Magical Teacher Professor Landry! - Episode 4: The Lady in White

[Teal Mage]

Clap.

"Huh?" Roughly two paces away from Sean, Hannah's head snapped left. Her eyes found Kohana's grinning face. One of his hands rested on one the ivy-like chains wrapped round her arm. His aura flared, legs tensing - "No!"

Too late, she realized what was happening. Eyes widened, and she tried to jerk her arm away. But, it was not enough. Filled with supernatural energy, Kohana's legs uncoiled - cracking the tiles below him as he pulled explosively away. Horror etched on her face, Hannah watched her gauntlet unravel as it released her, seemingly of its own volition. Now held in Kohana's hand, the enchanted necklace writhed, returning to its long-bow form, as the youth landed several meters away.

Seemingly uncomprehending, Hannah stood alone, stunned green eyes staring after Kohana. Her left hand was upraised, fingers reaching limply after the boy. Something in her stance seemed to have evaporated, leaving her looking strangely small and weak without her weapon. Even her aura seemed diminished, rolling limply and fitfully about her body.

And that's when Jack appeared.

Aura burning bright, the wizardling's charge finally brought him into melee range with the stunned blond. Sweeping up from her left side while she wasn't looking, Jackson's foot trailing foot pulsed with pale blue energy. Wind danced and whirled around it, as he planted his leading leg, and lashed out in a Gale Fist empowered kick, aimed at Hannah's mid-section.

Without giving any indication of seeing him, Hannah's body shifted. Stance constricting, she slid a precise fraction of an in to the side, twisting toward him in a flowing and languid movement. Empty and devoid of emotion, Hannah's green eyes met her younger assailant’s own, as Jack's foot buried itself into the swirling folds of her cloak, striking only air. Thinking quickly, the Wizard's hand tensed to a fist, air swirling around it. He drove it into -

It stopped short. The unfired Gale Fist disintegrated, as Jack's aura collapsed to wisps, leaving him suddenly bereft.

Empty and dispassionate, Hannah's eyes bored into his slightly wide blue ones. Below, her right arm extended from under her cloak, suffused with the vivid blue supernatural glow of her aura. Faint ripples of blue light radiated out from the center of Jack's chest, where the girl's hand vanished - plunged inside, past the cuffed wrist of her leather glove. Teardrop shaped leaves of light spilled outward from the place of contact, giving birth to small green clusters of climbing ivy where they fell; mostly on Hannah's upper body.

Though now ghostly, the grip Hannah now had on Jack's heart felt very, very, real.

And it hurt.

Hannah's grip slowly tightened, and though Jack's heart beat as strongly as before, the phantom pain that radiated out from it was mind numbing in its alien wrongness. Breathing rapidly becoming laboured, it was quickly becoming a struggle to stand, let alone cast spells. Darkness was creeping up around his eyes, as his conscious slipped...

The glimmer of grim satisfaction in Hannah's eyes was his only warning.

Before she ripped his heart out.

Light exploded -!

And Jack screamed.

* * *

"…in response," Shuyin offered, voice pleasant despite Dal's own threatening tone and stance, "I would first like to point out that you either have a very naïve view of your own species, or are engaging in extensive hyperbole to make your point." A dismissive gesture followed, "But, both possibilities are rather irrelevant to the topic at hand. As this is a battlefield, we will need to address them at a later date."

Shuyin's gaze shifted to his left, and his golden eyes fixed on one of the Jotun twins – the clone, as it happened. "Tell me Johanna, were you faced with an opponent who, to paraphrase Dalhach's description, toys with the lives of children and innocents in a manner that only the darkest Fae," a chuckle escaped his lips, "would dare attempt, and would be willing to coolly calculate the murders of members of their own species, without remorse, and indeed, do it again and again?"

Another mirthless smile followed, "And for this hypothetical situation, let us also say that, this individual is surpasses you, both in power, ruthlessness and intelligence." He switched his gaze to the other twin; eyes sharpening as they regarded the real Johanna, "What, Miss Ismirdotter, would you do?"

Around them, the crazed battle of shadows continued over the solid white curtains - Hannah appeared to have lost her bow. Still, the blond was moving quickly, eluding a series of strikes from Jay, Sean and Jack, with Kohana watching from afar, holding her weapon. While Hannah still seemed far from defeated, she didn't seem to have the upper hand. The sounds of battle seemed to support this - though muted, the only grunts of pain seemed to come from Hannah.

Certainly, the three of them had time to continue this conversation with Shuyin.

* * *

Brilliant blue light exploded. Jack screamed. The smell of spirits intensified.

Standing a score of meters away from where Jack had charged into Hannah, Kohana could only watch helplessly as the wizard had attacked - what had seemed, for a moment - to be a helpless and lost girl. That impression vanished, as long with the light and the cry, Jack crumpled to the ground before Hannah's feet. He looked to be unconscious - and the back of his tuxedo was writhing. Something bright and green seemed to be squirming its way of of his cuffs, twinning around his fingers; more of Hannah's magical vines?

The blond in question was, at that moment, watching him. Cold and emotionless, she inclined her head to Kohana and offered a chilling smile. Though spoken, the promised, You're next. was almost audible.

But, unexpectedly, she turned back toward Sean.

By now, he'd recovered enough to cast spells - but, if he didn't break out of his vine prision quickly, she would arrive to finish him off. Her steps were slow, as she approached slowly, aura beginning to build. To Kohana's noise, the smell of spirits rose again - whatever she had done to Jack, she evidentially planned to do to Sean.

Meanwhile, Jack found his consciousness slowly returning, as the phantom pain - greater than anything he'd ever felt - faded. A brilliant mass of vivid blue light rose from over his heart, where Hannah's hand had impaled him. No wound remained, but, the strangest feeling of a mass of something writhing and squirming against his chest was inescapable. Worse still, it felt like his inner power was being...drained.

A glance down at his hand might have dispelled such strange metaphysical concerns, though.

They were covered, and his fingers were tied together, with tiny creeper vines. Though he could still close them into fists, the vines were strong - they held his fingers together with chilling ease. Still, they looked fragile - perhaps he could pull them off with their complimentary hands - if he acted quickly.

Because they were growing longer, and thicker.

A voice entered Kohana's thought, Well Shaman, It sounded gentle, female and old. A moment later, Kohana realized it was coming from the bow. You have me. What will you do?

* * *

It had been a fierce battle.

Five of the six Seeker Vines lay scattered, some writhing helplessly, others still, in slowly spreading pools of brown-red liquid on the marble tiles of the tower's roof. Adeline stood on the north side of the former vine cage, panting slowly. In much the same state, a tired looking Sao stood at the west edge of the cage, while Chou knelt on the extreme south side, struggling with the final active vine, club abandoned at her side. Further past the oni, the yellow leather wrapped hilt of Adeline's sword rose from the tiles, embedded into the rooftop.

As Chou secured the final vine - covered in oozing bitemarks - into a pretzel-like knot, Adeline felt the last of the tension in her stance slip away. "Phew." she wiped the sweat from her brow, with the back of her wrist. "We did it."

Suddenly, Adeline frowned. "What the..." A sound, like a door slowly creaking open, sounded to her right. She turned, then gasped. A dark shape had appeared in the air, close to - "Sao!" Adeline cried, her sword appearing in her hand, "Behind you!" A smell, like musty and stale air filled her lungs suddenly, and Adeline's sword fell hers hands. She doubled over, hacking.

The black shape plummeted limply down. A spirtz of something dark sprayed from it as it struck, bouncing bonelessly a handful of paces behind Sao, where it lay still and unmoving. Slowly, dark liquid began to seep out of it.

Closer inspection revealed that the shape was human, and sheathed head-to-toe in more of that liquid - which was deep red, not quite black, in color. Female, the figure lay on its back, it's chest rising and falling shakily, with the tattered remains of a dress covering its chest. Long hair hung in greasy black strands around its ichor coated face - judging by her expression, she was in pain. The face, upon further study, looked familiar...

Diana.

If the dark liquid spreading around her was blood...

On the other side of the Field, someone screamed.

It appeared that things were far from done.

[SinrXIII]

His legs.

If there was anything Kohana was proud of, more than anything else in the world, it was his legs. He'd learned to love grappling, to love punching and throwing and blocking his opponents. People always hated to be thrown; it was just infuriating.

But his legs. Those were his pride and joy. Nothing in the world could compare to a run through the plains. Simple mutt, simple pleasures.

Once again, he threw all of his trust into his legs. He raced towards Hannah when he saw an opening, feet pounding the stone beneath his toes. He narrowed his eyes, the smell of spirits hitting his nose, making his tail bristle. He dashed past Jack, and told his classmate all he could spare. He watched Hannah brutally take Sean down; he felt sorry for his fellow youth, but couldn't stop. Not yet!

He came to a stop just short of Hannah, flashed her a grin, and snatched her bow into his hands. Gripping tightly, he bent his legs and pushed against the ground, supernatural strength flowing through him. With a grunt, he pushed against the floor and began his acsent. His hands held firm on the bow, and it rewarded him by giving little resistance. He let out a slow breath, sailing backwards through the air as the remainder of the scene unfolded in front of him; Jack's assault on Hannah, and he handling of his attack. Koh's eyes narrowed further, and he bit his lip hard enough to draw blood.

The native boy landed with ease, face turned to Hannah. His lips curled back into a snarl, and he howled at the blonde.

"HANNAH!"

His voice barked across the space, eyes dark. His hand began to glow with dusty yellow-green around the bow. He spit to the side, and roared at the girl again.

"Hear me, Hannah Iriumi! I am Kohana Akecheta, shaman of the Abyssal Wolf, and the Vessel of my tribe's Creator!" The glow around the bow pulsed, and Kohana lifted his free hand. He ran it down his arm, and held the bow in front of him.

"You have your reasons, Hannah. I do not know why you follow Teacher Shuyin, nor why you desire the death of Teacher Landry. My people speak tolerance, that we are all children of the Wolf's earth." He held his ground, eyes locked on Hannah, hoping she'd stopped to listen. His puppy, meanwhile, was moving towards Jackson to try and remove his bonds with it's teeth. Good puppy.

"Despite that, I've always been a fighter. I never bothered to use my head more than I had to; my hot blood is a reason I find myself at this school. Today, I've learned something, from you and Teacher Shuyin." The wolf-boy smiled softly. He moved his empty hand away from the bow, and with it came a soft, spherical light. He held the orb in his hand a moment, before turning and setting it gently behind him. The light shone, then began to take form; the shaman, however, turned back to face Hannah.

"This spirit is now under my protection; no being, living or dead, shall harm it. In return, you, Hannah Iriumi, must stand down for the remainder of this fight." Kohana's smile was gone; his eyes resolute, impassive.

"If you will walk, slowly, towards me, I will ensure that no harm befalls this spirit you love; I will tear the throats out of my own classmates, should they attack her. All I ask is that you cease your assault, and remain out of the fight for whatever may happen next. This has gone on far too long as it is. I too, will cease fighting, and will happily return your spirit to this bow."

His tail swished behind him as he held the bow loosely in his hand, the other resting on his hip.

"Heed my words, Hannah Iriumi, or I will forsake this spirit to whatever may come. This I swear, on my honor as a shaman, and as the great Wolf's vessel."

[Bard The 5th LW]

"GRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH," Sean could only scream. There was no coherency to anything he was trying to say, it was just a combination of pain, anger, and confusion. It was a scream more akin to the Hulk than a person. He struggled and shouted trying to escape the prison of vines thats had ensnared him like ropes, but it was too no avail. He could hear another pained howl, and he only barely made it out to be Jack's voice. He looked forward, his vision limited.

She was walking towards him now. The Canadian continued to pull and try to break free, his eyes wide with fear and anger, but it still would not yield a success. "FUCK Y-you!" he shouted, his voice beginning to falter from the pain. How could he let her get away with that? She apparently killed Landry already (unless Kohana's theory was right), and she'd likely have few qualms giving him a nice dose of murder while he was tied up.

Kohana was speaking now. Negotiating it seemed, but Sean's emotions were moving to fast and he couldn't really understand in the tumult that was his mental state. The vines made him feel so claustrophobic, and it made him even angrier. He took a deep breath, and counted to three. He didn't have the time to get to ten, he had to act quickly. Once his head felt cleared, he leveled his gaze straight back at Hannnah. Her eyes and face were cold and steely. He narrowed his eyes and stared straight back at her, hate running across his face. He did not struggle, but he let her come towards him, the feeling of butterflies forming in his stomach.

He'd wait for her. He had no clue what Kohana was talking about, and he didn't care. The temperature around his face began to drop as his focus intensified, and an orange light began to form. With each step she took, his mouth opened a little more, teeth gritted. He'd let her try to take him, but he wouldn't go down without a fight.

[Riin Whitewind]

Mouth suddenly dry, Sao tried to swallow. "Don't," she rasped out, before clearing her throat. "Don't touch her. At all." To Sao, Diana glowed. Bright, bruise-colored light hung off Diana and the slowly spreading liquid around her. Instinctively, Sao retreated a few steps. And another. Whatever caused that light, and that liquid, hated her. She could feel it pushing at her, as forceful as a gust of wind.

"Or me, either. Just," Taking off her black dress jacket, Sao held it limply in her hands. She shivered, and hesitated. "Stay back." That glowing light, roiling black and purple like a thunderhead, spread as Diana's blood did. Squaring her bare shoulders, Sao took a step forward. Where ever you originate, whoever sent you, I will not let you take my classmates. Another step, this one with a little less confidence. ...No matter how scared I am. Suppressing a whimper, and looking like she faced her death, she took another step. Walking forward was like wading her way up river - one that was swollen with melted snow.

Focusing on the length of black cloth in her hands, Sao's aura glowed a dim green. It flit and sputtered as she walked toward Diana, streaming behind her slightly as she pushed against restrained malevolence. Her fancy dress jacket grew heavier, soaking up the gel pouring from Sao's fingers. Stopping just at the edge of the cursed area, the budding healer took a deep breath.

And immediately coughed it back out. The air around her was musty, still and dead. It felt choked and filled with dust. Taking another, short breath, Sao whispered, "I can do this." Her aura flared against the purple and blue, thouroughly suffusing the long fabric in her hands.

Stepping into the director's blood with bare feet, Sao felt a particular numbness flood through her lower legs. Around her legs, her aura guttered, and went out. She took another step, folding her legs carefully under her to kneel at Diana's side. The numbness spread wherever it touched, leaving the bruise-colored glow in its wake. Whispering more to herself than her patient, she managed a wan "You'll pull through," to the body of Tear before her.

Leaning forward, Sao moved slowly, gently laying her jacket over Diana's torso, covering the once-pretty dress. Blood beaded up at either edge, forced from her skin by the pressure of the jacket. Underneath, however, pale green light fluttered and shone, soaking into the director's skin. Placing her hands on the jacket, Sao fed more power into her Healing Stream, forcing her magic past the barriers the curse threw in front of it. She had promised her patient. She would remain until Diana recovered, or she drained herself.

Whichever came first.

[Girasol of Chaos]

Her tongue felt betrayed. The blue oni's mouth had enjoyed tearing at the vines, but not the taste. Peaceful as Chou is compared to her counterpart, she is still a carnivore.

Moments later, she would regret not being in a human form. A sickened mass bounced into existance behind Sao, alerting its presence by not only being gross to look at but having an extremely offensive odor. Chou didn't need the other chick to tell her something was there.

Ugh, it reeks of death and decay. The oni's nose and brow wrinkled in disgust, baring her fangs in the most unlady-like manner. She was trying, and failing, to not gag at the overwhelming stench. Pulling herself into a stand, she drew her right arm across her nose in hopes that it would lessen the sensation. Grasping her Kanabo weakly, Chou inspected the oozing lump from her distance. It was definitely a dying something. A human perhaps, but her body screamed, attempting to warn the oni that this thing was not edible. Like I need my nose to tell me that. Rotting meat never was.

"Don't" Sao's voice was weak, she was much closer to the body. How could her friend stand the smell? Chou didn't envy her. "Don't touch her. At all." The tanned girl began to retreat, Chou barked in reply, " You really didn't need to tell me that. Get away from that thing." There was no attempt to hide the alarm.

Instead, her friend spoke again, but it was harder to hear. She took her jacket off and took a few steps towards the apparent corpse. "Stay back!" Her hesitation was clear, but she made each painful inch towards the dying lump of flesh and knelt down.

Hair on the oni's neck was now on end, but she knew that Sao was going to try to heal whatever it was. Sao had healed her body from some state-somewhat terrible, as she was out now instead of the brute. The ogre wasn't going to deny someone else a chance, but every fiber in her muscled body told her this was wrong. Chou removed her face from her arm only long enough, "If it so much twitches wrong..." She wasn't ready to get closer to the body willingly, but to help her friend, she'd do so.

She could only watch as her only sane link to this world knelt in the putrid blood and poured her energy into the mass that appeared to be a student.

[Astral Harmony]

"Ah...no thanks, I'm good," Astarte politely denied any part of the conversation, but did out of respect take a seat at the table. She did want to know what was going on, and was still very worried about Gorgeous and Vanilla, but decided that it was best to just sit down and wait while Professor Shuyin conversed with the others. Besides, she was tired, and hungry. Just how much time had passed since she'd entered the Field of Honor?

Astarte wasn't a take-charge kind of person, and to be honest, didn't feel any particular motivation to do or say anything right now. Her convictions just weren't there. But she did make herself comfortable. She shed away the rest of her dress to leave her body completely bare except for the mummy wrapping which hugged all the right areas.

[Steel Shadow]

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Have you considered switching to Amaranth Broadband? 10x faster than the closest competi- *Skip*

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Bing!

Hey there Fans! How are you? I hope you're all ok. Healthy living is an important thing these days! You know what they say, you wont appreciate life until it's gone. I can tell you right now, that's 100% true!

Aw, don't cry guys! You'll make me tear up, and right now I don't think my body needs the extra stress. I lived as I loved, and my life was filled with joy and happiness. Except for that last part. That wasn't fun.

I hope that little girl got out ok though. Did I tell you? Oh, I guess I didn't! Sorry guys, my memory's getting fuzzy, what with the rampant blood loss. But I saved a little girl! That's how I died. Y'huh, how about that? I'm a genuine Hero! Or I was, anyways.

What's that? I was always a hero to you guys? Aw, that's so sweet! <3

But maybe I didn't do so well, huh? I didn't survive. I ended up being the first one to die, even. Well I think I was. I kinda lost track of everyone. A real hero would have gotten out of there intact though, right?

Heh. It's real nice of you guys to comfort a girl on her death bed, but I'm getting kinda tired. It's not like I want to go... I'd much rather go back in there with a shotgun or a sword or something and kick that... Whatever's face in. That'd be pretty nice... Y'know?

But... I don't think it's... my choice... Sorry guys... I didn't get to... dedicate my first award... to you... 'm tired...

...

..-Huh?

Hey? Did anyone else hear that? I thought I heard-

Woah. Woah, woah, wait a minute.

Oh wow.

Uh, maybe I'm not done just yet guys.

I, uh... Gimme a bit. I'll get back to you.

*Click*

PLAY AGAIN?

[Arhra]

"Tell me Johanna," Shuyin said, his gaze fixed on one of the Jos at the table, "were you faced with an opponent who, to paraphrase Dalbhach's description, toys with the lives of children and innocents in a manner that only the darkest Fae," a chuckle escaped his lips, "would dare attempt, and would be willing to coolly calculate the murders of members of their own species, without remorse, and indeed, do it again and again?"

Another mirthless smile followed, "And for this hypothetical situation, let us also say that, this individual is surpasses you, both in power, ruthlessness and intelligence." He switched to the other Jo, "What, Miss Ismirdotter, would you do?"

"Why I would stoop to their level and involve as many schoolchildren as possible." Jo replied blandly, returning his look with two level gazes of her own.

The Jo he had not addressed took over while the first well gently on her tea and sipped again. "Whether you are justified or not does not matter here, at this time."

The first Jo set down her tea with a click. "You have failed."

"Whether you are bargaining from weakness or strength, it does not matter. Your plan has gone awry and will continue to do so. I must request, no, demand, that you call off your attack dog. If you do not, then there is no point in us talking. We will find another way."

[Dracorion]

"AAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHH HHHHH!!!!"

Jack didn't even notice himself falling backwards. There was only the unimaginable pain of his heart being ripped out. Fortunately, he didn't have to put up with it for long as everything faded to black.

...

With a sharp gasp, Jack rose to a sitting position from where he fell. He felt the lingering sting of the pain from before still in his chest, and also a myriad of other weird feelings. His hands instinctively rose to examine his chest, only to stop short when he saw them. They were being wrapped in vines that were creeping out from under his shirt, and there was a blue light emanating from his chest, not quite his own aura, from the place where Hannah had stuck her hand in, and something squirming from under there. He had a good idea what that was.

Fortunately, though his fingers were held together by the vines, he could still close them. His left hand squeezed beneath the vines on his right hand, and pulled hard.

With a gasp of pain, Jack threw away the broken vines and clutched his bleeding right hand. Goddamn, that hurt. Tearing away the vines cut him up. In that moment, he had the time to identify the many sensations he felt. That were the vines squirming under his shirt. A... squirming, from the place the blue light emanated. And something else, something beneath it all.

Draining. Yes, he was unmistakably being drained. Stupid Hannah.

With an angry snarl, his right hand ripped the vines from his left, as he gritted his teeth from the sharp stab of pain. And then he breathed for a moment, to calm himself. He looked around a bit. Kohana was currently attracting Hannah's attention, holding her bow and doing something. Near Hannah, Sean was trapped in vines much like Landry was. Jack wanted to help, but he needed to take care of himself first. He continued to look, until his gaze fell upon the pavilion.

He hadn't heard anything from there since the fighting started, had he? He could see them, just sitting around. Well, his own situation was pretty desperate, and frankly he could use the help against a certain psychotic bitch. His right hand rose, as Jack concentrated. He could feel his magic being slowly drained by whatever Hannah did, but he still had more than enough juice to wrap the wind around his fist, and throw a punch in the direction of the pavilion. The air blast hurled through the air.

With that taken care of, he turned to more immediate concerns. Namely the vines trying to entangle him and draining his power. He ripped open his chest, only to see the blue light was a gaping hole in his chest from which the vines emerged. Fortunately, it seemed to be made entirely of Hannah's aura. Why was that fortunate? Because she wasn't the only one who could drain magic powers.

But as soon as he saw the hole, more vines emerged and attempted to wrap around his neck and upper arms. He angrily tore those up too, eliciting more bleeding wounds on himself. But frankly, Jack was just about tired of this shit. His right hand rose, wind wrapped around it, and then quickly slammed his own chest, onto Hannah's aura. His left hand did the same. Even if he was hurting himself and draining his own aura with this tactic, frankly, it was still the only solution he could think of for his gaping chest wound. The only viable one, anyway. Sean was trapped and Jo was stuck inside the pavilion.

It must've been an amusing spectacle, him smashing his own hands into his chest like a crazy person, or a gorilla. Maybe anyone watching would think he lost his mind. Jack only stopped, though, when he saw a strange little puppy had appeared next to him. "Oh hey." It... appeared to want to help? Either that, or it thought the vines currently wrapping around his body were toys. Either way, "You can take care of the vines, little buddy." Jack said nicely, then went back to hitting himself.

[Overcast]

Jay lowered his bat after the arrow went flying off the tower,his eyes stoic as Jack went running by him, nobody was stopping. No one was listening or even trying to plan properly and if that was the way they wanted to play then Jay was going to let them. He didn't even sigh as he stood and watched it all happened.

Soon enough Sean was stuck in a growing mass of roots that he could not escape from, desperately gnashing his teeth in defiance. Jack had been grappled and destroyed, his hands desperately attempting to force off his new friend that grew from his chest. Kohana had taken Hannah's bow, but it certainly hadn't nullified her. Though in the moments after he had he seemed to gain some raised surprise on his face, like when a newbie poker player gets his first full house. Jay let him move toward Hannah and listened as he laid down his negotiating terms. It wasn't a bad start.

He smiled a bit wider as he kept his eyes scanning everyone on the field, and if anything put this scene in jeopardy it was going to feel his bat.

[Teal Mage]

"You," Jo set her teacup down with a sharp click, "have failed." Black eyes held Shuyin's gold ones, as the Jotun decisively went on. "Whether you are bargaining from weakness or strength, it does not matter. Your plan has gone awry and will continue to do so. I must request, no," She paused, then corrected herself, "demand, that you call off your attack dog. If you do not, then there is no point in us talking. We will find another way."

Shuyin stared into his tea. His expression was no longer cool - it almost appeared thoughtful. The Professor set his teacup down silently, then, "Though I loathe to admit it," He stated flatly, "you may have a point, Johanna." A dismissive gesture toward the pale girl followed. "Granted, you have no way to know my plans. Nor are you completely abreast of the situation." He lifted his teacup once again, this time to swirl it lazily before himself. "…however, I have myself admitted that Dalhach has thrown my designs somewhat awry."

Thoughtfully, he tapped the side of his mug. "Perhaps, it is time I consider that I may be deluding myself." He cracked an ironic smile, then ruefully shook, "Though the situation is not yet lost, I am at a great disadvantage. Hannah, my greatest weapon, has likely been compromised. And, with Dalhach's power serving as the Field's lynchpin instead of Rebecca's own, this is hardly the no-win scenario I had envisioned."

"Students," Shuyin set his teacup down, a fond smile softening his features. "I have a lesson for you." He paused momentarily, surveying his audience. "When the world turns against you and you find yourself at great disadvantage, the key is not to merely fight harder," he chuckled, "though Rebecca would have you believe otherwise. No," the bluenette continued, fond smile still in place, "the key is to fight smarter."

"And," he inclined his head faintly in Jo's direction, "in most cases, that means retreating when your advantage falls away." Closing his eyes, Shuyin shook his head. Wispfully, he elaborated. "There is no gain in death. Not for yourself, and not for your cause."

"Dalhach." The bluenette stated aburtly fixing the Fae with his golden eyes again. "Have you any thoughts on my posit -"

Suddenly, a scream from outside the pavilion cut Shuyin off. Curious, the Professor glanced backward over his shoulder. "Oh," He murmured softly, sounding slightly surprised. "she turned the battle."

Hannah now stood in the midst of the shadows of Jack, Sean and Jay. Jack - who had suddenly screamed - lay crumpled at the girl's feet. From the looks of the shadows, Sean was bound by a mass of vines. And, before their eyes, Hannah suddenly slammed her palm down on - what was presumably - the ground. A new set of vines erupted below Jay, binding the baseball player in place.

It appeared that whatever spell had been laid on the Pavilion's walls had unravelled. How mysterious!

"..." Shuyin returned his gaze to Dal, "May I suggest departing this pavilion, and continuing our discussion outside?" He chuckled faintly, gesturing vaguely, "If I am to consider surrender as a viable option, I would prefer to avoid the loss of too many lives as the result of a failed gambit."

* * *

Expression grim, Hannah faced Sean. Blue magical power billowed and teardrop shaped leaves of energy swirled outward from the blond, transforming into a network fo green creeps when they struck the tiles below. Likewise, orange energy built and rolled around Sean, as the Canadian watched Hannah with a mixture of fear and hatred in his eyes. Around him, the air seemed to sparkle, as tiny crystalline flecks of ice formed. Nearby, Jack studied the magical creepers that had appeared on his chest and hands, while Jay suddenly found himself bound in a new mass of conjured vines.

And a score of paces distant, Kohana was shouting.

Surprisingly, Hannah appeared to be listening to him. Though her eyes watched Sean warily, she had ceased her advance. She almost appeared thoughtful. Almost.

"…I've always been a fighter." Kohana stated projecting his voice. "I never bothered to use my head more than I had to; my hot blood is a reason I find myself at this school." Dusty olive energy silhouetted his frame and curled around the stolen bow he held. "Today, I've learned something, from you and Teacher Shuyin."

Though only Sean saw it, a smile appeared on Hannah's lips; dark and condescending.

A pillar of light appeared behind the shaman, pulsing and swirling high above Kohana's head. "This spirit," Kohana stated, as a dark shape began to take form within the conflagration, "is now under my protection." The pillar shredded itself, exploding in a spray of dusty olive wisps. "No being, living or dead, shall harm it. In return, you, Hannah Iruimi, must stand down for the remainder of this fight." Kohana stated, eyes hard.

Hannah's lips thinned. She whipped herself around, eyes settling first on Kohana, then, a moment after on the figure behind them. Her eyes widened, and she flinched backward in shock, aura dissolving in an instant. The figure, was a tall and stately woman with a faint brown-red tint to her skin. Her hands, gnarled, thin and wrinkled things, were clasped before herself. The clothes she wore, a slender, dark hemmed, brown dress and purple shawl, appeared to have been fine once, but were now frayed, threadbare and faded. Though the woman held herself straight, there was an unhealthy caste to her skin, and her clothes hung far too loosely from her body. By her sunken eyes, cheeks, and boney shoulders, she was not well-nourished.

Eyes still wide, and with a hand raised before her lips, a breath of disbelief escaped Hannah's lips. "Gra -"

"Hannah, look out!" The elderly woman suddenly cried urgently, a hand raising involuntarily, as she stepped forward.

What had felt like an eternity for Hannah had actually passed in mere seconds. Orange light exploded like a flash of lightning from Sean. Hannah jerked in surprise, and leapt to the side, but it was too late. A torrent of frigid air, filled with snow and jagged lengths of ice smashed into her back, driving her forward. Her cloak was shredded and blood sprayed into the air. A scream of pain tore itself from her throat, as her shoulder struck the tiles, hard, roughly ten meters from where she had last started. Her momentum carried her forward another pace, before she stopped, laying on her chest, coated in frost and panting.

Behind Kohana, the old woman looked away, eyes shutting tightly. "Hannah…"

Panting, the blond pushed herself up to her hands and knees. "…I…" The girl murmured, then, looked up at Kohana. Halting, but voice stronger, she continued "…am very curious." she panted, "What exactly was the lesson I taught you," Her jaw clenched against the pain, as she gritted her teeth, "…and how, precisely, did it inspire what just happened?"

* * *

Green radiance shone from Sao, as the Undine knelt over the still body of Diana. Healing gel flowed from her hands, through the sopped fabric of her jacket, and pierced, with some difficulty, the armor-like curse that coated the unconscious camera girl below. A soothing chill spread outward, gradually, from Diana’s chest and her breathing eased. Ruptured blood vessels were sealed and strengthened, and the pain faded. Still, it felt as though Sao’s power fought against a vicious current, one that was trying desperately to rebuff her. The process was slow, but it was working.

"Shin." Steps silent, Adeline approached Chou. The girl stopped a few paces away, then frowned, hazel eyes flicking between Chou's club, her face, and her stance. "…no, you aren't Shin, are you?" Adeline cocked her head, slowly. Then, extended her hand – the one that didn’t hold her sword. "I'm Adeline Fletcher, we haven't met yet, right?"

The Oni barely glanced toward the brunette when she replied. "That is correct, Adeline." Chou stated, inclining her head slightly, tone rather formal. "I am Chou," after a moment's hesistation, Chou shouldered her club and clasped Adeline’s hand, "pleased to meet you." She shook it, briefly. Quickly tensing up again, Chou's gaze snapped back toward Sao. Fortunately, there still seemed to be no immediate danger around the Undine.

"…I don't really understand what's going on." Adeline stated, after a moment, following Chou's gaze. "Jo said this place is real, but that…doesn't make sense." The girl shook her head, before turning back to the Oni at her side, "But the girl who fell from the sky?" A vague gesture toward the unconscious girl Sao was healing followed. "Her name's Diana – she's in my, and Shin's, class." A strange, pained, look flickered across Adeline’s sun-darkened skin. Her gaze fell. "Sao acted like she was in real trouble, like this was serious."

Darkness flickered around Adeline's body. "...I'm going to go stop Shuyin."The brunette added, abruptly. "This whole mess has to be his fault," her hand tightened around the hilt of her sword, "and if people are in danger here, we can't waste any more time." She looked up to Chou's face again, the Oni still watched Sao.

"I was going to ask you to help me." Adeline stated, gaze drifting toward Sao. "But…" She shook her head, then turned toward the giant root, essaying an over-the-shoulder wave. "Watch out for Sao, alright?" Adeline tossed a smile over her shoulder, before bounding forward.

In a moment, she had scaled the root, and was gone.

* * *

While Kohana shouted at Hannah and Sean stared her down, Jack was focused on more pressing matters; the vines growing from his skin. Ripping from out bodily hurt and left shallow bleeding wounds where they had sprouted from. But, a moment later, little sprigs of green began to appear again amongst the red of the Wizardling's blood – it obviously wasn't a good solution. Added to that, he could feel something new squirming around his ankles and on his lower back – the growths were spreading. And the drain of his magic reserves was continuing, perhaps even accelerating.

This was bad.

He closed a bleeding hand into a fist, pale blue supernatural light appearing around it. His aura flared -!

And he began to punch his chest. Grunts of pain escaped his lips, as Jack's wind-wrapped fists slammed into the center of his chest, onto the exact spot where Hannah's own hand had left a glowing magical wound. Out his back, pale blue energy was driven out in wisps. If Hannah's curse fed on his magic, he'd just have to make sure there was none of that for her to work with. Maybe, if he was lucky, he'd be able to force the curse out too.

A small black puppy came up along side him. "Oh hey." Jack paused in his self-flagellation to regard the creature. He lowered his free hand to the puppy's lips. "You can take care of the vines, little buddy." Obligingly, the small creature began to dig in, ripping the still-small vines out of his skin again – but with less pain than before.

Jack went back to hitting himself.

Had the Wizard looked, he might have been surprised to note three things. The first, that the growth of the vines on his chest and hands had slowed perceptibly. The second, they appeared more feeble and slim than before. And, as the well timed nips and bites from the puppy at his side demonstrated, they didn't hurt as much when pulled out.

It was working!?

* * *

A cry of surprise split the air around Sao, as her aura flared wildly. Nearly blindingly green in intensity, it seared Chou's blue eyes, causing the Oni to flinch back a step. Darkness welled, then exploded into the dim air like a thunderclap, plunging the west-side of the Field into pitch darkness. A lance of golden light pierced through the blackness an instant later from above, shredding the gloom like the claws of a great beast. The darkness dissipated, reduced to floating motes of glittering black sparkles.

Blinking the afterimages of Sao's aura flare from her eyes, it took Chou a moment to find the Undine again. The dark haired girl was slouched forward a sheet of white crystal, hands held out in front of her for support. That same crystal now thinly sheathed the girl's ankles and the front of her black dress – where the dark fluid that had leaked from Diana's body had once been. Though thin, the crystal would take some concerned effort on the Undine's part to break.

At the moment though, Sao was panting faintly and trembling slightly. Water dripped from her arms and now covered her hands, which twitched faintly. The unexpected flux of her power had caused her to bleed. Fortunately, unlike the internal wounds Diana had borne, these were already near healing. More concerning was the three-quarter's of her magic that had been sucked out involuntarily, and in an instant, leaving her light-headed and disoriented.

Standing abot the Undine now, was Diana. Surrounded by a cluster of the dark sparkles, the directress's her tattered clothes had been replaced. Now, she wore with a pair of ripped jeans, a well-worn set of snickers, and a white jacket, all dotted with grass stains. Her shoulder-length hair, once red, now as black as ebony, and was now crowned with a blue baseball cap. Around the wrist of her off-hand was a small black box-like bangle. The rectangular screen in its center was cracked and filled with grainy black and grey dots; static. The sudden dye-job and strange accessory aside, she looked positively normal.

Except, in her dominant hand, was an ornate silver sword. The blade was almost as long as Diana's arm and improbably, fantastically, light. Black supernatural light shimmered about its shape and equally black leather was wrapped around its hilt. Wave-like etchings covered the blade, and similar shapes formed the guard of the weapon.

Above the trio, the rolling gray storm clouds had broken, revealing a radiant orange-yellow sky beyond. A column of golden light fell from it, in a gradually widening circle around Sao and Diana, like a spot-like. A compass rose of eight identical shadows spread outward from each of them and the musy smell of cursed air was already fading.

Could...things actually be looking up?

[Overcast]

Jay dropped his bat to the ground as the vines curled up around him. His eyesistered no surprise or concern as they tighened on his form. His chest lifted and sank idly as he watched, somewhere in him was the power to escape, the strength and the passion to fight on.

But he was tired of fighting. He was tired of all of this pointless conflict.

To him he no longer mattered. Could no longer help. Nobody mattered, except for Koh and Hannah. He laid his head down in his chest. Closing his eyes, resigning himself to the future at hand. There was only one future.

And it seemed he wasn't going to be a part of it.

[SinrXIII]

Orange light exploded like a flash of lightning from Sean. Hannah jerked in surprise, and leapt to the side, but it was too late. A torrent of frigid air, filled with snow and jagged lengths of ice smashed into her back, driving her forward. Her cloak was shredded and blood sprayed into the air. A scream of pain tore itself from her throat, as her shoulder struck the tiles, hard, roughly ten meters from where she had last started. Her momentum carried her forward another pace, before she stopped, laying on her chest, coated in frost and panting.

Behind Kohana, the old woman looked away, eyes shutting tightly. "Hannah…"

Panting, the blond pushed herself up to her hands and knees. "…I…" The girl murmured, then, looked up at Kohana. Halting, but voice stronger, she continued "…am very curious." she panted, "What exactly was the lesson I taught you," Her jaw clenched against the pain, as she gritted her teeth, "…and how, precisely, did it inspire what just happened?"

Kohana growled; and glared at the Canadian behind Hannah.

"Two things, then."

The boy walked forward, kneeling to offer Hannah a hand. "That most people are still willing to take advantage of a native, and opportunity is a bitch." He smiles softly, apologetically. "I'm sorry things came to this, but you haven't exactly left us much choice. But I think there's someone you'd rather talk to."

He turned, gesturing to the old woman behind him.

Across the way, Puppy was pulling and tugging at the roots that covered Jack. He spat out a mouthful, and watched as Jay was overcome by roots as well.

The face he made could only be described as 'Fuck that.' He whuffed, and made his way over to Kohana and Hannah, barking and wagging his tail.

[Bard The 5th LW]

Direct hit! Sean put on a weak smile as a sense of satisfaction washed over him. He himself had taken quite a hit from that as well. His head was rocked backwards from the recoil, and small bits of frost and ice flecked his already pale white face. He did't have it nearly as bad as she did though. Kohana gave Sean a disapproving glare, but Sean didn't care. Jack's screams were still fresh in his ears, and he had never felt so justified in inflicting that much pain on one person.

There still was the issue of the vines that held him in place however. He pulled his arms and gave several tugs, but he knew it wouldn't work. Not just because his earlier attempts had been fruitless, but because he felt inwardly drained. He refused to show any signs of weakness though.

"There is another one coming if I don't get down from here!" he shouted, making sure to keep his voice assertive and even. He actually doubted he could get away with another such attack, but that wouldn't deter his claims. He focused his limited vision on Hanna and the Shaman as best as he could, a look of confidence forming on his face, determined to get his point across.

[Girasol of Chaos]

Burning light reached her pupils and Chou's whole body flinched, stepping back and slamming her eyelids shut-if only for a moment. Opening them again she was alarmed by the pitch. Was she blind? This thought dissipated as more searing light, this time golden instead of green, raked at the darkness until it was no longer. The remains dissolved in the air, appearing as mere decorations for the scene before her.

Eyes still adjusting, she searched for her friend and found her once again drained, but with crystals replacing the ugly darkness that once pooled around her. Somewhere in the back of her mind a panicked cry rang out, screaming for her to make haste. The blue oni's mimiced the cry, but in the form of her friend's name. "Sao! Are you alright?" Not waiting for a reply the oni sprinted towards the undine, but as she approached her eyes adjusted to view another figure.

The rotting mass had been replaced by an armed black-haired girl, alarming the ogre further. The girl was casually dressed, smaller than her and rather unthreatening to look at, but the fact was that this had been the stinking tumor that offended the oni's senses. Not armored, she looked more dressed to go play sports than anything else, save for an elegant silver blade that glimmered in her right hand and a curious black bangle.

Sliding into a crouch next to Sao, Chou peeled her suspicious eyes away from the capped girl before them and repositioned her club so that her right hand grasped it higher on the spiked end. Swallowing her doubt the oni steeled herself, quietly croaking, "Here, hold still and try to relax." Steadying with her left hand above Sao's near knee, the tall girl began meticulously chipping at the crystal. Applying just enough force to pry it away, but careful to not break her friend's kneecaps she concentrated on the task at hand. "Please let me know if I hurt you." The tanned girl looked exhausted enough, and drenched to boot. The cuts covering her weren't serious, and Chou was determined not to accidently create more.

As the clouds parted and a spotlight formed the ogre glanced upward, offering a very flattering and almost idol-like view of the newcomer-Diana, Adelaide had called her.

"Diana." Chou's tone was serious and formal as she returned to the task of freeing Sao. "If you are a friend I should ask you to use that finely-crafted blade to assist me." Doubtful, she took a deep breath here, hoping that this girl at least had honor."If you are foe then strike at me, but I won't hesitate to crush you." The chipping was slow-going but steady enough as the blue-skinned oni worked her way around. It took great effort to do this in front of something that was so undeniably evil just moments ago. It gnawed at her mind in a way that terrified her, but she made great effort not to show it.

[Steel Shadow]

"Diana." Chou's tone was serious and formal as she returned to the task of freeing Sao. "If you are a friend I should ask you to use that finely-crafted blade to assist me." Doubtful, she took a deep breath here, hoping that this girl at least had honor."If you are foe then strike at me, but I won't hesitate to crush you."

Chou's speech was touching. At any other time Diana would have swooned over the comradeliness, the trust and concern the two friends demonstrated so clearly for one another. It was a character defining moment! It was perfect! She would have it recorded (preferably from several angles) and up on her blog for display within minutes of escaping the cursed Field of Honour.

Right now, however...

By the time the Oni looked up once again, Diana had vanished. Behind her, Chou might hear the sound of fading footsteps and a hurried yell of "SorryI'llbebacktohelpinasec!" heading in the direction of everyone else.

Apparently, Di was in a hurry.

[Krylo]

Dal's eyes narrowed for a moment at Shuyin. Fighting Smarter? This wasn't a man who intended to give up. This was a man running a con, and, as they say, never try to con a con. However...

The fae glanced toward the shadows playing out on the pavilion walls. Hannah seemed injured. Grievously. And many of his class mates were in similar straits. Bound and/or injured. Shuyin was right about the potential to lose lives quickly if things continued as they were, and, in so much as the faerie found it difficult to truly attach himself to the ephemeral lives of mortals, he had no wish to find out what the school's policy was on all out warfare.

Something had to be done.

Redirecting his gaze back toward Shuyin, Dal looked into those feline eyes for a long moment before making his decision... which was to not make any decision.

Turning on his heel he glanced over his shoulder, "Well I'm going outside. As for you and your terms of surrender? I'll leave that to Miss Imirsdotter." He knew Johanna was. . . colder and trusted that she would handle their etiquette teacher with all the delicacy that he so richly deserved.

And so, with a small smirk pulling at the corner of his lips from his mental pun he strode from the pavilion with purpose, intending to make his way to the site of the battle, hopefully before anyone did anything stupid.

[Arhra]

Both of Jo's faces were like porcelin masks, the pale twins kneeling motionlessly like devotional statues as Professor Shuyin talked of how Jo possibly had a point, but how she didn't know his full plans or the full situation, how Dal being the focus of the Field had thrown his plans off, how Hannah was an unreliable weapon, and how this was not the Catch-22 situation he had planned for Landry and her class.

The Teacher of Ettiquette was at a disadvantage. He told the four students of Professor Landry that fighting smarter, rather than harder was a valuable lesson. Specifically to Jo, he added that this usually meant retreat when an advantage no longer existed.

Jo blinked placidly in response.

There was a scream outside and the spell on the pavillion's walls unravelled. One Jo turned her head to examine the new information.

"..." Shuyin returned his gaze to Dal, "May I suggest departing this pavilion, and continuing our discussion outside?" He chuckled faintly, his hands tracing vague gestures, "If I am to consider surrender as a viable option, I would prefer to avoid the loss of too many lives as the result of a failed gambit."

Dal rose to his feet and, turning on his heel, glanced back over his shoulder, "Well I'm going outside. As for you and your terms of surrender? I'll leave that to Miss Imirsdotter."

One of the Jo's looked at Dal with serene eyes and nodded. The other was watching Professor Shuyin. Both appeared to have been studying the art of being inscrutable under a wise, old, Oriental gentleman.

Jo laid a hand on the edge of the circular table, adjusting the position of her legs to allow her to gracefully climb to her feet. The other Jo was her mirror image.

The jotun pair moved suddenly, rising up and lifting the table with them to flip it over on top of Professor Shuyin. Mugs and the teapot clattered to the floor and the tea spilled as the light table abruptly became a vertical barriace.

The left Jo spun around the side in a flurry of blue skirts and rushed Shuyin. Rather than following or circling around the long way, the other Jo stepped forward into the space the table had occupied, aura sparking as she tossed down a hair that began crystallising into an exact copy of her.

Quivering with tension, the attacking Jo stopped and pulled back after just a second of violent motion, giving the Professor some breathing space. Jo wanted to make it clear she had deliberately not pressed whatever advantage her surprise attack might have given. Two more Jos came into view as the table fell over completely, one remaining in place and the other - the original Jo - walking calmly over to where Astarte was sitting, placing herself between Professor Shuyin and the mummy.

The Jo standing behind the table looked at the Professor like he was a caged animal, the other two jotun girls standing expresisonlessly at the ready. "Perhaps, may, somewhat, maybe." she said dreamily, plucking words out of the teachers speech. Her coal-black eyes and the thin line of her mouth hardened. "No."

"The time has come to speak in absolutes. This is my ultimatum, Shuyin. We do not need you. You are not necessary. You are wasting my time. But I will permit you to save yourself and your student. Surrender at once."

OOC: HELLO TEAL SINCE YOU ARE LINKING SONGS IN THE EDUPAD AGAIN I DECIDED TO LINK A SONG (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ejqYlzg3f-8) AS WELL

[Steel Shadow]

Tap tap tap

Jack was beating the crap out of himself.

Tap tap tap

Sean was shaking with anger!

Tap tap tap

Kohana was flirting! In a rather desperate way.

Tap tap tap

Hannah was bleeding. Blood was everywhere. There's been a lot of that today.

Taptaptap

And Jay had given up.

Taptaptap

Could this situation get any worse for our heroes?

...Probably not, actually, but what was about to happen wouldn't help any either.

"Hey guys! What's going on?" Diana skidded into the middle of it all, looking distinctly different from the last time anyone had seen her. Whether the change was her hair colour, her outfit, or the rather sharp looking sword she was carrying, there really was something different about her now. Still, she didn't seem too put out about it.

Actually, she just seemed... Curious? That was a pretty useful looking sword right now, with so many people tied up. Maybe she could help?

[Overcast]

"There is another one coming if I don't get down from here!"

Jay's limp hand lifted slightly, his head along with it, his hand began to close and tighten. Jay stared across the field directly at Hannah, his arms, his legs, his whole body tensed up, his hand becoming a fist tightly clenched, the roots straining under the power of his rage as it fed his muscles, an exasperated scream roaring from his throat.

He had finally snapped.

"Fuck! Fuck! FUCK! Why, why the fuck are you all so fucking awful!?"

The roots crackled, his eyes were burning with with fury, he thrashed and struggled desperately, and one hand was suddenly holding his bat again. He spat in Sean's direction hoping to catch him long enough to tear him down to his level.

EVERYONE was going to get brought down to Jay's level before he was done here. And then they would have to face his bat.

"And you! You big, musclebrained, worthless pile of shit! Blasting on Hannah when she finally seems disarmed? What the fuck!? Are you blind!? Bastard! Idiot! Fuck you! You were better as a mute!"

He shifted his dark stare off to Jack, trying to send every bad emotion he had along with it,

"Jack you short-fused ignorant piece of white trash garbage! If you even had a head to think with you would have fucking stopped when I saved your ass, BUT NAH you got to have your ass handed to you by Hannah! And now what?! You're smacking yourself in your chest like you have fucking down syndrome!"

The roots seemed about to break and he was going to unload on Hannah, a few more guided streams of rage when suddenly Di dropped by. She blocked Jay's view and arrived with a certain level of nonchalance that totally stopped his brain in its tracks. He closed his mouth, his body relaxed and he kinda sat there for a second. His bat dropping on the ground again. Echos of a thought at the edge of his mind coming up to the surface,

But do go easy on Hannah. Remember: Once a student, always a student!

Oh man, he'd really lost his shit for a second there hadn't he? Landry would have been so disappointed in him. His head dropped and he took a deep breath, and letting it out raggedly, a short smile on his face, his hand waving pathetically,

"Heya Di! You, uh, you mind cutting me down from here? I kinda said some hurtful things just a second ago and I don't think a yelled apology is good enough. Also my throat hurts."

He was blushing a little, just a smidge embarrassed to have lost his cool like that.

[Riin Whitewind]

"It's not gone." Sao, still dizzy, reached out a hand to stop Diana from running off. To no avail, as the now dark-haired girl had sprinted away as if her life depended on it. Chou, beside her, was working industriously to free her from the crystal shackles. "It's still there, Shin, hiding."

Wiping away the blood on her arms, Sao flexed her legs as if she were going to stand. Crinkling like ice, the crystal bowed slightly with the pressure. She felt a little more like herself, now merely confused instead of disoriented. What in the hell happened here? The shimmering glass was reminiscent of the statue Shin had made, before she brought the oni back.

It didn't seem to be too harmful, but she'd prefer being able to stand. "Thank you." Speaking of... Shin's been acting very strangely since I brought her back... Did I screw it up? The professor said I'd get it right, but Shin has been behaving -completely- different from the way she was yesterday and this morning... Breaking off a piece of crystal, Sao surreptitiously examined her 'friend' out of the corner of her eye. Did she always have blue eyes? She frowned. Something wasn't right, here. And Diana...

So much was going wrong! Mouth set in a grim line, Sao shattered another piece of crystal. She had only wanted to help. Was there something wrong with her, for her magic to have botched the mendings this badly? Closing her eyes, the Undine felt despair. If she couldn't heal, what point was there?

[Astral Harmony]

"Not just one student," Astarte finally said something, standing up. "I'd like to get Gorgeous and Vanilla depetrified and help them out of the Field of Honour, too."

"So this is it, right? Using your students and these other people was your way of fighting smarter because you couldn't beat Landry on your own. Didn't seem to accomplish much except endanger the lot of us while you and Landry are still entangled in your endless waltz. We should really start trying to get out of here. I'm sure Linda's coming all the pieces waiting on me."

Astarte exited the pavillion to find that everything had degenerated even more into a clusterfuck. Her body was able to probably do something about it, but her mind just wasn't into it. "Who's that woman?" Astarte asked no one in particular, seeing the Elderly Lady. "Well, whoever she is, if she can get us all out of here safe and sound, I've got a hot water foot rub with her name on it."

[Teal Mage]

Between Chou's careful clubsmanship, and Sao's periodic crystal cracking, the quartz-like bonds holding the Undine's legs down were soon dismembered. Before long, she was free, and, though her legs were slightly numb, they were undamaged – physically. To Sao's eyes, they glowed with faint bruise-coloured light - just like Diana. It appeared that she too had been cursed for her efforts. Hopefully, it wasn’t permanent - or contagious.

During the extraction process, however, the duo heard a great many things. All of them from the East Side of the vine.

First, it was a male voice shouting. The words were insults at Sean and Jack, – for the most part. It took both of them a few moments to recognize Jay. Obviously, he was mad. Not long after it died down, the pair heard the faintest sound of something brittle shattering. Barely an instant later, there was a girl's exclamation of pain, followed by two choked words. "Ow – Fu–!"

Whatever might have come next was drowned out by a high pitched avian shriek. Afterward, everything fell silent.

And the final piece of crystal was broken.

It was hard to be sure which girl had cried out the second time. But, it had been close - which meant it was either Adeline, or Diana.

Probably.

There was only one way to find out!

* * *

"..." Dal broke his eyes contact with Shuyin, abruptly. "Well," The Fae turned on his heel, tousled hair swirling. "I'm going outside. As for you and your terms of surrender?" Shuyin arced a blue eyebrow at that, "I'll leave that to Miss Imirsdotter." The bluenette Professor glanced toward Jo, as Dal departed further ceremony.

The Jos merely nodded quietly. Like mirror images, the pair each had their still human hands on underside of the table before them.

Shuyin shut his eyes with a sigh. He collected his teacup again. "I must admit," the bluenette commented idly, "I will miss Dalbhach's compan -"

In an explosion of motion, the Jotun twins shot to their feet. Hands braced under the table thrust upward, as the pair directed their weight and momentum into the wooden construct before them. Tea cups were thrown into the air, each flying wide of Shuyin, as the Jos flipped the table forward, overturning it. It toppled toward the bluenette on its south-side.

The Professor's palm thrust out -

"Shuyin!" At that moment, the curtain-wall behind the man-in-question was thrust aside. Beyond, Adeline stood with her sword in hand, tensed to leap. "This ends -"

China shattered, as one of the tea-cups nailed her in the face.

"Ow – Fuck – Hot!" Adeline collapsed, vanishing from sight as the curtains closed again.

- brilliant coral light exploded from Shuyin. Graceful wings unfurled and the light took the ghostly form of a crane in flight, overlaying the Professor's body. A piercing avian cry erupted, followed almost simultaneously by a thunderous impact, as the bluenette's palm struck the upended wooden surface before him. Wood bowed as a shallow crack appeared in the middle of the structure. Propelled by the blast, the table rocketed forward and out the North wall of the tent.

Almost simultaneously, Shuyin's other hand flickered.

China shattered again, and one of the Jo's fell into a pile of snow.

Shuyin had fired his tea-cup, with unnerving accuracy, at Jo's double. The cup had caught the Snow Clone full in the face, an instant after the pair had abruptly been deprived of their cover. Neither had had enough time to so much as blink, let alone act. Now, the original Jo stood alone, dark eyes a hint wider than normal, beside a pile of snow.

Golden eyes slid open lazily, regarding the Jotun balefully. His aura flickered, and a new tea cup appeared before him. A brilliant white smile appeared on his lips, as he lifted the vessel upward...

* * *

"There is another one coming if I don't get down from here!" Sean shouted, still struggling with the bonds that held him, a distance away.

Around then, Jay started shouting.

Kohana glared at the Canadian, "Two things, then." He looked away, before beginning to pad toward Hannah. The blond was still on her hands and knees - though her arms now trembled faintly. Her breathing was audible, but she hadn't shown any outward reaction to Sean's words. When Kohana knelt down before her, and offered his hand, the blond looked up. Her frost coated and messy hair fell away from her face, revealing a pair of determined - and mildly angry - green eyes.

"That most people are still willing to take advantage of a native, and opportunity is a bitch." Kohana stated.

Hannah snorted a laugh, looking away. "Get out of my face." She pushed herself to he knees, wincing. Teeth clenched against the pain, she moved to one knee, and braced a hand on it. Blood dripped down her arm and back. Taking a deep breath, she pushed herself to her feet - before wobbling unsteadily. She looked pale, but that might have been the frost.

"I'm sorry things came to this," Kohana stated, rising to his own feet. "but you haven't exactly left us much choice." He offered her a wane smile, "But I think there's someone you'd rather talk to." The elderly woman had approached while Hannah had struggled to her feet, and now stood at Kohana's back. Her expression was composed, but did not quite conceal her concern.

Hannah shot him a glare. "You don't understand a thing about me." She snapped, jaw set in a firm line. "Now get out of my way."

Obligingly, Kohana stepped aside.

And before Hannah could so much as breathe, the elderly woman crossed the distance between them, capturing the blond in a tight embrace. "Oh Hannah..." The woman whispered, clutching the girl close. "I'm so sorry."

Eyes wide, Hannah seemed to sway. "I..." She trailed off, and her arms snapped around the slender shoulder of the elderly woman before her. Frost coated and trembling fingers clutched at the old lady's torn shawl, as a choked sob sounded. Hannah seemed to collapse, and was suddenly clinging to the frail woman. The young woman's shoulders began to shake.

She was crying.

* * *

Jo shook herself, recovering from her momentary lapse in action. Astarte, now clad only in her bandage undergarments, still hadn’t moved from her white cushion. The pretty red-head expression looked somewhere between dazed and bored. Beside Jo, steam rose from the pile of snow that had been her clone a moment ago, the top of which was tinted green and littered with broken fragments of bone.

To her left, Shuyin was sipping tea again. He seemed to have dismissed her entirely.

Jo's lips thinned. "Perhaps," The white haired girl began, schooling her expression to dreamy blankness, as she began to lazily cross toward Astarte. "May, somewhat, maybe." A pace or so from Astarte's position, she rounded on Shuyin, black eyes hard and expression coldly furious. "No."

Her aura flickered. Jo's hand snapped toward her head -

Shuyin's expression turned severe. His fingners flicked and the newly summoned tea cup was launched toward the Jotun's mid-section.

- Jo threw herself to the side, plucking a hair from her head in the process. Chartreuse light flared as the girl dropped into a roll, releasing the pale thread from her fingers. Shuyin's tea cup passed a few inches above it. Ice and snow began to crystallize upon the strand, before a pulse of brilliant green-yellow light burst forth, and a new clone appeared, crouched and -

A new tea cup struck the newly formed clone in the face. It disintegrated into a steaming, tea-soaked, pile of snow that was nearly identical to the first one.

Recovering, somewhat shakily, from her roll, Jo firmed her jaw. She was now in front of the still-seated Astarte and a little light headed from magic use. Her latest attempt at cloning herself had pushed her just over the half-way point. Disregarding this momentarily, the Jotun rose to her full height and turned her attention toward Shuyin. The bluenette was watching her carefully - but hadn't pulled another cup out of the air. Perhaps his energy was running down too?

"The time has come to speak in absolutes." Jo stated, firmly. Alone or not, she could not allow any of her own concern at the change in the current situation to show through. "This is my ultimatum, Shuyin." The white haired girl met Shuyin's eyes unflinchingly, "We do not need you. You are not necessary. You are wasting my time. But," She ignored the smile that spread over Shuyin's face. "I will permit you to save yourself and your student." Jo gestured with decisive finality. "Surrender at once."

Shuyin parted his lips -

"Not just one student," Astarte suddenly interjected, pushing herself to her bandage clad feet behind Jo. "I'd like to get Gorgeous and Vanilla depetrified and help them out of the Field of Honour, too." The mummy brushed a hand through her fire-red hair, amber aura appearing momentarily around her shoulders.

Shuyin actually looked surprised! Even Jo's usual mask of incomprehensible composure cracked a little. Had the dead girl blindsided them both!?

"So this is it, right?" Astarte asked, expression hardening as the mummy came up beside Jo. "Using your students and these other people was your way of fighting smarter because you couldn't beat Landry on your own." She crossed her arms. "Didn't seem to accomplish much except endanger the lot of us while you and Landry are still entangled in your endless waltz." A dismissive gesture followed. "We should really start trying to get out of here. I'm sure Linda's coming all the pieces waiting on me."

Shuyin coughed. "Ah, yes. Well." He paused, momentarily. "I'm sure she hasn't missed your presence over much." The bluenette eventually offered, bringing a new tea-cup out of the air before himself. Grasping it delicately, he quickly took a sip of the scalding liquid, smothering what might have been a laugh in the process.

"..."

Astarte promptly exited the tent. Had she been offended?

"...I admit," Shuyin shook his head ruefully, gazing toward the curtain the mummy had exited from. "I was starting to wonder if her mother had removed her tongue when she was mummified." He turned his full gaze back to Jo. "In regards to your offer Ms. Imirsdotter," Shuyin offered a warm smile. "I do not particularly desire to associate with those who stoop to tactics of physical intimidation to get their way. I will request that you kindly remove yourself from my home, as your visage, quite frankly, sickens me."

...that was probably a no.

"And, I will hasten to add," Shuyin went on, swirling his tea, "that you are only one person, no matter how many bodies you control. I strongly recommend that you consider the option of strategic retreat. As, I can assure you," He smiled warmly, "so long as you are in my house, I have an insurmountable advantage."

* * *

Abruptly, the small black pup stopped ripping the vines from Jack's - bleeding - hand. The creature made a face, before spitting out the latest batch of blood soaked vegetables and barking sharply. Without a word of explanation, it wheeled around and charged away, leaving Jack to his own devices - which was apparently summarized by hitting himself. Though his efforts were depleting his power, Hannah's vines were still growing - albeit much slower than before.

"And you! You big, musclebrained, worthless pile of shit! Blasting on Hannah when she finally seems disarmed? What the fuck!? Are you blind!? Bastard! Idiot! Fuck you! You were better as a mute!"

Jay was just shouting at Sean. Not something for Jack to worry about, he had bigger concerns -

"Jack you short-fused ignorant piece of white trash garbage! If you even had a head to think with you would have fucking stopped when I saved your ass, BUT NAH you got to have your ass handed to you by Hannah! And now what?! You're smacking yourself in your chest like you have fucking down syndrome!"

...okay, he still had other things to worry -

Something inside Jack pulsed. The wizard flinched, as his magical power was siphoned away in a sudden surge. Blood spurted from his hands and chest, as the vine growing there suddenly exploded violently, thicker and stronger than before. The green creepers snapped like whips around his limbs, and in moments, he was bound securely. New growths appeared all over his unbroken skin, from his back, chest, legs, arms and neck. Though they shredded his clothes in their explosive births, they didn't hurt, unlike the first batch. The new vines quickly added themselves to the originals, reinforcing Jack's magic-draining prison.

He couldn't move. His magical power was around the twenty-percent mark.

And it was dropping fast.

[SinrXIII]

Koh smiled softly, turning his back to Hannah and her grandmother. He crossed his arms over his chest, holding his ground between his classmates and the pair behind him. His puppy, wagging it's tail, sat down next to his left leg. He lowered his voice, speaking just loud enough for the sound to carry to Hannah.

"I will give you all the time I can. I'm sorry."

He clenched his jaw, and his tail fell still, hanging behind him. His ears pointed forward as he narrowed his eyes.

"If any of you - even you, city-girl, much as I like dancin' with ya' - any of you so much as twitch, I swear on my ancestors and the Abyssal Wolf's spirit that I will rain down on you like a fiery hatred the Great Sun itself would be in awe of. Frankly, none of you are even worth the energy it'd take to spit on you."

He smiled in a nasty, feral sort of way, and held his ground. His legs tensed, and the tip of his tail flickered.

[Steel Shadow]

Di gave Koh a dazzling smile and waved him off politely. "Don't worry Kokoh! I have it all under control over here. You look after those two, right? They look like they've been through a lot." She waved her sword in what could have been some kind of salute, then spun on her heel to examine the poor unfortunates bound up in vines.

"Geeze, guys, what happened to you? That's... Actually kinda cool. I've never seen plants do that in real life!" Di stepped over to Jay and poked at the vines binding him curiously. A few moments of silence passed before she nodded, seemingly satisfied, and walked over to Sean to repeat the process. "Hm... Yeah, I think I can help you out here, but..." She paused, frowning. Sean didn't seem to be listening.

"Hey."

Nothing.

Diana growled and snapped her fingers in his face a few times. "Hey! Listen to me, ok? Hmph." She took a step back and spun on her heel, looking over at where Jack lay and making a face. "Hoo boy."

For a moment she folded her arms and looked between the three, occasionally glancing back to Hannah and Kohana, before releasing a heavy sigh and turning to face the three properly. "Guys, please calm down? You're kinda going crazy here, and it's not helping. At all! A lot of weird things are going on, and I might not know the full situation, but I know something bad is going to happen if we don't put our differences aside and work together! Us loosing control isn't going to help anyone!"

She paused, taking a deep breath and looking up at the cloudy sky. "This place is dangerous. Really, really dangerous. And it's bad enough already without having to worry about the rest of you attacking one another." She gave Jay and Sean a reproachful look. "Or yourselves, at that..." She added, taking time to look confused at Jack. "So here's the deal. I want to let you down, but I need to know I can trust you first. So, I'll free you guys if you'll listen to me and do what I say, ok? I'll trust you at your words. I don't think we have a lot of time for speeches, y'know?"

[Bard The 5th LW]

"Well if we just let her off, then nothing will change! Was i the only one who heard Jack scream? Who says that she and Shuyin and all those of other psychos aren't just going to pull all this shit again come next week!" Sean was pretty self righteous for someone tied up! He seemed completely undaunted by Hannah's tears as well. That's just cold-hearted.

He looked directly at Diana this time, "despite being angry though, I have a sense of priorities! So no, I'm not going to break any bones the moment I get down. So yes, I will please ask that you cut these vines and please don't cut me." Still a pretty indignant tone from him. Its as though he wasn't kicked in the balls at all. What a wonder regeneration was. There wasn't much else he could do at the moment, so he relaxed his muscles slowly as he waited for Diana to cut him down. Once he was on his feet, he'd orientate himself and find a task.

[Girasol of Chaos]

There was a disturbed look in the hazel eyes. Sao assisted in shattering the crystal shackles, but her thoughts were distant and appeared worrisome. "Hey." Chou planted the kanabo firmly with her left hand and stood, smiling in an attempt to diffuse her own worries. "Someone needs help, and I can't heal like you can." The blue-skinned ogre briskly ran to and bounded up the root that separated the now peaceful half of the tower from the other.

Sao's warning echoed in her mind, if that thing wasn't gone, how was it so easily tricking her senses? The girl must have climbed over and was probably attacking someone. Climbing to the top of the fine she surveyed the situation - the tainted Diana wasn't the first thing that caught her eye though.

Slightly to her left a small pavilion had several things going on at once- a girl she didn't know was clad only in...wraps? An extremely pale-looking girl seemed to have a disagreement with the tea-and-fan obsessed adult. The girl in wraps left the far side of the building. There was tea and piles of snow everywhere. What happened?

Apparently plenty in the battle that she missed, but the Bluenette and the bow-wielding girl were now separated, and it seemed rather clear that the older man was stronger. Praying her hastily-drawn conclusion was correct, Chou swallowed hard and jumped off of the root, clinging to a newfound hope.

Break the now hidden fan, go home. That's all she could think of. She didn't question that 'home' was obviously unknown and too far away. Readying her club she approached Shuyin and entered the pavilion.

"You." Her eyes narrowed as she approached the bluenette, "I request that you relinquish the talisman that binds us to this place immediately." She had overhead the man claiming the pale girl should retreat. Chou's Azure eyes were fixed on the sneering, cocky individual. "Else tell me where on the other girl I can find it." Her face was stern, hoping her fear wasn't noticable. Her muscles remained tensed to bring her club to a block, but she wasn't quite ready to engage combat with this man. Her desire to leave this place-preferably with her friend in one piece, was a bit strong right now. It even overrode some deep, unexplainable fear as she stepped over a puddle of cooling tea.

Chou knew she was playing live bait for the coal-eyed girl.

[Overcast]

A single part in Jay was itching, that same thing that unleashed itself earlier. The hate and pain and disappointment. He'd believed in Di, put too much of himself in that, she asked him to be calm when the first thing he'd done when he saw her was admit he'd done wrong and ask if she could help him apologize. What the hell else could he do to show he wasn't a hazard? She aggravated his spirit, his aura flickering lightly in the roots, his arms tensing lightly before being forced back into relaxation. He was having trouble holding himself together, but he still believed in her. He still thought she could help him. He still remembered Landry.

He took in a deep breath, as he let out his last ounce of love to the air,

"Di please don't hesitate, not now. I have been trying to work with everyone for so long and not a single one of them has been cooperative. Everyone keeps ignoring me or doing their own thing. I need you to trust me. You are my last chance in this whole world of actually finding any goodness in this single moment in time. The last teammate I can count on. Don't make me lose hope in you too."

He stared somberly her way, the itch of rage still buried in his gut, a small cinder waiting to catch his body alight. But he could not wait forever.

[Dracorion]

Jack kept punching himself in the chest, watching the blue hole slowly close as he beat himself more frantically, trying to outpace the drain and close the hole before he was all dry. He recognized Jay yelling at him, but barely paid attention. He kinda had bigger problems.

Except he felt a sudden surge as a large amount of his power was drained suddenly, causing him to flinch and let out a grunt. Balls. The vines still on him grew in size and snapped around him and he screamed from the sudden pain of their growth, as even more vines grew from other parts of his body and wrapped around his frame as well.

And like that, he was securely bound in a prison of green creepers, his limp body falling sideways to the ground. He could feel the drain going faster, and there was nothing he could do now to stop it.

The pain of the sudden vine growth numbed a bit, and he realized someone was talking. Looking up, since he had nothing left to do, to see one of his classmates had arrived, holding a mean-looking sword. Was it his classmate? He thought she looked different before. Regardless, she seemed to be telling everyone to calm down. Not important. But the sword was.

"Look, I would, uh... love to do that." He started, a note of desperation evident in his voice. "But right now I'm bound and being... drained. I'd like to be unbound so that I can go back to closing the gaping hole of blue energy in my chest and get rid of this dumb curse. So if you could please use that sword to cut me loose, without chopping me to pieces, I'd appreciate it." He spoke quickly and somewhat rudely, he made a half-hearted attempt to struggle, not really moving at all, as tiredness and pain were already catching up with him.

[Steel Shadow]

"Well if we just let her off, then nothing will change! Was i the only one who heard Jack scream? Who says that she and Shuyin and all those of other psychos aren't just going to pull all this shit again come next week!" Sean seemed pretty adamant.

Diana was not impressed. "So, what, you want to kill her? Is that it?" She glanced over at the bleeding girl currently sobbing in her grandmother's arms, and gave Sean a flat look. "Jack's fine. Ish. A little tied up, but I don't think he's in any life threatening danger. I'll get to him in a sec."

"Despite being angry though, I have a sense of priorities! So no, I'm not going to break any bones the moment I get down. So yes, I will please ask that you cut these vines and please don't cut me."

"Oh good! So you will listen to me, yes? Promise? It's imp-" She started, but then Jay spoke up!

"Di please don't hesitate, not now."

Di blinked, confusion dancing on her face. "I'm not-"

"I have been trying to work with everyone for so long and not a single one of them has been cooperative."

"Well I don't-"

"Everyone keeps ignoring me or doing their own thing."

"If you'd just-" Di tried to cut in once again, but-

"I need you to trust me. You are my last chance in this whole world of actually finding any goodness in this single moment in time."

"What? But I-" The confusion was only growing worse here.

"The last teammate I can count on. Don't make me lose hope in you too." Jay finally finished.

Diana, strangely, looked rather annoyed! "What the hell?!? Where do you get off, Jay? All I asked is you'd agree to listen to me, and instead you go on a rant about how everyone else sucks and ignores you and your fantastic ideas, which seem to have done a great job getting you tied up, by the way... All just so you can say if I don't let you down right this second, I'll be a terrible person for hurting your feelings?! That's just... Argh!"

She stopped and pinched the bridge of her nose with her free hand. Taking a deep breath, she flicked her pitch black hair away and looked at the two bound teens, looking vaugley disappointed.

"Look, guys, this isn't hard. We're in danger, and it's going to get worse very, very soon. I can feel it. When it does, I am going to try to... I don't know, but I want all of us," She waved her swordless hand around to indicate everyone, from Sean to Gran, "to get out of here alive. And as unhurt as possible. So I'll do what I have to to achieve that. And for that, I need to have people with me who will actually listen to others. Whatever grudges, arguments, or martyr fetishes you think you have, all of that can wait until we are out."

For a moment, she stopped and looked behind her. Something was worrying her more than she let on. "Guys, if you can't do that, you're safer where you are. I'm sorry, but it's true. All I asked was that you say you'd listen to me, but none of you paid that any attention, which is... annoyingly ironic, but it does say I can't let you down, y'know? So, here, I'll make it simple. You just have to do one thing."

She took a single step forwards, closer to the two, and raised a closed fist. Her aura seemed to flare, a dark grey, and... "Swear to obey me and I'll cut you loose!"

She stepped back again, content to watch and wait. Any shapes her aura might have taken as she'd made her deceleration were surely just a coincidence. If either Jay or Sean had seen something... else watching them in the pale grey light, well, it was probably just an illusion.

Oh, and... "I'll get to you in a second Jack!" Di called over. His predicament didn't seem that bad to the Director Girl, so it could wait until these two had made their choice, at least. Besides, maybe one of them could handle it better than her.

[Krylo]

"To be fair," came a lilting voice from near the pavilion, "I don't think anyone should trust you right now. I don't know what happened to you, Diana, but you've been tainted by whatever it is... if that's even still you in there." The voice, of course, came from the faerie Dalbhach, in all his faeish glory, in case the normals forget that he no longer appears human. His face was rather serious, as he looked over the aura of the woman. He couldn't place it. Couldn't make it out, but it was WRONG. Twisted, and different.

The sudden hair color change didn't help either.

"I'll admit that I agree with most of what you're saying. We're in trouble, and there's more trouble coming. This bickering and arguing serves no purpose whatsoever," He said as he walked past her, keeping something of a wide berth between them. "And, indeed we all need to agree to work together, but I don't think swearing fealty is a reasonable request at the moment. If we must then I suggest..."

He stepped up to Jay sliding his rapier between the boy and the vines, and pulled back out and away, sliding the blade up and down, sawing at the thick rope-like strands, "That we follow..."

His eyes moved over the field looking for someone who seemed in full control of their faculties, a commanding presence. Adeline was busy trying to get scalding hot tea out of her face. Astarte was... being Astarte. Jack, Jay, and Sean were all tied up. He couldn't suggest himself, that would come off as a power play in such a situation. Kohana, however, stood strongly enough. He didn't know the boy, or know what had happened, but desperate times... and he did have one more ace up his sleeve if things broke down further.

Removing a hand from his sword, and ceasing his sawing for a moment, he pointed toward Koh, "Him."

Replacing both hands on his blade he resumed attempting to saw Jay out of the vines, after a moment he let out a slight sigh. "These vines are thick, and while I've no problem freeing all three of our classmates, I don't think we have the time to waste. How about freeing Jack or Sean as a show of good faith in the mean time?"

[Riin Whitewind]

As the last of the crystal fell away with a sound not unlike wind chimes, Sao gratefully stood with a lithe stretching motion. Giving her extremities a critical look, she noted with displeasure that Diana's bruise-colored creeping curse had spread to her as well. I knew it would happen before I committed to healing her. She is not to blame. Still, it was hard not to feel a little resentment... The dark-haired swimmer resisted the urge to smooth out her dress - that would only spread the curse to her fingers.

"Hey." Shin and her blue eyes broke through Sao's internal musings, trying to smile at the healer between two ivory tusks. "Someone needs help, and I can't heal like you can." At Sao's nod, the two rushed off towards the vine. Should I really risk healing again, though? I'm worried that something else might go wrong. Any further thoughts were wrestled away by the effort of climbing. She was so tired of all this. What she wouldn't give to bask in the sun next to her stream and listen to the fish take bugs from the surface of the water.

Clambering over the vine, and nearly losing her footing with her partially numb legs, Sao was surprised by her ''friend's'' sudden verbosity. Instead of giving it her full attention - Shin seemed to have whatever was going on inside the tent covered, after all - the healer's gaze was arrested elsewhere.

Crumpled into a ball outside the tent was the sorry figure of Adeline. Careful not to touch anything with her legs, the Undine knelt at her side. What she could see of Adeline's face around her fingers was red and puffy looking, and smelled strongly of tea. Hooking her arms under the light weight of the yellow-clad girl, Sao pulled her away from the tent, gently moving her toward the root they had just gracelessly climbed over.

"Let me see." Gently pulling the girl's hands away from her face, Sao noted with surprise and pride that Adeline had taken her pain stoicly - not even a single tear track marred that heat-stricken face. Maybe just a little healing won't hurt?... Concentrating power into her fingertips, the healer glowed a gentle, soothing green as her Healing Stream answered her call. With a smiled "This will help with the pain," to her patient, Sao moved to press her fingers to the burn.

[Overcast]

"Swear to obey me and I'll cut you loose!"

Her fist, her tone, her stance and everything about her reminded Jay of someone else, and this time it wasn't Landry. It was the opposite of Landry. Not about love and fightiology but pain and abuse, the darkness that he had been running from to come here, the grand source of all of his pain. The cinders in his guts started to burn, as the gun in his heart cocked back, Jay strained against the vines, the cracking returning under his tightening muscles.

But then Dal approached and started cutting him free.

For a moment Jay simply hung there listening, unlike before what Dal was saying didn't feel like a waste of his time. It didn't feel like dominance. I just felt like reasoning. The burning was slowly doused by Dal's words and when he pointed at Koh suggesting he lead Jay felt his arms steady and he nodded curtly, his mind back on point,

"You could say I've been wanting that for a while. He's the only one who has done anything right out here."

He stared at Diana a moment, his eyes betraying his feelings, a sort of disgust at her appearance, but he didn't speak. Trying to keep his mind on the task at hand, which was staying perfectly still so that Dal did not slip and nick something important.

They might just get out of this yet.

[Dracorion]

Jackson took a deep breath, trying to reason past the panic and desperation. It didn't work. "All right... I'll be calm if I can get rid of this curse before it drains me fucking completely!" He spoke in an elevated voice, not quite yelling. "If it's not gone soon, and it may already be past that point, then I'll be useless to you. So you can't believe how much I'd like to be free right now. I'll be calm afterward."

Another deep breath. Maybe he was being selfish, but... honestly, he wasn't nearly done yet. Even if a direct assault on Hannah had been proven to be folly, there were still things he could do if he had any juice left.

He shelfed Diana's weird aura manifestation as something to worry about later.

[SinrXIII]

Kohana had been watching the back and forth since Diana showed up, choosing to let the others yap like a group of mutts. He wasn't happy about it; they all seemed to realize that things were going to hell in a handbasket, but couldn't pull their heads out of their collective asses long enough to make progress.

City girl in particular was bugging him. She'd been overbearing before, but this... And when had her hair color changed?

"To be fair," came a lilting voice from near the pavilion, "I don't think anyone should trust you right now. I don't know what happened to you, Diana, but you've been tainted by whatever it is... if that's even still you in there." The voice, of course, came from the faerie Dalbhach, in all his faeish glory.

Kohana couldn't help but turn his lips up in a thin smile; the fairy was sharp.

"I'll admit that I agree with most of what you're saying. We're in trouble, and there's more trouble coming. This bickering and arguing serves no purpose whatsoever," He said as he walked past her, keeping something of a wide berth between them. "And, indeed we all need to agree to work together, but I don't think swearing fealty is a reasonable request at the moment. If we must then I suggest..."

He stepped up to Jay sliding his rapier between the boy and the vines, and pulled back out and away, sliding the blade up and down, sawing at the thick rope-like strands, "That we follow..."

Removing a hand from his sword, and ceasing his sawing for a moment, he pointed toward Koh, "Him."

Koh blinked. That had genuinely caught him off guard.

"Wait, what?"

"You could say I've been wanting that for a while. He's the only one who has done anything right out here."

Koh's hair fell over his face as he lowered his head. Though they couldn't see it, his mind was racing.

Puppy looked up at the shaman, face upside down. The wolf barked, causing Koh to smile again. He lifted his head, and shook his head to remove his hair from his eyes.

"We don't have time to fuck around. If you're serious, then alright. Let's smash a pretty face."

He tilted his head, looking at Hannah and her grandmother over his shoulder.

"As long as we focus on Teacher Shuyin, we should be fine. Wasting any more power here would be stupid, agreed?" He stepped forward, only slightly, and ran a hand through his hair.

He looked over the assembled, and frowned. "We need to get your three freed, quickly. Teacher Shuyin ain't gonna wait forever, and the more time we spend here, the less I trust the fucker. Weren't there more of us? Where are they?"

Koh flicked his eyes towards the pavilion; he'd seen movement there earlier, but hadn't caught who it was. "Let's get over there, soon. If we can force him off his homey little hut, we can rush him. Not even he could stop all of us at once, especially not if he's got a hailstorm to worry about." Could he? Koh wondered to himself as he stood in front of Hannah and Granny, tapping his foot.

He turned after a moment, and settled on one knee in front of the pair behind him. "Honored Spirit, Hannah Iriumi. I would be in your debt if you would be at my side in this fight. However, I will understand if you refuse and will remain behind, as I promised, if you ask it. I'd rather see this battle finished and our respective groups returned home without further malice or pain." He lifted his head to look at the both of them, eyes hard, if sincere.

"Please lend this humble shaman your aid."

[Astral Harmony]

"C'mon, let's stop fighting each other and get this over with," Astarte gave off a big sigh, unable to put up with all the melodrama. Were these people really supposed to be students?

Astarte approached Jay and Sean with a dutiful, yet impatient stride. While Dal worked on Jay, she started on Sean and her shaded amber aura came aglow, especially in her hands. "Don't squirm, Sean. You don't want my hands to touch you while I'm working on this," Astarte instructed him, then activated Ashes To Ashes, causing the restricting vines to start rotting. She intended to let them rot only so much that he could then break free of their own strength to buy time.

While she worked on Sean, she put Jack on her thoughts. The vines restraining him in particular seemed to be growing out of his own skin. Using Ashes To Ashes could put him in more danger than he already was if the curse affected both body and vines. She had the Astarte Drill, but she would sooner try to pry the vines away from his limbs with her own strength instead of drill them off.

[Arhra]

Shuyin had demonstrated he was more than able to defend himself.

Jo would have paled, were that possible, but girded her courage and tossed down her ultimatum.

Much to her surprise, the mummy behind her began speaking.

As Astarte spoke, Jo's mind raced through her options. Shuyin appeared to be an extremely capable fighter but for some reason had been taking a back seat to Hannah. From what she had seen of his abilities, she doubted she could handle him, even with Astarte's help.

Talking was getting them nowhere and her attempt to force the issue had backfired.

She wasn't sure what was happening outside, but what little scraps of sound made it to her ears sounded more like arguing than fighting. Was Hannah defeated? Shuyin was possibly the only enemy left standing. Except for whatever had happened to her clone on the east hallway?

Jo could, of course, try to run away. Retreat, restore her clones, reassess the situation and recapture the initiative. But wouldn't Shuyin also benefit from that? What was he capable of if left to his own devices?

Astarte finished her speech and left.

Jo felt a vast inner desolation as she made her choice.

The jotun was tempted oh so tempted to pull out, get as far away as possible and come back with the entire class in tow. But Jo knew in her heart of hearts that she could not do that. Shuyin was a danger to everyone. He could not be allowed any more chances to turn the precarious situation to his advantage or escape to plan a better trap for them another day. No matter the cost.

Jo straightened, her face a bleak mask. Her dark eyes shone with a wavering, liquid gleam. Even if it was hopeless, she'd never forgive herself if she didn't make the attempt.

Farewell to hopes and dreams.

"...I admit," Shuyin shook his head ruefully, looking at the point of Astarte's exit. "I was starting to wonder if her mother had removed her tongue when she was mummified." He turned back to Jo.

"In regards to your offer Ms. Imirsdotter, I do not particularly desire to associate with those who stoop to tactics of physical intimidation to get their way." Shuyin said. His face bore a warm smile. "I will request that you kindly remove yourself from my home, as your visage, quite frankly, sickens me."

"And, I will hasten to add, that you are only one person, no matter how many bodies you control. I strongly recommend that you consider the option of strategic retreat. As, I can assure you, so long as you are in my house, I have an insurmountable advantage."

Professor Shuyin wanted to be left to enjoy his tea in peace.

Jo's lips parted soundlessly for a moment and then noise came.

It was laughter.

The ugly, ugly sound forced its way out of Jo's throat in a single convulsive croak.

"Have you really hollowed yourself out that much?" Jo asked the fan-winged Shuyin. After that single involuntary outburst, her voice was dead. "Are you really nothing more than a caricature of yourself?" Where there should have been incredulity and disgust there was nothing. "You have scraped out your humanity, and for what?"

The tiniest trace of indignation crept into her hollow voice. "You have no right to drag us into your war, you tea sipping doll." It died again as Jo continued in a disinterested tone. "I will not allow you to do it again. You asked me what I would do faced with a superior enemy. I would do whatever is necessary. No matter what it cost me - me, no other."

A shadow loomed on the pavillion wall to her right. The white curtain parted and a muscular blue skinned ogre entered, club at the ready.

It must be Shin, of course.

"You." Chou said to Shuyin, "I request that you relinquish the talisman that binds us to this place immediately. Else tell me where on the other girl I can find it." Her face was stern, and her posture tense.

Jo didn't dare to hope, clinging to her bleak resolution.

The pale girl padded unhurriedly to the left, tracing a small arc of a circle with Shuyin at the centre. Her bare feet were almost silent on the marble dais. She glided to a halt, one foot on one of the cushions that had been used to kneel upon, ready to grip it with her toes and transfer it to her hand.

Shuyin was now faced with two very different girls, equidistant from him and ninety degrees apart.

"Shuyin has told me that the two means of collapsing of this place are either the death of Professor Landry, to fulfill the condition laid upon the Field, or Dalbach, because he is the one to have triggered it prematurely." Jo observed coolly.

"However he is, of course, a liar. What talisman do you speak of?"

[Bard The 5th LW]

"Swear to obey me and I'll cut you loose!"

That was disturbing. Sean was pretty much willing to say whatever he needed to until this point. But frankly, he was lost for words. Was this the nice girl who interviewed him the other day? Dal certainly questioned it (not that Dal was necessarily a valid source).

"Don't squirm, Sean. You don't want my hands to touch you while I'm working on this,"

"Th-thanks Astarte," Sean stuttered out as he noticed she seemed to be doing something to the vines. Were they getting weaker? Whatever she was doing certainly eluded his knowledge, but he was grateful for it. He was grateful for anything that let him not respond to Diana for a moment.

God that was unsettling.

As he began to jerk his arms to try and struggle free of the rotting roots, he took notice of Dal's nominating Kohana as leader. Kohana's nature the day earlier had certainly not inspired Sean, but this was little time for an argument. Also... Kohana did seem to try and reach a peaceful solution. Sean clearly disagreed with this course of action, he personally couldn't see it as a success, but Koh was certainly convincing enough to make the girl stop her advance.

As Koh spoke, he felt he couldn't just stay silent on his own. Maybe... he should give his reassurances? "All I want is this to end. Nothing else." He said to the group on the whole No speech, just his ultimatum. "Hopefully that's what we all want."

He gave a glance over at Jack. He couldn't quite see what was wrong with the boy, but it couldn't have been pleasant. He wanted to smash in pretty boy teacher as much as anyone else, but his violent impulsed were fading into the background as he remembered his motive for entering the conflict to begin with. All he wanted when he charged the referee was for no one to get hurt, on either side! Hannah and Shuyin were merely exceptions along the way. Jack was clearly hurt and if Sean wanted to stick then he'd have to be sure that Jack was okay before he rushed off to fight.

(OOC: Going to let Teal decide how effectively Sean is removing the vines)

[Girasol of Chaos]

The coal-eyed girl quickly approached the bluenette on his other side, in what appeared to be an attempt to intimidate the man into talking. Chou didn't think that would work, and remained in her position, neutral to the silent plan.

"Shuyin has told me that the two means of collapsing of this place are either the death of Professor Landry, to fulfill the condition laid upon the field, or Dalbach, because he is the one to have triggered it prematurely." The pale girl looked strangely calm for the fact that she was attempting to threaten an obviously dangerous individual.

Chou's eyes turned back towards the man named Shuyin, to check his reaction. The girl continued, "However, he is, of course, a liar. What talisman do you speak of?"

"A space like this is bound to an object, and destroying that object allows one to be freed of the space." This fact spilled from between the oni's tusks with confidence. "It is possible to bind an individual to this sort of dimensional field." Her brow furrowed with doubt. "However, that is not only extremely dangerous but is considered an idiotic maneuver, unless you do not value the life of the individual you bind it to.' Sizing up the adult she closed her eyes in an attempt to sense if the talisman could be felt from this man.

"When I first approached Mr. Shuyin and his ally, I could sense that the source was from one of the two." Her eyes opened again, in case the man would strike in response. "Therefore, I don't think the other individuals you mentioned are a part of this binding."

Chou's heart beat quickly. She was calming down a little due to having an apparent ally now, but it provided little comfort concerning the man before her. The blue-skinned girl remained on guard.

[Steel Shadow]

"To be fair, I don't think anyone should trust you right now." The voice was unexpected, but not unfamiliar. "I don't know what happened to you, Diana, but you've been tainted by whatever it is... if that's even still you in there."

"Huh? Dal, what's that supposed to-" Di looked back and froze. There was a moment of stunned silence from the Director as Dal continued talking, and then- "Oh my god you're a fairy!"

... It was pretty obvious that Di was not really paying attention to what people were saying after that point. Instead she was tilting her head and circling around Dal to try and get a full view of his true form. By the time he'd managed to get to the end of nominating Kohana as leader, she'd doubled back around again and closed some of the distance, leaning forward to poke at one of his wings...

"These vines are thick, and while I've no problem freeing all three of our classmates, I don't think we have the time to waste. How about freeing Jack or Sean as a show of good faith in the mean time?"

"Hm? Wha?" The statement directed at her aparently broke her out of the strange trance she'd been in, just before she could touch him. "Oh. Right. Mmm, fine, but only becuase you're pretty," she replied, bright smile on her face. Then her expression darkened. "Though fairy or no, you're the one freeing him." She gave Jay a flick of the head. "He's your responsibility now. So... Enjoy!"

The apparent washing of her hands done, she turned and walked over to Jack, taking quick strides and kneeling next to him. "See? Told you I'd be here soon. Now lemme look here..."

Hissing between her teeth, she grabbed ahold of Jack with one steadying hand and lifted her sword with the other. Quickly, but carefully, she began to cut away at the apparent source of the vines...

[Teal Mage]

Most of Q-11 was clustered in the middle and south-east quaderants of the expansive Tower of Honor. Far above, the storm clouds that made up the ceiling were vanishing, revealing the radiant yellow skyline beyond and fillling the air with an intense golden radiance. Once again, eight shadows blossomed beneath the feet of the students, one in each of the cardinal directions. For the most part though, no one seemed to notice this detail. Instead, the students found themselves in a spirited discussion! But, the arrival of Astarte and Dal - both in their true forms of an aqualine-featured and dragonfly winged boy pretty boy, and a tightly bandaged, unhealthily pale, fire haired girl - seemed to have calmed things down.

Or, at least, Diana had stopped talking.

"...I don't think swearing fealty is a reasonable request at the moment." Dal stated, expression serious, as he stood in front of the vine-bound Jay. His green eyes flicked critically over the boy's bounds - thirteen in all, three on each of his arms, one around his neck, two wreathing his midsection, and another two on each leg. They each glowed with faint auras of blue light - enchanted by Hannah, obviously.

"C'mon." Astarte called suddenly, throwing a glance toward Dal over her tightly bandaged shoulder. She sounded a little annoyed. "Let's stop fighting each other and get this over with!" Her green eyes seemed to flash, as her gaze returned to Sean. Amber flames rose around her, as Astarte raised her hand. The sickeningly sweet scent of decay filled the air and she delicately laid a corpse-white hand on one of the vines holding Sean.

Dal sighed. "If we must..." The Fae fixed his eyes on one of the vines holding Jay's arm. Carefully, he slid his rapier into the gap between Jay's limb and the vine in question. A test tug produced only only a shallow nick - and a small burst of brown-red fluid. "...then I suggest -" Carefully, he began to saw at the vine. More of the fluid was leaking out, staining both the silver of his sword and the golden-hued skin of Jay's arm, before dribbling down to the tiles below. A coppery scent reached both boy's noses - was the vine shaking? "- that we follow..."

The vines holding Sean were ablaze with amber light. "Don't squirm, Sean." Astarte muttered, eyes shut in concentration. The vines holding the muscled youth seemed to be shaking a little, as if stirred by a breeze. Tiny slits began to appear along their lengths, each shedding disfuse blue radiance, matching Hannah's aura. The choking scent of decay was even stronger than before, and faint lines of smoke began to fill the air around the pair. "You don't want my hands to touch you while I'm working on this." Astarte elaborated, simply.

"Th-thanks Astarte." Sean offered, a little unnerved. Experimently, he flexed - there was more give than before, but not quite enough to break out.

"...him." Dal's eyes settled on Kohana, and the Fae removed his hand from the hilt of his rapier for a moment. He pointed at the impassive native in question - before resuming his work.

"Wait," Kohana blinked in surprise, recoiling a little, "what?"

The first of Jay's prison vines snapped, spraying brown-red fluid into the air in another short burst. The root collapsed bloodlessly to the ground below. It trembled silently, as more of that strange plant-blood leaked out from its severed top. "These vines are thick," Dal observed with a sigh. He glanced toward Diana, "and while I've no problem freeing all three of our classmates, I don't think we have the time to waste. How about freeing Jack or Sean as a show of good faith in the mean time?"

"Hm? Wha?" Diana blinked in surprise. The girl shook herself, "Oh. Right. Mmm, fine." She cast a longing look at one of Dal's dragonfly-like wings, "But only becuase you're pretty." The dark haired girl added, before shutting her eyes distainfully, she raised her voice a little, crossing her arms over her grass-stained windbreaker. "Though fairy or no, you're the one freeing him. He's your responsibility now. So..." Diana turned crisply away, "Enjoy!" She looked toward Sean -

- who, at that moment, heaved himself out of his bounds. Astarte's aura died away, leaving the pair surrounded by a mass of soggy and shriveled plants. An instant later, the sleeves of Sean's tuxedo slid off his arms, as did the legs of his pants - up to his mid-thigh - and the lower half of his tuxedo, each revealing lines of bruise-colored and unhealthily pale flesh - not to mention leaving him half dressed. Another such-line was visible on his throat, though much darker than any of the others; it seemed to be oozing faintly.

Coincidentally, the lines matched the locations where Hannah's roots had wrapped themselves around his body.

...that last one looked kinda bad!

Diana blinked, then, quickly recalculating, made her way over to Jack. Kneeling beside him, she hefted her sword, "See?" Diana gently pressed the tip into the central mass of vine's growing from Jack's chest - it slid through the green flesh, as if the plants were made of water. "Told you I'd be here soon. Now lemme look here..."

Movements careful, Diana set to work freeing her weakened classmate.

Surprisingly, it was proving very easy.

* * *

"Let me see." Sao murmured, as she gingerly moved Adeline's hands away from her face. A mass of shallow cuts covered the angry red skin near the girl's eyes, each bleeding slowly. From the strong scent of tea, Sao quickly deduced that Adeline had been burned much the same way that Shin had - with tea. Thankfully, it was much more localized. Less fortunately, from Adeline's tense and trembling body, Sao also deduced that the tea had also irritated those cuts on her face.

...now that she thought about it, she thought she detected a hint of lemon in the tea's scent.

Ouch.

"...this will help with the pain." Sao murmured again, raising a hand. Dampness well from her fingertips, before the Undine gently pressed them to Adeline's injured face. The girl flinched, whimpering faintly, as her limbs tensed further. Cool and green, Sao's magic began to spread outward like ripples in a pond. Gradually, tension began to leave the brown haired girl's limbs. Cuts were sealed, burns receded, and soon, Sao was able to draw her hand away, leaving her patient with a fully healed face.

Adeline looked positively stunned.

"I..." She stared at Sao, raising a hand toward her own face, but stopping short of touching it. "...what did you..." A pause, then, Adeline's eyes shut, her hand lowered itself to her lap. She nodded. "...thank you, Sao." She blinked suddenly, then, blushed. Her gaze snapped down and to the left, falling on the floor. "I kinda messed up, I guess." Adeline muttered, "...tea shouldn't be this dangerous; s'not even a proper fighting style." She sighed dejectedly and hung her head, "God, that went badly."

It was true!

Poor girl.

* * *

Inside the pavilion, Jo seemed to deflate. The Jotun's white hair hung around her alabaster skinned face, disheveled from her recent flurry of motion. Her eyes were fixed on the floor, as she listened to Astarte, then Shuyin, and in between both, the fragments of conversation which pierced the tent's curtains. Once she was alone with the bluenette, Jo slowly raised her gaze, fixing it on the man across from her.

And then she laughed.

It was a sound as dead as Jo's eyes.

"...have you really hollowed yourself out that much?" The Jotun croaked, raising her chin, as her hair spilled down her back. Though phrased as a question, it was rhetorical. "Are you really nothing more than a caricature of yourself? You," There was no trace of emotion in her voice - "have scraped out your humanity, and for what?" Her eyes narrowed, and despair-mingled rage found its way into her eyes. "You have no right to drag us into your war, you tea sipping doll."

Shuyin's eyes were wide, and his mouth hung open faintly. There was an expression of outright shock on his face.

The fire in Jo's eyes gutted. "I will not," Jo breathed, chin lowering itself, slightly, her tone became disengaged again. "allow you to do it again." A faint smile appeared on her lips, humorless, yet filled tinged with superiority, "You asked me what I would do faced with a superior enemy. I would do whatever is necessary. No matter what it cost me - me, no other."

"..." Shuyin's golden eyes were fixed on Jo; there was something in his expression now that had not been there a moment ago. Softly, he replied. "...little girl." He murmured, hands arranged in his lap, and his half-full tea-cup on the tiles beside him. "Against a superior opponent." His jaw clenched, and he regarded Jo with an intensity that bordered on feral, "The life of a doll is worthless." A smile split his face, and he looked as though he might go on -

But then Chou threw back the curtains on the west-wall. Shuyin's gaze snapped left, and his mouth shut.

"You." The kimono-clad mountain of blue muscle glared sternly at the bluenette. Jo capitalized on the momentary distraction, shifting her own position subtly to the east – she halted directly to Shuyin’s north. Chou, meanwhile, was advancing; her wicked club held warily before her chest. "I request that you relinquish the talisman that binds us to this place immediate -"

Shuyin's aura flared. His left arm flashed toward Chou, a crisp blur of white. Coral pink energy burst from his hand and materialized into the Professor's, until now, vanished long-sword. Reacting quickly, Chou leapt back and away, landing a pace or so back from the tip sharpened tip.

"I don't respond well to intimidation, Shinobu." Shuyin stated, sharply. "And Jo has thoroughly used up whatever vestiges of good will I had left. A lesson: When you next request something, do it without a weapon, or, at least, outside of weapon-range. Mistaking my own sense of hospitality for weakness and compliance is very unwise."

...a moment passed. Then, the Professor lowered his weapon. He sighed and collected his tea cup once more. He took a slow sip.

"...Shuyin has told me that the two means of collapsing of this place are," Jo began in the momentary lull, "either the death of Professor Landry, to fulfill the condition laid upon the Field, or of Dalbach, because he is the one to have triggered it prematurely." Voice mild, she watched the seated and now armed, Professor. "However he is, of course, a liar." The faintest hint of glee flickered over her face, vanishing as quickly as it appeared. "What talisman do you speak of?" She asked, turning a curious gaze to Chou.

Chou's eyes flickered between Jo and Shuyin. Then, settling on the Jotun, she began. "A space like this is bound to an object and destroying that object allows one to be freed of the space." Her blue eyes moved to Shuyin, "It is possible to bind an individual to this sort of dimensional field." Chou elaborated, holding her club warily before herself, "However," She frowned in Shuyin's direction, "that is not only extremely dangerous, but is considered an idiotic maneuver, unless you do not value the life of the individual you bind it to."

Shuyin heaved a frustrated sigh. He set the cup down again.

"When I first approached Mr. Shuyin and his ally," Chou continued, eyes on Jo again, "I could sense that the source was from one of the two. Therefore," The Oni's expression was serious, "I don't think the other individuals you mentioned are a part of this binding." She concluded, seemingly certain.

"...excellent logic." Shuyin murmured, raising to his feet in a motion that was disorientingly fluid. "I would, of course, love to enlighten you as to the location of the talisman. But," He smiled coldly, in Jo's direction, and flicked the tip of his sword toward her, "as I am viewed as a liar, I shall not waste my breath."

"Leave." He stated flatly, cutting the air before himself with a decisive gesture. "Immediately." Shuyin glanced from one girl to the other, expression serious. "I will make no more warnings; we now work at counter purposes from one another. If you do not comply, I will kill you both."

* * *

"We don't have time to fuck around." Kohana stated firmly, sliding with disturbing ease into the role of the leader. "If you're serious…" Kohana glanced over his shoulder, checking on Hannah and the old lady. Both of the women had sunk to the ground, but little ease had changed - the elderly woman was still protectively holding the younger blond. Both of them were watching him with unreadable expressions. "...then alright." Kohana turned back toward the others, "Let's smash a pretty face."

"As long as we focus on Teacher Shuyin, we should be fine. Wasting any more power here would be stupid, agreed?" He took a step forward and ran a hand through his hair, eyes flicking between Jay, Sean and Jack – who Dal, Astarte and Diana were working on freeing – "We need to get your three freed, quickly. Teacher Shuyin ain't gonna wait forever, and the more time we spend here, the less I trust the fucker." Then Kohana frowned, "Weren't there more of us? Where are they?"

It was around then that Astarte freed Sean.

Kohana's eyes moved toward the pavilion, and after a moment, he nodded. "Let's get over there, soon. If we can force him off his homey little hut, we can rush him. Not even he could stop all of us at once, especially not if he's got a hailstorm to worry about." Suddenly, struck by a thought, the shirtless youth turned on his heel.

Kohana dropped to a knee.

"Honored Spirit, Hannah Iriumi." He stated firmly, addressing the pair, head lowered respectfully. "I would be in your debt if you would be at my side in this fight." A short pause, then, "However, I will understand if you refuse and will remain behind, as I promised," He raised his head a fraction, and then nodded. "if you ask it." Then, he smiled. "I'd rather see this battle finished and our respective groups returned home without further malice or pain."

"Please lend this humble shaman your aid."

Hannah blinked, then smiled softly and breathed a chuckle, eyes shutting. "A 'humble' Shaman, eh?" She shot him a crooked, ironic, smile, and shook her head. "Sure, why not?" A sigh, "I…guess I do owe you one. But," Hannah's smile was sorry, "I'm a little too hurt to help you fight; not that I'm sure I want to." She made to shrug her shoulders, but winced instead. Though the frost covering her shredded cloak had melted, the wounds underneath were still very real.

"But," She glanced over her shoulder toward the silent old woman's face behind her – she was still watching Kohana, but her expression seemed…thoughtful. Hannah smiled, and turned back, "…like I said, I have a few favours to repay." The girl's expression turned sad, before she shook her head, sighing, "I've been in a Barrier Field like this before. The only sure way to get out is to kill Professor Shuyin."

Then she raised her voice, "And hey, Jack!" Hannah shouted, "Stop using magic you moron! You're gonna start blowing blood out of your ass soon!" She blinked, then, remembering who was behind her, blushed faintly. "…sorry Gran."

The elderly woman chuckled. "Don't worry about it Hannah." Gran turned her eyes toward Kohana. "As for you young man," She smiled faintly, "this is not my fight. I will leave matters of this world to the living. But," Her arms tightened around Hannah's shoulders. "I will protect my granddaughter with all the power I have, do not worry for our safety." A warm smile followed, "If you find yourself overwhelmed and in need of either healing or protection, however, come to me. That much, I swear to do."

Hannah snorted. "If you heal Jack, I swear, I will hit you." She shot Kohana a sidelong glance, "Kid deserves everything I gave him. And, even if I knew how," The girl glanced away quickly, cheeks heating, "…I wouldn't remove my curse."

Behind her, Hannah's grandmother sighed.

Hannah sighed in return. "…but I guess I can do one more thing."


* * *

Vexing.

Through Astarte had magically decimated Hannah's vines, neither Diana or Dal was making anywhere near the same progress the mummy had. Dal had managed to free one of Jay's arms and had sawed through one of the vines on his torso, but it was frustratingly slow going – not to mention messy. Both Jay and the Fae were splattered in, what hopefully wasn't blood, and now stood in a shallow and spreading puddle of the stuff.

Diana, meanwhile, was cutting through the vines on Jack like water.

…unfortunately, they kept growing back. She could keep them trimmed, but if she stopped, the vines would quickly rebind the Wizard's limbs.

Suddenly, the vines on Jack and Jay flashed vivid blue. Tension left them as quick as a wink, and they fell limply to the ground surrounding both boys, leaving them free to move. Well, mostly – the vines on Jack, though they no longer were trying to restrain him – were still growing and draining his magic. It looked like he was out of the battle, unless he planned to fight with a lot of dead weight, and no spells, at least.

Across the field, Hannah withdrew her bare hand from the tiles in front of her, and her aura died down. A faint sheen of sweat covered her forehead, as she leaned back against her grandmother's chest.

"There." The blond breathed, shutting her eyes with a sigh.

[Girasol of Chaos]

The tall oni flinched hard. It was less a response to the man's harsh words, or even his threatening actions. Her focus had worked, but only for an instant.

Chou felt like she had slammed into a torrent of wind when she concentrated. Overwhelmed she took another step back and grunted, focusing on the strong exhale to stabilize herself again. Shuyin was standing now, smiling coldly and commanding her and the coal-eyed girl to leave.

Alarmed, the female ogre shot a warning look to Jo. Would she pick up on it? Who knows. Chou needed to retreat. Now. "You're right Shuyin, how rude of me." She smiled wryly. "With all due respect, talisman-holder, I think you have the wrong oni. Doesn't Shin have red eyes?" With that she slipped back out of the pavilion, retreating to the side of Sao and careful to not turn her back on the bluenette.

Confident he would stay put, Chou turned to the pair behind her. Adeline looked much better than when she passed, and was pleased that the healer's efforts were successful. "Glad to see you're okay, Adeline." A brief smile appeared, but rapidly faded as she focused on the undine who repaired the brunette.

"Sao, the torii can be broken, but I can't find the talisman." Chou's hiss between her tusks was out of frustration. "It could be the room itself." Hackles raised the oni turned towards the pavilion again, on guard. "We need to remove him from it, but the auras alone in there were," brow furrowed further recalling the mental slam,"painful. The waves bounced, I've never seen that before." Her stance returned to something more battle-ready with a glimmer of determination. Azure eyes revealed that she knew she couldn't win a fight against him. She glanced over her shoulder, hoping for an answer.

[Bard The 5th LW]

Freedom! Yes!

Pain! OW.

It seemed that Astarte didn't completely think that one through. Or she did think it through and just didn't care. Sean wouldn't hold a grudge though, seeing as how he was free. The clothing damage was a bit uncomfortable though, Sean would have blushed a bit if the bruises weren't irritating him. The worst fo the pain was around his neck though,. He reached towards it and tore off the already thinned and worn fabric of the collar and bow-tie, trying to give the wound some room to air out. Its shame really, he planned on keeping the tux seeing as how it was free. He couldn't see it, but he felt a sense of dripping from his neck as well, hopefully the bleeding, or whatever it was, would cease soon. He was a faster healer than most, but that didn't mean that there was no pain.

Besides, there were others worse off than him.

"If you heal Jack, I swear, I will hit you." Hannah stated with a glare at Kohanna, "Kid deserves everything I gave him. And, even if I knew how," she grumbled a bit, looking away, "…I wouldn't remove my curse."

Anger flared in Sean's eyes, his muscles tense as well. What was up with this girl, for the love of God!? In his years, Sean had known many a hockey player who practically lived in the penalty box, and he'd say they were still more merciful than her. However, he had to remember his previous decision, he just wanted this whole situation to be over, and that meant letting the fight with Hannah end. All they needed to finish now, was Shuyin, and it seemed to involve someone dying.

'It's... self defense right?' That was pretty much all the reassurance he could give himself before he could reach Jack. Ugh, what a mess this guy was. Seeing what happened to the guy, Sean decided he would carry no regrets about attacking Hannah. Were the vines growing from underneath his skin?! The Canadian was at a loss for words or a solution. Hannah threatened to attack if they dared heal Jack, but Sean didn't really care, in fact she was welcome to try. The old lady offered her own aid in healing, but Sean heavily doubted she'd help Jack considering her apparent affinity for Hannah, and Sean was rather uneasy about trying to get help from her for his own injuries.

"Urg," he could only growl in frustration. He tried his best to ignore Diana's close proximity, still unnerved by her overall change in appearance. "I'm at a total loss," he said to no one in particular, "I can't do anything for him. Just... try not to struggle. Don't use magic either if she's to be believed, but I don't know how we could heal it or who could heal it."

He turned his head over to the pavilion that had sprung up. If they could defeat Shuyin and get out, then they could probably get Jack some actualhelp. "So long as it isn't bleeding anymore, then I guess our priority is... getting rid of Professor Pretty boy. Someone ought to at least keep an eye on him I suppose." Well, that was just protocol for dealing with something like a broken leg. Leave someone to watch after the victim. The clothing torn half-human wasn't really sure if the same rules applied to magical plant curses.

Before he could go running to Shuyin though, Sean needed to actually be able to run. That meant getting rid of the decaying effect brought upon him by Astarte. His attention was once again turned to the old woman who was with Hannah... well she did offer. Sean may have hurt Hannah, but its not as though his intentions were different from anyone else. He'd just give it a go. He slowly walked towards the young girl and old woman, arms up.

"Uh, about, er, your offer," he said slowly and uncertainly, not just because of the soreness in his throat, "I'd... appreciate your help." He wasn't completely making eye contact either, maybe a part of him didn't want her help?

[Dracorion]

"... Thanks." Jack mumbled to Diana, as she easily cut the vines holding him with her sword. Unfortunately, they grew back too fast, and she'd have to keep cutting them to keep them from binding him again. Jack sighed, raising his fist again, out of the way of Diana's sword and- "And hey, Jack!" Came Hannah's voice from someplace he wasn't looking, "Stop using magic you moron! You're gonna start blowing blood out of your ass soon!"

"How else'm I going to get rid of it, then?! Y'know any good cursebreakers?!" He called back hoarsely. But he lowered his fist, and just groaned, closing his eyes and lying back. He let out another long sigh, mulling his thoughts. Did Hannah say killing Shuyin was the way to break the Barrier Field? Well, that sucked. Dude was an asshole, but he didn't think anyone would actually want to kill him. They'd have to find another way, probably.

All of a sudden, the vines around him suddenly slumped. Jack opened his eyes, sitting up and looking around.

... Yep, they were still growing and he was still being drained. They just stopped moving. That was an overall improvement, at least. He saw Hannah, rising from holding her bare hand to the tiles, and he suspected she's the one who did it. Kohana had managed to get her to cooperate, he guessed.

As he looked at her, though, the image flashed before his mind. Twelve thin root spears, erupting from the auburn-haired Professor's chest. Blood spurted when the appendages tore through her body, and she fell limp, hanging from her bindings. He felt his stomach churning like it did then. Or maybe that was the vine poking out of his belly button.

... Anyway, no gratitude for Hannah.

Jack sat cross-legged and hung his head. This gave him the opportunity to actually see the state of his clothes. They were torn badly from vines that erupted nearly all over the place, and just hung there. There were some close calls with his underwear, though, but fortunately his modesty was intact, even if he did feel pretty embarassed now.

He closed his eyes again, trying to forget his embarassment, and gather his thoughts. Actually, just rest. He was still tired and bleeding and sore and in a little bit of pain, and he just wanted to lie down and sleep until they were back home. He heard someone approaching, and looked up to see Sean in a similar state of undress, and wounded too, though he wasn't sure when that happened. Though all the Canadian did was say that he couldn't really help him. Then he proposed someone stay with Jack as they all fought Shuyin. "I can sit here with Hannah and, uh... her grandma." That was what Hannah called her, right? "If Shuyin is as dangerous as her, you'll need all hands on deck. You should all get going, really."

He turned to look at Hannah and the old lady again and... well, his question could wait until everyone was gone.

[Overcast]

Jay sat very still as Dal worked on the vine, set as he was not to recieve any injuries before what had to be the final battle. Though as Dal started penetrating the root Jay began to feel a sudden wetness on his arm. It felt nasty against his skin, and he was momentarily worried it was some kind of defense mechanism,

"Hey what is th..."

SPURT! A sudden spray of the strange liquid caught Jay right in the face, making him in a momentary panic that he was going to start on fire or melt or some other evil task! Though it didn't instead it had started covering his nice white outfit, his arm almost completely stained,

"Oh for fucks..."

SHLICK! The copper scent irritated his nostrils as the first vine snapped, spraying him a bit more as the nub left behind oozed more of the strange substance. Jay could swear it wasn't just staining his clothes either, the damn stuff was getting into his skin!

"Dal I'm not sure..."

SPRAY! The vines just kept spraying more and more! His arm was just about free but both he and Dal were being soaked in whatever the hell was in these things and honestly all the liquid was starting to make him nauseous,

"Why is there so much!? It is like it never ends!"

Suddenly a flash of blue came from all that remained and Jay was on his feet again, he stood a moment just dripping in his bloody mess as he tried to wipe down as much of the stuff as he could from his body and stared at Dal faintly,

"Got a towel?"

[SinrXIII]

A lot of things happened in a short time, which was good. Kohana knew they needed to make hurried progress, and hurried progress was just what he'd gotten.

"Thank you both." He stood, bowing one last time to Hannah and her grandmother, then turned towards the pavilion that held Shuyin and Johana.

"The rest of our classmates are that way; if we hurry we should be able to help them. I hope." He walked forward, calmly, Puppy trailing alongside the shaman. "Jay, Sean; I need the both of you focused. Teacher Shuyin will be... troublesome, even without help." The native was at the head of the group now, aura flaring lightly, surrounding him in green light. "We're going to hit him. Hard. Repeatedly. And we can't stop until his face is little more than a spot on the floor." His voice was even, and low. "I don't know what drives him, but I'll be damned if I'm going to let him drown anyone else in that god-awful tea. We're ending this, and we're getting the fuck out of here. -With- our goddamn teacher. Let's go; you too, Jack."

And then, with a flick of his tail, Kohana was moving. His flash step carried him to the side of Shuyin's platform with ease. The wolf-boy stopped to the right of Sao, Adeline, and Chou. Looking over the group, he then turned to the magical gazebo.

"Shuyin's inside still? Pompous ass." The shaman knelt, and ruffled his guardian's fur. Puppy whuffed, and darted forward, slipping quickly past the curtains and bounding to Jo's side, where it turned and crouched, fur bristling as it growled at Shuyin.

Outside, Koh sat and crossed his legs, bringing his hands together in front of him. "Miss Su- Adeline. Blue skin. I need you ready to attack, fast and together." He turned his head to look at them, eyes calm, almost sad. "I will support you as long as I can. Please hurry."

With that, he turned his head to the pavilion and shut his eyes, letting out a slow, deep breath.

[Steel Shadow]

With that, he turned his head to the pavilion and shut his eyes, letting out a slow, deep brea-

Hands dropped onto Kohana's shoulders from behind, and he found himself being dragged around to face an irate looking black haired Director. "What the hell are you doing!?!"

...Maybe Diana had an objection to something?

"That place!" She pointed over Koh's shoulder at the Pavillion, before replacing her hands and starting to drag him away slowly, "Bad! C'mon Koh, isn't that obvious? That thing has 'Evil Lair(tm)' written all over it! You don't just charge into an Evil Lair(tm) head first! You'll fall right into, like, a dozen or so traps that way! Use your head!"

Getting nowhere shifting the shaman, Di reluctantly let go and folded her arms, glaring at the structure and backing up slowly. "That thing is bad news. Don't go in there. Don't let anyone go in there." She shivered. "Really really bad news."

[Krylo]

Dal reached up wiped some of the plant blood off his face, flicking it to the ground, before giving Jay a slight smile along with his answer. "Even if I did, I doubt it'd have fared much better than our clothes," he said gesturing down to his bloody apparel. "And besides," he added, putting on his serious face, "This probably isn't the last blood we'll see today."

As he finished, Kohana was giving orders and flash stepping to the pavilion. Dal was about to suggest that he and Jay follow along when Diana spoke, voicing her concerns.

"I'm sorry," Dalbhach said as he turned to address the recently black-haired girl, "but traps or no I'm going back in, even if alone. Johanna is in there with Shuyin right now, and I won't let her face him alone. Even so, I won't argue with your observations, and I could certainly use your strength to face that man."

Glancing over his shoulder back toward Jay, the fae continued. "And yours as well, Jay, not that I think I need to request YOUR assistance," he said with a slight wink before turning back toward the pavilion and marching toward it, rapier held steady at his side.

[Riin Whitewind]

"... Thank you, Sao." The healer tilted her head in acceptance, examining her handiwork with a critical eye. It appeared that nothing had gone disastrously wrong! Her good cheer partially restored, Sao smiled. "Can't let anything happen to such a pretty face." Standing back, she held her hand out to help the newly-healed Adeline to her feet. "Up you get, come on."

Listening to 'Shin's' report, Sao frowned in thought. Strategy was never her strong suit, but there was nothing short of a mortal wound that would coerce her to enter that gazebo.

The trio was joined shortly by first Kohana, then Diana and Dalbach. Listening gravely to all three, Sao was reluctantly forced to agree with Diana. Or her rider.

"Who is the fastest among us? Or the strongest?" Sao glanced at Shin as she spoke. Pointing at the thin, black pillars holding up the gazebo, she continued, "If some of us can enter from the other side and get Jo out safely, the rest of us could bring the gazebo down around him." The pillars were of some black material unknown to her, but perhaps they could be crushed or dissolved?

She shrugged. "It's not a perfect plan, but it helps Shin get a better read on how to get us out of here," a nod towards her friend, "and keeps us out of the pavillion." This nod was directed to the black-haired Diana.

[Arhra]

Wondering if Shuyin was truly an empty thing had cracked his facade for a moment. But then Jo had provoked something else. Against a superior opponent, the life of a doll was worthless, he said.

Shin had entered here, holding her club and speaking of talismans.

Jo armed herself as Shuyin did, crystalline slabs of ice sliding out of her hands and forearms to become now familiar icy claws she favoured. Shuyin, in what was becoming a predictable response, denounced her bad manners and spoke of intimidation, weapons, lessons and hospitality.

Shin spoke her theory.

"...excellent logic." Shuyin murmured, climbing to his feet in a fluid motion. "I would, of course, love to enlighten you as to the location of the talisman. But," He smiled coldly, in Jo's direction, and flicked the tip of his sword toward her, "as I am viewed as a liar, I shall not waste my breath."

He was a self confessed liar. Jo did not waste her breath pointing this out to him.

"Leave." Shuyin said. His expression was serious and his sword held at the ready. "Immediately. I will make no more warnings; we now work at counter purposes from one another. If you do not comply, I will kill you both."

Shin suddenly pulled out. She apologised, saying she was not Shin, and retreated, not daring to turn her back to the teacher. Jo's eyes narrowed fractionally. Did not-Shin know something that Jo did not?

No more stalling. She had to commit herself. A terrible threat was in front of her and she had to do everything in her power to cut to the core of its existence.

"It is the nature of dolls to try to copy others." Jo said to Professor Shuyin. "But a doll doesn't know what is important." If it was true, as she suspected, and Shuyin had attempted to transform himself to amplify critical traits, it was no surprise he seemed like a caricature of himself.

"If you wanted to make yourself understood, then what were all those empty words for? If you wanted to avoid hurting others, then what is that sword for? In the end, you never thought of anyone but yourself, did you?"

Jo lifted her arms, coal-black eyes watching the transformed teacher steadily. A little puppy darted through the curtains. The little ball of black fluff bounced to Jo's side where it crouched and bristled, growling at the Professor.

"Fight me, Professor Shuyin."

[Girasol of Chaos]

Several small groups approached their own now. The blue oni could see beyond that the fight with the bow-woman had ended, thankfully with everyone alive. Her focus snapped to the wolf-boy that stepped forward. He offered support for an attack, while the tainted Diana rushed forward, panicked. She refused to go in. Chou's eyes narrowed, untrusting. She didn't want to go in either, but there was something wrong with the girl. Couldn't be relied on, at this point. Alarm intensified when what appeared to be a Fae joined the group. Trickster, was he with her? Her time in books yielded enough information to make her wary towards the group overall now.

Sao spoke, directing the blue-skin's attention back towards someone she did trust. "Who is the fastest among us? Or the strongest?" Chou's eyes followed the direction of the undine's gesture to the gazebo's pillars. A small smile formed around the tusks as Sao outlined her plan. The oni swallowed her alarm towards the group for now.

A red tinge formed at the edge of her irises and Chou nodded to her tanned friend. Reverting back to pure blue orbs, she stepped towards the pavilion again, "Well then, there's no time to waste." Chou approached the nearest black pillar and planted her feet. With a side-sweep, the club ripped through the air, hungry to crush the foundation.

[Overcast]

Jay followed behind Dal as he spoke, his recent distaste for Diana did not help the Director's point get across to him, he was set to disagree. He didn't bother voicing it though, Dal already seemed set to ignore her advice, and with that he imagined Koh would continue on with majority support. Barring anyone else speaking up.

And of course Dal had to follow with a small quip and a wink,

"And yours as well, Jay, not that I think I need to request YOUR assistance,"

For the smallest inkling of a second Jay's heart skipped and he chuckled nervously, though he honestly didn't know why he was so nervous. It was just a fight, he'd been doing it all day! Must have been something he ate. Obviously.

"Right behind you."

Sao suddenly dropped in on the scene and seemed more suited toward the opinion of Diana, but with her light agreement she brought upon an idea that seemed to get stuck in Jay's head in a way he just could not shake.

She said they should break down the building.

Not to say that Jay had ever been much of a delinquent back home, but the imagery of tearing down the structure on top of the haughty instructors head just made him grin, perhaps a bit too much. He didn't even understand the concept that the building might hold some kind of mystic pull, all he knew was a few concepts about load supporting walls and the idea that buildings are hard things to dodge.

If anything it was a good way for him to make a dynamic introduction to the teacher he'd yet to fight yet.

Now if either he or Chou had been listening they would have caught that part about getting the fast people trying to get Jo out before they brought the building down. But impulse driven people think alike and as he saw who he thought was Shin moving for one pillar he couldn't help himself.

"One sec Dal, I think we'll bring the fight to us."

He leapt to the next closest pillar and planted his batting stance, spitting onto his hands before pulling his bat back mightily, his aura surged hard as he batted a perfect swing toward the black support, bat whistling with incredible force.

[Teal Mage]

"Fight me," Jo dropped into a fighting crouch, raising her claws before herself. "Professor Shuyin." At her side, a small black puppy growled low, tail still and fur bristling. The curtains behind them blazed with radiance, throwing Jo's front into shadow. Her white skin and dishevelled hair was painted gold by the light leaking into the gazebo, and sixteen shadows decorated the tiles below her, eight from her and eight from the puppy, two in each of the cardinal directions.

"…" Having lowered his head during the course of her last words, Shuyin raised it again. Like Jo, the bluenette's front was hidden in the shadow cast by the light leaking through the curtains behind him - unlike her, his gold eyes were still clearly visible on his face. The contrast made it difficult to make out his expression. Was there a smile on it?

"How fitting." Shuyin stated, flicking his unarmed right hand toward the east wall. "You die in like company. But," Coral-red energy flickered -

A ripple of white raced over the pavilion.

- and green liquid erupted from Shuyin in a raging and foaming geyser.

"It did not have to end like this." Shuyin murmured, softly – too softly to be heard over the roar of his own spell. The steam that rose from the ceremonial torrent's origin - directly in front of him - rendered the man little more than an instinct and ghostly blur, for several moments.

* * *

"…about, er, your offer." Sean began awkwardly, now in front of the kneeling forms of Hannah and her grandmother. "I'd..." The muscled Canadian's eyes were averted; he seemed to be having trouble making eye-contact with either of the woman before him. "...appreciate your help." Sean grudgingly concluded. He may have been a little embarrassed!

Resting her back against her grandmother's chest, Hannah opened one green eye to regard Sean curiously. Behind her, the elderly woman chuckled. "I am not skilled at breaking curses," she stated, arms still loosely wrapped around her granddaughter, "but I can see to the healing of your wounds."

Hannah sighed and shut her eye again. "Yeah, I've no problem with that." She stated, before relaxing with a sigh. "He seems like a decent guy." The blond added, softly.

A fond smile appeared on the old woman's lined face. She shut her eyes and shook her head ruefully, then took a deep breath. Green-blue light stirred around her form, as the woman raised her voice - a strong alto - in a haunting melody. Words in a language Sean didn't recognize filled the air, and a fresh earthy scent reached his nose. A haze of teal light now suffused the air around the trio. The bruise-like marks on the hockey-player's body began to tingle, as blue-green and orange magical energy suddenly appeared within them, competing with the amber light of Astarte's curse. Slowly, the marks began to fade.

* * *

Satisfied with her healing success, Sao smiled warmly down at Adeline and stated cheerfully, "Can't let anything happen to such a pretty face." Adeline flinched in surprise, a faint blush appearing on her face at the words. "Up you get," Sao went on, still smiling - perhaps a little wider? - despite the girl's reaction, "come on." She extended a hand to her.

"...ah, thanks." Adeline replied, taking her healer's hand - with a little trepidation. The pair stood, as Chou suddenly exited the gazebo, and turned toward them. After a short greeting, which Adeline merely smiled and nodded to in reply, the Oni launched into a full report for Sao. Adeline did her best to listen intently.

"Shuyin's still inside?" Adeline jumped and whirled around at the sudden voice from behind and to her right - it was Kohana. He was shirtless again – a detail that made Adeline blush profusely - and now had a pair of triangular dog ears growing out of his head. If his attire hadn't been so distracting, Adeline might have freaked out. Paying her no mind, Kohana went on, eyes still fixed on the pavilion. "Pompous ass." He stated, annoyed.

Kohana knelt, and scratched the ears of the small black puppy that had scampered up from behind him.

It was then that Adeline noticed he also had a tail.

"Miss Su- Adeline." Kohana went on, settling into a cross-legged position, "Blue skin. I need you ready to attack, fast and together." Adeline stared at him, or rather, his tail, in mute incomprehension. "I will support you as long as I can." Kohana went on, then, shifting his gaze to rest directly on Adeline, "Please hurry." He stated - a hint of desperation in his voice.

Adeline blinked, and shook herself suddenly. As Kohana's puppy scampered off toward the tent, she jerked a hasty -

"What the hell are you doing!?!" It was Diana! Adeline blinked in mute surpise as the surprisingly normal looking girl man-handled Kohana. "That place!" She gestured emphatically toward the pavilion, "Bad! C'mon Koh, isn't that obvious!?" Diana crossed her arms, holding her silver sword almost absent-mindedly, "That thing has 'Evil Lair(tm)' written all over it!" Another adamant gesture from the group's resident Genki Girl followed, "You don't just charge into an Evil Lair(tm) head first! You'll fall right into, like, a dozen or so traps that way! Use your head!"

...didn't Chou say something like that? Adeline thought, frowning in the pavilion's direction. Jo seemed to have grown claws since she had last checked on her. Satisfied that nothing awful had happened yet, she turned back toward her allies - only to find Dal (Wings!?) and Jay had joined their sharing circle.

"I'm sorry," Dalbhach stated, as he came up behind Diana. "but traps or no I'm going back in, even if alone. Johanna is in there with Shuyin right now and I won't let her face him alone -"

Adeline glanced back toward the pavilion again - just in time to see a raging torrent of green tea explode from Shuyin. The steaming and foaming steam consume both Jo and Kohana's puppy, before vanishing from view. Oddly enough, it didn't emerge from the pavilion's north curtain.

"- Even so," Dal went on, still speaking to Diana and perhaps unable to see inside the pavilion from where he was standing, "I won't argue with your observations, and I could certainly use your strength to face that man."

"Uh," Adeline's eyes were on Kohana. Was...he steaming? "...guys?" She squeaked, timidly.

Dal didn't hear her - he was still talking. "And yours as well, Jay," The Fae continued, glancing over his shoulder toward the baseball player following him, "Not that I think I need to request your assistance." He turned back toward the pavilion and began to walk unhurriedly toward it.

"Guys!" Adeline repeated, a little more urgently. Kohana was definitely smoking now. And trembling. His face was tight and his hands clenched, the knuckles white. She thought she saw blood leaking from them, and little spots of angry red were spreading across his skin. She took a hasty step toward him, but then hesitated, unsure of what to do.

"Who is the fastest among us? Or the strongest?" Sao asked, turning toward Chou as she spoke. From where she was standing, she had to have noticed the tea geyser...right? Pointing at the thin, black pillars holding up the gazebo's tiled roof, Sao continued, "If some of us can enter from the other side and get Jo out safely, the rest of us could bring the gazebo down around him."

...Shuyin's geyser ended abruptly. Jo had vanished, and something seemed...different about the pavilion – was it glowing faintly? The colors looked a little different. Kohana released a soft gasp and seemed to slump forward - burns now covered him and white steam rose from his body. He looked like he was in pain. Dal had almost reached the curtain nearest him - but it seemed like he was moving impossibly slow to Adeline's increasingly flustered mind.

"Well then, there's no time to waste." Chou stated, moving toward the south-west most of the supports to the pavilion.

Jay jerked a nod, a expression of giddy glee appearing on his face, as he spun to the right. "One sec Dal," The Fae paused, hand raised to the curtain in front of him, to glance at the baseball player, "I think we'll bring the fight to us." With that, Jay was off and running - toward the south-east most support.

Adeline screamed.

And, suddenly, sword miraculously appearing in her hand, she charged past Dal, into the pavilion.

...

Cursing, the Fae followed quickly after.

* * *

The power of Grandma Iruimi's healing song and Sean's demonic regeneration was enough to purge Astarte's curse from the youth's body. Where the dark bruise marks had been, now only pale, but healthy, flesh remained. Strangely enough, Sean's clothes seemed to have...grown a little. The sleeves of his tuxedo now extended to his elbows, and the jacket stopped short of his belly button. His pants were longer as well, now extending just over his knees. Likewise, the collar of his dress clothes - which he had ripped a moment ago, seemed to have grown half way back.

It appeared that Grandma Iruimi's song could heal both wounds and clothing damage. How useful.

Adeline's scream of frustration erupted to the north-west.

"..." Grandma Iruimi's brown eyes slid open, and her song ended. Surprisingly, it appeared that she had benefited from the spell as much as Sean had. Her clothing had been repaired, the dark blues and browns of slim dress were rich and new, and the fabric of her shawl – once a faded purple, now a deep indigo – seemed to shine brightly. Where her hair had been white and held in a bun, it now hung down past her shoulders and was an intense black. Her wrinkles had all but faded, and her faintly red-brown tinted skin held a healthy glow.

In short, she appeared fifty years younger.

"...your friends seem to be in trouble." The now-young woman observed, still hugging Hannah protectively. "Will you help them?" She asked, fixing her brown eyes upon Sean.

* * *

Chou swung her club with all her might at the south-west pillar. Spikes snapped and splintered, exploding into the air and peppering her torn kimono like the shrapnel from a grenade. The slim black pillar shook, and the faintest crack appeared on it – but the damage was minimal.

Meanwhile, Jay had finally reached the south-east pillar.

Like Chou, the baseball playing delinquent swung his bat with all his might. Black magical power burned around him, as a loud ping! exploded into the air as his bat sheared through the pillar - snapping it in the middle, and sending the black fragments tumbling off the tower's side. He carried his swing to completion, just before the surge of supernatural energy left his body, Jay staggered back a pace, and slumped slightly, panting. His arms felt like they were made of over-boiled spaghetti.

Strength Surges still took a lot out of him.

But, hey, he’d succeeded!

…

The gazebo seemed unaffected.

* * *

Shuyin's spell ended as abruptly as it had begun, leaving a steadily spreading pool of green tea some distance off. A bubble of green light - dripping tea and steam - flickered and faded away, as the black puppy relaxed its stance, finally. It appeared unharmed, but, judging by the way it was panting, tired.

Of Jo, there was no sign.

But, the pavilion was vastly changed - on the inside, at least.

An alternating expanse of brown-veined-white and black-veined-brown marble tiles seemed to stretch to infinity in all four directions, eventually vanishing into a milky white void an unfathomable distance off. High above, a roof of similarly milky marble – seemingly suspended of its own power – served as a ceiling. Save for the slightly raised platform Shuyin and the puppy occupied, there was no other ornamentation.

In a flare of green-yellow chartreuse light, Jo reappeared with a gasp a score of paces to the south – well behind Shuyin and his platform. After falling to mist to escape the Ceremonial Torrent, Jo had moved through the solid stone below Shuyin, in an effort to escape the Pavilion. Obviously, the sudden transformation had foiled her.

The Professor turned in her direction.

"Welcome -"

Screaming with frustrated rage, Adeline appeared on Shuyin's right, seemingly from thin air. Her hands were wrapped tightly around the hilt of her short-sword, and her sandal-like formal shoes pounded the tiles below her as she charged the bluenette's side -

But was abruptly yanked backward by Dal - he'd caught her long braid.

Shuyin chuckled, then turned his head the new-comers. Despite his best intentions, Dal was quickly learning what Jo had a moment ago – getting out of the pavilion was no longer as easy as it had once been, and certainly was not as simple as stepping through a flimsy white curtain.

"As I was saying!" Shuyin suddenly boomed, as Adeline winced and rubbed the back of her head, glaring at Dal. "Dear students, be welcome to my Infinite Ballroom!" He smiled ironically, "As I have sure you have now deduced, escape from within is quite impossible!" Shuyin chuckled again, fixing Jo with a cold smile. "This endless expanse shall be your collective grave."

"Now," A faint smile appeared on his lips, and his eyes flickered toward Adeline and Dal. "allow me to introduce your hosts."

Suddenly, the pair found themselves surrounded. Four figures, each clad in identical and elaborate gold embroidered red ballgowns, had appeared around them. Featureless heads, seemingly made of plastic, regarded them silently. Had either Dal or Adeline glanced at their hands or feet, they might have been surprised to see that they made of shiny silver metal, capped with sharp, thin, blades – very much like katars.

They attacked.

Shuyin chuckled and returned his full attention to Jo.

He began to walk, slowly, toward her. "You seem…tired, Johanna." Shuyin murmured sleepily, "Are your magical reserves perhaps low?" He chuckled, "You should have fled when you had the chance -" His next smile was icy, "- but then, dolls do not know what is important."

* * *

"Dal." Adeline muttered softly, eyes darting from motionless mannequin to mannequin - and lingering on each of their blade capped limbs. Each glowed with faint white light - which, together with the cut of their dresses, made them very reminiscent of Marisa.

"Those wings -" She went on, urgently, as the four faceless heads snapped toward the pair in their center. "- they work, right?" Adeline's hand tightened on her sword, and the faintest corona of scarlet light appeared around her body. "As a Candidate for Class President -"

Her eyes flickered toward the surrounding mannequins, "- I'm ordering you to leave these to me -"

They attacked! Bladed limbs slashed viciously outward, seeking flesh - Fae or Human - as they closed in, attacking with unnerving coordination. Alone or working together, Adeline and Dal would find even a single one of these...beings, a difficult opponent. Surrounded as they were, they would be hard pressed to do more than survive.

[Bard The 5th LW]

"He seems like a decent guy." Sean gave no response, and he tried as hard as he could to not even look at her. Clearly, he was not ready to pay a compliment to her.

"...your friends seem to be in trouble." The soreness from the curse had gone now. Sean observed his arms and legs, his clothing slightly repaired. He didn't completely know what she had done, but it had the intended effect. The once old woman had also seemed to benefit, her clothes having become more lustrous in color, and age fading from her face.

Who was she anyways?

"Will you help them?" Her eyes locked on him, a color similar to his own. Already, his allies were screaming. Why though? Pain, anger, fear? Distress wormed its way onto the Canadian's face.

He struggled briefly to respond, but he could barely bring himself to say anything. He supposed he was still angry. Hate and anger were powerful things. "Yes." Not even a complete thank you. His eyes studied the ground beneath his feet briefly, and he only nodded to her in response. Hopefully the half-demon's thankfulness would be understood through his silence.

Turning towards the pavilion, his first instinct was to jump straight in and jump the pretty boy teacher. He began to take off full speed for the structure, and while he did his thoughts began to turn. The particular moment of reflection... was about Hannah. Thinking about it, she beat him effortlessly, and he couldn't count on getting a lucky break like last time. Power in numbers also seemed less likely to work, as there were at least three of them battling the girl. He hated to admit, and wouldn't relive it, but it was... enlightening to put it gently. He couldn't win in a straight up fight. If he battled this guy on his own terms, then there was no chance at victory.

By the time Sean reached the pavilion, his legs were shaking, and he was huffing air at a rapid. He rested his hands on his knees as he breathed, head towards the floor. The first person he saw when he raised his head was Diana, which he felt didn't really help his situation at all, but he'd get no where dwelling on her. "I'm here *heave* I guess," he said to the group, consisting mostly of the unoccupied Dian and Sao. He managed to gather himself though as his breathing slowed.

"Shuyin in there then?" he asked, looking at the closest curtain wall. He would have just leaped in, but he resolved to think about it. Shuyin wouldn't have the damn thing set up if he didn't want them to go in, right? They'd have to make him leave, if that was even possible. The others seemed to be taking that idea to heart, as Jay was standign right by a damaged beam.

With his left arm raised, Sean began to spin ice and snow for an attack. "I'm going to try something," he said as he approached the curtain, "when it fails I'll be open to whatever suggestions you have."

Sean loosely grabbed the free material of the curtain hanging before him. He quickly pulled it backwards, in an attempt to tear it off, trying to undo as much slack as possible. "Professor!" he screamed in a scratchy voice as he pulled the cloth away, "we will wait no longer! Face us out here now or we will bring it down on top of you!" Sean was yelling this, but he was only just now realizing something; he couldn't even see Shuyin! He really hoped that his voice could carry well enough.

[Dracorion]

Shortly after, most people left. Just Sean was left, asking the old woman accompanying Hannah to heal his wounds. Jack would ask too, if Hannah hadn't said no one should try to heal him. Bitch.

He watched at the woman started chanting, but Jack had to drop his gaze to the ground when her aura acted up. Looking hurt. With his reserves so dangerously low, and still dropping, any kind of magic use was dangerous. And that included reading anyone's aura.

So he just sat there, looking at the floor and the old woman's light show reflected on it, and listening to her chanting. Man, what he wouldn't give to read her aura. It sounded interesting.

After a bit, a scream from the pavilion reached his ears. Jack rose, not a quickly as he should, given his exhaustion and the vines dragging him down, but fast enough to stir the aching all over his body. He groaned as he became painfully aware of the cuts and bruises and vines. "Oooooohhh... dammit." Then, remembering why he stood up, he looked in the direction of the pavilion. He could see some of his classmates outside, and one of the pillars holding the structure up seemed to have been broken. Some were missing, though, and he expected they had gone inside.

Sean darted past him, following the old woman's recommendation. He turned back to Hannah and her and... saw that the woman was no longer old. She seemed to have grown younger, somehow. Damn, he really wished he read her aura now.

Feeling torn, Jack's head turned once more toward the pavilion, and then back to the couple. If he went to help his classmates in this condition, then at best he'd be merely completely useless. As much as he wanted to witness what was going on, it was probably better if he stayed out of the way. And... he still had something to ask Hannah.

His emerald eyes settled on the witch, and he saw the root spears bursting through Landry's chest once again his mind, and he remembered what it felt like when she stuck her hand in his chest. Jackson clenched his fists and jaw, and took a deep breath. He really needed to stop flashing back to that.

His fists were still closed tight at his sides, as he wasn't entirely successful in putting aside his feelings. Still, he went for it: "Why did you kill her?" He asked Hannah. Then he remembered what wolf boy said. "Or, try to kill her, I guess."

[Krylo]

Trapped.

Dal's face took on a grim expression as he realized his mistake, releasing Adeline's hair. He had only wanted to pull Adeline and Jo from the pavilion, to marshal their forces in their entirety. This was... exactly the opposite of his plan, but he was here now and there had to be a way.

"Dear students, be welcome to my Infinite Ballroom!" the professor boomed over the expanse, his words cutting through Dal's thoughts. Shuyin smiled ironically, "As I am sure you have now deduced, escape from within is quite impossible!" Shuyin chuckled again, fixing Jo with a cold smile. "This endless expanse shall be your collective grave."

Now Dal smiled as well, but not one with mirth or arrogance, or anything of that nature. A coldly determined smile. 'This is it then,' the fae mused to himself as Shuyin introduced their 'hosts', a quartet of viciously armed dancers. He could feel his plans and thoughts slip away as his body prepared for lethal combat, but then... there was something... off.

No, they could still fix this. He just had to...

His stance shifted imperceptibly to the defense, until Adeline requested he leave, her aura firing up. She had a plan as well, and he would have to trust her. "Don't die," he said simply before jetting into the air as the mannequins lunged. A katar-like hand swung up after his leg, and the fae tried to twirl out of the way on his ascent.

Even so, steel bit flesh and a line of bright red spun through the air after the wincing Dalbhach. A grazing wound, the fae thought thankfully as he glanced down at his leg. It shouldn't hamper his mobility on the ground. Even so it stung and he momentarily pondered the wisdom of leaving the girl to her own devices... but no time for regrets.

"Shuyin!" Dalbhach yelled as loud as he could, as his eyes flicked from the professor to the mannequins as he hovered above the ballroom, his mind attempting to derive the meaning behind this niggling sense that something was not quite right with either of them. "Stop this!"

"You told us," Dalbhach's voice took on a pleading tone, "That you arranged this to stop the deaths of innocent humans. That Landry, 'cooly calculated the murder of her own species', but now!" His hand waved down toward Adeline, "What are you doing? What is this worth if you kill her? Let the human girl go! She doesn't need to have her innocence or life destroyed by this battle!"

He tried to sound as convincing as he could, but the attempt to snag Shuyin's attention, to free Adeline, it was a ruse. An attempt to buy time so he could figure out what was really happening in this infinite ballroom. His only real hope was slowing down this death match enough to find a route to victory.

...Of course, he wouldn't mind if it worked. If nothing else she could relay Jo's, and his own, situation back to the others.

[Girasol of Chaos]

Chou's club plinked almost harmlessly off the pillar. Frustrated, she looked to see if the baseball bat-wielding boy had any more luck. His aura flared and the bat sheared through the pillar with a magic-based swing. He staggered back to survey the damage - the bar snapped but did little to the actual structure.

Brow furrowed, the blue oni tried again, determined to help out, taking great care to try to ignore what chaos was occurring on the inside. The faster she brought this thing down, hopefully the less damage there would be. Her thoughts were interrupted on her third additional swing.

The pole fractured and collapsed, causing the side of the structure to begin to sag. At this point Sean approached the curtains, trying to peel back part of the collapsing wall. "Professor! We will wait no longer! Face us out here now or we will bring it down on top of you!." Chou frowned, preferring the professor didn't attack them.

[Steel Shadow]

"Professor! We will wait no longer! Face us out here now or we will bring it down on top of you!" Sean's bold threat echoed across the tower.

There was a light tap on his arm. If he turned around, he'd find Diana shaking her head with a sad smile on her face as she began to walk away. "Sorry Sean. He won't be in there. It's just bait for a trap, he's probably long gone. But you looked pretty cool yelling it."

She sounded... Tired. Of course she moved with as much energy as she ever did, but not everything was right with the class Director. Then again, some would argue that had been the case for some time. Whatever the truth, it didn't stop her from (cautiously) slipping past Chou and Sao, sparing only a quick, worried glance at the apparently injured Kohana, before striding north, sword held tightly in hand.

"I'm going to go see if I can find where Professor Shuyin has hidden himself," she said, raising her voice without looking back. "Uh, if you hear screaming, I probably found him. Good luck getting everyone out."

And with that, she hurried away.

[SinrXIII]

"STOP!"

Kohana's shout was directed at the director extraordinaire, barked out as he slumped forward. His palms were bloody; he'd dug his nails into them as he'd tried to keep his connection with Puppy active.

The shaman took a deep breath, and rose on shaky legs.

"Don't you DARE go runnin' off City-girl! Last time you did that, you vanished and got yourself a dye-job." Kohana let out his breath, and took another, flexing his fingers experimentally. They were sore, but hurt no more than the rest of him.

"It was a bad idea to ask anyone to go after Teacher Shuyin. I wasn't expecting... well, I fucked up." He growled softly, eyeing the pavilion. "We don't need to separate right now. If we do, he'll just pick us off like the wounded animals we are."

Another deep breath, and Koh sank carefully to his knees. "No one's dead yet, so we still have hope. I say we wait here, and continue wreckin' his house. If we get him out, we can show him how bad it is to corner wolves, instead of dying like mutts."

He finally settled on the ground again, closing his eyes. It finally occurred to him that if Diana wasn't listening, he'd wasted a decent speech, but there was no time to worry about that.

[Steel Shadow]

There was a momentary hitch in Diana's step as Koh called after her, and she slowed down to listen to his argument. She only looked back once he'd finished, a rueful smile on her face. "Yeah..."

"You're totally right, Koh. Completely right. Last time I was on my own in here, bad things happened. And they might happen again. Everyone should stick together and listen to one another, and all that. You're making a good call."

"But..." And she began moving away again, at some speed, looking away from the others once more.

"Sorry Koh. I don't think he's in there. And that means he's off on his own somewhere in here doing who knows what. We can't afford that right now! You need to get the others out, but I can't help with that! I'm just a girl with a broken camera. What I can do is find the guy and let you know where his is. And... Well, we'll see. You guys stick together, you'll be fine."

And then she was gone.

[Teal Mage]

Red dresses swirled, as the plastic limbs of the faceless mannequins uncoiled and the quartet lunged inward. Pale light flared from Dal, as the Fae hissed, "Don't die." Before being launched into the air on a pulse of magical power. Adeline was already in motion - the girl had thrown herself forward, beneath the slashing leg and thrusting arm of the north-most pair of dancers.

A sharp line of cold fire gazed Dal's ankle, as one of the southern dancers gazed him. He narrowly evaded her follow-up strike, soaring higher yet.

Adeline's sandal-clad feet touched down on the tiles two paces behind the Mannerquins. Scarlet magical power flared and her sword disolved in a flash of white light. Twisting, the long haired girl sprung to her feet, a series of five-pointed stars of light materializing in her clenched hands. "Hah!" She flung her arms wide, sending the mass of ninja stars spinning toward her recovering attackers.

A series of thuds sounded, as the stars hit their marks. Faces, wrists and throats were pierced with unnerving accuracy - each had struck a vital point, staggering the - now spinning - quartet of dancers.

Who recovered instants later, straightening.

Adeline's triumphant smile withered. Landing another two paces away, the girl's aura flickered. "Hate robots..." She growled softly -

And from the Mannerquins, white auras exploded.

* * *

"Shuyin!" Dal called, eyes narrowed and flickering between the spinning Mannerquins and the slowly moving winged Professor, "Stop this!" Almost pleading - and not without a hint of desperation - "You told us that you arranged this to stop the deaths of innocent humans! -" He gestured fiercely toward Adeline, as the girl landed on her feet four paces from where she had started. "- That Landry, 'coolly calculated the murder of her own species', but now! What are you doing? What is this worth if you kill her? -"

Shuyin paused in his approach, and glanced coolly over his shoulder toward Dal. Below, the auras of the mannequins flared to brilliant white life.

"- Let the human girl go! She doesn't need to have her innocence or life destroyed by this battle!"

"Innocence?" Shuyin murmured, low and mild.

Suddenly, a figure in a billowing red gown was behind Dal. White radiance filled the air around it, seeming to render the Fae's pale yellow aura insignificant in contrast. Hunched as she was, the shadows playing over the figure's faceless visage gave the impression of a glee-filled grin.

Sean's shouted threat rang through the Ballroom, echoing.

Shuyin's face split into an icy smile.

Movements dance-like, the Mannerquin brought her hands up in a pair of rising slashes, aimed square at the Fae's wings. Without pause, the faceless being twisted, flowing smoothly into another attack - a razor-tipped kick that would score a deep and painful gash along Dal's back.

"This world cares nothing for innocence." He added, still looking at Dal and seemingly ignoring the disembodied words.

And suddenly, a pair of eerie high pitched laughs burst into the air. Red dresses swirled, as a pair of new faceless Mannerquins slid with ghostly grace, out from behind Johana - seemingly from thin air. Silver flashed in vicious arcs as each launched a pair of synchronized kicks at the back of Jo's legs. Swiftly, they twisted and stepped forward, each turning their momentum into a second whirling lash with their katar-like feet - which would eviscerate the Jotun from behind, if she didn't move.

But, with one on either side of her - the only avenue of escape was forward; toward Shuyin.

Around whom four vortexs of swirling coral-red light were forming - the same aura forms that had preceded the tea-geyser from before. One aimed into the sky toward Dal, one off in Adeline’s direction, and two in Jo’s direction.

They were bigger than before.

* * *

Sparks exploded from Adeline's short sword, as the girl was forced back a step.

After their auras had flared, the quartet of Mannerquins had launched themselves in four different directions. The more supernaturally know knowledgeable might have called the technique a crude parody of Flash Step, but to Adeline, it had seemed like they had rocket powered shoes. One had pursued Dal into the air, while two more had broke off to the sides, one taking up a position on the platform to Adeline's left, and the other, moving further out from the Ballroom's center, on her right. The final one had launched itself directly at Adeline.

Growling, her aura surged. White light exploded through her sword blade, and, bearing forward, she launched a vicious slash of her own.

The Mannerquin's aura flared. Suddenly, it seemed to split in two. Adeline's sword passed between the two immaterial and pirouetting copies, harmlessly. Eyes wide, she stumbled forward and through it –

As the remaining Mannerquins launched themselves, in flares of supernatural light, at her from either side.

* * *

"...its been a while since I'd heard that song." As Jack neared Hannah, the girl's whispered words to her Grandmother became audible to his ears. Suddenly, the girl's eyes shot open, and she sat up sharply, twisting to regard her now young grandmother critically. Like Sean, Hannah's wounds had vanished, and her garments were mended as if new. "I thought you said you couldn't cast spells like that any more." Hannah went on, posture tense.

Her now-young grandmother smiled kindly. "Hannah..." She shut her eyes - Jack thought he'd detected something sad in them for a moment. "...there is something important I should tell you." Brown eyes opened and flickered toward Jack. She fell silent, tapping her granddaughter's shoulder, before pointing toward the young, vine dripping, wizard.

Curious, Hannah turned around. Her expression seemed to flatten, a hint of distaste showing through, at the sight of Jack. She didn't say anything, though.

"Why did you kill her?" Jack asked, stopping before the pair of women. At his sides, both his hands were clenched into tight fists. "Or try to kill her," He amended, after a moment's pause, "I guess."

Hannah grunted softly, seeming to flinch faintly. Her eyes shut. "...why did I kill her?" She repeated, slowly. The girl crossed her arms loosely, and seemed to lean back a little, gaze dropping to the tiles off to Jack's right, before she allowed her eyes to slide open again, slowly. "Why, huh?" She chuckled, faintly and shook her head. "I guess the easy answer is..." She trailed off, thoughtfully.

A faint click sounded from behind the blond. Her grandmother turned her head curiously.

Shedding dark flecks of light, an auburn haired woman seemed to step out of the air. For an instant, she was wearing a slim black gown, the front of which was decorated with twelve holes, each revealing patches of skin. Then, a white labcoat seemed to appear on her shoulders, clinched tight around her waist with a cord of black fabric. Only the upper part of her dress's bodice was visible - none of the holes. In an almost absent minded movement, the woman reached into one of her pockets and withdrew a pair of glasses.

Professor Landry slipped them onto her face, and offered both Jack and Hannah's grandmother an ironic smile, followed by a nod.

"...revenge." The girl concluded, after a moment had paced. She fell silent again, pensive. Something in her expression seemed to suggest that she was planning to go on, but was merely thinking carefully about her words. Unlike the others, Professor Landry's appearance seemed to have escaped her notice. Her grandmother didn't seem interested in correcting this oversight – but would Jack? Even if he didn't, would he just wait patiently for her to go on? Did it matter at all?

Decisions, decisions, decisions.

[Riin Whitewind]

Sao seated herself in front of the faintly steaming Kohana, facing toward him. She was getting to be quite familiar with tea-related burns, recognizing the angry red patterns it left on his skin despite the lack of obvious cause. "Lend me your hands, shaman." Folding her hands around his, the healer's aura flickered to life. The cuts and light burns on his hands faded instantly, subsumed by her will and a feeling of soothing cold. As she channelled, that cold would work its way over his body, soothing the worst of the burns.

"Don't worry about Diana." The Undine's eyes were closed in concentration, steadily drawing power through herself to the shirtless Koh. "When this is over, we can find a cursebreaker to finish what I started." Tired, low on power, and aching, Sao bowed her head. Her voice was quiet and calm, like the gentle lap of water over pebbles. "Until then, it is probably for the best that she stays away from us. The curse she carries is highly contagious."

However calm her voice sounded, internally she was conflicted. Some of 'her' people were now in the pavillion with Shuyin, despite her earlier plea. Bringing the structure down around them still seemed a better plan than following Adeline and Dal - common sense screamed that they had charged into a trap. But exactly how disabling that trap would affect her classmates was unknown, and the thought tormented her.

[Dracorion]

"...why did I kill her?" Hannah repeated the young wizard's question. She fidgeted a little, before continuing slowly. "Why, huh?" Yeah, why? Care to answer any time soon? "I guess the easy answer is..." MY GOD WILL YOU GET TO IT.

Jack crossed his arms to hide his clenched fists. Slowly, not for any kind of effect but because he was still tired and pained and very aware of the weird feeling of the vines poking out all over him and their weight as they simply hung there limply. He was also aware of the embarassing state of his appearance, and it made him blush more than a little in the presence of both women.

Then his jaw dropped. Professor Rebecca Landry just appeared out of thin air behind Hannah, looking healthy as ever, the only imperfection being the holes in her dress. She put on a pair of glasses pulled out of a labcoat that also appeared out of nowhere, and smiled and nodded at both Jack and Hannah's grandmother.

Jackson's lips moved to form a question, looking dumbfounded at the Professor when Hannah finally answered. "...revenge." Jack's gaze fell back on the witch. She seemed not to have noticed Landry's reapparance, and her grandmother wasn't about to tell her. Jack closed his mouth, trying to look at normal as possible and shot Landry a quick look that was supposed to say 'disappear on me again and I'll hunt you down and kick your ass'.

Of course, he had no idea how to give that kind of look.

He turned back to the blonde, and waited for her to continue one of these days maybe.

[Krylo]

"Innocence?" Shuyin murmured, low and mild.

'Just keep talking,' the fae thought to himself, repressing a small smile. 'I've almost...'

And then the mannequin was behind him. The fae glanced back. For a moment his eyes widened with surprise, and, maybe, fear, as he had no time to avoid the attack. He hadn't been paying enough attention, hadn't been expecting them to be able to get so high.

"This world cares nothing for innocence." Shuyin added, still looking at Dal and seemingly ignoring the disembodied words.

But then the faerie's body merely faded away, the mannequin's blades slicing through empty air as a hollow laugh echoed from the space Dalbhach had been.

"Words continue to fail me," came a voice from behind the Mannequin as Dalbhach faded back into existence. He quickly locked an arm around the mannequin's neck from behind, while another reached for her arm, his rapier having been returned to the aether.

"Then I suppose it's time you understand what it means to challenge one of the fair folk like this..." As he spoke his body changed, his toussled hair turning into fine golden wires, his green eyes becoming emeralds, and his lips seemed to be be fashioned from rubies, each set into a perfectly sculpted platinum face. His hands, arms, and all the rest of him, as well, followed suit. Dalbhach's body was no longer weak flesh, but an amalgam of precious metals and jewels, hard as steel, but much heavier. Except his wings, which seemed to be, simply, gone.

This was locked about the Mannequin, holding it as tightly as the faerie turned... whatever Dal was now could hold it, and where platinum came in contact with the mannequin's 'body' a silver light seemed to glow outward.

[Overcast]

Jay leaned on his bat, his breath heavy as he stared at the remains of the pillar. The damn thing had been HARD! He hadn't felt this much rebound in his arms since his first fastball out of the park. He gripped his bat hard and lifted it to his shoulder, letting out a yell to get his spirits back in play, it hadn't knocked down the building. He needed more.

He started a steady gait northward, trying to keep his body together and coax himself toward another wind, sure as he had burned through his second or third long ago. But he needed his strength if he was going to take down another of those damn things, he couldn't half ass it. His full potential was the difference between a line drive and a home run.

He looked into the pavilion, trying to get a grasp of how much faster he had to get his work done when he caught view of Adeline. Strange puppets armed with blades rather than proper distal appendages stood in her way. They seemed rather intimidating, even in their fancy clothes, but she brought the pain with a collection of throwing stars! Jay was about to throw her a big cheer until the things seemed to shrug off the impacts like mosquito bites.

Mild annoyances.

Jay felt himself concerned as they began to approach her, his feet stopping short on their path to the next pillar, and even worse turning. He should have been concentrating at the task at hand, but damn him if he wasn't the sort who let new ideas sway him left and right. Whether it be a duel, teammates, enemies, tactics, love. His mind could not sit still. And there was no part of him not heroic enough to let one of his classmates get jumped by a bunch of plastic goons!

They formed around her, and she struck at the one who charged from the front. For a moment he thought she had it, but it was a distraction. Moving right past her, and the other two moved to strike.

But their tactics were robotic, pre-set routines, just like all puppet shows, and so when Jay had made his way past the adorable puppy(the temptation to pet it unusually high, but capably resisted) they didn't realize he was on his way till he had made sure he was too close for it to matter when he said the next part,

"Hey fuckers! Batter up!"

He swung at the mannequin on her left, he didn't have all his heart in it. He still felt it in his arms, but it would definitely fuck up their routine.

((OOC: Teal check this and send me a PM if anything is off. I imagine Jay hasn't moved too far for his turn, but considering his condition I may be wrong.))

[Bard The 5th LW]

Sean's ultimatum echoed through the inside of the pavilion, but Shuyin offered no acknowledgement. "Then so be it!" he shouted one last time. Sean then relinquished is grip from the curtain and turned back to the allies. It was... an odd sight to say the least. Infinite it seemed. He saw the backside of some odd figure, and he may have caught a glimpse of Adeline. What would happen if the structure collapsed? What would happen to Adeline and anyone else in the pavilion?

Either way, after seeing that he wasn't sure if he wanted to go in.

His gaze lingered, and he found Diana had left. He almost felt relieved. He almost suggested that someoen should go after her, but he decided not to at risk that they would nominate him.

"Don't worry about Diana." he heard Sao say to Koh reassuringly. "When this is over, we can find a cursebreaker to finish what I started. Until then, it is probably for the best that she stays away from us. The curse she carries is highly contagious." Cursed eh? Well at least Sean didn't have to get near her, she just made him feel uneasy.

"Alright, lets get down to business then," he said to the others, although Jay seemed to be running off. "I want to help, but this doesn't seem a normal gazebo. If we go forward with this, the others might not be able to get out, I'm pretty sure I just saw Adeline in there." He took a few steps back, and focused at the standing pillar. "The risks of destroying it might be too great. We could just end up hurting each other.This is a risky thing, we might just hurt the others."

He took another few slow steps, getting a good view of nearest remaining pillar. Snow and ice were still revving around his arm as the blizzard spell charged. "Its up to you Koh, or Sao, or whoever. Give the word and I'll shoot the pillar, or give the the word and I'll try something else."

[SinrXIII]

Sao seated herself in front of the faintly steaming Kohana, facing toward him. She was getting to be quite familiar with tea-related burns, recognizing the angry red patterns it left on his skin despite the lack of obvious cause. "Lend me your hands, shaman." Folding her hands around his, the healer's aura flickered to life. The cuts and light burns on his hands faded instantly, subsumed by her will and a feeling of soothing cold. As she channelled, that cold would work its way over his body, soothing the worst of the burns.

"Don't worry about Diana." The Undine's eyes were closed in concentration, steadily drawing power through herself to the shirtless Koh. "When this is over, we can find a cursebreaker to finish what I started." Tired, low on power, and aching, Sao bowed her head. Her voice was quiet and calm, like the gentle lap of water over pebbles. "Until then, it is probably for the best that she stays away from us. The curse she carries is highly contagious."

Koh blinked, opening his eyes. Sao had moved to start healing him; he was surprised, he hadn't expected her to. Maybe he looked worse than he felt.

Not that he felt particularly great. Sitting still hurt like hell. The shaman flashed an appreciative smile before Sean's voice caught his ears and Sao's words finally processed in his head. He started to try and answer both at once, but found his tongue wouldn't cooperate and shook his head to clear it.

"No one else should go into that... thing. The inside is... expansive. And my wolf-friend can't see a way out; it would be better to stay outside and try to find a way to get everyone else out, if you ask me." The shaman frowned, looking at the pavilion.

He then turned back to Sao, brow furrowed. "Cursed, huh? That could be... unpleasant. We'll drag her to a cursebreaker if we have to chain her to a team of horses."

[Arhra]

Jo's thoughts were racing in circles.

Or at least they were trying to. They raced, hit a wall and sprang up again, only to batter themselves into the same wall.

She had lured some of her fellow students into a trap but it didn't make any sense.

As a trap, the Infinite Ballroom was terrible. Very deadly to those inside, but it was a gigantic expenditure of resources to capture just a handful of people. And Shuyin trapping himself inside an infinitely large box was absolutely terrible as far as escape plans went. The people outside were free to pull it down around his ears.

But then the pattern of her thoughts shifted and a possibility made itself clear. A booby trap as an extension of Shuyin's stalling tactics? Yes, that would fit.

He still needed to unbox himself however.

Shuyin needed to neutralise all external enemies. A hidden ally? Static and a missing clone buzzed at the back of Jo's mind. But none of the other students had gone missing. And if there was an ally, and they were potent, why had they hidden themselves until now? Hannah, Shuyin and a third person would surely have been an overwhelming force together.

It was a gamble as well. No matter what happened in here, if the students outside weren't overwhelmed he'd be pulled out and swarmed under.

Unless, unless unless unless, breaking apart the Infinite Ballroom didn't actually matter. Was this Shuyin a fake? It was a flimsy supposition, but it would fit the 'no-win' situation he preferred. It would distract people both inside and out, forcing them to devote time and energy to collapsing it while he was possibly free to work elsewhere.

It still seemed incredibly costly for what it might gain him. Flimsy as it was, she couldn't dismiss the fake Shuyin idea out of hand though.

More deadly mannequins materialised and Dalbhach unveiled a hidden talent for being diamonds. Some unforeseen interaction with the nature of this special world?

"I would say again that your plan has gone wrong and will continue to go wrong, but are you even real?" Jo called to Shuyin as she started her headlong rush at Shuyin, the blades of the pair of mannequins behind her slicing at her heels. "Dalbhach, I think this entire world is just a distraction! Kill him!"

[Girasol of Chaos]

Sean's cry was safely ignored, allowing the oni to feel comfortable as she moved north to the next pole. He didn't seem inclined to take any rapid action, so she targeted the pillar for him. As she did so, she overheard the wolf-boy that Sao was healing and kept an ear in his direction. The only thing the conversation confirmed were two obvious facts: the stupid building was a giant trap and she was right to not trust the Diana girl. Chou stopped by the pole, planted her feet into the ground and readied herself, knowing it'd take a few strikes.

Carefully using the section of her club that suffered chips from the spikes, the oni proceeded to swing calculated strokes at this next foundation. In a few strikes it would collapse, and she'd need to proceed to the next. As much as the blue-skinned ogre wanted to hurry up, she also had to keep herself strong. The other guy who seemed to blast the pillar he worked on seemed winded afterwards. It didn't stop him from taking up his bat and stupidly running into the trap.

Oh well. Chou's club slammed into the foundation for the third time causing it to give way, splintering and collapsing from the force.

[Teal Mage]

Hurling a flurry of words over her shoulder, Diana fled from her so-called allies, disappearing to the north. Sao, the front of her dress bleached white where the strange curse-fluid had touched it, had settled on the tiles in front of Kohana and now held his heat damaged hands. Bright green light radiated out from the pair, flowing from the undine into the shaman. A sharp crack erupted near them, as Chou's club smashed through the dark material of the second support, breaking it at the base. From above, there came an ominous groan. A single hairline crack now bisected the underside of the roof. Panting, Chou took a few moments to catch her breath.

"...this doesn't seem like a normal gazebo." Sean observed, standing slightly north of the others. He was eyeing the veil-shrouded pavilion with a mixture of suspicion and wariness. It wasn't too difficult to figure out what he meant - only two of the pavilion's supports were left, and they were both on the north-side, but the roof wasn't even slanting. That, and the white glow surrounding it, made it pretty clear that it was supernatural.

A corona of orange light surrounded Sean, gathered into a controlled blaze around his left hand. He turned toward Kohana and Sao, "If we go forward with this," He gestured toward Chou, who was now turning her attention to another pole, "the others might not be able to get out." Sean threw another glance toward the pavilion. Slumping slightly, Jay now stood near the center of the strange tiled expanse inside the white veil-like curtains. Aside from Kohana's puppy, he was alone. "…and I'm pretty sure I just saw Adeline in there." He added.

Clearly, Jay was not important.

* * *

"Hey fuckers! Batter up!" Jay swung!

But Mannerquin was already gone.

Exploding forward in a burst of supernatural force, the faceless doll launched itself at Adeline, ignoring Jay entirely. Stumbling, Adeline twisted left, "Wha -" Wide hazel eyes got wider, as the Mannerquin's leading hand slipped below her glowing blade to plunge into her chest. Adeline let out a choked cry of pain, sword slipping from her hands, clattering to the tiles below.

Whimpering softly, she half curled in on the katar-like hand, before suddenly arcing backward. Twin lengths of burning cold slammed into her back, and a scream tore itself from her throat. From her back, bright red fluid spurted. The doll from the west had arrived, and now stood behind her, faceless head speckled with blood.

In front of her, the first Mannerquin raised its free hand. Glinting, the katar-like limb levelled itself at Adeline's eye. "Heeheehee!"

It thrust!

Darkness exploded in a thunderclap, obscuring the figures completely.

Back on the central platform, Jay slumped faintly, aluminum bat heavy in his hands. Nearby, Kohana's puppy whimpered softly.

He'd been too late.

* * *

"…you're probably thinking that revenge is stupid." Hannah murmured softly, a faint smile appearing on her lips. She was staring at her hands, folded palm-up in her lap. The girl chuckled. "Professor Shuyin told me that a lot." A sigh, "Revenge doesn't bring anything back – if someone dies, they're gone. If something precious is destroyed, killing the person who destroyed it doesn't magically bring it back." Another chuckle followed, but this time, it sounded choked. Hannah squeezed her eyes shut. Her aura flickered for an instant, from blue to white. "Even magic can't do that. Death is forever." She raised a hand to her eyes, trembling faintly.

Around the girl's body, the arms of her grandmother tightened.

She heaved a shuddering sigh, raising her eyes to Jack defiantly. "After a while though, he stopped trying to talk me out of it." Her jaw tightened, and she closed her hands into fists, nails digging into her hands, "Because, there is a point to revenge – to killing," Her voice broke at the word, becoming higher than usual for an instant. She winced, then shook her head, sighing. "The reason you kill someone isn't to get something back." Her green eyes blinked rapidly. She took a slow breath, then released it. "Its to protect everyone else." Hannah nodded faintly, then smiled sadly. "…Professor Shuyin agreed with me, I think. I never explained it to him," She shook her head again, "but I think he understood." Self-consciously, she tangled a hand in her blond hair, gaze leaving Jack again. "He knew Professor Landry longer than any one – he had to understand that."

Her green eyes snapped back to Jack. "That's why he did all this." Hannah stated firmly, hand leaving her hair, closed in a tight fist. "It doesn't make sense any other way – he's fought Landry before, and she beat him – almost every time." She paused, eyes dropping suddenly. Her hands lowered, trembling suddenly. "It just doesn't make sense otherwise." She whispered, desperately. "Professor Shuyin wouldn't do this!" Her own cry, emphatic, stopped her cold. Green eyes wide, Hannah lowered her eyes and hugged herself, shivering.

Behind her, Professor Landry's expression was pained. Her hand was half-outstretched, then, voicing a soft grunt, she snapped her eyes away, dropping her arm to her side.

Hannah didn't say anything else.

* * *

"Heeheehee!"

A high pitched giggle erupted behind Jay. Two new Mannerquins pirouetted out of thin air, from behind him. Bladed feet clinked, as they quickly twisted, hands snapping into attack position. Auras flared white –

Suddenly, a white hilted and slim sword appeared. Spinning end over end, it rushed in from the north and swept through both Mannerquins, cutting their attack off in mid-lunge. In a clatter of plastic limbs, the dolls toppled, vicious diagonal gaps bisecting their chests. Clanging sharply, the mysterious sword embedded itself in the tiles a few feet further from Jay, near the platform's center. A faint corona of dark red supernatural light surrounded the blade, fading quickly.

He'd…been saved?

Moments later, Jay's off-hand closed around the worn leather of the weapon's hilt. It slid free of the tiles below easily. Hafting it, the young man grimly turned toward the last place he'd seen Adeline. The shroud of darkness had dissipated, but the girl was nowhere to be seen. In her place was a statue of pale blue crystal, vaguely feminine in shape, but featureless. Three Mannerquins surrounded it. Two of them were speckled with blood, one was clean.

One of the bloody dolls swung around to face him –

Just before a massive torrent of green tea engulfed the quartet, explosively. Thick clouds of steam billowed upward. "Hahahahahah!" A trio of boisterous laughs cut through the roar of water that suddenly filled the ballroom, as the three Mannerquins burst into the air far above the conflagration. White auras of flared, and they suddenly changed direction. Two raced off toward Dalhbach – separated from Jay's line of sight by the geyser of tea – while the blood faced one from before rocketed toward him. Grimly, Jay held his ground, falling back into an approximation of a boxing stance, he reversed his grip on his newfound sword. Extended behind him, the tip glinted dangerously.

At the last moment, Jay lashed out in a vicious one-handed uppercut!

"Heeheehee~" And the Mannerquin split in two.

The bat passed harmlessly threw the space left by the ghostly twins that had replaced the doll. Twirling, the ephemeral images of the Mannerquin met a half-step to the baseball player's north, and the faceless creature rematerialized. It had easily avoided the obstacle of Jay's sword. "Heeheehee!" Voicing a giggle, the doll twisted. Its blood-stained katar rammed forward, toward Jay's temple. Overextended from his awkward uppercut, Jay had no time to dodge -!

Darkness exploded.

* * *

Frigid winds swirled around Sean's frost coated left hand, raised in the direction of the pavilion's third support column. "…this is a risky thing, we might just hurt the others." He stated, glancing toward Kohana and Sao with a worried expression. The light from the undine's healing spell had all but faded, leaving Kohana fully healed, if a little damp. "Its up to you Koh," Sean continued, as Chou arrived at the column in question, expression intense, "or Sao, or whoever. Give the word and I'll shoot the pillar. Or -"

Chou slammed her club into the pole. There was no effect.

"- Give the word and I'll try something else." Sean concluded, somewhat lamely. Risks aside, it appeared that Chou had decided the best solution was to smash something.

She hefted her club, bracing herself to strike again.

Eyes shut and emerald aura burning around his shoulders, Kohana spoke up. "No one else should go into that...thing." His voice sounding strained. "The inside is... expansive. And my wolf-friend can't see a way out -" Chou slammed her club into the pole again. It trembled faintly. "- it would be better to stay outside and try to find a way to get everyone else out, if you ask me."

Taking a deep breath, Chou readied herself to strike again.

"Cursed, huh?" Kohana turned his attention to Sao. The young-looking woman looked pale and weak. "That could be... unpleasant." Chou's club thundered into the pole a third time, causing it to shed black fragments and shake. Cracking a smile, Kohana went on confidently, "We'll drag her to a cursebreaker -"

Someone screamed.

More surprised than afraid, the sudden cry had erupted from just outside of Chou's line of sight, on the pavilion's north side. Club already raised to strike again, the blue Oni started and, instinctively, lashed out. Ashen gold light flared sharply around her body, as the orge's weapon slammed explosively into the support, obliterating it in a spray of black fragments. Thrown a little off balance, Chou staggered. Above, large faults appeared on the roof of the pavilion, accompanied by a cacophony of shattering cracks. Shattered, it began to sag precariously around the edges, but did not collapse.

"- if we have to chain her to a team of horses." Kohana finished hurriedly, suddenly on his feet, smile withered away to nothing.

That was Diana!

* * *

Tiles exploded into the air, as Dalbhach crashed into the floor, a half-step from the central platform's south-west side. Arms locked tight around the slim and deceptively delicate body of a Mannerquin, the Fae had his eyes shut in concentration. Pale yellow light slowly spread over faceless doll.

Struggling, the Mannerquin's katar-like hands and feet slammed again and again into the silvery surface of Dal's skin, raising sparks and denting themselves in the process, but managing little else. A dark film had appeared on top of the creature's head, and its facial structure appeared to be warping. Whatever Dal was up to, it seemed to be working. Unfortunately, it was also taking its sweet time to finish.

"Dalbhach!" Jo launched herself forward, ice-claws glinting dangerously, as she charged Shuyin headlong. "I think this entire world is just a distraction!" Behind her, the pair of Mannerquins she had just escaped broke into a run, one charging off to the north-east, the other to the north-west – and at Dal. Shuyin, for his part, merely turned a cool smile toward the white skinned girl. "Kill him!" Barefoot, Jo hurtled toward Shuyin, eyes narrowed on the vortex-like aura structures surrounding the bluenette angel.

A low, dull, note rang from Shuyin.

Reacting, Jo twisted to the side, lunging away -

Around the Professor, a shock of coral-pink power erupted, as his charged spells detonated. Directly in front of Jo, a massive torrent of water swept outward. Quickly, the Jotun threw herself into a roll -

It was too big!

* * *

The silence around Hannah stretched for a long moment. It as though Jack was about to say something, but someone else beat him to it.

"…Shuyin is a coward." Professor Landry stated, decisively.

Hannah started, glancing from left to right in a panic. Tapping her shoulder, the girl's now-young grandmother offered a small smile, before directing the blond's gaze behind her. Professor Landry was looking to the side, toward the glittering cylinder of crystal that enclosed the tower. In the gold radiance that filled the Field, it had turned green.

"Hannah." The Professor turned her eyes, unhurriedly, toward the girl. Around the auburn haired woman's body, black fire danced and swirled fiercely. "You never could have killed me." A smile, sad, but warm appeared on her face. "Not so long as your only motive was vengeance, anyway." She shook her head, eyes closing.

"Your life becomes nothing in pursuit of a cause." The Professor continued, heat slowly building behind her words. "Doubts are banished, even when reasonable. Love -"

"Oh just shut up!" Hannah cried, suddenly up on her feet. "Stop talking about things you don't understand!" She glared at the Professor, aura rolling angrily around her. "Professor Shuyin isn't a coward! He's never run from anything in his life, and if you knew anything about him, you wouldn't say something like that!"

The Professor crossed her arms, and let out an indignant laugh. "Hardly. This entire battle is nothing but an attempt to run from reality -"

"That's a lie!" Hannah cut in, voice choked. "If any one here runs from reality, its you!" She gestured fiercely. "All you ever do is talk about love and justice, as if any of that stuff mattered! Well, news flash Professor," she slammed her foot down into the marble floor below, "they don't! The only thing that matters in real life is power! This isn't some stupid anime movie - we're not the main characters! You can't just try harder and expect results!"

The Professor's expression was dark, but she didn't reply.

* * *

"Heeheehee!"

At the same moment that Jo vanished beneath the torrent of tea, a pair of Mannerquins touched down behind Dal. One was covered in blood, the other, still perfectly clean. In front of him, a third Mannerquin slowed to a stop, forming a triangle with the other two. In the Fae's arms, the doll he held had gone slack. Twin flares of dark-light, one on his left and the other to his south, where Jay and Jo had been, respectively, erupted.

They were probably dead.

"Hee…" The Mannerquin he held giggled softly.

Around him, the trio of Mannerquins burst into motion. White auras flared bright, as they started to twirl and spin, breaking into ephemeral ghostly copies of themselves. In moments, the Fae was surrounded by wide a ring of constantly shifting dancers, outlined in a solid mass of white supernatural light. High-pitched giggles sounded from within – it sounded like they were having fun.

That was probably bad.

* * *

"At least Professor Shuyin tried to tell us the truth!" Hannah continued, eyes shining wetly. "At least he cared enough to show us that we can't expect our dreams to come true, just because we want them! Reality isn't something that can just be wished away, but the way you talk about it, all we need to do is believe in ourselves, and everything will turn out fine!"

"That doesn't work though! The only way to survive in this world is to throw all of those naive ideas away, and accept your limitations!" She threw out her arm in an expansive gesture, "Some people are stronger than you! That's how it works! If you want to survive in this world, you need to recognize that sometimes, no matter how many times you try, you can't win by throwing yourself at them! You need to fight smarter, not harder -!"

Smack!

In a flash, the Professor had crossed the distance between herself and Hannah, and slammed her fist into the girl's face. Hannah was knocked off her feet by the powerful blow, and fell back. She landed heavily, on her back.

"There! Are are you happy now!?" The Professor shouted, "That's the reality you're talking about! That's what Professor Shuyin claims you can defeat by fighting smarter! Well Hannah, the truth is, if you believe him -"

"That's enough!" Voice like a whip, Hannah's grandmother cut the Professor off.

On the ground, Hannah had pulled herself into a sitting position. Tears ran down her cheeks, but she kept her sobs quiet, biting her lip. A bright red mark dominanted one of her cheeks - it looked painful. Quickly, her grandmother knelt beside her. Whispering softly, the dark haired woman took off her shawl, and gently began to dab the blond's cheeks.

"I..." Professor Landry started, half-raising a hand. Voicing a soft grunt, the Professor turned sharply away, and walked off a few paces.

A few moments passed.

"Jack." She stated suddenly. "Come here."

...was that safe?

* * *

Smack!

Diana reeled, stumbling backward before toppling to the floor below. Her grip on her sword went slack for an instant, and the weapon flew from her grasp, sailing off the tower's edge, clanging metallically as it bounded off the tiered walk-way, toward the distance floor below. Stunned, the girl lay unmoving on the ground, aura flickering fitfully, and breath coming in quick, shallow, gasps. Though sprawled limply on the tiles, she didn't appear injured.

Tap, tap.

Steps fluid, Shuyin flowed back two paces.

His azure hair was now bound by a gold cord into a tight pony-tail, and barely extended to his jaw. Golden cat's eyes rested on Diana for a moment, before flicking left – where he knew her allies would be arriving from in moments. Like his hairstyle, his garments too had changed. The eastern-style robes had been replaced with a matching set of a black formal jacket and dress pants, both perfectly tailored enough to show off his slim and broad shouldered build. Military in style, the gold buttons of the man's were done up to just-below his collar, revealing a hint of the white dress-shirt beneath. Similarly metallic embellishments decorated his jacket's sleeves, shoulders and cuff-links, gleaming brightly in the now-radiant light filling the air. A white belt was visible at his waist, from which an empty sheath hung.

By his fighter's stance, it seemed he was ready to battle.

And, with his back to the Pavilion's north wall, it would be difficult to approach him in any way that wasn't head-on. More annoying, perhaps, was that he was also blocking Chou's most direct route to the final pillar, in the North-East corner of the pavilion. If they wanted to destroy that without a fight, they'd need to take the long way around.

Not to mention, leave Diana to fight Shuyin alone.

[Overcast]

Are you really surprised?

The words of a man who looked a lot like Jay echoed in his heads in those final moments before the blade made impact. His mind saw an unavoidable fate, he was going to lose, and this time even his willpower wouldn't be able to lift him back to his feet. He wished he knew what he could have done to fix this. What he could have done to change things, but it was too late now.

No matter how hard you try, you will always be a failure.

A single tear dropped down from the statue, the last emotions of the poor baseball player. Hopelessness and pain.

[Astral Harmony]

Astarte had been mostly sitting on the sidelines. Nothing of what had been going on all this time seemed to be worth doing anything about, simply by virtue of there being no merit in any of it.

But why wasn't it so obvious to everybody else? Even the combined strength of Professor Landry's entire class couldn't possibly beat Shuyin, and you didn't even need an empty-headed mummy's intellect to see that plain as day. And even if it was possible, Shuyin would simply summon something else from whatever pocket dimension he had stuffed in his back pocket to offer another wasteful distraction.

Astarte sighed. Try as they might, her and her classmates weren't going to accomplish anything on their own, and since there was currently no escape, all these attempts were much like pissing in the wind. But now that Professor Landry was back in the picture, maybe they could actually do something. Astarte had been saving up just for this moment!

Astarte started to walk over to Hannah, Hannah's grandmother, and Jack. The professor had just asked Jack to go to her. Maybe she had a plan of some sort?

"Professor Landry," Astarte called out. "May I help you, too?"

[Dracorion]

"…you're probably thinking that revenge is stupid. Professor Shuyin told me that a lot. Revenge doesn't bring anything back – if someone dies, they're gone. If something precious is destroyed, killing the person who destroyed it doesn't magically bring it back. Even magic can't do that. Death is forever."

By this point, Jack sat down, breathing heavily, back in an indian position. The curse had either drained him completely or damn close. Whatever the case, he was no longer in any state where he could stand without enormous effort.

"After a while though, he stopped trying to talk me out of it. Because, there is a point to revenge – to killing. The reason you kill someone isn't to get something back. Its to protect everyone else… Professor Shuyin agreed with me, I think. I never explained it to him, but I think he understood. He knew Professor Landry longer than any one – he had to understand that."

Oh, bullshit. If Hannah wanted to protect anyone, she'd be calling it justice instead of revenge. She just thought Landry should die for whatever she did. And maybe Landry should die, but that wasn't Hannah's decision to make. It was too personal for her, whatever it was.

Hannah then proceeded to attempt to defend Shuyin, badly. Then she fell silent and there was a pause.

Jack opened his mouth to ask the question, what even happened between her and Landry, but-

"…Shuyin is a coward." Professor Landry stated, decisively.

Balls.

Hannah and Professor Landry proceeded to have a heated argument about trying harder or trying smarter and reality and love and justice and things that just pissed Jack off more. They did remind him, though, he should really be doing something.

The argument ended with Landry punching Hannah, which he had to admit was kinda sweet. Then Landry walked away a few paces, seemingly regretting her rashness.

"Jack." She stated suddenly. "Come here."

Oh boy. Yeah, sure, why not?

Jack sighed. "You're both..." A breath. "Wrong."

Astarte walked past him, offering Landry her help, while Jack placed both hands on the ground and slowly hoisted himself to his feet with a pained groan. The tentacles and his own body seemed to weigh tons, and he just wanted to fall down, hit his head on the marble and pass out. "It's not about... trying harder... or smarter." He punctuated every phrase with a breath and a step in Landry's direction.

"It's about just trying... and if something doesn't work... you try something else." Inhale, step, exhale. Inhale, step, exhale. "Punching harder... or understanding what's going on... or being sneaky... or anything..."

"Nietzche wrote..." He stumbled, and barely caught himself then. "To remold... every 'It was'... into 'I willed it so!'... only that... would I call redemption."

"But what he really meant... was... 'I made it so'... 'I did it so'." He stopped, still looking firmly at Landry's back. "Wishing something... to happen... is no good." Then he turned to Hannah, and his face was entirely neutral. "Accepting things as they are... is also no good. I don't pity you... because the sad state you're in... that's your choice... your fault."

He started hobbling toward Landry again. "You have to try... something... otherwise... what's the point... in anything? ... Even if you fail... at least you tried... did something... that's... all that matters... to you... if you do just that... your life will have been well lived."

Jack let out a long breath as he finally reached Landry, standing behind her. "If none of you can help me with this curse... then I'm going to go off... probably get myself killed." He looked down, but rather, he simply looked into space. "... And laugh."

Jackson Hall, shy boy with barely any knowledge of social interaction or real human behavior, was far from the most appropriate person to deliver this message. He was someone who'd never actually done anything, for being too afraid. He wanted to, though, and now... he was pissed enough, and desperate enough, and though he was still afraid, his heart threatening to bounce right out his chest, he held his ground. He might panic and try to bolt, eventually, but at this moment, he had decided. No time better than now for enforcing his will into reality.

Besides, now would be a very lousy point to die in.

[Girasol of Chaos]

The scream that had alarmed the oni so had summoned her as soon as physically possible. Chou's alarmed mindset had helped her shatter the pillar, but also made her realize that her cowardice was a serious fault. Rounding the corner of the near-collapsing pavilion, the blue skinned ogre halted to see Diana on the ground and off-guard. Her assailant was...what appeared to be a young avatar of Shuyin. Lately, the world has been as off-kilter as she is, it took nothing other than this observation to target him as an enemy.

Just beyond him though, was the endgame. The final pillar. Behind the youth was the entrance to the cursed building-it needed to be avoided at all costs. Azure eyes flickered to Diana, she was disarmed, would she be okay? There was no time to falter. Baring her fangs, Chou knew that retreat was not an option. Bounding forward, her feet seemed to move on their own-was determination or fear still driving her? Pulling her club close in a stabilized block, Chou didn't truly know.

With most back approaches, he could easily knock her into the damn pavilion. There was no way she was going to let herself in that hell. Angled behind him-she had one chance to make this count. When close enough her blue form was flung forward as Chou dove into a roll. Using the side of her club she made a quick-but not severe-clip into the back of his legs. Her left shoulder swung forward afterwards to complete the roll proper as she hit the ground, body barely scraping on her own weapon as she did so.

If he countered, the roll would be incomplete and leave Chou on the ground and prone, but still outside. If he dodged, then no harm-to her-would be done at the immediate moment. If she hit her weight would carry her through the action and he would stumble.

Either way, she was going after the pillar. There was no way the youth could ignore the attack, but it only bought Diana time. Hopefully their classmates would follow suit and come to her aid.

The normally cool, calculating mind couldn't think of their fate otherwise.

[Bard The 5th LW]

Sean was standing still, watching Chou, when the shout split through the air.

Diana?

Sean wasn't really certain he wanted to follow her! He looked around though, and he wasn't quite sure what else could be done. Chou seemed tired and Koh looked... kinda crisp. He couldn't just leave her there in good conscious, even if she'd just eat his soul the moment he turned a corner.

He turned to Koh and Sao, and uneasy frown forming across his face, "I... guess I'll take a look." With ice still forming around his arm, Sean began to take purposeful steps towards the Northeast corner of the Pavilion, careful not to break into a run. He put a distance between himself and the curtains as he approached the turn, his arm raised in front of him almost as though he was carrying a gun.

He passed the corner a few feet away from Chou's previous position and turned when he saw the scene. Diana was on the ground, and Shuyin was standing only feet away. His eyes went wide in surprise and a small gasp escaped him. Was Shuyin only that far the entire time? Thoughts aside, Sean want going to pass up the shot. He only briefly took Chou into account, seeing her roll to the side. There was a decent margin of error in regards to hitting her and even Diana, but his reflexes took over. He took aim at Shuyin's neck and planted his feet into the ground, letting the flurry of ice fly from his arm as he braced for the recoil.

[SinrXIII]

And just like that, Jay and Adeline were gone.

Puppy had vanished, leaving Koh in a cold sweat. He shook, and pushed himself to his feet slowly. His eyes opened, cold indifference shining inside them.

"Adeline and the guy with the bat didn't make it." He clenches his fist, the same one that had been bleeding earlier. "The other two... maybe. Can't tell. Don't care." He looked up at the pavilion; the roof was still miraculously standing. The shaman grit his teeth, and took a step back.

"So let's see what City Girl got herself into." He leaps, legs pushing him into the air with practiced ease. He clears the roof just enough, and his feet touch the top of it!...

Only to have his toes grip the air as the edge collapsed under them. His eyes go wide, and he tries to throw himself backwards with all the force he can muster in thin air.

"Fuck fuck fuck fuck god DAMNIT!" His back hit the ground, air rushing from his lungs with the force of the fall. He gasped, rolling onto his side and sputtering for air. Grace was clearly not on Kohana's side today.

[Krylo]

Dal let out wistful sigh followed by a light chuckle as everything fell apart around him. Jay and Adeline were now statues, Jo was being hosed down by a celestial torrent, and he was surrounded. "You ask a mortal to do one simple thing..." he trailed off, shaking his head with a smile.

"Well then," he said a bit louder as he released the mannerquin he had been holding down, "I suppose there's no point in continuing this game..." His body faded away into nothingness as he spoke, his voice coming from the void where he once stood as the fae spoke once more, this time loud enough to be sure Jo could hear it over the giggling, if she were still alive.

"There's no point in killing him, he's just a fake. Now, if you are still standing, I'd like to request you do your best to stay alive for a bit longer. It's about time for us to take our leave."

[Steel Shadow]

Throb

She couldn't move. Her arms wouldn't listen. Her legs were busy filling multiple protests. The world refused to stop spinning.

Throb

She wasn't entirely sure what had happened. She'd found Shuyin and... And they'd ended up fighting for some reason. She didn't know why.

Throb

She didn't care why.

Throb

The only memory that was important was the one cycling through her mind again and again. He'd gotten a hit in and she'd gone down. Her face ached from the punch, and the back of her head rang from where it had met the floor.

Throb

The hurt spun together with the memory and repeated again. The world spun again, the colour bleeding out of it. Shuyin turned away from her fallen frame.

Throb

She closed her eyes.

Hurt

And demanded the world stop spinning.

Hate

Then they opened again and the ball of pain in her head ignited into -

Rage

---

If Diana occupied any point between where she had regained herself and the object of her hatred, she didn't notice. To her, the distance between them was unimportant, and the universe obliged her. It was likely that Shuyin, only just recovering from Sean's attack, never had time to notice her presence.

Her first strike caught him in the small of his back. There was a satisfying crack of bone that echoed through the focused silence of Diana's world, and a small grin slipped into the edges of her mouth. Quickly, she hooked her arm around the teacher’s throat. Then, spun in a half circle.

And ploughed him into the floor.

Stone shattered, and a crater spread outward. Shards of rock exploded into the air, but none of them cut her. Growling, she landed on her feet and wrenched Shuyin up. Twisting viciously, she lashed out in a tornado kick. Whatever was left of the man was flung forward – straight toward the pavilion.

The attack was over in four seconds.

[Riin Whitewind]

Wordlessly, Sao hauled the breathless Kohana back to his feet, steadying him while he caught his balance. There was a crash from beyond the pavilion, as if something heavy impacted the tower. After she was sure the shaman was standing on his own, she released his arm. The swimmer looked a bit wan, pale under her deep tan, but it clearly didn't impede her strength. She just looked... tired.

Stepping away from the tailed boy, she took a seat on the smooth marble floor. Closing her eyes, her back straight, Sao tried not to think of her lost friends. There would be time to mourn later, if they truly didn't make it. Until then, she had to be ready to aid those that remained. That meant quelling her natural curiosity, subsuming the desire to seek out the needy and lend them her aid. Seeking them out would be pointless if she had no energy to care for them.

Her stern, emotionless mask slipped, and the Undine bowed her head as a tear dripped down her face. Arranging her arms in her lap, she laced her fingers together and took a deep breath. Relaxing her shoulders, she slowly exhaled. Her aura glowed like a banked fire, green against tanned skin. Another furtive tear slid down her cheek as she drew a second slow breath.

In... and out. Ebb... and flow.

If someone needed her, her remaining classmates knew where to find her. Until then, in meditation she would remain.

[Arhra]

Jo saw the tidal wave of green tea rush towards her and knew there was nothing more she could do. She dived into a roll and she was lost in the burning tide.

Darkness burst at Jo's position. The steaming mist from the torrent's was forced into whirling patterns and shredded. Snow started slowly falling.

A statue of pale blue crystal stood where Jo had been. It was bigger than it should be and a tangled spiderweb of cracks covered it.

Ice. It was ice.

Jo shivered and the surface disintegrated. Its smoothness was suddenly something complex and jointed, interlocking plates and ridges of ice wrapping Jo's now powerful frame in a protective carparace.

Tension flowed out of her spine. The seven foot tall jotun slouched, broad shoulders rolling forward and letting her arms hang limply. Head bowed forward, she opened her eyes. They were dull, black and unreflective, like thick smoke or a starless night.

Something was wrong. Terribly, terribly wrong. Her chest burned. Rage flowed through her with a glacial inevitability. Jo fought to fasten into this thread of thought but her head burned and it was torn away into a seething, formless maelstrom.

There was someone standing ahead of her, visible through the thinning steam.

Are you my enemy?

Jo's thoughts pulled into alignment. Her lips pulled back into a snarl and she pulled her gigantic axe out of the air.

From her standing start, Jo translated nearly instantly into a sprint. Her footsteps rang out on the tea slick marble floor like the blows of a hammer as she crossed the remaining distance to Shuyin inside the Infinite Ballroom, murder burning in her eyes.

[Teal Mage]

Heart thundering in her ears, Chou burst out onto the north-side of the pavilion. Nearby, Diana lay crumpled on the ground. The dark haired girl's aura burned like a wild pyre in the golden air above her - she was still alive. Voicing a soft grunt, the Shuyin directly in front of Chou swung toward her. Expression grim, he fixed her in his inhuman cat-eyes. Dark scarlet light burned around his body as he fell into a fighting stance - but he appeared to be without a weapon.

Chou bared her tusks in a tight, menacing, grin. Behind him was the final pillar. Her fingers tightened on the grip of her club.

And she charged. Expression calm and eyes steely, Shuyin held his ground. Save for the sound of her steps, Chou was silent as she rapidly closed the distance with the bluenette, aura burning bright around herself. With but two paces separating them, the oni dove forward, lashing out with her club at the man's knees.

Twisting, Shuyin threw himself into an elegant pirouette and slipped away from the strike. Chou curled, quickly turning the momentum of her attack into a roll. Carmine magical power flickered around Shuyin, as a closed folding fan slipped out of his sleeve and into his hand. As Chou regained her feet, Shuyin swung toward her, hand snapping out –

Like a thundercrack, a column of gale force wind slammed into his shoulder. Ice spikes, more than a hand’s span in length, rammed into his side, piercing shallowly into his flesh. Shuyin's gasp of pained surprise was cut off, as more of those fragments of slammed into, and bounced off, his skull. Unbalanced, the man was swept from his feet and into the air, tumbling like a rag doll.

Suddenly, a dark shape appeared behind him.

"Ah!" Shuyin let out a cry of pain as a fist slammed into his back. Grey tinted darknessed exploded outward, filling the air with the twinned smells of rotting meat and dusty decay. Around them, the Greater Blizzard spell suddenly disintegrated. Blowing snow, winds and ice spikes fell into fine-grained orange ash, spraying outward as if repelled by a powerful magnet. The darkness swallowed Shuyin, obscuring him, and his assailant, within a shadowy cloud.

And from that mass, there came a bestial roar.

Stone shattered explosively, fragments spraying outward. Shuyin cried out in pain again, as dark red powder suddenly erupted from within the cloud, mixing with the orange dust left over from Sean's spell. Another roar, this one of monstrous delight, burst into the air, just before a shape was launched out of the dark cloud, and through the curtain wall of the Pavilion.

Silence.

* * *

"Professor Landry," Astarte called, approaching from the north, bright fire-red hair trailing out behind her lazily. "May I help you, too?"

Startled, the Professor blinked. She turned her head over her shoulder, expression unreadable as she regarded her bandage clad student. After a moment, she turned around fully and smiled, eyes lighting up. "Astarte!" She took a step forward, "Why, of course you can help! Come -"

She stopped abruptly. Jack was standing. The young man seemed to be struggling to speak. His voice was low enough that the Professor had to strain to hear him.

"You're both…" He began, forcing himself to walk toward Professor Landry. The vines hanging from his body seemed to be to heavy for him – each step he took was an obvious battle against them. "…wrong." As the boy went on, Hannah's sobs slowly quieted. Over her granddaughter's head, the elder Iruimi fixed Jack with a gradually darkening glare. Professor Landry’s expression, on the other hand, remained perfectly neutral – even curious.

"…I don't pity you." Jack continued, pausing in his approach to the Professor. He had turned around and was speaking to Hannah. "Because the sad state you're in - that's your choice. Your fault."

Hannah didn't even turn her head toward him.

Jack turned toward Landry again. "You have to try something. Otherwise, what's the point in anything? Even if you fail, at least you tried – did something. That's...all that matters to you. If you do just that, your life will have been well lived."

The dark haired wizard let out a long breath as he finally stopped. He was standing before Landry. The auburn haired woman was smiling kindly at him. "If none of you can help me with this curse then I'm going to go off." He stated, meeting the woman's dark eyes with his own. "…probably get myself killed." He added, gaze falling slightly. "And laugh."

"…you know what?" Hannah spoke up, voice mild, and expression blank. She had finally turned her head toward the boy, but hadn’t moved otherwise. The red mark on her cheek was startlingly bright now. Slowly, she turned her head to regard Jack. "Just jump. It would probably be the first selfless thing you've ever done." She continued, a hint of scorn entering her disinterested voice. The blond chuckled, before adding. "The world will be better off without another spoiled magic-user like you." A cold smile followed.

Professor Landry's hand closed on Jack’s shoulder.

"…I'm disappointed in you," The auburn haired woman stated, "Hannah." She sighed, eyes falling on the young wizard she now held. "Its true that Jackson's suicide threat was immature." Professor Landry went on, raising her eyes to regard Hannah again. "But, you should know better than to provoke him."

Hannah grunted and glanced away. She didn't reply.

Another sigh came from Professor Landry. She crouched in front of Jack, eyes regarding the glowing wound on his chest critically. "Jackson." The woman stated, keeping a firm hold on him, "I know you must be frustrated, but -" Casually, the auburn haired Professor reached into the glowing light. Jack felt a slight tug, as she pulled her hand away, a small blue seed held delicately between her fingers.

The vines glowing from his body disintegrated into dust.

"- the next time you need help," Professor Landry stood, before flicking the seed dismissively over her shoulder, and off the tower. "Simply ask."

And, she smiled.

* * *

Boisterous laughter floated up from the constantly shifting ring of ghostly dancers, now seven strong. Four new Mannerquins had joined the ritual, leaving Shuyin to deal with the transformed Johanna alone – and strengthening the white glow emanating from the circle’s boundary. In its center, light yellow magical power rose like steam. Dal, now immaterial, was weaving a new glamour – this one designed to free him from the Ballroom.

"I..."

Over the sounds of combat to the south-east, and the laughter from the dancing Mannerquins around him, a halting voice rose.

Sitting limply behind Dal, a few steps from the center of the spell circle, was the half-changed Mannerquin. Its face was no longer featureless, instead the creature's plastics skin now held depressions where eyes should go and below them, the impression of lips were visible. Boyishly short dark hair covered its head, and the red fabric of its dress had faded to pink. Pale yellow light still flickered around its body.

"...am broken." She whispered.

The doll was gazing down at its hands. Dented from its struggles against Dal's metallic body, and separated into the beginnings of fingers, its katar-like hands were no longer sharp. A whimper escaped the creature’s half-formed lips.

"Wh-why..." It turned its head toward the glowing place where Dal - immaterial now - stood. "… would you do this…?" The doll asked, shakily. Then, the doll paused, and seemed gulp. "…why would you do this to me?" She repeated, voice stronger this time – and filled with utter, distraught, confusion. It sounded on the brink of tears.

Below them, a series of geometric lines, like a circuit, appeared. Written in white light, they were almost painfully bright. A network of red lightning gradually rose from the top of the circle’s edge – climbing into the sky, higher and higher.

Had the light from the boundary gotten brighter?

* * *

The darkness evaporated.

Flecks of orange, dark red and deep grey dust floated through the air, like snow. A crater of shattered marble appeared, with a figure standing in its center. Slumped forward, the figure's legs were spread widely, and its arms hung limply in front of it. Dark liquid sheathed the creature from head to toe, dipping slowly. Its head lulled forward, long stringy stands of soaked hair framing its animalistic face. Rows of sharp, black, teeth, were visible within its dog-like muzzle, and a pair of glowing milky white eyes peaked out though its forest of hair. A dark grey aura burned around its body.

Which abruptly gutted out.

Diana collapsed to her knees, panting. Deep red hair, a few inches longer and several shades darker than before, now framed her pale face. A black dress, shredded beyond all hope of repair, was all that covered her body. Down the girl's back, a thick, black, and wildly branching scar was visible – it ran along her spine. Bright red blood sheathed her right ankle - and her hands.

There was no sign of the creature from before – or the black fluid that had covered it.

On her wrist, the camera bangle flickered. A picture appeared.

It was working again.

* * *

Ice shattered.

The winged Shuyin arced a delicate blue eyebrow.

A hulking figure now stood before him. Over seven feet in height, the creature dwarfed the bluenette, both in length and width. A complex carapace-like suit of glittering ice covered the being's muscular body, each interlocking piece shimmering with supernatural power. Long white hair spilled from its head, which, like its arms, hung limply in front of it. Hidden within those locks, a pair of black eyes stared sightlessly down at slowly spreading pool of tea below.

Thoughtfully, Shuyin raised a delicate hand to his lips. "Well, well." He chuckled softly, a smile spreading on his face. "I admit, I didn't expect that." Another chuckle bubbled from the man, gradually raising in volume until he was almost doubled over, laughing hysterically.

Johanna's head rose, slowly. Black eyes blinked, once. Twice. Her lips pealed back in a snarl. Magic flared. Ice raced out from Jo's hand, forming into a long, slim, crystalline staff. At its peak, a blade formed, a massive wedge-like crescent on one side of the haft, and a wicked spike on the other.

She charged Shuyin.

Steel clashed against ice. "My plan has gone wrong." Shuyin murmured, gold eyes dilated to slits. His jian had appeared. Knuckles white and arm trembling, the bluenette held it between Jo’s axe and his body, blocking her strike. "And will continue to go wrong." A crack had appeared in the steel of the blade. "That was -"

The blade shattered.

Coral light flared and Shuyin's wings snapped open. Jo's axe swept down, the edge slicing through white fabric, then flesh, as the man was suddenly launched backward, narrowly escaping a direct hit. Clear green-tinted liquid sprayed and steam rose from the wound, staining the kimono around it.

It appeared that Angel Shuyin had tea for blood.

"- what you said, wasn’t it?" Shuyin finished, stabilizing himself in the air above the central platform. "The truth is Johanna -" He cut himself off, gold eyes falling on a figure below.

The other Shuyin.

On his hands and knees near the central platform's southern edge, the tuxedo-clad version of Professor Shuyin was surrounded by a raging corona of carmine light. Blood stained holes marred his suit, and his hair spilled over his face and back - the gold cord that had bound it, lost. One of his hands was jammed against his stomach, surrounded by an almost blinding supernatural glow.

It seemed Tuxedo Shuyin was healing himself.

"- gods blast it." Angel Shuyin muttered. "Alph, you have absolutely terrible timing."

He was the closest thing to Jo.

[Bard The 5th LW]

Sean could feel his heart pumping in his chest. Rapid fire, like a machine gun. Ice and snow streaked his arm, and his shoulder was sore from the recoil. His eyes were wide and his jaw open. His legs were shaking. There were too many thoughts in his head now, but one came to mind.

Was that a roar?

Stone was broken around Di. Her clothes were different again. Dal's words returned to mind. As did the sense of uneasiness she gave him earlier. He didn't say a word, but his eyes were locked on her as his legs forced him to take several steps back. What... was he looking at? The... creature... seemed gone, as did the black liquid. He scanned the girl, blood on her hands and ankle. She was on her knees, injured? Sean still couldn't bring himself to advance into the fallout zone. Was that her own blood on her hands and ankle? He still was at a distance, and he realized that he still had his arm up, shaking as well. He was shaking all over!

But as he tried to put his thoughts together, he couldn't think of anything. A part of him wanted to try to help, but what could he help? The larger part of him was also still in shock! Was it a good idea to get closer? There was a monster in that girl's place but a moment ago.

"D-Diana?" He asked, trying to assert his voice. He wasn't really sure of what he was looking for in an answer.

[Girasol of Chaos]

As her body recovered from the roll, an ice and wind-laced cacophony erupted behind Chou, prompting her feet to carry her immediately into a sprint towards the final foundation. An icy wind bit at her back, freezing some of the stray onyx hairs that had fallen from their pins and coupled with a pain that prompted her to go impossibly faster. Adrenaline pumped through her veins as the distance was closed almost instantly, but to her it felt like a mile. Young Shuyin's cry behind her was drowned by Chou's mind alerting her of an overwhelming stench. Diana had returned to being a rotting horror, foul decay watering the oni's azure eyes with stinging odor. Her peripheral vision detected darkness engulfing the area behind her, spurring her towards her goal.

Using her speed to build momentum, the blue ogress twisted her body to swing the club with all of her might at the pillar. Feet planted now, the second swing on was fueled by fear. Behind her an impossibly deep roar sounded, rattling her very bones. Again, and again she swung, another roar-was it closer now?- bellowed behind her fueling her panic. Sweat beaded on her forehead with each swing, muscles tensing and flexing in determined, repetitive waves. Iron teeth bit the magically-enhanced substance as it cracked and splintered.

Every fiber of her being was willing the pillar to break.

[Steel Shadow]

For one blessedly clear moment as her anger broke, Diana was free to try to comprehend what had just happened.

And then the pain hit her.

Everything hurt. Everything. She felt as though she'd used to smash bricks. Many, many bricks. The strength that had filled her just seconds ago just drained away with her rage, and she was left empty.

She fell to her knees, then forwards onto all fours, and heaved out the contents of her stomach. Her protesting body was finally folding under the stress. Both the physical and mental strain of the past... Hour? Had it only been an hour?... Had taken their toll.

Spent, she coughed pathetically, her arms shaking from the adrenaline rushing through her system. Hot tears stung at her eyes and left tracks down her face in the dust that settled on her. What little remained of Diana's once flattering evening dress did little to cover her now. She looked terrible.

"D-Diana?" A voice she recognised called out to her, somehow reaching through the fogged daze her mind was in. She looked up, her unfocused eyes searching for him.

"S... Sean?" Blue eyes latched onto the Canadian and held on to him like he was a beacon in a storm. "I..." She fumbled for words, the acidic taste in her mouth tripping her tounge. "Sean... Please..." She choked again, her voice becoming raw and pleading. "I don't... What's going on?"

[Bard The 5th LW]

"I don't... What's going on?"

A shaken "uhh" was Sean's response.

Sean was still just standing there as he looked down at the girl, hacking a lung on her knees. He was still frightened, and he could still feel a nagging voice in his head telling him to "run away" and just leave her.

But a spark of empathy changed his mind. Despite what fear he was feeling, he didn't know how he might feel about himself in the long run if he had just ignored her plea.

He took cautious steps forward as he moved into the sort of crater she had made. The blue girl was flinging herself at the pillar, still trying to collapse the structure. He looked into the curtain, and viewed a rather infinite expanse. Two things caught his eye. Shuyin, proving the man wasn't the dust in the air, and a large, lumbering figure. More monsters. He wanted to get away from here.

Now an arm's reach from the girl, Sean took off the somewhat torn white jacket that made up his tuxedo, leaving him in his dress shirt. This was to serve two purposes, to cover her up and to try and minimize physical contact. He reached down and draped it over her shoulders. He tried to avoid further eye contact as he spoke once more.

"Try to get up," he spoke uneasily, eyes flickering on Shuyin and the somewhat familiar giant, as he hesitantly extended an arm to the girl to help her to her feet.

[Dracorion]

Hand. Shoulder. Don't flinch. Don't even blink. This is a perfectly acceptable touch.

Landry expressed disappointment in Hannah, then she crouched to look at Jack's wound. Okay, awkward. He was once again acutely aware of the shameful state of his clothes and overall appearance.

"Jackson." She began, "I know you must be frustrated, but -" Then Landry stuck her hand in his chest. AUGH BAD TOUCH BAD TOUCH. Jack groaned and flinched at the uncomfortable feeling, but Landry's hand was still on his shoulder, keeping him firm and she didn't spend a lot of time rooting around in his cavity. A moment later, she had removed a seed and flicked it off the tower. "- the next time you need help, simply ask."

"Well-" He started, but then he finished processing what had been said. "Wait, jump?" He asked incredulously, turning to Hannah. "No, I was just going to get between Shuyin and everyone. And who the hell are you to give me any crap? You-" Wait, priorities. God forbid there might be bigger things at stake than whatever's going on between these two. Like all of our lives.

He took a deep breath, covering his face in his hands trying to calm himself. It wasn't entirely effective, and he stood for a minute just staring angrily at Hannah with his fists clenched at the sheer hypocrisy before turning back to Landry. "Sorry." He said ashamedly, one of his hands unclenching to rub absently at the aching spot in his chest where the hole used to be. "Um... thanks for helping me." Right, ask. "Do you have any advice for dealing with Shuyin?"

Then he remembered his clothes and body were still in a sad state. "... And is there any chance I could get some new clothes to go with that cursebreaking?" He asked quietly, cheeks red with embarrassment.

[Krylo]

Dalbhach looked back as he heard a voice speaking. Asking if it was broken, asking why he had done what he had done, and what he saw surprised him. Shocked, perhaps. He had expected that leaving the illusion creature half formed between his vision and its natural state would leave it, well, as it had said: Broken. He did not expect it to be able to move, to speak. To know anything at all.

The yellow glow dissipated as the fae, existing in a state of non-existence, allowed his power to dissipate, and the cracks in the world faded, as the faerie who was not really there moved to the side of the mannequin who should not exist, and inspected her for a moment. A voice, from the nether, then, spoke in her ear.

"I have made a mistake," it said, though the voice showed no remorse, no regret. In fact, it seemed ecstatic as it continued, the voice moving to her other ear, "You, are a mistake."

"A beautiful, glorious, incredible mistake," its voice was now in front of her, a foot away perhaps? And much louder. "Don't you realize what I've done? What I've given you?" It was coming from all around her now, the point of origin hard to find. Behind her? To her right? To her left? Ahead? Was it moving?

"I," it spoke again, this time once more in her ear, "Have given you life. Freedom. I've made you far more beautiful than your sisters, far grander, more than they could ever be."

And then the platinum boy was before her. "I've given you the gift of choice," his ruby lips curving into a smile as it addressed her.

However, his attention was quickly pulled away as sound erupted and Shuyin launched into the ballroom, and then the boy saw, that even with his magic gone, powerful energies were still at work here. The platinum statue of a boy once fae looked around himself as if trying to calculate an expedient enough escape, and then with a sigh, he placed a hand on the mannequin.

"I hope this isn't another mistake," he said quietly before they both vanished, as Dalbhach extended his glamour of non-existence to the... creature, before him. And both vanished, as the fae hoped this would be as temporary for the creation of illusion as it was for him, and pulled her toward an escape from her sisters, and toward the injured Shuyin.

[Astral Harmony]

"I think the real thing we need right now is to remove the barrier sealing us all up in the Field of Honour," Astarte butted in. "Maybe leave this whole Shuyin-stomping nonsense for perhaps some other day. I'm not even sure if us students should be acting on what's going on. We really don't know the whole story, or at least I don't, and I'm really too tired and pissed off to give a damn about who's right and who's left...ergh, wrong."

And if they probably weren't going to be fighting Shuyin today then maybe...

Astarted turned to Hannah. "Hannah, do you think you could help us, too? I'm not telling you to go against Professor Shuyin or take Professor Landry's side. I'm just saying that...we're not really in the correct frame of mind right now to go judging or bringing justice on anyone. We're trapped in this place, we've been fighting for some time, and the stress is really starting to get to me to where I don't want to do anything for anyone. Can we just work together on getting the barrier disabled and maybe go cool our heads? It's not like Shuyin and Landry are going to escape to somewhere else besides the academy, so this big ol' prison is completely pointless and has been since it was activated."

Astarte had tried her best to appear sincere, and actually was. She didn't know who was right or wrong, and at this point, frankly couldn't give half a damn less. And if there was some ancient wrongdoing involved, what evidence of said wrongdoing were they going to unearth here?

Unearth? Now Astarte was worried about Linda. As one of Astarte's best friends, Linda would probably still be waiting outside the Field of Honour, and falling to pieces all the while. Not to mention Gorgeous and Vanilla still petrified down at the base of the tower.

[Arhra]

Steel sang out before it crumbled and fabric parted. An insipid spray welcomed Jo for a moment then sails billowed and carried it away. Meaningless words washed past her.

Her black eyes blank, Jo tracked the angelic Shuyin's movements up into the air. She lowered her axe and half twisted her body, winding up for a throw. With a grunt of exertion and burst of supernatural energy, she sent her axe flying through the air to meet him.

Closer, magic bloomed in a pulse of unwelcome heat. Jo whirled, the corona of red light about the tuxedo clad Professor Shuyin reflected in her eyes like flames. Without hesitation she surged forward at this suddenly revealed second Shuyin bare handed.

Shuyin was on his hands and knees, at the central dias' southern edge. One hand was jammed against his stomach, the source of the burning light. Towering over him, Jo fell on him like a pack of wolves. A foot lashed out to bowl him over and then she would fall uupon him with fists like battering rams.

[Teal Mage]

OoC: Please check your Inboxs and the OoC Thread before replying to this.

Golden energy flared, exploding brightly in the air above the central platform of the Infinite Ballrom. Shuyin's gasp of shock quickly changed in a cry of outraged pain, as Johanna's thrown axe shattered his defense spell. The top of a bisected hand thumped dully to the tiles below, leaking a puddle of tea.

When the conflagration cleared, the winged Shuyin was hunched forward, surrounded by a mass of shimmering cherry blossom-like motes of coral red light. In his chest, the head of Jo's massive axe had buried itself, weighing him down. He growled softly, before closing the delicate fingers of his undamaged hand closed around the painfully cold haft of the weapon.

A feral smile split his features.

Below, carmine light surged, and the second Shuyin lept away, narrowly evading Jo's wild kick. The long haired bluenette landed back two paces – wounds healed. Like a pack of wolves, Johanna pursued. Ice-clad fists lashed out, as Shuyin fell back into a defensive stance. Golden eyes darkened, as the man fell back, steps fluid, before the jotun's onslaught. His arms moves precisely, redirecting and slipping around her blows.

"This could only -" Face half-shrouded within his veil of blue hair, Shuyin pulled away, evading another kick by Jo. He ducked beneath the white haired giant's wild follow-up arm strike, landing on all-fours. Cat-like, he pushed off the tiles and into the air, narrowly escaping a jaw-breaking uppercut. The bluenette landed in a crouch several paces back. His fingertips slipped into the pockets of his pants.

"- have ended -" Dark scarlet power flared, as Shuyin's arms lashed out. Folded fans flew - each surrounded by dark red glass-like energy. They thudded shallowly into Jo's chitinous armor, throwing ice fragments outward. Undaunted, Jo was suddenly in front of the man, gold light flaring around her massive frame. Shuyin uncoiled, leaping back once more - to land beside the pale blue Jay statue. Shattered tiles and dust exploded into the air where he had been, as Jo's fist impacted the floor, demolishing it.

Shuyin's hand landed on Jay's own."- one way." The sword the statue held suddenly fell into the air – and then to Shuyin's second hand, waiting below. Dark red energy flowed up the blade, as Jo exploded out of her own dust-screen, axe-reformed.

An earth-shattering crack suddenly split the air. Shuyin breathed a soft sigh. The bluenette shut his golden eyes – as Jo's heavy ice-shod foot slammed down on the tiles before him. White hair dancing around her face, she whipped her axe in a two-handed chop, straight at his neck.

Rocks fell. The pavilion collapsed.

And darkness erupted.

* * *

"…this big ol' prison is completely pointless and has been since it was activated." Astarte concluded, crossing her bandage clad arms decisively -

A great crash sounded behind her, as the fissure riddled roof of Shuyin's veiled pavilion fell to the ground, shattering. From the rumble, three simultaneous thunderclaps of darkness exploded. Then, like a javelin, a great mass of seething darkness burst upward from the ruins, impacting the golden sky far above, and spreading outward. The golden radiance of the field dimmed, as the pillar expanded. New flares of darkness burst into the air, as Diana, Sao, Chou, Sean and Kohana quickly vanished into its flowing depths.

And Professor Landry smiled brightly.

"Well Students," she stated, crossing her arms, "it appears there's nothing left for us to do here." The Professor raised a hand to her glasses, and began to calmly clean them on her labcoat's sleeve. "Your classmates have won, and Shuyin is vanquished." Unconcerned, she returned her glasses to her face, and smiled brightly. "I expect to see you all bright and early for class tomorrow."

And then, a pillar of darkness raced down from the sky above, consuming her completely. A whirling vortex of curving dark tendrils swirled out from it, curling around Hannah, her grandmother, Jack and Astarte. They slowly, almost delicately, they began to expand inward toward them. Around the roof-top, more pillars of darkness descended, seemingly at random.

Hannah laughed softly, and hugged her grandmother. "Just relax you two!" She called, "You'll be fine!" A whipping wind had rose, and its roar all but drowned out everything else.

"It was good to see you one last time, Hannah!" The woman exclaimed, smiling broadly, even as the darkness closed in on her and her blond haired granddaughter. She hugged Hannah tightly.

"It was good to see -" The blond stopped suddenly, eyes falling on the now-young-woman's aura, as if for the first time. She snapped a glance toward where Professor Landry had been, and then gasped. "W-wait! She - does that mean you're -?"

The woman nodded, a warm smile on her face - just before a swirling wave of blackness consumed her.

Hannah's eyes widened. "No -!" Around her body, a loud shattering sound ripped through the gale. Amid lashing strands of blond hair, her aura flared. Pale blue shards broke apart, razor sharp fragments spraying outward. Beneath, a white banner appeared –

And then she vanished as well.

* * *

Adeline bit into a length of celery viciously.

It was lunch time in the Amaranth Institute for the Gifted. After her first day, and first night here, the small tray of vegetables and fruits she'd picked out from the buffet set out by the school's cooks was refreshingly mundane. And after class with Professor Landry, she reflected, we all could use something a little more mundane. Adeline sighed, then selected an apple slice from her tray. She was lucky enough to be sitting alone in the, currently noisy, Amaranth Cafeteria.

As if having a a nightmare about strange blue-haired angels, towers surrounded by voids of crazy purple nothingness, killer plants and bizarre knife-handed dancing dolls wasn't bad enough, she'd been shocked awake at 5 am by Diana screaming. To make matters worse, her other roommate, Sarah, had looked like she'd seen a ghost when Adeline popped into Diana's room to offer the pair some of the strawberry tea Diana liked.

Adeline sighed mournfully. To say nothing about the way Sarah inexplicably forgot the month we've known each other. And Sarah was the normal one! Diana had been the one to talk her down. Diana! No surprise I didn't get back to sleep after that. She reflected, only mildly bitter.

Landry's class, at least, had been less crazy than yesterday. No exploding lightbulbs, battle axes or debates about sports, at least. They'd gotten two new students. Dal's cousin, and some girl named Antonia. She'd been appointed Class President - I will not think about that now - and Landry hadn't even shouted that much, outside of her rant about Shuyin at the class's opening. Apparently, he'd been transferred to Cambodia to tutor the country's royal family.

Adeline snorted. She shoved what was left of the celery stalk into her mouth. Probably stepped on too many toes. Professor of Etiquette and Manners my ass. On the bright side, it did mean their duel with him was canceled, no chance of that nightmare coming true now. She flicked a baby carrot across her plate. And Jay's duel with Hannah was canceled too. Adeline chuckled, God, what is wrong with that kid? Challenging Hannah to a duel? She'd waste -

Adeline blinked her two coloured eyes rapidly, hastily cutting off her thoughts. She'd done it again. All day, she'd been mixing up elements from the nightmare with real life. The girl heaved a heavy sigh.

"Maybe I'm going crazy." She muttered, idly returning to playing with her food. "Stupid dreams."

* * *

At Roughly the Same Time – Deep In the Ansidor Woods

Steam rose from a large pool of murky faintly green-tinted water. Happy yips filled the modest clearing, raising from the small black wolf pup dog-paddling happily along the hotspring's surface. The only other shape in the pool was the muscular, tanned, form of Kohana. The youth's clothes lay folded in a neat pile at the edge of the pool, and his long hair was unbound, leaving his triangular dog ears to twitch gently in the open air.

Nearby, a slim caramel haired youth reclined leisurely on a suspiciously chair-like knot, near the base of one of the surrounding trees. His violet eyes faced into the surrounding forest, and a sketchpad resting on his lap. A small box of coloured chalk lay in the grass beside his feet. His hands moved busily over the surface; he was drawing the likeness of a nearby fern.

They’d been here most of the day.

Beyond the trees, on the north side of the secluded hotspring, two women sat before a large, smooth, table-like, slab of stone. A pair of rough hewn stone mugs, filled with maple tea, rested before each of them. Three small rock contains were arranged midway between them, around a larger stone kettle, containing honey, sugar, cream and more of the syrup-like tea, respectively.

"Hm."

The taller of the two, a tall, slender figure with long green-tinted black hair and a red-ish caste to her tanned skin, had spoken. One of her long, delicate, fingers tapped the stone table before herself. She wore only a simple sleeveless dress of pale hide, the hem of which extended to her knees. Her green eyes were thoughtful as she regarded the younger, shorter, figure across from her - Sao Opallios.

"A curse made from magic, but resists magic." The woman spoke, voice soft and breathy. "That sounds quite a lot like White or Black Magic, to me." She closed her fingers around the wooden stir stick beside her mug, then began to tap the cup's rough hewn rim lightly. "I can see why Kirk would send you to me."

She nodded softly, "Although, if she resisted your healing spell yesterday, and the..." Her green eyes flicked toward Sao's lap, "...curse, somehow sealed you in human form, I'm afraid it will be beyond me, as it stands, to resolve the issue." The woman shut her eyes, dark green hair swaying as she gently shook her head. "The issue of how the curse got on you aside, for now, at least."

"If this spell is proper Black or White Magic, breaking it may be impossible." She stated, bluntly. "But, if you are committed to this, I may have an idea." Expression serious, she laced her delicate fingers together, and leaned forward. "All Hallow’s Eve will be here in roughly two months. It will be highly dangerous, but, if we begin preparations now, I believe we can have a ritual prepared by then of sufficient power, to stand a chance."

She seemed to be awaiting Sao's reply.

* * *

Meanwhile – On the Field of Honour

Hannah sipped tea.

The blond haired girl knelt on a white cushion, legs clad in well-fitted dark blue jeans. A plain, slightly frilly, white tunic covered her chest and hung down to her thighs, clinched at her waist with a simple black belt. Its gold buckle glinted brightly. Her green vine-like bracelet was in her hair today, tying it back into a thick pony tail. In front of her was a second white cushion. A cup of green tea was set in front of it, still steaming faintly in the afternoon light.

She smiled faintly.

Nearby, several groups of Amaranth students, mostly first years, chatted amongst themselves, arranged in small groups at random across the garden-like roof of the Field of Honour. It was too early in the year for many duels, so the Field was relatively free for public use. Hannah was at the eastern edge, near the massive tree in the south-east corner. The only students near her were her tuxedo-clad bodyguards – one lounging casually on the box-like planter of the nearest oak. The other was closer to Hannah, arms crossed imposingly.

Whenever a student came close, one of them moved to bar their approach to Hannah. Or just pulled down their glasses to glare at them. Given the space she had, the pair had been surprisingly effective at crowd control.

…it may not have hurt that the blond had also been having a causal, one-sided, conversation with herself for the past half-hour.

Just a normal day at the Amaranth Institute for the Gifted.

((OoC: Just to reiterate, please check your Inboxs, read the PMs I sent and the OoC Thread, before posting.))

[Bard The 5th LW]

Sean stood over Diana's shoulders, eyes locked on the unfolding battle between the suspiciously familiar giant and the two Shuyins. "Come on! Let's go!" he suddenly urged her. He leaned forward to grab her arm.

"- one way." Sean couldn't avert his eyes. The axe fell. The pavilion followed. Black light came cascading from it, it felt warm, like a relief from the stress of the battle until now.

---

Sean threw off the blankets around his bed and hopped to his feet, feeling wide awake. He swiftly threw on a black shirt, tan slacks, and a pair of dark brown shoes. The clock said 5, but he felt surprisingly well rested. He stretched his arms and legs a bit before continuing his morning routine.

It was on his way to brush his teeth that it all came crashing down on him. The dream, Diana, Shuyin, everything.

"Oh God," he muttered putting a hand to his head as the nightmare came back. He staggered a bit. What could have inspired something like all that? He shuffled back over to his closet, and examined his wardrobe. There it was, the tux his father had bought and enchanted for him before Sean had departed to Amaranth. It was cut up in places, what with Sarah's "enhancements" to it.

But... the damage matched up with his dream as well. Even moreso, he remembered giving Diana the jacket after class on the first day. Ugh... Diana. The spooky girl. That dream didn't do much to lessen the sense of unease she gave him.

This wasn't going to be an easy day.

---

Sean had left the dorm before he had a chance to talk with Johanna. He sort of stumbled through the day. He noticed two new classmates but he couldn't remember their names. One was related to Dal or something. He tried to avoid looking at Diana who was sitting behind him.

The news of Shuyin's trip to Cambodia came as a surprise. A pleasant one actually. The nightmare had sorta made him decide to skip the duel, and now there wasn't even a duel to skip along with the canceled one that Jay had started. And maybe now he wouldn't have any reminders of Shuyin's fate in his dream since he wouldn't see the guy in the halls.

Sean's general interest in the rest of class sorta faded. Something about the Greeks. He couldn't focus on it while remembering the events of the nightmare. It was just a nightmare right?

---

After class, Sean had a bit of a debate with himself over what to do next. He didn't want to go near the field at all, but he decided to go through with it to perhaps confirm to himself that it was just a dream.

There was a decent amount of people when he got there. Was this a park or something when duels weren't going on? The first disturbing he noticed was that it looked just like it had in the nightmare duel.

'Relax, I probably saw it during orientation.'

The second disturbing thing he noticed was a tea party of one. The particular member of this tea party was the same girl who had kicked his ass in the nightmare duel. He was a decent distance away, but he could faintly make out what looked like her talking to someone. Was she talking to the thugs around her? Sean briefly bit his lip, standing near the opposite end of the field. He didn't really want to go, but what would he gain by doing nothing?

He began to walk towards her at a slow pace, arms hanging casually at his side. He practiced what he was going to say in his head, hopeful to avoid stuttering. He waved weakly as he approached the small tea party.

"Hello!" he greeted, putting on as polite a voice as he could, slowing as he neared the two large fellows who accompanied Hannah. Jack's scream of pain was still surprisingly fresh in his head. "Would you mind if I join you for a moment?" Hopefully he wouldn't regret this.

[Girasol of Chaos]

With a mighty crunch iron smashed through the final pillar, shattering it to splinters. Chou turned her face to watch the pavilion collapse, but instead her vision was filled with a horrifying sight-she watched as some great *thing* beheaded the bluenette.

Other figures were there too- a girl in pink and the fae from before, but as the blood poured forth from the professor's neck her mind didn't focus on the smaller details. Not a heartbeat later the structure collapsed, crushing all of the individuals inside and the area exploding with blood.

A flood of darkness, it felt like water, engulfed her afterwards, sealing the demise of the professor and her allies in her mind. It was a welcome embrace, but she couldn't shake the utter wrongness of her actions entirely.

***

Chou woke up in a cold sweat. The nightmare was extremely vivid and was full of individuals she had no knowledge of. Remaining in bed, her hand grasped the thick notebook on her nightstand and cracked it open in a fluid motion, passing several pages worth of notes and settling on a blank page.

The pen scribbled ferociously as meticulous notes of everything she could remember of the nightmare were documented- individuals, actions and even some of the little things, hoping for answers. A note at the end scribbled angrily, scolding her second half for not documenting anything from the first day of class. Perhaps Shin had a rough day, and the sheer exhaustion of it passed consciousness in the middle of the night.

The human charm in place again Chou got up and settled her hair-she refused to style it similarly to her counterpart, and detested the mohawk. It was brushed down and out of her face to drape around her shoulders as she readied herself for class. It was bright and early, she had time to adjust to her surroundings. The room would need to be..decorated later, barely anything was unpacked yet. She readied some jeans and a light blue shirt to wear, regarding the orange kimono- a gift from her parents - with sadness. She'd need to get it repaired one day. Wasn't that in her dream, too?

***

Chou introduced herself to her roommates, Kit and Teanne. She cautiously apologized for her lack of memory and revealed her mental illness, citing that they deserved to know if they were going to live with her. Both agreed to keep it a secret, a gesture the oni was very thankful for, and Kit confirmed that it was the second day of classes.

Teanne was having herself a hot mug of green tea and offered Chou some - a warily obliged offer that seemed to cheer the oni up after the drink. The tall Asian was elegantly dressed in purples that reflected in her grey eyes, causing a stunning effect.

Chou had no difficulty recognizing her other roommate as a kitsune, however she had difficulty determining the sex of the individual that was cooking, orange tail swishing from under the apron strap. Paying it no heed she thanked them for their generosity and went to class.

***

Chou arrived early and took a seat in the far back corner of class, hoping she hadn't sat in anyone else's spot. Two "new" students were introduced, and several announcements concerning class president and Shuyin occurred. Head cradled in her palm Chou watched with fascination as many of the students-even the professor, had been in her nightmare. Perhaps the information was carried over from Shin?

Regardless, Chou tried not to take her assumptions from her nightmare and allow them to carry over to the real world, even though it seemed accurate. Her handwriting kept up with the lecture as her new classwork book began to require filling.

***

Opting to stay neutral for the day, once class was released Chou headed towards the cafeteria. Pleased to see that there was quite a variety of options, she took her roast beef sandwich and began to look for a place to sit. Another figure from her dream, she recalled the name Adeline, was alone and seemed distressed.

The girl was angrily engaging in warfare against her celery stalk, lost in thought. "Excuse me, Adeline?" Placing her platter across from the girl Chou smiled weakly, "Do you mind me sitting here?" Perhaps it was time to start answering the questions that Shin's lack of communication caused.

[SinrXIII]

Shuyin's veiled pavilion fell to the ground, shattering. From the rumble, three simultaneous thunderclaps of darkness exploded. Then, like a javelin, a great mass of seething darkness burst upward from the ruins, impacting the golden sky far above, and spreading outward. The golden radiance of the field dimmed, as the pillar expanded. New flares of darkness burst into the air, as Diana, Sao, Chou, Sean and Kohana quickly vanished into its flowing depths...

Koh sat up slowly, rubbing his eyes. He was at the foot of Sieg's bed again, shivering. He sat up, rubbing his face and running a hand through his hair. "It... was a dream? Shit... I feel like I've been asleep for a year..." Under his head was a neatly folded pile of fancy clothes, a gift from his Elder, though these remained out of mind as he dragged himself into consciousness.

He slowly, carefully, moved to his feet and made his way to Sieg's closet, pilfering a pair of pants and, after some consideration, a white button-down shirt. These he set to the side as he dove back into the closet, coming out once he'd grabbed a pair of tomahawks with wooden handles and polished steel heads. A small box also came with him, and these he set aside as well.

After tugging his (Sieg's) pants on, and the shirt, he gathered his axes and box and hopped out the window, into the dark. His feet took him directly to the woods off campus, and after a few hours of asking the spirits for direction (and one Willow Meralde for permission), he was relaxing in a very peaceful glade.

------------------------

Steam rose from a large pool of murky faintly green-tinted water. Happy yips filled the modest clearing, raising from the small black wolf pup dog-paddling happily along the hotspring's surface. The only other shape in the pool was the muscular, tanned, form of Kohana. The youth's clothes lay folded in a neat pile at the edge of the pool, and his long hair was unbound, leaving his triangular dog ears to twitch gently in the open air.

Nearby, a slim caramel haired youth reclined leisurely on a suspiciously chair-like knot, near the base of one of the surrounding trees. His violet eyes faced into the surrounding forest, and a sketchpad resting on his lap. A small box of coloured chalk lay in the grass beside his feet. His hands moved busily over the surface; he was drawing the likeness of a nearby fern.

They’d been here most of the day.

"Sieg. If you never believe another word I say, please take this to heart; that fucking dream was real. I swear it was. It happened." The small box he'd taken that morning was open, and a long thin pipe rested in Koh's hand. Smoke trailed lazily into the air, giving off a faint, sweet smell. Koh's eyes were half-closed, and he took a very slow hit from the pipe. "I can't prove it, but somehow, I just know it. That dream happened. Are you sure it's only our second day here?"

He grumbled, setting the pipe down on it's box, and stood. The shaman picked up a towel that Sieg had the foresight to bring, and died himself before pulling his pants and shirt back on. His wolf companion barked at him, climbing out of the water and shaking vigorously to dry himself before laying in the grass near Sieg.

Koh picked up his axes, testing the weight of each. The leather grips around the wooden handles were worn, and falling apart in places. The wolf-boy smiled, though the expression faded as a flash of an ice monster and a beheaded teacher flashed through his mind. He shook it off, and tightened his grip on his axes. He began to step and twirl, swinging each axe in turn as he started his dance.

His eyes closed, body moving on its own, as he slipped into meditation.

[Steel Shadow]

Water hit the basin in a rush, the tap turned up to full blast. The hiss of the rushing liquid didn't quite drown out the raised voices outside the bathroom, but Diana pretended it did, just so she could find space in her head to calm down. Carefully, her hands - No blood, there wasn't any blood shutupshutupshutup - cupped under the downpour and splashed her face. The cold was unpleasant, but it helped.

Right.

Well that was... Something. First time she'd ever woken up screaming. - Dead, he was dead, all that blood on your hands-SHUTUP! -

Di splashed herself again, then started rubbing her face, making absolutely sure she was awake now. The last thing she wanted was for one of the creatures from her dream showing up here. She was home. She was safe. She had not just seen someone die. More than that, she had not just tried to kill someone. God, was this what all nightmares were like? How did people cope?

Diana, as a rule, never remembered her dreams. At best, she'd occasionally awake with the vaguest feeling of boredom. And since it was generally 8ish hours of dull blankness, Di tended to avoid sleep until she had no other option.

Well, now she had a new reason for doing so. What the hell was that?! It was... It was...

Whatever it was, it would have to wait as she looked up, finally seeing the mirror for the first time, and for the longest moment, didn't recognise the person in it.

She managed to hold back a second scream, just, but it was a close one.

"Get a grip, Di," she growled at her reflection - it was her reflection, right? Right. - "It was all in your head."

The voices outside the bathroom door grew louder. You'd think it was Sarah who'd been sleeping badly, listening to her. What was with her, anyways? Adeline had been living here longer than Di had. Getting fussy about her now was a bit late, wasn't it?

She sighed again and splashed water on her face again - No blood. Just a dream. No blood. -, before shutting it off and walking away. Hopefully she could calm her room-mates down before someone came and complained about the noise.

At least they wouldn't be complaining about her singing this time.

---

As it turned out, neither Di nor Adeline went back to sleep that night, though after a lot of talking Diana had managed to get Sarah to calm down enough to go back to her room. The Director had actually been worried enough about her friend to drag her to the Nurse's office as soon as she found it's opening hours. Losing a month's memory was a classic warning sign! Well, maybe not classic.

It hadn't amounted to much though. After showing Sarah the school's official records, which quite clearly showed that Adeline had been their room-mate for months, the Nurse had offered the girl a tranquillizer, which was refused. Apparently Sarah decided to stop arguing after that. Not the perfect result, but good enough for Di!

Class had actually been pretty calm afterwards, despite almost being late. It was definitely a change from the craziness of the day before. There were no axes being waved around, for one (aside from one close call incident), and Professor Landry, aside from her early ranting about Shuyin - Deadbloodstopit -, was mostly sedate. After the night Diana had had, she wasn't going to complain.

The only notable parts of the class were the two new students, Morgan and Antonia. Di added both to her mental list of classmates that would need interviewing, and gave Antonia a warm smile when the girl chose the seat behind her.

Sean's case of the jitters that began when the Camera girl arrived in class and sat behind him caught her attention briefly, but she figured he had a cold or something and forgot all about it.

----

Which brings us to lunch time, as Diana found herself at the bottom of the staircase leading to the Field of Bloo-Field of Honour. "Come on," she muttered under her breath. "I've been here before. I know it wont be... That place. It was just a dream." And it was just a dream. She knew that with certainty. The knowledge just didn't seem to be helping any. "I am going to go up there, and it will be flowery and have nice scenic views, and then I will feel silly for letting it get to me this badly."

And so, game face on, Di set out to do the task the same way she did everything: At great speed and with a camera in her hand. She reached the top only slightly out of breath, and everything was exactly as she had been telling herself it would be. There were no tiled floors, no towers covered in flames, no strange tea houses, and no mysterious white doors. It was everything she'd been expecting. But that didn't stop the small breath of relief she let out.

'Well...' she thought, wandering around the field slowly, 'Now what? Clubs don't start for another hour or two... Interviews, maybe?' It would be easier for her to do if she'd taken note of where any of her classmates had disappeared to once Landry let them go, but it wasn't beyond her to track them down...

[Dracorion]

Just calm down. Whatever happens, happens. You'll have to be more cautious now, and never ever show off in class or intimidate heart-ripping bitcheswait what? Ugh, dumb thoughts. Get it together, just talk to Jo... and Mom and Dad.

Jackson left his dorm in a hurry, after feeding the torn scraps of the letter to Dean's dragon behind his back. Filia, was it? It was probably an overkill way to deal with it, but he was more than a little freaked out by the whole thing.

Unfortunately, Jo and Mom and Dad would have to wait. He'd have to take today to get caught up with his clubs. Maybe tomorrow he'd actually ask where he could look up school graduates. Sighing, he set off to the Band Club room. He knew the letter and the crazy dream would take up his thoughts for the rest of the day, but there was no way around it.

Still, today might actually be a more normal day than yesterday.

***

Yawning, Jackson climbed up the steps to the Field of Honor. It sucked that he had to wake up early today for no good reason, since the duels had been cancelled. A chill seemed to creep up on him shortly after he left the Mystery Club, since he had decided to inspect the Field before calling his parents. Strangely enough, no one else seemed to feel the need to wear anything for the cold.

His heart seemed to beat faster as he made his way up, like it was trying to escape his chest, and the old scar there itched annoyingly. He raised his right hand to scratch it, noticing the starburst-shaped scars on it as he did. He remembered they were from when he first started experimenting with wind magic.

He recalled the air wrapping around his hands, curving, and then expanding outward like tendrils, tentacles, before they burst an-

Wait no it wasn't like that seriously stop thinking stupid.

He finally reached the summit of the Field and looked around. Just a few groups of students lounging around, pretty much, except for-

His heart pumped faster suddenly as the scar on his chest throbbed painfully for one moment for subsiding a bit. Why did he have to have a dream about bitch girl who challenged his classmate to a duel ripping his heart out? It happened years ago, a javel- Okay no seriously bad thoughts just ignore her.

Good Lord, he hoped the dream didn't mean he was falling for Hannah. He seriously might puke.

As he passed by her to inspect the tree in the northeast corner of the Field, though, he noticed she was talking to the empty cushion and steaming tea cup in front of her, even as one of his classmates, (Sean, was it?) sat down to talk to her. He stopped for a moment from the sheer weirdness of it, before going back to steadfastly ignoring it, and he made his way to the target tree, running a hand along its trunk.

Nope, nothing. No holes made by wooden darts anywhere. He breathed a sigh of relief at this reassurance that his dream was, in fact, just a dream and how could it be anything else anyway? Regardless, he still had one more check to make. He remembered from his dream the spot where the choir or robots rose from the stone floor, and he made his way to the other end of the Field to inspect it.

He knelt down, checking the entire west area of the Field of Honor while going around the groups of students in the way, looking for grooves or creases or hinges, occasionally knocking on the stone to look for any kind of hollow sound. Nothing.

With another relieved sigh, he stood up and made his way back to the stairs heading down, before taking a moment to look up at the stars, a faint smile on his face. For the moment, he could lose himself in the sky, and stop worrying about dreams or letters or professors or accidents. Just for a little while. Or he would, if the throbbing in his chest had stopped at all, acting as an annoying reminder of all his troubles.

[Krylo]

Dark. Pain. Fear.

Dal's breath released in a silent scream of agony as he shot up in the bed, his body wracked with pain. The pain of being crushed under tons of falling rubble as everything faded to blackness. The pain of... death? A foreign and uncomfortable idea to the fae. One so foreign that, as the pain subsided so did the idea, banished from his mind like a lecture on the finer points of accounting from the mind of a five year old, and the fae found himself whole and alone in his bed. The events of the night before nothing more than a particularly clear dream.

Sleepiness and lethargy had already been banished, as waking up with a jolt with phantom pain wracking your body is want to do, and soon the fae was on his feet, rolling his shoulders and stretching his body, working out some lingering soreness. He had probably just slept wrong. Perhaps he had rolled over on one of his wings. The dream was strange though, it nagged at him, pulled at him. Particularly the creation of life. The addition of chaos and freedom to an ordered world.

...Chaos and freedom.

The fae stepped into the shower with a smile as he remembered he was free again. Well. Mostly, but he could take care of 'mostly' in time. Perhaps that dreams a portent of things to come. Beautiful things. As for the rocks? Well, this time, he wouldn't allow anything to crush him. Even if all the world fell about his head he'd find a way.

* * *

The dream flitted in and out of his consciousness as he made his way to class. His mind having trouble tearing fact from fiction. Most likely a side effect from being with so many humans after being locked away for so long. All their emotions and dreams and life overflowing around and through him, marking themselves onto his fae mind and burning themselves into his dreams. Dreams which were already so much like reality for the fae, dreams which he danced through as real and physical as the sunshine on your face or the grass beneath your feet in ages gone by.

He tried to push it from his mind, and was aided immensely when his cousin smiled at him. Smiled.

Not staring at her throughout class was nearly as difficult as concentrating on Landry's rants about the duel being cancelled--disappointing but hardly enough to draw his mind from Morgan--to her rambling on about ancient greece--entirely boring. And, with every glance, especially when she'd catch it and smile back at him warmly, he became more convinced that something was amiss.

Convinced enough that as class ended he hovered in the hallway near the door until Morgan left as well. And then, with a nonchalant stride followed after her. He kept himself looking passive, tried not to overtly stare at her much, and kept a decent distance from her. He'd prefer others to not realize he was following his cousin, though he was certain she'd spot the tail. He wasn't particularly trying to hide it, as he merely wanted to talk to her.

And yet, she entirely ignored him.

Something was definitely wrong. Something... he could even begin to see. Though he couldn't be sure.

After a few hallways and turns Morgan turned into the Art room, apparently having decided to go there immediately after class, and Dal entered after her a few minutes later.

Taking stock of the sparsely populated room, and quickly finding his cousin painting a picture. She didn't seem to notice when he approached her. Perhaps focused on her painting? Though that didn't make sense, didn't match with anything he knew of her.

"...Morgan?" he asked, his voice low so as to avoid disturbing the other students, or drawing their attention, as he came up behind her left shoulder. "Why are you so... cheery? Is there something I should know? I believe the last time you smiled at me, well, suffice to say it wasn't pleasant."

[Riin Whitewind]

Trying to relax, Sao let the warmth of the hollow soothe her.

"Thank you, Willow." Despite the horror in her vision last night, Sao addressed the woman across from her with a nervous, but steadfast, smile. Fear weighed heavily on the young swimmer's mind - the curse she had seen, blackened and roiling like a stormcloud over her classmate, had spread to her just for dreaming of curing it. Being forced to remain in her human form was the least of her worries.

Her mug of tea cooled between them, forgotten. As courtesy, she had taken a sip when it was presented to her, but her vision prevented her from truely enjoying it. She was thankful that it at least was not green tea, the antagonist's weapon of choice. It would be a wonder if she could stand the scent of warm tea again.

"Just say the word." Unconsciously, Sao leaned forward to mirror her elder's pose. "I will do everything in my power to oust this..." She hesitated. Curse didn't seem like the right word - magic, benevolent or malevolent, didn't have feelings, emotions - and whatever haunted Diana had hated her. She'd felt it like a blow, despite a lack of empathic talent. She decided on, "presence."

The undine pressed on, "Will our preparations harm your own All Hallows working? You are being gracious to offer your time and power to aid me, I have no wish to interfere with your own stewardship."

[Astral Harmony]

Astarte turned around just to see the inky darkness erupt forward and devour her. Believing she was going to perhaps be killed again, she instead felt herself wrapped up in something...warm...and somehow comforting.

Her hands were pressed up against something solid that she couldn't see. Almost instinctively, she knew that her palms were smashed up against the inside of her sarcophagus. Applying a little of her undead strength into her hands, Astarte pushed open the cover and stepped out. It was one of the supply sheds where she lived. Had she actually been dreaming the whole time? What the hell kind of dream was that?

Astarte fumbled around in the dark and found her digital alarm clock, the only electronic device she had. Five in the morning, it told her. Astarte didn't want to go back to bed, and so went to her other room to prepare for the day.

Astarte was a little disturbed throughout the morning. She had been looking forward to the duel between Landry and Shuyin, even having gone as far as to sketch a good picture of the epic confrontation, but unfortunately both Shuyin and her friend Vanilla had gone to Cambodia. Astarte had never known that Vanilla was associated with the royal family over there, but it made sense given Vanilla's noble bearing.

The rest of the news wasn't really noteworthy to the mummy girl. Hannah and Jay's duel was cancelled. Meh. Adeline was made the class president. Next. Two new students joined the class, a native american girl named Antonia and a girl who kinda looked like Dal named Morgan. Astarte filed that information away for a day that it might matter.

More importantly, something was off and it was nagging at her, kinda like having a nosehair people can see. She felt like she had wanted to ask mom about something, but couldn't for the life of her remember exactly what. It was something important, like a piece to a puzzle Astarte discovered that didn't finish the puzzle, but helped reveal just what all the mysteries were adding up to. Well, maybe she would think about it later when she had time to use her brain or lack thereof for subjects not related to classes.

[Overcast]

Jay's hand smacked into the wall with just enough force to cause pain. He yelped, grabbing his abused fingers, jammed trying to catch a katar that wasn't there. His mind pulled him away from where he used to be, and slowly reunited him with reality. He was in his bed, and nothing was trying to kill him.

Jay raised his injured hand up to his head, feeling at a scar where in his dream the katar had pierced before he woke up. In any other world he'd have thought that was proof the vivid picture of his last night was true, but in this one it only caused him to remember his past.

To remember California, pain, and his father.

He put it from his mind and tossed off the covers, starting on his way to the bathroom to get ready before tripping over a bag of bats he had prepped for his duel today. His mind flashed back to the Hannah he had faced before, her immense power and skill still itching his skin. He wondered for a moment if his nerves were so on edge that he had conjured up such a fearful image of her and her compatriots. Or was she really so dangerous?

In Jay's mind he went back to what Landry had told him the other day, same time she gave him the uniform he planned to wear for the fight. (Half of why he knew the dream was a dream, he was just wearing his regular uniform for that one. The other half being how impossibly insane everything was.) But his memories were being all clogged up by that damn dream. He shook his head roughly, trying to wake up a bit more and finished his trip. He didn't care how powerful she was, or how strong her bodyguards were. There was no other choice to be made here, he would win today.

Or he would die trying.

-----------------

Of course that was before he got to class. As it turns out there would be neither winning or death today, the old man had decided that good manners be damned he would not follow through on a properly scheduled duel and would instead prance off to Cambodia to tutor their royal family. By extension, and due to rules that jay had not bothered to look up, his own duel with Hannah had been canceled. Just as well, he'd signed up for that fight because of the implications of the Landry duel anyway. The class was decidedly more boring that day than before, which he found jarring because they had even gotten some new kids that Landry had not yet graced with the horror of her special effects team. Still Jay took all the exhaustive notes he would need to pass a test from her ramblings on the Ancient Greek. Because you never know.

--------------

After class he was already off to the field of honor. The whole of today had left him wanting, so many things he'd expected had just fallen out, and honestly he was bored. The trip was meant to let him take a seat of comfort in the sun, let him work out his negativity, replace it with anticipation and music, and as he lept from the summit of the stairwell the warmth of the location washed over him like a dream.

All that negativity from the dream was practically burnt in the raylight.

His hand forced the headphones over his head, and tunes they did bump from these miniature speakers. Life was good.

[Teal Mage]

As Sean neared the site of Hannah's tea party, one of her tuxedo-clad bodyguards moved to bar his path. In response, the Canadian slowed to a stop. Ignoring the glaring youth in front of him, Sean raised his voice in a polite and cheerful, "Hello!" He began, "Would you mind if I join you for a moment?"

Ending her one sided dialogue with the empty cushion in front of her, Hannah glanced back over her shoulder, green eyes curious. After a moment, her lips parted in a soft smile. "If you want to," she replied, before turning away with a shrug, "sure." There was a short pause as she set her cup down on the grass in front of her and began to move the second one closer to herself. She glanced back again, "You can take the second cushion if you like, Sean." Her smile turned wry, "But the tea's for someone else, I'm afraid."

The blond turned her away again, before lifting her own cup of tea in both hands. She sipped delicately. The tuxedo-clad bodyguard at her back offered Sean a slight nod, before stepping aside. Hannah's second guard was still lounging with his book several paces away, seemingly unconcerned.

Sean's path to the tea party was now clear.

And, it appeared that Hannah was waiting for him to continue the conversation.

* * *

"Excuse me, Adeline?"

"Hm?"

Mouth full, the newly appointed Class President raised her gaze from her lunch. Her two-coloured eyes were wide with surprise for a moment, before she recognized the speaker - Chou. The muscular girl had laid her lunch tray on the varnished wood of the table and was standing awkwardly beside one of its plastic chairs. Chou offered a wane smile, before hesitantly adding, "Do you mind me sitting here?"

Adeline swallowed, before nodding. "Sure," she replied, "go right ahead."

While Chou was slipping into her selected chair, her brunette lunch-partner picked up her ceramic mug and took a sip of whatever liquid it held. Adeline's gaze flicked from Chou's soft dark hair, to her vivid blue eyes momentarily, before she nodded. "You're Chou, right?" The Class President tilted her head to the side, studying the girl across from her carefully, "...are you Shin's twin or something?"

The collective noise around them made it unlikely that any one could listen in on their conversation - at least, not without being easily visible themselves.

* * *

"No." Willow breathed a soft laugh, and shut her eye, a smile tugging at the corners of her lips. Her bright emerald eyes opened, and her smile broadened kindly. "No Sao, helping you will not trouble me at all."

Her long fingered hand closed around the rough surface of her mug and she leaned back, posture relaxing. "And, as for our sibling's parallel ritual..." She trailed off, taking a sip of the overly sweet tea, "…you are the weakest of the campus's greater spirits." Willow offered a soft, sympathetic, smile. "I hope it does not wound your pride when I say, your presence is not likely to be missed." The mug was set down on the stone table with a soft click "Even in the event that something unexpected happens -" She chuckled again, shaking her head, "- and I suppose something always does - your Headmistress is unusually skilled at..."

Willow trailed off, turning her gaze toward the hotspring. In the distance, a third figure had appeared, and seemed to be speaking to Kohana. The young artist who had been drawing nearby was approaching the pair with considerable haste. After a moment, Willow turned back to Sao. "…she's unusually skilled at coming up with contingency plans." The elder spirit resumed, shrugging. "For a human, any way."

"Now then, we ought to discuss your training." Willow lifted her tea once more, sipping it delicately. "Obviously, we will need to go over the ritual in further detail," the woman gestured dismissively with her free hand. "but that can wait."

"More important is the fact that it will need to be performed deep in these woods, near a large source of water." Willow nodded to herself. "I have the location in mind already, of course. The trouble will be getting there." She offered Sao a soft smile. "Even assuming my own ritual is flawless, the spirits of the dead will not be without the ability to harm you." Willow shook her head softly, "And, if a particularly powerful spirit comes through the veil, or heaven forbid, my own ritual fails completely, you will need to be able to defend yourself - and the Black as well."

She sipped from her mug, shutting her eyes. "For this reason, I recommend bringing a handful of allies you can trust. And, as well, you will need a spell or two to banish, repel, or otherwise deal with the spirits of the dead." Willow opened her crystalline eyes, lowering the mug to her lap. Once again, she watched Sao seriously. "Have you any thoughts on either of these matters?"

* * *

Clad in nothing more than a simple white summer dress and a pair of brown leather sandals, Morgan sat before an easel. Her black hair cascaded down her back, extending a little past her shoulder-blades and shimmering luxuriously in the bright white florescent lights that now lit the wooden floored Amaranth Art Room. Beyond the light's low hum, there was little sound.

More than a score of easels were arranged in a semi-circle around the chamber, facing toward its east wall – and the front door. Of these, Morgan had selected one near the south-east corner, and was, at the moment, moving a medium sized brush in slow strokes over her canvas. A pallet of paint, pot of water, and a colour stained rag rested on the floor near her feet.

She didn't seem to notice when Dal walked in.

Other than Morgan, the room had only two other occupants. One, clearly older than the other two, with thick blond hair, pale skin, was wearing in a frilly white top, which might have been a size too small in the chest. She sat behind a large wooden desk, near the room's north-wall with gold wine-goblet was nestled loosely between the fingers of an up-raised hand. Expression bored, she barely glanced at Dal when he entered.

The second occupant was younger and dressed in a lacy black dress with an equally dark beret capping neck length, dirty blond, hair. Unlike the other two women, this one did peak out from behind her easel – set almost directly across from the room's door - when Dal walked in. The irises of her eyes, unnervingly, appeared to be white. She smiled widely, showing off a set of dazzling teeth, before ducking behind her easel to return to her work. A soft, high-pitched, giggle followed.

Doing his best to appear causal, Dalbhach approached his cousin.

"...Morgan?" He began, his voice hushed as he swung around, to come up behind her. "Why are you so... cheery?"

"Hm?" Morgan lowered her brush and glanced over her shoulder, curious. She'd only painted the top-right corner of her canvas. It was mostly purple with spots of red and blue blended into it. A handful of arcing streams, gold and green in colour, overlaid that. It was vaguely familiar…

"Is there something I should know?" Dal prompted, sounding mildly nervous. "I believe the last time you smiled at me, well, suffice to say it wasn't pleasant."

Morgan chuckled softly, before leaning down to dip the tip of her brush into her water jar. "Fortunately," She replied casually, "I know how to get blood out of clothes." Morgan sat up, bringing the rag with her, "And anyway, you survived." She added, now cleaning her brush's head.

"And frankly," Morgan went on, tone light, if mildly biting, "after having to wear a cast over my leg for most of the summer, its hard not to be happy about finally being able to get rid of those crutches." The girl shrugged, before leaning down once again, and collecting her pallet.

"Really," she went on, voice softer now, as she dipped into the dot of violet paint, "you’re the one acting out of character." Carefully, she leaned up and began to slowly fill more of her blank canvas with smooth, steady, strokes. "Since when do you shadow me out of concern?"

She paused, before glancing over her shoulder again, frowning. "...did you do something I should know about?"

* * *

Leaves rustled. There was a muffled impact to Kohana's right. On the uneven moss covered and root riddled forest floor, a figure had appeared. It was a girl. A soft giggle rose as she uncoiled smoothly from her crouch. Brown eyes fixed themselves on Kohana and the girl clasped her hands behind her back. A cheerful smile appeared on her deeply tanned face. "Hey there, Koh." Hie offered, cheerfully.

Her outfit was almost identical to the one she had worn in the dream - a loose knee-length white shirt and an identically coloured sleeveless top, tied off above her tanned midriff. Her blue patterned bananna was tied around her throat today, revealing her, boyishly cut, sandy hair fully. A pair of sheathed daggers hung from her dark blue belt and her feet were bare. In fact, save the position of her bandanna, only one thing was different about her.

She was missing her ears and tail.

Steps nearly silent, Sieglind appeared a few steps behind Kohana. Unlike the girl in front of him, he'd chosen a set of clothes that differed from his dream persona's. A pair of tanned hide pants, the seems hidden beneath purple, flame-like, embroidery covered his legs. A pair of darker brown, laced, leather boots encased his feet. Red, purple and gold wisps of embroiled fire spread out over the upper chest of his loose, clingy, white shirt. Several feet behind him, his sachel, box of pastels, and sketchbook lay abandoned. At the moment, violet eyes watched Hie warily.

Hie returned his stare cheerfully. "Looking good Sieg!" Hands clasped over her head, she stretched like a cat. "So~" She drew out the word, before grinning brightly, "This isn't a date, righ - hm?" Her brown eyes shot to the black puppy that had suddenly interposed itself between her and the two boys.

...it was growling softly.

"Awh!" Hie knelt, waving to him. "Don't remember me boy?" She smiled brightly, before giggling softly.

…puppy did not seem to share her sense of humour.

[Riin Whitewind]

"No." A small smile of amusement played about the lips of her Elder. Willow laughed quietly, but the young Undine across the table felt there was no malice to it. "No Sao, helping you will not trouble me at all."

"I'm glad." The steam from the hotspring curled about Sao, wafting gently over her skin. Even in this state, the water called to her as nothing else did. After the horrifying vision last night, all she had wanted was to curl into a current at the bottom of the deepest well Amaranth had. No chance of that, stuck in human form as she was.

Willow's too-long fingers curled around her hewn mug as she resumed, drawing Sao out of her reverie, "And, as for our sibling's parallel ritual..." She paused to take a sip of her horrid tea, while Sao tried not to make a face of distaste, "…you are the weakest of the campus's greater spirits."

"I hope it does not wound your pride when I say, your presence is not likely to be missed." Well, you could have phrased it more kindly... Instead, the healer tried to make light of it. "The curse of being the youngest in the family. My skills grow every day." That last was delivered with a confident smile - the last thing Sao wanted was for Willow to think she wasn't worth her time.

"Even in the event that something unexpected happens -" Willow chuckled again, her lustrous black hair swirling as she shook her head, "- and I suppose something always does - your Headmistress is unusually skilled at..."

Willow trailed off, and Sao followed her gaze - both spirits turned to gaze toward the hotspring. A female figure had appeared, and seemed to be speaking animatedly to Kohana. Sao had been trying to ignore the male pair - the young artist, with eyes as unusual as hers, made her itch with his very presence. Pretending he didn't exist made her more comfortable. Willow had explained enough to assure Sao that his affliction was beyond his control, lending her some charitible feeling toward the lad.

After a moment, Willow turned back to Sao. "…she's unusually skilled at coming up with contingency plans." The elder spirit resumed, shrugging lithe shoulders. "For a human, any way."

"Now then, we ought to discuss your training." Lifting her tea once more, Willow took a delicate sip. "Obviously, we will need to go over the ritual in further detail," the woman gestured dismissively with her free hand. "but that can wait."

"More important is the fact that it will need to be performed deep in these woods, near a large source of water. I have the location in mind already, of course. The trouble will be getting there." She offered Sao a soft smile, who nodded. Sao would need all the raw power she could get her hands on to even think about controlling a spell of this caliber, and a pool of water would go a long ways to supplying it.

"Even assuming my own ritual is flawless, the spirits of the dead are not without ability to harm you. And, if a particularly powerful spirit comes through the veil, or heaven forbid, my own ritual fails completely, you will need to be able to defend yourself - and the Black as well."

Another slow sip of tea, with her eyes closed in quiet delight. "For this reason, I recommend bringing a handful of allies you can trust. And, as well, you will need a spell or two to banish, repel, or otherwise deal with the spirits of the dead." Two pairs of crystalline eyes met, as Willow lowered the mug to her lap. Once again, she watched Sao seriously. "Have you any thoughts on either of these matters?"

Sao thought back to her vision - it had shown her, among darker things, that some of her classmates possessed combat ability. Whether they were trustworthy, and securing their assistance, would be entirely separate matters, but one step at a time. "I believe there are some among the students I can ask to aid me. How open may I be about the nature of this ritual?"

"As for the dead..." Steam crowned Sao's head for a moment, before dissipating. "I would like to learn how to banish the dead from this world. Though I cannot be of assistance in the two greater workings, a way to attend to the strays would be beneficial," she elaborated with a smile. "I would also like to learn a spell to repel them, if there is time."

[Bard The 5th LW]

"If you want to," she shrugged, "sure. You can take the second cushion if you like, Sean."

'Then maybe I have met her before?'

"But the tea's for someone else, I'm afraid."

"That's alright, thank you, I'll try not to be long" he said as he stepped past her bodyguard and slowly sat down upon the cushion. As he looked at her, memories of the vines holding his arms and neck flooded back, but he managed to keep a friendly face.

It was silent for a moment. He tried his best to keep eye contact as he spoke.

'God, how do I ask this? Hey have I met you in a dream once? I'm just going to sound like an idiot.'

"Well, Hannah-"

'How did I know that's her name?'

"-this might seem like an odd thing to ask, but have we met before? I can swear I've seen you somewhere before but I just can't place it."

[Steel Shadow]

Without the weight of the nightmare wearing away at her, Diana was slowly regaining the energy she was known for. The sun was shining! The birds were singing! The walls were gleaming, and the water sparkling! Diana cared for none of it! She had far more important things to focus on.

Time was running out. Already she'd wasted half a day. Half a day! Inexcusable! What kind of super Director was she?! No no no, this would not do! She had to get filming right now, this very second!

She spun around and pointed. "You!"

Target locked:
Name: Jackson Hall
Designation: Classmate
Information: - Vines growing through th- - Panicky guy!
Priority: High

"Jack! Hi, do you remember me? We're in the same class. Wasn't all that Greek history stuff interesting? Weird what happened about the duel though, but! Anyway, could you give me a short interview? I'm trying to get one from everyone in the class. I think I said something about it yesterday? It'd really help me out."

Hurricane Diana had struck again.

[SinrXIII]

Koh came to a halt mid-step, eyes falling on Hie as she knelt to wave at Puppy.

More concerning were her lack of markings from the coyote.

"Nice to see you, cousin. Where are your ears?" The shaman's tail flicked as Sieg appeared behind him, apprehension on par with Koh's own. "Find a new way to hide 'em?" He spins one of his axes and frowns at the girl, his own ears tilted forward. Stepping forward, he stands over Puppy and tightens his grip on his tomahawks.

"What's going on, Hie?"

[Girasol of Chaos]

Chou settled herself down into her chosen chair. Adeline had one gold eye that alarmed Chou mildly, but she tried her best to ignore it. And the fact that this chick ended up dead in her nightmare... but that had no bearings on reality, of course.

The brunette took a sip of her drink and seemed to be sizing her up. "You're Chou, right?" The oni's reaction to this was a slight bristling. "Are you Shin's twin or something?"

Taking a bite of her sandwich, the azure-eyed asian chewed slowly and decided the normal approach wasn't...adequate here. Gathering herself she swallowed, "Erm, yes, we're related." Shin must have said something, but didn't entirely reveal their disorder? The two had long ago agreed that silence and assumptions were the best for everyone around them. "Shin has trouble keeping up with her...academic studies, so I sometimes attend for her so she doesn't flunk out. Thankfully the school is alright with that."

It wasn't the whole truth, but it wasn't a lie either. Safe middle ground. "Typically she doesn't even mention me though." Adeline's mismatched eyes were really distracting at this point. The intense gaze of the girl was making Chou even more nervous about her assumptions. At least her nightmare informed her of the right name. Another bite, this time mostly out of genuine hunger, " How could you tell? Most of the time I'm unnoticed." This was a legitimate concern, was there something wrong with the human disguise?

"Shin left me a note with some names and brief descriptions on them, but that's about it." She chewed slowly, picking her next words carefully. "Did anything of importance happen yesterday?" Something must have happened for such a strange-and accurate-nightmare to unfold. Daintily devouring the sandwich she awaited the curious girl's responses.

[Dracorion]

Okay, stop staring creepily At the crazy girl from your dreams.

Yeah, Jack thought he was nearing stalker territory. He didn't even know if she was crazy on real life. Just a bitch.

"You!" He heard someone yell from behind him. Probably a one of the students lounging around calling out to her friends. He should probably go back to his dorm and call his parents so he could get yelled at. Much as he wanted to, it probably wasn't a good idea to put it off any longer. Turning off his eyes, he sighed and turned aro-

"Jack! Hi, do you remember me? We're in the same class. Wasn't all that Greek history stuff interesting? Weird what happened about the duel though, but! Anyway, could you give me a short interview? I'm trying to get one from everyone in the class. I think I said something about it yesterday? It'd really help me out."

"Huh, what?" It took him a moment to recognize the girl as someone from his class. Diana, was it. She made him feel uneasy. It was probably the camera. He remembered she featured on his dream, rescuing him with a sword. Though he got her hair wrong on the dream. Then he finally processed everything she said. "Oh, uh... an interview?" Appearing on camera, talking about his life? No, Jack wasn't very much into the idea.

He eyed the camera on Diana's hand like it was a gun, or a nuclear device, and folded his arms protectively. "Err, I- I don't think so." Hopefully that'd be enough to dissuade her. "Sorry." He added murmurringly.

[Steel Shadow]

He was camera shy. Great. And he'd seemed so eager during introductions, too! Diana resisted the urge to sigh and let her frustration show. That would just be unprofessional. Instead she just raised her hands, both open in a placating gesture, and gave Jack a helpless smile.

"Oh! Don't worry, it's nothing big or anything. Nah, sorry, I make myself sound way to business-y sometimes, don't I?" she laughed, rubbing the back of her head. "It'd just be a few questions, like, your name and hobbies. That's all, nothing complicated. I wont start grilling you for anything top secret or personal, Promise!"

She lent forward, giving him her best puppy-dog eyes look from under her cap, holding her camera behind her back. "Pleeeease? C'mon, I helped you out, consider this paying me back."

[Teal Mage]

"Erm, yes, we're related." Chou replied hesitantly between bites of her sandwich. "Shin has trouble keeping up with her..." The azure eyed girl trailed off momentarily, "...academic studies. So I sometimes attend for her so she doesn't flunk out. Thankfully the school is alright with that." There was another short pause before Chou added, "Typically she doesn't even mention me though."

"Huh." Was Adeline's only reply. Expression curious, she kept her eyes politely on the girl across from her, as she fished an orange slice from her tray below. From her relaxed posture, it seemed that she'd accepted the half-truth.

After another short pause, a bite of her sandwich, Chou went on. "How could you tell?"

Adeline frowned, "How could I tell what?"

"...most of the time," Chou returned, tone somewhere between awkward, embarrassed and hesitant. "I'm unnoticed."

"Oh!" Adeline laughed a little, before offering - what she hoped - was a reassuring grin. She selected an apple slice from her tray, before gesturing vaguely toward her lunch partner. "Your eyes are blue, Shin's are red." Adeline popped the piece of fruit into her mouth, and, between chews, went on. "Plus your hair's different. And -" She swallowed, "- you don't act anything like Shin." Adeline shrugged, then smiled brightly, "Wasn't hard. Besides, we did meet la -"

Adeline stopped herself in mid sentence, tensing suddenly. An awkward laugh followed, "Ye-yeah. We met last night." Looking a little shaken, she fell silent, turning her eyes toward her tray below.

* * *

"We met last night." Hannah replied, easily. She took a sip of her tea. A bright and warm smile bloomed on her face, as she regarded the Canadian across from her. "Well, more like we ran into each other." Hannah set the tea down and chuckled sheepishly, folding her hands in her lap. "Sorry about that, I guess you hit your head harder than I thought, if you've already forgotten."

"Hannah." The bodyguard standing a few paces behind Hannah's back spoke up, a note of urgency in his tone.

"Yes Al?" Hannah returned easily, glancing over her shoulder.

He pointed across the Field, toward a student sitting on his own. "Jay Miles is here." Glancing back toward the green eyed blond, Al went on, sounding concerned, "Should we leave?"

Hannah smiled ruefully and shook her head. "Jack's restrained himself so far, and he's been gunning to kick my ass since I showed him up last night." She shrugged, "I'm sure Jay will behave."

Al grunted what was probably an assent, before turning away.

"Sorry about that." Hannah went on, turning back toward Sean. She smiled softly, shrugging, "I tried pretty hard to get one of your classmates to challenge me to a duel last night." A soft laugh followed, and her smile turned sad. Self-consciously, she reached back into her hair to touch the bracelet-turned-hairband that was secured there. "I went a little overboard though. Al and Zet are worried I'll get jumped for it."

She shook her head, sighing. "Well, anyway." Hannah collected her tea and took another sip. "Did you need something Sean? I'm sorry about being so rough with you, by the way." Another warm smiled followed, before she fell silent, awaiting his response.

* * *

"What's going on, Hie?" Eyes narrowed suspiciously and ears perked alertly, Kohana interposed himself between his cousin and Sieglind. His hands gripped his tomahawks firmly. Between his legs, the black wolf pup quieted and backed off a pace.

Hie chuckled and fluidly uncoiled, returning to her full height. She grinned, "Nothin'." Folding her hands behind her head, the tanned girl stretched her back with a groan, before shaking herself and throwing a grin toward Sieg. "Was just bored, so I thought I'd come look for you two." Her smile turned bright, as her gaze shifted back to to Kohana. "You're way too suspicious 'cos."

Abruptly, Hie turned away. Gaze shifting from left to right, the short haired blond began to move around the clearing aimlessly. "So," She asked idly, "what are you two doing out here alone anyway?" Now several steps away from Sieg and Koh, Hie threw a grin toward them over her shoulder. "Was I right about this being a D-A-T-E?"

"Hie." Sieg spoke up suddenly, one hand upraised, and held nervously before his chest. "What did you do?"

"Hm?" Hie twirled around fluidly to face him. Her face split in a bright, and mildly unnerving, grin. "I didn't do anything Sieg." The smile lost its unnerving quality, and turned mischievous. "If I did do something, I wouldn't have been bored enough to traipse out here looking for ya both." She winked.

"You're lying." Sieg replied, voice soft, stepping impeccably closer to Kohana, as if to hide behind him.

Hie laughed happily, "Nope!" She clasped her hands behind herself, "Dunno what you think you're sensing Sieg, but I'm the same as I always was."

"..." Sieg didn't seem convinced. If anything, the youth slipped further behind Kohana's back. He didn't press the point further.

After a moment, Hie turned her attention away again, to dart curiously around the clearing. Perhaps tellingly, she was always careful to stay out of Kohana's melee range with his tomahawks - and, by her stance, wasn't quite as relaxed as she played it.

* * *

"…Shin left me a note with some names and brief descriptions on them, but that's about it." Chou offered, after a few quiet moments of silent eating at passed between the girls. This time, Adeline only glanced briefly up, before returning her eyes to her tray below - she was busying herself stirring the small pot of melted caramel sauce with her finger. Seeming to take this as a signal to continue, Chou went on. "Did anything of importance happen yesterday?"

"…" Adeline slowed, then stopped her stirring. The girl withdrew her finger from the caramel and raised her gaze to Chou again, slipping the confection coated digit into her mouth in the process. She seemed to be considering what to say. "…probably not." She replied, at length, lowering her hand to her tray again.

"Professor did something with pyrotechnics and animatronic tentacles, I guess." Adeline added, thoughtfully, "But it kinda seemed like she does that a lot." The brunette shrugged. "Jay got into an argument with some scottish dude over baseball, so you may wanna keep clear of that topic with him -" Adeline chuckled, "- unless you wanna get yelled at, I guess." She paused momentarily, then nodded, "Let's see, that jackass Shuyin also burst in and got Landry to challenge him to a duel, but that got cancelled so that's probably not important."

"Oh! Right, uh," Struck by a sudden thought, Adeline's gaze sharpened on Chou. "Diana's running around trying to interview the class, so, like, if you’re not supposed to publicize that you’re not Shin, you'll need to be careful." The brunette chuckled and gestured vaguely, with a newly collected carrot stick, toward her lunch mate, "She puts interviews up on her blog for the school's Publicity's Club, and until you open your mouth, its pretty easy to mistake you for Shin so..." Adeline trailed off, with a shrug.

And then turned bright red.

"…ah, yeah. That's it." She mumbled, eyes suddenly lowering. She looked embarrassed about something.

* * *

Under the heavy weight of Willow's beautiful green gaze, Sao quieted for a moment, losing herself in the memories of her dream. Willow lowered her own gaze and raised her tea-cup, giving her younger sister time to collect her thoughts. "…I believe there are some among the students I can ask to aid me." Sao stated, firmly. "How open may I be about the nature of this ritual?"

Willow set her half-finished (had she been gulping that stuff!?) stone mug on the rock table before herself. "The Masquerade remains in effect." She stated, voice firm despite its breathy quality. "Do not involve any more Blacks, or humans who do not already know that spirits such as us exist." A wry smile followed, "This ritual's nature goes against the purposes of the Masquerade - Blacks are not to be Awakened," Her eyes grew hard and her expression serious, "and certainly not by the design of those such as us. Be cautious revealing the intent of the ritual, and keep the group you select small."

She paused for a moment, then, "...however." Willow continued, "They should know all the details well before the night this is to occur, and must also be prepared to deal with the spirits that will oppose them, possessed animals and plants, as well as the ritual itself." Another moment passed, before Willow offered a weary sigh. "Would that things were simpler."

There was a short stretch of silence, punctuated only by the distant conversation on the opposite side of the hot spring, to their south.

"As for the dead..." Sao ventured, "I would like to learn how to banish the dead from this world." Eyes distant, Willow offered a faint smile and nod in response. She gestured for her sister to continue. Smiling ruefully, Sao obliged. "Though I cannot be of assistance in the two greater workings, a way to attend to the strays would be beneficial. I would also like to learn a spell to repel them, if there is time."

Willow chuckled softly, before shrugging. "Of course there is time." A strange smile appeared on her lips, "We are immortal, after all." Then, the woman shrugged, "Whether there will be time before the ritual, though, that depends on you." A warmer smile followed, and she chuckled softly, "For my part," she went on in her soft and breathy voice, "will do my best to drill as many skills as you can handle into you."

"But, I suppose there is one final question to address..." Willow continued, with a sigh. "You are a Spirit of Life, Sao." Her smile turned sad, "As was I, when I was born." She gestured dismissively with her delicate fingers. "I can teach you to expand your domain into extend into the realm of death, do not fear. But..." Willow smiled softly at her sister. "...it will change you, forever."

"As this is preparation for a single night," The dark haired woman continued, "you may be better suited studying Human Magic for it." Willow's next smile was warm. "Kirk could instruct you in Druidic arts, and I know a handful of Eastern Magic users on the campus who may be valuable teachers for you, in this instance." A soft, ruefully, laugh, followed. "Of course, learning Human Magic will take longer. I estimate you have sufficient time to master two spells, if you focus on this instead of your school work, but..." Willow shrugged, expression turning wistful. "...truthfully, I am not sure."

"You'll need to commit to one route or the other within the next few days, however." Willow added, before shrugging. "Unless you have further questions, perhaps you should take some time to think about it."

* * *

Near the Field of Honor's western stairs, Jack had been ambushed by Diana.

"Oh, uh... an interview?" Jack offered, hesitantly, in response to Diana’s flurry of questions. "Err, I- I don't think so." Crossing his arms and lowering his gaze to the concrete path below him, and Diana, the trenchcoat-clad youth finished with a murmured, "Sorry."

Diana's aura flared.

"Oh! Don't worry, it's nothing big or anything." To Jack’s eyes, the world suddenly seemed to grow a shade darker. A scent, unpleasant, dusty, with a hint of something sickly sweet, brushed his nose. Diana raised her hands before herself, turning her camera away from him the process. "Nah, sorry, I make myself sound way to business-y sometimes, don't I?" Self-consciously, Diana raised a hand to the back of her head, and rubbed it sheepishly. Suddenly, she seemed a lot…cuter.

...there would be no escape now.

"It'd just be a few questions, like, your name and hobbies." Diana went on, cheerfully. The uneasy feeling Jack had when she first approached suddenly seemed much stronger. "That's all, nothing complicated!" But she did seem to be telling the truth… "I won't start grilling you for anything top secret or personal, Promise!" Blue eyes widening and lower lip extending slightly in a pout, Diana leaned forward to pear up at Jack, fixing him with a pair of incredibly cute puppy eyes. "Pleeeease? C'mon, I helped you out."

A dazzling smile followed. "Consider this paying me back."

"Well!" A sudden exclamation to Diana's right! The girl's aura gutted itself. "There you have it, folks!" A tall, dark haired and slim youth, wearing a tight-fitted, black, short-sleeved shirt and a pair of well-fitted black jeans, under a dazzling white belt, had appeared. In his hand was a camera. He'd just turned it away from Diana, and was now speaking into it. "This is irrefutable proof that the, so-called 'Great Director Diana Tear', relies on coercion, blackmail and her deceptively innocent charms to trap unsuspecting victims into invasive interviews!"

The youth chuckled and raised a hand to the pair of sunglasses on his face. "What say we," He lowered the shades to reveal a pair of sparkling green eyes, before winking into the lens, "teach her a lesson?" A green aura flared around his form, and the air around them suddenly seemed to sparkle.

…even Diana would have grudgingly admitted he was attractive, in that moment.

The mysterious newcomer twisted fluidly, shifting the camera's angle so it caught him, Diana, and Jack. Once again, Diana's aura flared – and that faint scent resurfaced. "Diana!" The boy declared, jabbing his finger at her dramatically. "No, means no!" He chuckled, and withdrew his hand to waggle a finger at her disapprovingly. "Or haven’t you seen the posters all over the school? A true Professional never forces herself on a camera-shy youth!"

The camera was suddenly back on his face. "But, we already know she's no Professional." He tugged his shades down again, and winked conspiratorially. The sparkles were back. "Ain't that right, fans?"

Enter, Alex Darrow.

[Krylo]

"It's only been a day, my dear Keeper," Dal replied, keeping his voice low even as he straightened back up, his body visibly relaxing at Morgan's aggressive line of questioning. "Not even I could have possibly masterminded any great plots or hijinx in such a limited time," he continued his voice rising to normal speaking levels.

"I'll take your over confidence in my, quite limited, abilities as a compliment, dear cousin." He flashed her a charming smile as he took a step back away from her, and toward the door. "And, lest your suspicions gnaw at you incessantly, keeping you turning and spinning at night, I'll take a moment to confirm that my concern was for myself."

Spinning about to face the door, he continued over his shoulder, "It's much too early in this bright new year for me to take any risks, even through inaction."

He hovered a moment to be certain Morgan wouldn't wish to keep him any longer, but his own curiosity was now fulfilled. Though he did make a mental note to avoid the art club in the future.

[SinrXIII]

Abruptly, Hie turned away. Gaze shifting from left to right, the short haired blond began to move around the clearing aimlessly. "So," She asked idly, "what are you two doing out here alone anyway?" Now several steps away from Sieg and Koh, Hie threw a grin toward them over her shoulder. "Was I right about this being a D-A-T-E?"

"Hie." Sieg spoke up suddenly, one hand upraised, and held nervously before his chest. "What did you do?"

"Hm?" Hie twirled around fluidly to face him. Her face split in a bright, and mildly unnerving, grin. "I didn't do anything Sieg." The smile lost its unnerving quality, and turned mischievous. "If I did do something, I wouldn't have been bored enough to traipse out here looking for ya both." She winked.

"You're lying." Sieg replied, voice soft, stepping impeccably closer to Kohana, as if to hide behind him.

Hie laughed happily, "Nope!" She clasped her hands behind herself, "Dunno what you think you're sensing Sieg, but I'm the same as I always was."

Koh was, for his part, ignoring Hie's jabs magnificently, though the temptation to leave was powerful. His toes dug into the ground however, and he held his ground.

"Hie. I won't ask again. I'm not in a mood to deal with your evasive bullshit today. I had a strange dream last night and I can't make heads or tails of it. Sieg is here to help me, but now you've got him scared. You know Sieg doesn't imagine these things." The shaman's aura flared, dusty amber light flowing around his body.

"Tell me what you did, or get the fuck out of this spirit's glade and leave me to think."

[Riin Whitewind]

Sao inclined her head, acknowledging her Elder's warning. "I do not intend on making my decision lightly," She continued after a moment, smoothing out her pleated skirt, "but I feel death is another part of life, a balance that will continue whether I learn a human method, or not."

"I would hear the ways I would change, if I chose to expand my domain." Picking up her neglected mug, the watersprite simply held it, feeling the tepid liquid through the stone. Was Willow's method dangerous? Unsightly? Or simply different?

[Bard The 5th LW]

"We met last night."

That wasn't really much of an answer.

"Well, more like we ran into each other." She laughed a bit as she set down her tea. "Sorry about that, I guess you hit your head harder than I thought, if you've already forgotten."

She went on to explain her story about provoking Jay and Jack into a duel and being weary of getting jumped.

"Did you need something Sean? I'm sorry about being so rough with you, by the way."

A somewhat annoyed frown flashed across Sean's face, breaking his previous cheerfulness. He wasn't buying it. His memory of the day prior all fit together rather completely. There wasn't much room for amnesia. Nor did his head hurt at all. However, a distinct pain in his crotch could be recalled, and Sean decided that now wouldn't be a good time to try and press the matter. Instead he brought his face back to a more neutral demeanor before speaking.

"Well I'll think I might be able to find it in my heart to forgive last night's transgression," Sean spoke, leaning forward a little, "so long as we can have a proper introduction now."

He extended a cold hand forward to Hannah, keeping his expression amiable. "I'm Sean Castevet, I'm new here at Amaranth. A pleasure to meet you."

[Steel Shadow]

"Well!"

Diana froze. She knew that voice.

"There you have it, folks!"

She hated that voice. "Alex," she hissed, her shoulders shaking with barely contained rage. What was he doing h-

"This is irrefutable proof that the, so-called 'Great Director Diana Tear', relies on coercion, blackmail and her deceptively innocent charms to trap unsuspecting victims into invasive interviews!"

... That son of a bitch.

"What say we... teach her a lesson?"

That tore it. With a growl, Diana spun around, ready to tear her pain-in-the-ass rival limb from-

Alex's camera turned back to her.

With a soft sigh of annoyance, Diana turned around, arms folding over her chest, ready to deal with her old acquaintance's annoying exaggerations calmly. She would not be rising to his bait today.

"Diana!"

"Alex." She ignored the finger rudely prodding her in the chest. Some people just didn't understand restraint. Or manners.

"No, means no! Or haven’t you seen the posters all over the school? A true Professional never forces herself on a camera-shy youth!"

"Which is, of course, why you're filming him. Right this second. Bravo, Alex." Honestly, how tedious could he get? Every time they met, it was the same old story. He'd just try to force any situation into making her look bad. It was ridiculous.

She sighed again. Like she'd actually fall for any of his barbs. How immatu-

The camera abruptly turned back to Alex alone as he addressed his audience.

-How insulting could he get?!!? She was going to kill him! Murder was entirely justified. No jury would convict her! The President would give her a medal! And an Oscar!

Snarling with rage, she strode forwards, taking a deep breath, and went for volu-

The camera hit her again.

"You know, Alex, it's been so long since you last tried slandering my name that I was beginning to think Amaranth Administration had realised their mistake letting you in here." She rolled her eyes, speaking quietly, but firm. "Are you just here to annoy me now? Because I have better things to do than trade insults with a man who doesn't know his lenses well enough to tell a camera from a contact."

[Dracorion]

Jack wrikled his nose slightly at the unpleasant smell as Diana continued to try and convince him. She did seem to be telling the truth when she said she wouldn't be poking at anything personal. It couldn't possibly kill him to do the interview, and he could always leave if things got uncomfortable, right?

The puppy eyes might've just sealed the deal, but she had to follow them with, "Pleeeease? C'mon, I helped you out. Consider this paying me back." Right, with the v- No, that wasn't it. Jack quietly racked his brains, trying to remember when she could've helped him out, before his thoughts were rudely interrupted.

"Well! There you have it, folks!" Diana's black aura suddenly extinguished as the newcomer spoke. "This is irrefutable proof that the, so-called 'Great Director Diana Tear', relies on coercion, blackmail and her deceptively innocent charms to trap unsuspecting victims into invasive interviews!"

He then proceeded to go on to speak to his camera and tear Diana now. Judging from her responses, she knew him. Judging from the way he spoke to his fans through the camera, he had a blog or something of that nature. From his attacks to Diana, under the guise of protecting Jack himself from her (though she was right, Alex was filming him as well), and her obvious disdain from him, they were at odds, and probably competitors. The Shuyin to her Landry? Heh. Every troping sense in him said they were obviously archrivals, but he didn't have enough real information to draw that conclusion. Put the fantasy away, stick with the facts.

Actually, he didn't have to stick with anything. Slowly, Jack began quietly sidestepping toward the stairs. Might as well get clear from this powder keg in case it went off. With any luck, Diana and Alex would be too busy with each other to notice his escape.

[Girasol of Chaos]

Adeline's synopsis of the previous day was adequate for the oni, but was difficult to take at face value, especially with a confused statement the poor girl made earlier. They couldn't have met, not yet. Chou made note that she appeared to not miss much lecture-wise. Perhaps that's why Shin didn't write anything.

Azure eyes remained wide, unnoticed as the suspicious character suddenly found her tray very interesting and blushed. A brief and tense silence was shared between them, the cafeteria din feeling rather distant in this corner of the room.

A weak cough shattered the moment, "Forgive me, but I believe I would have remembered if we met last night." The oni eyed Adeline critically, focusing carefully on the girl's face. It appeared the Asian was looking for an answer in the brunette's expression. "Perhaps you are tired and are mixing Shin with myself, which is acceptable." Chou's gaze broke after a brief period, retreating into her own thoughts. "And, if you are new to this school, it could add to the stress and confusion. I had a pretty vivid nightmare myself last night."

Chou's brow furrowed as she began to ease up in her chair again. People didn't blush for nothing. Curiousity was winning over her politeness here. Something was missing. The oni did her best to offer a gentle smile as her gaze lifted once more, "I appreciate the warning concerning the interviews though, and the summary of yesterday." Nibbling on the remains of her meal the oni swallowed, gesturing with an open palm. "Is there something else, if you don't mind me asking?"

[Teal Mage]

Offering a charming smile and few well chosen words, Dal ended his conversation with his cousin, spinning on his heel and beginning an elegant, graceful, exit. "It's much too early in this bright new year for me to take any risks, even through inaction." The dark haired youth called brightly over his shoulder.

Morgan glanced around her easel. "Just be careful with that stuff you bought from Robin!" She called, equally cheerful. "I've seen enough after school specials to know that love potions are never the answer!" The dark haired girl laughed, "…still can't believe you paid money for that piece of trash though." She muttered, still chuckling softly. Shaking her head at her cousin's folly, Morgan vanished once more behind her painting.

Behind her own easel, Rachel giggled.

Neither girl said anything after that, though.

Dal was free to go!

* * *

Hie grunted, before turning around to face her cousin. She crossed her arms, shooting him an annoyed look. "Fine then, if you're gonna be a grump." She 'hmphed' then spun on her heel, turning back in the direction of the school. "I'm gonna bounce."

She glanced back over her shoulder and winked a Sieg. "See ya round bait." Giggling to herself, she took off at a light run, vanishing between the chaotically placed trees of Ansidor's old growth forest.

After a few moments, Sieg stepped out from behind Kohana. The violet eyed youth breathed a sigh, visibly relieved. Suddenly at his feet, Kohana’s puppy barked up at him, tail wagging rapidly. Chuckling softly, Sieg knelt down and ruffled the thing’s head fur – to its obvious pleasure.

They were alone.

* * *

Like a breeze whispering through the leaves overhead, Willow breathed a laugh. "Nothing that lives," The green eyed tree spirit replied in her soft and breathy voice, "can touch death without being changed." She gestured dismissively with her own overlong fingers. "The ritual itself is simple." Willow smiled, soft and wistful. "In an instant, part of what you are dies."

"And from this sacrifice," Willow's smile grew distant, "you are given power." A chuckle followed, "Such is the logic of what humans call 'dark' magic." She gestured once more, toward herself this time. "And for spirits like us, this death brings a new..." She trailed off, thoughtfully for a moment, before adding, "enlightened perspective." Willow raised her head faintly, eyes moving toward the sky behind the canopy above. "A perspective we all, as immortals, were always meant to have."

Willow chuckled and gestured dismissively, eyes shutting. "At least, those are my thought on the matter." She raised her mug and sipped its syrupy sweet contents, before fixing Sao with her gaze. "You will lose your humanity, if you go through with this."

Another vague gesture followed. "The power is immediate, but the change is slow. You will progressively feel emotions less strongly, and most matters shall become less urgent." Willow shrugged, "In time, humans and their..." The elder spirit chuckled, "...quaint struggles, shall become mere novelties, for the most part."

"There are physical changes as well." Willow tilted her head, causing her main of thick dark green hair to spill over her shoulders. "Nothing that should make it hard to exist among humans, should you still desire to." Another vague gesture with her long fingered hands followed. "As a water spirit, I expect your skin shall become paler, and your hair colour will also change."

A shrug followed, before Willow sipped from her mug of tea again. "All in all, nothing atrocious." She chuckled, "Though, perhaps too large a sacrifice for one human girl." Suddenly, Willow stopped, blinking rapidly. Her expression softened with pity. "Ah, and lest I forget, there is some pain as well."

* * *

Offering a warm smile in reply, Hannah reached forward and grasped Sean's hand in a firmly. "My name is Hannah Iruimi." She replied, betraying no discomfort at the Canadian's cold touch. "I'm a third year student." Her expression turned bright, "Professor Landry was my homeroom teacher in my first year too. You've my condol -"

"Ace Reporter Mode, activate!" A voice, loudly, declared - on the pair's north side. A slim young man in jeans and a faded red tee-shirt, with a backwards navy-blue baseball cap on his head, had appeared - he was talking to Zet. "You can't lie to me!" The youth continued, jabbing a finger toward the reclining bodyguard. An aura of colored light flared to life around him. "Is it true Hannah's parent's hired..."

"...publicity club." Hannah muttered, disdain obvious. She sighed, before turning back towards Sean. "Sorry." The blond pushed herself to her feet, gaze snapping back toward the reporter. "Zet!" She called, voice like a whip, the blond's eyes darted toward her second guard. "Al!"

"We're leaving!" She stated sharply, before turning on her heel toward the stairs, and marching off. Her bodyguards quickly followed - leaving Sean alone with the white cushions, and unfinished mugs of tea.

* * *

Shockingly, Diana's words made Alex wince.

The dark haired youth recoiled a step, his camera lens leaving Diana abruptly and causing her aura to lapse. He protectively buried his nose in his wrist. "Jesus Diana, did you forget to put deodorant on today or something? You reek!" Backing off another few paces, the dark haired youth made a face – that was partially obscured behind his glasses, before coughing.

"W-worse than usual, I mean." The youth added, before chuckling nervously. "You really should shower daily, you know!" A dazzling – but obviously forced – smile followed.

In a display that was almost entirely out of character, Alex Darrow had lost his composure! Fortunately, no one important had seen it.

* * *

"Nope! Nothing else at all." Adeline replied, a little too quickly – and obviously embarrassed about something. Before Chou could get another word in edge-wise, the heterochromatic girl went on the offense!

"Are you sure we didn't meet last night?" The brown haired girl asked, fixing Chou with a suspicious frown. "Because the girl I introduced myself to had blue eyes and hair like yours and called herself Chou, on top of it. So, unless you have a third twin running around the school, I'm pretty sure we met." Adeline grunted suddenly and crossed her arms, glancing off into the crowd.

"This better not be some kind of joke." She muttered, under her breath, before sighing softly. "...stupid school."

[Riin Whitewind]

Hands still clasped to her mug, Sao's fingers flicked dismissively. "Pain is fleeting. Even the worst pain can be borne. Still..." She trailed off, taking the time to consider before she gave her answer.

She had done her best to ignore Willow's quiet laughter. For someone who claimed they didn't feel emotions very strongly, her Elder sure seemed amused.

As for the rest... Hair could be dyed, cosmetics are cheap. A focus or link could be found to keep her interest in the world. ... That sexy, shirtless shaman would do, no doubt. The undine stole a glance toward the steaming pool, noting that the third figure had disappeared in the midst of the spirit's conversation.

Really, the only true downside she could see was the loss of her emotions. Becoming an empty, emotionless husk with nothing to live for didn't appeal to her. Perhaps it wasn't quite so severe? Willow had only said they would be reduced, not eliminated. It could even be a boon in disguise. Many were the tales of people who had let their pride, or rage, or sorrow cloud their judgement.

"I am not human, and never was, no matter what persona I wear around the Black. I will go through with it." The mug made a quiet click as it was set back upon the stone table.

Sao smiled slightly. "I am not afraid to touch death."

[Overcast]

Jay had been hearing quite a bit less than usual as he pranced his merry ass around the field. Though even his bumping tunes could not protect him when the sounds around him began to grow significantly more hostile. He pushed the soundmakers off his reception units and took it all in, there was little time to think, but his body moved for him.

First he moved two steps toward the door, Hannah and her rather large pair of sunglass wearing fists were on their way there, he didn't wish to intercept them, but he figured they would see the movement, he raised his hand from the distance he was at and yelled pointedly at them,

"Hannah!"

He stared at them a moment, the dream ran through his head all at once and all that anger from the day before, and all the reality and the fantasy and the moment and his death. Disappointment. Failure. And then he smiled, as warmly as he knew how,

"We should really talk sometime."

He turned his back on them and shifted his footing, step step step, he was on his way to Sean, he rounded on him quickly eyes carefully staring at the big ol' Canadian. He remembered insulting hockey a lot yesterday, it didn't deserve that. It was, as all things are, inferior to baseball, but no one could help that. He lifted up a mug for himself and handed one to him,

"It looks like our Classmate is having a bit of a problem big guy."

He sipped the tea lightly, well steeped but perhaps a bit overboiled. It reminded him of the dream a little, but he pushed it from his mind, as non sipping hand pushed out around them,

"The publicity club has arrived, and a collection of poorly made clones of Di are stuffing up our good afternoon. I think between the two of us, skilled sportsmen that we are, we can find a way to roundup the lot of them and get them out the door even more nimbly than Hannah."

He poured the rest of his cup on the ground. Back to the earth, goodbye past, hello future,

"I'd wanted for us all to hang a bit more out of the class, but with these goons here I'm not getting the vibe that we'll be having much fun. I can try to outruckus Diana but I don't think I can get her to run from this battle. She is way too fiery about spiting that kid. But if you can spirit Mr. Hall over there out the door, she will be certain to follow just so she can keep her interview."

He laid the mug back next to the cushions,

"At any rate that is my idea, basic distraction to steal a base, got anything that could improve it? I imagine you've taken more than one puck in your time."

He wondered what was for lunch today.

[Bard The 5th LW]

"Professor Landry was my homeroom teacher in my first year too. You've my condol -"

It seemed there was a matter for her to attend to, some schmo from the Publicity Club, and she made her way elsewhere. "Sorry," she spoke before heading off.

"It's alright. See you around!" Sean called, still content to sit for a moment as he watched Hannah walk away. 'She seemed nice,' he thought to himself, 'also nice to know that people can actually survive Landry's class.' He was just about to get up when-

-"At any rate that is my idea, basic distraction to steal a base, got anything that could improve it? I imagine you've taken more than one puck in your time."

Jay arrived.

Is he flirting with me?

"Ehh, yeah, I dunno about that, guy," Sean said a bit taken aback at the youth's casualness. Did Sean even know this dude? "It doesn't seem like a big deal to me. Probably won't be an issue to just, y'know, walk downstairs at one's leisure. Also the tea isn't really for you I don't think." The Canadian got up to his feet and began to meander away from the cushions. Where did he know that guy?

---Flashback---

"You have no training on the subject . . . A stupid tactic itself, because I know that senseless violence helped make you into the creep you are right now. . . Your answers continue to fail me Dean. I don't know if you're ready for this level of play yet."

"OH MY GOD NO ONE CARES!"

---end---

Oh yeah, that guy. Why was Mr. Baseball suddenly so friendly? Sean continued his walk, disregarding the youth sitting at the cushion. He took a look over towards the entrance, just in time to see the theatrics between Alex and Diana.

'Ugh, Diana,' he shuddered a bit at the thought, but he was going to have to confront her eventually about his jacket if he ever wanted to get that thing fixed. He would put it off for just a bit longer though, as she seemed engaged in a situation with some other camera person. He waited and watched, a few feet away from the cushions. If it seemed they would be done soon then he would consider asking her.

[Overcast]

He shrugged, he'd wanted to get a bit more friendly with most of his class after the lesson had caused him to inwardly think about how little he was interacting with them inside the thing. But if Mr. Tall mcsilentpants was going to act like he was better than the at time courteous baseball player when he himself was just now talking to someone he had scarcely met, in a class and a seniority other than his own, and had threatened to gloat after he and all his other classmates were expelled then fine by Jay.

He was off the list of potential friends, and interactions would be left to a minimum.

Diana was still in the list though, as was Jack. Hannah was up in the air but he felt like after their history he may as well try to hit her up for a small talk if he could just to figure out why she'd been so hostile. On the matter of hostile...

Jay stepped lively on to the scene of Alex and Diana staring at the kid in the sunglasses. Diana had already hit him pretty hard with that last strike, Jay just needed to add a bit more weight. And he did it as an innocent bystander, he started with a large audible sniff into the air,

"Smell? I don't smell anything. You know there is a place for the media sorts who spread false rumors for the sake of publicity, right next to the guys who write stories about bigfoot marrying the loch ness monster. Diana might be a bit forceful with her interviewing style but at least I know when I read her stuff it is true. Who could trust a story covered by you?"

[Teal Mage]

((OoC: Continuing Sao's scene, since the other's still need player input or have concluded already. Will make a new thread once these scenes end.))

Across the stone table, Willow offered a soft smile in return. The red skinned woman pushed herself to her feet a moment later. Delicately, she deposited her own, empty, to the table as well. "As you say." She offered softly, before turning to the north-east. "I will go prepare the ritual at the Forest's Heart." Willow glanced momentarily over her shoulder, toward Sao. "The spell, as I said, takes only a moment - but some preparation is required." She shrugged dismissively, before turning forward again.

Her moccasin clad feet moved soundlessly over the moss covered ground below, as she went on. "I will come collect you in an hour's time."

Suddenly, her steps slowed and the elder spirit came to a stop, just beyond the first set of trees ringing their small tea party. Her eyes returned to Sao, and a wry smile appeared on her lips. "Unless you would prefer I escort you to the campus first. It would be much faster than walking on your own."

It would take Sao a little more than an hour to return to the school, after all. Unless she had business in the forest, it would probably be wise to accept the invitation.

[Riin Whitewind]

"An hour is not so long. I would prefer to stay here." Rising to her feet, Sao brushed imaginary dust off her skirt to hide a twinge of surprise. I didn't think it would happen so soon, I thought it would take more time... The short garment fell into neat pleats, revealing the pattern: a pair of golden suns on a dark green background. She smiled toward her elder cousin. "I don't think Kohana will mind my presence while I wait."

As Willow faded into the trees, Sao adjusted her shirt and ran a hand through her bristly black hair. Had to look presentable in front of sir Akecheta. Even ignoring how he looked without a shirt, if she was going to entreat him for help it would be best not to look slovenly. Yeah. We'll go with that.

Intruding on the adorable puppy scene, the undine waved at the pair from the edge of the pool. Steam drifted around her in lazy spirals, welcoming her in their own way. "I hope I'm not interrupting anything," she began cheerfully, "don't mind me, I -" Her skin crawled as purple eyes assessed her. Her gaze drifted uncomfortably from Kohana's eyes to the kneeling figure at his side. It's not his fault. Keeping that firmly in mind, Sao put on a smile.

"I'm sorry, I don't believe we've met." Stepping forward, the swimmer extended her hand. "My name is Sao, what's yours?"

[SinrXIII]

Hie grunted, before turning around to face her cousin. She crossed her arms, shooting him an annoyed look. "Fine then, if you're gonna be a grump." She 'hmphed' then spun on her heel, turning back in the direction of the school. "I'm gonna bounce."

She glanced back over her shoulder and winked a Sieg. "See ya round bait." Giggling to herself, she took off at a light run, vanishing between the chaotically placed trees of Ansidor's old growth forest.

After a few moments, Sieg stepped out from behind Kohana. The violet eyed youth breathed a sigh, visibly relieved. Suddenly at his feet, Kohana’s puppy barked up at him, tail wagging rapidly. Chuckling softly, Sieg knelt down and ruffled the thing’s head fur – to its obvious pleasure.

They were alone.

Kohana let out a sigh, grumbling as he watched Hie leave. The wolf-eared shaman shook his head, smiling faintly as Sieg gave Puppy attention. Padding across the forest floor, Koh knelt by the steamy pool he'd been relaxing in all day, retrieving the holsters for his axes. Strapping them to his legs, he tucked the axes inside their homes and stood again.

"I hope I'm not interrupting anything," she began cheerfully, "don't mind me, I -" Her skin crawled as purple eyes assessed her. Her gaze drifted uncomfortably from Kohana's eyes to the kneeling figure at his side. "I'm sorry, I don't believe we've met." Stepping forward, the swimmer extended her hand. "My name is Sao, what's yours?"

Koh looked up from the hotspring, head tilted to the side. Understanding blossomed; he pushed the fading haze of his herbs out of mind and bowed his head.

"Of course not, Honored Spirit. You're not interrupting anything." He stood slowly, offering a polite bow. "I was simply meditating, and Sieg was keeping me company." Koh chuckled, watching the caramel-haired youth and Puppy. Shaking his head, he turned back to Sao and smiled brightly, hands moving to button his shirt up. He ran a hand through his hair quickly, silently cursing himself for being snuck up on twice in such a short amount of time.

Satisfied with his appearance, he brushed the front of his shirt off and bowed his head again.

"What can this shaman of the Wolf do for you?"

[Riin Whitewind]

"...ah, hello. My name is Sieg, Miss Spirit -"

"Of course not, Honored Spirit. You're not interrupting anything." Kohana cut in, dipping smoothly into a bow. Sao's hand remained extended for an awkward moment.

"I was simply meditating, and Sieg was keeping me company." Koh laughed, eyes on Seig. Slowly, Sao retracted her hand. She smiled at the youth, nodding her understanding.

Shaking his head, Kohana turned back to Sao and beamed, buttoning up his shirt. "What can this shaman of the Wolf do for you?"

"So polite!" The undine stepped out of her slippers, pushing them to the side with a tanned foot. Sitting on the edge of the pool, she rested her legs in the steaming water, carefully keeping her skirt above the waterline. A beatific smile creased her face. Finally, some peace.

"I would ask a boon of you, Shaman." Her expression suddenly serious, Sao folded her hands together. "On the night of All Hallows, I will be attempting a ritual on behalf of our classmate, Diana Tear. ... As you may already know, she is afflicted with a great curse, and I believe this ritual will excise it from her."

"The ritual will not be dangerous in itself - however the location, and the nature of All Hallows will almost certainly be. I would ask your aid, to defend myself, Diana, and perhaps a few others on that night." Steam wreathed the trio, thick white clouds of it. Sao paused briefly, considering who else she could ask. She bowed her head, pressing her palms together in entreaty.

"In return, you would have not only my gratitude, but also any boon that is within my power to grant."

[Girasol of Chaos]

Startled by the sudden offense, the oni shrugged. "I suppose you met my doppelganger then. Let me know when you see her again." It was time to end the conversation, it would go no further. Picking up her tray to return it, Chou's eyes scanned the room with suspicion, "However Miss Adeline, I do think you should be cautious when stumbling headstrong into a situation you can't handle." Focusing back on the brunette she smiled weakly and azure eyes shone with concern. Vivid memories of the panic-filled soul in her nightmare, and how it ended the girl before her, were playing in the back of her mind.

"Acting on instinct can pit you into a trap." Hoping the girl didn't take too much offense to her advice, the normally timid ogre scooped up Adeline's empty tray. A more serious tone trickled into Chou's voice as she focused on the flustered face before her. "It may get you killed."

Deciding she had spoken enough to Adeline the tall girl deposited their trays and left the cafeteria, feeling the need to explore the school grounds now that she had the time. She needed time to think.

[Arhra]

As Diana negotiated an exclusive interview with the redoubtable Jackson Hall, she found her exclusivity coming under immediate attack.

"Well!" Di's arch rival and fellow director Alex Darrow called from her right, approaching with camera in hand. "There you have it, folks!" "This is irrefutable proof that the, so-called 'Great Director Diana Tear', relies on coercion, blackmail and her deceptively innocent charms to trap unsuspecting victims into invasive interviews!"

"Diana!" Alex said, waggling his fing in admonishment. "No, means no! Or haven’t you seen the posters all over the school? A true Professional never forces herself on a camera-shy youth!"

He swung the camera back onto his face, pulling his shades down and winking into ir. "But, we already know she's no Professional. Ain't that right, fans?"

Di bristled. "You know, Alex, it's been so long since you last tried slandering my name that I was beginning to think Amaranth Administration had realised their mistake letting you in here. Are you just here to annoy me now? Because I have better things to do than trade insults with a man who doesn't know his lenses well enough to tell a camera from a contact."

Jack decided discretion was the better part of valour and began quietly sidestepping toward the stairs.

There was a pale girl blocking his escape, her drift fractionally adjusting toward him as she moved from the stairs. Jo was back in jeans and her pale grey hoodie. The hood was raised, her hands clapsed together in its muff. The pallid tail of her braid snaked out of the opening in her cowl, within shadow haunted eyes met Jack's for a moment and then slid past him.

Alex winced at Di's response then buried his nose in his wrist. "Jesus Diana, did you forget to put deodorant on today or something? You reek!" Backing off another few paces, he coughed.

Jo shouldered past Jack.

"W-worse than usual, I mean." Alex said to Di with a nervous chuckle. "You really should shower daily, you know!" His forced smile was a flash from a strobe light, leaving after images drifting in the retinas of his watchers.

Jo just looked at him with unblinking eyes. "Are you finished invading with this interview of yours?" Jo asked him with brittle politeness, dark gaze bearing a blankness that denied his existence. Turning away from him, a half turn towards Di and Jack, she raked her hood down with the hooked fingers of her right hand.

She turned her head, giving Alex an aside glare. "Your questions leave something to be desired." she said, baring white teeth in a wolf's grin. "Perhaps you should come back when you have something worthwhile to say."

[Steel Shadow]

Diana blinked as Alex reeled back. Has she finally managed to get through to him? Normally a confrontation between the two of them would only end in a shouting match. Maybe things had changed? Could the new environment have had an effect? Had the loud mouth had actually matured? It was unlikely, but maybe this time the rivals could walk away without things getting to-

Alex's camera lost sight of her once again.

-Kill Rage Hate Die Alex Die

"Jesus Diana, did you forget to put deodorant on today or something? You reek! W-worse than usual, I mean. You really should shower daily, you know!"

Hate Smash Die Punch His Pretty Face In Die Die D- Wait, what?

The unexpectedness of Alex's reaction momentarily derailed Diana's righteous fury. She stared at him, mouth slightly agape as her mental wheels spun frantically, trying to regain traction.

It was about then that a new actor arrived on the scene.

"Are you finished invading with this interview of yours?" Jo asked, appearing from Diana's left, pulling down her hood. "Your questions leave something to be desired. Perhaps you should come back when you have something worthwhile to say."

"Uh..." The Director in training (female variant)'s mind latched onto the prospect of an ally and ran with it. "Right! Yeah, what she said." She paused, then quickly added, "Or just... Don't come back at all. That's fine too."

There was a longer pause. "And I do shower, you perv," she muttered, folding her arms and valiantly attempting to look like she wasn't sniffing the air.

[Teal Mage]

Hot water cradled Sao's legs as they dangled submerged to the hem of her skirt in the hotspring below. Hands folded in her lap and expression serious, the dark haired Undine regarded Kohana with her brilliant eyes. Nearby, Sieg had uncoiled to his full height and was watching Sao, a faint frown on his face. At his feet, Kohana's wolf cub sat on his hunches, tail wagging excitedly. By the way his gaze bounced between speakers, he appeared to be listening.

"…on the night of All Hallows," Sao continued, "I will be attempting a ritual on behalf of our classmate, Diana Tear." There was a short pause, as something unreadable flashed across the girl's face. She continued without prompting, though. "...as you may already know, she is afflicted with a great curse, and I believe this ritual will exercise it from her."

"The ritual will not be dangerous in itself - however the location, and the nature of All Hallows will almost certainly be. I would ask your aid, to defend myself, Diana, and perhaps a few others on that night." The girl paused yet again, before shifting her stance and bowing her head toward Kohana. She pressed her palms together in entreaty. "In return," Sao concluded, sincerely, "you would have not only my gratitude, but also any boon that is within my power to grant."

"…excuse me, Miss Sao?" Sieg spoke up, one hand raised nervously, or protectively, before his chest. Around his slim frame, red wisps of energy flickered and danced – as they had since Sao had first laid eyes on him. The youth had some sort of spell active. "I…well – the Spirits that is – they…" He stuttered before falling silent. His face was bright red. Sieglind sighed.

"I…don't know why." He began again, eyes fixed on the ground below, as he lowered his hand, to grasp his opposite forearm. Sieg gulped, "But…the spirits are saying whatever you're planning is..." Momentarily, his violet eyes rose, to fix Sao in their inhumanly beautiful depths, "...dangerous."

His gaze suddenly snapped down again, as if he'd been slapped. "...don't know why, but I don't think you should do it." Sieg added, mumbling softly.

* * *

"Are you finished invading with this interview of yours?"

Face shadowed within the pale grey cowl of her hoodie, Johanna now stood a handful of paces to Alex and Diana's west – forming a rough triangle. Her dispassionate gaze did not linger on Alex for long – she quickly turned away, shifting her gaze toward Diana and Jack. Jo's expression was unreadable.

Alex stared at her back for a moment, before grinning. Yellow energy crackled around his body and he chuckled. Idly, the young director raised a hand to his sunglasses, straightening them. The dark tinted lenses glinted brightly in the sunlight.

"No." Silver flashed, as Alex suddenly repositioned the camera – to film another shot of his face. "Well, well fans! A mysterious hooded stranger has come to the aide of the helpless – and unwashed – Diana Tear! Is she a love interest? A concerned well-wisher, or just a vampire!?"

The camera swung around, catching both Alex and Jo in its lens. Green sparkles and magical power flared around him, as the dark clothed director dramatically thrust his finger at Jo's back. "These are vital questions! The viewers have a right to know! I demand to know your name and affiliation with Diana Tear!"

"Your questions," Jo raised one of her white hands. In a curt movement, she snapped her hood down, before fixing Alex with a sidelong glare. "Leave something to be desired." A smile, brilliant, white and a hint feral, spread over her face. "Perhaps you should come back when you have something worthwhile to say."

Alex laughed.

"Uh…right!" Diana suddenly cut in, drawing the lens of Alex's camera upon her again. Her aura flared black, as the scent of rot, death and decay suddenly surged outward. Alex flinched visibly. "Get lost Darrow! Jo's my classmate and my interview!" Guided by her own aura, Diana's hand flashed through her dark red hair, spraying out glittering dark sparkles. Her smile was as dazzling as her rival's magically augmented ones. "And I'll have you know I shower daily."

Alex's own aura flickered intensely in response. The camera repositioned itself to catch both him, and Diana, in its view. "And you still reek! Damn Di –"

"Smell?" Jay called out, cutting Alex off as he sashayed in from the east. He sniffed before crossing his arms. "I don't smell anything."

Alex gave him a critical look-over, before a sardonic chuckle escaped his lips. Disinterestedly, he swung the camera toward Jay. "See fans?" He observed, "That is a fitting defender for someone like Diana Tear." His tone made it clear that it was not a compliment.

"You know," Jay shot back, aura flickering darkly around his shoulders. "There is a place for the media sorts who spread false rumours for the sake of publicity, right next to the guys who write stories about bigfoot marrying the Loch Ness monster."

With the camera on his face again, Alex lowered his sunglasses and winked conspiratorially into it. "That's right fans, I'm going straight to the top of the world!" He smirked before rounding the camera on Jay. "Not that I'd expect someone of your quality to understand." Around his frame, green magical power rolled and crackled, filling the air with sparkles. An inner-warm seemed to have suffused his skin, giving his features a crisp, yet airbrushed quality. His hair glittered dazzlingly in the noon-light, and clothes clung just right, betraying surprising muscle definition.

In that moment, most woman, and many men, would agree, Alex Darrow was dreamy.

Lightning quick, Jay changed tactics. "Diana might be a bit forceful with her interviewing style but at least I know when I read her stuff it is true." He crossed his arms, sniffing again in dismissal. "Who could trust a story covered by you?"

The camera returned was on Alex's face again. This time, he just winked.

[Bard The 5th LW]

As Jay moved forward to involve himself in the confrontation, Sean took some slow steps forward to get a chance to hear it better. Trying to juggle an impartial distance with his eavesdropping, he only caught scattered bits of what was being said.

"...a love interest? A concerned well-wisher, or just a vampire!?"

"...my classmate and my interview!"

"And you still reek! Damn Di –"

"I don't smell anything."

"Not that I'd expect someone of your quality..."

It sounded like his classmates were engaged in an argument with this ridiculously handsome stranger. Not that Sean was paying attention to his handsomeness or anything... whatever, the guy was using magic, that was cheating. Perhaps Sean could speed the conflict along. Moving from his eavesdropping vantage point, he moved forward upon the group, taking a strolling pace as he came up from behind Alex.

"Hey there," he said as he approached. He casually tapped Alex's shoulder as he spoke, "buddy, sorry for interrupting, but you mind just backing off for a moment or so? I kind of want a word with some of my classmates here and I'm not so sure if they want to keep on talking to you." He put on the friendliest smile he could as he leveled his eyes at the ridiculously handsome jerk of a director.

[Teal Mage]

Sunglasses lowered, the extremely hunky Alex Darrow winked one sparkling green eye into the lens of his camera. A bright corona of yellow magic crackled and sparked around his slim form, drawing on the collective emotions that swirled out from Jay and Johanna. Not the best I've had. He reflected, as he readjusted his glasses to hide his eyes, a smirk appearing on his face, But I bet I -

Someone poked his shoulder.

"Hey there, buddy." A pale skinned young man with a buzz cut had appeared behind him. Behind his sunglasses, Alex's eyes flickered swiftly over the new-comer, appraising him with expert skill. The camera in his hand panned ever-so-slightly, trapping Sean in its digital gaze. "Sorry for interrupting," He offered politely, withdrawing his hand, "but you mind just backing off for a moment or so? I kind of want a word with some of my classmates here and I'm not so sure if they want to keep on talking to you."

The newcomer offered a friendly smile, as he fell silent.

Behind his sunglasses, Alex's eyes flickered to the west. After a moment, a bright smile blossomed on his own face - made all the more dazzling by his magical aura. "Sure, buddy." He patted Sean on the shoulder, before slipped past him, and away from the small gathering. Alex waved cheerfully to Diana over his shoulder, before darting away.

Jackson Hall had been cut off from the herd like an injured gazelle. And, like a mighty mountain lion, Alex Darrow meant to pounce.

* * *

"Oh Jack~!" He called, catching up to the skinny and dark haired boy - before tapping his shoulder (and getting a hand on him, to stop further escape attempts). Around his slim form, the yellow energy of his magic was fading - but enough remained to make his Alex's smile far more charming than it had right to be. "It's getting pretty crowded out here, eh?" With his free hand, he lowered his sunglasses, revealing a crystalline green eye. "Wanna come back to my dorm for," He winked mischievously, "a private chat?"

He was going to steal Diana's interview!

[Riin Whitewind]

"…excuse me, Miss Sao?" Before Kohana could reply, the boy Sieg spoke up, one hand raised toward her. Sao opened her eyes, fixing him with her gaze. The intensity of her attention seemed to cause him to falter. "I…well – the Spirits that is – they…" He struggled to get the words out, face flushed a brilliant red.

Straightening her posture, the undine lowered her hands. "Please continue, Sieg." Her voice was gentle and cajoling. "I am listening." She glanced at Kohana, assessing his reaction as well as relieving the pressure of her attention from Sieg. For someone so strong, his persona was so fragile. It rattled, brittle, at the gentlest wave.

"I…don't know why." He avoided her eyes, attention fixed on the ground below. "But…the spirits are saying whatever you're planning is..." For a second, his violet eyes met hers, arresting Sao in their inhuman depths, "...dangerous." He paused to take a breath, lowering his gaze. "Don't know why, but I don't think you should do it." Sieg added, mumbling softly.

Keeping her voice low, Sao spoke. "Thank you for the warning." Her smile was friendly, "Do the spirits say what about it is dangerous? Knowing would go a long way to migitate that danger." She let her fingers dangle in the pool, watching the water ripple and dance.

The healer continued while Sieg collected himself, a slight edge to her voice. "She does not glory me, my altar devoid of sacrifices." From her tone, it was obvious Sao was refering to Diana. "Her friends and family I owe no favors, they are not spirits under my protection. I am not under any obligation to aid her."

"I do not wish to endanger myself or my companions. However, what rides Diana cannot go without answer." She shivered, despite the warmth of the steam-laden air. Fear crept into her voice against her will. Just the image of it, a bruise on her mind - She blinked rapidly to force away her vision, "It is a danger to all. It hates, it hungers, and it slavers against Diana's frame. It is not content with just one to feed upon."

An air of steely resolve settled around her, dispelling the gloom that had begun to settle over the trio. Fists clenched, her gaze was piercing, hazel eyes afire with purpose. "I cannot allow it to walk freely upon this earth. I will find a way to send it back, or destroy it."

[Steel Shadow]

Diana was, not to put too fine a point on it, confused. Also burning with rage, but Alex Darrow was within her line of sight, so that was normal. However, that seemed to be the only normal thing going on today.

This... This was not how things were supposed to go. People were taking her side and telling Alex to back off? Alex was actually conceding?!? That didn't happen. People never took her side. Alex never conceded. Not without a punch to the nose, anyways, and she'd grown out of doing that. Mostly. Stupid maturity.

Stunned, she watched her rival hurry away, before looking to her classmates. All three had stepped in on her behalf, without any request or expectation from her. She... She didn't actually know how to take that.

"I... Uh... T-Thanks, guys..." Di stuttered, giving all three a bright smile. "That was really-"

Something clicked in her head. Alex never conceded, not unless he had found a way to bend a loss to his advantage. If he was walking away, that meant...

"-Oh that son of a Nert!" Her mood switching instantly from hesitant gratitude to righteous annoyance, Diana's hands fumbled with her camera for a moment before pressing it into Johanna's hands. "Here! Please, film this next bit for me? I don't want Alex being the only one with footage today!"

"Now, I'll be right back!" she said, clasping her hands and bowing slightly to the three, then spinning on her heel and dashing off the way her Rival and Jack had gone.

-----

A hand clamped down on Alex's wrist, delicate in apperance, but iron in grip. With a light application of force, it plucked Alex's hand from Jack's shoulder and lowered it back to his side before releasing it. Over his shoulder, Alex heard a familiar voice. "Mr. Darrow, if my classmate is truely set on not giving interviews, I will have to insist you abide by his wishes. I know full well that nothing is 'off the record' with you. Please, let him leave in peace."

[SinrXIII]

"Well hell. That settles things nicely, don't it?"

Sieg's - and consequently, Sao's - speech had been filled with unease and worry; Sieg's about the possibility of terrible danger, Sao's about the monster inside their classmate. Sieg was, of course, not likely to press his point, but Kohana took the words to heart as the boy spoke his warning. Sao was magnificently resolute in her desire to crush whatever fiend had taken residence inside Diana Tear; Koh chuckled inside his head, wondering if his arrangement with the Wolf was a similar condition.

However, the thought that something could go wrong or that CityGirl was possessed by some monster was all Koh'd needed. His ears were perked forward after the briefest moment's consideration, and a wide grin split his features. The shaman ruffled Sieg's hair in thanks before turning to Sao.

As Koh spoke, his voice slid into a natural drawl, polite speech fading slowly as his tail flicked with eager excitement.

"If Sieg says somethin's gonna go wrong, somethin's gonna go wrong and there's no changin' it. But seein' how your mind is made up on goin' through with this ritual of yours and danger be damned, I see no way I can refuse you." The wolf-boy coughed, clearing his throat before crossing his arms over his chest.

"I, Kohana Akecheta, have heard your request, Honored Spirit. In the name of the Abyssal Wolf, I humbly offer my services in whatever way they can be of use to you."

[Dracorion]

Just as Jack reached the top of the stairs, he found his path barred by a hooded Jo. Good, now he could get that conversation out of the way.

"Oh, uh, he-" He began, but she just walked right past him, toward Di and Alex. Oookkaaaayy. He could follow her... or he could wait for Jo to be done over there and talk to her then. Yeah, that was better than getting involved in a situation he had just escaped from.

So Jack just stood and watched Alex grew handsomer even from this distance and a yellow aura formed around him (wasn't it green before?), and Sean and Jay joined the conversation. But his thoughts drifted to how he was supposed to start that conversation with Jo. "Hey Jo, didja get any mysterious threatening letters today?" seemed a mite too obvious. And he couldn't be too explicit about the whole thing or get into even more trouble. Hell, he wasn't sure he could even be implicit about it.

"Oh Jack~!" Came the call, snapping him out of his thoughts as he looked up. Oh, fuck me. Alex Darrow approached him with a charming smile and placed a hand on his shoulder, holding him firmly. For politeness' sake, Jack turned to face him, but avoided making eye contact and just looked at Alex's ear instead. "It's getting pretty crowded out here, eh?" With his free hand, he lowered his sunglasses, revealing a crystalline green eye, which Jack barely noticed before averting his gaze once more. "Wanna come back to my dorm for," He winked mischievously, "a private chat?"

Jack blinked. Seriously? No, sorry dude, I generally don't get into bed with douchebags. Now, if Alex were any nicer, things would be different.

Before Jack could attempt to remove Alex's hand and duck out again, Diana arrived and did it for him. "Mr. Darrow, if my classmate is truely set on not giving interviews, I will have to insist you abide by his wishes. I know full well that nothing is 'off the record' with you. Please, let him leave in peace."

And now Jack was stuck in the middle of these two again. Better fix that. "Um... no." He said simply to Alex, and just walked away, toward Jo.

-----

"Hey, um, Jo." Jackson greeted with a small wave. "Do you have a minute?" He asked quietly, looking at a spot to the left of the pale girl's face, like he did the first time they talked.

[Teal Mage]

"...thank you for the warning." Sao replied, after a few moments of silence had passed in the mossy glade. A warm smile appeared on her face, as she regarded Sieglind - curiously. "Do the spirit say what about it is dangerous?" The undine asked, not unkindly. Her eyes slid away from the boy and toward the pool in the clearing's center. "Knowing would go a long way to mitigate that danger." She added, idly gliding her fingers along the murky surface of the hotspring before herself.

Sieg's mouth was parted slightly. He was staring at Sao again, a frown slowly forming on his face. Violet eyes blinked rapidly for a moment, before he slowly nodded. "I..." He began, before trailing off instead. One hand rose to his chest, clasping the air before his heart. His eyes shut and the faint crackle of spirit magic around his body subsided. Sieg's breathing began to slow...

Eyes still on the water, Sao began to speak again. "She does not glory me," the spirit murmured, "my altar devoid of sacrifices. Her friend and family I owe no favors," Sao went on, pensive. "They are not spirits under my protection." Perhaps, she was merely thinking aloud. "I am not under any obligation to aid her."

"I do not wish to endanger myself or my companions." She added, gaze sliding toward Kohana. "However," a shiver swept through her spine, and her gaze returned to the water, "what rides Diana cannot go without answer." A hint of fear tinged her voice. "It is a danger to all."

"It hates," Sao stated, voice hardening. "It hungers, and it slavers against Diana's frame." Her eyes turned toward Sieg and Kohana yet again. Once more, Sieg was staring at her - this time, she met his inhuman gaze unflinchingly, steel in her own eyes. "It is not content with just one to feed upon."

"I cannot allow it," a line of yellow electricity sparked, crackling through the air like a whip at her words, "to walk freely on this earth." Her jaw tightened, and fist clenched in the murky water. "I will find a way to send it back, or destroy it."

This time Sieg hadn't shied away from her eyes. He didn't reply, though. Instead, his purple eyes merely held the undine's gaze. A faint film of blood red light hung around the boy - to match the weak glow of yellow around Sao.

Kohana was the one who broke the silence.

"Well hell." The dog eared boy stated, snapping the tension like a knife. Blinking in surprise, Sieg's gaze bounced to Kohana - and his aura vanished completely. "That settles things nicely, don't it?" The native youth grinned widely, crossing to Sieg's side. He ruffled the boy's shaggy mess of caramel hair.

"If Sieg says somethin's gonna go wrong," he went on matter-of-factly, turning his eyes toward Sao, "somethin's gonna go wrong and there's no changin' it." In spite of his words, Kohana' tail twitched behind him - in excitement. "But," his smile was back, "seein' how your mind is made up on goin' through with this ritual of yours and danger be damned, I see no way I can refuse you."

Sieg lowered his head, sheepishly.

"I," crossing his arms over his chest, Kohana bowed formally to Sao, "Kohana Akecheta, have heard your request, Honored Spirit. In the name of the Abyssal Wolf, I humbly offer my services in whatever way they can be of use to you."

"Uhm." Sieg swallowed, eyes on Kohana. He bit the inside of cheek, before nodding. "Alright then, Kohana." The boy smiled faintly, "I guess I'll head back to the campus. And leave you two," he added, eyes straying toward Sao - before flinching back to Kohana. "To make, uhm...plans?" He finished, uncertainly, before shaking his head.

The young man turned, eyes falling on the place where he'd abandoned his sketch-pad and pastels. Steps perhaps a little too quick, he made his way to them. Crouching, he began to hastily collect his art supplies - posture suggesting he was felt extremely uncomfortable where he was, at that moment.

* * *

Jack walked away, leaving Alex standing at the top of the stairs with Diana.

Surprisingly, the dark-haired boy sighed. Though Diana couldn't see it, the yellow aura of power around him had dissipated – by comparison, the bespectacled director seemed almost deflated. He jerked his wrist free of Diana's hand, with a soft grunt of effort, before jamming that hand into his pocket.

"That wasn't as much fun as I thought it would be." Alex stated, breathing a clipped, annoyed, sigh.

Without a further word to his red-haired rival, the dark-haired director left.

[Bard The 5th LW]

"That wasn't as much fun as I thought it would be," spoke the male director, as his visage faded back to normality and he sulked away. Jack paced towards Jo, leaving Diana free for a moment. Sean waited fro him to clear before he took a few steps towards the other monst- director.

'Just get over it, the dream didn't even get her hair right,' he tried to assure himself as the sense of unease he recalled from the interview began to resurface. Despite his mental attempts to act casually, he still left a bit of room between his classmate and himself before he spoke.

"Hey there, you got a moment now?" he asked. "Just a quick question about yesterday and I let you go. I was on my way to see if I could get someone in the Home Ec club to fix my jacket before the... mishap. If possible, do you mind getting it back to me sometime after class tomorrow so I can get it patched up?" He figured it would be a bit more polite to spare the details of the 'incident' from yesterday.

[Steel Shadow]

"That wasn't as much fun as I thought it would be."

Diana stared after her rival as he walked away, now more confused than ever. He'd run off again. What was up with him? Was he ok? He'd been acting strangely, even for him... Maybe he was sick? That would explain why he was going on about smells...

Well it wasn't like she cared.

Absently she turned and headed back towards her classmates, her pace distracted and slow. She almost missed it when Sean started talking to her.

"Hey there, you got a moment now? Just a quick question about yesterday and I let you go. I was on my way to see if I could get someone in the Home Ec club to fix my jacket before the... mishap. If possible, do you mind getting it back to me sometime after class tomorrow so I can get it patched up?"

"Huh? Oh! Of course. Sorry, I should have brought it in today! I mean... I can get it for you now, if you want?" Somehow Di didn't think Sean was that keen on hanging around though, for whatever reason. "Or... Ok, yeah, I'll bring it in tomorrow." Ha. Maybe she was more tired than she thought. It was probably just that dream. It was throwing her all sorts of off today.

"You don't have to leave, y'know. You can stick around. We should all get to know one another if we're going to be classmates, right?" she tried again, this time throwing in a hopeful smile. She did like the guy, even if he had anger issues (wait, what? Oh never mind...) It'd be nice to make some friends aside from Sarah and Bill.

Plus, it looked like Jack was trying to talk to Jo, and she didn't want to interrupt to get her camera back...

[Bard The 5th LW]

"ROOOOOOOAAAAR" - What Sean is still hearing

Sean blinked. He shook his head a bit before coming back down to Earth. He just needed to calm down a bit. It was just a dream! Diana wasn't really a spine smashing werewolf monster! It would be mean to judge her based off something that never happened.

...but despite his attempts to assure himself, he still could feel the sense of discomfort growing in his gut. He needed a moment to just shake off last night. Then he could relax.

"Well I'd like to, but I have to get ready for hockey practice soon," he said a moment or two later in a deliberately calm tone. "Tell you what though, I won't be busy tomorrow, so we can talk when we meet after class, what do you say?" Certainly a few hours worth of exhaustion were all he'd need to shake off memories of the nightmare.