the most dazzling one, a few bright cilors that swirled around her. Pink and blue, demanding everyone's attention. Nikklaüs has a- was that a sword? Leo quickly realized he'd seen this sword before since Nikklaüs used it in the last battle. He was as flashy as ever whether intended or not, showing off his anima to everyone. Leo glanced at the rest of the class, but only a few had severely striking anima. He knew his own anima was not impressive, but rather... unusual.

The teacher's lesson on suppressing anima also resonated with Leo, as he had almost always tried to hide himself. He had concealed his presence for many years, and that must have affected his anima as well. He wondered what would happen if he opened up more, or if he suppressed himself even further, to the point of being invisible. This was something he would have to find out later.

He was surprised by his own reaction when the spider was revealed on the ceiling. He was not afraid, but rather startled.. He could see the spider's anima, a dark blob of fear and hunger. He guessed it was scared of Mr. Jaquie, who had unleashed his own anima, a powerful wave of pressure that crushed the spider in an instant. Leo watched the creature dissolve into nothing, and then looked at the others. Most of them were shocked by the sight, or by the fact that there had been a demon hiding among them the whole time. Class was dismissed not even a minute after that, signaling the end.

The spider seemed to anger Marianne, who stormed to the front and confronted the teacher. She accused him of endangering the students, and demanded an explanation. The teacher remained calm, and tried to reason with her. Valerie also left the room abruptly, looking pale. Maybe she hated spiders. Leo glanced over as Nikklaüs brushed by him approaching Annemarie, the creepier of the twins, to talk. Leo ignored their conversation, and instead grabbed his sketchbook, putting it back in his bag. He went to the front and picked up a tutoring paper, slipping it between some pages of his sketchbook. Ok, I'll try to add on to your story.

He felt the urge to check on Valerie, who had left the room in a hurry. He wondered what had scared her so much, and if she was alright. He decided to follow her, hoping to find her in the student lounge. He grabbed his bag and left the class, ignoring any curious looks from the others. He walked down the hall, looking for any signs of Valerie. He called out her name softly, hoping she would hear him. "Hey- Valerie? You here?"

 

[Solirus]

Isaac​

Diligently, Isaac had taken notes, trying to write down the steps to the process before feeling it out. Though some concepts yet eluded him, he preferred to remain quiet, surely in the future classes they would go over them more in depth. Although since no one was asking the questions he had in his mind, then surely it meant that everyone already understood the topic. Perhaps Isaac could ask a question later in class once it was over and everyone left, unless the teacher left too.

The thought passed his mind before his attention was grabbed by the teacher once more discussion identification, which sounded more like simply looking at someone's anima and interpreting it. The first emotion Isaac saw from the professor seemed extremely soft and gently, but fragile, was it sadness or depression? The next one was filled with vigor and movement, the color had also changed considerably, perhaps that represented some sort of happiness. The last one the professor showed was something awfully familiar, Isaac instinctively held his breath, his heart rate increasing. This was murderous intent and even though it was not aimed at him, he felt in danger. What was it even pointed at, Isaac wondered following the trail to the ceiling where at first he couldn't see anything, but finally as the professor spoke further he saw a spider like creature seemingly materialize from thin air.

The overwhelming pressure from the demon felt like as the whole ceiling had fallen on top of him as the creature desperation launched it forward into its death, squashed like a bug. The pressure finally relieved itself and Isaac found himself breathing quickly like he'd just finished a marathon. Others seemed to hold their composure a lot better, which only added shame to his current situation. Looking back at the professor, he noticed the professor's anima, and its new form, it seemed so odd, it didn't move or express, it simply existed ignoring its surroundings.

Isaac finally stopped using refined vision, his head dizzy and in pain. Heading to the front of the class, Isaac excused himself and picked up one of the sheets for private tutoring. Perhaps he should leave the class now and ask his questions later, but he couldn't simply wait to ask some other day. He needed to know now, before the question slipped his mind, so for the meantime Isaac returned to his seat, placing down the sheet and reading it over.

The paper was simple, it merely asked for one's name, the day you'd be available and what times worked best. The odd part of the paper was that at the bottom, there was an empty calendar with the title: 'don't write in the calendar'. Perhaps Wednesday before lunch would be a good time for tutoring, Isaac, thought and as he wrote it down, he could see the calendar at the bottom of the paper fill itself. Soon in all the sheets, Isaac's name would appear, taking up a slot on Wednesday morning.