NationStates Jolt Archive

OOC: No OOC comments on this thread (except this one). If you wish to apply please go here: http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?p=13745772#post13745772
Any questions or ideas you feel you need to run by me, send me a TG. You don't have to tell me you sent me a TG in this thread, I check it regularly.
-Miss Ravelyn

IC:

With classes only two days away, students were beginning to arrive at the academy. There was a reception and a speech by the headmaster at nine that night, so many had enough time to get settled in. The grand glass double doors opened as people arrived, the large brass cylinders used as handles providing the only grip to open them. They were quite heavy, and there was a soft click when people would open them. There was a very high pitched sound emitted as well, but many could not hear it. The floor was made of marble with glinting specs of some gem within it. The main lobby had extremely high ceilings with exquisite windows that let in the soothing light. There was not a spec of dirt in the place. The front desk was fairly level, and a woman with blond hair tied back in a bun and glasses which shielded her light blue eyes sat giving out keys to students and directing them where they needed to be. She had a name tag that read “Vivian Summers”. Well behind the desk in the lobby (which could have been considered a grand ballroom for sheer size), was a large staircase that verged at the top to the right, to the left, and then further up. This is how staff and students could access the different levels directly. There were also staircases and elevators throughout the building, and all neighboring buildings were connecting with covered walkways.

A woman with long, dark hair leaned up against the wall. Her golden sundress brought out the flecks of amber in her eyes. She was certainly not a student. There was an indescribable radiance about her presence that was unavoidable. It didn’t strike you when you first entered the room, but rather when you took in your surroundings; the beautiful sky-high ceilings; the light sifting in and making the floor shine, the brilliant architecture, and that stunning woman in the golden sundress. There was a doubled cross around her neck that split down the middle, but still remained together by a small piece of metal. There was a ring on her left hand which sparkled as much as her eyes did. She was married; a shot through the heart of every man to look upon her. Whoever was her husband was a lucky man. Something about that gleaming look in her eyes; a look that could pierce through the very soul, lead one to believe she wasn’t just a pretty face. Behind those eyes was the knowledge of someone who had lived longer than the ground she walked on.

The seventh year had begun.

From the edge of the woods surrounding the Shentavo Academy, a vast quantity of mist moved slowly across the earth. It stretched a good fifteen or so feet in width, rising up to seven feet or so in height. Silently it traveled, rolling mist clouds tumbling over each other, reaching, probing, moving forward with disregard to the direction of the wind. The mist was thick, difficult to see through. As it coasted near the entrance, the mist began to condense, pulling in from the extremities. At first, one foot was seen, then another as they walked barefoot across the grass. Then, flowing upward, the mist condensed to reveal a young woman's legs, torso, arms and lastly the head. Flowing, layered dark brown hair as straight as could be, reached her mid-back. Her dress was simple, one that was white atop her shoulders, flowing gradually down to her knees where it ended in a light blue.

She looked around, but already knew that no one else was in the immediate vicinity. Such was an ability in mist-form; to sense any life-forms within a thirty foot radius. In her solid form, her abilities were slightly higher than normal humans, but not by much. She was a slender girl, but with toned muscle just barely noticeable beneath her skin.

Passing through the entryway, she paused momentarily to admire the architecture. Her jade eyes stared softly back at her through a nearby mirror, reflecting her curiosity. Her visit to this world, from her home world of Atlan in a galaxy that seemed forever far away, had been nothing short of an adventure. These people were different, unique in culture and mannerisms. She had been directed to take classes at this Academy, assured by several Tarlachians that it was a prestigious institution.

Turning her head now to the woman behind the desk, she approached quietly and stood there, crossing her arms in front of herself and clasping her hands together. "Coor'lium." she greeted, before switching to English, "I'm Cassidy Atlantos. I've come to take classes under several of your reputable instructors."

It seemed like tradition for Joshua to walk up to the Academy doors with a duffel bag over his shoulder and the cloths on his back. Long past were the days of military grade equipment and a cocky yet youthful soldier being replaced by a world weary soul returning to what could be considered his second home.
Gently he reached for the handle to the main door and opened it enough for himself to slip in before closing it again.
It felt strange, strange to be back after so many years drifting from place to place. In a way this place was possibly one of the last constant things in his life, a home that after years still remained and welcomed him with open arms.
Looking across the hall he sighed quietly as the memories of years past bubbled up and reminded him of the happenings that too place behind these walls.
After a short moment he brushed them aside and began to quickly walk towards the front desk.
"Knightly McKay checking in, I could also be under Joshua Maxwell," he said to Vivian with a faint smile on his face, "If possible could I get the key to room 17?"

Vivian Summers gave them their respective keys, and explained the layout of the buildings. They could put their stuff away and settle down, before getting ready for the reception later on in the evening when everyone else had arrived. Vivian herself appeared reserved and quiet, and as soon as she explained what she needed to, she went back to sifting through papers.

McKay smiled and nodded thanks to Vivian as he pocketed his key. He had started to walk towards the stairs when he felt something, someone he hadn't sensed in a rather long time.
Pausing he looked about the room before spotting her, Rave. Fighting the urge to full out run towards her and hug her he slowly walked over, all the while the smile on his face growing slowly.
"I take it you're my insurance policy?" McKay asked obviously unable to contain the joy he felt at seeing Rave once more.

Casey Lonnergan stepped through his exit-way, letting out the last audible pop as he released the tension from his neck. Casey didn't mind travelling, but if the conditions were bad, he often found himself with a literal pain in the neck to put him in mood foul enough to turn sugar water into vinegar. Passing through the doorway, he stopped, his mood getting even more sour as he heard a very high-pitched whine that was, to him, migraine inducing.

"I suppose it's fair," Casey muttered to himself as he shut the door. "I did forget about that whole blood-only diet. I have really lost a step." He found himself behind a Knightly McKay, and after he was assisted, Casey moved forward to check himself in.

"Good morning, Ms. Summers. Casey Lonnergan, checking in, possibly under the name Longinus." That was a name he hadn't used in a while.

It wasn't long before Cassidy had opened the door to her room, standing in the doorway to cast a careful eye over everything before her. It consisted of a typical dormitory style layout, but with a bit of elegance put into practice. Moving into the room, she closed the door quietly, ran a few fingers over the bed, desk and vanity. Stopping before the mirror, she smiled softly to herself for a moment, then turned away. She had mentally mapped out the academy by what she had thus traveled, and by the information provided by the receptionist.

Her luggage consisted of two bags, and this was set atop her bed for now. She would empty them later. Re-emerging into the hall, she locked the door and set off down the hall. Her eyes instinctively sought out crevices and doorways providing potential routes of entry or escape. Pausing at the top of the stairs leading back to the main foyer, she turned her attention to a woman in a golden sun dress being spoken to by a younger male. It seemed that they knew each other, judging from the words spoken by the male. She had noted the woman earlier, but had not given her much attention. She sensed the woman was an instructor, and wondered if she would be teaching any of her courses.

She softly made her way down the steps, a hand lightly touching the railing as she did so. Casting another glance toward the two of them, she instead chose to wander the lower corridors of the Academy, sticking to the areas open for travel. There were closed doors here and there, and she felt her curiosity urging her to simply slip under the doors and find out what lay beyond, but she didn't.

Dominic walked through the door, carrying a single bag, wearing a white trenchcoat and black shades. He looked not a day older than when he had last come here, though this time he had a large scar on his right cheek. He carried himself in a much more self-assured way, long ago growing to recognize his place in the world, that of a monster misunderstood.

Ah well, guess that's why I do things like this. I'm amongst my own, those that stand out in life. Or unlife. Whichever.

He scoped the surrounding room and took in several sights. Ravelyn, stunning as always and the back of a head he hadn't seen since they were both young soldiers. Joshua was here. He recognized no-one else in the room, but did notice that rooms were being assigned by a blue eyed woman, Vivian by the nametag.

He walked up behind a man taller than he with sandy hair, and waited his turn to get his room. When it came, he smiled, his fangs glinting a bit in the light. "Vivian, you're looking lovely today, how are you? Dominic Wrathe, checking in to this fine center for learning."

With a black shirt and matching pants Vitori walked up the door of the academy, his toes luxuriating in the lawn. While he had shoes in the fairly large backpack he carried slung over one shoulder, he had never liked footwear of any sort.

Brushing off any stray bits of dirt as he opened the front door he noticed a few other students had already arrived. It seemed that the blue-eyed blonde was hand out the room keys and other bits of useful information. It seemed that at least one of the other students was going to be interesting. Vampire were rather rare as fare as he was concerned especially those who tolerated sunlight.

"Frauline," He said when the man in front of him moved out of the way, "If this where we check in, then I am Vitori Lathena, and it is a pleasure to meet you." His eyes smiled for him as his mouth seemed not to move.

The first thing one noticed about Felix Illyrian tended to be his height -- he stood two inches short of eight feet in his stocking feet. He was not tall for a Sevle -- tall Sevle were in excess of eight feet in height. Extremely tall Sevle topped nine. Felix was average, in more way than one. Of course, what was average for the Sevle...

His muscles were sharply defined, the tight black t-shirt he wore being singularly incapable of hiding his physique. Probably because the it wasn't intended to serve such a purpose. Felix was not much for unnecessary subtlety.

Because he was Sevle -- the crimson-underlayed-black of his skin, his snow-white hair, the meaningless colors that blazed in his eyes, leaving only hints of the true green to show through -- the delicate point to his ears...he was Sevle.

His clothing was far less exotic than he himself was -- the aforementioned black t-shirt, loose black pants, and black boots, unpolished. His Warpblade was on its hanger and ran along the back of his waist, held at the ideal angle by the mechanism in the retainment bracket -- it wouldn't interfere with his movements, would actually move to prevent such interference. Remarkable thing.

Beyond that, he had a firm grip on a rather large trunk, nearly as large as he himself was, and quite obviously extremely heavy -- the gentle glow of active counter-grav units along the bottom made that extremely obvious. In his other hand, he had a duffel bag. The trunk was a flat black dull metal with the insignia of the Immortals legion emblazoned on one side. The duffel was a deep navy blue.

Now...Felix's methods of arriving before the Academy were somewhat notable. He had appeared. The Sevle referred to the motive method as 'warpwalking.' There were significant limitations as to its usefulness, but when it came to getting from one place to another, quickly, then it was a very competative option.

He walked up to the doors, glared, because, of course, they appeared to be 'pull' doors...slid his duffel bag up onto his shoulder to free his hand, then used that to faciliate his entrance. Receptionist, check. Mysterious observer, check.

Wry grin in place, showing just a hint of shiny white ivory, he approached the front desk to get his key and be on his way. There was much work to be done.

Vivian blushed at Dominic, but only for a moment before handing him his key. “I’m very well, thank you. That is the first time someone has asked me today.” She also gave a key to Vitori and smiled, and then followed their eyes over to the woman in the golden dress speaking with one of the students. “Oh, so that is where everyone’s attention is held.” She partially laughed and smiled as she went back to her papers before another student approached. She seemed to know their names before they even told her, and had the key ready by the time he had reached the counter.

Ravelyn looked at Joshua for several seconds. My, how you’ve grown. She thought silently. She smiled. “Why are you acting so properly for?” she asked and tilted her head before stepping forward and hugging him. She was only a few inches shorter with her tall heels which matched her dress. “Welcome home…” she whispered softly into his ear. “So many things have changed, I can’t even begin to explain everything that has happened…” She backed away slightly, though Joshua was reluctant to release her. She wrung her hands together. Indeed she didn’t know where to start. She looked at Joshua’s face and lightly trailed her hand over his cheek.

Oh Mrs. O, will you tell us where the naughty children go?
Will you show how the sky turned white and everybody froze.
Heaven knows how they got into the fireplace but everybody's saying grace

She felt deeply troubled by what ran through her mind. She hadn’t been the angel everyone had looked up to. She had been deceptive and manipulative. How could she possibly relay that story to Joshua? How could she possibly face him? The sin of it all hit her hard when she looked into that face. She took his hand and sat down with him on one of the leather couches. “There is so much you have missed, and I have probably missed as well.” She was quiet for a bit, watching the students filter in and out of the academy, getting ready for a wonderful year; a wonderful year she knew wasn’t going to be all that perfect. Here she was again; deceiving all of them again, and she still had the nerve to call herself good. There were so many conflicting emotions running through her head; but she managed to keep her composure. She spoke quietly, so that only Joshua would be able to hear. Her hand remained on his, and as much as he wanted to yell at what he was told she somehow kept him calm.

And oh, Mrs. O can you teach us how to keep from getting cold.
Out we go and you watch us as we face the falling snow. You really have a way with words
The truth can't save you now the sky is falling down. Watch the vultures count the hours.

“Quissera and I have always been in love,” she said, with her voice in an even tone. “With the Powers always in control of our lives and the stipulations placed upon us, it was forbidden for us to be together. I feel a lot of the anger directed upon you was because of me. For that I deeply apologize. I didn’t save you just to save you. I saved you because I had put you in that position. I care for your greatly, don’t make the mistake otherwise.” She knew that his eyes had at least once trailed to the diamond ring on her left hand. “It was straining, however this past winter I received the order that I was to be executed by means of War. Later on I figured out that they had no intentions to resurrect me afterwards, as I was deemed too much of a problem. We devised a way to break from their power. This is long after the academy closed for the sixth year. I manipulated several people, and Quissera took the powers of the other two seraphics as I prepared myself to die. Through death was the only way for someone else to attain my powers. I had to die.” She paused for a moment. “To make it a lot less complicated, Qui absorbed my powers as well. He is the only remaining seraphic…”

And oh, Mrs. O, will you tell about the time they made you go?
All alone to the palace where they took your only clothes.
We all know, there's no hell and no Hiroshima.
Chernobyl was a cover up, and the world is really all in love

“I lost my vampirism,” she whispered softly, trying to analyze the expression of his face. Her golden eyes flickered. “This is the form I was always meant to have…” She drew in a breath. “That’s not the point…The point is that in order for us to find a way to have all of this work out, I had to twist the fate lines…” She paused. She couldn’t tell him all of this. She couldn’t carry on, because if she did… she didn’t know if he would stay. She didn’t know if any of them would stay if the truth got out. The inner turmoil flared again within her. “I’m sorry to burden you with this story. Really this day has been overwhelming. I just ramble on.” She kissed his forehead. “I need to rest. Welcome home Joshua.” She stood up from the couch and turn on her heels. She walked up the grand stairway to the highest level, and vanished behind a large set of double doors. She stormed into the office and barely managed to contain the tears streaming down her face. Quissera, in a bit of a shock, went to her, and wrapped his arms around her.

And oh, Mrs. O, will you leave us hanging now that we are grown?
Up and old. Will you kill me if I say I told you so?
We all know. The truth can't save you now.
The sky is falling down, and everything they ever told us
shakes our faith and breaks their promise, but you can stop the truth from leaking
if you never stop believing.

“Was it really that hard for you, Azrael?” he whispered softly, stroking her hair. “Shhh…you’ve been under so much stress. Don’t cry.” He could feel her heart beating rapidly, and the suppressed sobs against his chest.

“I have to deceive even more people? We are putting their lives in danger. Everyone is coming here to learn. They are bright, intelligent, and talented. They signed up for an education, not a war or to protect a girl who has nearly every force of good or evil with their eyes on her. They didn’t come here to protect our daughter!”

“This is a necessary evil, Azrael,” he said quietly. “We need to train them in their respective fields well enough. Only ones trained by this school in this school will be able to defend them off should our powers fail. The school will only respond to them. You know that is how we constructed this building. It protects the staff and students. We need them. We need them to risk their lives for what we give them.”

“I can’t keep this up,” she said quietly, burying her face into his chest.

“Make them strong, Azrael, as I will do the same. Make them strong so that when we are faced with the threat of her death and the schools obliteration…they’ll be strong enough to survive. It is what we have done all along; prepare them to survive.”

“Yes but this time I don’t know if I can protect them!” she said, bursting out with a new wave of tears. He stroked her hair.

“You don’t have to protect them anymore. That’s why I’m here. I promised I would bear the cross you carried. I don’t plan on dropping it now. Shhh…God, Azrael. We could not have foreseen these consequences from messing with the threads of fate. Everything will be fine. We will have to prepare them as all. Who knows if they’ll even find out that she is here. This is the most secure location you or I have ever been to. Everyone will be safe, I promise. For now, prepare them as you usually do in your fields, and I will in mine. Don’t agonize yourself over deception. They will get what they want; an education more valuable then the price they are paying.” Her tears eased. He walked her over to a couch at the edge of the room and sat her down. He bent down and kissed her lips, tasting the saltiness of the sweet tears which had tried. It quieted all protests from the woman. He pulled away from her.

“Why don’t you let me handle everything for once? Rest.” He kissed her forehead.

Tere and Kristian arrived at the academy, Tere let go of his hand and pushed the door open, letting him in.

Kristian smiled and waved to Ravelyn as he spotted her, she was talking to a man in front of her. As he made his way to the receptionist she suddenly went upstairs, he shrugged and moved to the desk proper and took a nervous breath before speaking to the receptionist.

“Hi Vivian.” he said with a smile as he came over to the desk and laid his hand on it. “I‘m after my-”

The woman handed him a key with the number “12” on it with a smile.

He looked slightly bewildered for a moment before taking the offered key. “Thanks” he said as he shifted his duffel bag on his back a little and began to make his way into the academy to find his room.

“You going to be ok now, Kristian?” Tere said, patting him on the back slightly and slipping the letter into his deep great coat pocket.

“I think so, I’m a little nervous, to be honest.”

“You’ll be fine, I promise. It’s Rave after all. I’ll let Asopher know you arrived safely and he’ll join as soon as Rave says it’s ok for him to come visit, ok?”

“Sure.” Kristian nodded and began to head away into the dorms proper.

Tere simply sighed, turned and vanished.

Kristian found the room eventually after a few minutes of looking around and nodding to students as he passed them. Opening it and walking inside. He blinked and looked at it, it was certainly plush for a student dorm. He threw his greatcoat over a chair in the room next to the computer desk and began to put his bag onto his bed for the moment, he’d unpack later, but for now he felt like wandering and meeting the other students, maybe even bump into Rave or Qui and have a chat… preferably Ravelyn. He thought with a sigh.

The letter had fluttered down onto the floor from his coat and Kristian spotted it as he was on his way back out. He frowned and picked it up, recognising Heruss’ curled handwriting and it’s addressing to Ravelyn he put it into his pocket and headed out into the dorms proper, looking around a bit and checking out the other students, he chose to try to get used to the layout of the academy a bit and headed down the stairs into the reception area and into the corridors and passageways below. From his wandering he came across a young woman in a blue and white dress.

“Uhm, hello?” he ventured a little as he looked around and walked down the corridors to her. “I’m Kristian Heruss, guess I’m a first year student. You a student too, or work here or something? I think I’m a little lost. This place is a lot bigger than I expected…”

What impressed Schama the most was that her driver not even flinched when the huge ... being suddenly appeared out of nothing only about a hundred meters in front of the car. Obviously things like that where common enough around here.
The taxi pulled up in front of the main entrance and Schama paid the driver. Then she stood there, her large, obsdian black eyes staring at a building that seemed strangely familiar and yet wasn't. Not realy odd, that, she thought. I can't recall much anything of what happend during the last years. With this last thought she shrugged and moved on to open the doors. She was surprised by how heavy they were and for just a second she thought she'd heared a sound like someone scratching claws over a plate of glass. Schama shook her head in confusion. There hadn't been any sound but a soft click when she'd opened the door.
A strange place, indeed .
She ignored the impressive lobby, trying not to be distracted again, and went over to the blond woman who looked like a receptionist. The huge what-ever-it-was that had popped out of nowhere in front of the taxi had obviously already left. Schama hoped she would see it (or him or her ... no, definitively a 'him') again. She'd never seen a shape like that before.
A last step brought her to the desk and she glanced at the woman's name tag.

"Hello, Ms. Summers. My name's Schama Eras, I'm just checking in." She recived her key and left to look for her room.

Casey thanked the woman for the key, hefted his bag, and sauntered up to his room before letting himself in. Once inside, he placed the bag on a chair, opened it, and drew out three wooden staves. He tossed them onto his bed, and twitched when he noticed all three shift after they had come to a rest. When they stopped for the second time, Casey picked them up, muttering a "Figures" and shoving them into his bag, at an angle that would have suggested an impossibility for the staves to fit.

Casey proceeded to unpack and settle in, before folding the bag in on itself and stowing it near his bed. He headed downstairs, noticing that Ravelyn had gone and another female come in. He barely caught her name as Schama Eras before he headed outside through a smaller door, breathing in the air and feeling the sunlight on his face. He walked to the edge of the lake, noticing the surface vibrate slightly as he reached for it.

Casey sat back, dropping into a meditative trance as he reflected on why he was here. Long ago he had forfeited any belief in chance, knowing instead that what happened in this world was a result of the machinations of everyone in it, and that random occurrences were either coincidental duplications or unforeseen consequences of poorly laid plans. That, or the result of a single spontaneous action that could fundamentally change everything. He was one such result.

Summers stopped one of the students as she entered with two guns at her hips. “Those won’t be needed,” Summers said, and with a motion of her hand the guns flew into a slot on her desk and vanished from sight.

“Those are my only weapon! How am I supposed to defend myself!”

“There are people here who will be able to fight off anything that could ever be an issue. Not to mention the building is well equipped as it is…”


Attention Students and Faculty! a feminine voice rang over the intercom through the building. This years commencement and reception shall begin in an hours time in the TGH auditorium. Please be on time.

Quissera walked down the stairs. Students were entering and chatting noisily. He drew in a breath. There was fresh meat this year that would need to be beaten into line. He could already taste it in the air. Quissera was well built, and it was the first time he had actually worn his button down white shirt buttoned, though the top two were undone. It still managed to show off an impressive physique. He wore dark jeans with a black belt and a silver buckle. Black combat boots underneath the hem of the pants completed the outfit. As he walked down the corridor, the long chains hanging from his wrists jingled slightly. The metal looked as if it was ancient. There appeared to be thorn like metal on the chains themselves. He appeared to be in his late twenties with white hair that was of medium length and fell over one eye. It didn’t come close to touching his shoulder. His skin was pale, and his eyes were mismatched. The left was crimson while the right was blue.

Summers looked back to the student. “If you have any concerns of safety, please speak with the headmaster.” She motioned over her shoulder. The student opened her lips slightly and her eyes widened before she shook her head. She had no questions to ask.

Quissera eyed the students as they entered as he descended the staircase. Then, his eyes fell upon Joshua, and he froze. They both froze.

Vitori had taken his pack to his room, not bothering to unpack before heading back down-stairs. Hearing the message about the reception, he headed outside to spend about half an hour resting in the shade of a tree before heading back inside and toward the hall.

He was curious about his fellow students but was more concerned with having a nap before listening to a speech from the heads of the school.

Felix shook his head absently as he accepted his key, gave a meaningless pleasantry, and headed off to find his room. Which wasn't all that hard -- it was was very, very difficult to get a Sevle lost. They had a remarkable capacity for dead reckoning, knowing exactly where they were in relation to where they had been without any real effort. That a remarkable capacity for recall and identification that allowed for extremely effective landmarked-based navigation -- that was almost a necessity when once considered the Sevle capability for Warpwalking, though that was, of course, a special case.

Therefore, he found his room without any complications whatsoever. The door was slightly more troubling, but he got that worked out without having to resort to breaking it down, which was a win as far as he was concerned. There was, of course, no question in his mind that he could have broken the door down -- and considering his size and strength, it was not difficult to understand his presumption.

Once within, he tossed his duffel onto the bed and set about getting the trunk situated. First, it was turned vertical, then it unfolded several times. Within was his armor -- master-crafted Void Striker armor modified to his own specifications -- he had inherited his namesake's Artificer aptitude, though, admittedly, not quite to the same extent...

Joratheon Aedarion -- Jory Aedarion -- had been Master Warsmith of the Immortals long, long ago. The greatest Artificer ever to have lived, they said, and one of the greatest men -- his support was a great contributor in the ascension of both his brother, Kassigar, and his friend Torquemada, to the position of Warmaster. And he won the heart of Torquemada's sister, Catherine.

Of course, all that had changed -- Catherine had died and Jory had vanished...and Cassandros Illyrian, who had been one of Jory's closest friends, had given Jory's name to his son.

Felix exhaled as he ran his hand over his armor, resplendent in the black and gold of the Immortals, polished to a brilliant sheen. The 'wings' of the unfolded trunk held his weapons: fighting glaive, carbine, pistols, reloads for the ordnance dispensers on his armor's 'belt.'

Of course, he had no need for any of these items at this time, it just made him feel slightly better, seeing them. And, of course, because it was the sort of thing that led to the death of species for a Void Striker to be separated from his equipment.

He yawned, then, and took his Warpblade off its hanger, pressing it into the proper slot on the trunk's left wing -- he didn't expect he'd need it, had only worn it at all because Warpwalking unarmed was a recipe for disaster, and the Warpblade, Vas-Turasha, was...possessive.

Very...possessive.

He gave the sword a very firm glance, and his eyes burned with radiant warplight, coruscating the full spectrum and beyond. The sword seemed to relax, to become nothing more than a sword. The proper term was 'dormant.'

He spent another few moments sorting through his duffel bag, though he put nothing away, merely tossed it down beside the bed after retrieving a pair of slender pads which he placed on the underside of the bedframe -- counter-grav units, to assist the bed in supporting his body, should he fancy attempting to use it.

He wasn't expecting to.

The floor seemed quite inviting, as far as things went, and beds not designed for Sevle bodies were seldom worth risking, even with the counter-grav supports. For similar reasons, he wasn't much for chairs.

He had enough time for a bit of stretching to work the kinks of travel out -- though his transit had been near instantaneous, sidereal, he had walked a long, long way, none-the-less. Then the announcement sounded and he began a mental countdown. He had no intention of being late, but being early was not attractive, either. Therefore, he would arrive, punctually, seven minutes early. As was proper. Directions were a mere thought away -- he closed his eyes for a moment, inhaled, and knew the way.

Because he was Sevle, and he had walked paths that defied the cognition of this existances other denizens. Because he was Sevle, and privy to the innermost workings of the universe. Because he was Sevle, he knew the way.

Joshua had to force him self to let Rave go when she hugged him, it had been too long since they had seen each other and it was not under far worse circumstances.
He was slightly stunned as she began to tell him these things, each new bit of information a slap to the chest. Just trying to grasp it all at once was a staggering feat that he could not achieve at this point.
As she turn to leave he couldn't find his voice, he wanted to tell her he didn't blame her. She saved his life, was possibly the closest thing to a mother he would ever know, and he could never be mad at her. Even if he had attracted that anger he couldn't have it any other way.

He stood there silently still trying to find his voice when the announcement came on, sighing quietly the quickly ascended began to make his way towards the stairs when he saw Qui. He froze, a glimmer of hatred could be seen in his eyes though it was seemingly shoved aside and he began to move again.
As he passed Qui he whispered loud enough so only he could hear, "We need to talk later." He quickly moved to his room to , dropped off his bag (minding the imprint on the floor that had tripped him so many times before) and began to slowly wander to the auditorium.
He didn't have the heart to tell Rave he was home for another reason, a more personal one.

“Uhm, hello?” he ventured a little as he looked around and walked down the corridors to her. “I’m Kristian Heruss, guess I’m a first year student. You a student too, or work here or something? I think I’m a little lost. This place is a lot bigger than I expected…”

Hearing the voice behind her, Cassidy turned silently and cast her eyes up and down to take in all of whom this person was. A tilt of her head and a warm smile crossed her face. She looked into his eyes; jade like hers; and replied with, "Cassidy Atlantos." A hand reached outward in offering.

She turned her head to glance at yet something else that caught her attention about the architecture. "I too am a student. This is also my first time here, and I have been told this is a notable institution of learning on this world. I truly hope to not be disappointed."

Listening as the announcement met their ears, she frowned slightly. She had not encountered this room the voice had spoken of. Turning to look down another corridor, she glanced back at him, "Care to accompany me in a search for this auditorium?"

Casey heard the announcement through his thoughts, his awareness not sacrificed for his contemplation. Even as he listened, he began timing himself, leaving him enough time to ponder out a problem that he had been struck with before leaving. Once he solved it, he relaxed, working himself out of his meditation to bring his mental self back to his physical self.

Noting that he had just enough time to show up a little bit early, Casey rose, passing a young man sitting under a tree as he went to the auditorium. A quick glance at a map on the wall told him what he needed to know as he headed towards the required room. He navigated the passage with little trouble, arriving just a few minutes before the hour was up. He entered, just behind a rather large man with black skin and white hair. Casey took a seat to the side, ensuring that nobody was sufficiently tall to block his view for the commencement speech.

Dominic wandered in rather aimlessly after having been to his room to drop off his bag. He chose a seat and sat down, kicking up his feet on the back of the seat in front of him. He began humming to himself, finally in a place he felt comfortable after so long wandering.

Turning to look down another corridor, she glanced back at him, "Care to accompany me in a search for this auditorium?"

"Sure, I think I might have passed it earlier, Cassidy." Kristian took her hand and shook it firmly and gently. He smiled and began to head back down a corridor, beckoning Cassidy to follow, when she walked in line with him he spoke.

"Not worried about the undead at all, are you Cassidy?" he asked, looking to her, smiling a little nervously, showing his fangs. "Just I know some people can get really wary when around Vampires and stuff."

They turned another corner and found themselves down a large, long and wide corridor. "I think it was down here on the right, a pair of double doors..." Kristian said scratching his chin in thought. "At least it looked like an auditorium."

"Not worried about the undead at all, are you Cassidy?" he asked, looking to her, smiling a little nervously, showing his fangs. "Just I know some people can get really wary when around Vampires and stuff."

A small smile, "I already sensed you were more than you appeared, but it's not my place to question you about such. However, I appreciate your willingness to reveal such an interesting lifestyle." She waved her hand, "No, I've nothing to fear from you." Her eyes met his, and she contemplated revealing her own secret.

Looking away, she saw a map on the wall, "Look there's a map." As she watched him near it, she hung back a bit, having already seen what was needed to be known. The auditorium was not too far from here. As his attention was distracted, she seemed to fall apart, and a mist covered the floor, rising as high as the knees. Within seconds she was completely changed, gone.

The mist rose and enveloped him completely, and seemingly a thousand fingers caressed his skin softly, fingernails lightly scratching the surface. A whisper, barely heard, but spoken nonetheless, "Perhaps it is you who should be more afraid." The voice surrounded him, could not be pinpointed as to exactly where it came from.

The mist rolled away on it's own accord, swirling about the hallway as if there were an invisible wind pushing it about at random. Then, it gathered unto itself and she was back in solid form. She gave him a wry smile. Her people had a history back on Atlan. Civilization after civilization simply wiped out after they arrived on the planet and tried to lord over them. So many eliminated by so few simply because they did not know, nor have enough time to figure out how to fight the Mists.

Seeing a minor fogbank soldify into a young lady made Vitori smile. With any luck she'd have ended up taking the combat course and that abilitiy could be used fairly rapidly. It would be very enjoyable to have a match with someone who could alter from substantial to insubstantial in an instant. It would be an excellent tactical advantage.

Continuing he arrived at auditorium and immediately made himself comfortable.

The mist rose and enveloped him completely, and seemingly a thousand fingers caressed his skin softly, fingernails lightly scratching the surface. A whisper, barely heard, but spoken nonetheless, "Perhaps it is you who should be more afraid." The voice surrounded him, could not be pinpointed as to exactly where it came from.

Kristian froze for a moment and even allowed a slight groan from his lips escape as he felt her around him, before relaxing again slightly as she reformed again.

The mist rolled away on it's own accord, swirling about the hallway as if there were an invisible wind pushing it about at random. Then, it gathered unto itself and she was back in solid form. She gave him a wry smile.

"A Mister, huh?" he said with a wry grin, but slightly flushed cheeks. "Last time I saw one of those must have been just after the war..." He looked admiringly at her for a moment, then shrugged when she looked, curiously at him. "It was a long time ago, a single person could turn themselves into mist and effectively ran rampant murdering people and robbing, the local police and the military were stumped. So to prove my selves to the Dark Angels, a vampiric regiment in my country who deal with unusual stuff, I got sent in to trap or kill him." he sighed and stretched slightly, recalling the memory.

"The problem with the mister was that he wasn't very sophisticated. I don't think he could do much, or how much harder he could be if he could hurt people while he was mist. All he could do was run and move while he was like that. So I inscribed some runes on a vacuum cleaner and played mist-buster." He laughed a little at the ridiculous memory before catching himself.

“Oh, um, sorry, did I offend you at all? Kind of weird to talk about capturing someone who might have been your kin so easily, I get used to it too much and gabble a bit, I‘m sorry, but it was kind of funny when I did it on a whim...”

As Joshua walked past him, Quissera backhanded him which sent him a few feet forward up the stairs. He didn’t turn around to look at Joshua, but continued walking towards the auditorium. There were far more important things that he wanted to deal with than Joshua. He didn’t know if Ravelyn would come down from his office or not. It was, perhaps, better if she didn’t. It would not go over well if anyone saw her break down. He admired that about her, though; how painfully self-aware she was. He entered the auditorium from a different enterance towards the back. The auditorium itself was large, with almost old opera house decoration gilded with gold leaf. He was very much surprised to see Ravelyn already backstage in a crimson dress that hugged her figure so tightly one would wonder if she was able to breathe. While it was tight around the body, it feathered out with a small train and a slit up the right side. He parted his lips slightly, and without thinking he kissed her. Her hair smelt like roses, and it took all of his effort to pull away. “So you feel better?” he questioned as he fixed her hair. Her golden eyes simply looked up at him.

“Yeah, I guess…” she said quietly. “I’m not going to give a speech this year.”

“I feel it’s for the best,” he said with a smirk. “Just leave things to me. Sephia isn’t here yet…did you bother to wake her up?”

“She doesn’t like following my orders, she got that from you so don’t you dare look at me like that.”

“I love following your orders,” the look in his eye and that smile deserved him a slap against the side of his head. He grinned wider. It was then that he sensed Sephia’s presence. She had not yet learned to mask her presence, and the sheer energy of her aura rippled through out the auditorium before quieting. Sephia entered from the same enterance as the rest of the students. She looked like a regular girl until you would get close enough to see the flecks of gold in her blue eyes. Her hair was a dark brown like her mother’s, and was just past her shoulder blades. She wore a black dress and heels which contrasted with her pale skin and double set of ivory fangs, though they were no where near long enough to be noticed immediately. She took a seat next to Dominic Wrathe; the one she had read the application of.

Oh, he’s cute… she thought silently, and then remembered it was her father who was giving a speech, and she had better keep her eyes foreword. She didn’t say anything, but sat with her hands folded and legs crossed with perfect posture.

Quissera sighed and turned from Ravelyn and walked out onto the stage to the podium.

“I’d like to welcome students and staff to the seventh year of the Shentavo Academy. This Academy was started ten years ago by Ravelyn Shentavo; the former empress of this nation, to provide a place for those with special abilities, both military abilities and great mental capacities. The work here will not be easy, that I can assure you. The waiver you signed at the beginning of the year is not something you should have signed recklessly. I will openly tell you that there has been at least one death every year in this academy. You are sitting here right now but may very well be dead before the year is over. If you pass your finals you will have mastered your respective fields and the knowledge you will have gained will be priceless. Now, a bit of housekeeping before I introduce you to the instructors this year.” He paused for only a moment before continuing, his mismatched eyes scattering about the students. “No weaponry of any kind are allowed to be held on campus grounds for the first two weeks of school. Later in the year we will make an announcement as to when we will allow weapons to be carried. This is something quite different from past years. You will receive more information as time goes on. Secondly, the class list is posted on the front doors of this class room. Take some time to find your classmates, speak with them, and get to know them. Thirdly my wife informed me that there are some of you whose souls are solitary; solely dependent on one self. For some, this has worked. I will tell you this right now, if you face your challenges alone there is a good chance you will fail. Get to know your peers, and get to know their strengths and weaknesses. Get to know who you work well with. Towards the end of the year you’ll be paired up for certain…tests. Your job is to perfect the courses you have signed up for; and learn how the subjects can intermingle, and play off each other.”

“Lastly, there was no set telekinetics professor during the time the letter was sent out. I’d like to introduce you to our new telekinetics professor, Miss Vivian Summers. Professor Summers, if you please. Demonstrate your abilities.” He stepped back as the receptionist from earlier walked up on stage. Her hair was still pulled back and she wore the same attire as she had before. She made one quick motion with her hand, and one of the first year students in the front row was lifted from their chair immediately, ten feet in the air, and then plopped back down with a shocked expression on his face. Vivian had raised herself from the floor a few inches so it was as if she was floating. Another motion of her hand and mist seemed to gather to a point and solidify into shards of ice. She turned over her shoulder and sent them soaring towards Qui. Electricity crashed with the ice shards and they shattered. Quissera looked as though he hadn’t even been trying. Vivian bowed, and Quissera brushed off the bit of ice dust which had got upon his shoulder before returning to the podium.

“Ravelyn Shentavo could not be with us this night, but I assure you her expertise goes far beyond her beauty.” There was a brief pause, but not too long before he continued. “Jin-Shina…our advanced combat instructor.” No one had noticed him in the room until now; in the far corner as he walked up to the stage. He had a fairly lithe body, not a good deal of visible muscle, but what could be seen was exceptionally tone. He wore navy blue outfit, which looked as if it belonged to an assassin. His hair, nose, and mouth were covered with the same fabric. What could be seen was fabulous emerald eyes ad a few stray strands of blond hair. Quissera continued to speak. “As you know our advanced combat course changes every year due to the popularity of the course and returning students. Jin-Shina is an expert with speed and agility, and these are what you will be focusing on, as well as not being seen by your enemy until it is too late for them…Jin-Shina…if you please.” Jin nodded and vanished, and with seconds he had a dagger under Sephia’s chin. Sephia looked up at Quissera, who was a bit surprised. Jin-Shina had the gall to choose his daughter.

Jin vanished once more and came up from the shadows of back stage. “Along with this,” Quissera continued. “You’ll be mastering different forms of weaponry.” Jin-Shina nodded, and sifted back to his chair towards the back of the room. “Saria Lithiquin…” He called out, and a girl with long viridian green hair and brown eyes walked up upon stage. “Will be teaching our new course of mending this year. Given there are no one with injuries at the moment, we can’t display her abilities. Those in advanced combat should make friends with her students, certainly.” Saria said something silently, and removed a small gun from a holster hidden behind her hair on her back. She held out her arm and Quissera took one step back to observe. She pulled the trigger and the bullet went straight through her arm. Blood splattered a bit, and seeped from her arm with the pulse of her heart. She said something in another language and a white orb went from her fingertips to the wound, healing it instantly.

“Brilliant display,” Quissera said softly, and returned to the podium. Saria bowed, remaining silent the entire time. She looked as if she were only eighteen. “Lastly Vivian White could also not be here as the manavex professor, but I will also be supervising the course. Students will be able to view our capabilities in that field on their first day of class. Schedules will be received through email by the end of the week and classes will start on Monday. Thank you for choosing to spend nine months with us. If you work hard and gain the strength to survive, you will be greatly rewarded. Outside this room is now a reception with champagne, wine, desert and everything else. A note; blood is available for the vampires on campus. If you have a high aversion to vampires, I suggest you leave right now.” He smiled exposing a vicious set of double fangs; long and rather hard to miss. “Enjoy your evening.”

Felix watched the displays, though he seemed somewhat distant. One could presume that he was seeing something other than the antics of the instructors, but that presumption would be incorrect -- he was not employing his thirdsight, was, in fact, presently quite firmly rooted in the here-and-now.

It was just that he was unsettled. Unnerved. It wasn't the weapons-ban -- though that irritated him, would have been criminal had he been amongst his own people. But, he reminded himself again, he was not amongst his own people.

He would accept that indignity, he decided, would even allow them to be taken from him. Would not lash out if they were missing from his room when he returned. Though, doing such a thing would place the responsibility for maintenance upon the entity thus acting, and the arms of a Void Striker were sacred things, inexorably linked with the Void Striker who bore them. Even more so in his case, as he was Artificer-trained. His weapons, his armor, were ever-changing, constantly being modified to attain ever-higher levels of functionality and performance. They were little pieces of his soul.

Though, he couldn't keep the trace of a grin from his face, he wasn't worried about the Warpblade. Vas-Turasha could take care of itself. That thought in mind -- not nearly as comforting as it perhaps should be -- he decided to think no more on the subject. It was unimportant. His concern was one of culture and symbolism, after all. The idea of going unarmed was as nothing -- the idea of his weapons and armor going unmaintained, that was the horror.

The first thing that a prospective Void Striker learned was the maintenance of the armor and weaponry that went with that position. It was the most basic duty, the core tenet of the Sevle way -- one must always be ready for war.

And that was that. He settled his thoughts and reviewed what he had missed while his thoughts had turned inwards -- his eyes saw, even when his mind was not actively reviewing that input.

Neither of the instructors for the classes that he had been placed in were in attendance, though the 'headmaster' fellow appeared to be involved in the manavex course, which was all nice and lovely.

That he would be expected to work in conjunction with others was not surprising, though it was slightly troubling -- he was not an unsocial individual by nature, but he was also fully aware that he knew little to nothing of these others who had been named his peers. He would have to watch his step carefully, then.

He was glaringly aware of his own inexperience in that particular area -- he had always been distanced from his peers amongst his own race by his birth -- his father was a renowned warrior, his uncle the Mage-King himself. Great things were expected of him, and it was partially to extract himself from the influence of his name that he was where he was right now.

He rose, then, hiding his indifference to the mention of 'vampires' with practiced skill -- that was a trick, that was, looking impassive when the natural expression was "so?" There was indifference, and then there was being a smart-ass. The former was acceptable, the latter was not. One learned that early on, generally accompanied by such novel lessons as 'walls are hard and unpleasant, especially when one is hurled into one.'

Stepping outside the auditorium, he decided to browse the selection of food and drink before attempting to be social. He had found that he was far more willing to suffer individuals who he did not particularly like -- and the risk of his 'peers' numbering amongst that group could not be ignored -- when he was eating.

He selected a fruit juice, or, at least, what he thought was a fruit juice. It was, at least, something that did not contain alcohol. He preferred other, far more exquisite toxins than simple alcohol, and even then only in extreme moderation. Food, however, he availed himself of with relish -- his appetite was in proportion to his size. Plate stocked, he shot a glance at the class lists and decided to make a game out of putting names to faces.

Shama arrived just in time to take a seat next to the fascinating black-skinned, white-haired creature before Quissera took his place at the podium which forced her to restrain her curiosity and listen to the headmaster instead.
What she couldn't restrain was a slight snear when she heard the remark about them possibly dying at the academy. If she hadn't learned enough by the end of the year to survive classes she'd very probably be killed by her enemies sooner or later. So why bother?
Her snear deepened when Quissera came to the part about weapons. She never carried weapons. Why haul around an arsenal when you could form your body into everything you needed? Ridiculous! O, well. It wouldn't do her much good to violate that rule out of a whim so she would stick by it. Sort of.
The next thing whipped the snear off her face though. Get to know your peers? Paired up for tests? Great! Just great!
Schama hadn't thought she could pass classes without getting to know some of her classmates. But this went farther. She was one of those 'solitary souls' and for very good reasons. She doubted she could bring herself to ever trust anyone enough to be 'paired up' with him or her.
She sighed, and a deep sigh that was like in 'I don't like this one bit but when you're stuck with a bunch of lions you better act like a propper lion'. Well, at least she'd give it her best try.

She was surprised when Ms. Summers, receptionist, turned out to be Prof. Summers, telekineticist and impressed by her abilities.
She was even more impressed by the advanced combat instructor and a bit shocked by Saria Lithiquin's demonstration. Not especially by her abilities, she wouldn't need those but by her casual why of providing a wound that needed healing. That had to hurt.
'Brilliant display' indeed.

Last but not least she was a bit amused about the vampire buisness. True she'd never met any vampires before (or couldn't remember ever to have had) but she didn't think vampires would find her an easy target. Or, if it came down to that, find her blood exactly tasty. So why should she sport any aversions? Higher aversions than to everyone else that is.

First thing she did after Quissera dismissed them was to take a look at the class list. Then came the hard task: getting to know her classmates. And before that: finding out who was who. No idea how to do that though.
Schama drifted over to the buffet and picked up something to drink without really caring what it was. It tasted alcoholic but that was no problem. Alcohol didn't have much of an effect on her. But how should she find out who her classmates were? Well ... she could wait for the others to find her. Or she could start asking around. She took deep breath and moved the 167 centimetres of her present form over to the large black and white guy who had fascinated her from the very beginning. Could as well start with him and study his form. Never have seen anything like that.

"Hello ... um ... you don't happen to be in Manavex or Lore and Language, do you?" My, what a way to beginn a conversation.

Joshua had slipped into the hall shortly after Qui had started his speech, as always taking up a position hidden slightly in the shadows of the back wall.
Every year the same dribble, he thought to himself, just another chance for Qui to show off and prepare the rookies for a year of abuse.
Even if he had heard it over and over again he still kept his eyes forward to ensure he still did take in some information that may come in handy down the road.
As the speech wound down he turned and walked out the door not exactly hungry he simply gazed at the class list.Arching an eyebrow slightly as he noticed he had the heaviest class load for the year.
Wonderful, next you'll be fighting Qui. Maybe you will need all those class, that damned voice in the back of his head started poking at him again.
"Shutup," he muttered under his breath before forcing his attention to looking over the other students.

Kristian listened to the talk, glancing occasionally to Cassidy. He winced slightly when the mending teacher shot herself, before repairing her arm. After the talk was over he got up and smiled to Cassidy as they walked out.

“I’ll get us some drinks.” He said with a smile. Stopping to check the class list on the way. He raised his eyebrow and remembered the letter in his pocket, and to give it to Ravelyn before the first Lore class.

He grabbed a pair of flute glasses, both filled with champagne, he took some blood from another glass and poured it into his own, making it pink in colour. He handed the other glass back to Cassidy.

“So, Cassidy, I didn’t know you were taking mending also.” He smiled, his eyes sparkling a little “Looks like we’ll be classmates. Dunno who the Joshua guy is though.” He sighed and shrugged.

“Oh, and if you need any help with the combat classes, let me know. I can help you if you struggle at all. After class studies in our rooms, or out in the grounds or something. I bet I‘ll need help with the mending and you‘ll be better at that than me.” He laughed a little.

The orientation was a little eyebrow-raising for Cassidy, especially the actions of the Advanced Combat professor. She had watched him carefully, but couldn't figure out how he had managed to traverse a considerable distance and reappear, and more so, with a blade under the chin of a fellow student. Perhaps he is like the elven folk of Tarlachia. Aeris did something like that on Atlan a few times, but I thought it was technology at work, but I could be wrong. Which reminds me, I need to learn more about their culture as well.

Her attention was also greatly appealed to the antics of the Mending professor. Clearly, the language she spoke was something imbued with power. Was it something she could learn and use as well? Was the class set up to center around the use of mana, or did it include traditional means of healing using the passive energies of plants or flowers?

As the orientation ended, she frowned. It seemed this school was intent on making it clear that students were at risk here. I will openly tell you that there has been at least one death every year in this academy. repeated the words of the white haired man who had lead their orientation. Her brow tightened, she was determined to not become that statistic.

Her attention was distracted as Kristian reappeared with drinks and handed her a champagne. She accepted it, sniffed it discreetly and decided against drinking it. She didn't want to inhibit her judgments, especially if they were all supposed to be making good first impressions of each other. Instead, she held it at her waist with both hands, making her way to the courses registry. She smiled as she saw the two courses she had applied for, had her name under them. She turned back to Kristian, suddenly aware she had been silent far longer than probably appropriate. She gave him an apologetic smile, "Yes, we do share Mending. It wouldn't hurt to have a friend in that class either." She thought about her other class, "But as for my advanced combat course, perhaps you should focus more on your own studies, lest you fail them because you were too busy paying attention to a girl." She gave him an amused look. "Try explaining that to your professors."

She turned to survey the other students milling about even as a question was posed to him, "Do you find it strange that someone might die at an educational facility? It's almost as if they were deliberately trying to set fear in us. To get us to behave. But for what reason?"

The question hung between them, and her mind worked through a myriad of thoughts regarding it.

"But as for my advanced combat course, perhaps you should focus more on your own studies, lest you fail them because you were too busy paying attention to a girl." She gave him an amused look. "Try explaining that to your professors."

She turned to survey the other students milling about even as a question was posed to him, "Do you find it strange that someone might die at an educational facility? It's almost as if they were deliberately trying to set fear in us. To get us to behave. But for what reason?"

The question hung between them, and her mind worked through a myriad of thoughts regarding it.

Kristian laughed and sipped his drink a little. “Oh, I dunno. I don’t really need much sleep, so I should be able to keep up, plus an hour or so sparing a day wouldn’t really effect my other studies.”

He sighed and pondered the question. “To be honest, I think they’re worried about something.” He said simply, taking another sip, letting it rest in his mouth a moment before swallowing and carrying on in a hushed voice. “This is supposed to be an ultra-elite academy. Not a simple magic school, so the ‘one death per year’ thing doesn’t really worry me, as I’ve tried to take the more non-violent classes. What gets me though, is the way they talked about the weapons ban being lifted after a few weeks. That’s the thing I’m worried about. I don’t like the feeling of us going from no weapons to being armed.”

Felix smiled softly, took a sip of his fruit juice to clear his mouth of the chicken he'd been picking his way through. Then he turned his head downwards to better examine the girl who'd spoken to him -- he recognized her, recalled that she'd sat beside him during the demonstrations, and seemed to recall glancing her in passing at least one time before that.

He switched his plate and cup over to his left hand so he could offer her his right -- his hand as in proportion to the rest of his body, thus, big, though also long-fingered, an obvious precision instrument.

"Felix Illyrian. I'm in both."

His voice was surprisingly gentle, considering his size. He had a remarkably pleasant baritone, capable of remarkable inflection and expressiveness.

"I really have to learn to work with people." Vitori thought as he knew what was going to be his biggest challenge. He'd always worked best on his own and having to work with a partner would be interesting. The demonstrations were fun as slightly unhinged teachers were the best kind, even if the one who'd decided to put a bullet through her arm wasn't his first choice of course.

The weapon ban might present a bit of a problem to some of the students but he'd never found a need for anything that wasn't already a part of him whenever he'd been fighting.

Heading out to check the class lists and who was in his classes, he smirked at getting his two first choices. Scanning the rest of the list he noticed that two other students were in both of his courses and both had taken more than the recommended two.

He wondered who the overachievers were as he wandered over to the food and drinks tables to see about getting a snack before trying to play meet and greet.

Casey was a bit annoyed about the weapons ban. Technically speaking, he only carried the one on him, but even then he only really used the thing as a breadknife these days. Still, rules were rules, but he would be seriously pissed if somebody managed to lose it. He had killed enough people, and made enough fake replicas that were circulating around, to have a vested interest in keeping the thing. But, he reasoned, if the damn thing did get lost during his stay here, he would have something to do afterwards.

He poured himself an obnoxiously large glass of a nice rum, not that it would do more than put him back a step for an hour, and approached Professor Summers as she left. "Professor Summers," he said as he reached to his side, "As long as there's a weapons ban in place, I feel obligated to turn this over to you." He withdrew a knife in a scabbard, having undone the fastenings, presenting it handle first in the passive manner. "I should note a couple of things. First, there's divine essence on the blade which some of faculty might find bothersome. Second, I have devoted a considerable amount of effort to retaining this, and tracking the thing down when it gets lost has cost me plenty of years. Oh, and its only real usefulness these days is as a breadknife. It's a wee bit dull."

Sephia Shentavo was the last to enter the auditorium. Quissera, and she knew Ravelyn had been there as well, stayed behind. She smoothed out her black dress and walked over to one of the attendants. There was a hushed conversation between the two, in turn for which Sephia received a silver rimmed wine glass with a dark crimson liquid in it; blood. There was no mistake; and she didn’t try to hide it. She leant up against the far wall and watched people converse. Her gold-flecked icy blue eyes flicked from one person to the next as she sipped the liquid from her glass. She did bear a great resemblance to Ravelyn Shentavo with her dark hair and feminine figure, but her eyes did indeed through that notion off just a bit. It was getting late, and she was tired. She knew that the next few weeks would be hell for her. Not only was she attending classes, but her father was putting her through an extra training. Everything was overwhelming; to have happened so fast. To have grown up so fast. She had missed her childhood; childhood experiences which everyone in this room had but her? She loved her parents, however she couldn’t help but feel life would have been easier if they had been someone else.

He sighed and pondered the question. “To be honest, I think they’re worried about something.” He said simply, taking another sip, letting it rest in his mouth a moment before swallowing and carrying on in a hushed voice. “This is supposed to be an ultra-elite academy. Not a simple magic school, so the ‘one death per year’ thing doesn’t really worry me, as I’ve tried to take the more non-violent classes. What gets me though, is the way they talked about the weapons ban being lifted after a few weeks. That’s the thing I’m worried about. I don’t like the feeling of us going from no weapons to being armed.

Her eyes widened slightly as she looked over at him, "I think you might be onto something. Spending a few weeks unarmed, and then armed? It makes me wonder if they're testing us, trying to get us prepared for something, perhaps a collective test of some sort."

She smiled again, tapping a finger against his temple, "Perhaps you might be a good study partner after all." She looked away, her attention drawn to a flash of reflective metal. A student was handing Professor Summers a knife, speaking a few words with her as he did so.

Her thoughts drifted back to her people. Generally a peaceful people, providing they were left alone, but also known to be ruthlessly cruel when angered for any reason. Many seemed to favor the torture methods of slowly peeling away their victims skins, slashing at them with razor sharp nails, or any number of other methods that clearly would have made even the stout-hearted a little queasy.

Joshua spotted Sephia leaning against the wall and swore for a split second she was Rave though it was quiet obvious she wasn't after a more careful look. Shrugging to himself he slowly started his way over to her and spoke, "You know you seem very familiar."
As he spoke his eyes darted to the glass and he started to pick up on who exactly she was.
First prize goes to you dumb ass, haven't you pieced together that little story Rave told you when you saw her today? It's her kid! the voice began again in the back of his mind taunting him once more.

Kristian smiled and shrugged before he began to look around the room. He eyed Sephia for a moment, thinking it was Ravelyn and almost reached for the letter in his pocket before realising it wasn't. Then there was a man talking to her. There was the obsidian skinned person with the hair, carrying himself with eeking arrogance.

He wondered where Ravelyn was, and wether to give the letter to Sephia instead, then decided against it. It was for Ravelyn only Heruss had said. So it had to be handed to her personally.

"Uhm, fancy going to meet some people Cassidy?" Kristian said as he smiled and headed through the students across to Sephia and Joshua.

"Hi, I'm Kristian. I'm in the mending and languages and lore classes." he said offering his hand to both Joshua and Sephia. He then turned slightly to address the Shentavo. "Uhm, are you Sephia? I know it seems a little rude and all, but I wanted to ask if you knew where your mother was? I have a letter for her from.... a friend of hers." he said, patting his pocket as he took a sip from his drink.

He switched his plate and cup over to his left hand so he could offer her his right -- his hand as in proportion to the rest of his body, thus, big, though also long-fingered, an obvious precision instrument.

"Felix Illyrian. I'm in both."

"Hu...what a coincidence. The first person I ask and we have the same classes together." This 'getting to know each other' really isn't in my line of experience. Stop babbling.

She took his offered hand (nearly loosing sight of her own when it closed around her's) and added: "My name's Schama Eras. Ahem ... I hope you don't mind if I ask, but what exactly are you? Never seen anyone like you before."

Part of her mind was already busy sending probes to analyze his physique.

After the orientation, Dominic stood and walked out, glancing about him. Ten years? Man, seems like it's been fourty. It bothered him a little, but he tried not to think of how time passed in this world, he had noticed it was a bit off.

He recieved a glass and slugged it down without really thinking about it. Huh, blood. Guess they know me here.

He wandered to the class list and tracked down his name. Sephia Shentavo was the only person he had in both of his classes and found it intriguing. He'd met two other women of the Shentavo family, one of them extended out a ways. Ravelyn, whom he had a history with and Crisula who he hadn't heard from since his days in the LXGL. He'd have to get to know this one, always such interesting ladies in the family. Always lookers too. Heh.

Joshua he hadn't encountered since their first year, and was looking forward to their Advanced Combat class.

He figured he'd best get to know the other students as well, otherwise this year could prove to be boring. First stop, Joshua and Sephia, who were at this point talking to two others. He could hang back a bit and look sociable before saying his greetings, he didn't want to just barge into a conversation.

He decided to pace a bit for now.

Sephia looked at Joshua and soft of giggled. It was a laugh that rippled over those in the room; coated in honey. God help them, it was Ravelyn’s laugh. She was unsure of what to do. Everyone seemed to approach her at once and it was a bit overwhelming. She looked at the other man who had then addressed her. “Yes, I am Sephia, and yes, I know where she is,” she said, and it was the first time she had spoke to anyone outloud. She had a bit of an accent; Slavic in nature, as the rest of the family did. “She was there through the whole ceremony. I’m surprised you couldn’t sense her Kristian. She is still there…with Qui. You could take your chances going back into the auditorium, but to be honest? I wouldn’t.” She watched the expression on Kristian’s face and felt a wave of unknown pleasure. She felt smothered by the three around her, and while the girl didn’t speak much, she still contributed to the atmosphere.

Her eyes drifted over Joshua’s shoulders to Dominic, who was also drinking blood. She managed to slip through the three, and walk past him. She hit her glass to Dominic’s as she walked by him. “Cheers,” she said quietly.

Joshua unconsciously rubbed a small scar on his forehead as Sephia laughed, from one of the first times Ravelyn saved his life.
It was only when Kristian approached did he snap out of it, though slowly with a rather visible shudder. When Kristian introduced himself he caught himself debating on what name to use before deciding to use the one name he felt comfortable using here. Though by the time he had decided Kristian had gone on and questioned Sephia about Rave.
Standing quietly deciding not to interrupt he let her answer then slink off to a somewhat familiar face.
You don't remember him do you? Been that long hasn't it? You'll remember soon enough, the voice taunted once again.
Ignoring the voice in the back of his mind Joshua spoke, "Joshua Maxwell, telekenetics, advanced combat, and mending. Yes I know overachiever and so on."

Felix smiled, "Well, Schama Eras, it is a pleasure to make your acquaintance."

He released her hand, then, and considered her next question.

"I am Sevle."

His smile widened slightly, showing that he perhaps understood that his statement wasn't particularly helpful in explaining what he was. Though it was true, and as far as it went, it was the correct answer to her question.

"We are...not as prevalent as we once were."

“She was there through the whole ceremony. I’m surprised you couldn’t sense her Kristian. She is still there…with Qui. You could take your chances going back into the auditorium, but to be honest? I wouldn’t.”

“Ah, right.” He smiled sheepishly as he took a sip of his drink and stood to the side as Sephia slipped though to talk to another.

“Joshua Maxwell, telekenetics, advanced combat, and mending. Yes I know overachiever and so on."

“Hey, cool so you‘re Joshua? Seems your workload is going to be heavier than most of the students here, most are only taking two classes I think. Still, be good for the class to stick together. This is Cassidy, she‘s also in the mending class.”

Having handed off his knife, Casey took the time to examine the class list, noting with a bit of irritation that he didn't get Manavex, but rather Telekinesis. However, he noted that there was still one spot available, and that there were others taking three courses. If need be, he could take it as a third, and though it would require effort on his part, he was willing to put that effort forth to accomplish what he needed.

More importantly, though, he noted that a Sephia Shentavo had been placed in Telekinesis, Advanced Combat, and Manavex. All the classes that a new Shentavo would need to defend herself in this world, especially one that has come into being through alterations of Destiny. This is going to be a fun nine months. He noted his classmates, then backtracked in his mind as he placed faces to names. He had heard the names Felix and Schama, and realized that they were talking together to one side. Since he had one class with them, and wanted another, he figured it was best to play nice and introduce himself.

Casey approached just in time to hear Felix explain that he was Sevle. Well, it simplifies things a bit. I did once meet somebody like him, though this one's energy signature is far greater. "A Sevle," Casey said as he approached, "You are indeed a rarity. I met one of your kind once, though that was long ago. Casey Lonnergan," at this he offered his hand to both, "and if you're Schama Eras", this to Schama, "Then it looks as though I'll be your classmate this year."

"I am Sevle."

This statement didn't really enlighten Schama, nor did Felix's next sentence.
But before she could ask further questions -about things she didn't really want to know but felt she had to know in order to ... bah! 'Getting to know each other', indeed!- someone else interrupted.
Schama disconnected her probes -she had already collected enough data, barely, to dublicate Felix's physique- and turned her attention to the newcomer.
She took is hand. "If you know what a Sevle is then you're way ahead of me." To Felix: "I'm sure I'd remember if I ever met someone like you." Well, that wasn't quite true. She certainly would not remember. Not now.
She turned back to Casey: "And you're a classmate of ours? And there I thought it'd take forever to find my classmates. And now there's already the three of us. So, who's still missing?"
Did she actually over-do it? Hell, she'd never before tried to 'get to know' someone else. How was she supposed to know?

Cassidy nodded to Joshua as she was introduced by Kristian. Joshua seemed comfortable here, and yet, at ease. She surmised that he had been a student in years past, but how many years she didn't know. She recalled seeing him talking to the woman in the sundress upon her arrival at the academy, and realized that that very woman had not been present at the orientation, either in the student body, nor amongst the cast of professors. It left only one name left in her mind as to whom she was.

She excused herself from the two of them, drifting away through the crowd. As she did so, the champagne flute was set down upon a table as she passed on by. Silently, or with a quiet "Excuse me" to various people whom stood in her way, she soon made her way out into the hallway. Taking a few steps into the hallway, she leaned against the wall and exhaled. She leaned her head back, looking up at the ceiling. While she could handle crowds and socialization, she was not one to remain in such situations for long. She was a free spirit, almost literally. Glancing down the hall both ways, she saw no one in sight.

Wisps of mist flowed down the hallway, away from the congregation, away from the noise and static environment. Up the stairs the mist moved in silence, ascending to the highest floor until she could go no higher. There, she halted at an open window, solidifying herself into a seated position curled up on the window sill. She looked outward to the Shentavo grounds, admiring the landscape. Flowers in the garden, trees along a lake, cleared areas possibly used for training purposes, and the sun high in the sky. Her thoughts returned to the warning given by Quissera, and wouldn't shake it from her mind. Turning to look down the corridor, she saw a set of heavy double doors, closed of course. Curiosity grabbed her attention, but she did not move. No, she explore what lay beyond those doors another day, when she was sure everyone else was distracted with whatever tasks they were doing.

Her eyelids grew heavy and she soon drooped her chin to her chest, quietly napping in the warmth of the outdoors, cooled occasionally by a breeze.

Felix raised an eyebrow as Casey introduced himself.

"Met one of my kind, hmm? Fascinating. We tend to keep to ourselves..."

Not what bothered him with the statement. Not at all. Rather, it was the claim that the man had encountered 'one' of his kind before -- it was quite rare, indeed, to encounter a solitary Sevle. A fireteam of three, maybe, and then generally only as a single unit of a greater force.

Ah, well. At worst, the man harbored a grudge because he had fallen victim to a raid at some point in his past. This did not, however, seem likely -- reaction was entirely wrong, though perhaps that was merely because he was out of armor Again, though, unlikely.

He shook Casey's hand as a matter of course, released it, and resumed eating, though he did so quietly and in a remarkably inoffensive manner -- you'd hardly know he was doing it if it weren't for the movement of hand from plate to mouth and back again every so often.

Met one of my kind, hmm? Fascinating. We tend to keep to ourselves...

Casey smiled at the remark. "Indeed. He was injured and alone, and I helped him get back into his armor. Amazing technology, that stuff, but the man I met did state that they were relatively light wounds and that it would take a small amount of time for the recuperative properties to take full effect. And apparently honorable enough to assist me in finishing something that I was in the middle of when I met him. Glad to be working with another of his kind."

And you're a classmate of ours? And there I thought it'd take forever to find my classmates. And now there's already the three of us. So, who's still missing?

Responding to Schama's earlier question, he paused, considering the class list. "That actually involves two things. First, I tried to sign up for Manavex, but it doesn't look like I'm taking it with you two, for now at least, though I hope to change that. If all else fails, I could bug the both of you until one of you agrees to teach me what I need to know. Your Manavex classmates are Dominic Wrathe, a vamp by the looks of it, and of course Sephia Shentavo, but she's another matter that I have only suspicions about. As for Lore and Languages, the three of us are to be joined by one Kristian Heruss. I'm afraid I don't know the name, though the feeling I get about Sephia is the same as I get about Kristian."

At this, Casey made a point to down the rest of the rum, smiling at the pleasant taste more than the alcohol. "So, we've established that Felix is a Sevle, of which he knows plenty, I know very little, and you seem to know just a little less. I'm a rather long lived soldier of fortune, and I anticipate that more of that will come up later, but that is a conversation for later. So, Ms. Eras, what exactly is it that you do?"

Sephia Shentavo whirled around and folded her arms across her chest with a glare at Casey. “You talk awfully loud,” she remarked, and her eyes flickered. Truth be told she could hear to the other side of the room, and she was sure that at least Dominic could as well. Her dark hair cascaded over one of her eyes and made her skin seem even paler if that was possible. There was a gentle beauty about her in total; but it was her eyes that would stun you, and not necessarily because they were unique in color. That glare in her eye let him know she had heard clearly. Like all members of the Shentavo family, her pride was immense, especially that corresponding to her family name. She wondered what he would do. Would he apologize? Walk away, or start a fight? She didn't care for either but the last. A fight with her would end with expulsion, and that she could deal with, as the man had just said he would, not only try to get around the decisions of the headmaster, her father, but also felt suspicious of her when she had given no reason. It was a clear disrespect for the family, and that was what burned within her being.

Ravelyn sighed, and walked out onto the empty stage as Quissera watched her from the end. “Good job,” she whispered quietly. It didn’t have to be said that loud for him to hear. He watched the way she moved with his mismatched eyes. “There are a few even I would say to break this year…break them of their pride. Break them down so that they won’t be stubborn; so that they’ll be open to the information and instruction that we are going to be given. Every year I see at least one person who acts as if they are on top of the world. Why sign up if you don’t need to learn anything, hmmm?” She said, turning over her shoulder towards Qui. Qui chuckled.

“You’re preaching to the choir, Azrael…” he said in return and took a few steps forward, coming forth from the shadows as if they had been a part of them. She turned and brushed her hand against his cheek. For a split second, the image of darkened wings flashed upon his back. They were quite tattered; one severed in two. He looked down at her, and brushed the silky auburn strands away from her face before wrapping an arm around her waist and trailing it along the crimson fabric. “Even I could hear some of their thoughts sift through as I was making that speech… Some are uneasy, but that will soon pass when they fall into the rhythm of classes. Some of them are just frightened. Fuck, Azrael, some of them don’t even know what we are exactly.”

She shook her head. “They’ll come to understand soon enough, the rarity of the academy they’ve come to; the value of what we will teach them.” She levitated from the floor to reach his level, and kissed him. Before things could get too carried away, Qui pulled away. “Sephia’s angry with someone…”

“Already?” she laughed. “God she really does take after you...”

“We should go see what the problem is…”

“Let’s wait, and see how she handles it,” she paused. “Five more minutes…”

Who could say no?

“Hey, cool so you‘re Joshua? Seems your workload is going to be heavier than most of the students here, most are only taking two classes I think. Still, be good for the class to stick together. This is Cassidy, she‘s also in the mending class.”

Joshua gave a small polite nod to Cassidy before she slipped away. Turning back to Kristian, "True enough though for now it's probably best not to right now. I have a nasty habit of causing those around me to have seriously bad luck."
By now Joshua had picked up on the rather arrogant comments Casey was making yet remained silent, keeping his nature quiet was something he felt needed to be done for the time being.
Keeping an eye on the situation he prepared to intervene should he need to, after all in some strange bastard way he too was a Shentavo.

Casey turned slowly to face Sephia across the room. He placed his empty glass down, closed his eyes and inclined his head. When he spoke, he spoke so quietly that he was certain only Sephia and Dominic could hear him. "Madam, I apologize if I have offended you. I did not mean to imply any meaning into my words beynd one fact, namely, that you appear thrice on the class list, and that those classes seem to be the most suited for learning to survive in the harshest of worlds."

That said, Casey dropped his voice to the frequency that he had heard when he entered, this time to possibly hold off Dominic's hearing. "Mistress Shentavo, I am certain that you have some knowledge of who I am. Know too that last I met Quissera, thine father, I left owing him a Debt. I have tried to be civil, but if I may speak plain, I shall explain. My Debt can be paid in any number of forms, from a simple passing of a spoon at a dinner table, to the preservation of the lives of himself, his family, and those that he would call his own, even should it cost me my life, my soul, and my very existence in any world. I am no simpleton. Your parents have the wisdom that comes only with their years and their toils, and they have a purpose for this Academy. I know nothing absolute in this matter, but logic dictates the most probable outcomes, which point, in some way, to thyself. I am no Farseer of the future, but I can tell when the lines of Fate are shifted, and they have been. I have a very good instinct that before this year is up, my Debt will be paid. And since you are Quissera's child, then I can fulfill my debt by proxy by serving you, should the need arise. Again, my apologies if my words carried an impolite inference, for that was truly unintended."

"Very strange thing to say to someone you had 'suspicions about'," Sephia said to him, not bothering to lower her voice. "I'm sorry your ego got hurt because you are only taking two classes and others are taking three. Actually, I take that back. I'm not the least bit sorry. You should be grateful for what you have." Coming to this academy was a privilege. Not everyone who applied each year was accepted. There was a very small percentage that was. Everyone got one of their top choices this year which was extremely lucky. Yet here he was, jealous that others got to live through the torture of 3 classes. He didn’t understand. There was a good deal of anger rising within her. She was taking three courses because that is what was expected of her. It was what came with her last name. She was their daughter; she better damn well master what they taught.

"Let's get this straight," she said in a low voice, a serious voice. She was sure that Dominic and those around her were able to hear, but she really didn't care. Something about this man filled her with rage. "I don't care what you owe to my father, and I’m not sure I like what your insinuating. I don’t believe the headmaster will like it much either.” Her expression darkened. The fact of the matter was, she had no fucking idea who this git was. She only knew what she heard. “I don’t give a flying fuck who you are, where you come from, or what you think. Logic dictates that that the most probable outcome of this situation would be that I would turn around and walk away since you are not worth a second of my time---” She made a quick movement forward with her glass, and the contents soaked the gentlemen thoroughly. Her eyes deepened with crimson as the blood seeped into the fabric. God, she looked like her mother in that moment. “But you’ll find I’m not a very logical person.”

Her cheeks were flush but she made no sign of emotion; only the cold, dead stare with those ruby eyes. She turned on her heel, and walked to the opposite side of the room. People had stopped talking at the sound of the ruckus which had been caused, and the room was so silent now one could hear a pin drop. All eyes were on her, and she didn’t care. Her pride masked her emotions. She wasn’t as old or experienced as any of those in the room, but that did not make her any less of a person. She passed through the double doors and walked down the corridor. She needed to rest.

Dominic had been about to say something to the young Shentavo when an off remark from across the room sent her turning around. Dominic just stood there and sipped his blood as the two exchanged words and as Sephia went through her tirade and stormed off.

See she's got her family's charm.

The room was very quiet directly following the confrontation and he decided he might as well being his interactions before further strife alienated him from his classmates completely.

"Well, I guess nows as good a time as any for my introduction. I'm Dominic."

This was said not really directly to anyone, just mainly to fill the gap of conversation.

With that he pointed with both hands, a la the fonz, at the double doors and said,"Now, I'm gonna go that way." He left the room through the same double doors Sephia had left through.

He wanted to talk to her now.

It wasn’t long before Sephia noticed that someone had followed her. It did frighten her somewhat that someone had followed her for quite a distance, and she hadn’t noticed until that point. She turned around, expecting to see Casey complaining about how much it would take to have his clothes dry cleaned when she saw the dark haired vampire from before. Dominic she thought to herself. She had read his file, as it were, simply because of his photo. She wasn’t sure what to think. Was he going to reprimand her for what she had done? Scold her or something? Why, he had no right to do so if that was what he was here to do! No, that wasn’t the expression on his face, and she couldn’t figure it out. She then realized that she was simply standing there, staring at him like a museum exhibit.

“Hi, there,” she said, surprised by the fact her voice was so genuinely steady. She held out her hand after a few seconds. She wasn't really sure what to do, so an introduction would probably be best. Here's to being the headmaster's daughter. "I'm Sephia."

He took her hand and shook gently. "Hi, we didn't really have any time back there to be properly introduced. My name's Dominic. We're in Manavex and Advanced Combat together."

He had seen the range of emotion go through her face as she watched him approach and grinned. "Don't worry, I'm here on friendly terms."

"Sorry," she apologized, and shook her head. "There are some people, I guess, you hate right off the bat. I think Casey was one of those people for me," she bit the edge of her lip which revealed one of her fangs. "It's so hard to tell, but what was said to me... oh never mind," she said, dismissing the thought with a wave of her hand. He was in the same classes with her. That would be useful.

"Well, I already have a head start in manavex. I'm going to need a good deal of help with advanced combat though. I don't suppose you've had any previous experience with it? Oh, wait...you went here before." She paused for a moment. "I got to read all the files...." Or at least looked at the ones that caught my attention, she thought silently.

He laughed a bit. "Yeah, there's always at least one." He looked over his shoulder down the hall behind him. "The best thing is just to pay them no heed. Always makes things easier in my experience.

He noticed she was a little uneasy on the subject and moved on to classes and the matters at hand.

"Well, seems I'm the opposite of you on this. I barely know what Manavex is, it just seemed like a challenge. As for combat, I've had more than my share of experiences in that field. If you've read my file, you'll know I put more than a few dents in the training room my first year." He unconsciously put his fist in the palm of his hand as he spoke, but kept his grin, noting that it was indeed hard to keep fangs hidden.

"Guess being in the family has its perks, getting to know all about me while remaining a bit anonymous yourself. Well, I'll just have to get to know you."

She blushed slightly. “Hell, I don’t even know who I am. I’m pretty young you know…” she pushed his chest lightly, as if simply for fun. It was some natural reaction that she had. “Yet, everyone here knows their strengths, and I don’t even know what my abilities are. It’s a little intimidating to be taking three courses and being a beginner in all of them. It’s expected of me, I guess, because of my family. People like Casey don’t understand that I don’t want to be put from hell. I know that my hours are going to extend beyond the normal class. I’ll have to be practicing a lot. If you let me beat on you I’ll help you with manavex.” She smiled, revealing the Shentavo signature set of double fangs, though hers were delicate, and shorter.

"Ravelyn has been trying to find a way to awaken my inner abilities, but so far everything that we've tried hasn't work. She said that sometimes, you just have to wait for the right moment to come. I didn't gain a lot of patience from either of them. It's really frustrating. Maybe I'm not even an angelic. I have no idea. All I can do is wait." She sighed.

He smiled when she pushed him and laughed when she put forward her proposal. "Yeah, sure I guess that would be good. I mean, I've been hit by a truck on the highway, I'm sure I can handle you."

He hadn't been around anyone that showed a sign of inexperience in a while, but knew how to deal with it. "Hey, the only way for someone to grow and know their own potential is just to get out and live life. If you ever need to get away from them, I'm sure I can help."

Kristian watched the whole event and winced when Sephia splashed Casey with the glass, it was blatantly blood, he could smell it from here. He didn’t actually move much to look, but instead his stance changed subtly, his body seemed to relax a little, as if waiting for trouble to spark off.

“Well, that was unexpected.” Kristian said quietly to Joshua. “Especially the comment about me. I‘m apparently suspicious now.” He quirked a lop sided grin to the man next to him and winked. “Ah well, still one partial Shentavo left in the room to kick ass and take names if it kicks off, right? Before you ask, I can smell it. The Shentavo Blood, not very well, but just a little… hint?” He shrugged. “Though why the different name, is all I ask, Joshua.” he said, quirking a fang out of his mouth with the lopsided grin.

He watched carefully as Casey was sprayed with the blood from Sephia's glass before she stormed out with Dominic chasing her heels.

"Was wondering when someone would pick up on it to be honest," Joshua smiled as he shook his head. It was a tactic he had to help hide any sense of surprise from his little secret being picked up on.
"It's a long story, mostly is just comes down to not drawing as much flack as if my last name were Shentavo," he continued, "Besides it always surprises people every year when they find out what blood I have in my veins."
It all sounded very believable, though if Kristian listened carefully he could tell there was another reason, a more personal one.

"Oh, I dunno, having the Shentavo last name tends to strike fear into some, and wanting in others." Kristian shrugged and took another sip of his champagne, which was now empty, he exchanged it with another glass and a small shot of blood, which he mixed in. "Though, why the weakness in the blood? You're not a full Shentavo, I can smell that much, but it's still there." He looked at Joshua for a moment, seeing as though he wanted to take it further, but as they'd both just met, he decided against it.

"You do much in the way of Vampire combat skills then? Or are you trained in the more mundane physical skills like Ju Jistsu? I know a lot of Vampires, or half vamps or whatever don't tend to realise it's got it's got some aspects of a blessing, as well as a curse. I can train a bit if you want, I'm offering after school study stuff in exchange for help in mending and Languages and Lore if possible. I dunno how well I'll do, so the extra help would be good."

Joshua had never enjoyed talking about the Shentavo blood in his veins and was thankful when Kristian changed the subject to something he was more able in, combat.
"Sadly no, never was trained in any of vampire combat skills. Severed several years in my homelands military before my stint here so my body was heavily augmented to further enhance it," Joshua replied though pausing at the mention of augmentation and visibly shuddered before going on as if he hadn't paused, "I've been fortunate enough to never need more than my fists and my wits, though I may take you up on that. If my class load doesn't crush me." That last bit oozing with sarcasm.

"Only an hour." Kristian said, looking to Joshua. "So you're auged too, huh? Unusual. Still, I've been serving in my national military now for..." he scratched his chin. "Uhm, let me think..." he took another sip of his champagne. "About, 157 years now? Give or take. Every day pretty much some sort of scrape or bump. To be honest these last 9 months are the queitest I've had in about 50 years."
He then buried his face in his palm and shook his head.

"And now I've gone and jinx'd the whole thing by saying that, haven't I?" He laughed.

"But anyway, I can teach you some stuff to do with your vampiric skills, largely learning how to increase your reflexes to an unnatural level, augs or no augs. Heck, I can even teach you how to deflect two or three bullets with a sword if you're willing to get shot at." He grinned.

"To be honest not much of a national military for me to serve in any more, nation was glassed in the last civil war. Though I did get a good service record out of it, about thirty or so years and that was more than enough for me to be honest. Too much corruption," he said half muttering the last bit before continuing, "Believe me no year is quiet. Someone dies, a few insanity cases, oh and Qui usually attempts to murder me in some rather grand fashion."

“Sounds like Qui then.” Kristian sighed and shrugged. “War’s a funny thing. Some of us thrive on it and remain normal, some of us work with it and become abnormal, thinking we’re invincible, venerable OMA’s.” Kristian saw Joshua’s puzzled look. “One Man Army. You know? Thinking they’re all Rambo and stuff, nothing phases or terrifies them, or anything. Even when it‘s talking headless corpses that later manage to kill them with a finger nail or something.” He grinned. “Should be an interesting year, I bet Qui will go hard on the OMA’s at the very least. You too though.”

Schama had watched the scene unfold without being able to come up with something to say to relax the situation (and not really wanting to, anyway).
Now she cast an eye at the blood soaked Casey and leaned over to Felix. This didn’t bring her mouth any closer to his ear high above her but it seemed to be the right thing to do.

“I’m not very experienced in this,” she said in a stage whisper, “but that sure as hell wasn’t what the headmaster had in mind when he said ‘get to know your classmates’, was it?”

“Thanks,” she said with a smile. It was the first time today that she was able to find someone she actually wanted to talk with. His voice was soothing. “I guess your right.” She closed her icy cold eyes momentarily. It seemed the day had been but a flash, and had finally slowed down. It had finally given her a chance to breathe. She wasn’t sure if Dominic had bit off more than he could chew. She could be quite the handful, with the traits she inherited. The fact of the matter was that she was both Qui’s and Ravelyn’s child. The child would almost always become stronger than the parents. If Sephia was influenced one way or the other, it could tip the scales greatly when she awoke. However, when that happened was not something she could determine. She would come into her own being “when the time was right”. That didn’t help her much.

She looked at her thin silver watch. “It was a pleasure meeting you Dominic. I hope we see more of each other outside of class. I’m up for some study sessions as well.” She kissed his cheek. It was a sign of parting between close friends. Apparently, that was what she considered him at that current point in time. Someone who didn’t say “Hey, you’re the headmaster’s daughter….or you’re a Shenatvo. Just…hey, Sephia.”

"I need to get some rest. It's been a rather long day for me," she turned from him and walked up the grand staircase towards the fifth floor and disappeared behind the double doors.

"Ah, no. I suspect, rather, that that is something that my sainted mother would have labeled as resulting from hormones."

He produced a kerchief of black silk from the back pocket of his pants and offered it to Casey with a flourish.

"It appears, friend, that the lady has taken a dislike to you. Quite unfortunate, in its way, I suppose. Try not to drip on me, if you'd be so kind. Blood stains like you wouldn't imagine."

“Sounds like Qui then.” Kristian sighed and shrugged. “War’s a funny thing. Some of us thrive on it and remain normal, some of us work with it and become abnormal, thinking we’re invincible, venerable OMA’s.” Kristian saw Joshua’s puzzled look. “One Man Army. You know? Thinking they’re all Rambo and stuff, nothing phases or terrifies them, or anything. Even when it‘s talking headless corpses that later manage to kill them with a finger nail or something.” He grinned. “Should be an interesting year, I bet Qui will go hard on the OMA’s at the very least. You too though.”

"Well it isn't a year here if Qui hasn't attempted to murder me," Joshua chuckled, "Now if you'll excuse me I think I'm going to try and rest. It's been a rather long day."
He wasn't really tired, just needed to get away from everyone and prepare for a rather long year.
"It's been a pleasure meeting you, I'm rather easy to find when I'm not in class," he continued before turning to leave, "Look for me by the out door pool."
He began to walk out the doors of the room, turning slightly to give a polite wave then exiting. Quickly he walked towards the staircase, slowing as he began to pass Dominic (though he had already missed Sephia) and quietly spoke, "Good to see you again," before continuing on to his room.

Near silent footsteps passed by the figure slumped in the window, and it caused the girl to awaken. Turning her head slightly to see a young girl walking by, she realized a moment later it was Sephia. She watched as the girl disappeared through the double doors and raised an eyebrow. She clearly was favored despite supposedly being on equal footing as all the other students. She had glimpsed a bed inside, just before the door had been closed.

Lowering her feet gently to the floor, she became mist, silently rolling across the floor in pursuit. At the door she halted, pondering the girl's reaction if she simply appeared nearby, and in her own room at that. A knock resounded on the doors, though the mist remained as it were. It shifted however to fit itself flat against one of the doors, as if it were trying to mimic the paint. The door, cast in shadow also helped to the effect. A sensory tendril was slipped beneath the door, halting in that space beneath it and the floor.

She waited patiently.

Sephia opened the double doors and entered, closing them behind her. She remained frozen, facing straight ahead. “Your form can’t hide your presence,” she whispered softly. “Your aura remains whole regardless of that body of yours. If I were you, I would go back downstairs, as trespassing to this level would earn you a plane ticket out of here.” With that being said, she kicked her heels off, and began undressing. She was through with all of them for tonight. If she had some strength to spend on investigating the matter, she would, but at this point, she was simply tired.

The announcement of Sephia's awareness of Cassidy's presence surprised Cassidy, but she didn't say anything. She lingered in place for several more moments, and at last, slipped away silently. She would honor the girl's implied request.

Mist tumbled down the steps silently, seeking something else to explore. She found a doorway, leading into a library, and here, she slipped inside the partially open door and solidified. Her eyes gazed at all the books, a small smile crossing her face. How she loved to read. She approached one wall and reached out, her fingers tracing the spine of a book there. It was old, used well, and seemingly forgotten, judging by the layer of dust on its surface.

She pulled it free and read the title, noting that it appeared to be a novel. Opening it, she sidestepped until her legs found a chair and allowed her to collapse in its embrace and begin reading.

Vitori had gotten distracted from his plan to meet the other students as he sampled the foods and drinks. They had a si9gnificant variety of alcohols to be mixed and play with and the presence of vampire on the premises meant they had the supplies to make a proper Bloody Mary.

With drink in one hand and well heaped plate of delicious munchables, he headed up to his room to eat before taking a nap.

Casey waved the hankerchief off stoicly. "No, I have no particular attachment to this shirt, and now my Debt is paid. I am clearly not wanted here. Though, for your courtesy, Felix of the Sevle, I shall remember you. If, should the need arise, you find yourself in need of help, call out my name. No matter where you are, should you but call for Longinus the Misfortuned Walker, and if it be within my power, I shall answer. May your blade be glutted in the blood of your enemies."

Casey headed back to his room. As he did, he called, his knife flying to his hand, and when he arrived, he slowly ad methodically began packing. Once done, the small bag seemingly incapable of successfully storing his belongings without bulging, he loaded it upon his shoulder, and left a note and some coin to thank his hosts for the rum.

That done, and with his Debt formally settled, Casey Lonnergan walked out of the Shentavo academy, and as soon as he had passed out of the door, he turned, heading off on his road. Before long, he found himself at the very Edge, and decided to rest at the Inn.

Kristian nodded to Joshua as he slipped away, and he too followed a minute or so later after finishing his own drink. He stretched and yawned, actually feeling quite tired for a change. He passed a door on his way back, merely noting it was a library, something for him to come and use as research and to relax in later on.

He pondered going into it and looking around for a moment, before deciding against it, instead he headed back to his room, glancing simply as Casey passed him, and left. He shrugged at that and instead headed to his room, pushing the door open and locking it behind him. His clothes still on his bed.
He sighed and rubbed his head and picked the bag up off of it, zipped it open, and emptied the contents onto the bed. Another letter fluttered out of the bottom and settled ontop of his boxer shorts that had tumbled out last. It had a single word on the front of the Envelope, but he recognized the handwriting.


Kristian

He picked it up, and, pushing his clothes off of his bed into a pile next to it, near to the wardrobe, he sat down on the bed, which sank feeling satisfyingly comfortable as he did so. With a tear he opened the letter and dropped out the contents.

A necklace, with a gold and glittering blue ankh fell onto the bed, and a piece of paper, which was blank. He picked up the Ankh and smiled, before feeling the impulse to put it on. Looping it round his neck and getting up off of the bed, with the piece of paper in his hands he did up the clasp and then looked at the piece of paper, he turned it over a couple of times before holding it up to the light.

Writing faded into existence on the paper and he read it.

Krisi,
I am aware that Terefedel didn’t deliver that letter as I asked, and I fear his loyalties may be in question as a result of it. However, you must not give it to Ravelyn just yet. There has been some further developments that I am writing now, and it will appear in the letter in a few days time.

Wait until classes start before you do give it to her, and make sure that when you do give it to her you are both alone. The other students must not be alarmed by the information contained within it, and it may even shock my daughter due to the severity of the potential threat but you know what she can be like. Keep safe, this ankh will help you when it can.

Love, Asopher.

Kirstian sighed and laid back onto the bed, holding the ankh up and looking at it, before he leapt up and rummaged through his pile of clothes again, he’d sort them out later on. Pulling a book out titled “Angelic and Common languages, similarities and differences.” he read it for a while, before he fell asleep with the book resting open on the ankh as he slept.

The ankh sparkled gently under the book, it bathing the room in a very weak, very gentle blue.

It was made of Moonstone.

Felix shrugged and returned his kerchief to his pocket, nodded politely to Schama, begged his own leave, and returned to his rooms. Therein, he stripped off his shirt retrieved a blanket from his duffel, and lay down on the floor. He still wasn't ready to trust his weight to the bed, and it looked a little short, anyways...

A few moments later, his eyes drifted shut and he entered the meditative state that was as close as Sevle got to sleep.

Schama decided that it had been a moderately successful evening for her.
She had collected samples of the physique of a whole new species and had already met two of her future classmates (that one of them was probably leaving the academy that very moment didn't really bother her). The only ones left from the list now where one Dominic Skyler Wrathe, one Kristian Heruss and Sephia Shentavo. Getting to know that last one should be very ... interesting. Lucky me, she thought while downing the last of her drink.
Well, at least it will have to wait till tomorrow. With that Schama followed Felix' example and retired to her room where she lay down on a bed that was sufficiently large enough to have hold two persons her present size and shape. She enjoyed this luxury, not having had a real bed to lie in for months.

Ravelyn looked out towards the empty audience, and it seemed as if the room was spinning. She lost her balance, and Quissera stopped her from falling. He looked down at her with a hint of concern. “Is something wrong?” he asked her quietly, as if speaking any louder would disturb the serenity of the room.

“No, I’m fine,” she said as she regained her balance. “Just a little dizzy. I should get some rest. This day has been very trying on me.”

He kissed her neck chastely, and lingered there. Unexpectedly he lifted her up into his arms. The train of her crimson dress was only a few inches above the ground when swept under. He walked down the stairs of the auditorium, and up the isles towards the exits where he could hear the last of the students and professors departing. He waited a bit before opening the door, and carrying her through. There was no one left in sight. He headed towards the grand staircase and walked up the stairs to the top floor. The door opened with a click. He assumed Sephia had already gone to sleep, and didn’t feel a need to check on her. He locked the door behind him, and set Ravelyn upon the bed. She had already fallen asleep. He kissed her forehead and covered her with the blankets. He then walked over and sat down at the window.


Hear your heartbeat beat a frantic pace,
and it's not even seven AM.
You're feeling the rush of anguish settling.
You cannot help showing them in.
So hurry up then or you'll fall behind and
they will take control of you .
You need to heal the hurt behind your eyes
Fickle words crowding your mind.


He unbuttoned his shirt, and took it off. There were many scars about his chest and arms; tattoos drawn over the right side of his body. It had been part of the ritual which had set both of them free; he and Azrael. He ran his fingertips along the shackles around his wrists. She had worn them all these years and now it was his turn. Had all the power he had gained have a negative effect? He noticed Ravelyn’s aura wasn’t shining as brightly as it had before everything occurred. Only when she took on her true form did that light radiate from her heart. It was strong enough to keep away the powers, but he wondered if it would be the right kind of strength to keep her own self safe. Never had he seen an aura that had shown so brightly. It was part of what drew him to her; how very beautiful God had made her inside and out. What was closer to his heart; was how much she loved him regardless of the fact that his soul was in essence and unstable vortex blackened by countless sin, and while he was handsome and charming, nothing could hide his soul for what it was. They were both rebels, and the feelings felt could have no words to put to them. They were simply indescribable.


Try as you might, you try to give it up.
Seems to be holding on fast.
It's hand in your hand.
A shadow over you.
A beggar for soul in your face .
Still it don't mater if you won't listen .
If you won't let them follow you.
You just need to heal.
Make good all your lies .
Move on and don't look behind .


Then there was Sephia who had a massive potential which needed to be unlocked, and they had been unsuccessful thus far. He didn’t know how many would come and if they would come. His new powers would be tested to the limit. The students of the academy would have more to deal with on their hands than imaginable. Qui sighed heavily. There was a lot riding on his shoulders, and he would just have to deal with it. For such a strong being he had two very large weaknesses; Azrael, most of all, and now Sephia. He looked over to where Ravelyn slept. She looked so peaceful; as if she was carved from stone. He couldn’t stand to see tears in those eyes again. He would rather burn in hell then see tears fall from those eyes again. He closed his eyes and leaned his head back against the windowsill.


Day after day fickle visions messing with your head.
Sleeping in your bed, messing with your head.
Fickle visions Fickle, vicious…
Sleep, sugar, let your dreams flood in
Like waves of sweet fire, you're safe within
Sleep, sweetie, let your floods come rushing in
And carry you over to a new morning


When Ravelyn awoke she saw Qui at the window with his eyes closed, but the minute she stirred his eyes shot open. “Have you been up all night?” She asked as she slithered out of bed and walked over to him. She looked at him with concern.

“Oh, don’t look at me like that,” he said, brushing her off with that gruff voice men have in the morning. “I just couldn’t sleep. You know I am still a vampire, my dear. I am a nocturnal creature.” She smiled and kissed him softly. She sat in his lap and pulled back her hair. He inhaled the scent and his eyes glazed over in a scarlet color at the scent of her skin. He bent his head and bit down into the flesh and started to drink. She stirred in his arms, and it only made him drink deeper. He was able to stop long before he lost his sense, and he closed the wound, though it could still be seen and probably would for the next few hours before it vanished completely. He kissed her neck and over her shoulder. “If you didn’t have to teach today I would keep you here…”

“Mmmhmmm, like you could,” she said with a laugh. One ability Ravelyn had gained was the ability to enter the light path. He could enter the twilight, however, she could not. And vice versa.

“Don’t start arguing with me this early in the morning,” as she got up he stood up as well and put an arm around her shoulders. “We’ll settle it later.”

She slipped form him and rummaged through her clothes as she unzipped the dress she had worn last night. She brushed her hair and pulled on a shirtsleeve white button down shirt with a tight black knit vest over it which accentuated her figure. A black skirt and heels completed the outfit.

“As I said,” Qui repeated. “If you didn’t have to teach today I would keep you here.” She blushed, and he caught it, so she slapped him in the face. She had known that look. She kissed him, and left for the door. “Do brush them up on the Anno Domini…and in essence what has happened without using the names.”

“That’s my plan,” she said softly, then passed through the door. Today was the first day of Lore and Language.

Kristian stirred as he awoke. The necklace around his neck still shining a weak blue in the room. He yawned loudly and scratched his armpit, putting his book to the side and stretching himself again, almost cat-like.

He put the book to the side of himself as he got up off of the bed. He had woken part way through the night and stripped off. Smiling as he admired himself in the mirror for a moment he reached down to the large pile of clothes he had left dumped next to the bed and put on a pair of boxer shorts. He started to put his clothes away into various draws and the wardrobe, before he slipped on a navy blue T shirt and a pair of jeans, putting the ankh out over his shirt on it’s chain, letting it glow softly still.

After tidying his room up he put the book onto the computer table, as his hand drew away, he froze. The plain piece of paper was reacting again, writing appearing on the sheet.

Krisi,

Have added all the information I can find on at least two groups I could find that pose the most immediate threat. The Anno Domini are still active, but I cannot find any concrete interest in the new Shentavo. Be aware of them anyway. Please hand her the letter, but don‘t tell her about Terefedel yet.

Asopher.

Kristian folded the paper up and put that into a desk drawer and locked it, the writing vanishing as soon as he did so.

Instead he picked up the other letter, the one addressed to “My Daughter” and put it into his back pocket.
He slipped out of his room and headed straight for the nearest map. After checking it he made his way down to the classroom and opened the door.

“Hey, Ravelyn? I, uh, have a letter.”

Kristian walked quietly across the classroom to her and held the thick, creamy envelope out to her, on the back was the distinctive seal of the ankh with the letters D and A on it. “It’s from your father.”

Vitori woke early in the morning, after only a few hours of rest. After dressing, he headed outside to the garden. He'd never found that he'd needed more than about four hours of sleep a day and his longest 'all-nighter' had lasted almost a week.

Finding a clear area without serious obstruction between him and the rising sun, he began to exercise. He'd learned that practicing and following a regular morning routine helped keep everything balanced and some of his inclinations in check. After warming up he began running thought some combat forms as the newly risen sun washed his body with its relaxing rays.

By now he was covered with a light patina of sweat. He headed in to shower and then headed to the dining room to eat and see if any of the other students or even maybe a teacher was there.

She took the letter with interest. It was quite large. She gave Kristian a smile in greeting. “It’s good to see your face again despite the fact you nearly stabbed me to death.” At least her voice was lighthearted, which let him know that there were no hard feelings. Strange, how things work out. Ravelyn slipped her nail underneath the seal and opened it. She pulled out the letter and unfolded the paper, and began reading. She smiled at the first few lines. “Make sure you tell him when you talk to him next we aren’t married yet, and if he still wants to give me away,” she smiled, and then winked. “And congratulations to you as well. I was wondering when that was going to happen. I wish someone told me so I could have gone…” She frowned at the next two lines and concealed the envelope and letter somewhere. It seemed that it vanished in thin air, though it was simply slight of hand.

“He’s coming tomorrow,” she whispered slightly. Her tone slightly darker. As other students began to enter she broke away from the conversation. There were no desks, but there were leather couches. It was a room off of the main library, and an appropriate place to house the class. I look forward to seeing you Heruss…

Joshua hadn't slept. While he had gone into his room it was only for a short while, laying there in his bed he sighed.
Can't sleep can you, never could get a good sleep here could you? the voice began to taunt again after only an hour of laying there.
"Fuck it," he muttered as he sat up again and began to change into something more comfortable. Trading in his dress clothing for a rather comfortable pair of OD BDU pants and a black t-shirt.
It almost felt as if the walls were closing in on him, he needed fresh air. After leaving his room he began to wander the grounds like many a year before until he reached the lake. Setting himself down by a tree he began to think, think about the past and the events that took place within these halls that changed him for the better, though some for the worse.
He didn't know how long he had sat but it felt like ages though it was long enough for the first rays of the sun to snap him out of his thoughts and take him once more back to reality.
Rising from his spot he stretched and began walking back towards the building hoping to get a shower in before anything happened today.

Kristian smiled sheepishly. "Yeah, sorry about that."

He blushed slightly when she congratulated him. "It's sort of hard to explain. He married us together, privately. He can do that. I don't know whether he wants a ceremony to go with it yet or not for the surprise I reckon he‘ll tell you when he comes. It's hard to explain that sort of, well, royal procedure, I guess. Never know, we might be able to do that after all." He smiled.

“I wouldn’t worry too much about him turning up so soon, Ravelyn. He told me in a personal letter than he was run ragged from all the research and really needed a break from it all.” He smiled and tilted his head, scratching his temple. “I guess you could call it a working holiday.”

“But th-” Kristian was cut off by a student following in. “Thanks for clearing up that Angelic verb ending, teacher.” He said before he went to sit down on one of the chairs, getting a piece of paper and a pencil.

Felix arose comparatively early, worked through his morning routine with careful precision -- stretches, a ration bar. He stripped out of the clothing that he had slept in and cleaned himself with towel and scouring rock -- his sweat was scentless, and the properties of the rock were such that an actual bath would be superfluous. Remarkable things.

He dressed in a fresh pair of undergarments and pants, plus socks and his boots, then began his morning exercises. A medium-intensity drill-pattern, this morning, he decided. It took him maybe fifteen minutes to complete, during which he was in constant movement.

Exercise complete, he towelled off his torso and pulled on a black t-shirt, completing his casual ensemble. The sleeves of his shirt were short enough that his legion mark was visible on tricep, the golden stylized 'I' of the Immortals -- doubly symbolic both of the Legion, and of its status as First Legion.

Then he checked that his key was in his pocket and that he had the scant few other possessions that he routinely carried -- a battle chronometer, a pair of soft, thin nearleather gloves, a few supplemental nutrient pills, a flask of liquid, his Mage-Knight's bracelet, a slender chain of intricate golden wirework about his right wrist, a length of string, a few coins.

He set out to hunt down some breakfast, though he hoped not to literally have to hunt his meal down -- that would be rather irritating. Still, he was Sevle. He could last for quite some time without sleep or sustenance, but that did not mean that he liked to -- if at all possible, he preferred regular meals.

The collapse of a book onto the floor startled Cassidy awake. At first, she was confused as to her whereabouts, but that was soon eradicated as memories returned. She had fallen asleep in the library, sprawled out on the same chair she had lounged herself in the previous night. She sat up, stretching her back, feeling the spine pop several times as she did so. An inhale of air, and she was gone, misting away to her room swiftly.

Twenty minutes or so had passed before she walked out of her room, wearing a pair of jeans and a black cotton halter top camisole. She wore sneakers to finish it off.

She made her way down to the kitchen, following the wafting odors of breakfast.

Schama woke from a night full of confusing dreams. Of course that was nothing unusual to her and not very worrisome. What was unusual about this morning's awakening was that she found herself literally wrapped up in the bed clothes. She had even absorbed part of the clothing and added it to her own mass.
After a short moment of near-panic when she thought her enemies had finally found and somehow confined her she calmed down and even manged to untangle the half shredded linen. Held up against the dim light shining through the window the white cloth looked like the leftovers of a banquet of giant moths.
Schama sighed and threw the pitiful remains on the bed and absorbed the last bits of white cloth sticking out of her body and clothing before leaving her room. At least she could skip breakfast now and go over to the L&L classroom without delay.

When all of the students had arrived, Ravelyn sat on top of the desk with her legs crossed. “We are going to start with a little something different today then the previous years. This course will focus on recent past events which have shaped not only this school, but myself, and countless others. These events are relative to current day events, and on top of which you will learn about the history behind each respective party. Secondly the language. The language I will teach you may be scribed and used in both defensive and offensive combat. Enochial language carries power within the very sound of its words, and if written or spoken correctly, can be used in a conflict. Today we are going to start with a force of the undead, if you could call them that. They are not vampires but merely ghouls. Merely ghouls with incredible strength, and power, of which I have been against directly.” Her eyes looked at Kristian, but she didn’t bring him into this. “Now, a bit of background.”

“During the Summer of 545 A.U, that’s “After Unification” of the Greater Island of the Greater Kingdom of Midlonia the conflict came to be known as the Third Moonstone War began, lasting several months and claiming several hundred thousand lives. The major change behind this war and the previous two Moonstone Wars was that it didn’t occur between that of the Greater Kingdom of Midlonia and the Freethinker Commonwealth. The previous two wars are very well documented elsewhere, with a couple of abridged histories in this library. Basically they focused all about imperial conquest and holding territory gained. With the second war claiming some 23 million lives. The Third War was predominantly between the leader of the Midlonian Forces of the Second War, and Govenor of the Commonwealth during the First War, and the more mortal forces of the Greater Kingdom of Midlonia and The Commonwealth.

Franz Haringott. An ancient mage and vampire of great power and prowess has tried several times throughout the centuries of gaining the large crystalline formation known as the Moonstone from the Spire of Navarrok in order to gain the masses of power from the unusual properties off the Moonstone for the specific purpose of overturning the will of God and the very fabric of existence itself, melding it in his own image.With both nations with elements at the very top more than aware of Franz Haringott, he could not use his usual vile manipulative ways to gain a position of high influence in either nation as he had done so some 6 times previously. Instead he chose to develop and raise an army of his own to be able to cause conflict and chaos, on which he thrives, to try to once again claim his prize. The problem, of course, is where would he find suitable candidates for his vision and army? He tried many ways, many deranged ways in which he gained trust and favour with only a very few mortal souls who bound themselves to him in a blood pact, those of whom we shall cover at a later date.

Haringott however, is a man of almost sadistically dramatic flair and instead chose a different and even sickening source to raise a massive army that would be his and his alone to command. He had lived 6 times in total. Each time he had been involved in a major conflict or war of some kind. The Porphyrian-Quethenian war of 1392, The Midlowland-Angelic War of 1432, The Unification Wars of 1580 to 1605, The First and Second Moonstone Wars of 1882 to 1885 and 1945 to 1952. Each time resulting in masses of men and women who had fought and killed during those times. Those dates are in the standard calendar by the way, makes it easier for everyone to understand, but if you’re interested in the exact dates of B.U and A.U you can check your notes for a full list and translation. Numbers are really murky, but the last war, the Second Moonstone, saw 23 million people die by his actions for little gain for either side. So, from there he picked out and formed an army, selecting the best units, the most combat worthy, the largest destroyed single units during those wars. Wars in which entire armies were wiped out were raised again. An army of the undead, but no mere zombies.

They became the After Death, the Anno Domini. A massed army with the great range of time at its disposal, with a range of weapons stretching from those adept with a blade to helicopter gunships. With his new army to hand, Franz now had the ability to attack whoever and wherever he wished. So he chose several key battle grounds to fight over. The Last Sky Castle of the Laputian Kingdome, also known as Kievshe where they attempted to gain a powerful magical artefact which powered the castle.

The Library of All. An impressive place stacked and filled with knowledge, allegedly all knowledge. If you ever get invited to go there, it’s recommended. Though I would be wary of being anything unique as the Librarian there likes to study anything new that comes his way. I kid you not, he tried to catch me in a very large butterfly net when I went there,” she chuckled slightly. “Within it is also rumored to contain books of Fate, that predict, or attempt to predict, the fate of a person at any given time. I can tell you first hand that there are books of fate within that library, but sometimes, they are not able to predict what truly will happen when individuals can make changes in the fate lines.

The problem with the Anno Domini is that, because they came from the 7 original Midlonian Kingdomes there were language barrier problems, limiting any large formations to single time eras, for example the most effective units were a mixture of First and Second Moonstone War units that had a fairly similar language, while the least effective were a mixture of several eras, the differing languages and language change from the first years of, say, the Porphyrian-Quethenian War and that of a warrior of the Unification War, cultures changed as did the languages.

There is a key as to how the Anno Domini work, and while they are indestructible by physical or magical combat, they can be destroyed by scrolls which I will teach you. Their hold on the world is actually fairly limited, and often sees their souls rebound to their bodies, sometimes unwillingly, via simple old fashioned military cap badges and medals. Removing the medal from the uniform often sees the body revert to its lifeless state. Without doing so however, means that the bodies will still attempt to fight despite missing vital organs and limbs.

The main operations of the Anno Domini rely largely on destructive measures and massed military attacks to gain objectives, often using overwhelming numbers to overpower and defeat their opponents, there are, however, some exceptions to this. The Blood Knights, mortals who “transcended” becoming apparently Immortal, they are easily spotted, speaking modern English with heavy claymore weapons and short sub machine guns. The Second Regiment, a renumbered Second Moonstone War Regiment that was under the personal command of a trusted lieutenant of Franz. Finally his own group of Lieutenants that are highly dangerous and are not killed by simply removing their badges.”

She paused for a moment. “So why am I telling you all this on the first day?” she said quietly. “You will find the fate of this land as well as myself and several others have been changed due to this last war with Franz. By coming to this school, I have to prepare you to be targeted by anything and everything that would target myself. I will speak of Seraphic lore in a few moments. For now I will scribe you the scroll for the death of one of the Anno Domini. It will cause that which binds them to this world to disintegrate immediately, leaving them lifeless. Please, copy it exactly as I write it.”

разлететься в дым
рассыпаться в прах

“Turn to dust and ashes.”

Kristian scribbled the words down very slowly and carefully, his brow nitted in concentration as he looked at the words he had written. He mouthed it over a couple of times. He didn't make any notes on the Anno Domini proper. He'd known them and their methods rather too intimiately, as did Ravelyn.

While the teacher, obviously Ravelyn Shentavo, talked Schama transformed part of the priviously aborbed mass from the bed sheet into something resembling a sheet of paper and a pencil which she then seperated from her body. Of course she pretended to simply pull them out of the trouser pocket. It would be careless to show her abilities without need.
Then, just as any ordinary student would (though one would be hard pressed to find anything that could be described as 'ordinary' at the academy), she took notes.

Felix copied the phrase into his notebook, first in the original glyphs -- cyrillic? -- then as translated into the High Tongue. Then he wrote the original phrasing phonetically.

The remnant of the lecture had him wishing for the comforting presence of his Warpblade -- the idea of a foe that was impervious to physical damage was not a foreign one, such things existed...and had been faced and defeated in their time by the Sevle Legions, through guile and trickery and grim determination.

But that such a foe could be vanquished by simple words? The concept reeked of taint and sloth, of the magics of the weak.

Leaving aside the questionable translation of the Latin 'Anno Domini' to 'After Death.' Felix had a scholar's mind and passion, and was familiar with a great number of languages, including the Latin of the Romans...but even were he not.

The roots carried through to English -- Anno from Annus, lending itself to annual, thus, 'year.' Domini from Dominus, from which the entire string of 'Dominate' related words could be derived, but meaning 'Lord.'

This was particularly confusing to Felix, because the Latin for 'after death' was in common use in English. It was 'post mortem.'

Therefore, the conclusion must be made that the language in question wasn't actually latin -- perhaps a localization that borrowed certain Latin terms, though not the meanings. Entirely possible, he'd seen it before, and would likely see it again.

Still, he took notes, though they were largely superfluous -- like all of his kind, he had essentially perfect recall. The Sevle had never chosen to submit to time, mutable as it was...

Sephia headed downstairs and entered the dining hall. She sat a few tables away from everyone one else. Instead of simply blood that she had drank the night before, she had a glass of cranberry juice as well as a salad with chicken. Strange to have for breakfast, but none the less satisfying. She wore a pendant around her neck that was a pewter sun with the center hollow. A dark black t-shirt and white jeans with boots completed the outfit. She wore her dark hair down, and it fell over her shoulders. She saw another girl in the room, Cassidy, as well as a few of the male students. She knew that Lore and Languages had already started, and had probably gotten to the halfway point by now. She had come awfully late for breakfast but they still decided to serve her.

“Tut tut.” The figure said sitting opposite to her as she sat down for her breakfast. “Somebody is a late riser. Is there a reason for it, I wonder, or is that just your father’s side more to the front at times?”

The figure sitting opposite her had different coloured eyes and hair, blonde and black braided into a pony tail. His boots were resting on the table itself in casual disregard of the people sitting around them all, apparently she was the only one who could see him right now.

He was sporting a more white cloak and trousers with a blue suede pair of boots, a single golden pistol resting on his side.

"I don't think there is any darkness following me today at least." he said simply, looking across at her with an almost lazy look.

Spotting a girl who'd decided to have a salad of all things for breakfast deciding to sit alone prompted him to get up and move over to her table. With his heaping plate of bacon and glass of orange juice.

"Good morning, how are you and if you don't mind me asking why salad for breakfast? My name is Vitori Lathena and you?" He asked before taking a big bite of bacon.

The female snow leopard nimbly danced through the mid-level branches of the forest, where the limbs were strongest and most intertwined. Her passage caused barely a ruffle among the leaves. The silver-grey coat speckled with black that covered her form gave her excellent cover among the sun dappled shadows. Straps of fabric colored to match her fur crossed chest and abdomen, holding similarly decorated equipment firmly. Two pistols, plastic/ceramic nine millimeters, were holstered just below her hips strapped to her legs. The disassembled components of a sniper rifle were strapped to her back. A pair of long combat knives were sheathed at either shoulder. Magazines of ammo covered most of the remaining available surface. Above her rump, a small pack depended from her waist belt.

Despite the additional weight of this equipment, she moved with all the agility, speed, and silence that nature lent her genetic ancestors. They, of course, had lived atop snow covered mountains. However, she found her form to be adequately designed for tree hopping. The length and precision with which she could leap helped quite a bit. She paused, claws digging into the bark of a tree trunk, causing a slight scratching sound. She climbed upwards, pulling herself above the canopy. There, perhaps a mile further, was the end of the forest and her destination.

With a soft huff, she allowed herself to drop. The branches whipped by, thickening as the feline dropped towards the forest floor. She had no intention of touching the leaf-littered ground, however. With expert timing, she kicked off of a branch on the way down, altering her fall. Bouncing between branches and trunks, she slowed herself then turned her vertical momentum into horizontal as she propelled herself once more on her way. It took less than ten minutes for her to cover the distance.

The leopardess sat on a thick limb near the ground, partially hidden behind the trunk, her tail hanging down below. The thick fluffy length, fully equal to her body length, swayed back and forth, the tip twitching in agitation. She hated going into a situation with no intel. The place had been difficult enough to find, that was for certain. Here she was, half a day late. That irritated her also. She was never late. Ever. But here she was. Late. A soft growl rumbled her throat. Late, with absolutely no idea what she would be walking in to. Sharp, grey-blue eyes scanned the grounds, seeing no one. Her hearing and sense of smell were equally acute, if not more so. Her vision, after all, was most effective at night.

With a nearly inaudible sigh, Shine dropped to the ground at last. Self-consciously, she resettled her equipment harness and gave her fur a quick grooming. Walking erect on two legs, the female feline bestial strode across the lawn towards the front doors, that exquisite, fluffy length of tail hovering just above the grass as it flowed behind her. In the full sun, her coat fairly glistened, the fiberoptic hairs reflecting and refracting the light. She sniffed lightly at the doors when she reached them, attempting to catch scents from inside, give herself a clue as to what to expect, then shook her head and simply pulled them open wide enough to slip her slender body through.

Her head poked in first, at waist height, surveying the entrance hall. The rest of her svelte form swiftly followed, padding silently on all fours. Her nose was assaulted by a wide variety of rather interesting and unique smells. A few huffs, followed by a sneeze, and she decided to save it for later. She shifted back to bipedal locomotion and wandered across the hall, looking about with curiosity.

"Hello?" she called, raising her voice. It was light, in contrast to her hardened body, almost airy. "Is anyone here? I'm a new student."

“I can’t drink blood all the time,” Sephia said nonchalantly as she continued eating the salad. “Sephia Shentavo,” she said simply, and took a sip of cranberry juice. The sour flavor was to her liking. It was a bit awkward eating with someone else across form her that she barely knew, but to get up and leave would be rude. It was then that she sensed him; even before he reached the table. Sephia watched as the man who had been following her sat down opposite of her. This other man apparently could not see Terefedel across the table. She stopped eating and froze; her icy blue eyes tearing into the figure.

“Why are you following me?” she said bitterly.

The figure opposite grinned to her. Vitori couldn't see him as he leant back slightly on his chair.

"Because I'm supposed to, apparently." Was all he said simply, looking to her. "Because your mother and father apparently cannot protect you properly, neither can the academy. So I'm supposed to sit here keeping an eye on you."

He stretched slightly. "Wouldn't ask me why, exactly though."

"I don't want you to keep an eye on me," she said, closing her own. "I can see through you, and I don't want any part of it. Leave and desist in following me, or should I call my father?" she said, opening her eyes and, like blue flames, burning through him.

"I don't want your* protection."

"I don't think your father is a problem, little Sephia. After all. I stood right at the back during the speech. Didn't so much as look at me." Tere said with a stretch. "All I have to do is keep an eye on you until you unlock whatever weapon is hiding away in the ether with your name on it." he waggled his fingers.

"Then once you can call them," he stuck his hand out to the side, a pistol shimmering into being in his hand, it was like an old flintlock pistol, but made of burnished gold. "I don't have to play babysitter any more. Until then you might want to not talk to me so much in public." He leant in a little and whispered, his voices overlapping as his purple eye glinted. "Makes you look a little crazy."

"You should know by now then, I don't care what other people think," she said in return.

She leaned back in her chair. "You are just bitter she chose Loki and not you."

“Maybe.” he grinned and sat back a little again, his feet bumping the table slightly. “But what about that one you’re keen on, hmm?”

He sighed and looked up at the ceiling. “Maybe I am, or rather I would be if Fate didn’t decide to change me significantly. I have too big a part still to play in all of this, especially as your existence is technically wrong.”

"You aren't the one who gets to decide that."

“You’re right. But I am here to prevent the wrong decision being made.”

"And you have no right."

“And how do you have the right to decide that I have no right, Sephia?” Tere quirked a grin.

"Because it was given to me," she said, closing her eyes.

“Really? And how do you know that? You’re a blank sheet as Shentavo’s go. You’re a whole new equation, a whole new level of power, the ability to imbalance everything in one single action.” Tere took his feet off of the table and sat forward.

"просто так," she said and continued to lean back in her chair. She didn't like Terefedel, and she didn't like him following her in the slightest bit. She knew what she had been told, however, knew what Azrael had told her. That enough was strength to stick with her convictions.

“You think you’re ‘just so’?” Tere said with a slight snort of laughter. “You really have no clue, do you?”

"You really can't speak enochial, can you?" she laughed.

“Never really needed to speak the language of liars.” One of Tere’s voices snarled slightly as he purple eye flared and his hand, still holding the pistol swung around and pointed it at Sephia.

"What now? Going to shoot me?" she laughed at him. She stood up from the table. "You've shown me you have no intention of protecting me. The fact of the matter is your a tool; used for the purpose of a larger plan. Don't blame me for deceiving you, like you didn't know. You were blind the entire time, and that's not my fault or theirs. It's yours."

“Oh, I know that, I know that a very big crossroads is coming up too, Sephia. People here, eating oblivious will die. For a change though, I will have a say on events.”

"You've never had a say in anything," Sephia said, picking up her tray. "And it isn't going to start now."

“If you say so, Sephia, though such is the arrogance of youth, you‘re 8 days old I remind you, 8.” Tere said getting up and standing with his arms behind his back. “How about I tell you that some very bad people are coming, and they’re all coming for you. That the only reason these students are here is to act as lambs to the slaughter to stop them simply,” he snapped his fingers, “taking you?”

"I would say I already know. You think my parents wouldn't tell me about that?" she smirked. "Really you don't know them as well as you think. If you would excuse me..." she looked at Vitori. "There's a specter right beside you. Quite a bastard too. I'd move and get away from that negative energy. Nice meeting you." She looked towards Terefedel. "As for you, fuck off." She set her tray to the side and headed out towards the main hall. She wasn't hungry.

For kicks, Tere shoved Vitori’s shoulder as he followed Sephia. “So what did they tell you? That they’re coming? There’s nothing else is there.” He smiled and shook his head. “One thing I’ve learnt is to smell lies, and you reek of the ignorance of what you face. Only that they’re coming, only that they want you, and that you know you cannot fight.”

Sephia turned around and her eyes glinted like diamonds. "Get out of my sight..." she groweled, and Tere was actually pushed back a few feet in a sudden burst.

Tere laughed as he was pushed back, his attitude changing completely. “Do that again.” He said. “That same anger, again. Come on.”

She flicked her hair from her shoulder with her hand, turned, and walked up the stairs towards her room.

“Just as I thought. Weak.” Tere said as he vanished from sight.

The opening of the doors at the end of the hall found it empty, at least in appearance. Shine had instinctively taken up a hiding spot, some fifteen feet above the floor in a shadowed sconce formed by the architecture. A young female human, again at least by appearance, with brown hair and blue eyes entered.

She stopped just past the doors and turned to growl, "Get out of my sight..."

With that, the girl turned and headed for the stairs, stomping up them. Shine took the opportunity to drop silently to the floor and padded quickly over towards the foot.

"Wait! Excuse me! Hey!" Shine called after the mouse-haired female hurrying upwards. "I'm a new student, and I could use a little help."

She took the opportunity to catalogue the female's scent as well, taking a few sniffs. Her brows knitted at the intriguing odor. Dry, hot, a little spice, a little dark, definitely young, and almost certainly in flux. Curious. Not human after all.

Sephia turned around and blinked several times at Shine. She saw over her shoulder that Terefedel had receded into the shadows where he belonged. She introduced herself as a new student. Strange race, for sure.

"What did you need help with?" Sephia said finally, analyzing the student with her ever diamond like eyes.

"I'm Shyne Bright, and I'm..." She gave a soft growl, her lip lifting in a snarl that revealed a single canine. "Late... I don't know where I should go or who to talk to. I was hoping you could help me."

The leopardess shuffled her paws slightly, ears tucking back against her head.

"Just curious, and actually I believe this is the first time I've met you." He commented as she turned a rather frigid glare at him. He returned it with a wry half-smirk as she had been talking to what seemed to be herself. Crazy, maybe but then who was he to talk for he both liked craziness and talked to himself anyways.

"A specter. A bastard too?" His smile grew wide. Ghosts were some of his favorite people, even if they weren't precisely alive and few were really decent conversationalists. "And I like negative energy, it gives me job security."

At the physical contact, he turned to look over at where Terefedel was, his eyes flashing a deep forest green for an instant. "Hello friend. So you're Sephia's ghost." Came the comment just as Tere was fading out. With Sephia gone he finished his bacon and headed out to tour the campus.

“A bit of a tangent,” she said continuing on into the second hour of the course. “The four seraphim.” Her eyes sparkled. “Long before the land you now stand on was created, there were a group of beings created by a higher set called Powers. These beings were called Seraphim, four in total; the highest rank of angel in some ways. Unlike the stories you’ve heard about angelic beings, Seraphim have four wings, two ethereal and two physical. The ethereal set can solidify in the direst of forms. Each seraph has three forms. The first being a normal physical form. They appear often as an average human being, but there is normally unusual coloring within the eyes. The second form is when they display their physical wings. To the trained eye one can see glimpses of the ethereal like fading specters upon their backs. In this form each has a weapon to call to their own. The third form is when the ethereal wings solidify, and it is the most powerful yet the most unstable of the forms. Seraphim can maintain their last form, dire form, for sometime no more then minutes at a time. Some can last a good deal longer depending on the emotions, intensions, and what the seraph is trying to accomplish.”

“Moving back to the general, the four seraphim were named Azrael, Charda, Loki, and Kivraca. Charda watched over the life which passed into this world, and the healing of those who were broken, while Kivraca watched over the intermediate realm; breaking down essence to be used over once more, Loki was in charge of the dark realm, or the twilight. This intermediate world is a perilous place where creatures called shades can consume one whole. And Azrael watched over those who died; executed those who chose to break the balance at the order of her superiors, and to send those lost to wherever you wish to call it.” She paused for a moment. “There was a bit of an issue, however. The Powers’ plans differed from that of those higher up. They chose Azrael to bear the pain of the death the seraph inflicted. Every soul that was executed weighed heavily on the seraph’s soul. A countless number contained within one being.” She got off the desk and walked around a bit.

“Long before they were sent here, there was a unique connection formed between Azrael and Loki. To intensify the suffering the two endured, on the physical realm they were not allowed to be together in any way shape or form. You see, Azrael was not created by the Powers, but of their superior, and given to the Powers to use as a seraph, so that’s what they made the essence into. Still, however, some of that showed through in the being, that Azrael was not all what the angel appeared to be. To make it short, with recent events, Loki absorbed the strength and identity of the three other seraphs. He absorbed Charda’s power of the light realm of Resurrection, Kivraca’s ability to destroy essence, and Azrael’s fierce Death Wish, the ability to mark a person for death. All of this, in an effort to break free from the powers. By shattering the mask which Azrael wore, the former seraph was able to become what was truly meant to be, but not without consequences…” She trailed off.

“What is it like to be?” she asked the students directly. “A seraph who has lived in the dark for so long that he might be called a demon, to have gained Charda’s power of the light? What about to gain the ability to tear apart ones essence? One’s soul? What about Azrael’s death wish? If one had the power to absorb a soul onto oneself, and then destroy it perhaps? Complications, yes, complications,” her golden eyes flashed. “The reason I give you this short history is to give you the background why this world has become such a more dangerous place in the past few months. Seraphim have messed with the lines of fate. They have disrupted the order that there was before, and have rebelled. This sets the scales uneven, bouncing back and forth never settling. There is no one to keep watch overall, perhaps a few here and there, of light and dark, but there has been a rift created. This will influence the threats you come across in the world today. You will see it start to change…even in your time here.” She folded her hands together, and looked at them. She made a motion with her hands gracefully. That was the end of the class, and they were dismissed until the next meeting.

Kristian left the session with a sheaf of notes tucked under his arm, he had one sheet out and was half reading that as he headed back to his room. Not noticing the Leopard in the hallway on all fours.

He blinked when he was in his room and thought for a moment before shaking his head and putting the notes into his desk in a small manila-coloured folder and wrote “Languages and Lore” on the front.

He then headed down to Breakfast, it being a little late due to the odd timing of the class, but not quite so late as most of the students hadn’t left for their own first classes. Grabbing a glass of blood, and a couple of rounds of toast with some bacon and scrambled eggs he spotted Cassidy eating some breakfast also.

“Good Morning,” he said as he sat down opposite her. “Sleep well? I’ve just had my first Languages and Lore class. Kind of weird when half of the class is about a subject you were a part of.” he put a bit of bacon and egg onto a slice of toast and crunched down on it, some crumbs landing on his chin and onto his plate.

“Any clue what time the mending class is? I can’t find my timetable.” he said after he swallowed, taking a sip of blood afterwards. “You look nice today, by the way.” he said, before he went back to eating his breakfast, his eyes a little down and his cheeks flushed the tiniest bit pink.

Shine stood silent for several minutes, waiting as the odd non-human girl regarded her. As the silence between them grew, the leopardess became impatient.

Waving a hand in front of the girl's face, she said, "Hello? Can you help me or not? Take a picture if you just wanna stare at me all day."

Schama went through what she'd just heared when she left the classroom wondering if that meant she, and the others here, too would soon be facing a new foe. Well, be that as it may, whatever wanted to get at her would have to take it's place in the line of her enemies and await it's turn. She shrugged the matter aside. Whatever came next she'd face it and either die or survive. Meanwhile she'd prepare herself and by that maybe turn the chances in her favor.
When she reached the main lobby her eyes fell on a cat-like being on two feet talking with Sephia Shentavo. For a moment Schama wondered where this one might come from and why she hadn’t seen it (no, most definitely a she) the night before. Then she decided to turn left and take a walk in the garden. Somehow Sephia had convinced Schama that it was better to leave her alone.
So instead of following her curiosity and inquiring about the nature of the leopardess she enjoyed the early morning sun filtering through the leaves of the trees along the path, the silence and the peace of the moment. All of which were rather rare experiences for her.

Cassidy's smile was genuine as she looked up at Kristian, "Thanks". She nodded, sighing almost dreamily, "I fell asleep in a most wonderful place. A chair in the library." Her tone quickened slightly, "You should go there. They've got a lot of books in there."

She pulled her own schedule out from her pocket, unfolding it on top of the table. She angled it so he could see it as well. "That's strange." she muttered, "It doesn't say what time it is." She looked up at him, shrugging as she did so, "I suppose they'll contact us somehow to let us know."

Her thoughts repeated the gunshot incident during the assembly the previous day. She hoped that the sound of a gun firing was not going to indicate the beginning of the class. She looked away as another student passed by, then looked back. "What did you mean earlier? About your class being about something you were a part of?"

Sephia was caught in her thoughts. She flicked her hair over her shoulder as Shine demanded her attention. There were so many things to day dream about to keep from worrying about the day.

"Sure," she nodded. "Your key should be at the front desk, right over there. Nineteen if i remember correctly, you room is on the second floor to the left. The first day of Lore and Language was today, and the schedule is posted at the desk. Hope you didn't miss it if you signed up for L&L." Sephia folded her arms.

"Anything else?"

Cassidy's smile was genuine as she looked up at Kristian, "Thanks". She nodded, sighing almost dreamily, "I fell asleep in a most wonderful place. A chair in the library." Her tone quickened slightly, "You should go there. They've got a lot of books in there."

She pulled her own schedule out from her pocket, unfolding it on top of the table. She angled it so he could see it as well. "That's strange." she muttered, "It doesn't say what time it is." She looked up at him, shrugging as she did so, "I suppose they'll contact us somehow to let us know."

Her thoughts repeated the gunshot incident during the assembly the previous day. She hoped that the sound of a gun firing was not going to indicate the beginning of the class. She looked away as another student passed by, then looked back. "What did you mean earlier? About your class being about something you were a part of?"

"Odd, guess they'll use the tannoy or something. Hrm, I'll have to give that library a try also, I think I had the languages and lore class near it."

He took another sip of his drink, and another bite of toast and bacon, crunching it a little noisily between his fangs before he continued.

It's a really long story, (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=548228)" Kristian said with a sigh and a shrug, "Basically we're not learning all about mythical creatures and dead societies, but stuff I was partly involved in, really recent infact, like... the last couple of years in a class. I can lend you some notes if you're really interested, they're up in my room. Number, uhm, 12." He nodded, making sure. "Yeah, number 12. Drop by later and I can lend you the notes to read about them. But knock though," He grinned and laughed, "I don't want to be asleep or something if you mist under the door."

"Anything else?"

"Yes, actually." Her ears tracked Schama as she passed through the hall, though Shine's eyes remained on Sephia. "I need to speak to the headmaster in regards to lodging. I... don't enjoy being indoors unless I have to be, and I'd much prefer to sleep outdoors if at all possible. I signed up for Advanced Combat and Mending, so I hopefully got them both. If not, I may again need to speak with the headmaster to see which classes I was allowed. Would you know where to find him or her?"

Felix's notes on the second part of the lecture were concise, to the point, and liberally illustrated with doodlings. His approach to such things as this was one defined by his somewhat scholarly nature -- he enjoyed knowing things for the sheer pleasure of knowing them, a trait that, had it been slightly more dominant, would have led him naturally to Kassigar Aedarion's Black Night, the largest of the Sevle Legions, and an entirely apolitical one.

Like many of his kind, he had difficulty forcing himself to care about such things on anything beyond a purely intellectual level -- he was Sevle, his kind had existed since before there was an existence, and would exist long after the End Times had passed. They were, it was said, beyond the reproach of gods, the eternal monkey wrench thrown into the machinations of the Powers...

He had packed up his notebook at the appropriate time and returned to his room without comment, feeling a sudden need to be away from the barrage of bright souls about him, undisciplined. Unlike his fellows, who adhered to the core Sevle philosophy - give nothing away -- here, such things were worn on the sleeve, so to speak, and he was discovering that extended exposure could be painful. He closed the door behind him and slid to the floor, his back pressed against the door, cradling his forehead in his hands, and feeling the sharp spike of a headache.

Dominic was a bit slow coming out of what he guessed he should call sleep, but he hadn't really slept since he was a human. From what his ears were picking up as he walked from his room, one class was already out. He hoped it wasn't one of his, wouldn't be good form missing his first class. As he walked, he stared at his boots as he often did while thinking. He had spent the night in his room, trying to drop into his trance-like dreamstate, all the while thinking that this was the first night in a long while he didn't have to think of being attacked while at rest. It was a little unnerving.

The halls were nearly empty, save for one he found containing Sephia and what looked to be a late student. He gave a small wave and walked past into the dining hall, looking for a morning, (or noon, he wasn't quite sure), snack.

“I’m pretty sure everyone got their first choices. AVC starts tomorrow so you arrived just in time,” she nodded. Then Shine commented about the headmaster. “The headmaster is a man named Quissera Shentavo, though its not strange to think that there is a headmistress as well. If you want to talk to him I can let him know…” She trailed off as her eyes darted off Shine to a familiar voice. Dominic. She waved back in her own peculiar way, and looked back to Shine. Too bad Sephia had already eaten. It was rounding noon anyway.

"If you want to talk to him I can let him know…”

"I'd be most appreciative if you did so. Thank you very much for your help."

With that she took her leave of the odd child. The girl had neglected to mention her name, but Shine was willing to overlook this rudeness on a temporary basis. The key to room 19 was waiting on the desk. The leopardess took it and headed upstairs to her room. It was reasonably well appointed, so far as she could tell, much better than the barracks back home, that was for sure. Then again, she had not spent much time in the barracks. She doffed her harness, the only luggage she carried, and decided to go hunt up the headmaster or mistress. Whichever she came across first. Either would do for her purposes, just someone in charge so that she could arrange a nice tree for herself rather than a stuff room which would probably end up a mess anyways.

What are you thinking about? the voice rang in her head as clear as a bell as she walked out of the class room and down the corridor towards the main hall. She slowed slightly, and brushed the stray strands of brown hair away from her eyes.

What’s going to happen to us? she answered quietly to herself as she continued to walk down the hall. The light sifted in through the open windows and the flashes of sun warmed her skin, as if she was an ember being rekindled with each ray that hit her.

You really that worried about it, Azraelichka? the voice sifted through her mind and traveled through her spine. The air was heavy; changed, and she knew that someone else had been through this hallway. Someone unpermitted, but she kept those thoughts hidden, as they were not private thoughts. Qui had no need to worry about Terefedel at this current point in time.

More than anything…all we have worked for. For the life we have brought into this world; for you…

You don’t have to worry about little old me, he returned. There was a pause. I can tell your sad…that it weighs on you so heavily you feel it difficult to breathe. Her eyes widened slightly, and she rounded the corner and her golden eyes stared into a mismatched pair which stared back at her.

“Болит душа от потерь, верю я, ты тоже верь. Наступит день, уйдет печаль. Придет весна, уйдет февраль. И мне не жаль, ничего не жаль.Время стоп, стоп печаль. Улетай..” He made a light motion with his hand, and she took a step forward and hugged him. He wrapped his arms around him, and the students which passed by met the devil’s eye if they even thought to make a comment.

“You seem perplexed, Balancer.” The voice said to him.

Tere sighed and stood up straight, looking up into the sky. He was standing on the roof of the Academy, looking around the brilliant grounds and the acre upon acre of woodlands, lake and lawns. Not to mention the gardens.

“I am concerned about how easy it is for me to be here, yet so far attempts by the others are met by failure. How goes the game?” He walked along the rooftop slowly. His voices overlapping as he dual souls spoke at once.

“The board remains highly confused, and the rules refuse to solidify.” The voice said again with a slight sigh. “Such an unusual game you also seem to be playing, balancer. You’re supposed to allow your dark side forward for this first attempt.”

“I remain in flux.” Tere said simply as he stepped off of the roof, falling down into the gardens below.

“Which is my concern, you cause the board to flux yourself, your piece changes colour almost every hour, causing the game to change.”

“My apologies.” Tere said as he stood up straight and looked around, his eyes glinting a little.

“Do not concern yourself with that for now, the game will remain unclear for some time.”

“I may have allowed my aura to slip slightly, I don’t know if I can keep up this charade much longer.” Tere said as he walked over to the windows of the teacher living quarters and looked upwards. “She is much stronger than I thought possible.”

“Yet she cannot use it, she cannot use anything yet it seems. She also causes the board to flux and change constantly. She is like a piece of clay, yearning to be moulded…” The voice echoed slightly.

“Which isn’t my job, I know. But so long as I can provoke her more… I just hope she learns to understand when she does unlock that I did it for a balanced intent.” Tere said as he sat down and crossed his legs under a nearby tree, looking up at the windows, carefully concealing himself from view of the regular students, aside from a slight figure out of the corner of their eyes, there would be nothing there.

He tilted his head down and breathed slowly, deeply as he meditated. His body remained hidden, but his mind vanished, or part of it did. One eye remained open despite it all. A single, angry, purple eye, which watched the window unblinkingly, the aura around his body changed from that of light to darkness. After a few moments of more breathing, the other eye opened, also purple. With a gasp and a loud groan of pain his body went rigid before slacking for a moment.

Then, shaking his head he looked back up at the window, from his pocket he took a mirror and opened it.

“A bit risky letting me have total control, is it not?” Jelthan said down to the mirror where a pair of clear blue eyes stared back.

“The sun comes before the moon, you have to take over to solidify the board in the Balance’s favour. I suggest you train a little in your own dark arts, and try not to get this body killed. Again. It took him long enough putting it back together, not to mention the complex dual soul binding process.”

Jelthan cracked his fingers and stretched his arm out to the side, a pistol shimmered into existence, but this one wasn’t golden, it was burnished silver and orange which he studied a little closer. “I can handle the different weapons, it’s the wings I’m worried about…”

“Don’t. We need all the energy we can get for the coming battle, you’ve met Gabrien, you know he doesn’t like leaving with a few charms and toys which you will need to overcome.”
Jelthan snarled a little and sighed before throwing his head back and leaning against the tree, his eyes now on the same window again. “She’s got one hell of a bright soul What a massive beacon and a nuisance for anybody trying to hide her.” He said after a few minutes.

“That might be it!” Tere’s voice from the mirror said suddenly. “Her soul is a beacon, it’s so strong it could be bleeding through the barriers of the Academy, thus making it easier for us and others to get in.”

“Whoopdie fricken do.” Jelthan said as he lit a cigarette and drew on it. “Now shut up and go get some rest, ok?”

A sudden motion, barely seen from the corner of her eye, caught Schama's attention. She thought she'd seen something falling down from the roof into the garden, not far from her. But she hadn't heard a thing and now, at least from a distance, couldn't see anything either. Maybe it had just been a bird. She stood under a tree for several moments, undecided. But her curiosity, already roused and beaten down once, wouldn't let her walk away twice a day without at least taking a closer look.
Without trying to be stealthy (her present form wasn't made for silent motion) she approached the point where whatever it had been had come down. Nothing. She looked around and saw someone sitting under a tree, smoking a cigarette. Seeing him sent a cold shiver down her spine; his ... looks (lacking a better way to describe what she felt) reminded her of some of the IS agents who'd been after her a few weeks ago. But she remembered seeing him the night before so he had to be one of the students. And since he'd obviously noticed her presence there was no point in hiding.

Keeping her voice calm and sound took some effort. "Sorry, didn't want to disturb you but ... did you see something falling down from the roof a few minutes ago?"

Jelthan looked across to Schama suddenly. Regarding her with his powerful, and hated purple eyes, his cigarette dangled slightly from his bottom lip as a bit of the ash fell off onto his clothing which he brushed off.

Shit. He thought as he took a drag on the cigarette. The veil has fallen very early it seems. Now I have to be even more careful if some of the students can see me. he thought.

It's because you were too busy messing around with the damn weapons and contemplating using your wings you stupid bastard. Tere's voice hissed at him.

"Yeah, I saw something." he said lazily as he turned his eyes back up to the windows. "Question is, did you?" He said as he vanished from view.

Invisibly he went and stood on the other side of the tree and waited until Schama left, his cigarette hanging limpy from his mouth as his eyes stayed on the windows the whole time.

It ended up on Joshua's return to his room he snagged himself on the imprint he had made about ten years ago and fell flat on his face for the first time that year. Though he really didn't feel like rising up, he simply lay there and let his exhaustion take hold of him ushering him into sleep.

He felt the ice cold handle of the door as he wrapped his fingers around it. Before he could even see her body again waiting for him he snapped back to a semi-waking state. Cursing his dreams under his breath he slowly rose again and climbed into his bathroom to shower and shave as need be.

By the time he was cleaned up he decided to wander down to the dining room. Not being that hungry he simply wanted to chew on something as he thought, quickly grabbing a plate and have it simply covered in bacon and a few pieces of toast for good measure he gazed around and debated on a place to sit. After a minute or so of deciding he slowly walked towards two students, Kristian and Cassidy. Sitting down he smiled, hiding his own fangs slightly thanks for a force of habit, and spoke, "I forgot how much I loved the food here, no matter what time it is you always seem to fill up your plate and eat a rather full meal. I mean it's about noonish and instead of doing my daily jog I'm here eating."

Cassidy merely gave Kristian an innocent smile yet mischievous, "Why I'd never do that..." She giggled slightly, turning her attention to another whom sat down and began speaking. She regarded him, noting he too had a strong preference for the bacon here. She wondered if there was something in the bacon that made them instinctively choose it. Some sort of pherenome perhaps?

She smiled at Joshua, "Clearly, food is a luxury here. On Atlan, that is not the case." Her face changed to that of a remniscient sadness. "So, we made do with what we had." Her eyes flicked back upward suddenly, returning to her previous smile, "Though, I wouldn't eat too much if I were you. Wouldn't want to kill your heart, now would you?"

Her hand reached out, "Cassidy Atlantos."

"I'm sure you wouldn't" he chuckled at Cassidy. He nodded in greeting to Joshua as he sat down.

"Could always do a bit of training or something afterwards. If our mending class doesn't begin before then I suppose, that'd get rid of all this bacon. Plus, I'm technically already dead, so I guess it doesn't matter too much." He chuckled as he finished off his last peice of toast and sat back in his chair, his foot bumping gently against Cassidy's under the table.

"Or a walk around the grounds. I haven't actually seen much of this place yet you know. Know anywhere good to hang out that's quiet, Joshua?"

Chuckling at the comment about his rather obvious love of bacon and shook Cassidy's hand. "Joshua Maxwell and as for the bacon well it really won't have that much of an effect on me. As Kristian said, technically already dead as well. Besides that is the point in not enjoying a favorite food when you can and know you're not going to get ambushed by a bunch of fanatics when you're about to take your first bite." After uttering those last words Joshua groaned quietly.
"Shit, and I probably jinxed it too."
Taking a moment to start to enjoy his bacon before anything really could go wrong he thought of a quiet place on the grounds.
Stopping his little quest for the heart attack of legends he spoke, "By the lake is usually the best, though my personal favorite is as always the outdoor pool."

Schama blinked in astonishment when the guy at the tree suddenly disappeared. She bared her teeth (though she kept them from turning into something else than perfectly ordinary human teeth, barely!) and jerked her head around, left and right, trying to hear or see or smell or otherwise perceive him sneaking up to her. She couldn't.
Slowly she retreated, walking backwards for some steps, then turned and ran. Not as fast as she could but fast enough to make it difficult for anything resembling an ordinary human to keep up with her.
When she reached the lake she came to a skittering halt and, making sure no-one had followed her, turned her legs back to what they had been for the last few days. Then she took a deep breath -not out of need but to calm herself.

"Come down, stupid!" she told herself in an angry voice. "This was no agent, this was not even a headhunter or at least he wasn't after your head. Else one of the two of you would be dead by now or caught and on her way to Eras. So stop acting like a scared kitten and think!"
And think she did.
Finally she came to the conclusion to do nothing. She'd only make a fool of herself if she told anyone about him and it turned out he realy was just one of the other students. One with an inclination for voyeurism maybe but what about it?
And if he was more than that... well, she would keep her eyes open (and other senses, too) a she always did. Just not today, eh? Lulled as you were by the peace of the garden and such.
Oh, shut up!

Soon she would return to the buildings, giving the invisible stranger or at least the place where she'd seen him last a wide berth, and have something for lunch. But first ... while she was at the lake, why not take a bath?
She jumped into the water headfirst and dove deep. Before she had made it halfway down to the ground her human body had turned into something more streamlined. Schama always enjoyed being in the water.

The headmaster and/or mistress were easy enough to find, being that they were making a spectacle of themselves in the middle of the hallway. Shine waited unobtrusively to the side until they noticed her, then introduced herself.

"Good morning. My name is Shyne Bright. Mr. and Mrs. Shentavo, I presume? I was wondering if I could speak with one of you about a few things, primarily sleeping arrangements. I'd much prefer to sleep outdoors. If I must, though, I can make do. In that case, if you have an aviary or indoor garden, or even a tree in a courtyard, I wouldn't mind being there. I just... well, to be crude, I hate the stink of civilization. As you might guess from my appearance, my kind are something of a wild breed. I got a few of the more primordial instincts than usual. Annoying sometimes, but there's no helping it."

“Killing her was also an option” Jelthan said as he walked quickly towards the Lake, he was holding a mirror up over his shoulder.

Not one we can risk right now, what will they think if they find a body? The blue eyes in the mirror snapped back.

“That it was whatever is after the baby did it.”

You’re fucking terrible

“I am the dark side, am I not?” Jelthan said, baring his teeth in a wide grin. “Right now I am in control. I said for you to get some rest.”

Like I’m going to do that when you want to kill someone!

“Perhaps if you stopped panicking so much you might have felt the weakness in the barriers too.” Jelthan said as he snapped the mirror shut and put it into his pocket. His clothing had changed to a deep dark black with gold braiding.

He stopped by the lakeside, looking at the water as he watched the woman he saw earlier continue to move and splash around.

“I have to find that weakness…” he whispered quietly, the image he was throwing up masking his presence dropped and he faded into existence again.

You can have less than a minute to do anything, you realise that? They’ll probably detect your aura.

“Like I give a damn.” Jelthan said as he jumped out into the centre of the lake in a single bound and stopped above the water. On his back, whispered outlines of wings appeared behind him, a dark black that saw the clouds draw close above him. “Well well well, that’s unusual.” he said simply as he reached upwards and in front of him and grasped the air. “Further out.” He said as he made the next leap, this time stopping higher up, above the trees and looking down. “I can see it.” He hissed. “Like a tear in the very air itself, and it bleeds a horrible white.”

He flew quickly over to it, darting between the trees as he did so before coming to a stop in front of it. Anybody else would see nothing, but what both he and Terefedel saw were growing cracks.

Breathing deeply he opened his arms wide and clapped them together several times before muttering several words, and then pushing his hands outward. The cracks faded, and birds for a wide area around scattered in panic.

After a second or two, so did Jelthan, but as he did so he collapsed to the floor.

Schama sped up from the ground of the lake and broke the surface. For a short moment she hung in the air unsuspended then she flipped backwards and fell back into the water, barely causing a splash. Neither did she see the panicing birds nor something else falling to the ground (again).

Ravelyn’s eyes sifted open as Quissera turned his attention to the new student as he withdrew from her momentarily. She, however, had not been disturbed by the new student, but rather by the presence of someone she did not want on her campus. She walked away without saying a word, and hurriedly left out the front door. The moment she was out of people’s sight, she took off her heels and broke off into a run towards the lake.

“You can sleep wherever you please,” Quissera said in return. “But be advised even though it might be against your tastes it would be better for you to sleep inside.” He watched over her shoulder as Ravelyn left, then looked at Shine. “If you wish, Ravelyn can enchant your room so as if you were outside, but for cautionary purposes, I’d like to have all of my students protected within the academy. If you wish to reject such protection, be my guest. If you will excuse me, Miss Bright, the sun is falling quickly, and I have a few things to do after it does.” He nodded to her, and walked up towards the grand staircase I the same direction as Sephia.

Ravelyn watched as a student was swimming. “Hello? Schama!” she called out to her. “Was there anyone around here you saw?”

Schama stuck her head out of the water and used a webbed hand to combed water out of her, now furlike, hair.

"I'm sorry, Ma'am. Didn't see anyone. Doesn't mean there couldn't have been someone here, though. I've been underwater a lot. Hard to spot someone not very close to the shore from down there."

She hurried to change back to her last human form and climbed out of the water.

"Why? Anything happened?"

Kristian stretched slightly as he stood up from the table, the three of them had been exchanging pleasent small talk for what seemed like forever. "Man, is it just me, or are the days here really short?" He glanced out the window. "Look, the sun's already going down. We must've been really talking a lot. You two wanna go for a walk out in the grounds a bit or go to the library or something?" He grinned as he stretched his arms behind his back. "I'm pretty easy."

As the light outside began to dim slightly, the blue and gold ankh hanging from his neck on top of his shirt began to sparkle a little.

"If you wish to reject such protection, be my guest."

"Ah, yes, I had forgotten about magic. I can at least see how it feels. Please do ask her to do so."

"If you will excuse me, Miss Bright, the sun is falling quickly, and I have a few things to do after it does.”

She returned the headmaster's nod and watched as he walked off. The two of them carried the same oddity of scent as the young girl as well as a similarity. Interesting. Same species, obviously, and most likely related. Well, that might explain the girl's behavior. After all, most people with a line to the top tended to be more arrogant than the norm.

With a shrug, Shyne turned on heel and headed towards the dining room. She preferred to hunt her own prey, but considering the headmaster's warnings... Well, she could deal with can rats for a while. If nothing else, she could take it raw. Entering the hall, she glanced around then went to the serving line. The helpful servers were more than happy to accommodate her unusual tastes. With a plate full of uncooked steak, she took a seat, near enough to others for conversation, though not intruding on their personal space.

"You're dead too?" Cassidy asked with a great frown on her face, "Am I the only one here who is alive and normal?" Though, she knew she wasn't normal, but she was more so than either of these two.

Then again, what was normal?

She too stood up, ducking slightly as Kristian stretched wide. "The lake has an appealing feel to it. I think I'll take a visit there. Her attention to the failing daylight also mirrored Kristian's own slightly dejected look. "Though, it does seem the sun tires easily on this world. On Atlan, the days are twenty-seven hours long and plenty of sun."

Ravelyn paused. She was unsure of what to say. She had felt Tere’s presence, and she knew her students wouldn’t lie to her. She pursed her lips. “No, nothing at all,” she said quietly, then looked towards the night sky as it began to dim and fade into the murky dark blue that absorbed the light every twelve hours. She sighed inwardly to herself. “You should get inside, it’s getting late.” She folded one arm over the other and began to walk back to the academy, slowly, enjoying the cool air which had swept away the heat of the day. How much more would she be able to tell them? Be able to confide in them all the secrets. How long before, they found out, what exactly was going on?
She walked inside of the building, and headed up the grand staircase, not pausing for students who lingered in the hallway.

Schama watched Ravelyn go and shook her head.

“Nothing happened.” She imitated the headmistress. And she was quite a good imitator. Even Qui and any of her closer associates would have been fooled by that voice. If they were to rely on sound alone, that was.

“And pigs do fly!
Although…”

Schama furrowed her forehead. Around here that might just be what they did. Again she shook her head, this time to clear it. The headmistress clearly had been looking for someone. And, by the looks of it, not exactly her paramour. But she wanted to keep it a secret. At least from her. Or from all students. Or …

Argh! Stop it. You won’t get anywhere with this!

“Alright. So, nothing happened, no one was here. Except … maybe that guy from earlier on…?”

She suddenly wasn’t sure anymore if it had been such a good idea to keep her encounter with the strange guy at the windows to herself but … did he have anything to do with this (that did not happen!)? Who was to say?
A bit weary Schama followed Ravelyn’s advice and got back to the academy. There she hesitated for a moment and then turned to the dining hall to fetch something for dinner. She didn’t feel like being alone just now. Strange that! She had never before longed for the company of anyone, no matter what had happened to her before.
She picked up something to eat, not caring about the actual contents of her soup-plate (even without realizing that it was a soup-plate she had chosen; she wasn’t used to eating this way) as long as it gave her a reason to be at the dining hall for a while. Then she chose a table close to the wall and sat down on a chair facing the entrance. This at least came natural to her.

The lake has an appealing feel to it. I think I'll take a visit there. Her attention to the failing daylight also mirrored Kristian's own slightly dejected look. "Though, it does seem the sun tires easily on this world. On Atlan, the days are twenty-seven hours long and plenty of sun."

"Well, in that case," Kristian crooked his arm and offered it to Cassidy. "Shall we go? Quickly before it's completely dark? Also, how do you stay awake for 27 hours? You must have a funny body clock to last that long."

Joshua had polished off his bacon in record time and stretched.
Noting the daylight after Kristian mentioned it he chuckled, "Things are never understandable here. Back in my old homeland they'd be thankful for short days like this."
Pausing for a moment he recalled what Phalanix had once been before the civil wars turned her into a husk. Shrugging it off he rose then spoke, "Well the library is great for the evenings though I always preferred a lovely swim at dusk for some reason. Anyways any preference you two have to what to do tonight?"

"We're not awake the entire time." Cassidy said with a smirk, "Although, my people have the capability of going days without sleep. Our bodies are capable of conserving energy and strength for when situations require." Her hand had taken the crook of Kristian's proffered arm, while her other hand moved to tap her chin thoughtfully, "If I recall correctly, I've been awake for as long as five days straight without fatigue."

She looked over at Joshua, giving him a smile and reaching out with her other hand to pull him closer so he could escort her on the other arm.

"Off to the lake now boys!" she declared with a light laugh.

"Although, my people have the capability of going days without sleep. Our bodies are capable of conserving energy and strength for when situations require." Her hand had taken the crook of Kristian's proffered arm, while her other hand moved to tap her chin thoughtfully, "If I recall correctly, I've been awake for as long as five days straight without fatigue."


"What precisely were you doing for five days straight that may have caused fatigue?" Kristian said with a quirk of a smile as he led Cassidy and Joshua out into the grounds and down towards the lake, merely noting Ravelyn walk straight past them and back into the academy. "Some sort of physical activity?"

He leant forward a little. "How about you Joshua? How long you stayed up before?"

Rising and taking Cassidy's hand Joshua let a faint smile slip out.
Quietly walking along and thinking back to his old army days he recalled often being forced to use stims to keep awake for the length of the mission.
When the question fell to him he thought carefully then spoke, "Well my memory is abit fuzzy but most likely five days at most as usually after that the stims they army gave us would result in a temporary lapse in sanity. Nothing too serious but enough to render you combat ineffective. Really don't miss that much."

Vitori had finished his short tour of the schools campus as the sun was setting. It was a nice one, but didn't seem to be that full, especially if the majority of other students didn't have class on the first day as well as outside of the dining hall he'd only seen a couple others and that was from a distance. With a shrug he headed to bed as the setting sun stained the sky. Tomorrow was another day and one that would be interesting.

It was far too early in the morning for anyone else to be up and about, and the sun had just began to rise over the horizon. The sky was a light icy blue, not yet warmed by the sun’s rays. Droplets of water sprinkled over the grass, coating it in dew that would only dry a few hours from then when then sun had risen fully. There was, however, a reason that Ravelyn was up so early; she was nervous. Her dark hair was pulled back and tied loosely, so that some of the strands came loose and still framed her face. In her right hand a dark charcoal colored violin which had black embellishments in the painting around the edges. She walked into the cloisters; there was a fountain in the middle of a square courtyard and roses among other flowers lining the stone walls of the academy which bordered her on all sides. It was still dark because of the somewhat high walls, and only a thin line of sunlight scraped the top of the opposite wall. She brought her violin up to rest between her shoulder and chin, and brought the bow across the strings playing an interesting melody. She was worried about Sephia.

She almost choaked on the amount of liquid which had accumulated in her mouth, and she spat; sprinkling the floor in a bright crimson color. She was certain that one of her ribs was broken, and that there was a cut somewhere on her face that she did not have the capacity to stop at the moment; it must have cut deep, and it blinded her left eye.
“Get up,” said the deep voice, and she glanced up at its owner. Qui’s mismatched eyes looked down at her. He barely had a scratch on him. “If you can’t touch me in this form, you won’t be able to handle my true form, and if you cannot lock horns with a seraph, you will not be able to survive. If you can, however, you might actually win. Now get up. You are wasting time.” The words burned within her mind. There was a fire rushing through her blood, and the intensity of it would not lessen. Did he not understand that her entire body burned? That if she went any further her very muscles would tear themselves from her bones?

“I can’t,” she said quietly, and another wave of pain hit her as she was kicked again in the stomach, and pushed back off her crouching position on the floor. Tears mixed with the blood that seeped into her left eye.

“Get up,” Qui said once more. “No one else will give you a second chance.”

The melody sifted throughout the rooms neighboring the court yard. The song was mourning over something; an inherent fear in the note which leapt from octave to octave. Despite the fact that the once silent grounds now carried the melody of her violin, it seemed more lonesome than before, as if a confirmation of the fact that she was the only one out here, and not a soul stirred. She could feel it of course; she could see flashes through his eyes of how badly he had wounded Sephia. It gave an entirely new meaning to “tough love”. Despite his attitude sometimes, Qui was a very good teacher, and diligent enough to push one to their limits without breaking them (or breaking them if he indeed wanted to). There was, however, a sense of pride in the family name, and he refused to be disappointed in a member of the clan, regardless as to if it was his own daughter. That weighed on him heavily too; it was his daughter.

Sephia had managed to summon enough strength to stand, but it was not enough to continue. After a half a minute she was back on the floor again with an aching pain running up and down her spine. The worst part of it all, she concluded, was that the day hadn’t even begun yet for everyone else, and she still had a full day of advanced combat to go through. She cursed silently, and prepared herself to block another hit, as there was no possibility to go on the offensive. Then, she heard him speak.

“That’s enough for now,” Qui said, and she looked up to him in surprise. “You have an hour to rest.” He offered her his hand, and she took it without hesitation. He helped her up and to a chair on the side of the room. Because of her bloodline, she was already healing, and the majority of the cuts, even the deepest ones, had stopped bleeding. She reached for a small towel, and brought it to her face, getting the blood out of her left eye so she could open it again, and getting the majority of it off before it could dry. Qui said nothing more, but after she was situated, left the room as students began to filter in for the first AVC class. Jin-Shina had been watching the entire time; attentive. He had been told to not go easy on Sephia either, and for that reason he felt a bit pained to put her through a full day after the three hours she had just spent with the headmaster.

Shyne was the first to arrive. She had always been a light sleeper and never ate breakfast prior to combat. It slowed the body and clouded the mind with the enzymes released from digestion. She noted the headmaster's exit and the odd, rude girl's condition, the last with some minor concern. Her harness had been broken down, and she carried her med pack around her waist, the only of her equipment that she had brought. She padded quietly over to the headmaster's daughter, waiting to be noticed before offering her assistance.

"If any of those cuts are very deep, I could stitch them for you. Also, I've got some pain killers you might like." She lowered her voice, glancing towards the ebon-garbed instructor. "I also have a few stimulants, if you feel the need. It looks like you've already taken a beating, and you're scheduled for the class as well. They'd certainly give you a bit more stamina than you're likely to have otherwise."

Arriving several days late and unsure of quite what to expect, the young teenage girl slowly made her way through the Academy grounds with a unmistakable stoop. It wasn't her fault entirely that she brought so much luggage; she wasn't sure of what she would need and thus brought everything she could think of, as a result her backpack couldn't so much be described as a backpack so much as a wall of leather carefully held together by a variety of straps. Despite this, Francesca seemed to be coping with it well enough, looking around as she went visibly enjoying the stunning environment. Her driver had tried to insist on taking her closer, but it seemed something of a waste to drive in when she could take the opportunity to get a feel for the place and it's not like she had problem carrying this sort of weight... well, not any real problem, her bad posture was slowly giving her a back ache but she simply didn't have the weight or the arm span to do this any other way. Still, it was better then being cooped in a car for any longer then she had to, it did her legs the world of good.

Compared to other girls of her age, Francesca was unfortunately short, at mere 4'11 at the age of fifteen she had been the butt of many of her father's innocent jokes. Jokes aside, Francesca had made the effort to develop something resembling a intelligent look, her long dark hair carefully brushed straight every morning with a simple, hopefully elegant looking headband to try and keep it in place as she pushed on forward with her wall of luggage. Her physique and clothing otherwise betrayed a almost active look; sporting a pair of knee length demin shorts and a simple red t-shirt for travel.

Eventually the Academy proper came into sight, a luxurious structure that radiated elegance and wealth figuratively taking her breath away. Of course Francesca had seen images of the Academy beforehand but they paled in comparison to the real thing. Forgetting herself Francesca pulled forward quickly before her luggage started to pull her backwards as she had straighten herself out to get a better view. Stopping for a moment she crouched down and removed her burden, placing them on the bottom set of wheels she had fitted. In reality the cases weren't too dense, the heaviest one carried several hard backed books but everything else was mostly clothing and stationary along with a small kits she brought on the off chance she'd get to do some digging, Father always did say to be ready.

Cheerfully she opened one of the heavy doors and pulled her luggage inside before abandoning it at the side so she could sign herself in. Behind the grand counter was a rather attractive blonde woman with her hair tied up in a bun, Francesca hadn't had the chance to do anything with her hair on the way here and as a result of her exploration her normally sleek long dark brown hair has become rather ruffled. Ah well, it can't be helped. The woman tagged as 'Vivian' seemed to be expecting her having already collected her dorm key without hesitation. 'Room 20'.

Thanking Ms Summers she went back to pick up suitcases to make her way to the elevator.

Again Schama woke with a start. This time she hadn’t ‘eaten’ half the blanket, the remains of last night’s massacre lay rumpled on the floor, and only part of her pillow was missing. Not all that bad. Especially when she thought about one of her half remembered dreams. If she had ever had nightmares this was definitely one of them. Full of paralysis and monsters and blinding light and utter darkness. And pain. Schama clenched her jaw and winced when she remembered the pain, pain more terrible than anything she had ever endured. Or so she thought.
She deliberately relaxed her muscles and let go of the memories. She was quite good at that. After a few minutes of avoiding every thought she was ready to get up and going.
On her way to the dining hall via the lobby she heard this barely audible fingernail-across-blackboard-sound she’d heard for the first time when she herself had entered the academy. More to confirm her suspicions about the origin of that sound than to see who had produced it she took a look and saw someone entering the building, pulling a truly amazing amount of luggage. The more so since the owner of that luggage was a rather short girl.
Schama watched her collect her key and pick up the luggage again and move to the elevator. She shook her head. How anyone could need so much stuff was beyond her.
Still a bit puzzled she reached the dining hall and picked a light breakfast. Mostly cereals with milk. After the bit of pillow she accidentally had had last night she didn’t need to replenish much mass.
What she wanted the most was some company. Yesterday’s events and even her dreams still bothered her. Maybe she should have asked that over-burdened girl to come along … but no! that would have been pitiable. She wasn’t that desperate! Just sitting here, watching other early students enter the dining hall was enough. Felt safe enough.
Hell, she had faced worse things than some strange guys and distressed teachers and nightmares. She was just nervous around all those strange and unfamiliar people (most people where by definition strange and unfamiliar for her).

Vitori smiled as he awoke. Today was the first of his two classes and the one he was more looking forward to as he got up and did a minor warm-up before heading down to the dining room to get some French-toast and a glass of high-cream content milk. Food in stomach, he headed down to the combat classroom and spotted two others, one being Sophia who looked like she'd already had a couple rounds hitting the mat and the other, a non-human that looked like she could pose for a goodly number of mens magazines.

"Hello Sophia, you look a little battered, getting an early lesson?" He asked before turning to the other, "Vitori, and you are?"

Loading all her luggage into the elevator, Francesca noticed one of the students come down the stairs past into a area she hadn't been yet. Only a glance at the girl, she supposed she would have to get to know all her classmates at some point. But more importantly she would have to catch up on her missed lessons.

Quickly packing the final piece of her suitcase wall into the golden lift, she pressed the next floor and went to pack her things before travelling to the library as she was advised by the pretty receptionist.

Like the daylight hours of this world, so passed swiftly the night's darkness in what hardly seemed a blink of an eye. Cassidy had woken up early this morning, a sense of restlessness in her bones. Today was her first class, and what would come of it, she did not know. But she could at the least, get there a little early and perhaps get a feel for the room's atmosphere and layout.

It seemed however, that others had different plans, and the look on Sephia's face and her slightly bruised walk indicated she had not endured a private lesson easily. She merely watched the girl go by, sensing she did not wish to speak to anyone. It's almost like she's fighting a war she doesn't even know the enemy in. Cassidy thought to herself, watching Sephia walk away. After a moment, she turned and entered the classroom, catching the scent of body odor, blood and sweat lingering in the air.

Her eyes gazed across the room, studying what was there, mentally mapping out the room's dimensions, noting the location of windows high up near the ceiling, noting who was there already. At last, she took a casual leaning position against the wall, awaiting the start of class.

Kristian scratched the back of his head as he turned the page in his book, it was another tome on Seraphim and the Laputians, also known as “Angelics”. His jade coloured eyes flicked up for a moment as he pondered, then he took a pen and notebook and made a couple of notes, largely page references and paragraph notations for later reference then he sat back again in the large comfortable chair as he read.

Joshua and Cassidy were in Advanced Combat classes. They had enjoyed a walk down by the lake the previous night and had merely exchanged more pleasantries over their lives and such. Joshua hadn’t really told much, apparently he felt uncomfortable talking about his past, but that was his problem, Kristian guessed.

He himself had spoken at length about his past, and his willing participation in becoming a vampire for the express reason of being part of the best of the Midlonian “underworld”. Not a negative name by any means, the “underworld” was a slang term used by the general populace for unexplained and paranormal phenomena. Magic, vampires, elements of the Church of Midlonia etc, all belonged in this separate “world” from the main, regular one.

Her head peaking around the door momentarily to confirm it's the right room, Francesca quietly wandered into the library her eyes browsing the long stacks of leather bound books lining the walls before finally taking a moment from the tomes to look for her mark. Having missed her first lesson, Francesca had been instructed to find another student and copy their notes.

She was advised to find a man called Kristian especially due to his experience with his counties history.

The library itself was almost bare of life making the short investigation a little easier a single man sat alone at the edge of a fine wooden table keenly reading a rather hefty looking book. Quietly making her way over to him, Francesca considered him for a moment; he seemed normal enough in his casual black trousers and green shirt, the only odd thing about him was a blue tinted metal ankh with a thin golden outline. Accessories like that existed in Midchilda, but the faint glow suggested it was more then some flashy goth symbolism.

Never the less, for all the strange things she had heard about this place, it pleased her she had found a human to start with.

Timidly she peaked around the table to get his attention before announcing herself.

"Hello there, are you Kristian" she asked, almost apologetic of having interrupted his studies.

Kristian paused and looked up his finger immediately tapping down on the place he was reading

He was a little surprised and blinked a couple of times as he clicked his pen, smiling slightly but not so much as to reveal his fangs. “Oh, hello, uhm, yes I am. Sorry to be rude at all, but who are you?” He regarded the small girl before him with interest, the small girl with her long brown hair seemed fairly normal also, certainly not like some of the others in the classes.

"Ah right. I'm Francesca." She replied simply, holding her hand out as though to shake on it. "I should have gotten here several days ago with everyone else but something kind of came up... I hope I've not offended the lecturer..."

The end of her sentence faded as she realised she'd started going on about something irrelevant. "In any case, I was asked by the receptionist to see you wouldn't mind filling me in on the lesson I missed. She said you knew a fair bit about the Lore we were supposed to start learning..."
“Sure I can help, have a seat, let me just grab the notes.” He bent down slightly and picked up a folder and put it onto the table. “I made a few extra notes on these things seeing as I lived through most of it. Might be some help, might not.” He took out a sheaf of notes and placed them in front of her. “That’s the main body of them, if you want to ask me anything, well, just ask I guess. I’m trying to make some more notes on stuff like enochial, that’s the languages of angels, and the Serpahim.”

"No no, that's perfect." she replied enthusiastically, eying the notes as she settled herself down next to him. To look at the man, Kristian seemed clearly older then her but that didn't really surprise her, however...

"Angels?" she asked, clearly a little puzzled. This was completely out of her territory, but then she suspected more things would be, never the less, she couldn't help find herself curious, she had expected legends and thinking about it Angels would make sense if the people seeing them didn't understand what they were seeing.

Leaving the question hanging in the air Francesca's eyes didn't leave the notes as she absorbed them quickly to try and get up to speed. She would copy down it down in her own words later but she wanted to understand a bit first.

“No, Angelics. Hard to explain. Basically a race of people who had seraphic qualities to them, very powerful beings also. But there’s only a handful of them left. It was largely a personal curiosity after the second half of the lesson on the four seraphim, extra information that might prove useful. I quite like the library here, it’s got a nice selection.”

He scribbled down another note, his speech slowing with each word he wrote. “So, Francesca, where are you from?” His eyebrow raised a little as the ankh on his chest glowed brighter, his T-shirt being bathed in a gentle blue. “Well well, a magical? Interesting.” was all he noted as he made another note and glanced across to her. “You’ll fit right in here then.” he smiled.

Flipping over a page to the next page of Kristian's notes, Francesca nodded slightly as he explained the Angels were more like a magical race that were angel-like. Smiling slightly to herself she relaxed, she could grasp that better and it even matched her own experiences.

"Oh, I'm from Midchida." She waited a moment, and realised the obvious. "It's a small quiet Island nation mostly, we get a lot of tourists. It's nothing too special." Nervous laughter followed before she noticed a light blue glow on the page she was reading.

"Oh right, yeah. I'm awakened." she replied thought she was asked her name. Smiling, "I thought everyone here would be... I've not really had a chance to look around. though."

“I see, well, if you’ve noticed from the notes I’m from the Greater Kingdom.” he stretched slightly as he put his pen down. “Also known as the GKM, or Midlonia. Depends on what you fancy.”

He scratched his chin. “It’s a real mix and match really, colonies in space, space faring technology, all mixed with a few magical creatures, unusual creatures, vampires like me, not to mention the child elves and the Zora, a kind of amphibious people…. Tends to lean towards tourism and an industrial powerhouse. If it can’t exist a Midlonian Civil Engineer will make it and a Birchestese Tourist manager will sell it. So the saying goes.”

He closed his notepad gently. “So why were you late turning up to classes, I know the leopard was late because it decided to get here by foot, but it’s surprising to see a new student by the second day of classes.”

Ignoring the notes for the moment, she was now giving Kristian her full attention as he described his country as a fascinating mishmash of... wait a moment.

"Vampire?!"

“Mmm” he nodded. “Oh, right, small island nation, relative backwater and not aware of such things.”

He tapped his hands on the table and thought.

“There’s, let me think, three else four Vampires here, aside from me this year. The Headmaster is a Vampire, as are a couple of others. They won’t run around drinking your blood or anything. Not without your permission anyhow.” He chuckled.

"Ok, sorry, it just surprised me a bit. It's one thing to read about it and another to suddenly realise you're talking to one. I just assumed... no, it's silly really." Blushing Francesca regained her composure, she was here to learn about the outside world anyway, she just didn't think it would be so soon.

"Right, where was I... oh yeah, why I'm late. It's nothing really..." again, she smiled nervously before something occurs to her. "Well, no, wait, it was pretty important. My father wanted me to take a look at a rather special find his team uncovered." Visible relaxed she continued.

"I suppose it's fair to say we're a backwater country, I wouldn't be here otherwise. Most people at home don't even know what I am or what I do... you know, magic." she sighed. "But my Father, he knows. We work together on archaeological digs looking into our nations ancient history. When we find something odd he likes me to have a look at it, not just to learn his profession, but also in the hope I'll be able to see something different."

“Oh, so what was so unusual as to cause you to be late? Sounds interesting.” He closed the heavy book also, which clapped a little and echoed in the library. “But yeah, it tends to throw people because most folks expect something like in the novel, Dracula, or maybe something like an animalistic creature which pounces on you and sucks you dry or something.”

He scratched the back of his head. “Can make it sometimes inconvenient when you come up against the bat-crap crazy fire and brimstone religious types also. Screaming about demons and stuff.”

She nodded sympathetically, she understood that much herself. "I remember seeing people react like that to a man once... though admittedly he had started it. A kind of bestial man, able to wield pretty much the exact same type of magic as my own. I think he might of been human... I never did get a chance to ask him."

Her smile faded as she glossed over the issue of her arrival and reminisced a old fight.

"I can't help wonder if I'll end up like that one day. They say it doesn't work like that but frankly they don't really seem to know any more then I do..." She looked over to Kristian and decided she was probably getting him down. "No, nevermind. That's why I'm here now, that's why I want to learn about magical lore. No point worrying about it."

“Life is how you make it really.” he smiled, one of his fangs jutting out slightly. “You’re in good hands here, the Languages and Lore teacher is Ravelyn Shentavo. She’s a good person at heart and can help you out with some magical stuff I am sure.” He got up out of the chair and stretched fully, his back cracking slightly as he did so. “Ah, that’s better. Sorry, been here since 4 am studying this stuff.”

He sat back down and smiled again. “Anyway, if you catch her at the next languages and lore lesson she might be able to help with your magical powers, or whatever. A lot of the magical lore stuff relies on the seraphic tongue of enochial. Really hard to master, but when you can, there’s little you can’t do.”

Francesca perked up again, regaining her youthful smile. "Right, I'm sure in a place with this much expertise there isn't anything we couldn't figure out." Content she moved well away from the subject of her late arrival, she returned her eyes to her notes with a keen thirst for knowledge.

"So, are you here returning for another year, or are you a new student like me?"

“New student, it’s kind of daunting really. The Shentavo Academy is quite well known worldwide, so to get a place is quite lucky. We’re all pretty special”

Nodding, Francesca seemed concerned for a faction of a moment before casting it out of her mind. "I figured it would be pretty exclusive, the luxury of the place alone and the tough disclaimer..." a mix of uncertainty in her voice, but she moved on anyway. "No, I'm sure my Fathers reference was good enough and my reason sound. Thanks for helping me with this. I really appreciate it."

“You’re welcome, just as if you need anything.” and with that he re-opened the book and began to read again, periodically answering Francesca’s questions when she found parts of the notes confusing, and reading some passages out from the book when she asked.

Felix had cleared his quarters as best he could, moving furniture to the edges and carefully rolling up throw rugs. Even the bed had been repositioned without disturbing the flooring, a considerable feat for one person, even one of Felix's considerable size.

Then he had stripped to the waist and removed his boots, for there was a degree of gentleness necessary that the boots would have prevented. He stretched quickly but with a precision born of repetition -- he had performed that set of stretches since he had been old enough to walk.

Then he launched into a slow unarmed progression, focusing on precision and form more than speed, gradually picking up the speed of his movements until he finally reached full capacity. He executed a series of arm and hand strikes, then a kick progression, then combined the two, then did it all over again -- and at full speed, it was a thing of blurs and the whistling of rapid motion through air.

And then he was done, toweling away minor sweat -- scentless, as Sevle sweat was, for they were a race of hunters. Then he re-arranged the furniture, though not to how it had been -- enough to allow him freedom of movement while still looking somewhat normal. Functionality was a distant last -- he had no intention of actually using any of it.

Felix dressed quickly, then picked a spot with good light and sat cross-legged upon the floor, books spread out about him and a notepad balanced on his left knee. There were things in need of fact-checking.

She turned to face the flame-haired human. Human-oid, she corrected herself. There seemed to be few definites when it came to this odd school. Extending a hand in the traditional human greeting ritual (which she figured extended to most of these people), she gave her answer.

"Shyne Bright." A wry smirk touched her thin, jet-black lips. "Odd name I know. I take it you're going to be one of my spar- classmates."

She glanced back at Sephia, waiting for her reply.

Sephia shook her head. "No, thank you. I'm alright," she said, but didn't manage to smile. There was something awefully morose behind that pretty face. She closed her eyes, and another introduced himself as Vitori, pronouncing her name as So-phi-a. She promptly corrected him. "Sephia," and on purpose she did not give her last name. "Sephia, like Sephiroth." So that was the origin of her name. Well known to Ravelyn, and quite close at heart to Quissera, were the darkside of seraphim. What they became when the light had drained from their being.

She turned her attention back to Shyne. "I am not allowed to use anything that I was not born with," she brushed her own fangs against her lower lip. "I'll heal in due time, but thank you."

Schama found herself back at the lake later that morning. The breakfast had given her time to regain her balance and composure, as far as this was ever possible for one like her. The presence of so much water, calm and undisturbed, helped, too. For some reason she couldn’t quite understand water always had that effect on her. Even in her dreams, even in her nightmares, water never disturbed her, never was associated with pain or fear. Quite on the contrary in fact.
As she had done the day before she went into the water without undressing. The clothes, after all, were part of her and would turn to dust if she parted with them for more than a few minutes. So she just turned them into smooth skin and soft, short fur covering a streamlined body which, except for having the same mass as Schama’s and sharing the same dark eyes, didn’t resemble a human being any more than a seal would. In fact she now looked very much like a seal, shooting through the water. Enjoying herself.

Joshua hadn't slept well in a while but his night at the lake helped sooth his nerves and let him rest for a change.
Rising early enough to get his rather ridiculous share of bacon yet not too early to be wandering around for a few hours waiting for class to start he headed towards the AC room, one of the few places here he felt uneasy yet at the same time so much at home.

Slipping into the room quietly he felt the memories come flooding back, as well as a slight sensation of nausea as he gazed upon the same longsword that had nearly ended his life about a decade ago and put him on the track to a life he could never for see.
Breaking his gaze he spotted Cassidy and walked over to her, leaned on the wall beside her and spoke, "Nothing ever changes here."

Shyne nodded at her pronouncement, accepting it. Taking her med pack from around her waist, she reclasped the belt and hung it on a peg in the wall. It would not be needed until later. With the last vestige that could be even remotely construed as clothing discarded, she gave a luxurious stretch, flexing her entire form upwards, then bending at the waist to touch her toes. She set her palms flat against the floor, walking them between her legs until she could go no further. Her paws lifted from the floor as she lifted herself into a hand stand. She continued limbering, displaying the natural flexibility of her breed, a flexibility that would make the most accomplished human gymnast green with envy. She felt it best to be prepared prior to class beginning.

Taking Shyne's hand, he tilted it until it was palm down and very lightly planted a kiss upon the back of her hand. Courtly manners had been pressed into him when for when he visited certain branches of the family tree. Some of them had taken a serious liking to the rituals of the eighteenth century British monarchy and without at least some sense of courtesy, a visit could become very tedious.

"What an enlightening name." Came the reply with a wry grin, "Though not as odd as some of the people I've run into. But yes it seems we shall be both classmates and quite possibly sparring-partners as well.

"I'm sorry Miss Shentavo I should've remembered, especially as you've already introduced yourself to me."

As he watched Shyne stretch, Vitori decided to do some of his own, but rather than contorting, he simply stretched against the walls and his own body.

Finally, the time for Advanced Combat had come. Finally, his first class of the year. Entering the room, he grinned widely. He'd been practically a ghost around the campus for the last day or so, and it was good to see people again.

He was wearing a black sleeveless shirt and white pants with his normal combat boots, what he saw as all he needed for a fight, even if it wasn't a fight to the death. Looking around, he saw several other students including Sephia. Most of them were stretching, but he simply shook out his arms and fixed a kink in his neck as his preparatory routine.

He walked past an incredibly flexible student he hadn't seen before as he approached Sephia. "Hey Sephia. Here we are, first class together. Sorry I've been a little scarce lately."

The hour passed quietly within the cool open space of the Shentavo Academy library, since her introduction to Kristian, the first vampire she'd knowingly met in her life, she used the time to meticulously study his notes, annotations and references, carefully copying it over into one of two open sturdy notebooks before her. Each section she would skim through once before carefully reading it through again and then writing down, in her own words, the Lore taught in the first lesson she missed. From time to time she would switch to her second notebook with her mechanical pencil to write down a few words in a strange angled script. The notes she took in this book seemed part mathematical, part symbolism perhaps even magical signs were present but they probably seemed foreign and unusual to onlookers.

Ancient Belkan. One of the two presumably unique languages her Father's expeditions around the local isles had found. This was the simple form used in recording history, though some of the more complicated symbols were included from time to time. Francesca couldn't speak it, she imagined no one really could seeing as the language had been dead for thousands of years, but the written form her Father and his team managed to translate most of the basic text they had found through careful study and a little applied cryptology. Francesca found out fairly early in her education she had something of a talent for translating Belkan on her own and later during her awakening started to simply 'get' some of the more complex patterns. She had a talent for picking up other languages too; it was part of her reason for picking the course, but perhaps not so well has her ancient ancestry. She was merely 'good' at it in all other respects. Unfortunately, the same could not be said for the spoken word which was a good deal harder to get right, it was all about the tones, sounds, timing and body language she never quite got. More then just words at least. Still, one had to carefully work out the context with words as well.

Momentarily, she started copying the start of the Enochial scroll mentioned in Kristian's notes into a carefully drawn triangle lined with Belkan symbols and tipped on each corner with odd geometric shapes. Before finishing the second strange letter, however, she stopped and considered the danger of her actions before carefully scrubbing out her work. Belkan symbols alone didn't seem to react without a power source... but who knew about this strange language? She finished whatever oddity she was writing in her second notebook and returned to the plainly English one she mostly used.

Both sets of Lore taught in the first lesson interested her, but her few questions to Kristian during this period were merely minor clarifications on his handwriting, instead relying on his notes and references without bothering him too much to get her own idea on the Lore itself. It wasn't uncommon during the period for her to leave the table from Kristian's side to look for some more books on subjects referenced; the Enochial language itself particularly interested her but most the time the books she was looking for were already on the table besides the man helping her. She had found a few others on different related subjects as grasped for a better understanding of the different creatures mentioned in the lesson, each time she would carefully flip through it after studying indexes (if they existed at all, some were old books) to find the little bit she was looking for before moving on to the next tiny question in her mind. By the end of the period she'd started to collect a large pile of books on her part of the table, starting to obscure the view of her from the other side. She had touched them all at one point, occasionally returning to a book before carefully placing it down again and making some notes.

Despite her age, Francesca was quite studious. It wasn't that she enjoyed it, she'd rather have her hands in the dirt carefully sifting sections of land for little treasures, she loved the anticipation the most. The with books, even with new information it just wasn't the same, it was more of a chore that had to be done. So she was thorough about it when she came to it, research was important in her ideal profession choice, dull but essential. So her expression seemed more like careful concentration, her smile long dimmed out after the pleasant conversations she had to a neutral focused look as she paced up to the next shelf to find another book, this time on Moonstone. It was an important objective mentioned a few times in her studies and it reminded her of something, having looked up the context of the words given to her in Enochial language as best she could she figured it was time to flesh out the rest of the summary given to her. Regardless of how little information she found she figured it would all help her eventually, if only to understand the world around her better.

There were several other subjects she'd looked for better references on, most importantly she'd briefly considered: The Powers, The Four Seraphim, possible Angelics below them and their origin (this one she tried to get as much as she could on, the other two she merely looked for more context), the three realms ran by the Four Seraphim and their connection to this world (a brief look if only to better understand if it was merely mythological terms for other dimensions, despite her magical origin Francesca preferred science over religion), Azrael's downfall (could it be called that, as she read it she assumed so, he was obviously the key player in the Seraphim Lore), and Fate (which she cross referenced with the Library of All, only briefly seeing as she didn't beleive in Fate beyond mathematical probability).

She looked up vampires, for at least ten minutes considering it too impolite to simply ask Kristian trying to get a better idea if they were more a variety of creatures tagged as vampires or whether they were all part of a single race. She'd considered the properties of a vampire too, after all with the daylight shining inside the library as it was without Kristian turning to dust it was clear stereotypes would mean little with such beings. Ghouls were a secondary consideration, though she spent a reasonable period getting a bit more on the Anno Domani if possible. She only spent a small amount of time covering the historical elements of each of the six wars mentioned in the Greater Kingdom's Lore, mostly background for better context before finally coming to the Enochial language itself. Learning a new language is in no way a small task, this much she knew, but she wanted to at least start with what she had been given and work out a little more about it and the implications of the language itself.

Francesca's research was methodical in it's own way. Some might try and read entire books at a time and gain knowledge that way, but Francesca aimed to expand on what she was given by getting more information through reference and then eventually referencing to further information. This unfortunately meant reading and finding each bit, cross-referencing where possible to improve accuracy and generally digging through alot of books for what would often be a paragraph of information, sometimes a entire book would be on the subject she wanted, perhaps even referencing more books for depth. The whole thing was tiring, but it's not like she had much more to do at the moment. Catchup was a bitch and she wanted to make sure she understood as much as possible about her first lesson and perhaps even have some depth on the subjects mentioned.

Every now and again she would smile to Kristian as she walked back to the table. As far as she could tell her footsteps aught to be silent... but who knew how delicate a vampires senses were? The books suggested they were super-human, but it's hard to describe that in exact terms. As though to apologise she sat down quietly and returned to her notebooks, jotting down a bit on the Enochial language.

"Nothing ever changes here."

Cassidy absorbed not only his words, but his sense of heaviness. He gave a feeling that he was like an old soldier returning to a battlefield of horror, only to find the memories still fresh, though tattered by time.

"You've been through here before." she commented, not expecting any answer. She looked over at him, not hiding her probing eyes as she sought, and saw the pain he held in his own eyes, though he didn't look at her. "But, I wonder," she continued, "how many times you're going to bring yourself through here? I get the feeling you've been here more times than you can care to count, but find yourself here again and not exactly sure why. The real reason why, not the one you tell everyone that asks."

She changed her expression to a lighter one, "Although, you probably could just simply be a horrible student in this class and don't know when to quit despite failing repeatedly."

Joshua sighed and turned to Cassidy. He never was a master at hiding how he felt inside, even if he could hide it in his face his eyes gave him away every time. This was one of those times.
Moving his head closer to her ear and lowering his voice so that she could only hear he spoke, "I died here. Qui tried to kill me but Rave saved me. I can explain it later."
Drawing his head back he changed his facial expression to more of a lighter one in response to her comment about his skills and replied in a normal volume, "Yes I'm a horrid student, I always seem to have the headmaster trying to kill me."

Sephia simply wanted to get away from them all. They sure talked an awful lot. She began to braid her long dark hair back from her face quite quickly before wrapping elastic around the end. Everyone seemed to be crowded around her, and she hated it. Her irritated blue eye looked across the room to where Jin-Shina looked back at her, simply staring. Their eyes met, and locked there. Today was not going to be easy. She turned her head as Dominic addressed her. She hadn’t even noticed that he had come into the room. She smiled, and became deeply aware of the dried blood on her skin and her favored shoulder. “Hi, Dominic,” she said quietly, pressing her fangs against the inside of her lip. “It’s quite alright. I’ve been busy too…” she trailed off, and glanced back at Jin-Shina and was captivated in his gaze.

“Sephia Shentavo,” Jin-Shina said, and she was a bit startled at the sound addressed to her, but not surprised it was her name the man had called first. She stood up and walked a few steps forward. There was a massive bruise running down one side of her leg and a deep bruise around her shoulder. The cut on her eye had already healed. She didn’t think she’d have to fight again this early. “Your ribs are still healing…what are you going to do?” Jin-Shina said with almost a sneer. Sephia’s eyes burned. She ripped off the edge of her shirt in a strip and wrapped it around just above her stomach, tying it tightly.

“I’m fine,” she said, making fists with her palms. Just what was he trying to do? Taunt her?

“Welcome to the first day of advanced combat,” Jin-Shina said plainly, and walked forward. He was wearing his dark garb as usual, and looked somewhat like the ninja described in literature, except no weapons were visible. The only parts of him one could see were the fierce blue eyes and a single strand of blonde hair. “It goes without saying that you know how to throw a punch, a kick, any attack I ask you to do you would do on command. It would be ridiculous for me to assume other wise. Therefore in this class you will not be learning to strike with your fists…or with your legs, or elbows, or knees, or head, or heel.” He took a few steps closer to Sephia. “You will learn how to extend your body so that you can reach what your limbs can not. Miss Shentavo…” Jin-Shina bowed.

Sephia cursed to herself silently. Of course she would be the one getting picked on.

“This morning you learned a technique that I quite favor. I would like to show the others how useful it can be…to save ones life.” From his back, Jin Shina drew a metal bow, and a thin blue line streamed downward, as if it were electricity, connecting. An arrow formed seemingly out of no where, and set it. Sephia cursed outloud. She watched the arrow, and watched as it was fired. Her image appeared about five feet in the air, as if she had jumped, but there was no transition seen. A second arrow sped towards her. There were two? she cursed, and appeared two feet forward on the ground, one hand and two legs supporting her. In her free hand she held one of the arrows, the second was in the back wall. She breathed out slowly as she looked at the ground, a few drops of blood hitting the floor. The second had grazed her cheek. Why did they always aim for the face.

“Good, Sephia, but not flawless,” Jin-Shina said quietly. “The technique she used was called shadow step; moving your body effortlessly and faster than any weapon known can travel. Masters of this technique can move hundreds of times without getting tired. This class won’t only draw on your physical abilities. It will draw on your soul. Stand up.” She said, now addressing all students. Sephia snapped the arrow she had caught in her hand and cast it aside as she stood up. Her whole body ached.

Shyne snapped to attention at the instructor's first words, even though they were not directed at her. She stood silent and observant at the edge of the line that boxed a space on the floor, marking the combat area. A lifted brow was the only show of concern as the black-garbed man produced a bow, launching a pair of arrows at the still wonded girl. Sephia, the leopardess reminded herself. She was barely able to track the girl's movements as she avoided the arrows. The female feline's eyesight was particularly attuned to movement, yet still she saw only the afterimage, a bare hint of a flash between the three points of location. She was quite impressed. The rumors she had heard were obviously true. She would most definitely need to be at the top of her game to remain competitive in this very dangerous school.

Another figure had slipped quietly into the Advanced Combat class. He was quite tall, but still fairly well built, he wore a long trench coat that was a pale blue with a peaked cap. His short brown hair was neat and trimmed, obviously a military man at heart, his eyes told a slightly different story. The blue eyes shone a little as he watched quietly, taking in the students, what they were saying and what they did, most of them seemed to know to loosen up a little before the lesson, that was good, but what about a more sudden event?

He was unarmed as he buttoned up his coat as he stood leant against a wall in the far corner, standing at the other end of the hall from the students, and indeed away slightly from the tutor it was quite obvious he wasn’t there for the lesson.

Quitely he took in all of the students in turn, the ones he could sense. One was a Shentavo, but a weak one, then the young Shentavo. The girl next to the “weak” Shentavo was something special also, but he couldn’t quite put his finger on it. Then there was the cat girl and the other vampire present. The teacher intrigued him the most though, if given a chance later he would talk with him. But for now, however, he was content to watch as the display was played out, the second arrow thrown landing in the wall near to him, which he glanced to briefly before turning back to watch about the shadow-step. It was a technique he knew well enough, but enjoyed watching it being taught. Especially as it was usually he that taught it to his own students.

Asopher Heruss had arrived at the Academy, and so far had been very impressed by what he had seen, the stories about the place were all true, it was a breathtakingly beautiful spot and from his first impressions the teaching was brilliant also.

"Sir, I have a question concerning the Shadow Step. Well, actually two of them to be precise. The first is, what happens if someone doesn't have a soul, especially in the traditional sense? And the second is, a properly trained and skilled fighter is a living weapon, so if they knew the shadow step then wouldn't that contradict your statement that the shadow step can move faster than any weapon?" Vitori asked as he ran over the sequence of events and moves of both Sephia and Jin.

If this was an intro lesson, then he might actually be able to meet the expectations and tests that would be coming his way after the school year was done. If he could at least hold his own, then maybe his aunts would finally get off his back about how he held up the family business and take a bit of R&r for once.

"You have a soul so far as the Mistress can see, and therefore that is a question you need not answer. If you* do not have a soul, you are not you and you do not need to be here." Jin-Shina said complacently. "Shadowstep has the ability to move faster than any weapon if you are a master. As you can see, Miss Sephia wasn't fast enough." he looked at the girl for a moment, watching the blood slowly trickle down her cheek, but she didn't flinch.

"Its not only good for weapons, but for magic, it would seem. The magic loses trace of where you are." He paused. "But yes, it can move faster than any weapon. I don't consider any of you weapons. You are fighters. There is a distinct difference. Unless you want me to use you as a tool, hmmm?" He chuckled.

Cassidy was intrigued to say the least at this shadow-stepping. She had heard rumors of others using it to travel great distances, infiltrate locations that were otherwise impossible to infiltrate, and more.

Still, she was curious as to how exactly to shadow step. How did one pull themselves to react quickly enough? She thought further, and looked toward the instructor.

"Sir, if I may ask...what if the attacker knows their target has knowledge of shadow-stepping? Would it be possible to ascertain the most probable location for the person to appear, and thus, strike them before they can react?"

"And how would they manage to do such a thing?" Jin-Shina questioned. "There is no "most probable" place someone could occur. It isn't something you can measure like a ruler. There is a physical limit but it is different for each person. For some of the brightest in the land, you all ask very idiotic questions." Jin-Shina folded his arms across his chest.

Sephia looked at him. Suprisingly, she agreed.

"I believe that is enough chitchat for now..."

Heruss raised his eyebrow a little at Jin-Shina’s immediate rebuke of the girl who had asked a question on the possibility of shadow-step detection. She had at the very least been prepared to question the possibility of this move not being the be all and end all. Whilst it had never really registered, it proved to him that there was at least one being he knew of that had been able to perfect something similar to shadow step detection by being able to sense movement beyond what was already perceived.

He tilted his head downward in thought as the students began their study for the step, wondering at the differences between what he knew of the "Quick Stepping" he taught and what Jin was currently teaching with the shadow stepping, which, while both seemed similar remained subtly different in technique and style.

Shadow stepping itself seemed little different to what he had taught on the surface, but from Sephia's moves it seemed perhaps quicker, or less likely to damage yourself in the process of doing it within a confined space.

The problem with perfecting to the quick step move was that you yourself were very erratic at it. His smiled quirked a little as he thought of the time he had taught Kristian the step, he had accidentally hit the far wall of the room on the first go, tangling himself up in some of the training equipment as he had done so. After peeling him off of the wall Heruss had suggested stopping, but instead Kristian chose to persevere, and now could at least use the move passibly, but he tended to tire after a dozen or more steps.

Heruss though could do considerably more of the fast movements involved, and had proven it three times now against a particular enemy.

Franz, the man who would be God. The man who’s death, ironically, had started a cascade of events that would have a more profound effect on everything around them. His hand impulsively patted one of his pockets as he slipped a piece of paper out of it and glanced at it momentarily before putting it away again.

Straightening back up again he started to watch the students as they prepared for their first practise at Shadow-stepping. He casually checked a small pocket watch in his hand also before slipping it away into one of the deep pockets on his greatcoat.

Of course, from his own observation so far, again, it seemed quick stepping and shadow stepping were different in execution, Jin Shira's mentioning of souls piqued his interest as he casually lent against the wall and watched.

Perhaps that was the difference, Shadow stepping involved something a little bit more than just being able to mentally move yourself several times faster than even the most stressful of situations permitted, even with well honed senses and reflexes, he then doubted he would be able to properly match somebody who was a master of Shadow Stepping.

When Schama finally left the water the position of the sun told her that she had spent more time in the lake than she had intended to. Lying in the grass at the shore, still in her seal-like form, she enjoyed the warmth of the golden rays of sunlight on her fur; she really would have liked to keep on lying her for a few more minutes, letting the sun and the slight breeze dry her, but it was already late and if she wanted to study her notes from yesterday’s Lore and Language lesson she had to hurry. Regretfully she absorbed the small amount of water still caught between and on the hairs of her fur and changed back to her chosen human form and jogged back to the academy building. She went up the stairs to the third floor and took a seat at a table in the library where she reproduced the sheets of paper with her notes. There where two other students nearby, one of them the girl with the huge amount of luggage She had seen earlier this day, but Schama, except for a courteous nod, ignored them.

Cassidy absorbed the insult without reacting. She was already of the opinion that this teacher was full of himself, especially as to verbally crush the quite valid questions. He had mentioned that there was a limit, differing from person to person. What if, by the use of great patience and discreet observation, that a foe could ascertain a general radius of possible locations? Then, they would only need to prepare to counter shadow-stepping by simply being a step ahead of their target. She knew there had to be a weakness somewhere. No matter the greatness of whatever, or whomever was in question, a weakness was always present.These thoughts, Cassidy kept to herself.

Her eyes flicked over to Sephia, Like her. Her weakness was not being fast enough. She was still injured. She was predictable. Her eyes flicked back to the instructor, now pondering just what weakness the instructor had.

A look over to Joshua. He might know Jin-Shina's possible weaknesses. She'd question him later, after class.

Jin-Shina chuckled inwardly to himself as his striking blue eyes looked at Sephia. “Do you know why you failed to dodge my second arrow?”

“Just give me one already,” Sephia said, crossing her arms over her chest. “My god for such a brilliant...” she paused, as if stopping herself from saying it, “person, you sure are a pain in the ass.”

“If I wasn’t, you wouldn’t survive long Sephia Shentavo,” Jin-Shina drew out the girl’s name. “There is a reason only men are allowed to teach this class.” He laughed again, knowing it burned into many of the student’s hearts. Good, he said to himself. That’s what he wanted. They needed the energy, the drive. They needed the fire to attempt to beat him, and they would only do so in learning this technique. “Shall we begin?”

“Shadow-stepping, as I said before involves the soul. There is a link between one’s soul and one’s body which bind the two together. It can be severed of course, by other means. You saw Miss Shentavo get hit with one of my arrows, even though she did do the technique perfectly. I suggest you ask her for assistance if you are having trouble outside of class, that is only if she is still in one piece by the end of today. Sephia, do explain how you do it…”

Such a pain in the ass, she muttered to herself, but she knew why he was doing it. “You reach out with your soul to the place you wish to be. After practice, so I’m told, you don’t have to think, you just go. Every time you use the ability it drains a bit of energy from you, but the more often you use it and perfect it, the less it hurts. If you collapse after one, don’t be discouraged,” she looked at Jin-Shina. It was quite bold of someone to hide behind that dark cloth mask, but everyone had their reasons. “For me, it’s like I push myself forward, or upward, or wherever I want to be, extending from my body. Essentially it allows you to break a few of the natural laws. If you have enough will to move your soul from your body, it essentially causes a rift in this realm you are in right now. Your soul travels between the two distances, but your body does not, it goes through the tear your created. Once through, it closes behind you. To me it feels like wind; like a breeze, and the smell of jasmine.”

“Each person feels different experiences when they do it for the first week or so, unique only to that person and that person alone. What you experience is yours and only yours.”

“What do you see?” Sephia asked.

“The forest. Earth,” Jin-Shina said plainly. “What I want you to do now is attempt to move your soul forward from your body. Think of it as extending yourself. I’ll help with the rest…”

By now Francesca's notebook had been broken in rather nicely, the latest page carefully turned over afresh so she could finish her notes on the application of the Enochial language. She was a little relieved to discover that for the most part the language itself was fairly harmless, it could safely be used for normal script much like ancient Belkan but with careful precise use could be used for magical inscriptions to create pre-prepared spells of a sort. Exactly how would be something she'll have to learn in upcoming lessons however as it seemed all a bit complex to just try and learn from a book, but for the time being she had at the very least the basic principals behind it's use.

All in all, she was rather impressed by her time in library. It wasn't just well stocked in the normal sense, but provided information she wasn't even entirely sure she would be able to get hold of efficiently. Where older books would inevitable be harder to find information in, a traditional index card system was in place so the students could look up subjects from their lessons and be referred to the relevant books and pages for easier research. Francesca imagined she could have used the computers near the entrance for this purpose as well, but she liked the solid feel to the older system, it was a pleasant nod to tradition, a reminder of times gone with the digital age.

Content for the moment, Francesca started to return some of the books she had collected around her table before she noticed a older girl enter the library. She was a bit taller then Fran was, similar hair if not a little more curly at the ends but otherwise looking like your average university student with her jeans and dark blue t-shirt. Walking over to a table closer to the entrance, the girl gave Francesca a simple nod before quietly settling down into the library environment; taking out her own stationary and notes for her own study.

Francesca simply nodded back with a smile for the moment so as to clear away the large pile of books she had created around her own table. In contrast to the new girl, Francesca hadn't had much chance to change her own appearance since she arrived; after unpacking she had a brief shower before changing into something cool, another pair of blue denim shorts and a simple white tank top. Francesca didn't have the figure of the other girl so there wasn't much notable about her except perhaps a set of jade bracelets, one around each wrist. Nothing quite so impressive as Kristian's blue metal cross with it's slight glow.

A few quiet minutes later, Francesca finished clearing away the mass of books she had borrowed, leaving behind the ones Kristian was using. Content she'd done enough, she approached the student sitting away from her and Kristian with a friendly air about her as she wandered over.

"Hi." Francesca opened simply in a cheerful tone. "Hope you don't mind me disturbing you, but I was wondering if you're in my class for Lore and Languages? I'm Francesca Becksworth." A smile on her face she offered her hand in greeting.

Schama, interrupted from her studies of the cryptic notes, looked up with a frown on her face. It took her black eyes a moment to focus on the girl’s face and her mind took even longer to take in the meaning of her words. Those cursed seraphic symbols and ‘words’ where a real pain to decipher, even if some of them seemed vaguely familiar, and Schama had been rather absorbed in them. Then she blinked and really looked at the girl standing in front of her. At the extended hand and back at the face.

“Uh. Ahem … hi! It’s okay, I’m … ah … I’m Schama. Scham Eras. And, err … yes! Yes, I’m in Lore and Language, too.”
So, another one of my classmates. Well, and what now? She came up with the obvious and shook Francescas hand.

“You just arrived this morning, didn’t you?” Now that was an original opening, said her sarcastic self. But, wasn’t small talk supposed to be something like that? Schama could only wish for more experience in things like this.

Shyne raised a hand to get the attention of the instructor before asking, "How, exactly, do you... reach out with your soul? I appologize if this is another 'stupid' question, but I am wholly unfamiliar with magic of any kind, and this seems like magic to me. How am I to reach out with something that I cannot feel as part of myself? Also, if it requires a rift in space-time to perform this action, would not someone with the capability of preventing such a rift from forming have the ability to stop you from shadow-stepping? And if there is no way to detect this ability, if there is no way to circumvent it, then how exactly did you hit Ms. Shentavo?"

Her voice held only the slightest trace of the anger that smouldered within her. It was dampened by the knowledge that most human(oid)s considered females to be inferior for no particular reason, but that did not mean she took it lightly. There was a reason she held the highest martial arts belt among her military. She had instructed hundreds of students in its forms and defended her place against all comers. And wouldn't they be interested in this new technique? Once she mastered it...

Francesca ignored the slight delay as though she had come to expect it remaining bright and cheerful as she shook her classmates hand politely. "Nice to meet you."

"Yeah, that's why I've been here all afternoon catching up on what I missed, Kristian's notes have really helped me." She answered glossing over why she'd been late. "Are you here to go over your notes like us?..." it took a moment before a thought suddenly occurred to her.

"Oh, sorry... now I'm probably just getting in your way." Francesca seemingly unsure about how much bother she was being. "Unless you'd like a bit of help with your research or something?"

Jin-Shina chuckled to himself. If the girl only knew. "Shhhh...no more questions about counters to the attack. You will understand later when you have acquired the technique and you advance in the course. I fear you must trust me on this one." The girl did, however, ask a good question for someone who had no experience with mediation and or consciousness of the self.

"Have you ever meditated before? It's a common practice of many martial arts. You can feel the energy flowing through your body. You become aware. Push that energy forward. I need you to practice feeling that lifestream through your body even when you are not meditating. Even when you are standing still, running, talking, reading...feel it."

Schama surprised herself by chuckling.

“Yes, that’s why I’m here, too. And, no. You’re not getting in my way. I didn’t have had a really close look at these, yet,” she put her hand on top of the notes, “ but I’m already quite sure I won’t be able to make much sense of them on my own.”

Again she frowned, this time out of frustration.

“It’s odd, but … I’m equally sure that I know some of those symbols.” No need to tell the girl where from she might know them or why she couldn’t recall the exact meaning of them, if she wasn’t mistaken.

“And yet, the better I seem to know a certain symbol, the less sense it seems to make.
I’m actually quite glad you interrupted me. If I’d been sitting here for hours it would have driven me mad.”

And that’s the truth. Schama thought startled. She hadn’t realized it at first, but she had been unusually deeply absorbed in her notes. Her frown deepened as she gazed speculatively at the notes on the table.

Francesca considered this for a moment before dismissing it in her mind. Instead she tried to reassure Schama.

"I wouldn't worry about it. I find after you've learned a couple languages you start to notice certain similarities... easy to get a bit confused from time to time." Having been accepted, Francesca took a seat next to the young women and pulled out her own note book, the thinner of the two with her English notes in. She opened it on a section she'd dedicated to some observations on the language so far.

"To be honest, this is my first time looking at this language but I dare say some of the basic characters are similar to other alphabets which may be putting you off a little. After staring at a unfamiliar language for so long my head gets a bit like that too...

"But no worries, we only need to get this sentence this week as Kristian explained it. We don't need to be able to understand the entire language yet. Should be enough to be able to remember the phrase and the characters, understanding it is a nice extra."

She looked down to see which symbol had frustrated her so much, but for the moment her hand was still there. It didn't matter though. "Here, you'll have to thank Kristian for some of the more useful references, but this is what I've managed to get so far. As I understand it the language itself is harmless enough as most others, it's more a component in the process of scrolls then anything too mystical, like Latin perhaps. I've still not covered some of the more complex forms of it though, just the basic alphabet, but maybe it'll help you some."

The notebook itself was a fairly simple affair, a simple A5 paper-back affair with a green front and back maybe a inch think. Francesca's handwriting was fairly clear, though occasionally used short form for longer titles after having used the long form one, Enochial Language often came up as EL in parts, all in pencil for the moment for convenience. She didn't pull out the second hard-back notebook from her bag, slightly smaller pages bound almost like a diary.

Schama was grateful for Francesca’s reassurance, something she hadn’t been very often. But though it, indeed, brought some reassurance, she also knew that her problems went deeper.
This wasn’t about her confusing a new language with a similar one she already knew. Or maybe it was. Maybe she had known a similar language and forgotten it, just as she had forgotten so much about her past. But she couldn’t get rid of the feeling that she had seen those symbols, not something similar, but exactly the same things, before. And that, at that time, they had had a meaning as clearly and easily understandable to her as Francesca’s English notes.

She took a deep quivering breath and pushed those thoughts aside. Maybe Francesca was right about at least one thing: they didn’t need to understand the language right now. Memorizing, learning, studying would do for the moment. And maybe with it would come, eventually, understanding. And then, maybe, maybe, remembrance.

Her balance regained Schama took a look at Francesca’s notebook.

“Thanks. And, ehm, do you mind if I copy this?” she asked and, presupposing Francesca’s agreement, put her hand on top of it. For a moment she hesitated. A common, ‘normal’, person would have used a pencil to copy the text into her own book. But after all which Schama had already seen at the academy acting as a ‘normal’ person would was far more likely to attract attention than anything else. And it would be much easier for her to just copy the book as a whole.
So she decided to stop pretending to be ‘normal’ and do this her way. At least this once.
She sent probes around and into the book, analyzing its matrix, saving this matrix and finally reproducing it. After not more than five seconds she took her hand away and pulled an exact copy of Francesca’s notebook out of the pocket of her jacket. Well, an exact copy except for the colour of the front and back. Those were a distinctly darker hue than the original.

“I’ll have to practice this more often,” she muttered dissatisfied.

Kristian glanced up when his ankh flickered and lit up, as Schama pulled the notes out of her pocket he raised his eyebrow. "Woah. That's kind of cool... remind me to keep any of my written examination papers away from you, if we have any written exams." Kristian chuckled. "Kind of cheating, you know?" he grinned. "I'm Kristian, by the way. I'm about done with my research on the Serpahim if you're interested, that book I've left out is really useful for some of the more complex origins and attitudes and jobs and stuff." He stretched and yawned slightly. "I'm going to take a bit of a walk now, I've done enough study. I'll see you both later." he said as he tucked his notes under his arm and left the library.

He headed back to his room and put his notebook away in his drawer, it was unlikely there’d be another class yet and he decided to head to the Advanced combat classroom and wait nearby for Cassidy. He yawned a little as he closed his door behind him and locked it, heading out into the grounds and walking around the very edge of the buildings through the gardens, eventually he worked his way back inside the building itself and sat down at a bench near to the classroom in the gardens, facing it so when they came out he could wave and come over. He yawned again. It seemed the study had tired him out.

Shyne considered his words. Meditation, for her, was mostly a quiet time, a time to think and clear her head of extraneous concerns, a time usually spent deep in a forest communing with nature. Before big decisions, tournaments, combat, and other potentially strenuous situations, she would meditate to prepare herself, creating a positive flow and outlook. A switch flicked within her mind as she realized what he was saying.

She had studied a bit of Thai Chi, and most other mundane martial arts. It was rumored that Thai Chi masters could project the energy of their body, their Chi, to move objects in the world. She practiced many of their meditation techniques when preparing for combat especially. Sometimes she could almost feel the energy within her, just below conscious awareness, like a feather-light brush across the surface of her fur. And therein lay the problem.

Her own people, where such things were concerned, thought more of the natural energies that filled the world around them than the energy within their own bodies. She could understand the flow of energy from sun and soil to tree to creature to her own stomach and back to soil. She could feel that much more easily than her own Chi. So, that would need work. Of course, this shadowstepping business was something else entirely. She would have to reach the supposed pinnacle attained by Thai Chi masters, be able to project the energy of her body out and away, manipulate it like a weapon.

This would be difficult. Then again, she had come here to be challenged. With a nod, she turned and leapt at the wall behind her, bouncing off of it to achieve a seat in the rafters above, some twenty feet above the floor. Without another word, she stretched out upon one of the beams, a leg and arm hanging from one side, her long, fluffy tail from the other. She closed her eyes, apparently going to sleep, the tip of her tail curling and twitching as it swayed to and fro in metronomic fashion.

Interesting. Was all Heruss thought as he glanced up to Shyne in the rafters. The other students seemed a little nervous about it. Mind, who wouldn’t when it appeared the teacher was actively setting out to kill you.

His hand drifted back to his pocket again, but he stopped himself. No, not him. Not him at all. The others. He sighed a little involuntarily and shifted himself slightly. Wondering what the other students would do to try to “let go” and focus on their souls.

If he was skeptical about any of this he would smile. That fact was he wasn’t. He knew all too well the need for these kinds of moves, especially in this day and age. He glanced back to the teacher. Problematic when the teacher reeked a little of arrogance also. He was too sure of himself and his abilities, rightly so from his skills displayed in just this lesson but still...

What was the old phrase? Pride comes before the fall? He shook his head slightly and looked down at the ground, folding his arms, he’d been hanging around for too long now. He let the students finish of the lesson, and Jin, in peace. He straightened up and nodded to Jin as he left.

Walking back down the corridor he took off his cap and coat, revealing more casual clothes underneath, and threw them next to a small travel bag, subtly left in a corner of the entrance hall.

He retrieved several items from the clothing and instead headed down towards the lakeside, the pipe at an angle in his mouth as he thought. Sitting down under the bough of a tree he lit it and idly began to smoke and think, he also allowed the mask around his aura to drop away, allowing somebody in particular to realize he was there.

Francesca smiled with relief as Schama seemed to visibly calm down and become less frustrated with her minor translation trouble, sure it didn't seem like much to her but the girl looked troubled and Francesca knew the small torment that was a problem left unsolved, even the simplest of problems would become complicated.

"It's no problem, and feel free to copy my notes, I used Kristian's notes some myself..." and with that Schama placed her hand on the notebook and stared at it for a moment before looking inside her jacket. Just like magic, she pulled out another, almost identical book to her own, only a rather darker shade of green before muttering something inaudible to herself.

"Wow, that's a neat magic trick." Francesca stated, obviously impressed. She wasn't able to do duplication magic herself, thinking about it many of the other girls didn't seem to have the skill either. Of course, Francesca herself wouldn't have merely duplicated the book as the act of writing it down herself helped to bring her closer to the subject material as she sieved it through her brain into her own words, but perhaps Schama intended to do this later in the comfort of her own room, her concentration was probably off from earlier.

Kristian came around to comment on the magic, seemed he had managed to pick it up much in the same way he did with Francesca's nature earlier through his device. At least that's what Fran assumed it was. She simply smiled and chuckled a little at the examination crack.

"Ok Kristian, thanks again for the help, really appreciate it." She waved goodbye. "Seeya around!" Francesca looked at the duplicate again, aside from the colour it seemed perfect. It was certainly a useful spell, perhaps Schama was a magic user like herself?

Ravelyn stopped playing for a moment, and carefully set her bow and violin down upon the edge of the stone bench she had been leaning against. The cloisters were normally a place that calmed her, with the scent of her beloved roses and the gentle breeze. The air was light yet fragrant, and she enjoyed every breath, until she felt the air thicken. She took a few steps forward on the stone walkway, and drew her eyes up towards the sky before looking around. That heaviness pressed upon her. Someone was watching.

“Always hiding within the shadows?” she said, and began to walk along the small pathway around the cloisters.

I wonder if the thought process, the mental preparation to shadow-step is different than misting? Probably, since misting consists of changing the density of one's body, rather than moving it completely in a blink. Cassidy thought to herself as she moved to distance herself from the others a little bit. She inhaled as she sat down where she was, then decided to lie down completely. She took to heart the lesson, and finally let her thoughts fall away. Little by little, the sounds and presence of everyone else in the room became less heeded, until all that was left was silence. Her eyes were open, but they were unseeing as they stared up at the rafters overhead. If any were to approach her and check to see if she were still alive, they might be fooled for her heart had slowed considerably, her breathing extremely shallow. Meditation was one way to do shadow-stepping she had been told, and meditation was something she was familiar with.

Ever so silently, a thought crossed her mind, a whisper barely perceptible. Move.

Nothing.

Move.

Nothing again.

Move!

A faint shimmer...and she caught sight of a thin outline of herself for the briefest of moments. Oddly, her eyes and face had not moved at all. She had seen with her soul emerged slightly before it was pulled back.

Carefree was her attitude, the best way to describe it. She repeated the steps again, but not getting much more than she had already.

MOVE! came the silent command with such force that it surprised her.

The space traveled was like passing through ice, and she gasped aloud, nearly falling from the rafters as she thrashed for a moment, but catching herself. Her startled cry was somewhat loud.

Shyne's annoyance was only momentary as the cry snapped her from her own meditations. With a nimble leap, she crossed the space between herself and Cassidy, pulling the human(oid) up fully onto the precarious perch.

"You should be careful climbing up here if you're not made for such things," the leopardess cautioned, complete unaware of how Cassidy had actually gotten to such a vantage point. "Will you need help getting down?"

Felix lay down on the floor of his room, his pen resting where it had rolled to after he had released it. He'd covered over a dozen pages with the runic shorthand of the Sevle Legions, illustrated liberally with drawings as necessary. When he had finished, he had collapsed backward, his eyes open. The warpfire that normally coursed through them was noticeably subdued, and the true emerald green color of his eyes was noticeably visible.

He rolled over, trying to ignore the pinprick sensations that intruded at the raw edges of his mental barriers. A moments work shored those barriers up, and the sensations eased, becoming dulled and distant. How desperately he wanted to get up and find the source of those pinprick harassers and end the irritation forever, but he would not, for he suspected -- was nearly certain -- that the culprits were his fellow students, turning slowly to the wells of power that existed within them with the clumsiness and innocence of children.

He was decidedly sensitive to such things, even more-so than most Sevle were. That he was rated a Mage-Knight, considering his youth, was a testament to his potence and skill -- being instructed by the Mage-King himself did wonders for one's development in that area. The thought of his Uncle was rejuvenating, a surge of strength that sent his extremities atingle, but he did not moved.

How would his Uncle have handled this? Felix frowned and brought his hands up to rub his temple, then a though welled up, slowly at first, then, as he realized that it made sense, with growing strength. The unpleasantness he was associating with the sensations made sense for a young Mage, unsure of his powers, because it lent a distinct urgency to the matter. He, however, was beyond the need for that, was capable of analyzing the sensations, did so almost reflexively -- the 'pain' was, then, unnecessary -- he was capable of determining the seriousness of a 'read' by himself, did not need the pain to do that for him.

As he realized this, the pain vanished. He still received the same input, but the unpleasantness had gone. He allowed his barriers to thin to their normal levels -- he had essentially cut himself off in an attempt to deaden the pain, which was decidedly dangerous no matter the circumstance.

He rose slowly to his feet and stretched, working kinks that he hadn't realized had formed out of his back and arms. Then he headed out to track down something to eat, suddenly acutely aware of a dire hunger.

Ravelyn stopped playing for a moment, and carefully set her bow and violin down upon the edge of the stone bench she had been leaning against. The cloisters were normally a place that calmed her, with the scent of her beloved roses and the gentle breeze. The air was light yet fragrant, and she enjoyed every breath, until she felt the air thicken. She took a few steps forward on the stone walkway, and drew her eyes up towards the sky before looking around. That heaviness pressed upon her. Someone was watching.

“Always hiding within the shadows?” she said, and began to walk along the small pathway around the cloisters.

Tere jumped off of the rooftop and landed in the middle of the cloister garden, shimmering into existence as he did so, half crouched on the soft apple grass as he straightened up and looked to his left slightly, to her in the cloisters.

His eyes were both blue this time, and his clothing was a pure white trench coat with golden braiding and buttons, an odd symbol of an angel holding a pair of scales, one black and one white scale on each shoulder was on the coat where the breast pocket should have been.

“In the darkness and the light, when I need to.” Tere said very quietly, barely above a whisper in a form of greeting. “You always were better at detecting subtleties than I was, how are you Azreal?”

He carefully smoothed out his coat and brushed a loose black hair out of his eyes. “I take it you managed to spot my aura yesterday from where I healed the gap and kept a hold of it then? It’s the only reason I can think of you being able to spot me now.” he ran a hand through his different coloured hair and sighed. “Shame really, I didn’t want to bother you with my presence.”

"Just wonderful," she said quietly, and stared at him with an unmatchable ferocity. “I have sensed you long before this moment, Terefedel,” Ravelyn said in return without any sign of emotion other than a furrowed brow. This was her castle he was in. “And do not call me by that name,” she added. Wasn’t that the blow to his ego. She only allowed those close to her to call her Azrael, to even speak her real name. The only people who spoke her name were people that were intimate with her, and those who wanted her dead. It wasn’t the first of the two her mind drew upon. She would have drawn upon a weapon, but the fact of the matter was she had no weapon to call. Most of her power had been given to Quissera, also known as Loki. Unbeknownst to the majority of the students, they were the two seraphim who had twisted the fates, well…she had been the one to change the threads.

She tucked a stray strand of her dark hair behind one ear. Both kept their distance from one another. “You underestimate me, Terefedel,” she said after a brief pause. “So easily fooled by what you see with your eyes…” she partially laughed. Energy trickled over her skin as she debated unleashing her true form. Her golden eyes burned. “I knew the moment you stepped upon campus, even when I was inside, preoccupied by other things I noticed. It is hard not to notice what happens on the land I, myself, created.”

“Let’s make one thing clear, and perfectly clear,” she began again, the sunlight illuminating her visage. “I don’t want you on my campus, or anywhere near my daughter.”

Tere smiled slightly and bowed at her request. “Very well, Miss Shentavo.” he replied formally as he straightened back up again.

“However, I am afraid my presence here is not yours to dictate, that belongs to those higher than you, and if they ask me to be here, I shall. If they ask me to keep an eye on your daughter, I shall. If they ask me to close cracks and fissures in the barriers in your lands to prevent the oncoming war for that little bit longer. I shall.” Tere chuckled slightly. “Now I understand what it was like being a whipping boy for the powers, hrm? Oh well. At least their hand is not within this, it‘s in the charge of The Balance.”

He brushed a petal off of his coat and let it fall onto the ground. “I am here for that reason and that reason only. Nothing petty for I have no need to be so. I am here on orders from those higher than either of us, so there is little either of us can do about it.” As the sun brightened in the garden he put his hand to the side and a white hat shimmered into existence as he placed it onto his head and thumbed the brim with a slight flair. “Such a shame that you always have to run around attacking everything, even those that try to help you.” He gave a slight smile. “To think we could have just chatted instead.” A shield shimmered into his hand, and again it had the same symbol on it. “Shame, as I said. I’m different to what I was nine months and a week ago. Can you say the same thing? I honestly couldn’t say, same old same old.” he stretched slightly and looked at her.

“You know how bad things will get, don’t you? How many more could die?” he said simply with that same smile, not arrogant or nasty, just plain, almost slightly sad.

"Just not one in the conventional sense." Vitori thought to himself as when he fully finished his training, to some of his vastly extend family he would be a weapon and tool of sorts.

There was a method to do as Jin-Shina instructed but it wasn't remotely similar to what was being instructed to preform the ability. Laying back on the ground, he began trying to harmonize with the flow of the chaos primal so that he could split his body and anima.

He was having a good time relaxing as he slowly projected his anima. As he did so, his hair going even more flame-like, his skin fading into a storm grey while had his eyes been visible, they'd have become an even deeper shade of green.

After about an hour of nearly prefect stillness, he found himself crashing to the floor from a couple feet up. This shadow step was going to take a lot of work.

“The Balance will not dictate what I do; not what anyone else here chooses to do. This is not a land for Masters and slaves any longer,” she growled. Heat seemed to emanate off of her being.

“God knows,” she said in turn, “that not you, nor the balance, nor the powers will stop us. It’s a fact that my flame will forever burn, and will scorch even those that were once considered above me. This isn’t about who is the best, who is higher, who has the most power. This is about someone who has given up absolutely everything… And I will not stop fighting. Neither will he.” She of course, referred to Loki. The two rebels would not settle for defeat when it came to their daughter. Once Sephia awakened, she would have chosen her own side, and neither good nor evil could change that. It would be something that was set in stone; as clear as the white of Ravelyn's hidden wings, and as black as Quissera's.

"I won't ask again..." she said, and summoned a large broadsword in her right hand, and gripped it with both. It was not her's of course, it was Quissera's.

“I guess you have changed slightly that‘s not yours,” Tere said with a sigh and a slight chuckle as he called his sword to his hand and pistols to the holsters on his hips. The sword licked with flame. “Mind I am surprised that The Balance was not explained to you. So I shall enlighten you.”

He stood in his own ready position before jumping across the garden to her in the cloisters in a single bound, his shield coming up as she swung the sword at him, sparks clashing.

“Has it never occurred to you.” he said as calmly as though he were pouring tea as he exchanged a series of sword blows with Ravelyn, both moving quickly down the cloister and past the violin. “That evil is only run by a fallen angel?”

He brought his shield up again as the broadsword smashed against it as he moved back along the cloister, Ravelyn moving with him. “God, remarkably, is neither good nor evil, he created all and that must include Evil as well as Good. Subsequently there has to be a balance struck between the two. God aspires good in us all, but that doesn’t mean there can be no evil.” He leapt to the side and out into the centre of the garden again with such speed that it caused Ravelyn to pause before she headed for him and again, they traded a series of blows.

“Thus there has to be a balance between the two aspects in order to keep society and existence itself governed. A balance which naturally kept itself well until.” he flickered as he vanished and appeared on the rooftop, part of the quickstep technique. “Until a pair of rebellious angels decided to change fate itself, that single act of selfishness has put the entirety of existence in jeopardy.” He leapt back down and moved onto a proper offensive now, his sword pace quickening significantly as he did so, grinning when she cut under his defences and caught his cheek, leaving a scratch which bled freely. “Right now good and evil swing back and forth wildly, the balance very well could tip finally one way or another and both sides, both good’s minions and evil’s minions are crying to end the final, titanic struggle between the two.”

He leapt easily to the side twice as Ravelyn made another pair of swings at him, most of her concentration on trying to fight Terefedel at that moment in time, he kicked her in the stomach, sending her staggering before she rapidly recovered and fought back.

“Between this, God himself and the Devil have had to make a new pact, not to permit either side from going into an all out war, they themselves and those under their direct control will not get involved and thus bring about the end times. The minions though, a different matter entirely. Thus these two entities have had to create a whole new section of existence to stop the minions going overboard and drawing out a new and prolonged war of Good Against Evil. The Balance.” He leapt to the side, through one of the arches in the cloister and kicked off of the wall, landing on the stone pathway around the area. “I have only one interest in your daughter, stopping Good, or Evil from claiming her. She is the key that could tip the balance finally one way or another. Simple as. I have no interest beyond that.”

He dodged a couple more blows before parrying. “I am enjoying our little spar though” he said with a laugh.

Schama smiled when Francesca and Kristian seemed to be impressed by her little trick and chuckled at the latter’s joke. She decided not to correct Francesca about her assumption that it had been a magical trick. Partly because the girl didn’t need to know yet and partly because she herself wasn’t entirely sure if there really wasn’t any magic involved. She had never wasted time wondering about how she did it she just … did it.

Then, following Francesca’s example, she called her thanks after Kristian who, according to Francesca, had contributed part of the notes Schama had copied.

She turned to back to face Francesca “And I thank you very much, too, of course. For giving this to me,” she indicated the copied notebook, “and for ‘getting into my way’ in the first place. You may think those symbols don’t hold any power in themselves and maybe you’re right, but … for me …
I don’t know how to explain it without you thinking I’m completely nuts. They had an enchanting quality about them.” Schama shook her head, well aware that this wouldn’t mean anything to Francesca and deliberately changed the subject.

“So, the headmaster told us to get to know our classmates. You are in Lore and Language. What else did you take, if I may ask?”

"I know about the damn balance," Ravelyn said in turn. "But this is personal between us. I don't want you near my daughter...." She swung at him skillfully with Loki's sword, knicking his arm. She wanted to take her true form and rip him to shreads, however, she held back.

“And why is that?” he said as he span to the side, his own sword catching her arm in response. Like a child’s game, tit for tat. He jumped back out from the cloisters and onto the rooftop again. “Well?”

"Because you might be able to deceive them Terefedel...but you can't deceive me," she appeared on the rooftop seemingly not to have travelled at all.

“And what do you mean by that, hmm?” He blocked two of her blows before she nicked his arm again, cutting it deeper, causing him to grit his teeth.

"Who do you really work for? Hmm?" she whispered viciously, and kneed him in the stomach.

“Officially? The Dark Angels. Unofficially. The Balance, that’s how it works.” Tere rasped as he was winded, regaining himself he back flipped along the rooftop twice before landing on his feet back in a ready defensive position.

"I see, so you gave up your freedom to play a pawn after seeing how much pain it caused us...or are you simply masochistic?"

Tere stopped at that. “Yes.” He said simply, his sword tapping the roof as his face fell slightly. “Quite simply Ravelyn I loved you, and it was all fake. All of it. If that’s what happens when you have total free will then you’re welcome to it. I‘ll be a pawn for a greater good, a cause I can actually believe in rather than a total fabrication.”

"You loving me was real Terefedel," she said quietly. "I just didn't love you back," and she struck up with a powerful blow.

“Exactly.” He said looking to her. “That hurt a lot, Ravelyn. An awful lot. So, after Quisserra nearly took my arm off I decided to dedicate myself to the Balance. That‘s all there is to it, I guess you could call it selfish and the want to feel special…” He sighed and his shield disappeared. “Ha, look at me, already spilling my heart out to you again. Pathetic.” He turned began to walk away.

"And walking away from a fight..." she laughed. "Ha...you never did have it in you."

“You’re not a reason I fight. I have no reason to fight you, this was a spar, nothing more.” Tere said as he leapt up to the top of one of the nearby chimneys with a single bound. “Try to keep an eye on the barriers more from now on, there’s already been at least two attempts at breaches within the last three days.”

She lowered her sword. "How've you been Tere?"

He turned to look back down at her, somehow his hat had stayed on the whole time of their fight. “Like hell. Busy, very busy. I helped bring you here, then I’ve been told to keep an eye on this all, not to mention try to find out how that damn shadow creature got into Kievshe.”

"Right then," her weapon vanished and she headed towards the door.

Tere bowed slightly, tipping his hat. “Goodbye Miss Shentavo.” He said as he jumped, golden hazes of wings appeared and he simply vanished from view.

Francesca simply shrugged. "Perhaps all words have power when used correctly with intent, but it's something I'll just have to learn over time. For the moment I'm content just understanding the basics...". With that done with, it seemed Schama moved on to another topic.

"Oh right, I'm mostly looking to study Lore and Language like you said, but I figured the Mending class would be very useful for me to learn. I wouldn't like to miss such a valuable opportunity to learn how to heal wounds with the aid of magic."

Rubbing the back of his head from where it had bounced off the floor when his shadow step hadn't gone as effectively as he'd hoped, Vitori stood and walked over to Jin.

"Sir, my training hasn't really included anything like meditation, so I was wondering if you might have either an alternate method or perhaps a suggestion on how I might learn to meditate. Generally when I wanted to separate my physical from the rest of me, I'd use an athame, but stabbing myself when ever I want to use this technique doesn't seem quite practical, so any suggestions?"

Jin-Shina looked at Vitori, took aim, and knocked his bow. "Try harder."

"So your only suggestion is practice. Alrighty then, practice it is." He replied as he headed back to where he'd been attempting to meditate.

"Oh, and let me guess, you're about to use me for target practice and you don't miss unless your target happens to shadow step?"

With a mental sigh, he tried to mentally recreate the effect that had resulted in a shadow step last time.

“Jin-Shina,” Sephia said as she watched him knock his bow. That was certainly one method that worked well; scare the hell out of someone enough to have the body react and follow through on what they were previously trying to do. That was how she learned. She watched as Jin-Shina kept the bow positioned, and then fired. Jin-Shina never missed the spot he aimed for. Sephia vanished and reappeared above the arrow, snagging it. She had, however, came very close to Vitori, and it resulted in her grabbing his shoulder in an attempt to push away from him when in fact she took him with her.

For a moment it was as if time was frozen, then the room seemed to curve like a raindrop hitting a pond, and they both were forced forward, and reappeared five feet away from where they had previously been. Sephia dropped to the ground, gasping. Jin-Shina raised an eyebrow.

“It’s reckless to pull someone else with you,” Jin-Shina said quietly. “But I’m still surprised you managed to do it.” Sephia’s mind spun as pain ached through her body. She felt like she had just been hit with a 2x4 in the chest. Sephia couldn’t move. It was as if she were glued to the floor. “In one minute, I want you back on your feet Sephia.” He looked around at the other students, and knocked his bow again.

“So who is ready to go first?”

With no reply forthcoming, Shyne returned to her previous perch. She stretched out once more. She would have much preferred being outside for this. It was so much easier to feel the energies flowing around her with the breeze ruffling her fur and the birds flitting about through the treetops. Unfortunately, she was not outside, and so had to make do. The noises the others made were distracting, the indoor scents of a place she was as of yet unused to equally so. But she was used to filtering her perceptions. In combat, there was no other way to survive. Ignore the background noises and scents, find the ones that mattered, find the scent and sound of your foe, track it, hunt it.

Here though... she was not hunting some unknown foe but her own inner self, the energies that had been heretofore ignored. She gave a soft snort. Therein lay the problem with a people and martial arts form that concentrated more on the balance of the world around them than on their own inner balance. Vulpesians tended to let internal problems work themselves out as was needed with minimal external interference, whether it applied to the body of an ailing individual or their political structure. This attitude simply did not apply here, and she would have to change her ways of thinking. She would definitely have to effect a bit of change when she got back home...

With a sigh, she let it go. Thinking was also distracting. She concentrated on her breathing; not the various odors and aromas that the involuntary action brought her, but on the air itself. In, out. In, out. In, out. She measured out the rhythm against her heartbeat. Lub-dub, in, lub-dub, out. Lub-dub, in, lub-dub, out. It was a few minutes before she felt the slight drifting sensation that usually accompanied either meditation or the beginnings of sleep. She ignored the passing hope that it was not the latter, continuing her exercises.

Her whiskers twitched slightly, ears catching the soft buzz of a wood-burrowing insect. The insect was inside one of the rafters across the room. It had eaten a little nest for itself, a small bubble of air within the dark wood of the beam. And eggs... it had eggs. A female, like herself. As the air circulated around the room, she could catch the dry, crackly scent of them. And the air did move, even indoors, though sluggishly and without the power of a proper breeze. There were living things here, even if they were small and unobtrusive.

Yes, she could feel the energy of this place. And the energy of the other students! She was nearly startled from her meditations by the sheer strength of some of those sun-bright bubbles that danced behind closed lids. How was she ever to compete against this? But no, that was not her purpose, that was not the reason for her meditation. Slowly, forcefully, with much problems, she turned her perceptions, her mind's eye, to focus on herself. Yet another little star, so much weaker than the others, so small and fragile, yet fierce in its own way...

Now, the problem was controlling it... With an almost physical snap, her perceptions reset, losing the burning orb of her own energies. Claws dug into the wood of the beam, the only sign of her frustration. It was another slow, patient process to recenter herself. She tried not to force it, to let it become natural. She had it again, but when she attempted to move that little sphere of light, she once more snapped back.

But wait, wait, wait... She was doing it wrong... She was trying to move it as though it were a physical object, looking at it as though she were seeing through physical eyes. That orb... those energies... there were not separate from her, they were part of her, they were her. But how was she to enter it? How was she to control that little firefly?

Perhaps... perhaps... Slowly, she began to pull in her perceptions, starting at her extremities: the tip of her tail, her toes and fingers. Slowly, slowly, she pulled inwards, trailing down her limbs, her mind flowing along the lines of force that flowed through her. She had never noticed those before. Was this Chi? With that distraction, she lost her focus. She almost growled aloud. Again... slowly... concentrate... focus... Eventually, she lost the feel of her limbs. She knew there were still there, still functioning, still perfectly fine, but she could no longer feel them.

Hoping that she was doing it right and not about to kill herself, she pulled herself further inwards, blocking out head, shoulders, and rump, slowly retracting into the core of her being wherein lay that vital spark. And then... she was the spark. She could feel her body again, but distantly... Now... to move... It was both harder and easier than she expected. She almost panicked when she felt herself beginning to drift along with the flow of air, but stopped herself. Such things would only hinder her progress.

And so, she floated, back towards her body, making her way against the currents. It was easy once she realized that she could escape the currents, slipping outside of them to drift back towards her own inert form. But again, this was not her purpose. Her purpose was to move elsewhere... Elsewhere... but where? Another rafter, perhaps? Ah, there was another spark nearby, the child she had helped... Such an interesting spark, shifting in color and form, holding no definite shape. No, she mustn't get to close, that might burn, might hurt, no, not too close. But here.

Her eyes snapped open as she felt empty air beneath her. With a yowl, she shot out an arm, catching wood with claw. It was but a moment before three other sets joined it. She hung from the bottom of the rafter, below Cassidy, her fur standing on end, looking very much the startled feline.

"What-? What-?" she sputtered.

„Ah, well, yes.“ A pity Francesca hadn’t taken Manavex instead. That would have been a pleasant surprise. “Well, mending sounds interesting,” she has already been a great help and she is in your Lore and Language class, so don’t be rude, stupid!

“Though I don’t think I would have much use for a skill like that. Not,” she hastened to add,” that it isn’t useful. Just not to me. You understand?”

What about the ‘don’t be rude’ part did you not understand?

Cassidy, in the flurry of the thoughts that swarmed her mind like a wave crashing upon rocks, barely had registered the assistance of another. A feline, and the very thought made her confused. How had a feline...no, nevermind...just another student.

Seating herself with a leg over each side of the rafter, she looked around, a small smile on her face. She heard Sephia call to the instructor, and so looked down, only to be surprised to see a bow in the instructor's hands, and fitted to fire upon someone of his choosing. He's insane! came the thought, only to have it interrupted by a yowling. The rafter she sat on shook somewhat, and she turned slightly to look down upon the feline whom now clung to the rafter with a set of claws fully extended.

Cassidy reached out and took hold of the girl's arm...leg...thing, and kept a firm grip. Then, as the feline looked up at her, she would see Cassidy simply become mist, and watch as the mist surrounded the feline. A whisper, from everywhere it seemed, met the feline's ears, "Gotcha" before a most strange sensation was felt. She was lifted with ease by mere air, or so it seemed, until she was seated on the rafter, leaving nothing but the marks of her claws on the strong wood. Materializing next to her Cassidy gave her a nod, before turning her attention back to the instructor below.

"I'll go first." she called out to the professor, surprised to her her voice betraying her uncertainty. She did not move from her perch. Already, she had an idea as to where she'd move to.

Without seemingly noticing any disappointment, Francesca replied as cheery as ever, flicking though the book on Seraphim Kristian had left absent-mindedly.

"Well, each to their own." She turned away from the book for a moment to look at Schama directly, a habit she seemed to have repeated a few times so far, not one to shy from a eye-to-eye contact. "For me mending represents a powerful utility to heal myself and help others in times of need; curative magic has always been one of my weaker points.

"but those are just my own circumstances. I can already protect myself so half of the classes would only teach me another way to do something I'm confident at; but Lore teaches me more about the world around me, language to translate it and help me find out more for myself. With Mending I can keep going and help others..."

Her tone darkened for a moment before pulling back to her normal up beat self as though Francesca was reminded of something. "So what are you studying Schama? I'm sure someone as talented as you could easily pick up the other courses."

„For me it’s a bit different. Oh, I can protect myself quite well,” several dozen dead IS agents and other beings and, maybe, quite possibly in fact, a completely devastated planet were proof of that, “but I’ve got so many head-hunters close on my heels that I need every advantage I can get. So I chose Manavex for my second class.”

Schama was quite oblivious of the surprised, one could say shocked, expression on Francesca’s face since she was staring at the far wall of the library, partly to evade the girl’s direct look, partly because she was revelling in the fact that, indeed, she was very good at defending herself already. And partly because she was thinking about how different the two of them were. Francesca apparently was someone who cared at least as much about others as she did about herself (why else should she want to heal them). That was something Schama couldn’t quite comprehend. For her it had always been she or the others and who hesitated died.

“I’m sure you can appreciate that being able to strike back at a more than purely physical level would be very helpful. And Lore and Language, well, that too might come in handy at a time. Can’t ever know enough about the world if you have to hide in it.” There was another difference between Schama and Francesca. Francesca seemed to embrace the world, or at least part of it, while Schama herself … what did she think about the world? Besides it being a dark and dangerous place?

Finally she looked back at Francesca and frowned. “Everything alright with you?”

Long before Schama had the chance to reply, Francesca had recovered her composure to that of a friendly outgoing personality. However it seemed her moment of reminiscence hadn't quite been missed, but for the moment Schama carefully explained her own classes and her reasons for choosing them. As the girl mentioned 'head hunters' Francesca couldn't help but think it was fortunate Schama had turned around for a moment.

Perhaps Schama's story was similar, a hidden secret with the fear of being hunted down for being different. Had she been hunted by the same people, or was it a normal feeling of xenophobia expressing itself around the world towards the 'awakened?' Eitherway, the resonance between Schama's hinted past and her own shook Francesca. It was some luck that the library was empty and Schama had her back turned allowing her a moment to recover once more.

Schama continued, glossing over the issue and both girls were acting as natural as ever. Or at least as natural as a pair of young mages could in a great library. Schama's reasons for learning Lore and Languages seemed more or less the same as Francesca's missing one or two details of course. However, Schama seemed to look concerned, perhaps she had noticed before.

Francesca shrugged it off as though it were nothing, acting as natural as she could. "No, I'm fine really. Don't worry about it." She said, smiling all the while. She hoped it looked as sincere as usual, it would be better to move away from the subject of the past.

"but yeah, it's a good idea to try and learn more about the world. Understanding the world better and how it came to be should help us deal with the future, hopefully avoiding the mistakes of the past." She hadn't meant to go there, but she was over that now and it was her actual belief, it wouldn't have sounded right if she avoided mentioning it. "I hope you get what you want out of Manavex, it sounds like a interesting subject with a lot of good strong potential to protect yourself. I only chose Mending because it fits me, much like Manavex will fit you. With any luck we can show off our skills in a couple weeks time, I'm sure someone as talented as you shouldn't have any problems."

Each student went up against Jin-Shina, including Sephia, who passed with flying colors, though was exceptionally tired, and felt sick to her stomach. Sephia had excused herself and left the room. That was enough for her for today. Cassidy and Shyne had also passed without a scratch. Vitori and Dominic, however, still needed a bit of work. It appeared however, that with time they would be able to get it. “Practice it over a weeks time, I will not be going back to reteach anything,” with that being said, Jin-Shina sheathed the bow and headed towards the door. He was tired himself.

The students were left to the rest of their day, or night it would seem.

Shyne was exhausted. She knew she should try to mingle with the students, she knew she should try to get to know the others, try to make friends, maybe make enemies, but she couldn't work up the energy to care. She had not even the energy to walk upright, instead prowling on all fours as she searched out a good place to nap. Her paws took her outside and wandered down to the lake. She climbed one of the trees that stood near its shore, dragging herself upwards with the last of her strength, and collapsed upon a thick, sturdy branch. The sun was still shining, and it was near enough the school for her to duck inside if trouble came. Sleep took her quickly.

Francesca took Schama’s revelation better than she would have expected. But, she had to admit this, she didn’t know a lot about Francesca or people at large. Maybe they were more used to things like this than Schama had thought. On the other hand, maybe Francesca was just a special case. She had to be. She was at the Shentavo Academy.
And what was this about ‘avoiding the mistakes of the past’? The past was the past and the future hadn’t arrived yet. Surely Francesca couldn’t be that naïve? To think that the past would somehow affect the future, like in those stupid theories about self repeating history, the wheel of time and stuff like that she had heard about! Ridiculous!

You better keep that to yourself. Calling her an imbecile right now could definitely be called rude. And for a human she is rather young. Young enough to have some peculiar notions about how the world works. Fits right in with the ‘healing others’ concept of hers.

Despite this Schama couldn’t quite suppress a smile when she patted Francesca’s shoulder.

Girl, you’ve got no idea. But I won’t be the one to tell you. For once I won’t destroy anything.
It was strange how good this felt. Schama decided that she (what a rare moment!) actually liked Francesca. Despite the girl’s shortcomings. Or maybe because of them.

“Yeah, well, we’ll see. I hope you’re right. And I hope you won't have any problems, too.”

At least the girl would be able to heal herself as soon as reality had torn her to shreds. That was a somewhat comforting thought.

Time for a change again before I blab out any of my thoughts. Or have to laugh at an inappropriate moment.

"So, while we're at it, you didn't meet any of the other Lore and Language students yet, did you? Apart from, what's his name?, Kristian."

As Francesca went on about historical lessons of the past it seemed she had reassured Schama some way as the older girl started to smile once more. This pleased Fran some; her father always did say it was better to get along with people respecting their differences, for all his oddities he was a kind man, she didn't think she'd ever seen him raise his voice in anger. Were it not for her father she probably wouldn't be so interested in archaeology in the first place, the numerous expeditions and the careful attention to detail as they searched for indications of past events in Midchilda's mysterious ancient history. Most people scoff at the idea of the importance of history; it was a easy thing to dismiss as the past was in the past, but her Father had always taught her the importance of learning from past mistakes and not just your own. Not that Francesca hadn't made plenty of her own mistakes already, but in the end lessons were learned. Just because someone is big, doesn't mean they're slow. She thought in memory, completely unrelated to the conversation.

Schama wished Francesca well, her wording a little negative but the thought was there. She had been hunted in her past so it shouldn't be too surprising she's a bit pessimistic, Francesca's friends and family had been rather good to her so her own 'awakening' hadn't been as traumatic as it could have been.

"Yeah, Kristian. So far I've only seen the two of you." She smiled belatedly to show it wasn't a issue. "It's to be expected though, I've only just come in today and I've spent most of it catching up. From the looks of things my next lesson won't be for a couple of days so I've got a bit of time to look around and get used to the new environment and introduce myself. Everything has been great so far..."

Pleased with her own performance for the first class, Cassidy left the training room and went to her room. She donned a bathing suit, and with a thought, turned to mist and filtered out the now opened window. A few moments later, she materialized next to the pool and let herself into the cool waters.

A sigh of contentment left her as she waded into the deep end and swam around a little, just relaxing.

Yep, really great. Invisible strangers, headmistresses looking for and excited about nothing, strangely familiar symbols trying to hypnotise me, stuff like that.
Oh, well, to be fair, today wasn’t all that bad. It was even one of the best days since … since … too long ago if I can’t even remember. Not that it takes much to top that these days.

This time the smile crossing Schama’s face was more genuine.

“I know one of our other classmates. Felix Illyrian. Really big guy, full of muscle, crimson-black skin and white hair. I’ve never seen a species like his before. Seemed like a nice enough fellow though (as far as Schama could judge such things or cared about them). His second class is Manavex, so you won’t see much of him tomorrow. And, since that’s my class, too, I think I’ll pick something to eat before I go to bed. I’m afraid I will need every bit of energy I can get for tomorrow's class. Care to come with me? To the dining hall, that is. It’s too late for any serious studies in any case.”

"Sure, I could do with getting something to eat myself, not been able to eat much on the way here today." Francesca replied, she also figured it wouldn't hurt to be shown the way to the dining from but she didn't mention it.

Kristian had half followed Cassidy, seeing as she hadn't noticed him waiting for her, and eventually tracked her down to the pool.

He had his own swimming trunks with him, but hadn't changed yet, the problem was he couldn't really see any changing rooms either. Gulping a little he walked along the pools edge before getting Cassidy's attention.

"Hey, how was the class? You seemed kind of distracted. I was waiting for you, ya know." He sat down at the pools edge, his shoes and socks off and left at the entrance dangled into the pool as he sat down by the edge. "You look like you did well too, can't see a scratch on you." He smiled slightly.

Floating in the water on her backside, Cassidy paid no outward sign of noticing Kristian having followed her and now talking to her. However, she did become very still, and it would appear she had simply fallen asleep, if that was possible from floating of your own free will.

Suddenly, she was gone from sight, the pool waters rushing quickly to fill the void left behind. As Kristian looked on in surprise, she spoke from his side, "Yes, I'm doing all right so far. It's too early to tell how I'll do for the rest of the class though."

A finger reached out to lift his jaw from it's dropped state, closing his mouth. She pointed to the water, "Shadow-stepping is what's that's called." She lowered her arm, "Kind of a fun skill if you ask me. Useful too, especially when avoiding psychotic instructors bent on injuring you with arrows meant to impale you."

Kristian nearly leapt 12 feet into the air, before recovering and blinking in disbelief. “Ok, that’s… really scary. And really unlike what I know.” he turned to look at her. “Though, do you have to do that whole, err, shutdown thing every time you do it? That’d prove problematic in a battle you know.” He picked up his trunks from where he had dropped them and grinned slightly embarrassed, pink at the cheeks as he looked around the pool.

“Uh, is there a changing room somewhere? I could do with a swim to relax a bit after my day of studying. Keep me fit too, I guess.”

Cassidy giggled as he slowly recovered. At his question though, she did nod, "For now. I'm still working on how to step in as little time as possible. I know I've at least been able to shave off a few minutes now."

She shrugged after a moment, "You could use the storage shed over there." She gestured to the shed in question.

Kristian nodded “It just seems a bit odd to have something that slow to use in a battle. I’ll be back in a minute.” He said as he walked along the pool to the shed, opening the door he peered into the dark interior. Sighing and stepping inside over the tools as he took his shirt off, shutting the door behind him he removed the rest of his clothing before grabbing his trunks and putting them on. He then opened the door and smiled.

She looked on at him as he emerged from the shed. A hand reached up to cover her eyes as if to block a glaring light. "Boy you need some sun!" She laughed and then slipped into the pool, diving beneath the waters a moment and emerging once more. Her hands moved to brush her hair behind her ears.

“Yeah, I know. It’s been years and years since I’ve had a holiday anywhere.” Kristian dived into the pool and came up, his hair matted to his brow which he pulled away slightly as it dripped into his eyes. “I might try somewhere like Punshan now it’s not on fire and full of cultists, gangs, Anno Domini and stuff. The Grave Towers are awesome.” He chuckled. “Oh man, that’s kind of sad. I want to go see crypts on a holiday.”

"Yes...I can see how being a vampire is going to make you want to see crypts, though I would think that since you feed off the life of others, you would rather find a place full of people who are alive, and yeah..." She realized that she might have gone borderline insulting, and so chose to shut up. Instead, she changed the subject. "Have you always been a vampire?" Ok...so that wasn't really changing the subject…”

“Hmmm.” Kristian lay on his back and did a few backstrokes. “Well, the strain of vampirism I have kind of makes us charming and we have an agreement with the main human government. We don’t feed off of people without consent and that sort of became a cultural thing.”

He then stopped and kept himself steady in the water. “Nah, I’ve only been a Vampire for… uhm. 175? No, wait, 176 years now. I was in the Second Moonstone War as a recruit to the Dark Angels, I was human for most of the war until I was badly injured in the fourth battle for Navarre, then they kind of ‘rushed through’ my vampirism. It’s kind of hard to explain with the Dark Angels, they don’t officially exist, and their recruitment process is really weird. They take humans who are willing, and they have to prove themselves either first off as dedicated servants, or as good soldiers.”

He then dove underwater and came up closer to Cassidy. “It’s kind of weird, knowing how much history just sort of… passes you by and opening something marked as a ‘history book’ and you were there or something.”

Cassidy drifted closer, intrigued by his story. For his age, he sure didn't seem like it. Perhaps that was a side effect of being given an eternal life still barely bound by mortal coils. "176 years is certainly something to claim. My people have been known to reach 200 years of age, and a very few go beyond that." She gave him a quirky smile, "And that's done without vampirism or anything.”

We just have a much stronger mortal aging process than standard humans do on this world apparently. I hear that most people die in their 70's and 80's. It's such a short life, and yet so long." She shook her head, "Strange. I wonder if it's because this world is so..." she waved a hand as if to find the word, "engulfed in warfare that it breaks down the collective human ability to simply maintain existence."

She looked back at him, "On Atlan, my home world, there's not much use for war. We try to get along peacefully, and the Tarlachians are the only ones who have been able to strike a true accord with us for co-existence. They came from space, and wish only to find new homes for their burgeoning population. They're nearly at 10 billion strong throughout their empire."

She lowered her head, "However, we have blood on our hands as well. We've killed off several other so called exploratory civilizations looking only to enslave us and mine our world for all it's worth." She looked back up at him, and in that brief moment, he saw a deep fire in her eyes. "We don't take kindly to that."

“Wow. That’s…. kind of scary. I mean. Yeah.” Kristian just looked to her for a moment, he then gently placed a hand on her shoulder. “I wouldn’t worry too much about it anyway, it’s just the nature of all animals, to fight over resources that is. As Sentient beings we just have a lot more resources to pick and choose from rather than food.” He smiled and drifted away slightly. “Mind, I agree with you on the way humanity is violent. Of my 176 years, about 130 of them are all fighting in some way or another.”]

Cassidy nodded, "Forty-six years of peace...you're more of a weapon than anything else." She turned to look at the school, "And we're here too...to become the best we can be...but for what? Are we just preparing for that--" she raised her fingers to illustrate quotations, "--next 'inevitable' fight? The way this world is, I don't think I'll be staying here very long. I miss the deep seas of Atlan and the island cities built by past civilizations of which we've incorporated into our own lives. Those cities are pretty impressive if you ask me. Seems...futuristic. And the Tarlachians have only brought in some more technology to upgrade what little needed to be upgraded, according to them."

“Wow, that sounds like a cool place.” he said as he drifted on the water gently. “I’d love to see it some time.” He smiled before splashing slightly in the water. “Yeah.” He looked slightly sad. “I’m a weapon than anything else. I don’t really like it as I still… well. I’m not a mindless one like some people here.”

He dove under the water and kicked through the water for a moment before resurfacing. “Still. I like being here, it’s really quiet and peaceful. I’ve met some nice new people too, and not soldiers or cultists or some other weird and damaged person.” He smiled and came over to Cassidy again. “It’s… nice.”

"Haha, like that one guy. The one in all black skin and whatnot. Looks like a burnt guy." Cassidy laughed quietly, "Perhaps, assuming we survive the already growing coursework set for us, we'll see what we can do about arranging a visit to Atlan for you. I could give you a tour of water, water, and more water." She grinned, "It's a nice place."

She became aware of him having come close, and it made her nervous, uncertain. So, she simply moved back to a safer distance. "That Sephia girl...she seems like she's being overly harassed by the instructors. It's probably because she's related to them, but all the same...she's being hit hard. I saw it in her eyes during class today."

He swam past Cassidy. “Yeah, it’s because she’s a Shentavo. Family name and all that to live up to, she has to be better and everything else, whatever her purpose may be.” he dove under again and came up right at the other end of the pool. “Ha! Always fun when you have no breath.”

Cassidy smiled, "Yeah...her parents need to learn to give her a break. Let her be who she is." She looked at him at the end of the pool. "Tell me...is the very act of breathing a necessary or unncessary bodily function for you?"

“Sort of, I’ve never really worked out how our biology all works. Digestive functions and our hearts beat. But then we can take abnormally long amounts of time to hold your breath. I remember one guy that walked across the whole Navarre Bay without breathing.” He took a deep breath and shook his hair a bit. “That’s about. Uh, 40 or 50 miles across.”

He looked across to Cassidy. “Uhm, Cassidy, are you… scared of me at all?”

She looked back at him cooly, "Scared? Not quite. It's more of deciding if I need to be on edge at all times around you, or if I'm just being paranoid." ***Or rather, how quickly I'd have to kill you if it came to that.**** she thought silently to herself. She shifted slightly, still looking at him with a neutral face. ***Perhaps we are a violent race ourselves.**** She sighed inwardly.

“You body language says otherwise.” he said as he dove under again, appearing at the other end of the pool rapidly with a rise of bubbles. He rose up out of the water and choked up some water, he coughed for a moment as water gushed out. “Ok.” he rasped. “No quickstepping in the water.” he coughed again until he regained some composure. “I think you’re being paranoid, Cassidy. I have no intention of hurting you… I kind of like you.” he said blushing slightly “Uh, as a friend.” he added hastily.

She watched as he came up coughing not too far now from where she was. "Paranoid I may be, but it's served us well." she replied quickly. As he coughed some more, she turned to mist and swept quickly toward him surrounding him in a white haze. He could feel her fingers caressing his head though it seemed like more than ten fingers. Slowly, the mist closed in and slipped inside his mouth and nostrils, cutting off all air supply. As this was done, she whispered in both ears at once, "I am not one to toy with when it comes to emotions." Tendrils of mist reached his lungs and gripped them tightly. A strange image of a face appeared before his own, and she spoke again, "I like you too...as a friend." She gave him a feral grin before releasing him and materializing in front of him in the water.

Kristian choked. “Damn you’re nuts.” he said, recovered slightly and laughed. “I think I’m going to have to be the paranoid one, not you. It’s not like I can bite your neck or something. You‘d just turn to mist and tear me limb from limb.” He coughed again. “I like that though.”

She grinned back at him, "I'd advise you to stay on my good side. I mean, after all, it's not like we've wiped out four entire different civilizations of considerable differences between all of them." She gave him an innocent smile, "Really though, I'm a sweetheart." Her eyes batted at him.

“Well, I was trying that. Evidently I failed initially.” He smiled to her, showing his fangs. “Like I said, it’s not like I can harm you so easily.” He splashed her with some of the pool water as he was still close to her from her misting and choking of Kristian.

She laughed loud and clear as she splashed him back, "No, you've yet to fail." Her eyes flashed at him, "And, there is a way to keep us from misting. If that can be achieved, then we're just as susceptible as the next person. However, just what that way is...you shan't get from me."

Cassidy moved to side of the pool near him, lifting herself out of the water with ease. From his vantage point, he could see she kept herself in very good physical shape, and the water was helping accentuate that. She picked up a towel left behind on a chair, using it to dry herself before looking to the skies. "It's getting dark. I think I'm ready now to grab some food. You coming?"

He jumped out of the water and hauled himself up. “Sure. I could do with a drink more than food though.” He smiled as his ankh glistened with drops of water. “I’ll have to walk like this though. No towel.” Kristian also kept himself in a fairly decent shape, though his body was pock marked with scars and a broader one across his stomach. The water dripped off of his slightly toned stomach as he shook his hair a little, sending droplets cascading across the stone flagging. “Oh, lemmie grab my clothes first though.” he dashed back to the shed and got them out, throwing them over one of his already dry shoulders. “Well, shall we go to dinner then?”

Cassidy just shook her head, and tossed her towel at him, watching as it struck his face. "You only had to ask, silly."

He made sure to thank Sephia for her aid with Jin's attempt to turn him into a pincushion.

Sore, battered and bruised was Vitori's state as he limped out of the room. He was pretty sure was at the bottom of the curve, with this lesson at least, a problem when you didn't learn to fight in a traditional method, but the method of 'I'll keep smacking you till you can block, keep mocking till you attack and keep hunting you until you learn to hunt back'. He'd learned in an unusual manner which hadn't included anything like meditation.

Coming up with an idea that could be more effective for him, he decided to get something to eat first, as well as a drink so he could relax by the water for a bit first before starting some heavy duty training, between his other class' work.

Cassidy lead the way to the dining hall, and was soon seated with a bowl of mixed vegetables and meat soup in front of her and some crackers on the side. These she crushed up in her fingers and stirred into the soup. She also had with her some sort of fruit juice.

Kristian just sat opposite her with some bread sticks and some blood, he bit off the end of one of the pieces of bread and dipped it into the glass, allowing the bread to soak it up before he bit a chunk off with relish. “Much better.” he said with a smile. “Not as good as drinking from someone though…” he said trailing off before he noticed the fruit juice. “What’s that stuff?” he said, pointing at it with a dripping piece of bread. He had used the towel and left it on the chair next to him, but hadn’t got changed again, opting to just put his T-shirt back on instead.

"Juice. The healthier form of nutrition." Cassidy stated, looking at him from the top of her eyes as she took another bite of her soup. "I'd ask you to try it, but I'm afraid you wouldn't like it much." She picked up the glass and took a drink of it, "Although, I'm not sure what fruit they've put in here."

“Eh, vital irons and nutrients in blood.” He smiled as he crunched on another piece of it. “Can I try a bit though?” he said as he put the breadstick down and looked over to her.

She glanced at the glass, still half full with juice. "Be my guest." She was about to take another bite of soup when she suddenly looked up at him. "But...uh...if you'd be kind enough to...you know..." she trailed off in her words, but her hand moved as if to wipe her mouth. "Yeah...I'd appreciate it."

“Ehe, yeah.” Kristian mopped his mouth with a napkin and took a slight sip, wincing slightly at the taste. “I’m not sure, but it might be Passion Fruit or something.” he wiped where his lips were and then took a sip of his blood to get rid of the taste. “Not my favourite.”

Cassidy gave a half-smile. "Told you." She finished off her soup, and leaned back a bit, straightening her back to maximize the digestive process. "You'll understand I'd rather not try your blood." She gave him a wry smile, "Not exactly my favorite either."

“Tastes better when you are a vampire.” Kristian said as he tilted the glass slightly. “You develop like, a whole new taste pallet. For example, whoever gave this drank a little too much whiskey.” his nose wrinkled at it. “So that and the iron together makes it taste a little funny. Whiskey should be enjoyed pure, not via the blood.”

"Well," Cassidy mockingly retorted, "I like my passion fruit juice, thank you very much!" She held it up as she finished it off, "Just invigorates me!" A grin, yet again.

“Probably because some people think it’s an aphrodisiac.” Kristian said with a grin as he took another sip of his blood. “I would say that would invigorate you somewhat.”

She nodded, flipping some strands of her still wet hair out of her face. Her thoughts wandered to others and suddenly her face lit up. Clearly, she had an idea. "You know what we should do? Gather all the students together. Play a little game. At night. On Atlan, we called it Snaking." She saw his confused look and proceeded to answer his unvoiced question. "Everyone participates. Two teams. One team hunts the other and...takes them down." She grinned darkly a moment, and she knew he would wonder just what she meant by this. Rescue is possible, but difficult usually. First team to conquer the other team completely, wins."

“That sounds kind of cool. A little odd though. Some of the students might take it a bit too seriously. Mind, it would be cool to get them working in teams, everyone seems so…” he searched for the right word as he took another sip of his drink. “Independent.”

She nodded, "Exactly. Plus, I'm curious to see what cards the others have under their sleeves." She glanced around, not seeing the person she had in mind, "Especially that Shentavo girl."

“Might not be the smartest thing to do, trying to piss off of conquer a Shentavo.” Kristian said as he thought. “Sephia’s a lot like her mother… and father.” he chuckled nervously.

Cassidy gave this a moment of thought, "So you know her well then?" Her eyes studied him carefully. An ignorant one would think she was a bit jealous, but that was not the case.

“No, I know her mother and father sort of.” He said with a sigh. “She seems a lot like them. They don‘t like being chained down, conquered, anything like that. She‘d play to win and expect to do so.”

"Well, I guess we'll just have to give a bit more special attention to her then, now won't we?" She glanced to the desserts line, and after several moments, had vanished from her seat, only to reappear with some apple pie.

“I take it you enjoy doing that?” Kristian said to her with a laugh. “But yeah. I suppose we could. I just… feel uneasy about possibly doing that behind Rave’s back.”

She looked up at him thoughtfully, putting a bit of pie in her mouth and chewed it slowly, relishing its taste. "We wouldn't have to go behind her back. In fact, we could even stage a mock kidnapping, and just let her know we just want to have a little fun. That's all." She winked at him.

“Mock kidnap her? Oh good grief, do you want us to both get killed?” Kristian looked over to her with raised eyebrows. “Hadn’t you noticed the way Quissera acts around her? He’d destroy everything in his path to get her, mock kidnapping or not.”

"But, if he knew about it as well, I don't think he'd do that. If anything I'd think he'd probably go for it. All to build up his little soldier girl. Be all she can be. You know?" She waved the fork at him, "That's where Ravelyn comes in."

“I think you should just discuss it with the headmaster then, if you think it’s such a good idea. Perhaps you could make her an objective for one of the teams?”

"You're coming with me, of course." Cassidy stated, looking very much serious about the matter, "You're an accomplice now to devious plotting of good fun."

“Bleh, I could also wind up dead for it.” Kristian said as he drained the last of his glass. “Shall we go to our deaths now, or later?”

"We'll speak with them later. No need to rush right now. Besides, we need a few more brains to help plan this whole thing out." She forked up the last of her pie, "For now, I'm going to enjoy this pie. Then, I'm going to go take a shower. And no, you can't come." She giggled softly.

“Awww, shame I liked what I saw in the pool.” Kristian said, before he blushed deeply, his face freezing in shock. “I also said that out loud, didn’t I?” his head dropped onto the table.

He was Ravelyn’s son, as it were. So long they had played games, to try and get around the Powers which controlled them. His birth was one brought out of sure pain. When Ravelyn had first come into being in the world; the first Shentavo [although that was a given name], she was exceptionally weak being confined to one form. She was found by a man, a vampire rather, named Daja. Unfortunately for her, he was not a pleasant man, and his birth resulted from her rape; before she had become afflicted with vampirism. In many ways, he was like his father; in others he was entirely different. Yes, it was true, he was her son and now her lover, but there were deeper circumstances at hand, like the twisted placement of souls. Most of the students had no idea, save for Joshua, Kristian, and Dominic. It didn’t seem, however, inbreeding was such a bad thing for the Shentavo clan. Still, Qui had always been different from the rest of them. He had been the first addition to the bloodline. Now, he had become so much more, and there are limits to how much one mind can handle.

He looked into the mirror, his mismatched eyes, ice blue and crimson red, staring back at him. His skin was pale, white hair just long enough to touch his brow in its tousled style. He leaned on the dresser as he stared. His muscles were tightened, or perhaps that was how they always were. There were faded tattoos going down the left side of his chest, disappearing into his, for once, casual jeans. He parted his lips slightly, his fangs slipping through that small gap. His had always been longer than the others. There was a good more deal evil within him, by nature, due to the violent conception and the nature of his father. He had killed Daja a good while ago, but still, he couldn’t shake off some of his influences. Ravelyn had always had a stronger angelic side when she was afflicted with vampirism, but he, had 50/50.

There was also a good deal of pressure in his soul; from the chains that hung around his wrists that used to be Ravelyn’s. During the recent events however, he had taken them from her, to save her life. Kayde’s soul shard had been placed deep within his side, and Charmaine’s light he had used to bring Ravelyn into the Light Realm. He felt the heat within him all the time now, waiting to explode. He was, in essence, a ticking time bomb, and hell to the person who set it off. Not only did his newly acquired abilities weigh on him, to control the power which rushed through him, but now he had a daughter to protect including his fiancé. It was on his shoulders to protect them, after all the years Ravelyn had him. He had indeed surpassed her, and he wondered if that hurt her pride at all, or how she felt about it. He gripped the edge of the dresser so hard it started to crack, and he let go. While he was in a large room, he felt trapped like a caged animal, and he started to pace.

No, it couldn’t wait until night this time. It had been getting more and more frequent. He grunted as ebony black wings ripped through the flesh on his back, sending rivers of crimson liquid trickling down his back before the wounds closed. The way sephiroth wings formed were different from the way seraphim’s formed. Angelics that were sephiroth had a more painful way, while seraphim formed their wings out of light. He had no transition from his guised form to his true form, there were four wings fully spread out, and he stretched, letting some of the energy that was pent up be released in the transformation. He needed something to get rid of his energy on, and he didn’t feel Sephia could take even another hint of it. There was a knock on the door. He looked to it for a moment, a bit stunned that his silence would be interrupted, then it opened. Ravelyn.

“Your aura is so delicate, I couldn’t even sense you on the other side of the door,” he said as she closed the door. “Have you been working on concealing it?”

“A bit,” she said carefully and looked at him, she bit her lip.

“Something wrong?” he said with an expressionless gaze.

“You had to transform? It’s not even night yet…” she trailed off and walked towards him.

“I feel like this energy is burning with in me. I need to rid myself of it some how. I don’t want to enrage in an excess of it…”

“Your aura is nearly smothering me, pickling with electricity. Even from across the room it was stifling…”

“Going to push back?” he said, slipping around her and wrapping one arm around her waste.

She paused. “Perhaps not…”

He brought his lips close to her neck. “You smell like Tere…” he slipped of her jacket and trailed his fingertips gently over the long slash on her shoulder. “He hurt you…” His aura flared, nearly stifling her.

“Quissa, calm down,” she said soothingly, and leaned her head back against his chest. “I sensed him when I was in the gardens, called him out, and told him to get the fuck out…”

“Quite the mouth on you,” he said chuckling only slightly. “You could have called me…”

“I can take care of Terefedel myself. He is more wounded by blades then I am,” she retorted, although she wasn’t too sure. Terefedel had been holding back. He still loved her.

“Hmmm,” he murmured into her neck. “If I see him again, I’ll break his neck for that…” he traced his fingers once more over the wound, making her shiver. He felt the warmth off of her skin; his was ice cold, while his aura was hot. He lifted her up into his arms. “I should have killed him when I had the opportunity…”

Ravelyn kissed his cheek, and he seemed a bit surprised. “I have some time before I have to meet with some of the students…” She caught him half smile, and he carried her into the other room, and shut the door behind with his heel.

Joshua wasn't one for "tricks" as he referred to them, while true he used his telekinetic ability in combat he always preferred to rely on his own agility and gut instinct on when to move. Hence why he really didn't learn the skill too well, resulting in the cut along his left arm that was healing rather nicely.

As Jin-Shina ended the class he walked out silently and headed for his room quickly, mostly to shower and wrap a bandage around the wound while it healed up.
Upon entering he quickly showered, gently wrapped a light bandage around the cut, then paused. Picking up a small book from his nightstand he wandered down to the dinning hall to fetch a small meal to accompany his reading.

Shyne allowed one eye to crack open. The sun was still up. Good; she had not overslept. She stretched her feline form in traditional manner before giving herself a hearty shake to knock loose the lingering somnolence from her mind. The leopardess dropped from the branch, landing on all fours and padding silently over the grounds. Her stomach rumbled. Quietly, she slipped indoors and made her way to the cafeteria, only rising to stand erect when she reached the serving line. She carried her tray, piled with raw slabs of steak over the Cassidy's table.

She held her tray and politely inquired, "Is this seat taken? I remember you from class. I'm sorry, I didn't catch your name. I'm Shyne Bright. And who is your... friend?"

Cassidy was about to get up and head to her room to take a shower when a familiar face approached. She turned to the feline, a smile crossing her face a moment later. "I'm Cassidy Atlantos." She indicated toward Kristian, "Kristian Heruss." She indicated toward the seat, "It's open."

As the feline sat down, she remembered her assistance during the class, and so spoke up, "Thanks for your help earlier. I hadn't expected to step from the floor to the rafter like that." She paused, glancing over to Kristian before continuing, "Each time I step, I get a feeling as if I'm being shoved through ice. Do you get that as well?"

Kristian wrinkled his nose slightly. “Definitely not like the quick-step I know then. Sounds painful.” He chewed on a breadstick, also intending to go from the lunch table soon, especially as the smell of raw meat was drifting from the feline’s plate. “Does it actually hurt at all when you do it?”

Shyne sat, carefully slotting her tail through the hole in the back of the chair. "No, I can't say that it hurts... I get the sensation of warm sunshine and a whiff of an open meadow when I do it, though. It's... quite pleasant, I have to say. I'll just have to practice a lot. I'm not sure I'll ever be able to do it as fast as the Instructor wants. At least not for a long time. It takes me a lot of concentration to do it, more than I'd ever trust a combat situation to give me."

She glanced between the two. "I'm sorry if I interrupted a conversation. I just... Well, I don't know anyone here yet. And since I missed the orientation due to being late, I figured... y'know... And think nothing of the helping paw." She shrugged. "I'd've done the same for anyone."

"Nah, it's fine. We were both about to go take a shower." Kristian said before he went bright red.

"Uh, separately, that is. Not together. No. Nothing like that. Uhm. Been swimming." he just let his head fall on the table again. "I'm not very good at this, she's too pretty." he murmured, after a moment or two he brought his head back up. "We were planning something, or rather. I was listening to Cassidy's plan before we were to hit the showers."

Cassidy nodded as Kristian spoke, smiling as he stumbled on his words, and piped in with her own as he finished up. "War games. We're going to see if we can get the entire student body to participate. Interested?"

Looking back at Kristian, she only gave him a smile, which she suspected would only deepen the embarrassment he felt. She looked back to Shyne.

"We're headed to see the headmaster and headmistress after we clean up. Going to front the idea to them and see what they have to say."

"Yeah, though I bet we'll get killed for it." Kristian smiled. He was still pink in the cheeks which deepened when Cassidy smiled at him.

"Uh, anyway, yeah. Shower first, clean up and then put it to them. Would be a good way of getting people to work together rather than running around like One Man Armies or something." he half looked away from Cassidy, but his eyes still glanced to her continuously in the conversation.

The leopardess considered the offer momentarily, a bloody chunk of meat hanging from her hand half raised to her muzzle. Slowly she nodded.

"Yes, I can see the benefit. I'd certainly participate. I'm certain I could learn a few things, if nothing else. And it would be good to know the abilities and limitations of my classmates, considering the fact that we'll likely be pitted against one another. I think you should also propose something of a study group. It would be nice to learn the fighting styles everyone uses. It's why I came here, after all, to learn new ways of fighting. I'd be more than happy to share my own discipline, though I'm not sure how useful it'd be for you human... oids. Humanoids."

Deciding simply on a cup of coffee Joshua looked around for a seat and spotted his dinner buddies from last nigh, Cassidy and Kristian, with a new student he really hadn't gotten to know. Quickly walking over he let a small smile slip out and nodded to the three if they noticed him and grabbed a seat in the group.
"That has to be the first year they decided to try and teach us those tricks. Never was a fan of them," he spoke as he sat down.

"Hey Joshua." Kristian said as he nodded to him as he sat down. "This," he motioned to the leopardess. "Is Shyne Bright, she was in your AVC class, apparently." He stretched slightly before grabbing another cup of blood.

"I take it we're both staying here for a bit now, rather than that shower, Cassidy?" Kristian said with a slight smile. "We could always work on that plan of yours now, I suppose." He took a sip from the new cup of blood. "Or go for the shower now and come back to discuss the plan, up to you really."

Cassidy gave Kristian an ever so daring look, only to rise from her seat. "I" she emphasized, "am taking my shower. Alone." She pointed to Kristian, "And you can explain to Joshua the plans. Later, let's meet by the library, and we'll all go and get the headmaster's approval...or get our hides fashionably skinned, as Kristian here seems all to certain of."

She looked over at the others, "If you'll excuse me." She gave a partial bow. "I'll see you by the library in a little bit." Looking to Shyne, she gave her an apologetic look, "Don't let these horny boys catch you off guard." A feral grin followed a moment later, "Use your claws if you have to."

With that, she was gone.

Vitori stumbled into the dining room, his shirt ragged and frayed around the edges. He'd been up all night training and practicing the shadow step. He looked worse than he had when he'd left the training hall and had a feral and starved look as he almost bolted to the food and loaded it with high sugar and protein items before sitting at a table nearby to Shyne and the others and proceeded to wolf it down.

Four plates later, he looked somewhat more in control of himself as he noticed the others for the first time. While taking a bite of pomegranate he waved to them. He'd always had a high metabolism and the more exertion, the more he needed to eat.

He thought he was getting the hang of the shadow step, thought he was developing a way to work around the need to meditate and focus while being active and in situations were concentration was less than easy. While his limit remained only a few feet and his landings were shaky at best, he could at least start doing it somewhat consistantly.

"She'd kill me if I followed her." Kristian said with a slight smile before it faded, his eyes going to the left in thought as he frowned slightly. "Actually she nearly did in the pool. Anyway, here's the plan...."

Kristian then explained the plan to Joshua and Shyne. The basic plan was to set up a pair of teams in a hunt, assumption being without harmful weapons, and the idea was to set out and capture or dominate the other team. Ontop of this would be the prize, Sephia. Who would be 'kidnapped' could be a sort of prize, whichever team either rescued, or continued to keep her captured would be the winner.

Of course there was the whole problem of Sephia escaping, but then that'd become part of the game, she'd be allowed to escape from the original team and it'd be up to one team or the other to either capture, or rescue her.

--------------

Later on, Kristian was waiting outside of the Library, waiting for Joshua, Cassidy and possible Shyne.
His feet tapped on the floor as his hair had that "just washed" smell of a light charcoal smell. He was wearing a tight blue T-shirt and a pair of shorts instead. He waved to Cassidy as she approached.

"Ready to march bravely to our deaths?" Kristian asked with a grin.

Heruss had been smoking for some time down by the lake. The smoke rings drifting lazily off across the water in the glistening sunlight.

"Hrmn" He said simply, looking at a particular spot across the water. He could still see it, the crack. He could also see the swirling barrier that was around it, stopping anything from coming in or out.

He filled his pipe again and changed the filter at the end. Then relit it with a strike of a match on his boot.

"Not bad work, Jelthan." He muttered to nobody in particular.

The figure, with it's mismatched eyes and oddly coloured hair merely bowed slightly before walking away from the figure under the tree.

Shyne chuckled at Cassidy's suggest, replying, "I don't forsee any problems. If they make any untoward advances, they'll come away missing a few key body parts." She turned back to the males with a wink. "Though, I take few advances as untoward."

She listened as Kristian explained, adding her own part at the end about trading martial arts. Later, she arrived at the library soon after Cassidy. She had not bathed, but she had groomed herself to glistening. She disliked bathing. It left her fur dripping for hours, despite any conventional drying method. So, she tended to follow the example of her ancestors and feral cousins. She was agile enough to reach any part of herself, after all. A spritz of odor neutralizing spray, a nice combing and she was good to go.

The leopardess wore nothing but her fur, walking erect for once. She nodded to Kristian and Cassidy as she approached, responding to the male's overly pessimistic inquiry with, "Only if you're paying for my funeral."

Cassidy arrived at the library, her wavy hair still wet from the shower. She smiled as she saw the others before coming to a halt a few steps from them. Looking around at their faces, she replied to Kristian, "Positivity. Learn it." she teased before she got somewhat serious.

She looked down either direction of the hallway. "So, does anyone have any idea how to find the headmaster? Or, do we just sit here and bellow his name until he comes?"

Schama opened the door of the library just in time to hear the leopardess’ comment about her funeral.

“Huh? Anything happened we should know?”

Sephia sighed heavily, drawing attention to the second level of the library to one of the couches she had laid down on. If there was a way to make someone feel undoubtedly like an outcast, they had found that way. “And why single me out?” she asked softly, her form still covered by the back of the couch. Students should be careful of saying things in public places, as there are many ears that can hear. They had left by now, however, and she got up from the couch. Her head was spinning. Why should she get singled out? Was it because she was the headmaster’s daughter? She grabbed her bag and slung it over her shoulder. When she walked outside of the library, she saw the lot of them standing there, and their eyes turned to her.

“If you want to find the headmaster, he’s probably in his quarters. I'd check for you, but I'd rather not talk to any of you any longer than necessary.” she said with a bit of a bite at the end. Never had there been an aura so cold or eyes so sharp from Sephia. She didn’t turn her head in any of their directions, but walked down the hall back towards the AVC room.

Kristian winced as Sephia left them standing, feeling the bite from her words. “Perhaps the kidnapping thing is a bit much, it’d isolate her more than she already is and I really doubt Quissera would like it. Would be better to include her in a team, perhaps ours to show there‘s no hard feelings towards her. Ya know?”

Of course, he had more knowledge of why Quissera wouldn't like it, but that he was keeping entirely to himself for very specific reasons.

He smiled, shaking the thought from his mind. “Plus, we can make her feel a bit more included if we let her. I think it’s kind of bad enough she’s a Shentavo with all the problems of that. You know, the fame and the legacy? We should make her feel more like an average student, even if she is extraordinary.”

He glanced after her, wondering for a second whether he should go and find her, but left it for now. He’d go and check up on her after they’d spoken to the headmaster. “So, shall we go knock on the scary door of doom then?” he said with a smile.

Not entirely sure as to what was going on, Francesca heard only a portion of the conversations around her. Basically, some girl Fran hadn't noticed came out from behind her while Schama had stopped leading her out of the Library for some food, she then started talking to a group of students seemingly led by Kristian. Oddest thing about the group was the cat-like person with them covered head to toe in fur, for the moment Francesca did her best not to stare but the scary similarities it presented would draw her eyes back to the beast from time to time.

In any case, the student Francesca hadn't noticed in the Library seemed annoyed with the Kristian's group. Fran didn't know why, perhaps she just wanted to be alone and everyone was causing a lot of noise, maybe she's just always annoyed. Either way, Francesca didn't feel comfortable.

"I'm going ahead, Schama. See you in a bit." She said, giving a weak smile before heading off in the opposite direction from the angry girl. Francesca wasn't too sure if it was the right way though, she'd never actually been to the cafeteria before. Memory said it was located on the ground floor along with most the other non-educational facilities, logic further suggested it would probably be near the main staircase around the entrance so it would be easy to access... but she wasn't sure. Nevermind, it'll be a adventure.

So Francesca perked up and wandered her way around until she could find a stairwell. Worse comes to worse she'll get a little more used to the campus and at least she's not in anyone's way.

Shyne disagreed. "I'd say, leave it as is. She's already receiving extra training, that much is obvious. And if that's the case, she probably needs it, for whatever reason. I doubt me the headmaster and mistress would subject their own daughter to something like that unless there was reason, even if it's only because she's their daughter. And since that's the case, he'll probably be more inclined to go with your original plan."

The leopardess ignored Sephia's ignominious exit, and the other female's regard, though she was quite aware of both.

„I’ll be with you in a second, Francesca,“ Schama replied before the girl left and turned her attention back to the group of students. Kristian’s words caught her off guard and she had to bite back a gasp only to nearly suffocate at Shyne’s counter-argument.
This had to be some kind of a bad joke. Kidnapping Sephia Shentavo? For whatever means, that couldn’t be a good idea.

“Are you all nuts?” she blurted out. “If you mean what I think you mean I’d rather not be anywhere near you when you tell the headmaster.”

With this she turned around and followed Francesca down to the dining hall, all the while shaking her head.

“Nah, sorry. I’m not going with it. I think it’s bad enough she’s being singled out by the teachers as it is, Shyne. She needs help, not stealing.” Kristian replied, shaking his head vigorously.

“She must already be feeling terrible from all the extra pressure and classes and training. She needs friends, not people suspicious of her and kidnapping her. She shouldn’t be some sort of prize, we should be working with her, rather than scaring her. She‘ll feel even more isolated than she already is.” He shrugged. “Would you like being effectively bullied, even if it was a game? How about you Cassidy? Hmm?” he looked at both in turn.

“I’m sorry, but no. We stick with the original game laid out by Cassidy, two teams fighting each other and whoever beats the other wins. If you’re going to keep at the kidnapping plan I’m having no part in it, and if you carry it on I’ll be keeping an eye out for you attempting anything of the sort.” he looked at them both with a frown. “I don’t like bullying regardless of who it is. Shentavo and all their reputations or not.”

He walked off heading to the AVC room instead. “And that. Is. That.” he said staccato to them both as he walked away. He then heard Cassidy speak and threw his arms up into the air. "Alright, fine, Headmaster first, then apologise to Sephia. Ok?"

Shyne shrugged as she found herself standing alone once more.

"It was only a suggestion."

She dropped to all fours, unsure of which to follow. After a few moments, she decided that if they wanted her they could come get her. She padded upstairs to her room, curling up on the bed with a sigh and a huff. Things were not going quite as well as she had hoped. Only here a day and a half and already she was alienating herself from the others. She sighed again, burying her nose in her fluffy tail. Well, that was how it always was. She was good at what she did, she thought in terms of tactics and advantages, but she had never been good at thinking about people. She was a predator, a warrior, a fighter, little more, nothing less. She closed her eyes, sinking into yet another catnap. Maybe tomorrow would be better.

Sephia Shentavo had found herself in someone else’s company. She sat with Sephia at the opposite side of the room, although the lights had been dimmed to a degree that it was a bit hard to make both of them out. It was a lot easier on the girl’s eyes, in the darkness. It would take a while before they adjusted to the different levels. The woman had long blond hair with waves in it, and her clothing was dark. She could have been one of the professors, perhaps, or another student. She was on the taller side, and had the cartilage of her left ear pierced with a silver and emerald clip. Sephia clearly had her barriers up with her arms folded over her chest, although the other woman’s arm was around her.

“Don’t worry,” she said softly. “The students these days can’t possibly understand what you’re going through. Once you are older, you’ll understand, and you’ll find people you can relate to. Myself for one.” The blonde stroked Sephia’s hair. “You should get some rest now though. I heard rumor that your father wants you to start training again in an hour, I can tell him I told you an hour and a half if you want to rest up.”
“Okay,” Sephia said quietly. “I’ll be back in an hour and a half then.” She stood up. “Thanks, Matsu…”

Matsu, as she was apparently named nodded, and walked into one of the back rooms, leaving Sephia to her thoughts.

Not too surprised to see Sephia come and go, Cassidy listened as the others spoke, before speaking again. "I never suggested kidnapping. I wanted us all to find out how each other works, how to best work with one another. And the best way to do that, I think is to put people through a nearly no-holds-barred sort of war games."

Looking to Kristian for a long moment, she addressed them all. "Let's go speak to the headmaster."

That said, she led the way up the stairs, and higher still, until at last they passed by the window where she had fallen asleep in the other day. Now, they were greeted by a door, and the group paused. Glancing back at them, she gave them a reassuring smile.

The knock was quick, and just loud enough.

Quissera grunted at the knock at the door. You’ve got to be fucking kidding me… He hopped out of bed and pulled on a pair of jeans hastily, and withdrew his seraphim wings into his back once more, concealing his identity. He grabbed his belt from the floor. This had better be important, he said to himself calmly. The door opened in front of him at his will and he continued to slip his belt through the loops, his now crimson eyes literally burning. He eyed the students who had walked all the way up to the fifth floor and found it all right to knock on his door in the middle of the day. His physique was more than remarkable, and the amount of tattoos in enochial going down his right side were in their own right, impressive. His glare, however, was one of death.

"Can I help you?" he said in a flat tone, singed with fire.

Cassidy suddenly felt that Kristian perhaps had been right. Perhaps they were about to get their asses handed to them. Still, they were here now, and had the headmaster's attention, albeit he clearly had been...busy. Catching her eyes that had wandered over his torso, she looked hastily back up to Quissera's own eyes.

"Forgive us of the interruption, but we wanted to pass an idea by you, and get your approval." she began with some uncertainty that was disappearing with each second. The silence that met her during this short time, she took to be his approval to continue. "War games. Involving the entire student body. Set on these grounds, with two teams randomly picked. The teams work against each other, using all skills possible to outmaneuver, and capture all members of the other team. Whichever team finishes first, wins."

She fell silent for a moment, now glancing sideways to Kristian, "We figured it'd be a good way to break the ice, and get to know each other better, as well as know how to best work with one another."

Her thought in the back of her mind as she watched the headmaster's burning eyes betrayed her calm. He's going to kick our asses.

Kristian froze, his face going even paler. The burning crimson eyes causing him to wince and nearly faint, but he managed to hold himself upright. Just. He gently held onto Cassidy's arm slightly to keep himself upright as he cast his eyes down onto the stairway balcony instead.

"And you couldn't just email me?" he asked half laughing in disbelief. His aura enveloped the entire room, spilling out into the hallway. Ravelyn had thought it to be Sephia knocking, however, now that she heard other students voices, she sighed to herself in the next room. ***Really?**** She looked over at the clock and cursed. She slipped her lightweight cream-colored dress over her head and brushed her hair before slipping on heels. She waited a few seconds before walking into the next room, where Qui was talking with the other students, and hadn't bothered to put a shirt on. She supposed it was more because he had also expected it to be his daughter. She felt the aura eminate from him and was a bit overwhelmed. She was just about to make the situation worse, but it couldn't be helped. She placed a hand on his shoulder. ***Have to go, be back around eight I think...somewhere around there....**** she said to him silently.

"All right," he answered out loud, as she slipped past the students and watched as she left. His gaze intensified.

Cassidy gritted her teeth, but spoke purposely, "I don't like beating around the bush. Straight to the point and all." She glanced as she saw Ravelyn standing there a moment, before passing by them. Qui's intense gaze brought her back quickly enough though.

“Yeah.” Kristian said weakly, the truth was he was being suffocated by Quiserra’s aura, it seemed his was highly sensitive to those kind of nuances and energies in the air and sweat beaded on his brow. “Um, we have an idea… to… to…” he put a hand to his head for a moment. “To get the students working together in a class spirit, they’re too… independent.”

"Uh huh," he said, his fangs fully visible, he had color to his skin; he had definitely fed recently. "Well lets not beat around the bush then." He couldn't kill them, they were students. Well, he could but didn't feel it was dire enough to kill them over just yet...they were naive. "You interrupted time with a woman I've waited over several millennia to be with...do not make that mistake again."

He paused for a moment. "I would advise you to go through my daughter instead...as she doesn't have to knock on the door to communicate with me, and could have given you a quick and direct answer. There is a reason why the fifth level of this school is off limits, that would be one of them. About this idea, I'll think it over, but that is all I can give you write now. I don't want to make any hasty decisions." His voice was almost a growl.

“Right, talk to Sephia…” Kristian whispered. “Shall we go and stop angering the Headmaster now?” he said into Cassidy’s ear, he was almost half leaning on her now, his mouth by her ear.

"Oh? You must have done something to upset her," he said, folding his arms across his chest, his muscles tensing.

"Not me. Some other students made an assumption that she'd be a target for abduction during the war games." She shook her head negatively, "Not the case however. Defeats the purpose."

"Kristian..." he addressed Kristian directly. "You know who I am. You know what I am. Do you have a death wish? Hmm?" he asked directly.

“Not generally, no. It was an idea. Her training…. She needs hatred, right? It initially seemed like a good idea, but given present circumstance… the wrong idea, she needs friendship, not bullying. That‘s your job.” Kristian said really weakly.

Quissera's aura flared up, and he almost transformed, but kept it in. The other students should not see his wings, and he did well in controlling it. He slammed his hand on the door frame, causing part of it to splinter, and electricity sparked over his arm that had impacted the wall momentarily. "You let me decide what my daughter needs."

Kristian simply collapsed onto the balcony twitching slightly, his eyes had become unfocussed and his ankh on his chest was glowing brightly, he was also frothing at the mouth slightly. Quite simply, he had been overwhelmed by Quisserra’s aura.

Cassidy stared down at him, then back at Quisserra. "Stop it!" she cried as she looked back down at Kristian, "You're hurting him!" Somehow.

"I'm not doing anything," he said in return. "I suggest you leave before you offend me further. Technically I'm not allowed to kill students, but it is up to my discretion."

Cassidy thought quickly, "So...you answer to someone else then..." she stated, not expecting a reply as she scooped an arm under each of Kristian's legs and began dragging him back down the hall. There was an almost rhythmic thumping heard as she pulled him down the stairs.

"My fiance..." he said, and shut the door before he acted upon the inkling to break Cassidy's arm.

------------------------------

It wasn't long before she was lugging his heavy body onto the sole bed in her room. She would have taken him to his room, but hers was closer, and besides, she worried for him. As he lay there, somewhat haphazardly, she picked up the ankh, studying it. She turned it over to study it's designs on the back.

Kristian took a deep breathe, suddenly sitting up, nearly bumping his face with Cassidy’s. “What happened? I couldn’t breathe, I…” He looked at her holding the ankh. “Moonstone.” He said simply. “That’s what it’s made of… Moonstone and…Gold of some form.” he pressed his hand to his head. “Made the attack less severe at least, I’m up already…”

"He didn't attack you." Cassidy replied, "I think. Although, he'll need to get that door repaired." She let go of the ankh, looking up at him, "I'm sorry I brought you up there. I should've listened to you." She looked away, as if shamed, "Sorry."

“Don’t worry about it. Different kind of attack. I have a sort of… well, you could call it an illness I suppose.” he said smiling at her as he sat up and moved over to the side before patting the bed for her to sit down on also. “I’m sensitive to really powerful auras and magic, a kind of anti-magical illness of some sort, causes me to basically have an epileptic fit of some kind. I guess that’s why I was given this as a present. It detected power, so I can move away, or try to put up barriers to dull the effects.”

She gave him a look of disbelief, "Must be broken then." She seated herself on the bed, bringing her legs up to her chin and wrapping her arms around them. "Still leaves you lying there, prone to being hurt physically. Not a good idea if you ask me."

“I was only ready for the old Quissera. When he was just the Angel of the Twilight. Not now that he’s all four combined. Next time I’ll be better for him.” Kristian said, as he took another deep breath. “Thanks for bringing me here to your room though.” he smiled. “Same as mine, really… not very imaginative, is it?”

She gave a small smile, "Yeah, though it's clear these rooms have been used before a number of times. Even the furniture is old." She pointed to the desk as an example. She looked back at him, seeing his eyes on her. It unnerved her to an extent, but she showed no sign of such. Not in a million years would she let him know how he was making her feel. "We should probably go look for Sephia."

“Yeah. We should.” He began to get up a little but swayed slightly. “Dammit.” He muttered. “Hang on a minute, ok?” he said as he headed to the door, holding onto as many things as he possibly could. “I just need to get something from my room.”

"Oh!" Cassidy exclaimed as she moved quickly to catch Kristian and pull his arm over his shoulder, "I'll be going with you, seeing as how you're still on the mend."

“Heh, thanks.” He said as he opened the door. “I’ll be good later on. I just need to grab a cane.”

---------------------

They headed slowly down to his own room, and he opened the door before tripping over a smaller bag next to the door, dragging Cassidy down with him accidentally.

They fell hard, both trying to arrest the movement with their flaying arms, but failing horribly. Kristian, in his movements to do just that, had landed first, on his side. Her weight crushed into him, flattening him onto his backside. Her hands flung out to find the floor, but it wasn't quick enough before she found herself lip-locked with Kristian.

The silence was deafening as her eyes widened almost comically.

Kristian suddenly, who had been very pale, went bright red. His eyes widened in shock as Cassidy’s lips locked with his. He simply didn’t know what to do and froze, looking up to her, as much as he was enjoying the sensation it wasn’t exactly the most… ideal of circumstance. Rather than throw her off, or hold her there he simply lay there, looking up. Their jade eyes simply staring at each other wide eyed in shock.

Then, as if shocked, she sprung away, waving her hands, "I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I just...and you...and we..." she looked back at him, with a suddenly strange look on her face. "It was nice. Sort of." Her hair was dishevelled now, and so she turned her attention to a nearby mirror to quickly correct it's haphazard state to something more respectable. Great job, klutz! she scolded herself silently.

Kristian pulled himself up slightly by the footboard of the bed and picked up the bag they had tripped over. He unzipped it and pulled the cane out. His hair was also slightly dishevelled and he thumbed the silver swept back eagle on the tope of the cane, he used it to get himself standing upright. His arm shook slightly as he leant heavily. He looked over at Cassidy. “Uh, Cassidy.” he said quietly, standing a little bit behind her.

She froze again, staring back at him in the mirror, not saying anything. His eyes met hers as she finally turned to him. "Yes?" she breathed nearly silently.

“Uh, I hope you don’t mind if I, uh.” He looked down at the floor slightly before reaching out and pulling her closer to him and kissing her again, a complete impulse, rather than any kind of sane reaction. Somewhere at the back of his mind the episode in the pool was racing through, alarm bells going off all over the shop, but he didn’t care.

This one was better for sure, but even then Cassidy's mind exploded in a mixture of surprise at his boldness, and...anger. She found herself enjoying the kiss, but the force of her hands pushing against his chest was strong enough to send him stumbling back. She breathed deeply, a somewhat wild look in her eye. "What makes you think..." she declared with that anger filtering through, before just falling silent and staring at him. He looked sheepish now, like a child smacked by its parent for eating a cookie when it wasn't supposed to. Her heart pounded, threatening to leave a cavity in her chest from its departure. The fire was still in her eyes though, and she contemplated doing more than having just pushed him away, but she didn't.

“I.” Kristian said for a moment, his eyes just looking at her with a mixture of fear and… something else. “Sorry.” he said simply, looking down on the floor. “It just… felt nice.” he said simply, his eyes cast down and leaning still on his cane as she stood, just a step away. “Sorry.” he said again feebly.

"Kristian." she called to him, waiting until he looked up at her. Only then did he suddenly find her tackling him, knocking him backwards as his arms flung around her in unplanned movement. She pressed into him, engaging him for a third kiss with her arms wrapped around his neck, holding him tight.

Kristian dropped his cane as he was knocked backwards into the door by Cassidy, their lips locking yet again. His own arms wrapped around her waist and held her tight to him. This time he really enjoyed it, together both of them like this, together. It felt, strange and brilliant all at the same time. The alarm bells and worry vanished from his mind altogether and instead his eyes simply looked at her as they kissed.

Several long moments passed until she finally pulled back from him. Her breath was hot, heavy. She gave him a smile, then frowned as she tasted blood. Her tongue flicked against her lip, tasting her own blood. Looking back at him, she lifted a finger to his upper lip, revealing the guilty fang. "You oughta be more careful where you poke that thing." A wink and a laughing smile as she tapped him lightly against his cheek. "Come on. We should find Sephia before it gets too late."

“Sorry. My fault. Better than it being your neck.” he said with a smile and a chuckle as he recovered his cane. “Yeah, you’re right. We should go find her. I bet she’s still in the AVC room.” He picked up his cane and offered his hand to Cassidy. “Shall we go then?”

"If you even tried for my neck, I'd kill you right then and there." she replied, her eyes afire once more. She glanced down at his hand, "Discreet would be more preferable, I think." she stated, despite wanting to take his hand. She opened the door again, holding it open for him as he walked out with the aid of the cane.

“I was kidding. Honest.” He smiled. “Not without your consent anyway.” he smiled as he walked out of the dorm room and into the corridor.

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They headed down the stairs and into the Academy proper, before he let Cassidy take the lead in finding the AVC rooms again. There they found Sephia sitting on the bench.

“Hey, Sephia.” Kristian said quietly to her from the door as he leant on the cane, Cassidy standing next to him. “Sorry about earlier. How you feeling?”