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

[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.