Realistic or Modern Magical Teacher Professor Landry! - Amid the Ghost Blossoms

[Teal]

Pale buds began to pop up throughout the campus – from stone and dead wood as readily as soil. As the day wore on, they slowly unfurled – soft white radiance leaking from their delicate petals, growing stronger as the darkened. Soon, stray petals began to scatter through the night air – bore on a breeze too light to be felt by most.

A maze of canvas and wood booths had been erected, connected by newly laid dirt paths. Paper lanterns of incandescent and eerie blue light alternated, hanging down from any available surface and filling the streets with their contrasting glows. Costumed figures – most covered in full cloaks and masks – filled the campus, some staffing the festival, most patronizing it. Larger carnival rides rose throughout, their elaborate metal structures covered by electronic lights and showing up bright against the night sky.

On television screens scattered throughout the campus, a masked woman sat behind a news desk. “The Academy would like to remind students once again,” her voice was filled with the professional composure expected of a newscaster, “that masks are to be worn for their own safety tonight.” A handful of glowing ghost blossom petals fluttered onto her desk - the anchor casually brushed them off.

“There have been reports of…”

It was the Hallows Eve Festival of Amaranth Academy – a completely normal carnival in a completely normal school.

((This is the part where you improvise carnival-related activities to get on screen. Ritual is cancelled. If there are new players interested, you'll need to get a character approved here: https://www.rpnation.com/topic/2569...essor-landry-character-creation-here-be-text/ before you can post.))

 

[Arhra]

"Fuckin flowers. You'd think they'd prune the damn trees once in a while." An irritated young woman spoke from behind a boar's skull being used as a mask, dispelling the wreath of flowers that was forming on the bony face. Shin was hungry, a bit tired and not very amused.

Jo pushed the wheelchair for a moment longer before deciding to humour Shin. "Mm, mmm." she said, "What have the gardeners been up to?" The primary features of Jo's halloween costume consisted of a blue dress, a white tunic over it and a cape-like white pelt was held in place at her shoulders by a tooth necklace. The pelt came with a hood with two red fabric ears and her face was hidden behind an enigmatic red clay mask marked by three hollows like staring eyes and a circular mouth. She was, of course, an anime. The snow-like flurries of petals continued to slowly thicken. "Perhaps they got lost in an earlier blizzard."

The rest of Shin's mottled boar-skin cloak shook, trying to clear more space for her vision. It was a simple outfit, and one whipped up at the last minute in order to match Jo's. Fortunately, Shin had collected all sorts of odd ritual parts over the years and this would work for a costume.

Recognizing that she was being humored, the edge came off of the oni's voice. "Well, at least it's cold enough." The moisture on her breath was leaving the mask at every orifice, causing the skull to look as if it was smoking from the inside. "It snow back at home for you, this time of year?"

"Mmm, cooler at last." the jotun agreed, bare armed and vapour free. "Back home, the snow tends to worsen about now. Why, if you think these petals are bad, you should see a real snow storm! How about your home?"

Shin watched over her right shoulder, even covered by the costume it seemed unusually bare. Her recent operation - an amputation fully removing that joint - had only been done earlier that day. It had taken no small amount of magic and drugs in order to get her to resemble a sober, living creature again. "Naw, just a bit of wet. It takes another month or two before the damn gods will snow to fall." Normally she would be more intimidated by the jotun, but recent circumstances have made her wary eye turn elsewhere.

Namely, towards the crowd. Although the anonymity of the masks brought her comfort for herself, not easily identifying anyone else was wigging her out a bit. "Ah, screw the weather, let's find something to eat. Whaddya want?"

The slight awkwardness of Shin's movement reminded Jo of the accident. She still didn't know what exactly had happened there but it felt too soon unless Shin chose to bring it up. It was a testament to the oni's toughness that she wasn't still in a hospital bed connected up to various machines.

Knowing the ogre's carnivorous tendencies, Jo came up with an entirely different plan. She leaned forward over the chair to give Shin a sidelong glance and a sly grin, both effects largely wasted due to the full face mask she was wearing. "Meat!" she declared firmly.

Damn Chou, you know how to choose em. Shin's grin was toothy, but also wasted behind the boar's tusks. "Keep it in yer pants, I meant dinner." Her first genuine laugh of the day was heard, and much needed. The air of dread surrounding the oni needed to be dispelled.

"I have no idea what you mean." Jo sniffed with an air of offended dignity. What could Shin be implying about a creature of such infinite propriety as Jo? "Didn't you hear? They're doing a special rotisserie this year, all sorts of rare -" she put a fist to her mouth and coughed - "ahem, meats to sample."

"Bah." Shin's amused tone revealed the obvious - she wasn't convinced.

"If you'd prefer, there's a vegetarian stall." Jo suggested innocently. "It's all rabbit approved."

"Only if I get to eat said rabbits." Shin's left arm left the cloak briefly, waving dismissively toward a nearby crowd of flannel-wearing individuals. "Fine, you win, woman." There was quite a bit of affection in her defeated tone. "Let's get some damn meat before I have to go back to the glop they gave me earlier."

Jo started wheeling the chair along more purposefully. "Oh, you can't go eating committees - they'd never get anything done. Meat it is then. Good, good. I'll pick out a selection and then you can sample my wares."

A quick hiss, "You're doing that on purpose." Deflated, Shin adjusted her weight and folded her legs and feet underneath her on the wheelchair proper.

"To the victor goes the spoils!"

Facial expressions were once again pretty useless behind the mask, but Shin was rolling her eyes pretty hard. Stomach growling, she relented and allowed herself to be directed to the delicious, delicious protein foodstuffs.

 

[Maxiom]

DRIP

Water dripped to the floor from Sean's cell phone as it buzzed with a message.

"Ritual Cancelled. Thanks for the help." - Sao

Sean frowned. 'What does that mean?' Sao had gathered a team for the ritual well in advance, all to fix Diana's... curse. The whole thing gave him shivers thinking about. Everyone in Q11 could sense something was amiss about her, but only Sean had the privilege of seeing what it did to her upfront. And after his talk with Dal, Jack, and Jo, he felt it was definitely more than a dream. The ritual had to be done on Halloween. 'Is she just going to let it escalate? This doesn't make sense.' Sean reached up with a blue sleeve, and wiped the screen dry to send a message back.

"For real? Why?" - Sean

There was another drop of water from Sean's phone, which he quickly wiped away. He waited for a moment but didn't get a reply. He frowned and dialed Sao's number.

Ring Ring Ring Ring

There was no reply. Didn't even go to voice message. Also Sean's ear was wet. "Can't believe this," he muttered. He had spent nearly a month getting ready for this..

With a sigh, Sean looked to the old hockey stick that he had Shin alter. It definitely couldn't be used for hockey anymore - its blade had been sharpened and curved, it almost looked more like a glaive or a scythe than a hockey stick now. He reluctantly shoved it back into its bag with the other, unaltered sticks. Sean then pulled up another contact on his phone. 'Atleast the costume won't go to waste,' he reasoned, looking down to the royal blue suit jacket he had put on.

"Hey, Penny, you there?"

---

"So, Penny, now that I'm free for the night, what do you want to do?" Sean asked his girlfriend as they walked down to the festival. There costumes matched - Sean was dressed in a blue tuexedo with a domino mask and a deep blue/white cape. Penelope herself was wearing a long white gown with puffed shoulders and gold trim at the top. Sean didn't care too much for cosplay, but he couldn't say no when she had asked them to dress up together for Halloween. Apparently she was a big fan of Sailor Moon.

"Don't think you're totally off the hook!" She replied to him, a mix of playfulness and vindictiveness in her voice as she batted him on the shoulder. "You were almost going to miss my performance tonight! I don't know if I'd forgive you for that."

Sean laughed and raised a hand defensively. "Well, I'm here now, right! What can I do to make it up to you? Anything you want!"

The blonde put a hand to her chin as she seemed to think it over. "Hmmm. I have to rest my voice before the show, buuuut.... how about you sing for me!"

Sean raised an eyebrow under his mask. "You want me to sing?"

She stomped a heeled foot, "yeah! There has to be a karaoke machine set up somewhere here. If you want me to forgive you, you have to go sing in front of everyone. Got it?"

Sean was silent for a second, and gave a defeated sigh. "Alright, lead the way."

Penelope responded with a wide grin, satisfied with her victory. "Great! Now follow me, and don't try to weasel out of it!" She hurried off in front, down towards the lights and flowers of the festival. Amaranth sure was going all out for the festival. Sean knew of the kinds of things that could happen on Halloween though. He could only guess that the warning about the masks wasn't a joke. 'They best be doing more than decorating...'

As he trailed behind his girlfriend, he pulled his phone out one more time. He pulled up 'Diana' and sent one more text out.

"How are things going? Have you seen Sao?"

 

[Girasol]

Hunger gnawed at Shin even on the short walk (push?) towards the kebab stand that Jo seemed interested in. Even a small amount of silence was enough to allow her mind to slip back to her concerns about today. She wasn't shocked that the ritual had been called off - Sao had been in recovery herself and visited her in the ward to say as much. The boar's skull scanned the crowd quietly in suspicion while trying not to betray her fears to Jo. At least, not too much.

At least her friend was alive. That was more than what could be said about the delicious smelling food.

The sound of sizzling meat floated from the steam filled booth, as the pair approached. Inside, a dark haired figure with a porcelian rabbit's mask hunched over a grill covered with chunks of meat - her pale hands busy turning them methodically.

"How many do you think you can eat?" Jo asked Shin.

Raising her left and only hand, Shin holds up three fingers to indicate her order to the rabbit-ey chef. "I'm drugged up, so prolly not as much as I want. I'll eat your leftovers, too. How many you gettin?" Even as crippled as she was it'd be embarrassing to let someone else order for her.

"Mmmmm." Jo tilted her head in thought for a moment and held up four fingers to the chef. "All up, lucky number seven then."

The woman looked up, the pair of rabbit ears atop her head perked up. Her black eyes regarded Jo quizzically, before she raised a hand of her own, four narrow wood stick nestled between her fingers. "Seven on each?" She asked, her voice high and wispy.

An irritated growl came from behind the piggy skull, "Seven only, unless you want to go out and kill more shit for us to eat." Her paranoid brain already decided she didn't like the rabbit-masked chef.

"They're all dead." The rabbit chef replied softly.

"Give us a good selection, thanks."

She cocked her head, and held up her left hand with seven wooden sticks spread between the fingers. "Seven sticks?" She asked, perhaps by way of confirmation. There were still four in the other hand.

"Seven." Jo nodded.

The chef swiftly went about stabbing the small chunks of sizzling meat on her stove. A flicker of brilliant green appeared about her - the scent of an open field mingling with the smell of sizzling meat for an instant, as dark juices sprayed about. In a moment, the rabbit girl held seven laden sticks in her hand, each slathered and dripping with a dark sauce.

Jo retrieved her wallet and performed the sacred exchange: money for food.

"My family thanks you." The girl bowed her head, and returned to her grill. Her hands were covered in the sauce now.

Accepting her food, Shin's ears were burning out of embarrassment, "I owe you. I still dunno why you agreed to this, didn't you have anything better to do than push around a cripple?"

Jo answered a question with a question as she wheeled Shin away, looking for a spot to sit and eat. "Don't you have something better to do than sitting in a hospital room on the night of the festival?

Examining the kebabs, she considers how she's going to eat with one arm and decides to wait until she can easily prop her mask up when they stop. "Had plans, got cancelled at the last second. Turns out you are pretty useless for bodyguard duty when you are stuck in a hospital." The oni turns to watch Jo over her shoulder, "Still doesn't answer my question."

Jo parked the wheelchair next to a bench under a tree and sat down beside Shin. "Hmm, oh I don't know. What reason could it possibly be do you think?" One hand holding the precious kebabs, Jo used the other to flip her mask up and flash Shin a mischievous grin. "Because I like you, Shin!"

"Princess Sassmaster," Shin continued to hide behind her mask, mostly out of convenience and embarrassment at this point, "I like punching the crap out of things but don't cancel my plans to do so." Not generally, anyway. "But point taken. How'd you find out I was in the hospital anyway? I don't normally live there."

"Oh, but you can punch things any time, Shin." Jo said. She bit the top kebab and chewed thoughtfully. "And I had a professorial encounter."

Examining her situation carefully and with as much critical thought as she could muster, Shin shifted the skull on her face back and higher with the butt of her palm, peering out from under the mandible when able. Dark red irises shone just a little in the shadow. "Teach? Shoulda known." Stomach commanding audibly, the first chunk of kebab disappears into the mouth of the boar-skin.

Allowing silence to set just long enough to be awkward, Shin focuses probably too hard on her meal, "Question, Ice Princess. Are we dating?"

A strange question needed a strange response. Black eyes, frozen expression. "Mmmmm, are we?" A penetrating stare and her poker face were things Jo had spent long hours practicing in the mirror.

She SOUNDED amused. Maybe. However, trying to return the stare made Shin's skin crawl just a bit, reminding herself of her slight fear of this woman. "No really. Pretty sure this was established on a day where I wasn't..myself." Her condition wasn't something she wanted advertised, after all. "Last I checked you and Jack were a thing, right?"

Jo looked away. "We... broke up." Some attempted stabbing may have been involved. No-one acted very responsibly that night. Her eyes flicked back as she rallied and counter attacked. There was something odd about how the oni acted from day to day and maybe it was time Jo made an effort to find out. "But the pool, the sauna... don't you remember?"

Shin's eyes widened in the shadows. Holy shit, really? Oh god she was digging her grave. She shifted to rest her chin on the back of her hand in thought, kebabs mostly uneaten and ignored at this point. Her hesitation was definitely not going unnoticed - Jo was nibbling on her food like an angry rabbit - and she knew she was acting on borrowed time. "Uh, okay. Have you seen me with the ward down?" Not answering the question was not her strong point. This one is not nearly as sly as the people she surrounds herself with.

"I showed you mine when you showed me yours." Jo said, sweet as poison.

Doing a quick defensive check to make sure no one else could see, Shin struggled to dislodge the skull and dropped her charm, revealing her red skin and dark horns. "I'm gonna take a wild guess and say it was blue." The kebabs have been placed in her lap, making a small mess out of the boar hide but other things were more important at the moment.

Jo was shocked but she wasn't about to let Shin know that. Her eyebrow twitch almost gave the game away. "Yes, and now you're red?" she said. Distraction, needed a distraction. She scooped the kebabs out of Shin's lap and dabbed at the saucy pelt with a napkin. "What's going on?"

Shin's exasperated sigh couldn't be contained as she returned the human disguise to proper order, placing the skull-mask back where it belonged. If she wasn't already walking on thin ice she'd have protested being cleaned like a small child. Under blackened critical eyes and already distressed, Shin wasn't quite ready to put up a fight. "You want the short version or storytime, Jo?" Distraction properly deployed.

Jo couldn't stop herself from inching forward. "We have a whole evening ahead."

 

[Arhra]

Shin was about to reveal the secret of the gaps in her memories. Things had gotten personal. The tree they were sitting under was a little way off the main thoroughfare, they'd turned off it and the path threaded out into little spaces like this. It was convenient, as if it had been intended for private business like - oh that's exactly what it was for, Jo realised. It never paid to cut corners though, she blinked and the chill in the air sharpened a touch as she rolled her frozen domain out to cover the area around them. If anyone got too close she'd find out.

Shin bristled slightly, rubbing the back of her neck in her nervous state. "Well, I suck at stories. I ain't clear on it, but somethin about my brain or spirit broke a while back." Removing her hand, she curled her fingers into a loose fist and carefully rested them in her lap. "Like, long while back." The now-removed kebabs were taunting her as a carrot on a stick might. "So instead of whatever humans get for this I get the magical bullshit version. You were makin moves on," a pause, as she seriously considered what Chou is to her. "My other half? Another personality? I dun really know, to be honest. Doc says we are still the same person." Genuine concern clouded her face, "Please don't go telling everyone."

 

[Teal]

((OoC: Post interruption! We'll see how/if it changes before we settle back into Arhra/Shin's scene after this.))

Beneath a single blue paper lantern, Johanna slid up to the very edge of the bench – leaning against Shin’s uninjured side meaningfully. "We have a whole evening ahead." She murmured.

Shin stiffened in her wheelchair, sweat breaking out on her skin. "Well," the Oni sounded nervous, "I suck at stories." From Jo, there came a wave of chill, purple-white light. It passed over Shin like a faint breeze – mild pressure, enough to stir her furs and hair – to settle into a veil over the area around the pair. Above, the leaves of the tree rustled.

"…somethin’ about my brain or spirit broke a while back." Shin explained, attention turned inward toward her own problems – and away from the pale girl against her side. She regarded her hand with interest. “…so instead of whatever humans get for this I get the magical bullshit version.” There was a pause, then, “You were makin moves on…my other half?” The Oni seemed to be struggling to find the words. “Another personality?” Exasperated, she gave up. “I dun really know, to be honest. Doc says we are still the same person.”

Finally, the Oni turned to regard Jo – expression hidden behind her boar skull. “Please don't go telling everyone.” She sounded desperate, pleading. The Jotun did not immediately react – though her black eyes stared at Shin through her clay mask, unreadable.

The white purple light was tight on her skin.

* * *

Threading their way through crowds, Sean and Penny eventually found themselves before a large canvas-roofed pavilion. Small neon lights hung down from its edges – their red bulbs providing little light, but standing out against the contrasting incandescence from the paper lanterns hanging about.

Within, picnic tables were spaced out in orderly rows – benches populated sparsely with costumed festival goers. Pitchers and glasses dominated the tabletops, and the smell of liquor was thick in the air. A handful of costumed waiters slipped between tables, with refills and clothes to wipe up spilled drinks – disappearing into an enclosed and faintly steaming tent at one end of the pavilion. A short line of patrons waited before an opening at its front – coming away with drinks and sometimes food.

At the opposite end of the pavilion was a raised wooden platform – with the coveted machine they sought.

“…wild dogs cry out in the…”

It was, unsurprisingly, in use at the moment.

“Oh!” Penny jumped a little, turning to Sean with a big smile on her face. She grabbed him by the wrist, “I know this song!” She pulled him forward into the big tent and the upbeat, high-pitched, pseudo-tribal melodies coming from the front of the room.

 

[Maxiom]

Sean was met by the smell of alcohol as he and Penny entered the tent. It wasn't overpowering or unpleasant though; the people in the tent were all in good spirits, chatting brightly and cheering as some sports game played over the televisions posted around. It wasn't that late into the day after all - no one was going to black out while there was still light out.

Penny pulled Sean to a table up front, only a few feet from the stage, giggling. Her smile held more than a trace of glee at her boyfriend's discomfort.

While the scene within the bar was amiable and friendly, no one could deny there was a ...strange presence up on stage.

"It's gonna take a lot to drag me away from yooooooooou. There's nothing that a hundred men or more could ever doooooo ~!!!!!" A deep, deep voice sang the lyrics from up on stage, tinged with a Spanish accent, where a shaded, hulking figure stood. Massive horns protruded from either side of his head, covered by a bright red and dark blue luchador mask. Large tufts of hair were poking out from every corner, and as he stepped into the light, Sean could see his eyes were large, dark orbs. His chest was covered with hair, and he only wore a tight pair of wrestler's pants.

'Only on Halloween could a minotaur in tights sing karaoke.'

"I bless the rains down in Africaaaaa!" He was hitting the end of the song, much to the relief of the audience. Sean and Penny were particularly glad, being only few meters away. He was trying pretty hard, but he wasn't very good. Still, most people who sang karaoke could be described that way. He gave a bow, and the audience politely clapped for his as he put the mic back in it's place.

"Juan!" Penny shouted, waving happily as the minotaur descended from the platform, "I love your costume!" The Goliath cowman responded with a pair of thumbs up and a goofy grin. By his staggering gaunt, he was already a more than a few drinks deep.

"You know him?" Sean asked, a bit surprised.

"Of course! You do too. He's from Reading Club, remember?" Penny asked.

Sean did remember, but only because Penny pointed it out. Juan looked remarkably less remarkable most days of the week. "How'd you recognize him?" Sean asked, curious.

"His voice, silly!" Penny giggled again. ...maybe she had something to drink before Sean showed up. She was bubblier than usual. "Now I want to hear your voice, so go on up! I'll pick the song," she declared, getting up on top of her chair. "Sean wants to sing!" She exclaimed, signalling to a nearby worker a little too enthusiastically - and narrowly catching herself before she fell.

The waiter dutifully arrived with by with a pamphlet full of songs, which Penny greedily tore through.

"Sing, sing, sing!" a few tipsy patrons close to the front cheered as Sean, pale face a bit red, got up from his chair and walked up to the machine. They were clad in constume like everyone else, but Sean was pretty sure he recognized some of Penny's friends among them.

'Most of them probably won't even remember this tomorrow, Sean,' he said to himself as he could see Penny point to a song on the list.

 

[Maxiom]

Nearby on Amaranth’s campus, another Castevet was engaged in a very different activity. The smell of food and drink wafted through the air as a decent sized crowd gathered. An elevated stage had been built on the lawn, raised up so all those around could see the two figures who stood atop it.

Both, it seemed, were women, but of different statures. On the left stood a tall girl, around the age of 20. Broad shouldered with blonde hair, she stared down her opponent while lazily leaning on a large, broad edged sword. Despite her bored expression, she was dressed extravagantly, her hair held up with a bright red ribbon, and her outfit a harlequin mishmash of fabric and colors – silk, quilts, and furs forming a wild looking robe – and her face made up with equally loud war paints.

"She's quick." The tall woman thought, blue eyes narrowed faintly - appraising. "'ittle too quick." Had she known Sarah was listening, she'd probably have been more careful to guard her thoughts. "Have to try a different approach."

Across from her was another girl, although smaller and skinnier. She was dressed much more simply, in what seemed to be a boy’s school uniform, although also wearing epaulettes on the shoulders and a bright pink wig on her head. In contrast to her opponent, she seemed to be a bit winded. In her hand, she held on tight to a rapier.

“I'm sorry, what was your name again?” She asked, forcing a smile.

No verbal response. "Ugh." Or really a mental one. "Enough with the talking." She hefted her heavy-sword with ease, falling into a two-handed ready stance. The air around her warped faintly.

“I promise I've hardly even started.”

‘Time to work smarter.’

There was a brief cheer of excitement from the audience as Sarah lifted her sword back up with a flourish, blue lights dancing around her, unseen to most.

‘Keep your eyes on me. On me. Not the sword, on me,'’ she repeated in her head. Her movements were exaggerated as she walked forward. Her eyes seemed to sparkle and she swayed left and right slowly at a hypnotic rhythm as she began her slow approach towards her opponent.

 

[Thomas Everstorm]

((I hope you don't mind if I join a bit late, I've forgot about this site as things on my other one have been heating up alot))


  Hood up, phone away, and his black jacket zipped almost all the way up, he was a new student at this school and was to arrive at the date of the festival. He scanned with his eyes around the area, looking for potential prey, customers, and of course authority to dodge. He wasn't much of a party person but a festival is always a good place to learn who was who and what groups formed together. 


I might need to find a click to hide myself in, or just be quiet as usual to try and not draw attention to myself...the second option might be best he though as his steps lead him over to a stand selling many odds and ends, his ears pick up various sounds of music, and more importantly people singing. 


Music...I'm not the best at singing but perhaps I should check out who's singing what. Maybe theyr'e in the choir. Do they have music magic here though? It'd be a bit weird but for a place like this where I'm at, anything could be possible. His thoughts drove his eyes away from the stand and towards the large pavilion tent with increasing intrigue as to what he could find here at this school....


Along the way he pulls out his phone and looks down at it, he has to get used to reading everything in metric and "zulu time" as the people back in the states call it, he dismisses the thought forming as he continues going forward while staring at his phone.

 

[Arhra]

"Please don't go telling anyone."

Shin was trying to explain something deeply personal and Jo was realising she'd screwed up.

The worst part was she really should have seen it coming.

Today was the 31st of October. A point of transition between the harvest season and the first day of winter. Halloween. Remembrance for the dead. A liminal day where borders between worlds thinned and spirits could revisit their homes. What this meant vis-a-vis personal embarrassment was that the amount of magic in the air had steadily increased this evening. Magic of the spirit, of such density that wandering shades could take on physical form again.

Jo had tried to extend her Frozen Domain to give her and Shin a measure of privacy. This also involved spreading a portion of her spirit out over the clearing. Under tonight's conditions this was a little like sticking your tongue into a power socket. The spiritual power had started to soak into her Domain and Jo had to take immediate steps to shut it down. If left unchecked her Domain would try to expand outward without limit and... explode or something.

That would be bad.

Needless to say, Jo also had to cram her bloated spirit back into her body while playing it cool in front of her date. Because Shin was in the middle of confessing something deeply personal and also because exploding was deeply uncool.

She had failed completely. It was true, Jo supposed, that she hadn't exploded but her skills lay in magecraft of the spirit and so that was to be expected. However! She had stared impassively at Shin like a spooky ghost when the ogre had made her plea for secret keeping and, to anyone with the wit to see it, she was glowing like a night-light as she tried to reel her overextended magic back in.

Jo raised a hand, purple-white light clinging to it like a second skin. She should confess she'd made a mistake, it was the only reasonable way to continue. But she didn't want to. Maybe she could come up with a really convincing lie? Her mind was blank. Her magic was throbbing, on the verge of slipping out of her grasp. It was hard but this was something she had to do.

With that raised hand, she adjusted her mask. "I won't tell." she said weakly, eyes screwed shut. "Sorry, made a mistake." The glow clinging to her diminished fractionally. Under it, her face was flushed with embarrassment - a glow that anyone could see. "Give me a moment."

Shin waved with her good hand. She was vaguely aware that Jo had transformed into a walking glowstick, but having lived with magic around her she wasn't shocked whenever it seemed to have an odd hiccup. Hell, she accidently exploded her roomie's magic the night before. You know, before she went and got her arm chopped off. "No prob."

"I was trying something for privacy." Jo explained haltingly. "And the conditions tonight aren't the best for doing that." No prob? Seriously? No prob?

Shin, not the best at reading social cues, clearly had the gears click place upon the explanation. "Oh, I didn't even think about that. Shit, I owe you one." Placing her hand on the left wheel, she struggled briefly to turn her seat to observe their surroundings. Yeah, she probably could have picked a better spot for that confession, huh?

"Alright, we can talk later when you're trying not to explode." A bit embarrassed that she couldn't quite read what was going on, even with Jo's magic on display in front of her, Shin quiets and tries to focus elsewhere. She seemed under the distinct impression that it took time and concentration to wrangle that sort of thing, and she was going to grant Jo the little privacy she could to do so.

"Right." Jo snapped. Her eyes opened, looked at Shin and softened. "Sorry." She shut them again and thrust out a kebab as a distraction as she wrestled with the glow.

The distraction was heartily accepted as Shin tried her best to snack quietly. At least she kept her mouth closed.

Eventually, with a magic soaked spirit stuffed back where it belonged, Jo opened her eyes again. Her skin felt tight, like her entire body was throbbing faintly. Less apparent to her was the faint blue light coming from her skin now as well. "So..." Jo said, "you really didn't know about our previous -" Jo paused a moment at the end to pick the most suggestive word. "-encounters?" It was time to put this near-explosion incident behind them both. The best way to forget this had ever happened was teasing ogres.

Even in the shadows Shin was blushing heavily. "N-no." She swallowed another portion of her meal. "I knew she took a great liking to you but she seems to enjoy keeping me in the dark about this. I ain't exactly a romantic." She frowned. "Worse, some entries in the journal were left blank." She made a quiet reminder to herself to fix this when she could - didn't want her other half waking up clueless and down an arm. "It's how we communicate, try to keep people off our back."

Jo shook her head. A life half lived out in writing. Complicated. "Well, that's not very fair." She scrutinised the blushing oni; Shin was turning red again. Maybe she should dial it back, it was like shooting fish in a barrel. "So you're just along for the ride with this?"

Wearing her thoughts and emotions on her face, Shin's pang of guilt was easily read. "I was, yeah. Didn't wanna screw up anything up. I mean, you nearly scared the piss outta me first time we met." Taking bites when she could, the oni had now finished her one stick and clutched it like a tiny weapon out of habit. "But uh, even with the trollin you've been nice. You saying you didn't notice anything was weird?" Part of her wanted to be proud of the act.

Jo offered more food. The way to Shin's heart was clearly her stomach. "Do ho ho, it's my nature." she said. "I am, after all, a troll." This was technically true. "But no," she lied magnanimously, "until we got closer you had me completely fooled."

Raising her eyebrow in slight disbelief, Shin accepted the food. "Well, whatever attacked last night wasn't fooled. It had me pinned to a T." She furrows her brow in thought. That saying didn't..sound right. Oh well. "Anyway, please don't be mad at her? Er, me? Man, I don't even know. This stuff is fucked up man. She likes ya." Clearly avoiding talking about her own attraction, Shin continued, "I mean, 's the first time I woke up in bed next to someone so..." She allowed herself to trail off, not really wanting to go into detail about her lack of a sex life.

Wait, what? "You were attacked?" Jo asked. She couldn't help but glance at Shin's missing arm. "Is that what - no, sorry I shouldn't pry."

Shin rolled her eyes, "Cuz you weren't already pryin'. No, I ate my arm and shipped myself to the hospital." Wildly gesticulating with the kebab, she paused as her reduced blood flow caused her to correct her movements in a more conservative manner." Yea, some crazy shit happened last night - and not the fun shit either." She rolled her stump as much as it would go - not much, admittedly. "Got jumped on my way outta the dorm by -" A visible, uncontrollable shiver ran up through the oni, very quickly. The ensuing bark is much more high-pitched than she had hoped, "FUCK I don't know." She definitely seemed more pale on the recollection, though. Any earlier attempt to belittle the situation was erased in that moment.

Jo saw Shin pale. She wanted to know but felt this wasn't something lightly dealt with. It had just happened a day ago. It was clearly too soon. Instead she needed to get Shin's mind off it. "Forget it. Today's going to be different." She shuffled ever so slightly closer. "She likes me?"

It took a moment for the wave of fear to wash over Shin, and refocus on the woman now practically in her lap, "Er, yes? I thought this was obvious." The emotional whiplash was really hitting her hard. "Uh, why, you want confirmation? I think the journal is off-limits but..." A wicked smile crept onto her face as the thought hit her, "Nothin's keeping me from telling you about the contents."

Jo shuffled close. She grinned. "Mmmm, I guess I should offer something in return." Jo paused for a moment and then went, "Ask me a question!"

Ah, matching grins. Shin gladly put mental distance between the events last night and now, "Alright. So does this mean I get to ask about your previous encounters? Not the question I am asking, by the way. " A beat, before she considered that this is probably the option that will be taken "Cheater."

"I am an open book." Jo reserved the right to be written in a foreign language however.

"So what base are we at, at this point?"

Jo sighed, leaned in conspiratorially and honked Shin's boob. Message sent, mission accomplished. With that cleared up, Jo slid back and sat up straight. A delicate flower of womanhood clearly incapable of any sort of impropriety, that was Johanna Imirsdotter.

"T-" Shin's brain clearly fizzled a little, not entirely sure if she was alright with that reaction or not. "I don't think books cop a feel. At least not any I've read." Shaking herself, she tried to clear her mind. Nevermind that she hardly ever reads books, making her statement a moot point. "Also, when did this start anyway? I'm not super clear on that"

Jo delicately adjusted how he dress sat across her knees. "Oh a little less than a week ago?" Jo said. "We ran into each other at the pool late one night and things snowballed from there."

Now that she wasn't being pressed, the oni gave a small nod, "Alright. Well, uh, I might not be the one you are dating here, but I'll do my best to help out. It's not somethin that comes up often." Only then did the ice pun hit her, and she chuckled. "I'll try not to lose her other arm."

"Pointed journal entries, that sort of thing?" Jo guessed. A quick nod was Shin's only response to this. "Any other burning questions?" she asked, hold out Shin's last kebab to her and getting to work on her own as she waited.

Final offering accepted, she ate a few chunks before responding again. "So uh, what are you, anyway?" Perhaps she has had enough of a monopoly on the dialogue.

Jo checked side to side and then smiled like a sphinx. "Oh, I'd better get a question of my own in then: What do you think I am?"

"You have a sick sense of humour, you know that?" The question was asked with a wry smile. "Well, my guess was a spook from home, an icy ghost type chick. Uh...yuki-onna, I think they are."

Jo carefully glanced side to side. No-one close as far as she could tell. "Mmmm, no not exactly, though the cold is close to me." Jo said. "I am a child of winter and old night, a frost giant." She continued in a sing-song voice, like rattling off something memorised: "Spirit and ice and snow transmuted to flesh and blood." Then she wriggled on her seat. "I should be a little taller but you could say I melted to come to school here."

At this realisation Shin visibly relaxed, she doesn't even care to try to hide it this time. "Oh, so you *aren't* going to suck out my soul if I try to kiss you? That's a huge relief." Gears work in her brain and something clicks into place, "Wait, you're a giant. So you're actually huge." Regarding the almost adorable figure beside her, this was...unsettling. She wasn't sure if that was bad.

Her hand waved as if to clear the air between them, "Wait, wait. Have you gotten her stuck while making out?" The shit-eating grin that was almost predatory - one of Shin's most well-worn expressions - makes an appearance for the first time tonight. "And if not, WHY not?"

Jo paused, a crack in her facade, suddenly wrongfooted. "I... don't work that way?" she said. Her blush threatened to make a reappearance. Jo gnawed on her kebab like a man clinging to a lifeline and cast her mind back a little further. "And I'm just a little huge." she told Shin. She looked at the ogre's girl's boar pelt swaddled bulk appraisingly. "I'm not that much taller than you." Their height difference would be reversed, and then some.

"You can't be a little huge." Shin's tone was quite incredulous.

"Yes you can." Jo said firmly. "Something can be huge and then something else can be not quite as huge, making it a little huge." Her logic was flawless. "A whale is huge but an elephant is only a little huge." She tried, and failed, to say that part with a straight face.

Miming the 'yapping' motion with her hand, Shin seemed less than convinced. "When we aint in public yer gonna have to show me. I'll be the judge of that." If and when she recovered enough, it'd be nice to have a sparring partner that was closer to her size. Dominating smaller opponents was fun, but didn't give her good practice for anything larger than that. "Also, gonna tell Chou you called her an elephant." Playfully taunting, Shin felt it was her turn to try to troll a little.

Then an idea brightens her eyes. "Wait, no, I got it. We can make her MAD jelly, and she'll try to one-up me to impress ya."

Jo waggled her hand in an equivocating gesture. "She'd survive well on the savannah, that's all I'm saying." Shin went on with her mad jelly suggestion. "Oooooh?" Jo said, already on board.

Ah, that got her interest, "Hokay, so, I dunno how you managed to get anything out of her in the first place, she hates confrontation." With a flourish, Shin managed to spin the empty kebab stick in her fingers before grasping it again. "But what I do know is that if she even *thinks* I am hogging your attention she will start to scramble to fix that."

"So my thought is we leave enough to her imagination we can get her to do some pretty stupid stuff." Shin cackled. "Try to keep it away from physical harm though. That uh, bites me, too."


Jo looked thoughtful. "Oh, like, say, leaving all these reminders around the place about a date coming up?" She tapped her chin. "Notes about planning it? Pick up a dress, reminder to get something off your roommate? Hmmm..." She fell silent, deep in contemplation.

Shin snapped her fingers in excitement, "Yes. Make it pink or something, and I know for a fact our roommate Kit is an amourous motherfucker. I'll think of something clean she can borrow from him to bring along. She'll have to hide it somewhere." The oni tapped the incisors of her skull mask with the kebab stick in thought, "Can't be too much though. Might spook her. How do you feel about collars?"

"I didn't know you were in to that sort of thing."

"Pffft, that's the most tame thing I can think of from that category. Also, doesn't answer my question."

"Tame, riiight. Hmm, easy to get a hold of, raises a lot of questions, it's perfect. Just needs a note or something - 'don't put it on yet'."

"Yessss I love it already." Straightening her back, Shin couldn't help but let out another laugh, "Now, I'm guessin you want her nervous, so we need to pick a spot she doesn't feel safe. She loathes crowds, being stuck in small areas and loud places." Pointing the tip of the skewer to Jo, she continued, "Any haunts of yours fit that bill for this?"

"Could go out clubbing?" Jo suggested.

"Perfect. Can guarantee she's never done it and it will ring all the right alarm bells." Shin made to clap her hands and realised that she only has one hand. Still hadn't gotten used to that. So instead she folded her hand into her lap, content. "Alright, so here's the question then. Do you want an actual, nice-looking dress for her or somethin' embarrassing?"

"Something nice, I think the stress is enough. A nice night is the least I can do after a prank like that." There was such a thing as going too far, Jo supposed.

Shin scratched her chin behind the mask. "Alright. It'll probably need to be at least a week, maybe more. It'll take a bit before they release me from the ward again. Got a night in mind, or want to decide on that later?" She wasn't good at picking outfits herself, but if she told Chou to get a nice dress that she'd like, she probably would.

"We'll have to wait and see how it goes I think. When, uh, how do you two switch?" Jo asked.

A puzzled look could now be seen through the holes in the skull. "Normally just bein too damn tired, like from a fight. Or just time. Strange that I'm the one who woke up today, though." If there was anything the two could agree on, it was that they both wanted the ability to agree to tag out at some point. This wasn't an option. "Uh, at the start of the year durin' that big brawl I got KO'd and she got active pretty damn quick."

"That must be tricky to deal with." Jo winced internally, talk about stating the obvious. "Well, give it a few days and we'll see how things are looking then? Try not to get in any fights."

Shin grumbled. "Can't make any promises.I can always leave notes around without a date and she can ask you later."

Jo nodded and then turned and looks at her handful of bare kebab sticks. How had that happened? "Sounds good. You still hungry, or do you think it's time to have a look around?"

More petals had begun to pile on Shin's cloak and skull, mostly from sitting under one of the wonderful trees that sheds them. "Eh, I think I'm good on food. Let's check out the party."

 

[Teal]

((Pace of this is generally glacial! I multitask badly, and work pretty much never stops for me. So, no need to worry about your speed, just get to the posting when you can.))

Two women stood on a raised wooden stage, surrounded by lanterns of alternating pale blue and warm gold light. The taller of the two was blond, dressed in strange and gaudy outfit of clashing colors - and held a sword that was as tall as her opponent. The other girl in question - unquestionably younger, pink haired and dressed in a military-style jacket - held only a rapier. Around the stage sea of unfamiliar figures had gathered around the stage - bundled against the cool autumn air in heavy robes and hidden behind strange masks.

"I'm sorry," the pink haired girl's smile was forced, "what was your name again?" She was breathing heavily.

Her opponent answered with a glare and a ready stance. The air about her warped. She wasn't even breathing hard.

The forced smile tightened. "I promise I've hardly even started." Her body began to glow blue - to those who could see such things. The crowd's gazes shifted toward her, as she began to step forward - lithe body swaying to music only she heard. She was undeniably graceful.

Cold surged from around the blond, as her wrists snapped and her sword twisted. The wood below her buckled as she kicked off - launching a glancing slash at the uniformed fencer in passing. She landed safely at the stage's northwest corner - her sword's superior reach protecting her from her opponent's counter thrusts, even if it left her own slash easy to evade. Her outfit twisted around her in a chaotic rainbow, as she spun back, rounding on Sarah and launching another passing slash, staying along the stage's edge west edge.

Her plan was clear - constant, fast leaping attacks to wear her opponent down, until the shorter pink girl screwed up.

It would be difficult to charge a spell on the defensive like this.

* * *
Paper lanterns hung from the canvas tent, shedding pools of ghostly blue and natural incandescent light. Televisions were arranged around the outdoor bar - broadcasting scenes from different parts of the Festival. One in particular showed a pair of women dueling with swords on a wooden stage. The taller, and more outlandishly dressed, of the two, appeared to have the upper-hand - though it was difficult to focus on her. For some reason, the eyes of viewers kept slipping toward the pink-haired one.

Whether magic was involved was impossible to determine. Cameras could not pick up on auras.

At one end of the bar, a minotaur - in a luchador's mask and a pair of red and blue tights - wobbled down from a wooden stage. A blond girl, face hidden by a butterfly mask, pulled herself on top of a chair. The air around her warped slightly as she steadied herself - apparently slightly tipsy. Balance under control, she giggled softly. "Sean wants to sing!" She called out - pretty voice cut clean through the bar, drawing the gazes of most in it. Smiling, she stepped down from the perch, smoothing her shoulderless white dress idly. A cloaked and masked waiter met her swiftly.

A few moments later, a man in a blue tuxedo ascended the stage.

"Sean!" The blond girl raced up the stage after him, kneeling beside the karaoke machine and quickly scrolling through the song selection. "Sing this!"

A series of electronic letters now dominated the screen: Man! I Feel Like a Woman - Shania Twain.

With another giggle, Penny pressed play.

* * *
Clink

As Jo rose to take her self-appointed place behind Shin's wheelchair, a faint sound came from the darkness.

Clink, clink, clink.

Steps - growing closer. A slender humanoid stepped into the bubble of illumination around the tree. It was dressed in a white, form-fitting, tuxedo - but where its face should have been, there was only a featureless mask of silver.


It was a familiar creature.

"I bring a message," a female electronic voice was projected from an unseen set of speakers, "for Johanna Imirsdotter." The robot approached - as close as Jo would allow - before kneeling gracefully on the grass. One of its arms rose - in its white gloved hand, there was an envelope. "From Ashley Terata."

Behind them, the top of the tree dominating this small private alcove was afire with ghostly blue light - spread from a single blue paper lantern, now caught in its branches.

That was mostly harmless.

 

[Maxiom]

'She's got range,' Sarah noted, as she deftly dodged to the right. Hilda's strategy was as tried and true one: attrition. If Sarah couldn't strike, she couldn't win. If she stayed defensive, she'd certainly just run out of energy. Her charm wasn't distracting Hilda all that much either.

'Clearly has no taste.''

Sarah wasn't a fool. Often times, you met someone who was just better than you in some way. Sarah had met countless people who were inferior to her in a lot of ways, so she was an expert. Hilda clearly had more stamina.

There was another clatter of metal and another swish of air as Sarah leaped back, narrowly dodging a sword. 'Just need one second.' Her standard method of cheating, magic, was a no-go; she'd have to go analogue for part of this.

A cold blue aura swished around Sarah's form, following her motion and swaying like water through the air. Those watching couldn't place it, but they felt... uneasy. Like they were on the wrong side of a one way mirror. Sarah locked eyes with Hilda, and a sent a message across the brainwaves.

'She's about to lunge forward.'

As she backpedaled, blade in her right hand raised defensively, Sarah extended her left arm, hand outstretched in a flashy motion of bravado. Her eyes seemed to sparkle by the light of the lanterns, and the crowd was transfixed by her grace. It was a brief moment, but seemed to linger to those under her spell. In a flash, her hand went to the top of her head, pulling her hair in a sharp grip. 'Let's hope the wig survives.'

Using her free arm, she tossed the pink wig straight at her opponent's face, revealing a head of brunette hair tied in a bun underneath. She was hoping to use the girl's reflexes against her to create an opening. As the projectile flew forward, she collected her thoughts and timed her steps.

1. She counted off in her head as she solidified her footing.

2. Her momentum shifted forward, her grip tightened.

3. She followed the projectile forward, sword arced forward in a lunging motion.

'And, extend!' She funneled power through the construct of her sword, hoping the misdirection would give her time. She prayed for a clean opening.

---

Sean didn't see his younger sister's duel on the TV, which was for the best. He wouldn't be able to enjoy his date at all with such a distraction. Instead, his worry was focused on the screen in front of him.

Man! I Feel Like a Woman - Shania Twain.

'Oh Lord.' Sean thought as the music began to start up. He could feel a sense of dread fill up in his stomach, but when he looked over to see Penny's laughter, he couldn't help but smile a bit. 'Well, I guess I earned this.'

"Let's go girls, com on," he sang out in a deep voice as the lyric played on screen, trying to stifle a laugh of his own.

"I'm going out tonight-I'm feelin' alright." He should really have gotten drunk from this.

It was a shame he forgot to check his phone for a response from his friends in the middle of his festivities.

 

[Arhra]

Jo's time alone with Shin came to an end with the pitter-patter of cold, metallic footsteps. A robot in a tuxedo, how horrifying! The sight threw a chill through Jo, for it was something she'd seen before in what she still held the vain hope had been a bad dream.

Jo stepped around the wheelchair to put herself between Shin and this apparition. But it was merely a message bearer. It kneeled and offered a letter to her. One supposedly from Ashley Terata, one of her student mentors who was very probably also a killer robot.

Jo plunged forward, plucked the letter out of the automaton's grip and stepped back again. With that settled, she grabbed the perfectly functional knife that was part of her costume and slit the envelope open. She flicked the folded letter open and scanned it, eyes flicking between its contents and the motionless robot.

* * *
Elsewhere, at that very second!

Jo's strongest skill was arguably multitasking, given her ability to be in multiple places at once. Tonight it was feeling like her strongest skill might actually be gross irresponsibility, also because of her ability to be in multiple places at once. For the second time tonight, she'd been taken off guard by how much stronger the swell of spiritual power was here compared to her homeland.

Earlier in her day, Jo had made plans for a special meeting in a secluded corner of the Fashion Club's currently empty club room. Thus she was here, in snow clone form. The problem right now was she'd gotten more attendees than expected.

Jo was here with Jo. And Jo and Jo and Jo. Plus another eight Jo's, all chattering amongst themselves about plans for the night, how they thought the date with Shin was going, Sean's various inadequacies as a room-mate and which of them would get to hang out with Jo's other friends, Claire and Nikola. Two were poking through the cupboard looking for a costume option that wasn't 'wolf princess'.

The problem, again, was Halloween's special conditions. It was Jo's custom to leave a large number of her copies scattered around the place in a de-materialised state. When needed she could fully activate the clone by pouring more power into it. Enough power in the air to let the dead walk amongst the living and a lot of ghostly doppelgangers meant that some of them had become real girls for the night. Jo had actually known this was going to happen, but last year there'd been four, not - another Jo performed the secret knock and walked in - thirteen?!

A sly voice whispered in the back of her head. "There's a lot of things you could do with thirteen Jos..." Jo turned and shook her head at her copy with an expression of fraternal disappointment on her face. What kind of things did she think as classy a lady as Johanna Imirsdotter would get up to with a baker's dozen of identical copies of herself?

The other Jo stuck out her tongue.

That was it, basically. Why she'd let this happen. It'd been fun! It'd been like having a sister who didn't hate her guts again. These other Jos were independent enough that she could actually surprise herself. Reabsorbing them was its own headache but there was something more pressing. As partially active doppelgangers, the clones were open to outside influences. Some of those ghosts might be possessed! Jo had decided to meet up here earlier in the day but some of the copies hadn't showed up. If she concentrated there was still a vague connection. Now she'd built up a headcount she knew there were six or more rogue copies out there.

She'd expected one, maybe two. She might need help with this. She thought about calling Koh; the student teacher was an exorcist of sorts. The slight complication was the original Jo had her phone and she was in the middle of something right now. She'd need to send a text message with that body or arrange a phone handover at some point.

 

[Thomas Everstorm]

James momentarily looked up from his phone as the crowds began to gather around, he's bumped into alot of people before, and in a somewhat covert operation he's doing now, keeping yourself out of any awkward moments would be helpful. He slips his phone into pocket as his eyes too drew to a nearby TV screen that showed the fight going on, it was a bit thrilling, though for James he was observing the individuals themselves.

So swordplay is a thing here, much more civil then the states then again that's not hard. Most fights ended with who shot first and who managed to get away. Their forms are strong and fast flowing though their body type is good for dealing quick blows, i'm not sure if they could stand up to a brute force for long. his thoughts were interrupted as out of the corner of his eye a camera moved.

Cameras, I should of looked for those earlier he thought as his eyes flicked over to see it, then turning attention away from the screen his eyes darted from place to place from usual nooks and crannys to some more remote areas, he wanted to see how many there were, it could give him an idea of the security around this place.

* * *

After a few minutes of camera spotting he decided to go inside, the loud sounds and heavy bustling of people was excellent to keep a low profile in, and after a small bit of searching, James found a table not too far from the festivities that was oddly empty, he swooped in and grabbed the open seat, then turned attention to the scene at large.

This place is actually quite nice, maybe I should get a place here taht isn't for work. Though with everything going on, and all the extra security I would stick out easily since everyone else here is alot nicer than me. Perhaps the best course of action would be to wait it out...maybe partake in something later...I'd love a drink though, not sure if they'll let me by with the only ID I have being from the states. He pulled out his ID from the states, and stared at it, then at the others enjoying the festivities.

Won't know until I try... he looked around to see if any staff were available, he slipped his wallet in the mean time from his jeans pocket to his jacket pocket. He'd probably need help with counting up how much it actually costs for a drink here.

 

[Teal]

Body surrounded by a pyre of blue light, Sarah deftly slid away from her foe's passing slash. The blond swordswoman landed at the stage's corner, only to round on the pink-haired fencer in a whirl of chaotic fabric. The air warped and filled with an empty chill, as she launched herself forward again, with another glancing slash. Sarah jumped away again, as her muscular opponent came to rest in the corner of the stage.

Magic flashed from Sarah's eyes, her sky blue aura flaring in response. A bolt of blue light flew across the wooden stage, as her opponent spun again - striking her full in the face. There was a visible flinch, as the broad shouldered woman stumbled - her lunge aborted into a guard.

Sarah was busy backpedaling, though - invisible blue fire spooling around her sword. Her blond opponent looked shocked for a moment, before loosing an annoyed growl and throwing herself into a headlong charge. The fencer drove her left hand into her hair, tearing the pink wig from atop her head and throwing it in a flourish; coming to an abrupt stop. The bigger swordswoman turned her shoulder grasping her sword hilt in both hands. The wig brushed passed her face. Around her, the air warped black; drowning out the world behind in a rush of cold.

Sarah's aura winked out into a line behind her back. She drew back with her sword, now alight with blue power.

The blond's muscles surged. Spinning, she whipped the sword from her hands across the short distance.

A great eye of blue fire opened behind Sarah.

Her rapier thrust forward - the tip shooting forward to strike the center of the spinning sword. A wall of mental power sprung up in the brunette's mind - just in time to block the roar of psychic feedback. The tip burst through in a spray of wood, as the sword broke in two. The two halves sleeted past Sarah, as the tip of her sword drove forward for the blond.

It just tapped the blond's chest - and was a bit impractically long now.

"Point!" A voice from the stage's edge cut into the night. A figure, cloaked in amaranth pink and masked in a white plaster mask with the school's emblem on it stood there, on a raised platform of wood. Her arm was raised, revealing the black, red-pink and gold formal uniform of Amaranth's faculty. "Sarah Castavet wins!"

There was applause.

Behind her butterfly domino mask, the blond woman let out a harsh laugh, and let herself drop to the stage.

Blood dripped from Sarah's outstretched hand.

She might have over done it.

* * *
The glue sealing the envelope shut parted effortlessly, beneath the blade of Jo's knife. She pulled the folded letter within out - the ghostly blue light of the burning tree behind her revealing the graceful script on it.

Johanna Imirsdotter,

You are invited to a Tea Ceremony hosted by the Japanese Cultural Club, in honour of Ashley Terata. If you wish to see her again, do not miss it. We await your presence immediately in the West Dorm, Room 810. I believe you know it…very well.

Give my regards to Shinobu. She is welcome to attend as well.

- Teanne Mochizuki, Official Representative of Mochizuki Industries in Amaranth Academy.

Jo may have noticed a photograph in the envelope still - it had been placed behind the letter. A single tree dominated its centre, with nothing be featureless blackness behind. Mid-way up the trunk, the upper-chest and head of a tanned woman were visible - embedded within tree itself. Her head hung forward, limp, causing her dark hair - adorned with a simple ribbon - to spill forward and cover her face.

She was, by all appearances, unconscious.


* * *
((Made some slight edits to my last post to correct for a mistake I made. James is now in the bar! I apologize, I skipped him into it too quickly last post.))

A waitress appeared in front of James, only a few moments after he'd found a seat – blocking his view of the stage and the man on it. Metal glinted faintly under her dull brown cloak - though low-cut, her dress appeared to be composed of plate. A seamless iron mask covered much of her face - leaving only her mouth visible. Presumably there were eye holes somewhere in there, though none were apparent. Brown hair spilled down her neck; a contrast to the palor of her skin.

"Can I get you anything?" Her voice was friendly, and she smiled at the hooded man. "A menu, maybe?"

“Oh, oh, oh!” The blue tuxedo clad man at the front of the room was really giving it his all – and the crowd certainly seemed to be appreciative. “I wanna be free yeah –” Surprisingly, the laughter died down quickly – even from the blond at the stage’s edge, who was clapping with the beat now with a big grin on her face “– to feel the way I feel!” The applause was gradually being taken up by the crowd – something that might have to do with the faint warping in the air about the blond.

“Man! I feel like a Woman.”

It was a lot lower than the original, but not terrible.

 

[Maxiom]

Sarah stood still for a moment, taking deep, steady breaths as victory hung over her in the air. As her opponent hit the ground with a sigh, removing her mask, a smile spread across Sarah's face. It wasn't especially dignified, and she quickly reigned in her joy before turning to the crowd. In a deft motion, she swapped the sword to her off hand and gave a grandiose bow to the audience, pointing her sword to the side dramatically with her uninjured hand. With her bleeding right hand, she also scooped up her discarded wig with a quick and surreptitious swipe and affixed it back on her head as he rose from the bow.

"Thank you, thank you," Sarah called out to the crowd. "Couldn't do it without your admiration, I assure you!" She twirled the sword in her left hand and it returned to its original size, collapsing inwards like a telescope to those observing. Casually, she tossed it to her right hand and sheathed it at her hip, putting the bleeding hand into her pocket as she did so. With the fight over, she quickly let her spells dissipate, and the magical eye that stalked behind her closed as it winked out of existence.

Graciously - and with a faker smile - she extended a hand towards the much larger girl. "Good game! I don't think I'll be able to have another go after that."

The forced smile became a wry grin. "Can I at least get your name now?"

 

[Teal]

"Audhildr." The blond woman replied, closing a gloved hand around the fencer's offered one. Her grip was strong, excessively so. Audhildr half-pushed, half-pulled, herself up - clearly seeking to throw Sarah her off balance in the process. "That last trick of your's wasn't bad," she added, looking down at the fencer with a hint of cold disdain, "but you got blood in your hair."

It was true. A spot of blood had transferred from her right and left a patch of the wig red. Her pocket was wet with the stuff too - though in the low light, it was doubtful the blonde saw it.

"You should get that looked at." The larger woman said, turning away and offering a wave over her shoulder. "Splinters are nasty."

She made to depart.

* * *
((Elaboration on an earlier scene, since I don't feel like I gave enough information. That old section has been removed.))

It was not long after the thirteenth Johanna entered the room, there came a knock at the door. This one was a quiet and hesitant sound - completely different from the secret one Jo had worked out with herselves.

A heartbeat later, a voice could be heard through the door.

"Why are you knocking?" It was a woman's voice - the words impatient and spoken in a loud hush.

"W-well," a different, higher and quieter, voice, "Jo knocked, so I thought..."

"Ugh, just go in."

"Wa-wait what if -"

"You worry too much!" In the dark outside, a figure in a scarlet cloak shouldered aside her white garbed companion. A mail-clad hand closed about the door's handle. Atop her head, the red feathered chains decorating her full helm swayed - their length near comical. "Here we go!" She threw the door open - !

 

[iannesh]

Kohana woke with a start, sitting upright in his bed and sucking down air in gasping, ragged breaths. It was dark out – he’d left his curtains open, and had fallen asleep for an afternoon nap. The festival was now in full swing, and even through the cold glass of the window he could hear the sounds of merriment as Amaranth’s Annual Halloween Festival neared full swing.

Swinging his legs over the side of his bed, Koh steadied himself against the floor and groped blindly for the night table lamp. A soft click of the chain heralded the warm glow of light he’d seen so many times before – how long had he been at Amaranth now? It always felt both too long and too short a visit. An appropriately strange sensation, given how strange the school really was.

The Native youth tugged a pair of sweatpants up, cinching them at the waist as he opened his phone and begin to tap out a short text message – to Sao and Sean, and to Sieg and Shin, after a moment’s consideration: “r u ok?”

He started to type in a final name, but hesitated. All he could think about was the dream, and that horrible, winged creature. After what felt like ages, he finally decided… and added Dalbach Nuada to the message.

“That’s two, Koh. Two times you’ve had a weird dream in this place. Two times it was too real.”

He shook his head, muttering to himself as he sent the message and locked the phone screen. One pair of slip-on shoes and an unbuttoned Hawaiian shirt later, he was out the door and on his way to the festival grounds. This night, lucky for him, he was able to use his favorite bandana as a headband instead of an ear-covering headscarf. Similarly, his tail swung free behind him as he walked, drawing more than a few giggles and catcalls. These the shaman laughed off as he walked, eventually making his way to the best booth of the festival – after a short transaction, Kohana walked away with a double scoop strawberry-and-chocolate ice cream cone.

“Hm. Wonder what kind of shenanigans are about? Maybe I should head out into the woods, see if everything’s ok for the night…”

He trailed off, watching people move here and there. Finally, with a protest from his stomach, he made his way back towards the food tents.

 

[Arhra]

Two people argued about whether or not to knock outside a door in a part of the school colonised by the Fashion Club. The armoured one, Jo's tomboyish friend Claire, announced they shouldn't worry grabbed the door and -

The light inside flicked off and the door flew open. A startling red mask lunged out of the darkness with a flapping banner of faux wolf pelt about it. All eyes on me, Jo's Mysterious Heroine power demanded. Claire jerked back as this apparition almost collided with her face. Nikola, Claire's companion and actually a ghost, squeaked in surprise.

Claire's attacker jerked back too, straightened up, pushed up its mask and became merely Johanna Imirsdotter in fancy dress.

The door clicked shut behind her.

"Oh hello! Did I startle you?" Jo said, a twinkle in her eyes. "You should really knock you know. I could have been getting changed in there!"

* * *

Back at the festival, Jo was very still as she looked over the invitation and its attached photo. Her mask hid her face as she processed the implications. She was invited to a tea ceremony - in Shin's room, no less - or else another one of her friends would be in danger.

"Shin." Jo said to her wheelchair bound companion, a hint of strain in her voice. "How well do you know Teanne Mochizuki?"

 

[Girasol]

Shin elects to not attempt to read over Johanna's shoulder, taking a long look at the messenger before waiting for her companion to be finished with the letter.

Although she was curious about the contents and had made several guesses, she did not anticipate her roommate to come up. The surprise is worn on her sleeve, evident even with her mask on.

"Teanne? She's uh..."She paused, hesitating after last night's encounter. Teanne likely didn't even know Shin was injured at this point. "She's a complete sadistic asshole that enjoys threatening me, but she hasn't done anything of serious injury note." The tone that the oni uses seems to imply that she doesn't actually think ill of Teanne due to this. "Tidy enough and seems to be smart. May or may not be a robot. Ruins pillow forts."

Head inclining upward towards Jo, the mask tilts. "I didn't think you knew her. Why?"

 

[Teal]

((OoC: Iannesh's response is in PM.))

"You worry too much!" In the dark outside, a figure in a scarlet cloak shouldered aside her white garbed companion. A mail-clad hand closed about the door's handle. Atop her head, the red feathered chains decorating her full helm swayed - their length near comical. "Here we go!" She threw it open.

A red mask exploded from the pitch-dark beyond. Supernatural light billowed around it, lowering the temperature of the hallway perceptibly. An answering warp appeared around the armored girl who managed to leap back – the feathers on her helm trailing. She fell into a warding stance, her spear swinging forward into a defensive position.

Behind her, the white robed girl screamed.

"Oh hello!" The red-faced apparition said, as she pushed her mask up – revealing pale face of Johanna Imirsdotter. "Did I startle you? You should really knock you know. I could have been getting changed in there!" The door closed behind her.

There was a long beat.

"Jo!" Nikola cupped her hands to her mouth, clearly surprised. A fit of giggles overtook the pale girl, which quickly escalated into near hysterical laughter. "That was great!" She managed, between fits.

Claire lowered her prop spear, popping open the face-guard of her helmet – even in the low light of the hallway, she was clearly red-faced. Sullen, she chuckled half-heartedly. "Uh, sorry." The taller woman eventually said, before frowning. "Wait, we did knock!" She glared at Jo, stamping the butt of her prop spear on the floor. "And what if I hadn't jumped away!?" Her free hand ripped the scarlet cloak she wore open, revealing the ornate black plate armor she wore underneath. "You would have been really hurt!"

* * *
The robotic messenger's arm lowered after Jo took the letter from its gloved hand. It did not react to any of the conversation. Instead, its silvery head was lowered in deference, invisible eyes on the grass below.

Perhaps it was listening. Perhaps it was awaiting a response.

Either way, it was not moving.

* * *
A woman stood alone near the centre of a baseball green. Her shirt and pants were black, shot through with gold. Red-pink flowers were embroidered at the hems, and stylized into a logo across her chest – "Amaranth Academy." The school flower logo was embroidered just below it. A single massive braid of brown hair hung down from her red-visored and black ball cap – long enough to look like a tail. Appropriately, the mask on her face was in the likeness of a cat.

"There." Her sun darkened thumb hit the 'Send' button on a phone – accompanied by a little ping. "I'm sure everyone will be here soon." A pair of mismatched eyes – one honey, the other hazel – lifted toward the man standing before her.

The colour of his skin was darker than the woman's – hinting at Central American ancestry. His uniform was similar – black, hemmed in rose – but simpler, lacking the elaborate embroidery. "Love and Fightiology," Was written across the chest in black block letters, bordered in rose, along with a similarly coloured fist. A mop of tousled brown hair peaked out from his black cap - and an aluminum baseball bat was gripped loosely in one of his hands.

Behind him, eight figures stood in a neat row – all robed in black, and masked identically. The stands around the field were filled by masked and cloaked figures – silent and watching – waiting. Unfortunately, the lone woman near the pitcher's mound was, for the moment, bereft of a team of her own.

Above, the night sky shimmered black.

 

[Maxiom]

Sarah stumbled at the pat on the back. It hurt, but her pride held her back from showing it. It occurred to her that the taller girl probably figured that too. 'Nice read on her part. Ought to leave the mind reading on longer next time...'

While the diagnosis was wrong, Sarah's hand wasn't especially splintered, the older girl did have a point. Sarah would be wise to get some first aid help. She waved with her good hand to same congratulatory onlookers as she hopped off the stage, but kept a careful eye out in the crowd as she pushed to find her friends in the back of the audience.

"Saraaaaah!" a sing-songy high pitched voice called out. Sarah turned her head, and caught sight of a blonde girl in the cloak and mask combo that most students seemed to favor that night. The administration had mandated that everyone maintain a costume of some kind, and that seemed to be the most simple getup. Behind her, however, was another girl with a much more fantastic getup. With a fan in one hand and a long, red dress adorned with frills and roses, she stood taller than the blonde in heels and her long black hair was styled in curls. Over her face was a darkly colored mask, reminescent of a panther.

'There they are,' Sarah remarked as she recognized the pair as her roommates, Amy and Vivian. She quickly hurried over to them as the audiences attention turned to the next contenders hopping up on stage to duel.

"Hey! You two like the show?" Sarah asked with a proud smile.

"Also," she raised her bloody hand up clear for them to see, "do either of you have bandages?" She was hoping a trip to the first aid tend could be avoided.

 

[Arhra]

Shin confirmed that Teanne was her room-mate and also probably an evil mastermind.

Cool. Calm. Still. Like ice. Jo told herself, thankful for her mask. She released a puff of breath that did not steam in the cold night air.

"Because she's threatening one of my friends," Jo said, completely without inflection, "who may or may not be a robot, if I do not immediately attend a tea ceremony in your dorm. She extended the invitation to you."

Jo did not go on. She was deeply conflicted. Shin had only gotten out of the hospital this morning! She couldn't justify hauling her along for something that could turn nasty like this. She didn't want to admit she didn't want to handle this alone. So instead of any of this, she stood in front of the waiting robot messenger and waited to see what Shin said.

* * *

Effective segmentation of thoughts and emotions was vital to operating magical clones and also a sign of possible developing schizophrenia. Back at the Fashion Club Jo had successfully distracted her friends from discovering a clubroom full of bootleg Jo's by unexpected apparating in front of them, with a little help provided by magically amplified dramatic flair.

Nikola (who was a ghost) lost it. "Jo!" She laughed hysterically. "That was great!"

Yes, this was true. Jo nodded sagely at this and twitched her fake pelt into position fussily. One crisis averted. That left two to go: robot tea party danger and too many Jo's.

Her other friend Claire (who was not Lu Bu, despite her hat) was embarrassed at her lack of composure in front of the mysterious existence that had turned out to just be Johanna Imirsdotter. "Uh, sorry." Claire paused a moment, summoning indignation. "And what if I hadn't jumped away!?" She swished her cloak - there was fancy prop armour underneath. "You would have been really hurt!"

Jo leaned forward into the taller girl's space. An ancient Chinese proverb had come to her mind. "Of the thirty-six strategies, fleeing is best." she purred.

Then she spun and ran for it. The stress of the evening was bringing out her slightly vindictive sense of mischief.

 

[Girasol]

There was a long pause as the gears worked in the oni's mind. At last she shifted her weight back against her chair, coming to a determination. "Well then, let's have a little chat with her." Shin wheeled the chair around in preparation to go back to her dorm. "Like I said, it's not like her to do anythin lasting, but we prolly shouldn't keep her waitin."

Shin's actions and tone were still conversational, reflecting that she wasn't worried. If anything, there was a slight hint of irritation to her, but she kept that to herself. After moving forward a few paces, she checks over her shoulder to see if Jo is following. "I also owe my other roomie, Kit, an apology. Can't avoid it forever."

 

[Teal]

"Saraaaaah!" A pink blur leapt from the crowd at the edge of the stage and captured Sarah, from the side, in a sudden hug. The air warped briefly, as an invigorating spike of jasmine filled the air – and she felt her mindreading powers activate. You’re so cool! The girl hugging her thought, as a dark-haired woman in red approached from behind. Beneath the woman’s black feline mask, an amused smile could be seen.

“Hey.” Sarah greeted them, smiling proudly. The girl in pink stepped back, smiling jubilantly beneath a white cat mask - coincidentally opposite to the woman in red’s own choice. “You two like the show?”

“Of course!” The white cat fairly bounced with the enthusiasm of her answer. “You were great! And that rapier trick at the end was awesome! Why did you save it until the end like that!? It was so cool!”

The black cat chuckled. “It was fine, Sarah.” Her gaze flicked down to Sarah’s dominant hand - before her head quirked curiously.

In response, Sarah raised her hand – though much of the blood had been left in her pocket, some remained on it.

“What!?” The pink girl obviously hadn’t noticed before. “You got hurt!?”

Sarah nodded. “Do either of you have bandages?”

Both women gave a negative response.

“…I do know where the nearest nursing station is.” The dark-haired woman added, gesturing with a folded up paper fan off into the night, away from the stage, and toward a green tent. “The woman working there is Astrid Black.” She turned her eyes toward the stage. “I have a match soon, so I’ll leave that to you both.”

* * *
After a long stretch of silence, Shin began to wheel herself back toward the Festival. "Well then let's have a little chat with her." The skull-masked woman said, voice light – but strained. "Like I said, it's not like her to do anythin' lasting, but we prolly shouldn't keep her waitin'." She kept pushing herself forward – with some difficulty, minus an arm – for some moments, before turning toward Jo and adding, "I also owe my other roomie, Kit, an apology. Can't avoid it forever."

The white-clad serverbot rose from its crouch smoothly, “Shall I return to the Princess and inform her that there shall be only two for tea?” It inquired, in its feminine synthetic voice. “Or will you require my assistance to arrive, Mistress Meguro?”

Behind her, the tree was fully covered in blue fire now – a massive pyre of ghostly blue light.

* * *
Indignant and embarrassed, Claire fumed. “What if I hadn’t jumped away!?” The armored woman asked, throwing her cloak open with a sharp gesture and exposing the actually hard armor beneath, "You would have been really hurt!"

Unperturbed, Jo leaned extremely close to her much taller friend. "Of the thirty-six strategies, fleeing is best," she purred.

Then Jo spun and ran for it.

Claire sputtered, “What!? You –“ She made a grab for Jo, but caught only air, “Hey!” Claire growled faintly, then launched herself into a run after the retreating Jotun. “Get back here!” The air about her warped, and her steps accelerated – the metallic impacts of her armor filling the dark halls, as her scarlet cloak and pinions spilling out behind her. She was quickly gaining of Jo - and the takedown would probably be rough.

Unless Jo had a plan, that is.

* * *
The cat-masked woman heaved a sigh, tossing her phone further down the bench of the baseball dugout she occupied. Well, that's another no. Tiredly, she pushed herself to her feet and made her way toward the dugout's edge, to look out over the field. The Love and Fightiology Fightiologists were doing battle with another team of masked and cloaked figures - and so far, they were winning.

Jay is pretty good. She thought, feeling a twinge of annoyance, as the crack of the man's bat sent the ball right out of the park.

With her team largely a no show - though she hadn't heard back from everyone yet - another team had appeared from the locker rooms and challenged Jay. Where they came from, she didn't know. Her team - the Amaranth Nightshades - were supposed to have completed all the exhibition matches already. Yet, here was another group of strangely silent masked figures - all of whom played quite well.

I guess it isn't a surprise that everyone's tired of baseball tonight. She thought, Especially since this is more between Jay and me than that rest of them. She leaned up against the edge of the dugout and sighed.

All that was left to do was to wait for her remaining teammates to reply - and for this game to wrap up.

Maybe one or two of them will surprise me.