Fantasy Astrella's Boarding School for the Powered ~ Main

[WeaselThor]

Spoiler: ALT & Blitz

The two kids wound up sitting together due in part to them being the first two on the bus and in part to no one wanting to sit with the boy known as a potential conquering overlord. For Alex thr ride seemed to last forever, the little girl not only fidgeted incessantly but she talked so much that Alex wondered if she even needed to breathe. Luckily he didnt seem to offer enough of an ear as she was also jabbering uncontrollably to four other adjacent students asking if they knew where we were going. She even zipped over to the teachers a few times asking if they were there yet. When they finally arrived at the scene Alex hadnt even gotten out of his seat before Sephy was out of the bus zipping back and forth exclaiming excitedly at every tree, stone, and creature she saw before being reigned in by the man who began speaking.

Alex on the other hand sat silently the whole trip only occasionally answering Sephy's questions with short half sentences and single word responses. When the bus stopped he shifted to the now vacant edge of his seat and waoted for each other student to step off before he made his way off the bus. His foot touched the ground just in time to hear that this was indeed mandatory. Even more so annoying when he stepped off ue was almost immediately swarmed by annoying moths who fluttered around his face and body. He thought he saw other kinds of bugs to but wasnt paying enough attention as his mind was miles away in the lab as per usual. It wasnt until they came into what was once a ruined building that his attention was captured and he looked around with a breif look of bewilderment.

Sephy was basically everywhere the whole walk. In fact it quickly became apparent why so many chaperones were needed, hell Lu Dao basically spent all of his time coralling the Hyperexcited Sephy. When they finally gave her a pewter stone she seemed to fill with excitement and stand still for longer than a few seconds which likely brought a sigh of relief to the chaperones. When ALT received his stone he immediately felt on edge, as if he knew something horrible waited for him the moment he heard the phrase mindscape. "I Dont think this is a good idea..." he said to the Guide with obvious fear in his voice.

Deathkitten

 

[WeaselThor]

Spoiler: Kid Dynamite & Miss Glory

Junior was excited for two reasons once he piled onto the bus. The first being the field trip, the second was who he managed to be sitting with. Gwendolyn was awesome, and pretty attractive even with her cybernetic augmentations. The two spent the entire trip catching up on old times when they were little and would hang out while their dads were off smashing bad guys. Both agreed that their teamups would be even better than their folks and even managed to come up with a few combo's before the bus stopped and Miss patriot told him she would he busy for the rest of the time.

He was bummed out sure but he knew she was more serious about this education than he was. After all she had to learn how to build herself up to the point where she could fill her dads massive multi billion dollar shoes. Whereas he was born with the power to surpass his old man it was only a matter of time before it happened. Yet he seemed to lighten up as soon as he left the bus and his feet left the ground. Though he didnt go far he opted to float rather than walk. After all if he was stuck wearing his damned suit 24/7 he sure as hell wasn't gonna dirty it up. But hey no random atomic lasers is a pretty good trade off.

As they walked Miss glory had a cocky half smile as her legs off-road subroutines seemed to be working fine without so much as a single misstep. Which freed up her eyes to fully appreciate the majesty of this massive forest, not to mention the guides backside which had its own majesty to it. When they finally came to a stop she was sure he had caught her looking but instead of mentioning it he began passing out these pewter stones and when he got to her he was about to hand hers to her when Junior did a slowmotion backstroke through the air between them and took the stone first singing "Just so you know he isnt the only one who caught you Gwen." "Shaddup ya Idgit." gwen said with he tell tale twang playfully swatting him away with her left arm and taking her stone with her right one. As she rubbed her cold metal fingers over the stones electronic sensors sent information to her brain confirming these stones smoothness that her eyes saw. God how she missed being able to fell texture.
Deathkitten

 

[Deathkitten]

Omura watched Miss Glory hold the stone in her hands. She was paying close attention but what was the issu-Ah. How silly of him. Of course. Strange that she didn’t have top of the line prosthetic limbs. There were ones that could feel... heck, they were working on making those all the way back in 2018... though he did suppose they were rather expensive. He wasn’t supposed to do anything. This him was supposed to be a good little butler. This him was separate for a reason. But...

Oh his master wouldn’t be too angry at him, would he? As he slipped his pocket watch back into its resting place, he flexed his fingers ever so slightly. A ghostly wave of sensation would come over Miss Glory’s fingers, all the way up to where the arms connected and became true flesh. There. She could feel the stone now.

Omura tried to hide a small, sly smile as he looked to another that expressed concern. He looked so fearful, and, at least in his case, for good reason. He sighed and thought for a moment, “Mr. Tardis, your predicament does indeed look to be quite the unique one. Your mindscape is disconcerting. All the same, this is very important for your progress at the school. If you’d like, I could accompany you to your mindscape. Typically it is a rather private affair, but I don’t mind making an exception if you don’t mind it.”

He smiled sweetly, comfortingly at the boy and offered his hand to him, “I promise you, it will be fine. I’ll be there to make sure of it, and if you don’t want me there, then I’ll be out here to make sure of it. You have an insane amount of magical energy, Mr. Tardis. What your going to get as a result of this will reflect that. I think you’ll be excited.”

(( WeaselThor Very short. Basically just answering his concern.))

 

[Kyrenka]

~Taylor Walker~
​

Shit. Taylor couldn't help but seethe at the patronizing smile Omura gave him. Pleasant experience my ass. The man's words did little to comfort the blond. Did he mean waking up every night or just in general? Most people had nightmares so he probably meant frequent night terrors. While Taylor didn't have nearly as many nightmares as he did before, he still had them more frequently than he assumed most people had them. How messed up will my mind be because of it? Were nightmare frequencies even a good indicator? Gritting his teeth, he looked away. Glancing around the room, Taylor's heart sank as he watched students eagerly fall into trances with their runes. Can I fake it? Desperately, he whipped his gaze back towards Omura but the perceptive man was occasionally glancing over despite being in a conversation with other students. Shit.

The mage squeezed the stone and noticed that his hands were sweating. What was he afraid of anyways? It was just a vision! A hallucination! Anything he would see couldn't hurt him; besides, less nightmares meant more pleasant experience, right? Swallowing, he noticed that his throat was suddenly dry too. Don't be a pussy. With that, Taylor finally forced him to stare at the rune again. He wasn't sure if it was because he already knew what to expect or because he was so keyed up, but the pull of the stone was much more noticeable this time around. For a moment, he panicked and nearly looked away again, but the mage forced himself to continue staring. There's nothing to be afraid of....

Taylor blinked, and suddenly the stone was gone. Did I drop it? Focusing on the floor, his breath hitched. What was once cold stone was now covered in a dark, reflective layer of blood. He wasn't unused to the sight, his power was blood-related after all, but it was a shock to see that his surroundings had changed so quickly. Experimentally, the blond lifted his foot up. Blood dripped off of his foot but it didn't stain his shoe or sock. Symbolism? Taylor let out a groan. Of course they were learning while doing weird voodoo shit. Bitterly, the blond was starting to wonder what appeal he had seen in school several months ago. Setting his foot back down, he noticed that the floor was smoother than the previous stone flooring from before. Frowning, he glanced up to take in his surroundings. It was completely black and empty, with no walls or ceiling in sight. Is the spirit world trying to tell me that I'm empty-headed? With his luck, he was probably some kind of cosmic joke and the gods were laughing at him right now.

Frustrated, the blond screamed, "How the fuck am I supposed to find things if it's empty!?" Silence. The hair on the back of Taylor's neck stood on edge. For a moment, he couldn't quite pin down what was wrong. Then he heard it. It was faint, but there were footsteps behind him. Omura? He swore that he was going to be pissed if that guy was in his head. Whirling around, the scathing words he was going to say died on his tongue.

He hadn't been expecting to see her. His mother, yes; the woman had haunted his nightmares for years. His father was a hopeful option, but Taylor had wanted to remain realistic. However, his parents were nowhere in sight. Instead, his grandmother stood before him. "Nǎinai?" The word left him in a breath, but she smiled in acknowledgement.

It was disturbing.

Her face wasn't right. Time had blurred the details of his memories and trauma had buried most of the things before his father's death. Her proportions seemed to shift and flow as if her frame were trying to diffuse into the air. His heart clenched as he realized that this was his fault. His father and his mother's appearances were burned into his mind, but he only had fragmented memories of an older woman coddling him and whispering loving praises.

"Ẉ̹͎̹̞̰h̼̮͢a̗̫͉͝t̳ d̦̥̠i̸d̡̪̮̺͍ ̠̠̖̦̺͎͓y̤̠̙͍ó̰̣u̞͓͚̝̮̩̮ ̟̲͎̹̯d͖̺̟͇̦̹ǫ?"

Taylor flinched at the sound; if that's what it could be called. The voice was unnatural and was more like an intrusive thought than an actual voice. It makes sense, he thought, I can't even remember her face so how would I be able to remember a voice? The blond's eyes darted around in an attempt to see what she was talking about. The space around them was still empty, but the sensation of sticky wetness began to seep into his shoes.

"Ẉ̹͎̹̞̰h̼̮͢a̗̫͉͝t̳ d̦̥̠i̸d̡̪̮̺͍ ̠̠̖̦̺͎͓y̤̠̙͍ó̰̣u̞͓͚̝̮̩̮ ̟̲͎̹̯d͖̺̟͇̦̹ǫ?"

She wasn't smiling anymore. It was hard to make out her face, but Taylor could feel her disappointment. What? Why? Confused, the mage said, "What're you talking about?"

Something splashed behind him, causing him to whirl around. The space behind him was no longer empty, instead his mother was lying on the ground. He didn't need to check to know that she was dead. Behind him, he heard wailing.

"Ẉ̹͎̹̞̰h̼̮͢a̗̫͉͝t̳ d̦̥̠i̸d̡̪̮̺͍ ̠̠̖̦̺͎͓y̤̠̙͍ó̰̣u̞͓͚̝̮̩̮ ̟̲͎̹̯d͖̺̟͇̦̹ǫ?"

Was she implying that this was his fault? That he was responsible for what his mother did? Fury swept through him as Taylor whipped back around. "What I did? What I did?" He gestured wildly behind him as he roared, "IT WAS HER FAULT! SHE DESERVED IT!" The blond's breaths came out in puffs as he let out a wordless scream of rage and turned back towards his mother's corpse. It was gone. Furious, Taylor let out another howl of anger. I did nothing wrong! None of this is my fault!

It took a while, but the soft sobs from behind him eventually broke through the roaring of blood in his ears, causing him to suddenly deflate. Turning around once more, he watched his grandmother's form kneel on the ground with her face in her hands as she cried.

"Ẉ̹͎̹̞̰h̼̮͢a̗̫͉͝t̳ d̦̥̠i̸d̡̪̮̺͍ ̠̠̖̦̺͎͓y̤̠̙͍ó̰̣u̞͓͚̝̮̩̮ ̟̲͎̹̯d͖̺̟͇̦̹ǫ?"

"...I had to do it," Taylor replied, his voice barely a whisper compared to the volume it was before. "She hurt me Nǎinai." Faces of other long forgotten children, all dead, floated through his mind. "She hurt a lot of people."

"Ẉ̹͎̹̞̰h̼̮͢a̗̫͉͝t̳ d̦̥̠i̸d̡̪̮̺͍ ̠̠̖̦̺͎͓y̤̠̙͍ó̰̣u̞͓͚̝̮̩̮ ̟̲͎̹̯d͖̺̟͇̦̹ǫ?"

What did she want? For him to damn himself by saying it? The blood around them was so dark it appeared black. Was it his blood staining the ground, or his mother's? Almost too softly to be heard, Taylor answered his grandmother. "I killed her."

The effect was instantaneous. One moment the distorted vision of his grandmother was there, and the next she had vanished. He was alone again. The blond wasn't sure if he was relieved by that or not. Suddenly, the blood around him began to ripple as the scene around him shifted and changed. The area he was in was brighter. Color filtered in as well as sound. The mage's eyes widened. He recognized this place! He was back at the safe house that the government had assigned him before he left for Astrella's. The floors were still covered in a layer of dark blood, setting the mage on edge.Why am I here? What's the point of all of this?

Without realizing it, Taylor was moving. He tried to stop himself, but he couldn't; he was a passenger in his body and watched as the world around him seemed to follow some kind of script. Is this supposed to be a dream? It certainly felt like one.

"Taylor!" His breath hitched. That voice... Turning around, the blond felt himself smile as his eyes landed on the shorter figure in front of him. Nick, the boy he had rescued and his whole reason for even attending Astrella's, was rushing towards him. Unlike his grandmother, this memory was fresh; the boy's details were sharp and clear, causing the blond to almost believe that the boy was actually here. "Taylor look!" The kid nearly rammed into him before stopping himself in time and proceeded to try and place the object in his hands directly into Taylor's cornea.

"Whoa!" He hadn't meant to say that, but it appeared that whatever was puppeteering him was controlling his voice too. "Don't shove things into people's faces, you're gonna poke someone's eye out." The tone his body used was hardly scolding, but the other boy looked put-out all the same.

"I just wanted to give you a present," he mumbled. Before Taylor's body could say anything else, Nick's hand snatched the blond's own hand and pressed a small bracelet into it. Confused, the mage examined it. It was a simple little string with beads that spelt out 'TAYLOR' on it. It was a colorful disaster, but it Taylor couldn't help but beam at it.

"Did you make this?" At the enthusiastic nod he got, the mage said in a teasing tone, "I thought you didn't like jewelry."

Nick liked making things though.

"I don't!" The expression on Nick's face twisted into an odd mix between gloomy and cheery. "You're leaving so I wanted to give you something, and you really like bracelets and stuff so I made you a special one!"

Stop that.

Bright emerald eyes gazed up at Taylor and stared at him in amazement. Like as if he were somehow worthy of the boy's adoration.

I'm not, can't you see the blood we're standing in?

"I can't wait until you come back! You'll be so cool!" Nick's arms swung wildly as he made all sorts of punching and kicking motions. He continued to chatter, "I bet that you'll be better than everyone else! When I grow up, I wanna be just as strong as you!"

I'm not a hero.

The vision of Nick pretending to fight off invisible foes blurred, and for a moment Taylor thought that it was because the scene had ended. When he felt wetness slide down his cheek, the blond realized that he was crying. One tear led to a second and suddenly the floodgates were open. In control of his body once again, he blindly reached out to grasp the boy and held him close.

I don't deserve you, I don't deserve any of this.

For the first time in his life, he felt the weight of his mother's murder. Why? She was evil so why do I regret it? Crimson liquid lapped at his legs, as if to remind him of his tainted soul. I'm a murderer, Taylor realized with horror. I killed someone. I don't deserve to be a hero! His body shook as his sobs turned into wails and he screamed into the once again empty void. Eventually, his crying slowed until he was left with nothing but a few stray tears and shuddering breaths.

Nick was gone. In his place, another unexpected figure was standing. Taylor jumped back as he felt his heart stop. His great great uncle was standing in front of him. The man's face had been engraved into his memories from all the times his father had talked about their family's "claim to fame" and all the times his mother had tried to force the mage's powers to exceed the dead hero's own abilities. The hero was only a few inches taller than Taylor, but his presence made him look like a giant. This is what a real hero is like. Someone strong, someone just, someone who people could rely on not....not someone like Taylor. Without warning, the man reached out for the blond, causing him to flinch. However, the blow that the mage was expecting never came. Instead, his great great uncle held out Taylor's acceptance letter to Astrella's. The blond stared at it dumbly before raising his eyes to the man's face. "I don't deserve that." The man, his features washed out like an old photograph, frowned. "I'm not like you! I'm not a good person!" Gesturing to the blood that they were still standing in, Taylor cried, "I killed my mother!"

The man didn't move, so Taylor continued. "I know that she was evil, I know that, but it's still wrong isn't it? Killing someone? Fuck!" Swiping a loose strand of hair behind his ear, he babbled, "How could someone like that be a hero? I mean yeah I didn't have a lot of options back then but I didn't do it because I didn't have a choice; I did it because I wanted to." Shaking, the blond whispered, "How can someone like me be a hero? I'm a fucking fraud."

Silence. Taylor wasn't sure what he was expecting, but he supposed that he wouldn't get a response from this vision after all. I don't even know what he sounds like. Maybe it was for the better though, since his grandmother's fragmented voice made him uneasy. Another beat of silence passed before Taylor got the courage to glance at the hero once more. He was still there, holding out the letter. The blond swallowed. "I did other things too," he admitted softly, "Bad things. I've hurt people too." The arm didn't waver. "Do you really think that I have what it takes?" The former hero didn't react, causing the blond to hesitate. Tentatively, he reached out to grab the letter. Taylor paused in order to examine his great great uncle for a reaction. The man remained as still as a statue, so the blond gently accepted the letter from the hero's outstretched hands.

Taylor blinked. He was once again standing in a crowd of his peers. Instead of a letter, his hands held the pewter stone from before. Blinking again, shit was he actually crying?, the blond furiously rubbed his face with his hands. Letting his mind wander back to what he saw, Taylor decided that while it wasn't a pleasant experience, fuck you Omura, it wasn't a terrible one either. He hadn't realized how much he's been bottling up inside of him. It was therapeutic, in a way, to face his insecurities; and it made him feel much more confident in his decision to enroll at Astrella's. The next part better be awesome though, he thought somewhat irritably.

Deathkitten

 

[Osuka]

Tsunami:

It had only been a week since he was last slain. One week, and there was a lot of aching involved in the process. The joints where Tempest - no, the thing possessing Tempest - had blasted into shreds from his wind attacks made him feel old, and he was only in his teens. He still felt fatigued both physically and mentally, which they warned him about. It wasn't uncommon that a new Hero who was injured would get something akin to a mild battle fatigue, but they said it should pass. The only problem was that the news reporters just couldn't let a dead man rest. They'd be in and out of his wing of the hospital, constantly bugging his family who had flew over from Brisbane for "A word on his condition," in which his father was nearly escorted out of the premises a few times for threatening to assault the cameras that were constantly in their faces. They, including his little sister, just wanted to see him in peace, but that wasn't happening.

A few days after, and he was awake, he did decide to give a statement that seemed to have chased them away.

"It was utter stupidity," he began, facing the camera, all but ignoring the fact there was a reporter basically breathing down his neck. "I decided it was a *censored* GREAT idea to go after my friend to see what the hell was going on, and I was partly right. Tempest - my best *censored* friend, wouldn't have done the *censored* he did without a reason, and initially I thought it was someone stealing his identity and throwin' dirt on 'is name cuz it was convenient, but no, he was possessed. So, now that it's on live TV - and I know it is cuz I can see the blinkin' and hear myself in the next room, you might wanna pay attention..."

At this point, Tsunami, with a grunt of pain, sat up straighter into his bed, leaning to the camera. "If any of you - ANY of you Heroes out there kill or maim my best friend - cuz I know he's in there (And that includes the Heroes who don't give a *censored* like Hammer n' the rest of ya), once I'm in tip-top shape, you're gonna have hell to pay. It might not be soon," how his accent had come in more thick as his tone lowered. "It might not be for years, but if he gets crippled for life or killed, there will be ret-"

The interviewer cut him off with a hand over his mouth and a hard shove back into the bed, warranting a growl of irritation from him and an outburst from his entire family, who now seemed more like a mafia than just blood as she wrapped up the interview and the camera had turned off.

They left fairly quickly. The consequence was that the news didn't take him very seriously on anything else - some who were more pro-control of Heroes were even mocking or threatening the statement, but the thing they did seem to take seriously was his declaration of what happened for Tempest to become the way he had. People knew now, and the more the People knew, the better. Tempest himself wouldn't get locked away for the crimes that the possessor had made him commit, and now everyone and their great-grandmother would be keeping an eye out. His threat turned into, what he thought, a genius initiative for a neighborhood watch.

Before they had left the Hospital, where he was transferred to Astrella's, the family even brought him a new outfit - it was one that the Brisbanian Brawlers - one of the top five competitive Hero units, had been using now for full-contact saber matches and powered competitions. It looked like a watch, at first, when one put it on. It could stay on without worry about accidentally deploying the uniform, which was a ballistic weave with cut resistant fiber, but when the dial on it was turned in the right combination, it would deploy the Uniform no matter the position the wearer was in. Tsunami was more than tickled, and basically wore it all throughout his stay in the Nurse's wing. Mostly, it was to remember the combination and get it down lightning-fast, as the Brawlers would have to make sure no one else could read the pattern they used, but it was also because he was fan-boy-ing hard enough to make a sober man drink himself to death. It only added icing to the cake when Misery himself had visited with his team to honorarily knight him as a Brawler, bestowing upon him the name Eldritch Sea.

This did not, in any way, help his physical recovery, though they say that happiness is good medicine.

But, one week was up, he had an agreement (which was to wear the uniform while out and about - which he was more than happy about), and he was now on the coast after a Magic Schoolbus trip, and basically representing his absolute most favorite competitive powered team to boot! The uniform itself even had the same saber - not just some blunt replica, but their signature saber, attached to his left hip and glasses that fed him real-time data on the thought. This was accomplished by neural nodes built into the legs of the glasses that read his brainwaves. The chip in the legs would determine what information he was looking for, and it would scroll in his bottom left periphery.

The uniform itself was his favorite color - a deep blue that looked like something from the seventeenth or eighteenth century, but, as said before, was made for combat. Just enough protection to keep the wearer safe if they were fighting at full speed and ability, but never actually impeding any kind of movement. It was elegance, flair, and protection all in one. It even kept the wearer cool if they were in blistering hot weather.

It just didn't get rid of the damn soreness. Tsunami's joints felt stiff, even with all the physical therapy he had been carrying on with on his own.

"Feel like I'm fuckin' eighty, mate," he grumbled to himself, flexing his elbows and shoulders. "Plonker did a good number on me. When's this achin' gonna be done?"

Still, they were outside of the school. To be honest, Tsunami didn't even think they'd let him off of school grounds after his stunt, nevermind the fact he was still recovering, but here he was!! Out and about like nothing even happened. It wasn't long before they were introduced to Omura, who seemed to be a little out of place for the setting, but when you've been outside of your corpse, it wasn't as strange. Being the most out of place made things a lot different when it came to perspective. He introduced himself to Tsunami and the rest like he was some sort of butler, walked off, let the follow, and then had them pick up a rune.

Regardless of the effect the rune had, he did not like it. Tsunami didn't like the idea of drifting off into some kind of peaceful slumber, he didn't like the idea of being locked in his own mindscape, whatever that meant even though it was explained, and he didn't like not being in control of himself.

So he tossed the rock behind him and sat.

"Not riskin' that," he said, loud enough for Omura to hear him. "Been further, done more, n' forgot the t-shirt, mate. Ain't goin' under when I just climbed back to the surface."

As far as Tsunami cared, that was the end of the discussion, and everyone else could stare at some stone with weird squiggles on it like a bunch of deer in the headlights if they wanted to. Besides, he'd rather be bored than to see the inside of his head after he just got done looking at his body from an outside perspective.


Fay:

The past week was....
Eventful, to say the least. His hand was broken by a torpedo made out of an angry instructor, rumors were flying faster than spells, and it made it very hard to concentrate on his studies - even in his dorm. Pun unintended, Tsunami made quite a few waves with having escaped from the school, tracking down Tsunami, dying, and then returning within seventy-two hours, and the visitation of the Brisbanian Brawlers didn't make things any quieter. The irritating part was that Fay required the quiet areas, and all of those were taken up by gossip, to study since his crazy half was always yammering.

You're not crazy - I am literally the wizard Celes!! I knocked you o- YOU WERE IN MY DOMICILE WHILE I WAS IN CONTROL!!!

No, Fay thought to himself rationally. you aren't real, I've been crazy from birth, and that place looked exactly like a comfy, cozy place I would like to be for the rest of my life so I can enjoy the peace and quiet. You're just a figment of my very wild, perfectionist-level imagination that has been useful during the turbulent times I had with my biological parents who were basically getting doctors orders to flay me multiple times because they thought I was possessed by a demon. You're a very convincing one, thanks to my wild, vivid imagination, because you tricked someone else's imaginary friend who isn't as imaginary because they're a DEITY.

You think you're that good?

No, I think I'm that crazy. Now shut up before I miss something imp-

OOH THEY MIGHT HAVE A JUDGEMENT THRONE!!!! You might get to see some of your peers baked into a crisp!!! That thing was REALLY good at figuring out who was gonna be a bad guy.

He couldn't help but grumble in irritation at that. More than likely, the school wouldn't allow that near any of their students, let alone the fact that it was barbaric. But, instead of finding the Judgement Throne, as his imaginary friend had called it, he found something more... Puzzling. The stones that they had picked up on their way into the next area after Omura had introduced itself was buzzing with energy, but it seemed so incredibly inert that it was almost contradictory to the man's statement. It was true what the man said, though, that staring into the rune seemed to have an active spell, and he could feel himself drifting into it. He knew he should have looked away. Everything about being a mage told him he should look away - it was going to make him unaware of his surroundings, even with multiple professors here, but he couldn't...

The frigid cold of Alaska's winter was ravenous in its bite, even with the thick tower walls and multiple fireplaces in the Library he found himself back in. The library was the same one that belonged to his old, ruined school. It was a place of comfort, safety, and more than plenty to read in a Mage's lifetime. Even the old, crotchety Mage who oversaw the library - more than two hundred years old, admitted that he hasn't read every single book they had, and he's started from one side with the goal of reaching the other, no matter how boring the tome would be. He had been here since he was twelve. From the oldest known tomes to exist to the most recent, dry, instructive texts that had been made, the smell of their pages and glues filled the room, and it was like being home.

"Too bad this place never lasted..." he muttered to himself.

As per Mr. Omura's instructions, they were here to find something. Something that stood out to them - called to them with a kind of undeniable, familiar pull. Like looking in a mirror and knowing every detail by heart, or hearing a symphony and being able to tell which instrument was out of tune by just the slightest sharp or flat, solely on the grounds of being so familiar with the song they played that knowing that tidbit ruined it for you. Of course, everything around here was something that had him gravitate towards it: Books. Tomes. Texts. Reading material on the Arcane and things that were incomprehensible by the mundane mind.

Fay couldn't help but reach out and feel the familiar texture on his fingertips - wooden shelves kept in pristine condition, books just the same. The things he saw and felt now haunted him like an old warrior's wounds. Even the image of the Librarian who was now napping over yet another book, a quiet, almost inaudible snore and whistle coming from him. It was about the only time he could get a wink of sleep, and that would only be for three or four hours at most. The man slept light, and even the slightest disturbance would wake him.

To say the least, it was the reason why Fay got to become decent at moving around quietly, even with a big cloak and metal stick.

It was also the reason he got to read the things that were restricted.

Still, that wasn't something he should be dwelling on, no matter how much he wanted to be here again. There was something that had to be found, and the library was enormous. There wasn't time to waste.


Lu-Dao:

Fay's hand was healed, Kara, his old student, was with him once again, and more importantly, Tsunami wasn't dead. He survived torment and pain, leaving his body, bleeding out, and even the press with gusto, which was good. It was enough to make him feel relieved, but there was a new worry: his recovery. It seemed too soon to have him up and around, even if the Nurse cleared him for travel. With all the excitement that had been happening, what with his hometown heroes visiting and "knighting" him, whatever that was, Lu-Dao was of mind that he should still be on bed-rest, even if he was healed by magickal means. He should still be going through guided physical therapy so he didn't have any reason to neglect it, and more importantly, he should be seeing a counselor regularly. Death was nothing to shrug off. Still, here they were: Tsunami, Kara, and the rest of the Elemental Manipulation class on a trip that the Teachers weren't even allowed to think about in case a student could use magick or telepathy to scry the destination and reason. It was supposed to be a surprise, and so far, they'd just think it was a camping trip. They were out on the coast not too far from the School, with the supervision of himself, Lyara, Nanami, and the rest of the teachers in case anything went awry. That and, obviously, they couldn't just let a bunch of teenagers go off on their own. They were quite the large group, and even with someone being powered, it didn't mean that every student could be supervised. Tsunami left right under De'Kiral's and Lyara's nose, for instance, and it was too late to do anything but track him down and do life-saving tactics.

At the arrival of Mr. Omura, who seemed to hide a lot more about him than just his full occupation on the coast, the class was introduced to him, and they were led off into an area where the students were handed stones. His first thought was to inquire about them, but Omura was already covering it. His second thought was to instruct him that no student should be forced to do anything with it, regardless of instruction - after all, the students should have a say over themselves as much as the teachers did, but Tsunami seemed to take the lead by tossing his behind him and stating that he was having nothing to do with it.

That example alone, he thought, finally, should have been enough, and he looked to Omura.

"And if a student refuses to go under the effect of something?" He inquired. "I would hate to assume that they would be forced to undergo it. After all, they, like anyone else, do have a sense of autonomy that you may wish to respect, regardless of if it makes things more difficult."

 

[WeaselThor]

Spoiler: ALT & ALT-ernate

Alex nodded at omura and decided to focus upon the stone as he was instructed. He didnt want to go to this so called mind scape, because a pit in his stomach told him he wouldnt like what he found. Nonetheless it was something he needed to do. The answers he sought aren't gonna be found hiding from them. So he stared into the thing letting everything but the stone fade from his mind. It could have been minutes or it could have been seconds but either way after a little while the feeling of weightlessness began to set in and eventually ALT looked up from his stone.

~~~

He found himself floating in a cold vast expanse looking back to the stone in his hand only to find it had vanished. It was as if he was in outer space, but there were no stars to be found. Just a dimm lighting that seemed to come without source illuminatiing the vastness just enough to show how utterly empty it was. He looked to the left and right and caught something in his peripheral. A planet, which hung in the air behind him. It seemed at first to be a foreign dessert world, until a closer look through the cloudless atmosphere revealed that it was in fact earth. The oceans and vegitation were gone leaving behind a dull sand tomb of a world where one could barely make out the outlines of the continents where the oceans once were. He could feel something drawing him to the world softly and looked closely to try and find it but with seemingly no luck.

Eventually he decided he needed to get to the surface of the world and as soon as he made that decision he began to be lowered towards the world by an unknown force. To his surprise he didnt burn up as he lowered. Kinda impossible to do so as there was no atmosphere which raised several questions as to how he was breathing but that was a question for another time. As he lowered abandoned buildings from the city of new york came into view. However he continued past the city at least a mile above the rooftops. As he hovered past the massive city towards the Niagara falls his attention was caught by several thousand tiny dots on the land. Hell there was probably more than thousands they started from the edge of the city all the way out as far as the eye could see in all directions.

He wondered what they were but found himself as more of a passenger and as he floated over endless rows of the tiny white dots he seemed to be loosing intrest. Until he also started loosing altitude, listing lazily down towards the falls the dots slowly became visible and when he realized what they were his stomach did a flip. They were graves...endless ranks of marked graves some of which still had loose soil atop them. When he finally came to a stop he noticed the first other person he had seen sitting on a gravestone that resided over an empty grave with two other graves on either side which were also dug up and empty. Yet that wasnt what unnerved him, what made him even more unnerved than the graves was that this other person was HIM. But as he approached the other him looked up, blood shot eyes that looked as if they belonged to a man who had never slept in his entire life stared back at him. "Not yet kid, your not even close to ready for this place." the other ALT said. "What is this place? What happened here." he pleaded only to hear "What part of not ready can't you seem to understand? Here...take it and go youve been looking so hard for it that i almost feel bad now." the other him held out his hand and dust gathered in his palm becoming a piece of paper. He handed it to actual ALT who stared at the blueprint until it was branded into his mind.

When he finally looked up from it he was shocked to find that not only was he back in the circle with the rest of the class, but he was sitting on his backside with his hands in his lap. He blushed a bit as he came too and a pebble bounced off of his head. Looking up he saw that the student tempest had tossed his pewter stone behind him and he just so happened to be in its path. What actually made him afraid though was that the Blueprint paper was still in his hand...
Deathkitten

 

[Daniel Reaving]

Anubis
Anubis wasn’t to excited to go on a field trip after the past few events. Things had seemed weird between her and lu-dao since the day he saved her which she couldn’t describe. Pushing the thoughts aside as she watched over the students carefully as they rode the bus out, walked through the woods. And ended up in the castle with each student holding a stone. To be honest Anubis was curious. She’d never been on this trip before so she wanted to know what it was like. Wanted to ask if she could try a stone but didn’t voice it. As she stood off to the side watching. She was gonna make a comment to Lu till she noticed he was occupied and pouted crossing her arms she looked around. Seeing the bag of stones not that far off she bit her lip a little and looked around. Making sure no one was looking she held her hands out and from the ground in front of her a small skeletal jackal burst from the ground descretly, it’s eyes solid diamonds and it’s bones carved in gold. Looking up at its master then to the bag it trotted over and stuck it’s head in. Popping out with a stone a second letter it quickly scampered back over. Handing it to her before sinking back into the dirt.

Smiling happily Anubis lifted the stone to look at it. A second later it was gone. Staring at her bare hand with confusion she then heard a big boom behind her and whipped around to see where everything changed. There she stood in a massive cavern, in front of her a pyramid triple the size of the biggest pyramid in Egypt sat made out of solid ruby. Though no flame or light was present the pyramid glowed out with its own magical energy. It was the pyramid where she killed the Egyptian gods, where she changed the history, where she became Anubis. Unable to help herself she slowly made her way inside. Her ears peeking back at the constant trancendant humming of the pyramid as she took the similar path towards the center of the pyramid. It didn’t take long to get there but as she reached the chamber she froze.

Sitting in the middle of a massive grand hall like room where two gold and obsidian slabs. Big enough for a person to lay on each one sat side by side. Above them about 50 feet up floated a solid diamond shaped price of gold. Past the slabs about 20 feet back from them where a massive collection of thrones, seats for each Egyptian god, even those of evil intent. Slowly she made her way in as memories of that day flashed through her eyes. Looking from one slab to another. One was perfect and in working order, where she had layn that day, the other cracked and broken, cut in half, her fathers spot. As soon as she reached the slabs the thrones seemed to hum. The biggest one obviously being Ra’s seemed to glow more before it crumbled. Then septs, then Anubis’s, Osiris, apophis, isis, sekmeht. One by one till they were all piles of dust.

Then slowly they started to collect together floating above the ground they condensed and collected till the dust was gone and in its place floated an Egyptian tiara. Beautiful and heavenly but the main gem was gone from the center. Anubis stares at it in confusion till the hairs on her neck stood up. Unable to help an uneasy feeling she slowly looked behind her to be treated with the other Egyptian gods, covered in bright golden blood some missing body parts or that where seriously mauled all there eyes where on her staring into her.
Then she woke up taking a sudden breath as she rapidly looked around as her breathing became heavy. She couldn’t put her finger on it but she definetly didn’t like what she saw. Looking to talk to Lu-Dao once she had calmed herself a little her look turned to one of a little jealousy as he was no where near her. Instead he stood over by the teacher with one of the students and the leader of this field trip. Sighing Anubis looked away from the three with a little humph sound escaping her lips. “I need some snacks.” She mumbled as she slid her hand into her pocket and pulled out a cloth bag. There wasn’t anything really special about it but when she opened it the contents was a different story. There where freshly baked Egyptian cookies in the bag which she happily started to munch on to get her mind off her vision and occupy her with something else
Mentioned: Osuka


Ariella
Ariella was excited for the trip out. Watching the sky’s excitedly as they flew by. Watching as they landed and running off the bus to try and explore. The walk out to where they were going was alright but her big sister was struggling heavily to get around with her wheelchair so she stuck close till they eventually ended up in the castle and she found a stone in her hands. Before anyone could even start to explain her eyes where already locked on the rune and she was gone.

Deep in some forests She found herself walking. Curiously she looked around and walked about till a sound caught her ears. It was a strange but familiar sound. One not heard by most people, curious as to what it was she followed it for a while. As the trees started to disappear the sound became louder till Ariella approached a group of rocks. Whatever was making that sound was just behind it and now she knew what the sound was. It was eating. Something was eating something else around the corner. Despite her want to not look she found herself slowly walking around the corner. Her eyes looking till she found it. The first thing her eyes locked on was the face. It was her sisters, eyes froze open and lips parted a look of utter terror as her sister laid there lifeless. She was unclothed completely but Ariella didn’t want to look any more. She wanted it to end but it wouldn’t. Slowly she was forced to look down her sisters body more as it turned from the tan to red and eventually to nothing as it was ripped away. Sitting on her knees at Chiaras mid section was a different version of Ariella. Her clothing covered in blood and handfuls of flesh in her hands and mouth. It took a second before the vision Ariella noticed true Ariella and stopped. Staring back at Ariella as she stood petrified. Then the vision Ariella got to her feet and backed up into the blackness behind her. Watching in horror as a loud menacing clicking sound echoed out of the darkness and Chiara was picked up by the familiar blood coated claws of Ariellas true form before the vision Ariella lunged out in monster form at Ariella letting out a vicious blood thirsty screech.

Then it ended. Ariella came back screaming on the ground her knees buckling just after she threw the stone out of the castle and deep into the woods deeper than any girl her age should have been able to throw it. The back of her shirt was shredded as her spikes stuck straight out. Her eyes frozen wide in terror and her breathing was sharp and quick. Her hands trembled as they seemed to try and shift. She fought it but it was clear she was starting to lose the battle between her and it. Just as any teacher could get Ariella to are she felt the warm embrace of a familiar body and a soothing voice in her head telling her to keep calm. It was her sister trying her best to calm her and keep her from changing here.


Chiara
Chaira wasn’t having the best time to say the least. The bus ride wasn’t that fun then the path out to the castle wasn’t suitable for her wheelchair which sucked. Still they managed to get there and after the introductions and little briefings on the stone they were handed it was finally time to look at it. As Chiara looked down to the stone she instantly fell into the vision. It was one of peace. Her and her sister. Sitting calmly in the gardens of there home back in Italy. There they sat in a comfy bench suspended from the ceiling of the veranda so it could swing. Both wore beautiful white sundresses. Ariella laid soundly asleep with her head in Chiaras lap with chiara gently petting her head. It was all Chiara could ask for. Then she was pulled from it. Pulled from her dream and back into reality as Ariellas scream rang out and she fell to the ground. Almost immediately after Chiara followed after. Hoisting herself from her chair and onto the ground next to Ariella she pulled her into a deep hug. She knew what was happening as soon as she looked in. Ariella was fighting it hard but was losing so Chiara intervened. Speaking in her mind to calm her down as she held Ariella close and tight. She couldn’t help the thoughts in the back of her mind that people would probably be talking later but now she had bigger things to focus on.

Deathkitten​

 

[Deathkitten]

Omura's brow furrowed as he watched Tsunami toss the rock behind him, it landing on another student's head, the one that he had followed into his mindscape. So now he was split. Nothing had happened in the mindscape of little Alex, but this split off portion was staying behind to have a chat with this ALT-ernate. He did... however... notice that the child had a blueprint in his hands now. He sighed and knelt down to look him in the eyes, "When you get back to the school, have a chat with the librarian. His name is Chutes. He's like you."

He didn't have time for much more explanation, however, as the magic in the stone seemed to recognize finally that they had been tossed away like a bit of trash. It hovered up off the ground before flying off and knocking into Tsunami's head with the same force he had tossed the rock away with. Omura sighed and stood, shaking his head. That child would be none too happy when he came to from the vision. Ah well... it needed to be done anyways. He simply shouldn't have been so impolite.

Omura turned his eyes to Lu-Dao, "For one, that was not my doing, I assure you. For two... yes. It is necessary, especially for students with any significant magic potential. You know that the trip is for. It's not going to cause them any harm by going into their own minds. As a Superhero, this should be something that will not bother them in the least. I understand that you've had a rough week with Tsunami's injuries and your new friend, but... I am doing my job, so, Sage, I suggest you handle your own job, not mine." The last bit was a little rough on his tongue, a language that only Lu-Dao and the Ixian girl would recognize, and one that he hadn't had a lot of practice speaking. While he knew the words and it could be understood, his pronunciation left a bit to be desired.

The scream from the youngest in the group had his eyes diverting to her, but the situation seemed handled... so he left it alone. Approaching her would likely only startle her further. That's why the little beast girl had her handler, after all... or was it the other way around? Regardless, his eyes leveled back on Lu-Dao's.

Kara beside him was looking at Omura with wide eyes. After all, he had just spoken their language! She tugged Lu-Dao's sleeve lightly, "Can I try one of the stones?"

Omura smiled sweetly at the girl, speaking in their language once again, "Of course you may little one. I think it would be good for you. You are a student after all, are you not?"

Osuka WeaselThor Daniel Reaving

 

[Osuka]

Tsunami:
{So, I have a spoiler here because this one is a pretty long one...)

Spoiler

Zing. Pang.

Those were the last two things Tsunami remembered before he found himself standing on Brisbane's quiet shores late at night. The moon hung in the air like a bright beacon of light, the only light that illuminated the sand and water that lapped at his feet. He could feel the cool sloshing of the waves, the grit of the sand, and the gentle breeze that blew in from the sea as he stared out, wind playing against his bare chest, then promptly planted his rear. What he was surprised to find that, next to him in the sand sat a cello of dark oak, polished and reflecting the glow of the moon from it. When was this? He didn't remember ever practicing out on the beach, of all places - you could get sand in the bowstring or in the body of the Cello. It would've been impractical and almost rude for him to do such to a heirloom of the family.

His hands felt empty, and it was the kind of feeling that was wrong. The bow should've been in his hand - he needed it to be there. It was like there was a part of his hand missing, and no matter how he rationalized it or tried to shrug the feeling off, there wasn't any way to get it to stop. He hadn't been practicing since he left for Astrella's Boarding School, and his Cello was here in Brisbane - no, it was home. Tsunami wasn't in Brisbane, since from what he could remember, something hit him in the back of the head. He was out cold, and so he was in a dream. A very lucid, very peaceful dream.

"Ah, fuck it," he muttered to himself, getting up to dust his pants off. "I'll just play the da-"

What he found when he turned around was a chair nearly having fully materialized in front of him, only finishing after the last second.

"Too convenient. I don't get dreams this nice."

Still, with bow in hand and Cello - Lucretcia, to follow, Tsunami planted himself in the chair, sat the leg of the cello in the sand, and began to play.

Within the confines of his mind, he began to play the part of an Organ to guide him as his hands gently pressed at the strings of his cello, drawing of the bow light enough to the touch to get sound without screeching the notes, and it was as if the organ in his mind came to life. He could hear it - physically now, as he moved from the mere intro of the song, body swaying in time of the music and gooseflesh raising to stand his hairs on end. The song itself was called Shadow: Ode to Man, and held within it a great deal of things to Tsunami itself. It was the beginning of a cyle, of confusion and longing, unable to understand the world around oneself just yet, but held his own touch of musical flourish through the running sixteenths and thirty-seconds, his own emotion at the long held draws of rests and wholes. Tsunami had become so enveloped in his playing that he couldn't feel the wind beginning to gain speed through the climax of the composition, as if in a trance that couldn't be released until the end of the piece, bringing with it all the emotions that the artist had so meticulously and thoroughly weaved into what would only appear as dry notation on a less-than-dry sheet that it had been printed on.

It was apparent from his playing that he had mastered such an old, some say even noble instrument long ago, and plays for the sheer pleasure rather than practice.


The song had to end, however, and so must his trance. What he saw before him...

"... I need new pants..."

Tsunami swallowed hard as he stood from his chair, cello and bow hanging loosely from his fingertips. There would be no way he would drop his instruments, but what stood before him made him consider it. Before him stood something... Draconic, was all he could think of. It resembled something akin to a dragon, with it's enormous size that blocked the light from the moon, the wings that spread too far to measure in such a moment of shock and awe, and the scales that covered the entirety of its body, deep, cerulean blue in the faint glints that could be produced even as it towered over him upon the beach coloring its large and countless scales. Within its great maw were teeth that were as long as a Roman gladius, with an edge and point to rival such old, sharp weapons even in these times, and its talons were the length of his arms.

It stood, imposing in its gigantic size, and offered no escape from its gaze.

"I can tell," it said, jesting at Tsunami's comment. "Tell me: Why do you come here?"

Tsunami furrowed his brow.

"What kind'a question is that?! Last I remember, I got popped in the back of the skull n' here I am! I should ask you the same thi-"

"Answer me, Human," The dragon's voice now boomed, bringing a ringing to Tsunami's ears as its maw grew closer. "Why do you come here? Think very carefully..."

How the hell was a bloke to think with a dragon that size, maw inches away from him - which made him feel like another speck in the sand even with the close proximity, shirtless, with nothing more than a cello and a bow, and in need of new pants?! Tsunami's head turned to the side, eyes still on the enormous, scaled maw as he tried. What the hell brought him here? Last he remembered, he was on a school trip. They went to some kind of cliff face, where they met some uppity, posh bloke, then told to stare into a rock and-

"That little shit!!" he barked, gritting his teeth. "That fuckin' -"

"Language!!" the dragon boomed, and if this wasn't a hallucination, by the sheer pain he felt in his ears, he would've been deaf.

"Ow, ya fuck!!" Tsunami couldn't help but cover his ears, dropping both the Cello and Bow from having done so. "Ya made me drop my stuff! Goddamn stupid..."

Oddly enough, the dragon that stood before him waited with an almost patient demeanor - almost, mind you, as Tsunami picked up his instruments and began to tend to them, wiping and blowing off the sand that had collected in the instruments before sitting them down and against the chair. With that done, tentatively now, Tsunami turned back to the dragon, put his hands on his hips, and huffed.

"I'm here cuz I gotta look for somethin' or the other. Some uppity twat in a suit had a rock smack me in the back of the head when I refused to use it, so here I am."

"Should have used the rock, I assume." replied the dragon.

"Hardy-fuckin' har, mate. Well, he said to look for whatever stands out, so I guess I found it."

"As if the old one's test would be such a simple task."

Now that was something. Here was just about the biggest thing he could think that was of importance that really stuck out like a sore thumb, and this wasn't the thing he had to look for? Considering it had come to him rather than the opposite, he supposed that it couldn't have been far-fetched. All he did was play a tune and opened his eyes. This thing had come to him, and was now questioning him. To be fair, he'd been at this beach many times just to get away, set up a fire, fish, and enjoy the silence away from the city and, sometimes, his family. Was that what he was looking for, then? Some kind of peace and quiet?

Of course it wasn't that simple. Could it be?

"It could be," the dragon before him now rumbled. "Sometimes, that which you cannot possess in your hands is that which you require most. Or perhaps it is a distraction?"

The way the dragon had turned its head was odd to Tsunami. It was as if it looked at something, then back to him. With somewhat the same motion, Tsunami looked back towards his left and found, now, there had been a grave monument erected in a place he swore it hadn't been more than a minute ago. There were too many things popping up now: First, himself, then the cello and bow, the chair, the dragon, and now this? Was he just ADHD or something? Is that what the inside of his head was like?

A nudge from the dragon before him pushed him in the direction of the monument.

"Go," it rumbled quietly once more. "See for yourself."

Well, with a suggestion like that from something that could've just eaten him so it could get something stuck in its teeth, he sure as hell couldn't say no, so that's what he decided on. It wasn't even a hundred yards away, but it felt familiar, and that familiarity only grew as he came closer until he could read the plate on the monument that stood before him.

"Here lies..." Tsunami frowned. "Baki "Eldritch Sea" Churla..." The date on the inscription didn't matter; only the next line did. "Met his honorable end, unarmed, devoted to his brethr- THe fuck is that supposed to mean?! What - I'm supposed to just walk outta this and tell the guy 'Oh, yeah, I ended up finding my FACKIN' GRAVE?!'

"I get it- I was an idiot, rushed out, got ahead of myself, n' got rekt fightin' something I couldn't even hope to beat! I get it already, so just lemme out you godda-"

He was about to finish, but found that the dragon that had been before him was gone. Instead, the entire scene before him changed in an instant. He was back in the mansion now, watching as the building flickered in flame and filled with smoke, only he was on the inside and his senses gave him no indication whatsoever. He was an audience member now, and before him was his corpse.

"Right, great," he snapped at nothing, tossing his hands in the air. "Just gonna rub it in, are we?! 'Tee hee it's funny that I died because I couldn't save my friend-' what kind of stupid ritual is this?! I tried, damn you!! I did what I could and ended up skewered like some kind of fuckin' hunk of meat on a spit-roast, but if you're gonna keep houndin' me cuz-"

Again, the scene before him changed. What he found, now, was... Nothing. There was absolutely nothing here in front of him. A constant, spanning blackness that choked all light from its realm, blanketing him in itself as if a last, long embrace. Images of Tempest, when they were still in Victoria's - all the fighting he had done for his friend, the bruises and cuts that Tempest had tended to on his knuckles and face flashed before him as he sat and covered the back of his head with his hands, staring at the silhouettes he could only faintly make out in the blackness between his feet. That person... That person was the one he failed, but it wasn't Tempest he was forced to focus on more and more as the images came closer and closer, zooming in on the one most disappointed out of all.

Tsunami watched himself now, tears dripping from his visage and against the mirror-like image, face scrunched in pain, fury, and utter disappointment. It wasn't Tempest that he failed, it wasn't the kid's family, friends, or even anyone in his own familial circle. To them, more than likely, he did his best and that was all he could do, and at least he wasn't dead. The reflection, this failure that he saw, was more than he could take. In an outburst of screams, Tsunami began to bring his hands down like a mace, the pain not even registering as his body shifted - now on his knees, to bring his hands again and again, harder and harder on the now cracking surface of his own face, drops of rubies falling from rivulets in his sliced hands onto the image until, after more strikes than he could count, it gave way, and he fell.

He could feel everything again. The cuts along his hands, the biting cold, the weightlessness of his body as he drifted deep in the middle of an endless sea. The bitter, saltiness of the water was all too familiar, but he couldn't place what it had been. He didn't care, either. All he wanted to do was sink, and he felt himself lowering into deeper, darker, empty depths. It was better, being here. There was nothing and no one around. He didn't have to look anyone in the face - he didn't have to look at himself. He could quite literally just drown in his despair and no one would find him. Failing Tempest.... No, failing himself after needing to save Tempest to prove to himself that he was ultimately good and worth the love that only one's closest friend, a brother, could give, was more than he could stand. Losing that opportunity to give back after Tempest had pulled him from the habits and views he once had, the opportunity he got with going to Astrella's instead of just some Detention facility... That had been too much for him.

"So now we draw close to what you're looking for, have we?" came a voice. It was the dragon from before.

He didn't feel like answering. All the strength in him was gone. All the fight in him had left when he shattered the last place he was at. The only thing he wanted to do now was sink.

"This isn't a movie, boy," it said, closer now, but still felt so far away from him. "You have no time to sink. What do you believe the Heroes will do to your precious little friend if they can't take him in without killing him? What of his soul, if he is reaped?"

It only made him feel worse. There wasn't a chance Tsunami could match the thing possessing Tempest's body.

"Of course you can't. You're only one person, and it is very old and clever. At least... As you are now."

Like he cared.

"But a small part, a very tiny part of you, tucked away under all of this darkness and despair, does. Doesn't it? Listen, you little fool, and maybe you'll hear it..."

Even if he wanted to, there wasn't much of a choice. It was something that was almost inaudible. Something that seemed so long ago after all this had begun, so very distant and distorted, but even as he sank, it only grew louder, and....

He was back at Victoria's. Standing, dry, clean, and in the school's uniform, over Tempest, hand outstretched and waiting for Tempest to take it.

"So long as I got a beat in my chest, mate," came the all too familiar words. "I'll keep ya safe, and if anyone hurts you, even the the devil himself can't keep me in Hell to stop me from savin' ya."

He was outside of himself now, watching the freeze-frame before him with Tempest's hand locked around his, and something in himself began to beat. Hard. It started in his chest, and he thought that maybe someone could have a heart attack in a hallucination, which wouldn't be too far-fetched, before it began to spread. A constant, slow, harsh thrum that extended itself in a radius, spreading to his stomach, shoulders, arms, legs, his head - and soon his entire body had felt like it was beating with a purpose again. Like someone was hammering on a war drum that kept the pace of its men, but the men themselves marched with a kind of confidence that he could feel even from miles away, as if they were right in front of him.

"Take this," a voice came. It wasn't the dragon, but the familiarity of it was there. When he turned, he saw himself, again, only this time holding what looked like just a simple stuffed animal. "It should be important to you."

"I never had a teddy bear, mate. Got the wrong guy."

His image rolled it's eyes. "Don't be fuckin' dense, you wanker."

"You're insulting yourself, ya bellend."

"Shut up, take the bear, n' it'll get ya started on how ta save Tempest. Now get out."

***

Tsunami awoke with a start, and found within his hands something that had quite the hefty weight. In it, while he was asleep, he had formed with his abilities, having drawn from the water sources around them to do so. It seemed ragged, with a tear here and a stitch there, but it was all photographically formed into the sculpture that he held now. The only thing he could think of, thanks to what little he had read when he thought his abilities came from being a mage instead of a Manipulator, was that most things that wanted to possess someone required a touch, and objects that meant something to someone - anyone in particular, were very good vessels to hold them.

Before he was going to thank the man, though, there was more immediate business. "Where's the fuckin'- here it is..."

Payback time.

He wouldn't give the man a chance to get a glimpse of what was to come. When Omura would be distracted by a student, like Alt for instance, Tsunami would cock his hand back - runestone in hand, aim, and let loose the rock. There was a point where he played baseball as a hobby, and his dad decided to see how fast he could throw a baseball. Considering a baseball was far lighter than this little pebble he was chucking now, and how accurate he could be with a fastball, Tsunami was winging his rune right at Omura's head with a speed of more than a hundred miles per hour, aiming for the back of the head. If it hit, it wasn't likely to do too much that a Powered individual couldn't handle, but he was betting that it was gonna hurt.

"That's for makin' me, ya git," Tsunami spat if the rock made contact. "Least I got something out of it."

With the last sentence said regardless of contact, Tsunami held up the bear just enough for Omura to see and nodded toward it. "A lead."

Deathkitten

 

[Kyrenka]

((Gonna copy Osuka since this post is long too))

Spoiler: Elizar Rolonk

~Elizar Rolonk~
​

The young girl rolled the pewter stone she was given nervously in between her hands. She watched as more than a few students argued against this activity. It wasn't like she couldn't agree with them, it sounded pretty scary, but she also couldn't really relate with some of them. The ones that were objecting the loudest were probably the ones that have frequent nightmares. Mr. Omura was trying to help them, so Elizar didn't want to bother him or any of the other teachers. They have enough to deal with already. They don't have time to hold my hand through this. Too bad she didn't feel as brave as she was pretending to be. Casting her gaze around the room, she desperately tried to find someone she knew. After a few futile minutes of scanning the student body, the mute gave up. I can do this. Taking a deep breath in, Elizar finally brought herself to stare at the stone in her hand.

It felt like going under anesthesia at first. The world seemed to twist and blur before gently fading away. She couldn't really feel anything anymore as she floated for what could've been a second or hours. As odd as the sensation was, she wasn't as afraid as she expected to be. Out of nowhere, sensation exploded around her as colors, sound, and smells filled the empty void. Grass tickled her suddenly bare feet and a warm breeze carded through her hair. This doesn't feel like a hallucination. Then again, she's never hallucinated before. Examining her surroundings, she realized that she was in the forest near her old orphanage. All of her previous worries immediately left as the graciously familiar scene splayed out in front of her. I'm home! Dashing into the woods, she lost herself in her excitement as she leapt over roots and dodged low branches. Her breath came out in puffs as she stopped, spun around with her arms out, and then let herself fall backwards onto the soft ground.

Soundless giggles left her mouth as she took a moment to catch her breath. Elizar wasn't sure if it was her excitement at being somewhere familiar or the stone's effect on her but she felt alive! Closing her eyes, the dark haired girl listened to the sounds of the forest around her. Despite the fact that none of this was real, the grass below her whispered to her as their blades brushed against her body. She took a deep breath in. Mr. Omura was right, this is so much fun! Her eyes opened at that thought. Uh-oh.

I need to find my object and get back! She sat up as she panicked again. How long had she been here? Was dream time the same as real time? The mute rose to her feet, I should probably hurry up! Slowly spinning in order to take in her surroundings, she realized that she had no idea what to look for. Oh no. What did he tell us? Something would draw us in? She didn't feel anything...but then again this was a magical experience; she should be using magic or something, right?

Closing her eyes, she concentrated. Focus on a pull...focus on a pull... Without warning, she felt a sharp tug. Elizar's eyes snapped open as she stumbled away from the pull. It felt so real. Like a something was physically yanking on her. Clutching her chest, she gazed down at herself as she felt another tug. This is easier than I thought it'd be...

Following the magical pull, the forest began blending into a mixture of memories. Trees began growing out of hospital rooms as gurneys laid on the forest floor. What made her finally pause were the people milling around. Voices overlapped into unintelligible murmurs as people seemed to shift in and out of focus. Children ran by and doctors strode past. She watched in slight bemusement as a doctor opened a door attached to a tree and walked in, as if it were completely normal. It felt weird. The forest, despite being an unfamiliar combination of various places, was crystal clear. Reaching out, Elizar's hand scrapped against the solid bark of a nearby tree. Turning her gaze back to the people, she watched in confusion as their wispy and blurred forms moved around. Why are the trees fine when the people are so blurry? She couldn't think of an answer, so she set it aside. I can always ask Mr. Omura. Continuing on, the forest started clearing until she found herself standing in a clearing. The pull was gone, and no matter how hard she concentrated it didn't come back. What now?

"Isn't it beautiful?" Elizar choked on air as her concentration was interrupted. Her head whirled around to see Himari.

Shocked, the mute stared at the other girl for a moment. Unlike the other people in the forest, Himari was sharply defined and appeared solid. Can people share mindscapes? Bewildered, Elizar began frantically signing to the other girl. "<What are you doing here? How did you even get in here?>" Himari only smiled in response. It was off though, Elizar realized, the girl looked like Himari but her expression was off. As if reading her mind, the other girl's expression shifted slightly. The fake Himari looked more like the real thing now, but since the mute had already figured out that she wasn't real the illusion was wasted.

The fake Himari smiled at Elizar and pointed towards the center of the clearing. "Well? Isn't it beautiful?" Wary of taking her eyes off of the other girl, the mute hesitated before finally glancing over to what the fake was talking about. Oh. It is beautiful. A lush garden sprawled out in front of them. It was elegant, in the wild way that nature is, and untrimmed plants grew freely together. There was no order to it, but at the same time there was something graceful about it. Elizar's eyes were full of wonder as she took in every gorgeous detail. Remembering the fake Himari, she turned to sign to the other girl but the illusion had already vanished.

Another magical pull drew her attention towards the garden again. Am I supposed to go in? Without thinking, she approached the mass of plants. They were wild, certainly, but they were thornless and didn't appear harmful. She didn't have to go very far before she saw it. A lone flower bloomed, unbothered, in the middle of everything. Unlike the other plants, this one was small and delicate; without the coverage of the larger plant life it could've easily been blown away by a harsh wind. Kneeling down so that she could examine it better, she noticed that it was recovering from something. The petals were dead at the ends and its stem was bent, but it was still redeemable. It just needs some love. Reaching for it, Elizar's fingers had barely grazed the flower's healing petals before she was unexpectedly thrown out of the vision and back into reality.

(( MirrorBoy 's Himari was in Elizar's vision so I'm tagging them ))

 

[JulesX]

Deathkitten

((hi friends! I’m new here, I hope I posted properly! I’m not used to group RPs so please excuse any errors!!))

Mitsu Suzumebachi

Ah, school. The place for learning.

It’d taken a long flight to even get to this new location. The administration had been kind enough to let her know they wouldn’t be at the actual complex today, but it made her travels more difficult. Transportation had been arranged for her. She left all of her items on the bus that would eventually take them back to school, which included clothes, skating gear, and some bedding. She carefully strapped her back pack to her, making sure all of the inhabitants of the hive were secure. Around twenty of them flew out to surround their queen.

Mitsu would get them settled somewhere else later, but she wouldn’t leave them on the bus unattended. The large hornets surrounded her and stayed alert for anyone that may hurt her. She held her hand out for one, and the Asian giant hornet landed on her finger. She pressed a light kiss to its forehead. “Go on, friend, help me find my classmates.” The hornet zoomed off. She could fly after the worker, but decided she wanted to stretch her legs out a bit more. The forest floor wasn’t the best terrain to skate on, but it could work. She made sure her rollerblades were on tightly and she followed the insect.

The worker would try to find a strong magical presence, which would hopefully lead her to her classmates and teachers. After about ten minutes of much needed exercise, the hornet zoomed into a building. Mitsu followed after, and she quickly found a large group of people. She slowed down before coming to a stop. She flipped her hair out of the way and grinned at the large group of people.

“Excuse me, friends! I hate to interrupt, but I’m new here and I’d like to make sure this is the right place! I’m Mitsu Suzumebachi, I’m a transfer student from Japan! I’m here for Astrella’s Boarding School for the Powered! I’m sorry that I’m so late!”

If the group were to look upon the young woman, the first thing they’d probably notice is her neon blue hair. It looked like it was dyed. Her eyes were a bright crimson color, and even though there were bags underneath them, she still looked rather energetic. Her large wingspan was out on display, and her antennaes moved when she spoke. She wore a bright yellow tank top and a pair of black shorts. Perhaps the most concerning thing was the large amount of decently sized hornets that surrounded her. They didn’t seem very aggressive. In fact, the one that weren’t flying were walking on their queen’s arms and legs, occasionally nuzzling her in what looked like to be an affectionate way.

 

[Deathkitten]

Whilst talking to ALT, Omura got a rather rude knock to the head in the form of one of the stones he had given out being tossed at the back of his head as though it were a fastball. It let out a loud ringing as it made contact and Omura nearly fell forward, but said nothing. No, instead, he simply continued on, raising a hand to the teachers as if to say, "it's fine," before talking with Lu-Dao and Kara as mentioned.

Before they could really respond much, verbally at least, he turned, expression significantly more dour. Omura put a smile back on his face, however, once a new student appeared.

"Oh, I'm certain it's fine," he called, out, picking up the stone that had been tossed at his head, large cracks in it nearly breaking it in half. He took out another stone and walked up to the girl, handing it to her, "As I had mentioned to the others, simply stare into the stone. It will make you go into a trance-like daydream. Your mindscape. There, you will see something that calls to you. That is what we need to know about for the next step. It'll be fun. For most people, their mindscape is a pleasant place."

Now for the troublemaker.

Omura turned and walked up to Tsunami. He held the broken stone out, the cracks pulsing and glowing dimly like the heartbeat of an injured creature. "I did not force you into your mindscape. You tossed the stone away in a rude manner, and it came back at you in retaliation. If you had gently set it down, it would not have done so. Now, however, it is broken. These are not easy to make and have a great deal of significance. Luckily, they can heal themselves. As an apology, I would like you to hold it so it can use your energy to heal," he said and offered the stone to him, clearly angry, but seeing no point in taking it out on him.

Most people seemed to be done by this point, but there were a few people left if he wasn't mistaken. They'd be able to move on to the next part soon.

Osuka WeaselThor JulesX

 

[JulesX]

Deathkitten

She practically snatched the stone out of the man's hand. "Thank you!" She examined it, taking in the texture and the color of it. She also let one of her hornets crawl on it and sniff at it. Once the insect was satisfied, she took time to get comfortable before holding the stone up to her face and staring at it.

"Wow..."

Mitsu found herself on a stage. She walked towards the center, and she was handed an award. It was as if the words on the award were blurred out, but she couldn't deny that she was happy. She looked out to the crowd, and saw her parents and old classmates cheering for her.

Before she could take the microphone from the person who was giving her the reward, the trance ended, and she found herself sitting on her skateboard. She marveled at the strange stone before gently putting it down on a nearby table. Her eyes sparkled with excitement, and she couldn't hold back a wide, pleased grin.

"That was incredible!!" She exclaimed. She'd never experienced anything like that.

 

[Kyrenka]

Spoiler: Waylin & Nixiia

~Waylin & Nixiia~​

Waylin listened to the arguing that resulted from the man's words. Sounds like people aren't happy. He shouldn't have been surprised really...he could already feel Nixiia's discomfort nudge around the edges of his awareness. Some of them might have legitament reasons behind their hesitance, but others were probably just afraid of the unknown. The mage himself hadn't used the rune yet, but it wasn't because he was afraid. Squinting against the darkness, Waylin tried to make out the shape of the rune as his fingers lightly glanced over the stone's surface. How am I supposed to do this without sight? A weight settled on top of his head as Nixiia decided to use her ward as a couch. Worry. "You plan on using that?" Her tone was disinterested, but it was apparent that she didn't want him taking part in this activity.

"Do you?" The mage countered. REFUSAL. Reaching up, Waylin held a finger out. Almost instantly, he felt the faerie place her head under his fingertip. "You don't have to if it makes you uncomfortable," he soothed while gently petting her.

Discontent. "I'm not going to," she said firmly. There was a pause, and Waylin knew that she was waiting on him to join her little boycott.

"I want to." Displeasure. Worry.

The mage wasn't surprised when Nixiia immediately said, "Then I'll do it with you!"

Reassurance. "I'll be fine on my own Nix." He gave her a light pat before his fingers went back to tracing the rune on the stone. Panic! "The school wouldn't have brought us somewhere dangerous."

Waylin could feel the venomous glare Nixiia sent towards Omura. "I don't trust him."

Reassurance. Determination. "I can handle myself," the mage sent a wave of affection towards the faerie as he continued, "Besides, I have you to help me if something goes wrong." Affection. Pride. There was still an undercurrent of worry churning in the background, but it was mostly buried under the fierce explosion of motivation that came from the tiny faerie. It brought a smile to Waylin's face; they've only known each other for such a short time but he couldn't imagine being without Nixiia now. He squeezed the stone in his hands and took in a breath. Focus. The mage had considered asking Omura for help, but he wanted to try to solve his problem by himself first. His parents were amazing, but had a tendency to coddle him a little too much. That was part of the reason he came all the way to America in the first place. He needed room to grow, and he wouldn't have been able to do that with his family doing everything for him. Sure, he couldn't see, but he wasn't completely helpless! He had magic after all....

Realization struck Waylin suddenly. Magic! He couldn't see the rune, but that didn't mean that he couldn't activate its abilities with his own magic, right? During his abroad application his abilities were measured and tested; the school had been impressed by the strength of his magic. That had to count for something, right? Closing his eyes, the mage concentrated on the stone in his hands. There was an immediate reaction, and Waylin was unexpectedly swept up in chaotic and dizzying sensations. It felt similar to being caught in a violent undertow, and panic began to cloud his thoughts. It took the mage a while to realize that he wasn't panicking. In the chaos of the rune's magic, Waylin's bond with Nixiia had somehow blurred until he couldn't tell if his emotions belonged to him or not. It felt...disconcerting. Like as if everything inside of his soul had been shifted around and he couldn't tell what was what anymore. It didn't frighten him, but it did put him on edge.

As suddenly as the torrent of magic had started, it stopped once again. Waylin didn't feel like he was drowning in an magical undertow anymore, but at the same time everything was still slightly off. He could feel Nixiia's worry and anger, but the emotions slowly trickled into his consciousness in a distorted way. Their bond was still stable, but it felt muffled in a way. Is it because of my magic? The experience was supposed to be dream-like, but this felt more like an out of body experience than a dream. The mage supposed that it would've been more pleasant if it weren't for the fact that his faerie felt distant from him.

For the first time in a long time, he felt alone.

Shuddering, Waylin gathered himself. Standing around won't help. The mage's surroundings were dark, as per usual, so he focused on his magic instead. Memories floated through his mind; the familiar voices of his family laughed and said unintelligible words, the scent of his mother's cooking drifted through the non-existent air, and for a moment he could feel the ocean spray droplets at him. Longing. Homesickness took over as the mage paused in order to bask in his memories. It's not like he regretted leaving, but it also didn't mean that he didn't miss home.

Comfort.

The sensation came out of nowhere and enveloped him. In that instant, the fog of the rune's magic parted and Waylin's bond with Nixiia was crystal clear once again. He missed home, but this was a new chapter of his life. For the first time ever he was in charge of his life, and it was all thanks to Nixiia. Focusing on his magic one more time, Waylin felt the air around him respond. The scent of salt water filled his senses as the wind picked up and sand swirled beneath his feet. Trusting his instincts, the mage moved forward until he felt the ocean gently lap at his shoes. Adventure. Magic was strong in their family, and their domain was water. How many times had he stood on the beach and longed to go across it? To explore the world and experience the adventures life had to offer? A light touch graced his cheek, causing his hand to fly up to his face. Nixiia? She was waiting for him.

Warmth bore down on Waylin from the invisible sun as a sudden gust of wind tousled his hair. I hope I'm right about this. Taking in a deep breath, the mage ran forward into the water. He was able to get about knee deep when a wall of water barreled into him and took him off of his feet. Once again, the mage was thrown into a chaotic swirl of reality as water, or rather magic, twisted around him before finally tossing him back into reality. The disorientation from being suddenly thrown into his upright and stable body caused him to lose his balance. He reached out blindly before ungracefully falling on his rear. Well that's embarrassing. Waylin could feel his cheeks heat up in embarrassment, people had to have seen that, which was only made worse when, Panic! Relief! Worry. Affection, Nixiia attached herself to his ear and began shooting him a million questions at once. The slight pain from his humiliating landing faded quickly, no doubt due to the faerie's healing magic, as he quickly climbed back to his feet.

Reassurance. "I'm fine Nix," he assured gently. Pocketing the stone for a moment, he held out his hands and felt relief course through him when he felt the comforting weight of Nixiia in his palms.

Anger. Protect! "You didn't seem fine," the faerie hissed out. Rage bubbled readily at the surface of their connection, and Waylin did his best to drown it in reassurances.

"I was dis...ordered for a bit."

"Disoriented," Nixiia corrected automatically.

Waylin smiled. "Yes. That." Bringing the smaller figure closer to his face, he felt tiny hands reach out and stroke his face in anxious motions. "It wasn't bad, just confusing." He had to admit, once the violent shifting of reality settled the experience was pretty enjoyable. The faerie grumbled angrily, causing Waylin to send another wave of affection through their bond. The mage hoped that their next activity would be a little less stressful.

 

[Osuka]

Tsunami:

This bloke.

This bloke was one of those, it seemed. The kind that liked to say one thing, then point the finger when something doesn't go right. Reminded him of a politician more than anything, but having heard the man's argument, he found multiple flaws within it. The first of the flaws being the illusion of choice that he was now showing with the situation. Before, he had told one student that they didn't have a choice. They literally had to do the "Trial" of sorts, but now he was telling Tsunami that there was a choice, but it had to be one that they wouldn't have thought about. Surely, if the students didn't hear their discussion, they would've never picked up on the tidbit and would've perhaps been forced into a re-telling of a situation they would've rather avoided.

The second one was that, clearly, things weren't all they seemed. By the way he was talking about the stones, they were alive, rather than some random, enchanted artifact. Aside from that, they must've been made out of some fragile kind of stone like sandstone or some kind of shale for it to crack that easily, no matter how hard he threw it. There was hair and flesh to contend with before even trying to crack the skull, and from what he could tell, Mr. Omura wasn't bleeding, so he was hard-pressed to believe that the stones were anything durable, which was a mistake made by those who created them.

Not his fault, and he was going to point it out loud enough for the students to hear, but at a volume that was "Civil."

"Right," Tsunami said as he cleared his throat and stuffed his hands into his pockets. "First, mate, I'm not takin' that rock. The fact of the matter is that you told everyone here, by proxy of telling one student, that ain't nobody here had a choice in the matter and it was either do it or fuck ya, so me decidin' that I'm not goin' to do it and then gettin' pinged, cuz ya didn't warn anyone about the consequences of refusin' the 'Trial' is on you.

"For two, if you'd'a said 'Just sit it down and ya ain't gotta deal with it,' then I'd'a gone about it that way, but ya didn't, so you're obviously not very good at givin' clear instructions and thinkin' ahead. That's on you, too. For third, the fact of the matter is that the creator of these stones - you or otherwise, obviously picked a shit material, and you should get a return on your investment if you're bright enough, but, like a politician, you wanna blame everything on someone else instead of taking the initiative to see you have an inferior material for a task that might be more taxing than you thought it would be. So, since you're so worried about it, and both points are irrefutably what leads up to the damaging of the artifact being your fault, since I was forced to take the 'Trial' against my will, no matter the outcome, you can deal with it. Besides..."

Tsunami leaned in and, while making sure that his pockets were far away from the man to ensure he couldn't plant the stones within his own personal items, took a sniff and leaned back.

He didn't really have an ability to tell how strong a person was, but it was fun to toy with people sometimes.

"Ya stink sturdy enough ta deal with it yourself. Surely ya don't need someone 'inferior' to yaself to deal with it, so you can be the expert and do it yourself. Now if you'll excuse me, I got somethin' more important to do, like decipher what the fuck this replica of a plushy is supposed to mean if it's linked to my mate Tempest."

And with that, he turned his back in an obvious practiced display of precision - a snap of a move, and strode off back to his seat from where he met Omura halfway.

Like hell he was going to focus on anything else but the replica stuffed animal, and some stuffy jerk in a suit and western bow tie with a clasp wasn't going to change it.



Lu-Dao:

There was a moment in time where he would've stepped in between a grown man and a student of his who wasn't old enough to claim his own taxes, but then there was the ever curious case of Baki "Tsunami" Churla: A student who didn't take any kind of guff from anyone, did what he thought was best, and even proved that he wasn't going to back down by literally dying and coming back from the dead to keep learning how to be the biggest badass in the northern hemisphere. If he was Tsunami, he wouldn't want anyone interrupting, and against his better judgement... Well...

He didn't.

If Tsunami was going to act grown, and to tackle his problems head-on, it was better to let him do so. Tsunami seemed to learn better in a trial-by-fire fashion, and like hell he was going to get in the way of Tsunami learning the way he seemed to best just by what had happened recently. If he wasn't deterred by being tortured to death, then Mr. Omura would be no less imposing as things stood currently. After all, if you're going to be afraid of anything, it should be pain and suffering, logically, and that didn't seem to even faze the boy. At least, not that he could tell.

So he stood by.

After Tsunami's very pointed and, in his opinion, well-made counter-argument, though, he felt perfectly open to piping up.

"I would prefer you elucidate the train of logic one would have to undergo in order to make sense as of how you were able to, roughly, vocalize what would be considered a dead language, Mr. Omura," Lu-Dao began, his hands relaxed at his sides as he locked eyes with the man. "I am not fond of being left in the dark on such 'coincidences.' As for Kara, the answer is no: She is not yet registered as a student of Astrella's Boarding School for the Powered, and would technically be observing in activities that are being conducted on this site. I would rather her observe and learn than in a trial-and-error method so she does not make any unnecessary mistakes or is reminded of any traumatic events, which is evident by the reactions that our current class has had. Her case is a..."

He looked to her, and nearly frowned behind his mask.

"Sensitive one."



Fay:

"Well, c'mon, no time to lose, right?"

Fay rolled his eyes and looked up, shaking his head as he was about to respond... But instead tilted his head back in a somewhat confused fashion. The crazy side of him was more apparent. It was more apparent in the fact that the voice, which once was universally pervasive, now had a direction to it. A very distinct direction, in fact, which was to his right behind his shoulder, about two feet away, if his perception of dimensions were to hold any truth in his mindscape. Still, the voice was right, and he wasn't going to waste any time.

Of course, that's what he would've told himself if the window to his left didn't give him a very odd, yet familiar view. It was familiar, and odd, in the fact that it was the dead of winter, which didn't mean too much for the Alaskan coast save the fact that it was now even more frigid, with more snow moving in through the area, but the really odd part came in the form of a body. Outside, maybe fifty meters away, which was all the blizzard was giving him with the terrible conditions outside, was a very, very familiar body. Golden locks, a thick coat, lanky body regardless of how short the body was, and it was calm.

The person he was dubbed a twin to. Yui. Outside, he could see his form... Praying? No, most Mages didn't pray. Instead, they cast spells, and with the enormous spike in the boy's aura, he could tell it was one: a ritual spell, and two: a very, very big one. It seemed familiar, but... Why hadn't he seen it before? He couldn't consciously recollect the scene in his head, but it felt all too familiar and odd at the same time, as if it happened, but had never been noticed before. Last he remembered, he caught the poor sod in a broom closet after the fight when the Supers came in to save the day, clean up the mess, and steal the glory from him, but the last portion wasn't what he was upset about.

Really.

He promised.

Pinky promised, even, and you never go back on pinky promises, right?

Okay, so he was irritated about it quite a lot, but that wasn't something he should have been focusing on right now. Two questions formed in his mind as he suddenly heard a blast that rang down the hall from the library, which came to two questions and a ridiculous statement.

One: Yui was outside, and if this was the same attack that brought Alaska's Arcane School for the Gifted, it meant that he was near one of the entry points. So why was he there?

Two: How was Yui still alive? If the attack had breached the two-meter thick walls, then why wasn't he blasted when they began the invasion?

And for his statement: That old man could sleep through a hell of a lot if the blasts that were now filling the halls weren't waking him up.

"SEKJET"

Fay didn't have time to think. Whirling around as he heard the hissing snarl of a spell's incantation, and the roar of flames speeding to him, Fay's words came out quick and with a heft as he drew in his will as quick as he could, and hurled it forward into a cobbled-together counter.

"Ventas Kurundum!!! Nocht Infriga! Forzare Maxima!!!"

The sound, as a passing thought, came out something as if a double-timbre, but the spells had come forth with even more power than he had anticipated. Fire licked and splashed across a hex-pattered half-dome of protection before the other two went off. A blast of pure cold, enough to freeze a man to the spot erupted from his fingertips, and was followed by a sudden gale of pure kinetic force that threatened to rip books away as the cannonball-sized sphere rocketed towards its target. The result was a man blown away from crown to waist, the top of his body reduced to a powdery, red mist that sprayed behind where the top half of the man used to be, and legs frozen solid to the ground below it.

"Nice work, kid!!" came the crazy half again, but now... he felt pressure on his shoulder. Fay froze. "You were really in sync with that chain - exactly what I did, in fact!"

The man that stood beside him - no, towered above him at nearly seven feet tall, dressed in pure white, loose-fitting robes and a staff in hand, was the famed Wizard of Celes himself and grinning from ear to ear like a proud father who just watched his son provide for the family after a long hunt for the very first time.

"Y-y-y-yo-you-"

"I was wondering when you would notice. Took you forever, y'know."

"Stars and stones, you're-"

"Yup. Wizard of Celes," he stated with a mockingly basso voice. "Savior of Egypt, Arcane Mastermind of bla bla bla bla bla, let's get to finding the thing. Seriously. YOu would've woken up if I was the thing you had to find, which stings a little. I'd think the person tied to these rune stones would hold me pretty high up there on the pecking order."

With that said, Celes stepped forward and started looking through the multiple shelves, peeking around corners, and mostly scratching his head.

Fay, however, had a different idea. It was the pull again. Something deep - primal, even. Older than what knowledge the Mage's Council may have, and the pull alone was all he needed to know. It called to something that old, and something that powerful, well... he couldn't deny its nagging tug. With gentle steps, Fay began to make his way around the library, trying his best to push the sounds of agony and rage away from his ears, and found it difficult. It was impossible to ignore the sounds. Bloodthirsty roars and wrenching, blood-curdling screams alike were nearing the library more and more quickly as time passed by, and his search was taking him deeper and deeper into the library itself. There was only one way in or out of the library, and if he took a wrong turn and was jumped by multiple attackers, he doubt he would be able to survive it even if Celes brought up the rear and pulled off a sneak attack from the enemy flanks. For that matter, he didn't even know if he could die in a mindscape's illusion. This one was a very convincing one, no matter what he told himself, and it only served to trick him more and more. Could he become vegetated if he died in his mindscape? Be so convinced he died that he stayed comatose?

He wasn't willing to find out, and found himself instinctively picking up the pace. It wasn't until five minutes of ducking, weaving, hard turns, and a skid later that he found what he had to have been looking for: Upon a pedestal inside a glass box was contained a single sword. It was a sidesword, and though Mundane historians say it was impossible for a side sword to exist during Celes' era, considering the original was dated to be from the early sixteen-hundreds, the illustration and the real thing were sitting right in front of him. The blade itself was made of a hardened silver and steel mix, which was a miracle to begin with, but was designed to be lightweight. The fuller of the blade ran down straight to the swooped hilt of the sword, both edges razor sharp and glistening in the dim light that shone through the windows. It wasn't the thickness of a longsword, but was moreso than the rapier or the Falx or the Falchion. It was a straight blade, and even the point gave off a eerily magickal gleam. The grip itself was a metal wrapped cord that ended with a jeweled pommel, the same color as the crystal within Fay's staff, and pulsed as Fay found himself walking ever so slowly forward.

By the time the pulsing light had become a single, glowing beacon, he was touching the glass....

***

Fay snapped awake with a start, looking left and right as he surveyed the area. Adrenaline was running through his veins, and he was still looking for Celes - the real Celes. The one who-

In your noggin, Sherlock, came his voice again.

I must be crazy.... Fay thought to himself. There's no way-

Oh I'm real, kiddo. That tattoo on your back is proof. The obvious things that you wouldn't say in the way you wouldn't say them, for the reasons you wouldn't say them is proof. Split personalities be damned. And what you found was my sword. Honestly, I wouldn't suggest telling Mr. O-Stuffy-Breeches over there anything you saw, including Yui, or he might be inclined to ask questions we don't have answers to, and we aren't gonna just be ready to have them served on a silver platter. I bet he has one right up his as-

Too graphic! Fay snarled inwardly. The adrenaline in his veins were still pumping, and it wouldn't be too long before he came down from it, but for now, it may have been best to keep quiet just to have enough time to reign in his emotions.

Adrenaline plus random, constant questions, wouldn't equal a desired effect, and he was a damn mage. Mages wielded their emotions properly, not willy-nilly so they could be controlled by them. Emotions were a source. Not a driver.

Fine, Fay thought to himself. We keep quiet, but if Omura is a telepath, we might not be allowed to keep things to ourselves.

Then we tell him to shove his finger in his own nose - ours isn't for his picking pleasure.

.... Celes?

Yeah, kiddo?

Please, don't ever say that phrase again. That's just.... ew.

Deathkitten

 

[WeaselThor]

Spoiler: Alien Drones

As the ship came to a stop in orbit between earth & the moon its cloaking technology finally lifted allowing its scanners to activate and identify the surface of the planet. The occupant of the vessle let out a strange sound when it noticed four unidentifiable radiation signatures on a single continent. 3 of them were within 100 miles of each other, the final one was a bit away from the others but nonetheless it was inconvenient. Any of those four could be the target, so the ships occupant thought a number at his ship and machines began to cranck and churn as the fabrication factory on board fired up producing 16 scout drones in about a minute. Shortly thereafter the ships bottom opened and these drones aimed themselves at the 4 targets before rocketing towards the planet and spliting into four groups of four.
~~~
The Academy Field trip.

The Drones decended from the heavens above the strange forest scanning the large chunk of land and creating files on each lifeform that was witnessed, from the strange tiny hopping amphibians, to the slightly unnerving winged insects that reminded him of the swarms of Kulder. But the most complex genetics came as the scouts approached the intelligent lifeforms of the planet. Many ot them seemed to possess similar DNA but each one had a specific part that seemed abnormal. Yet as the drones hovered into view of these beings scanning them with passing swaths of light. Finally one found the Signature and identified it as. Atomosian human Hybrid, interesting yes but not what he sought. As such the drones began to slowly raise into the air...
(All)

 

[Steve Freeling]

Since Steve and Diane didn't use magic, they didn't have much to do on this field trip. Instead, they spent pretty much the whole time talking.
"...and messed around with my gravity, the creep." Steve whispered.
"Because you called her out for bitching and moaning about stupid cigarettes." Diane whispered, incredulously.
"Yep."
"You've got to be kidding me."
"I wish I was."*
That was when he saw a silver object out of the corner of his eye. It was oddly shaped and floating, about the size of his bike's front end. He gently jerked Diane by the arm to alert her to it.
"What the hell is that thing, huh? A drone?"
"It's a drone, all right, but I've never seen one like it." Is it even from Earth?
"So, someone's spying on us. I wonder who. Bastard!"
With that, Steve ran at the drone, grasped it firmly by its wings and forcefully hurled it to the ground.
"Steve, look, there's three more of them!" Diane called out while rushing over to help.
"Huh?"
Sure enough, Steve saw that there were three additional drones.
"Kuso!"** He couldn't believe this. We get attacked on the first day of school and end up in lockdown for a week. Then Tsunami nearly gets killed - strike that, gets killed and they have to revive him - by the bastard who's possessing Tempest. And now we're being spied on, probably by some villain who wants to kill us all. Can't anything go right for a change?
"Not so fast, you son of a bitch! Your game is finished!" Diane grabbed a drone and after prying a panel open with a slight struggle, ripped its wires out before dropping it on the ground.
"Hrah!" Steve grabbed another drone and violently tossed it down to the ground.
_{*Whispering ends.
**Shit!}

 

[Deathkitten]

~ Kaleb ~​

Kaleb was, generally, full of smiles. He got to get out and see some more of the area, and... it seemed they were going by the ocean in particular. The sea was a beautiful place, something calm yet strong, and definitely something that needed to be respected. If you weren't careful, that calm appearing body of water would drag you out and silence you before anyone had a chance to do anything about it.

He was roused from his surprisingly dark thoughts by the bus coming to a stop. He shook his head and smiled more, looking out at the forest and the strange man. Even better! This was far better than simply sitting in class, looking out the window or staring at a book. He was absolutely captivated by the creatures that surrounded him and some of the other students, giggling like an innocent little child at the wonder of it all. He didn't have to worry about an explosion or about a student almost getting killed or anything like that. Right now he felt safe.

Do you even realize how cute your thoughts are? the goddess asked, smiling internally.

Oh, hush. Just let me enjoy it.

The trip only proceeded to get more interesting as it went on, and the man, Omura as he introduced himself, had stones for them to stare into. While some students seemed trepidatious about this endeavour, Kaleb was very very excited. There was no fear from him as he peered at the stone and waited.

As with the others, his environment disappeared and he was left with what he assumed was his mindscape, as Omura had explained it. It was wide and open, beautiful like a rare, cool summer's day. The sky was strange, blue as could be, but it was clear that instead of the normal atmosphere, it was the ocean flipped up to take its place. The water rippled and crested as the wind blew, stronger the higher one went, forming little white ridges that pretended to be clouds. Here at ground level, the wind was a simple breeze.

It whistled through the vast clearing that ripped open the forest like a fresh wound, a river to his right the vein of the beast. It wasn't gross... instead, it was alive. The grass was a deep verdant green, the kind that desired to be someone's pillow and bed all at once, tall as though it had never been mowed, but without weeds to stab and attack passersby. It blew to and fro with the breeze, swaying in its own silent melody of ambient bliss. Outside the boundaries of the clearing laid the forest, like it was too worried about what the visitor would think if it were to come any nearer. The trees were pine, tall as could be, and dense as a package of colored pencils. Even from this distance, he could see, interspersed here or there, a tree out of place - how couldn't he see it? They stood out as though they were soldiers out of line. Those few rebel trees begged to differ. They desired to be delinquent, punk rocking to their own hand-like-leaf tune. They would be, in fall, the only spots that offered oranges or reds.

Kaleb wondered idly which came first... was it the pine, or was the pine a leftover from a bygone era with bygone visitors?

The righthand river vein was truly a river, pulsing through its banks as a roaring current. It had rained recently, and the water showed traces of it in the tint of brown mud the force of nature held within it. The rain scared him nowadays. He knew what force it had. He knew how easily it could rip a sedan off the road and toss them off a cliff. He knew...

A raspy breath of air tore through his lips as he forced himself to calm down, which was easier said than done.

In the vein was a champagne colored sedan, a five-seater, four-door vehicle. It was nothing special, but the far bank of the torrent gripped the mass of metal as though its beating heart required it. The car was upside down, and as seconds ticked by, the sedan began to weather the force of the river. Metal crunched and scraped, a tire fell off and went sailing, car doors bent in at awkward angles, and it became increasingly clear that whomever had the misfortune of being in this crash was not of the living any longer.

As it continued, creaking and screaming of an abrupt end, Kaleb sat. He didn't have a choice in whether or not he'd hear the thing... but at least he didn't need to watch it. He just needed to sit here and breathe... it'd pass in time.

The river's sound faded away into a rhythm, bucking up like a slow drum beat that morphed into an equally slow heartbeat.

ba....ba....ba....ba....bah....Bah....B-Bah....Ba-Bah....Bah-Buh....Bah-Bum....Bah-Bum....Bah-Bum....Bah-Bum....Bah-Bum....Bah-Bum

It got to the point where Kaleb had little streams trickling down his cheeks, hating the image playing in his head of his parents' mangled corpses, but... the moment the tears dripped off his chin and began making a puddle on his clasped hands, the sound came to an end. It was abrupt, but whatever the reason, he was thankful. He gave himself another moment sitting there, a sigh, a mental reminder to himself that his parents were perfectly fine thanks to his sacrifice, and... he stood up.

He was here for a reason, right? Some object? Kaleb wiped his face off on one of his long sleeves and looked around. A rebel tree now stood nearby, the only one in the clearing, and it definitely wasn't there before. He looked up at it, copper leaves in complete disregard for the imagined summer season.

Alright... probably an important tree then, I guess.

Walking up to it, he glanced up into the branches as he touched the bark. Peering down at him was a large spotted feline, similar to a leopard but an impossible purple color. With that, the rock's effect ended, and he was rocketed back into the real world, far too dazed and out of it to notice (or care about) the drones.

 

[Kyrenka]

~Taylor Walker~
​

He was calmer than before. The blond was grudgingly glad that he hadn't hesitated much and just dove into the activity; he got it over with instead of dragging it out. Staring out at the sea of students still locked in their own minds, he watched as some came out of their visions in a better mood and some in a worse mood. A kid wearing sunglasses, what kind of asshole wears sunglasses indoors?, fell right on his ass as he startled out of his own vision. That got a small laugh out of Taylor, but his attention quickly moved on. The mage didn't recognize most of the faces, which was honestly surprising since he expected to be able to pick out as least one person that he knew. His attention was drawn away for a brief moment while he watched Omura angrily scold a student. Whatever the kid did, Omura deserved it. He was definitely still bitter at the butler-esque man for this activity in general.

His gaze skimmed over the crowd again before his eyes finally locked onto a familiar face. Kaleb! The blond's posture straightened from its previously slumped form as he quickly maneuvered through the maze of students towards his friend. Taylor managed to get to the other boy, only for his steps to falter as he realized that Kaleb was still tangled in the rune's magic. Frowning, he carefully scanned the younger boy's face for any signs of distress; satisfied that they weren't any, the mage sighed before lowering himself onto the floor. Might as well wait for him now that I've found him. Narrowing his eyes, Taylor tried to peer between people's legs in order to spot Fay but gave up after a few minutes. The blond reached into his skirt's waistband and pulled out his phone. Another noise of annoyance escaped the frustrated teen. No service. Turning on his camera, he instead used his phone as a mirror to check on his appearance. I look like shit. His eyes were still a little red from crying before, and his hair was frizzing up from the humidity. Making a small, tsk, sound, Taylor balanced his phone in between his knees as he undid his hair and tried to make it more presentable. Next time, I'm bringing a purse. It was better to have things and not need them than to not have them and then need them.

Deathkitten

 

[Deathkitten]

This child was cocksure and impudent, full of himself and clearly without care for others or objects. Omura took a calming breath and turned to look at Lu-Dao again, pocketing the broken stone without giving Tsunami the pleasure of having a response. If he was going to act like a child and toss a magical object, then he was going to be treated as a child. Frankly, he was surprised that the delinquents were allowed on this field trip in the first place.

No point in riling the rude child further.

"Simple, Sage, simple. I'm a good servant to my master, and that means having the means to address all his guests, including those who don't speak the language. On top of having the means, I also have the desire to. A quick mental note of where you two hail from, and I had a destination in mind. My counterpart at the school took the initiative to learn the language. As he learns, so do I, since we are one and the same. Mm... right. You'd like an actual answer... Well, I have some Ixian literature I gleaned information off of. It's stored in the library on Astrella's campus. The librarian, the counterpart I mentioned, has made a nice little section for those books. He's rather proud of it. They weren't easy to procure," he explained, all in English, though to the last part he switched to Ixian, "It is unfortunate that the answer is a no. I do encourage her to watch all the same. I do hope she enjoys."

"The answer is a no?" Kara repeated, pouting up at Lu-Dao almost how one would to a Father, "I wanted to be included in the activities. Do I have to wait until I learn the language?"

"As for that boy, I would like you to keep a closer eye on him, please. Tossing magical artifacts could end in an explosion if he tossed the wrong one. While nothing here would do such a thing, it is a bad habit to have," he said, finishing with a smile before he turned to look at the drones that some students had taken it upon themselves to take out from the sky.

He opened his mouth to shout to them, though before he could, another individual appeared.

In fact, two appeared. First, a proud, golden dragon that landed on the ground in front of Steve, Diane, and the drones with a massive thud and subsequent cloud of dust that erupted from the impact. De'Kiral rolled his eyes at this, but most people seemed thoroughly impressed. The dragon huffed its snout in Steve's face before crouching down.

From its back came a handsome looking man somewhere in his mid-thirties in appearance with a groomed beard, long, straight black hair, golden eyes that matched the dragon he had slid off of, and a scar that ran down from his right eyebrow to his cheek. Standing at an imposing 6' 5", he was certainly taller than most who were present.

He glanced at the drones at his dragon's feet before shouting with a booming voice to the children, "Hello and welcome to my forest, younglings. I'm pleased you've all come. The next few days will be of great importance, especially to some of you. You will be rooming in a cabin near here tonight, but first, allow me to introduce myself. I am Omura's keeper, Ozarin, and this is my dragon and companion, Jashi'il. If you all would be so kind, come forward and get into a line. I don't wish to waste your time."

Omura rushed up to meet him, assisting Ozarin with taking a hefty bag off Jashi'il's back. Ozarin looked out at the students and, one by one, handed each of them what appeared to be a large blue egg-shaped stone. The lines on each varied, and for those who were particularly magically gifted, the lines even swirled and danced about in glowing opalescent colors.

"These are your charges for the next few days. This is your living assignment. Treat them well, be careful with them, keep them close, and they will hatch. If you fail, you may end up killing the creature forming inside. If you succeed, as we expect you will, you will have a companion for life. Some may not hatch, particularly, if you have no magical energy whatsoever, or very very little, but most will. There is not one singular creature or even type of creature that could come of this. It will vary greatly from person to person," he closed the bag as he spoke, looking at the students with a curious smile, "Again, if you're particularly magically inclined, you may even feel a link form. This will be exciting."

"Now then, I need each of you to tell me what you saw in your dream visions. The significant object, person, place, etc. I don't need the whole shpeal. One at a time," he continued, pointing from person to person in the same order they had been in line.

(( Osuka JulesX WeaselThor Daniel Reaving OnyxReaper Kyrenka gloomyResearcher Steve Freeling Astralworks Djinni MirrorBoy Peckinou Rantos As far as telling the dream vision thing to Ozarin, please just put it in bold if you can, that way it's easy for me to reference later. ))

 

[Kyrenka]

Spoiler: Elizar Rolonk

~Elizar Rolonk~​

The wind picked up suddenly and whipped Elizar's hair around her face. Hurriedly brushing the wild strands aside, turned as a huge THUMP shook the ground. The mute's eyes widened and her breath left her as a dragon stood before them. Unlike Mr. De'kiral, this dragon appeared like the stereotypical dragons from fairy tales; it even had someone riding it! Excitedly, the girl weaved through the crowd of students in order to get closer. Elizar had managed to get to the front of the crowd just in time for the strange dragon rider to carefully hand her a new stone. Distractedly placed the original pewter stone in her pocket and she grabbed the larger, blue stone with both hands. This one had beautiful iridescent lines and symbols, and Elizar couldn't help but stare at it in awe as she held it. "These are your charges for the next few days." The mute jumped as the man's voice startled her out of her examination of the stone. "This is your living assignment. Treat them well, be careful with them, keep them close, and they will hatch. If you fail, you may end up killing the creature forming inside. If you succeed, as we expect you will, you will have a companion for life. Some may not hatch, particularly, if you have no magical energy whatsoever, or very very little, but most will. There is not one singular creature or even type of creature that could come of this. It will vary greatly from person to person. Again, if you're particularly magically inclined, you may even feel a link form. This will be exciting."

The man ended his speech with a smile, but Elizar could still feel her hands begin to sweat. Wait, they're eggs!? Nervously, the mute held the egg closer to her chest. Plants were one thing, but animals were a whole other monster. Can I keep it safe? Will the school even let us keep them? The school wouldn't have sent them on a trip if they didn't already approve of everything, right? That meant that these egg projects were approved of before-hand. "Now then, I need each of you to tell me what you saw in your dream visions. The significant object, person, place, etc. I don't need the whole spiel. One at a time." The man gestured for students to approach him, and one by one they did. Oh no, I need my writing pad! Gently cradling the egg in the crook of her left arm, her right hand fumbled with her back pocket before finally pulling out a small pad of paper and a pen. While she had wanted to bring her whiteboard since it was easier to use and reuse, she didn't want to have her hands tied up with the giant slab. With a click, Elizar did her best to write down what she wanted to say with one hand while being mindful not to crush her egg with her other hand.

Cringing at her sloppy handwriting, the mute dutifully joined the line of students that had formed. Quicker than she had expected, Elizar was now at the front of the line. The man who had rode the dragon was easily an entire foot taller than her, which caused him to loom over her. It made him appear intimidating and made it impossible for the girl to meet his eyes. Flustered, Elizar stuck out her notepad for the man to read. I was in a forest and saw pieces of the orphanage and hospital that I stayed at. I found a hurt flower in a garden and woke up.

The mute felt the palms of her hands begin to sweat again as he read what she had written. The notepad was smaller and easier to carry around, but it also had less room for her to write on it. I hope that he doesn't think I'm being rude. When she was sure that the man had finished reading, Elizar clumsily stuffed the notepad back in her back pocket and ducked out of the line. When she felt like she was a safe distance away from the man, she let out a sigh. The man hadn't seemed bad, he just gave off an aura of authority which made her hesitant to disappoint him. With both hands free, the mute contentedly tucked the egg in front of her once again. A friend for life...that sounds nice! She had never had a pet before, but maybe it wouldn't be so hard to care for after all. An idea struck Elizar suddenly; I should ask Mr. De'kiral what it is! Despite the fact that the mysterious dragon rider had said that it'd be different for everyone, maybe her teacher could predict what kind of creature she'd hatch. It's worth asking! Maneuvering through the crowd once more, this time with more care and caution, Elizar quickly found her teacher and approached him. The dark-haired girl approached De'kiral respectfully and patiently waited for his attention. Once the dragon's eyes landed on her, she eagerly signed with one hand, "[Mr. De'kiral, can you tell what this egg will hatch into?]" Belatedly, she added, "[Do I need to keep it warm like a normal egg or is magic enough? How do I give it magic? Will too much kill it?]" Elizar flushed a little when she realized that she was ambushing the poor teacher with a ton of questions, but she was determined to give the egg the proper care it needed. It's just like caring for a plant!

Deathkitten Heads up: Elizar is talking to De'kiral in the last paragraph. Also her dream vision is bolded but it's also green since that's how I've been indicating that she's written something.

 

[Osuka]

Lu-Dao:

To be perfectly fair, considering the fact that Tsunami wasn't yet educated in artifacts, he found it perfectly fair that his reaction was as it had been. Mr. Omura hadn't told the students before that the artifacts were as fragile as they were, and it wasn't exactly expected that each student knows the Rockwell scale by rote and how each stone aligned on that scale. Of course, Lu-Dao knew it, but again, Tsunami was a trial-by-fire type. He would learn more easily by making mistakes, no matter how dire, than learn through theory.

He was also going to give a retort about the collection and categorizing of his Race's texts, but there was, of course, something more important happening not too far from him.

Lu-Dao was able to feel the drones. The energy that drove them, the scanning of the environment, and their attempted take-off, which was thwarted by two of their students - one that very much seemed to be at least as hot-headed as Tsunami was. They were only drones, for now, and had made a snap-decision to let the two students handle it. Instead of answering either of them, since this seemed to take precedence in his mind, Lu-Dao held up a hand and began to approach the drones.

Surprise, he was interrupted again by, what he honestly felt was, a decidedly flashy entrance. An enormous golden Dragon landing within the field clearing that they stood in, and the voice of a man who was obviously trying to make things exciting and spontaneous for the students. They were to be given their stones, and if they got through the exercises the following days, they would Maybe have a pet of their own. It all depended on if they had the magick to grow it, and more importantly, if it didn't get destroyed all the while.

Taking in all of what just happened, and the fact that Omura tipped his hand to the fact that he was the Librarian - or at least partly, he was going to keep silent for now. It wasn't silence out of complacency, however, but that of a man plotting.

Chutes wasn't going to like him.

Tsunami:

There were a couple of things about this day that he was annoyed about already. The first, he could excuse, because he got excited over it: He was allowed to leave the school, and it was for a field trip. The fact that they wouldn't tell them what the field trip was for or tell them ahead of time that, if they were to go, they had to participate in a few things they may rather not and instead choose not to go irritated him, but in the end, at least he was out of the school. The stone was irritating. The first thing to question was how he was to know that the stone was so fragile. He couldn't have known that it wasn't fortified in any way to ensure that, if someone knocked the bowl of them over, they wouldn't crack, and Omura knew it like he knew his stupid-looking haircut. A side part would've served him better - somewhat messy, to keep things at least somewhat casual with the look, but it would've been better.

That wasn't the point.

Then, of course, was what the stone Did. There were many a thing in his mind that he didn't want to visit, and he was just forced to. Sure, he was going to be working in a job where he was going to be forced to face things he would rather not, but since he was working to take the job, it was obvious that he was okay with the idea of seeing some horrid terrorist attack happening, or busting a human trafficking business, saving half-dead individuals, children or adults, from burning buildings and having to stomach the fact that they were partly or severely burned, but those things were outside of himself. He wasn't even ready to confront the things inside of him, and realistically, it didn't do him any good to face it without being ready. You can't save someone who doesn't want to be saved, you can't help those who don't want help, and you can't stare deep into the abyss until you're ready for it to stare right back at you, and it didn't matter if he got something useful out of it.

Up next was the obvious lack in security that this cliff-side retreat had. For all the magickal prowess of Mr. Omura himself, it seemed, he was lacking in defenses. There were three drones, and two of them didn't get away thanks to students and not Omura or anyone or anything else that lived here. So, he decided he was going to do something about the third so that it didn't get away.

They were still pretty damn close to the cliffside, and that meant that he had the pacific ocean at his beck and call. So he was going to give it a ring and see if it would pick up.

Thankfully, it did.

(The following paragraph is an attempt for Tsunami to get a hold of the last Drone before Steve does, considering this would happen nigh-simultaneously while the drones are also in the air making their retreat. Steve didn't note an interrupt to stop them from leaving the ground, and since it was 2-v-3, it is almost impossible to think that the third hung around and didn't attempt to accelerate to escape velocity. (Also, I'm not trying to poke fun, so please don't kill me, Steve. I'm laying out the groundwork for my logic.))

Tsunami's right hand slipped up from his side, and as it did so, a thick tendril of water rose from below the cliff, and with a flick of his wrist, it snapped out. Moving at more than a hundred miles per hour - which hurt like hell for some reason and made him grit his teeth, Tsunami sent the tendril flying towards the last Drone to attempt to make it out of orbit. If the Tendril were to connect with the Drone, it would coil around the drone, solidify into a bubble attached to the tendril, and then come rocketing down to the dirt right next....

To the goddamn dragon.

It would've interrupted his concentration to the point where he would've lost the tendril he was using if he didn't just run into one a few minutes ago, but it did make the Tendril waver before it reformed and continued its chase towards the Drone. Tsunami, while concentrating on the drone, was also taking peeks at the dragon, preparing to summon up yet another tendril of the Pacific before a man had slid off its back and began to make his speech.

He was going to say something about the fact the man could've just intercepted the drones that were attempting to escape before the students had to handle it, but hey, at this point, he was starting to think that anyone who lived on this island didn't give a damn about a breach in security and just decided to twiddle their thumbs harmlessly.

That and it would've been a great display of aerial skill, but he was just the delinquent.

So instead, he listened while he kept his concentration on the drone, absorbing keywords like "Charges," "Protect," "Kill," and "Companion for life," and got the general idea that these things were precious cargo. At this point, whether he was able to snag the drone and contain it on-ground or not, Tsunami allowed himself to relax and give the egg a cursory glance. As the man had stated, the lines were swirling on it, but only faintly.

When he was prompted to tell the man what he saw in his "dream," as Ozarin called it, he figured it was just the end of it and what it all meant, and pulled the still-solid icy form of a plushy from his pocket.

"A clue," he stated with nonchalance. "It'll clear my mate Tempest's name. So stay clear'a him or you'll answer for it - you and your pet iguana."

The tone which he had used was more calm. Chillingly cold, almost, as if it was an inevitability rather than a threat. As far as Tsunami cared, he had already felt the cold, searing pain of Death's embrace, and that hug didn't scare him anymore.

Even if it did have teeth as long as his legs - or maybe longer.



Fay:
Today was going to be interesting, to say the least. His mindscape was the old library of his last school, and it involved the attack that happened. That in itself said there were problems - lots of problems with him, and he knew it for a fact. What he found in that library was something that the school, as far as he knew, didn't actually have. This was something to chew on. Considering the fact that he had seen the blade before, and didn't really think he wanted it, and then having Celes proven to be real in his mindscape, there was only two explanations.

The first was that it wasn't his desire to have it, but Celes' himself, which meant there could've been an ulterior motive on his brain-room-mate's side, and he couldn't rule out the idea that Celes being there could very well have thrown off the test results. Truth be told, the only thing Fay thought he wanted was peace, quiet, lots of books, and lots of time to experiment with new spells and concoctions.

The second was that his hypervigilante-ism was really starting to get to him, and the sword, a symbol of great power among the Mages, was just another paranoid snatch-and-grab for control over his environment. After all, a Mage without Control is just dead, and that was the end of it. Mages who didn't have full control over their environment - being able to spot things others don't see, address invisible but very real threats, and control the pace of a conflict were usually either crippled or in a hole in the ground. Aside from having the magick there to make them need to be prepared as Batman without the suit, they were just like any common civilian. There were elemental manipulators that were more sturdy than themselves, to be sure, and they didn't have to concentrate as hard on it. Even the Air elementalists could bend the wind around them to keep themselves safe without a second thought, but a Mage had to be able to give their full focus to multiple things at once. The slightest drop in attention to detail, like the drones that he saw three students handle out of the corner of his eye before a Dragon had landed and a stone egg was laid in his hand, meant that a Mage wasn't prepared enough.

To be a mage, one had to be worthy and mindful of the power they have. The Grand Archmages could protect cities from an artillery and magickal shelling while still barking orders to their subordinates. They could completely change the fabric of reality itself just to suit a more casual need while still being able to fend off a Company raining down fire upon them. That level of competence, mindfulness, and sheer power is what every Mage aspired to be, and every single one of them will tell you it if you learn how to notice when someone's lying through their teeth.

Mages were taskmasters, and that sword would've been the perfect micromanaging tool for any Grand Archmage, who no doubt likely had it in their possession. That would mean it had to either be grandfathered to him, or he had to kill them, and no one but another Grand Archmage was stupid enough to go try.

"A library," Fay noted towards Ozarin. "From my old school before it was attacked."

At this point, he knew too little of how much he could trust himself with the sword to make an announcement of it, and if there were any other Mages gunning for it, or thinking that it should be kept away from anyone but whoever held it now - if anyone, it was better he not act like he knew something about it. It would put a suspicious light on him, considering the only version of the sword people knew about it were the versions you find in books and not the real deal.

WeaselThor Deathkitten Steve Freeling

 

[Deathkitten]

(( Steve Freeling Osuka Forgot to tag Steve, Osuka.))

 

[gloomyResearcher]

Quota.​

As he was relatively new to the scenario he was placed into, Quota was still prepared for the hardships of a transfer student. The school he had transferred from is a school worth leaving. It was a place filled with almost a sense of a pseudo-hierarchy. He was treated horridly in his previous school. Harassed and embarrassed for what he looked like. So, due to the way he was being attacked in the last school, he transferred to this one.
The rabbit-like boy had been hidden away behind the scenes. Quota had kept himself hidden, yet in almost plain sight. He was aboard for the bus ride, which was still nice, but he still followed everyone else. Even so, this Omura person seemed rather trustworthy? Quota wasn't too sure, but he still followed along. He took a hold of the stone he was handed, doing as instructed. He was still a bit covered up, at least to hide the obvious. The dragon is what really got him nervous.
Quota overheard something about dream visions. Unfortunately, he still had no intention of drawing attention to himself. With almost a sigh of relief, yet an underlying fear of being pointed out, he continued listening as best he could. He watched everyone else. The students, the man who arrived with the dragon, and everyone else. This wasn't exactly his choice of a field trip, if one would ask him, but it was what it was, and he still attended it.
Quota went ahead to focus onto his mindscape.
((New here- Nice to be a part of this!))

 

[Deathkitten]

(( WeaselThor Kyrenka Daniel Reaving Osuka Djinni OnyxReaper JulesX gloomyResearcher Steve Freeling MirrorBoy Sorry if I missed anyone. This thread has now been moved here.))