NationStates Jolt Archive

"A jingly hat!" He said, positively ecstatic. He continued his ridiculous dance, which was now accomponied by the jingling of the jester hat. "You now forever have my gratitude, you whom is the kindest of all men! Never have I been graced with such kindness as this! Should you ever have need of a laugh or a lass, I'll be most happy to offer my services."

Irene cocked an eyebrow at this unusual newcomer.

"The variety of creatures in the milky way among a single species shall never cease to amaze me." She sighed, wondering what sort of shenanigans this newcomer was going to pull.

Drai'lee (http://www.atddm.com/tlk1.jpg) gave Marvel a suspicious look. She was getting to know the Demon-No-More's moods very well and he was acting like a Marvel with a tasty secret.

She'd have to corner him later...but at the moment she was more startled by Khatt’s hair going on end, and his ears flattening, at the reappearance of Josh with a stranger.

The newcomer proceeded to show exactly what Khatt’s instincts had read….babbling trouble maker…

The newcomers seeming hysterics had Rosh leaving Drai’lee’s body; to twine and turn hovering in midair before her, scales flashing, glittering jewel bright, as he hissed in a most unfriendly manner. A foot long dragon might not seem dangerous, but any one making that mistake would soon regret it. Just as though Drai’lee stood only eleven inches tall, to mistake her as a toy or a doll would have severe consequences.

Drai’lee sprang free of her perch on Marvel’s shoulder and while none might notice it, a faint golden glow appeared about one tiny fist. If the aggravating man wanted trouble she could supply him with a good dose of pixie dust…the sort that made people tear their skin off in strips from the virulence of the itching…

As the newcomer continued to dance, a pumpkin pie with a big smiley face drawn in frosting on it appeared in the air behind him. Those who knew the faculty's token turned demon would instantly recognize it as his handiwork, but, except for this, its creator chose to remain unnamed. As the "jester" continued to dance his little dance, the pie crept closer and closer to his head...

Aozora giggled, and as he was doing a hop he twisted in midair to face the pie. "Well now, that tisn't very nice, not nice at all. Although, pumpkin is my favorite, and I'd hate the pie to go to waste..." He snatched the pie out of the air. He was about to dig into the pie when he noticed the snake and Drai'lee, causing him to give out another of his odd high-pitched giggles. "Well now, what have we here? A miniature dragon? Ah, wht a novelty! This little creature must surely be the most glorious of creatures, just as the great wallaby is indisputably vastly more amusing than a mere kangaroo. Oh, and a doll! What fun what fun, wouldn't you make an excellent gift for a pretty little girl! The most beautiful of dolls for the most beautiful of maidens! But wait, is it my pie you want? Ah, and the dragon wishes it too! Well, heres a lesson dear children: A pie in the hands of a Jester is a deadly weapon, especielly the hands of the most loopy of jesters, and if the identity of the most loopy of jesters remains a mystery still, well, you really must pay more attention to me!"

"So then, pray tell, how is a pie a deadly weapon? It is a pie, not a weapon. It is eaten, not used." Irene asked.

Aozora sighed, shaking his head. "You just had to ask, didn't you? Well, I really can't say I'm dissapointed. Its so very rare an occasion that a moment such as this presents itself to me in all its glory, and my papa always to say, 'Zora,' he'd say, 'When an ass presents itself, don't pass the moment to squeeze.' The saying really doesn't translate across exactly, but I'm sure you'll catch that little nugget of wisdom, one of many my father seemed to have dredged from the bottom of a bottle." With that, he danced over to Irene, and began spinning around her, until he came to a stop behind the woman. "Guess who!" He asked, right before reaching around and plopping the pie in her face.

...and the pie bounced off of Irene and stuck to Aozora...and not on the face, but, rather, on the other end...delivering a good, resounding slap while it was at it...except that, being an illusion, it had no mass, and couldn't really harm anyone or anything.

"Good adviser, that father of yours," Marvel said with a grin.

Rather than being upset by this, Aozora gave a resounding laugh and began to clap. "Ah, wonderful, wonderful! I love a good turn-around, I truly do. Makes it oh so much more interesting for our most lovely of audiences. I should expect a resounding applause for that one! Good show, good show! Brava and whatnot."

Irene glared at Azora, a look that had inspired millions of soldiers on the field of battle to turn and flee in fear, a look that promised all sorts of unpleasant activities. Then she turned to marvel and delivered the sweetest smile anyone could ever ask for.

Aozora simply gave another of his giggles at the glare. "Ooh, just what I asked for! A feisty lass for my knee!" He sighed dramatically. "But alas, it seems this most beautious of ladies has forgotten her sense of humour somewhere. I pledge to return it should I come upon it, though I suspect it'll be quite the shrivelled little thing..."

What delicious irony. Marvel actually liked the guy. Man after his own heart. Who got it wasn't so important as how good it was.

He smiled back at Obscene.

"Now don't go shriveling it up any more than it already is," he mock chided. "Instead, please tell us your name. A performer of your merit deserves to be known."

And to have a Marvel Name.

"Ah, at last, a man who understands my modest talents." He gave an elaborate bow, hand twirling as though he had a cape to flourish. "The name, my good sir, is Aozora no Namida. And what, if I may, is your name?"

"Well, for your information I left my sense of Humor in an the Delta Hive System, only to watch helplessly as it was stolen by a Wereclown. Therefore I have no sense of humor, and cannot find reason to grow another." Irene said with such a straight face that it made one wonder if she was serious or joking.

Seconds later, a small giggle escaped her, revealing that she was joking.

Josh chuckled nervously. "What hell hath i wrought upon thy castle, Galvenor?"
Zena, who had until now been staring blankly at the group burst into laughter so booming it was impossible to tell if she was honestly that amused or going into hysterics from the emotional whiplash that had been taking place since she arrived.
Mali stood there grinning and shaking her head. "Truly amusing you two are. This should be quite an interesting school year."

Irene smiled and nodded, but couldn't help but feel a deep gnawing sense of foreboding, as though something bad was about to happen. She ignored it, never saying a word, after all, it had to be her imagination.

"Name's Marvel," Marvel said, "but I gotta warn ya, dude, the stage show needs to be postponed." The pie disappeared, though it did so with a little flatulent noise. "We're all hear 'cause one of us died, and we're trying to decide on last rites. I'm sure that we can arrange a little jam session when this is over--and I've got a couple of friends of the giant mouse persuasion who are going to love ya--but I gotta humbly request that--for now--we keep the levity to a minimum."

Aozora chewed his lip, seeming a bit nervous. "Minimum? Well now, I'm not quite so sure as I'll be able to handle that my good Marvel. I don't deal well with a lack of levity, in fact I rather go insane. More so than I am normally I mean. And trust me, my good baker, that is a sight none here would like to see." He brightened up, and lapsed back into a giggle. "So, if a give a laugh during the ceremony here and there, don't take offense, as I'm sure whomever it was was an absolutely lovely chap and or lass in their day, before they so inexplicably became so cold...hehe..."

"Deal," said the demon-no-more.

Drai'lee gave the newcomer a wary look but turned to coaxing Rash back onto her skin. He gave the buffon a last hiss and slowly became the tattoo that covered most her her body. Khatt shook his fur into order and rolled his eveys.

Hopefully he and the mice would find each other to be natural targets not natural allies. Though he didn't like the way he and Marvel were getting on...

Drai'lee landed back on Marvels shoulder after giving Irene a sympathetic look.
She too had a sense of foreboding - though no one realised it - it was for completely different reasons.

Irene sat there, waiting, always waiting. To all outward appearences, she was simply frozen in place, that was how still and patiently she waited. Then a low moan escaped her lips as she held her head.

"A headache? But, I'm not supposed to be able to suffer those, my entire body and Psionic chemistry was created to be impervious to such minor trivialities." she said quietly as a pounding filled her mind.

"No, not a headache, something's wrong. Something's gone terribly wrong with The Overmind."

Then she stiffened and sat bolt upright. But no one needed to wonder why, for the psychic backlash of an event far away was so great, that all near The Swarm could see and hear precisely what Irene saw and heard.

First, Zerus, the central core of The Swarm, the entire world was covered in Hive Clusters and Creep. Then, the Zerus system, Hive Ships were leaving Zerus, lead by three unfamiliar Hive Tyrants.

A man's face flashed into focus, and no one needed to wonder who he was. He had long black hair, and pale yellow skin. He wore a white lab coat with the name tag Dr. Yamato Nasagori on it. His wire frame glasses perched on the end of his nose as he smiled looking up towards something in a laboratory somewhere.

Irene's claws began to dig into the table, her anger was rising, and with it, her power.

Gamma system came into focus, the stalemated war Irene spoke of earlier was visible through the eyes of The Swarm. It was over, all the Swarmlings had bowed to a strange creature, that was looking up towards an eye on a hive smiling.

Nasagori's face filtered into view again, only it was different, his hair was like Irene's, comprised of many sectioned insect legs, and his skin and turned cockroach brown, save for the left side of his face, which remained as it always was.

The strange entity on Gamma spoke.

"I promised my people rule over the system, and today I deliver. Now I promise that tomorrow we shall regain our rightful place as the secret overlords of the galaxy."

Nasagori could be seen again, the labcoat was there, but chitinous armor had grown over it in places. His hands had become claws, and great wormlike extensions came out of his back. Once more, his left side was still human, but less so, for citinous plates grew in places here and there.

"I have watched and guided you for years, and under the banner of the true god of Chaos, Malal, I have given you strength beyond any other. No longer do you need to fear The Swarm, but fear what will happen to you if you fail to meet expectations."

The bottom, Nasagori's legs had become thin and spindly, insect legs.

Irene's claws had by this point raked very deep grooves in the stone table she sat at.

The viewpoint on Gamma zoomed in on the speaker, as Nasagori faded into view once more, and both were on in the same person, except now Nasagori had grown a tail. How he had ceased to be human was anyone's guess, but he wasn't Swarmling Either.

"For I have been given the power to assault The Swarm's Overmind directly, and have ripped from it, the power of three of its six Cerebrates known as Hive Tyrants, even now they fly to my side. That which I cannot control, by divine order, I will destroy, and take from the four false rulers of Chaos, their precious swarm they created as one. Soon shall The Consortium live again, and this time, with the power of The Swarm as our weapon, none shall oppose us. Irene Kerrigan, I know you can hear me. I give you this promise. become my bride, and give me your broods, and I shall spare your life. This promise I, Dr. Yamato Nasagori, President of the colony of Gamma, make to you directly." Nasagori said, finishing his speech. Before him legions of Swarmlings cheered along side legions of human soldiers. He was the president Irene had spoken of earlier, yet she

Irene was crackling with energy, both Psionic, and Chaotic. Reason had vanished from her eyes, only volumes of anger replaced it.

"THAT BASTARD!" she screamed, and slammed her fists down on the scarred table with such force that it crumbled to pieces. She stood and ran towards the door, pausing only long enough to turn to Galvenor.

"I'm taking a leave of absence, and I'm not taking no for an answer." she growled, her voice becoming vastly different in her anger than it normally was, echoing upon itself and becoming distorted, as though coming from four different sources at once. Her power had risen so greatly, that the walls had begun to bleed red Chaos energy.

She turned and ran down the hallway. A wingless imp had the unfortunate luck of getting in her way, as was evidenced by its flight into the cafeteria and into the back wall where it made an unsightly indentation at the point of impact.

And then, she was gone from the white tower, anything, or anyone in her way had been obliterated and thrown to the side. Irene was not herself anymore, she had gone berserk, but not completely, and while completely berserk, her powers and physical strength were exponentially greater than at any other time.

OOC: So, withdrawing from this thread, for how long, I don't know. Obviously this leads to Dissention, after which I'm taking a small break from NS.

"I think that means there's more than the usual amount of trouble some place" Khatt remarked quietly looking after Irene.

Marcus and Kyle say in the background at their own tables watching the insane display the stranger was making. Marcus had thought he ate a bad mushroom while Kyle just thought he was loco. They both waited for Galvenor to take control of the situation, one of them dreadfully hoping the loony didn’t try to become a wolf.

Galvenor stood by watching to see how his Instructors would take control of the simple situation and was pleased with the way Marvel handled the newcomer. He felt relieved in his choice of the illusion generating gargoyle/demon to be one of his faculty and partially based his decision on his ability to interact with people.

Galvenor waited a bit longer to allow Marvel to settle the stranger down before speaking.

“Back to the topic at hand, as soon as Chaz returns with his report, we will determine the proper ceremony to have and then hold a funeral in her honor. We will then return her body to her own world.”

This was about the time Irene “freaked out”. He felt the out lash immediately and placed a protective blanket over the other students in the room so they would not suffer the overload he expected. His mind shields held easily and filtered most of the harmful pulses out of the erratic and uncontrolled psionic assault. As she hurriedly left the room Galvenor shot her a psionic message carefully calculated to break through her confusion harmlessly. “Don’t be afraid to contact the Balrogga Empire if you need help. They should lend assistance if you ask.”

Galvenor knew he was needed here to oversee the School but there were seven other Advisors who were his equal back home. If the Swarm requested assistance he felt The Warlord would help.

Though muted, Zena still felt the twinges of absolute rage that poured from Irene. "I don't see this ending well for anyone on the pointy end of that tantrum."
"I don't see it ending well at all." Mali sighed.

Aozora giggled. "Ooh, it seems almost as if her mind is perhaps even more warped than mine. Almost, of course, for were my mind a mirror, it would play tricks the likes of which the most twisted of trick mirrors are unable to concieve." He thought a moment, and muttered something to himself, and seemed to pretend to write something on his hand. "But anyway, anyone mind revealing to me the specifics of her...tantrum, as this most lovely of maidens put it?"

"Quite frankly," the demon-no-more chimed in, "I don't see it ending well for us unless we do something to stop Malal. When a godling gets too big for its britches, the underworld burns its own. You heard them: they want it all. I'll take a lot of deals, but that's not one of 'em. I say we field a contingent and help Irene and her people."

Drai'lee had vanished for a second, that had felt too entirely like her Aunt there for a moment, and being not there to catch that ones eyes was usually the only safe thing to do.

"I'd probably be a greater hazzard than any sort of help unless the elements are available for me to tap into" She said softly.

"What we saw," Marvel said, turning to Heyawhora, "was some godling popping out of the ether with a henchie who'd sold his soul. They were out to take over all of creation, starting with Irene's people--that's as in 'war against the Universe.'

"You'd probably like it there, dude," he continued. "The way these things work, it wouldn't be long before you were the sanest one in their little reality."

"...and how do you propose to fight a Godling with a bunch of students who has yet to even begin classes? I do not mean to insult any of you, this is something it seems nobody has bothered to bring up yet in this conversation."

Galvenor's tone was not insulting in any way. The Ta'Nar did noy believe in Gods because they have yet to find any that could not be killed and Mortality was not part of the "divine package deal".

Aozora blinked at Marvel. "Well now, I find that rather mildly offensive. Sanity is so very droll..." He glanced at Galvenor and grinned. "The best way to learn is experience, I always say. Theres something to be said about, shall we say, field training."

"Field training is great, but if that's all you've got, you're screwed. If you can get things in theory and have practice in a controlled setting, you're much more likely to succeed in the real world. At least, that's my view on things." Josh scowled at Aozora. "Someone really should fix that wall." He muttered, walking to where the poor imp had nearly been killed by a raging Irene and running his hand over the various cracks, dents, and dings, causing it to "heal."

Aozora grinned widely. "Have you ever been in a war mate? There is very little that can prepare you for the realities. All the training in the world falls apart in your first battle, everything that was drilled into your mind draining out the second you're covered in one of your squad-mates blood and brains. When it comes to war, and from what I'm hearing thats what it is coming down to, field training is by far the most important. You can spend hours honing your body, filling your mind with tactics, but how does that truly prepare you? When you're training, they don't tell you about sitting in a trench with your squad, and then the bullets begin to fly, and the man sitting next to you, why, his head explodes, and you're covered in pink confetti!" He gave another of his high pitched giggle. "And thats when you realize, either you end someone elses life, or you yourself end up as the party ball. Bullets are flying everywhere, a grenade gets tossed in blowing half the squad to shit. Oh, but some of them aren't dead, are they? No, but they will be soon...a man doesn't easily survive missing an arm and a leg..." He said this all cheerfully, and was in a giggling fit by the end.

"...but if you are trained how to use your weapons you can fight back and save your life."

Galvenor hoped everyone would get the idea soon.

"A well honed blade will serve you better than a dull butterknife on a battlefield. Knowing how to uuse that rocket launcher will vastly improve your odds of survival."

"Speaking as a former member of the Underworld Army, SmashMouth Infantry Division, I favor Galvenor's approach. You don't forget your combat magic in the trenches--if you want to live."

The demon whirled as he finished speaking, and spun his flattened hand in a semicircle. Immediately, the Concussion Wave spell took shape, tossing an empty table into the far wall with such force that it remained embedded there. Then, he curled his fingers in a Time Reversal spell, and the table and wall returned to their original forms.

"I don't like to teach those spells because they have too much potential for abuse--but I can show you how to minimize their effectiveness. This knowledge saved my life more than once--because the training didn't vanish on the battle field."

Galvenor

Galvenor felt a stirring within his mind through his Ta’Nar Link.

Yes Warlord?

I want you to investigate this Swarm incident.

But what about these students? They are not ready for this level of combat?

If they think they are and survive then they were correct. Let them decide and if they are wrong then it is their fault.

Yes Warlord.

Galvenor focused his awareness upon his surroundings again and watched the debate a little before interrupting. “If you believe you are ready to risk your lives in a war I will not stop you. You are taking your fate into your own hands and nobody will be responsible for what happens to you other than yourself. If you decide to go then we shall.”

Marvel's face seemed to darken.

"We would need...time to prepare. Those who go would have to learn to work together, to share spells. I'd have to brush up on my combat skills--I haven't been involved in a major scrum in centuries. I'm a little rusty. I'm sure I'm not the only one."

Aozora grinned. "Ooh, I want in. I don't know very much in the way of magic yet, though what I do know is mostly centered on combat. I do however, know how to fight normally. I come from a very uncivilized place you understand. Petty arguments between neighbors have a tendency to start world wars in my home, and theres always a need for soldiers, so there really isn't a "legal recruitment age"."

"Galvenor!" came a voice from the back of the cafeteria. It sounded a little bit like the good witch from "Wizard of Oz." "Don't let him go!"

It was, of course, Angelica. With her arm raised and her wings spread, her petite form almost looked formidable.

"Do you know why he came to this school? He can't control his magic! You've all seen what has occurred when he tried to teleport even a short distance within these walls!

"Unless you can help him to overcome this deficiency--to accomplish what he came to this school for--he stands no chance in combat. The spells he uses are but the simplest of magics, and each is deeply flawed. Any mage familiar with those spells can easily defeat them!

"Take him in, Galvenor! Show him how to become the mage he desires to be! Or hold him here. But don't send him to war as he is now! We don't--I don't want to lose him!"

By now, Marvel was staring straight at her, with a look of disgust on his face.

"I love you, too, dear," was all he said.

Who would bother with a cat in a busy metropolis like the city of Blanquigradd? The steam cars continued through with their drivers, the massive steam-powered monorails crossed the skies, making a gigantic web-like ceiling over the towering skyscrapers that were risen from the ground, and their trains went back and forth as people resumed their duties, and the zeppelins and blimp continue making their way through the skies towards one of the many aerodromes in the city, or towards other cities. The bricks of the industrial and Victorian era styled houses and buildings were adorned by propaganda posters of peace, where muscular workers stood next to idyllic sceneries and symbols of science and technology, where gadgeteers stood next to automatons and their other inventions, and also propagandas of war, where workers and machines fought against witchcraft, the bourgeoisie and the noblesse of foreign lands, where the black hammer, symbol of both revolution and technology, crushed the golden scepter, symbol of reaction and magic. Everyone walked around wearing gas masks, due to the ghastly smog that covered the city skies, and strange machines could be seeing doing both mundane chores and parlor tricks. Everything seemed extremely orderly, although there was no police to the sight.

Chaz, in his visit to this strange world, would notice something peculiar, something very, very peculiar for the implications behind. Although the poster affixed to the wall of a bakery was written in Russian, the full-body photograph of Yelena was visible in it, and it had all the peculiarities of a "Wanted" poster. Strange however, was how the photograph showed Yelena with two entirely natural arms, with no visible difference between both like what has been seen before.

The cat would probably not be able to read it, but it the writing over the poster was equally strange, considering the circumstances, and perhaps they liked to write longer than most regarding Wanted posters:

WANTED ALIVE: Yelena Praskovya

Yelena Praskovya has been not only a reckless, dangerous practicer of counter-revolutionary magic whose very existence alone threatens the future and equality of our people, but also responsible for inciting the enemies of the people to treason and for advocating the destruction of the Soviet State to replace it with a government of witches and bourgeoisie ruled by her own absolute rule as a self-proclaimed queen, and a society ruled by magic, tyranny and the domain of the select few over enslaved workers. With the help of her equally guilty father and mother , Mikhail and Roza Praskovya, and of the traitorous and vile necromancer Ivan Berezovsky, Yelena staged a coup attempt into the Forestlands of Western Soviet Steam, leading to the death of fifty thousand innocent lives before we, the proletariat, have managed to thwart such vile monstrosity from ruining our glorious nation. If you find Yelena, do not engage her, for she is extremely dangerous to those not trained to fight against magic, but instead contact the Intelligence Commissariat Witch Hunters, and be ready to give in her location.

Had Chaz been able to read it, it was clearly difficult to differentiate truth from lies in such information, although it clearly was not entirely honest. Stranger however would be future realizations, as no clues, no reports or informations would ever be found about Yelena's first death and funeral. In fact, the more he would search, more he would find clues to something that contradicted everything that already happened. And what instead he would read regarding Yelena in this strange nation would not be very pleasant.

-------------------------

"No, don't kill my son! I thought you were my best friend!" a desperate voice shouted from behind cold iron bars, a despair of seeing the extents through which power could change people, the extents through which people would go to ensure their future. To ensure what they believed in would succeed.

"I never asked," a woman said coldly, dressed with white pants, shirt and shoes rather than in a sinister black cloak, "I never asked for you to ask too many questions and know too much that your knowledge would lead me to be tortured for months until being brainwashed into a mindless slave for them!"

"But... I swear I will not tell them! I swear, please!" the woman ignored the cries of the her best friend, as she snickered and with a scowl, answered back immediately:

"You have always placed the Soviet as more important than our friendship Alina, far more important that you would immediately denounce me, ten years ago! And then I would die were not the help my father gave. I would have died because of you! Because you think that people must be forced to conform with standards, even it means suppressing things we have no control over. What is next? Will every person with intelligence far above the average be murdered because they are a..." she grabbed a syringe from a pocket, from where a transparent liquid stood, "a threat, a threat to the people?"

The woman crawled in fear, coiling into the corner of her cell, her mind almost broken from whatever ill the captor has inflicted, when the captor dragged a small sack, a sack where something struggled, something as large as a human children. The woman was crying very loudly, begging for it to not happen, but the captor seemed to give no ears to such suffering.

"If I spare him, I'll let his life become nothing but a quest for revenge, he will... he will want to kill me, to punish me for what I had to do to ensure my future and my survival, to quench his suffering... but his entire life will be a life of suffering and hatred then," the woman smiled in a way that would seem genuine happiness, were it in different circumstances, "I will ensure he will never suffer... and besides, if you still believe in God but hide your belief from the government, children are supposed to go to Heaven... how could this be so bad?"

"Shh, don't cry, this will end soon, for I don't want for both of you to suffer unnecessarily." the twisted woman plunged the syringe over the sack and began to press it over a body, "you are going to meet him soon as well... and you'll never tire, never grow cold or weary again. Can you see it in another perspective? I am ensuring my survival because if there is an afterlife, I am going to Hell... but you, you are going to Heaven Lisa, you are a good person, it will be wonderful, and this I've done at this moment will be an insignificant speck, until... until you forget it in paradise."

The sack stopped moving, as the woman cried even harder, and shouted, in lieu of the extreme suffering:

"Why are you doing this? Why are you doing this Yelena?"

"People are forced to do terrible things, Lisa," Yelena sighed, at last letting it clear she was making a facade over such absolute coldness, "terrible things, when their survival and freedom is at stake... I try to see this in a positive light and to be as quick as possible to reduce the burden of being forced to do this... I know this is not right. Yet I don't want to die. But there are many people who want me dead, since I was born, and you helped them."

Raising a flintlock pistol, Yelena ended her misery. It was just another one from the consequences of a simple recipe: that power plus friends equal traitors, something she knew quite well. Her childhood friends all ended abandoning her, they all wanted to be commended by the Party for denouncing her for something she could not stop. And to secure her future, as Yelena wanted not to live among the capitalistic and reactionary scourge beyond her nation, unlike the propaganda claimed, she had to do something else. The last attempt to crush the tyranny of the Communist Party did not succeed, and Yelena needed something more to actually claim victory against the bureaucrats, something that was very ingrained in her mind, for her personal revolution to succeed, for at last the people become free from red tape to developed any talent for the cause of the people.

"Power"

An automaton suddenly swept the dungeon, burying the corpses of mother and son, and keeping its vigilant watch over the hideout, one of many through the Forestland, the least industrialized region of Soviet Steam, and a major hiding ground for those born with the ability of magic. The motions of the landscape were stale, as a trapdoor opened, changing a patch of grass that before seamlessly connected with the others, and Yelena left, this time wearing a discrete suede uniform (http://fc01.deviantart.com/fs28/f/2008/172/3/1/31fd10f9f6e5897a667be4d72ec549df.jpg), ironically patched with the symbols of the revolution, and a heavy backpack filled with supplies. She then began to travel through the northwest, looking at her compass to guide herself. It would be a long journey, a very long one, beyond the limits of the outer lands and to the power of the central Pangaea.

Five days later, the travel continued lonely, and the forest was transition to barren land and scrub lands, hills with little vegetation, and long abandoned trenches. The outskirts of civilized world were being crossed, and ahead many horrors would await for those foolish enough to stand for too much time in such lands, specially alone. After a plain meal of jerked meat, Yelena continued walking through the barren lands, hoping that she would not be abandoned to the fates such place reserved.

"Ivan better come soon"

The sun was setting, as suddenly, like a sheet of paper, the sky folded as a zeppelin came from seemingly nowhere, and immediately Yelena picked a flare gun and shot it. The promise was kept, and thus she would finally find a place to gather power, while Ivan would seek further allies for their cause. And further pawns as well, for coups were anything but actions suitable for the innocent and gullible. In truth however, Yelena felt unsure whether it was her desire to never die, or her desire for people to be free, that motivated her actions. The rope ladder was downed, and thus Yelena carefully climbed to the zeppelin, looking at the bleached landscape below. Getting inside its gondola, she immediately looked at the frail man that was Ivan, the man who spoke with the dead. Of course there was a gigantic difference between speaking with spirits and raising zombies from their graves, but propaganda never paid attention to such details.

"Hello Ivan, I hope your travel had no misfortunes. So, from what you have surveyed, is this so called White Tower relevant?" Yelena immediately asked, as she hugged him and kissed his cheek in a gesture of friendship, there was little time to discuss trivial matters.

"I believe it will be helpful. And besides, you need a place to chill out Yelena." Ivan unfolded another hate propaganda directed towards her, "you are public enemy number one, and they are organizing hunting parties everywhere. If you remain here right now, you will be captured, sooner or later. And..." he then said in a troublesome tone, "I was never caught, but I have witnessed what they do with people like us, and you know they don't care whether you are just a kid or not if you were born with the "reactionary power". If it helps your burden... you are far more merciful with your enemies."

"I am not to be judged, Ivan." she grabbed the small propaganda leaflet and tore it apart, "they think they have no choice but to kill children because they think that magic is an evil to their perspective... wouldn't this be genocide if magic was only prevalent in a non-Russian minority?" a rhetorical question to which Ivan promptly nodded, "I had to kill children because I could not afford to let people live motivated only by vengeance against me. So, should I just accept death and let them abuse me and kill me? To then go to Hell or oblivion?"

"No, you should do what you think that is better, Yelena." Ivan replied back, "there is no greater purpose in life than our own, no angels or demons, no real morals besides the constructs of societies for rulers to control their subjects, just, just what we create, and what we do, and in the end, everything will be forgotten, for the truth is nothing and nothing is the truth." his philosophical rambling on nihilism became a bit over-the-top, but Yelena simply nodded.

"All ready to go? Do you need my help to open the portal?"

"No, relax Yelena, you are not the only one born with such gift, and we are helping them to escape persecution." Ivan nodded as he invited her to the dining room. The room was simple, covered in flat woods and with plain tables were some off-duty personell had their meals at such moment. Bringing too cups of tea, Ivan immediately sat next to Yelena, as she immediately said:

"When will we arrive?"

"Pretty soon... you can feel the reality being shaped, the laws of causality being broken right now," Ivan smiled, as he was no illiterate in science, "we seem very apt at breaking both man-made and natural laws, don't we?"

"A perfect society would need no laws," Yelena nodded.

"Then, my dear Yelena," Ivan smiled back, taking another sip of the tea, "Communism is definitively not the way to create a perfect society, I do not understand why you keep sticking to it after all, why you believe you can change it to something with more freedom than as it is. You have seen enough to know that forcing people to be equal won't work and won't be pretty."

Yelena then filled her cup with tea, to the very end, and Ivan's as well, and she could sense as they left their realm, feeling a powerful magic force everywhere around them, and an even stronger beacon forthcoming:

"Equality is not a zero sum game. Lowering almost everyone to the lowest common denominator is simply the easiest form to achieve it," she drank the entire cup, emptying it entirely, "and the most dangerous as well. Suppressing talent will lead nowhere but decay... you know about the holodomor of Provost, when the bureaucratic incompetence killed far more people than all wars we fought into. That is not what I want to achieve."

The zeppelin suddenly emerged in the outskirts of the tall hill where the tower was located, hovering over the road that led to its gates, and thus Yelena, inside the dining room, shook Ivan's hand as she said:

"Farewell Ivan. I expect to see you in a few months."

"Goodbye, I will keep you updated of anything that happens in our world, whenever I can. Yelena, I wish you good luck, and good learning."

The rope ladder was downed, and thus Yelena climbed down the land right next to the gates of the tower. Looking at it, she patiently awaited for a reception. Perhaps there would not be much fanfare, as she was a stranger after all, in a place she never saw before, but certainly she expected to find powerful forces there, as she could sense its power.

"You people keep stressing the concept of Free Will. It is their own choice to follow Irene. Any who feel they are not ready can remain here with an Avatar of mine and continue classes. Those that feel ready can follow. I will not pass judgement upon any for that is not my roll in this."

Kyle and Marcus clearly were staying behind. They each remained where they were sitting and made no movement to join the ones standing that appeared to be wanting to rush out and fight. They both knew their inability to fight and would remain here where it was safe and try to learn while the others were away.

Marvel's eyes narrowed as he looked at Angelica.

"I'm going," he said.

At the front gates Yelena patiently waited. After a couple minutes the large wooden portals began to open reveiling a small Imp hovering in the now empty gateway.

"Please follow... Take you to others..."

When the stranger began to follow the Imp, the gates closed tightly behind her after she passed. The Imp would lead her to the front doors of the Tower itself and up the steps. After a trip up the levitation chamber she would find herself standing outside the open doors of the Cafeteria where everyone was already assembled and deep in some sort of debate.

Yelena's Theme: Demonheart (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jBEZwuJjNqg)

Yelena was discrete. The strange creature led her through the tower, as she became impressed with its architectural features, with its ways which made a construction like it impossible to exist in her own land, least for the most dangerous depths of the badlands, where there would be too much in ashes and blood for its exterior to remain as pristine as at such place. Perhaps it was warning, that the places where magic was most powerful in their world were places of great danger, of lunatics so crazed for power that they would, if possible, kill millions simply to justify their might. Some among the occult circles in Soviet Steam said that mastery of magic would make one insane, as it requires knowledge of a truth so terrible that not even the toughest man would withstand it.

Of course, she never was much of a believer in such grim tales, although the fact that the most civilized and peaceful places of their world were those mostly devoid of magic was perhaps a good food for thought. Or perhaps it was just the nature of the Badlands, its volcanic mountain chains which made from much of it extremely dead, and from parts of it extremely fertile. Or perhaps it was the mysterious disease claimed to exist in its depths, which most noticeable symptoms were the total loss of hair of its victims and the heavy nauseas. Such mysterious disease was never understood, as nobody ever came back somewhat alive to be examined. Disease, death, destruction, domination and war have always been as associated with magic as with automatons and firearms. Except, that whereas gunpowder had visible applications in peace to benefit the people, most people thought magic served for only one purpose: the selfish ambitions of those born with it.

Paying some attention to the conversation at end, Yelena spotted a very exotic crowd, far beyond anything she heard about from the Kingdom of Yaga, or from the Theocracy of Perun. Focusing her attention at what seemed to be an angel talking to someone, she listened to their brief words, until finally, she decided to interrupt the chattering with proper introductions:

"Good day," she seemed fluent enough in their language, although she could not hide her Russian accent, "I am Yelena Praskovya, no gaudy title attached. I would like to learn more about conveyance, or as some call it, telekinesis and teleportation. I was born with what people call magic, not of the sort that involves speaking weird and making gestures or of the sort that involves a bunch of black cloaked figures sacrificing someone or something next to the lights of black and red candles for evil, but of the kind where I think and it happens. Thus I suppose I came to the right place, did I?"

There was a gun holstered in a belt tightened to her hip, and she certainly did not dress like the stereotypical sorcerer, psychic or whatever they were called. The place was entirely new for her, and she was still feeling dizzy from its strange elevator.

Mali's head snapped to the cafeteria doors when she heard Yelena's voice. After damaging Zena's ears with a shriek of joy she flung herself at the soviet and gripped her in a bone crushing hug. "I keep telling Josh miracles happen, and he never believes me." All sense of just how wrong this was seemed to avoid Mali like she was the plague. Once Zena regained her sense of reality, she too raced to Yelena and picked up both Mali and Yelena, the former's back cracking audibly in the process.
"You win Mali, you have your miracle." Josh threw the suicide note into the air, which smacked him in the face on the way back down. Slightly miffed that even a piece of fake paper disagreed with him, he clutched it, ashes dropping to the ground as Chaz slumped heavily onto his shoulders. "Alright, I..." He trailed off, spotting Yelena. "That raises so many questions." Josh nodded. "Don't worry, I'm getting there."

Yelena scowled when she heard a young girl's shriek, not understanding anything about why someone would suddenly seem so high, that until someone she never saw before jumped at her, nearly tipping her off to the floor until she stopped halfway from having her face crushed to it with her arms and raised back into position.

"I keep telling Josh miracles happen, and he never believes me." the young girl then said, as Yelena was trying to hold her patience, trying to first understand what was all this nonsense about.

"Wha..." before she could continue what she had to say another complete foreigner went and hugged her as well, and answered to the other:

"You win Mali, you have your miracle."

Then as they went back Yelena noticed a man talking to a cat that suddenly came from somewhere, until the man noticed her:

"Alright, I... that raises so many questions. Don't worry, I'm getting there."

Yelena sense of confusion was greater than her minor feeling of nuisance over what happened, and thus, she looked at Zena with a clearly confused expression, as she was not understanding anything, and thus she spoke:

"Excuse me ,but I have never, ever seen anyone in this room during my entire life. What the hell is this about? Is this a custom to greet strangers in your land?"

Zena laughed as she set the duo in her arms down. "Strangers? What are you talking about?" She barely pulled her hands away when a flash of light and a bang echoed through the hall. Josh's right arm fell limp and a letter appeared in Zena's right hand. Her face fell, recognizing the dirty parchment and fraying twine. "This is never good." She read it and her eyes bulged. "Read it." She said, thrusting the crumpled letter at Josh. His face took on the same expression as Zena's, slight terror mixed with dread. "Anyone who wants to follow Irene, we're leaving now." He held out his good hand, ready to bring the White Tower's troops along with him.

The conversation was as strange as Yelena may have imagined. They behaved like if somehow they knew her, but no matter how hard she tried to remember any hint of ever seeing one of them, she could not. Then, before Yelena could ask what was all this about, the woman received a letter and immediately demonstrated some shock, speaking words about someone called Irene or something, of which meaning Yelena wasn't there first to understand.

"What is happening? Why do you act like if you knew me? Who is Irene?" Yelena looked at Josh as he raised his hand and asked in an inquisitive manner, even more dazed over the subject they talked about. She was demonstrating some signs of impatience, like if something else was bothering her.

"You really don't remember us do you?" Mali asked, her voice wavering as if holding back immense distress. "Perhaps Galvenor should explain, he's better at this than I am."

"Apparently people come back from the dead, some more than once." Josh scowled. "Irene is a student here. She wanted to learn to control her magic so she could better lead her people, who have called her away because she is needed to quell a war."

Drai'lee stared at the reborn Yelena, and confusion spread across her face. She didn't understand it, but she was happy enough that she had come back to life.

However she was more intent on making a decission. Her wings seemed to droop, as she hovered in mid air and spun to face Marvel.

"Please be careful Marvel! I think I'd die if anything happened to you. But I can't go, my spells are even more unpredictable than yours are, and I really only know a very few that might do in a battle."

"But hey! Every one there is something I can do" Khatt spoke up "I'm, I'm what they call an Anchor." He started around to those that were going looking seriously up at each of them, and touching them with his hand paw. "Look just think of me, really think of me, and wanting to be with me. And that will pull you back to where ever I am. And yes it's worked even through Hell"

He stopped before Marvel and looked up at him seriously "Like a friend of mine says 'Stay Gold' and don't get yourself too battered"

Somewhere down the mountain the most awful chorus of hissing and howling started up, almost as if an inhuman army was on the move...

a figure wrapped in a black cloak stepped out of what seemed like thin air. He carried a long staff with a gold inlaid headpiece[X (http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/9/96/Scepter_was.jpg/140px-Scepter_was.jpg)]. He pulled his hood back to show a human face. Male, and apparently bald. His gaze traced around the front gates of the tower. 'it looks much different in this world' he mentally noted, recalling the vision of the building from the spirit world, how he could see the magic ebbing through its structure, watching weaver spirits crawling around the structure reinforcing the aether bonds that held the towers physical structure together against the power of the magic pumping through it. Even the grounds had the signs of magic wafing up from it, showing that the entire area had been magically altered in some way. But that was in the spirit world.

He looked up at the tower, wondering if anyone had realized he had arrives. He took a few strides forward. His 8 foot frame dwarfed by the door. He shrugged and rapped the bottom of the staff on the door, waiting for a response.

After a slight pause, the great doors before the stranger began to open on their own. After the portal was open, he could see the wide courtyard with the pure white tower rising out of the center. Thick green grass covered the yard proving a soft cushion of vegetation and several trees and a small lake adorned the courtyard. Several out buildings were set against the outer wall allowing the open space between the walls and the tower to remain open.

A single Imp left the Tower, flying straight for the new arrival. When it arrived, it hovered a moment before speaking, it’s wings buzzing like golden blurs in the sunlight.

“Follow me…”

The Imp led the stranger along the same path as before when Yelena arrived and would also find himself standing outside the cafeteria doors after the memorable ride up the Levitation Shaft.

He looked around, taking in the sights with admiration. He hadnt seen a structure like this in a very long time. His staff clicked with his pace as he strode, keeping up with the Imp. He looked into the caffateria with a smile. He hadnt had a decently cooked meal in days. Though he could survive in the spirit world without food, in the mortal realm the hunger pulled at him fiercly. He could feel the feral urge to hunt and kill churning within him but he had grown experienced with keeping it in check. Long ago he had mastered the techniques of his brethren wolves. None the less it relentlessly chewed at his resolve. His peoples greatest power was also their curse.

He regarded the imp, speaking in slow english, his accent was a strange mix of scottish and egyptian. "Who do i report to?" He asked the imp, looking in at the assembled party. He rolled his shoulders visibly, a soft pop comming from his body. He began to walk purposefully into the room, his gaze was firm but at the same time seemed nice.

Already tense with the anxiety of having the swarm's war so (relatively) close to home, Joshua leered at the lycan as he entered the cafeteria. "Another new arrival. Where do these people come from?" He took the oportunity to repair his mechanical arm. Routing a teleportation spell through it apparently wasn't his best idea. After a few moments of light shining from his sleeve, he raised the arm. "Better, but still in need of some work. Now who are you?" He directed the last part toward the newcomer as anxiety turned to curiosity. He clearly wasn't human, yet he took on the appearance of one so easily.

He looked at the man who addressed him, smiling slightly. He could smell that the man wasnt human, something about him was different. "Its generally considered polite to introduce yourself when you ask someones name." he sighed. 'Do i expect any less from lesser folk' he asked himself in his head. "I am Desharzim Fredrickson, High priest of Set." He tilted his head slightly, a gesture he picked up from his time spent with his brethren wolves. "Who might you be?"

Marvel extended his hand, feeling, probing the outer surface of Yellena's mind. She was...different. Not the Yellena he knew. That would mean...an alternative...perhaps from an alternative world with a slightly different history.

"I am Marvel," he said. "Forgive us, madam. We have recently witnessed the death of someone very much like yourself. In fact, I would go so far as to hazard the guess that this person was you from an alternative universe.

"Some of us knew her better than others. Of those here, I knew her best. She and I had taken a quest together."

He turned to the newcomer. "Hello, Desharzim Fredrickson, High Priest of Set. I am Marvel and the gentleman who greeted you is Joshua. We are instructors here. We beg your pardon, but you've arrived at a rather busy moment. In addition to the death in our extended family, if you will, we have also recently witnessed a dastardly attack against one of our own. Several of us, myself among them, will be going to aid our fellow and attempt to repel this attack."

"That pretty well sums it up." Chaz yawned. The perpetually tired cat closed his eyes and fell totally limp on Josh's shoulders.
Josh began to tap his foot, impatience returning. "Now if you don't mind, we do need to get going." He set one hand on Marvel's shoulder. "Seeing as you can't teleport without the possibility of sending us into the nearest sun, I'll move us." he reached out the other while Zena grabbed his shoulder. "Anyone else want to come along? Now's the time."
Mali shook her head. "Just be careful. It is a war after all."

Yelena just went blank for a while, standing but still showings signs of being in a trance, as something beget her, something insidiously getting into the depths of consciousness, far beyond anything that could be probed by anyone nearby. At first, there was a massive, circular pool ahead of her eyes, where a liquid switched colors constantly without any visible pattern. It boiled, yet cold emanated from it rather than heat. There was a ceiling, it sometimes reached as close as touching her head, and sometimes elevated through heights beyond her sight.

Her hands shifted and twirled, as her flesh crawled under her skin, and yet she felt no pain or horror. Yelena felt sleepy, and lost all track of time. Scenes repeated over and over constantly, like if seconds were going back and forth, and all of a sudden, as she blinked her eye, she began to blink it extremely quick, like if not even a second was being functional, as if the very order of time and existence were being shattered... she could not fear as there was not even time to fear, and her consciousness seemed to forget it every time it happened, leading to a terrible paradox... until it stopped, and seemingly, the walls, floor and ceiling no longer moved... but the pool was calling, it was a voice, a voice constantly shifting between vowels in its timbre, which whispered and shouted, laughed and spoke with sadness, and made no sense:

"Ye LEH! Yelena. Jump, don't, fall back... step. Lup forward Like don't. Lulz, lold eh aahn..."

The voice lost its capability of saying complete words and began spouting gibberish. There was no malice, no goodwill, nothing at all but chaos, pure and without compromise... but Yelena could not understand why she jumped into the whirling pool of pure chaos and nothingness.

Fear, pain, despair. Yelena rarely felt them, but they have come to her with extreme prejudice. She could feel her small hands locked inside cold steel, tiny, and the pain of wounds and bruises covering her body. There was a tall, rock dungeon wall she stared at... and everything seemed taller. She screamed for help, and hear a childish voice. She could not remember anything, but the moment. Her mother was chained to the wall as a cloaked figure approached. Yelena's heart raced of fear, when the cloaked figure came next to her mother.

"Mommy..." her mother never spoke, for seemingly her tongue was cut off, and the cloaked murderer suddenly approached a knife from Yelena's mother, slowly, to provoke terror and fear... Yelena struggled against the shackles, but she was too weak for the steel to be broken, and despaired, tears flowing from her eyes, as the man continued staging the murder of her own mother next to her eyes, her wounds over the mind causing far more suffering than the physical pain.

""I am Marvel," Yelena suddenly returned to reality as she heard the voice, and her eyes focused at the unknown man as she backed off and demonstrated clear signs of stress and fear, yet she quickly tried to regain her composure, to which she somewhat succeeded, pretending that everything was okay as she listened to him and remembered the facts.

"Forgive us, madam. We have recently witnessed the death of someone very much like yourself. In fact, I would go so far as to hazard the guess that this person was you from an alternative universe. Some of us knew her better than others. Of those here, I knew her best. She and I had taken a quest together."

"I see, thank you for clearing my mind about this, but I don't believe in alternate existences," Yelena nodded to Marvel as she extended her pinky finger, a somewhat weird gesture, "but perhaps I exist... elsewhere and perhaps there is nothing really definite, perhaps truth is defined at the flip of a coin or at the roll of a dice. And I can't claim to predict such outcomes."

Yelena tried to forget, but all of a sudden her experience seemed to never have happened, although in many ways it was a poetic justice that she felt the same, exactly the same pain she has inflicted on two others for "ensuring her survival", although the experience has been far more painful in certain ways. Six seconds and she remembered again, and had immediate goosebumps. Yelena than grabbed her pistol slowly... as suddenly a feeling of extreme guilty overcame her.

But then, something began to happen right as she took it a few inches away from the holster. She began to breathe heavily, and seemingly demonstrated a feeling of pleasure in her face, while the pistol simply began to be absorbed by her flesh in a quite... unsettling manner she was not aware of, until it vanished, and she continued looking entirely normal, except that now she was extremely joyful in her expression:

"Ah, nothing is more amusing than a random teleport." she seemed disappointed as she heard Joshua. But I suppose this will have to do... it will be completely fun... won't it." something was strange with her, but suddenly she returned to something arguably more normal:

"I am coming with you... this war and this Irene... are none of my business, but I have a feeling that I may find more than death there. I can feel something that has no meaning, no sense, nihil, nothing. It is shaped by something that wishes to... claim its name, but does not follow its lack of principles and patterns. Yes," Yelena suddenly became angry, "I am no cannon fodder! Why do you think I am expendable into a suicidal quest for..." she said in a particularly strange way, like if her voice shifted pitch, "an insect."

"Wait!" she seemed average again, "but first, do you have any plan other than heading for a frontal human wave assault?" she then smirked, looking at them with no visible regard, "no worries, I can help with the Aether-zeppelin, where I will be far safer while you... get killed on the surface you are going to the Luminiferous Aether, aren't you? To the hot jungles of Venus or to fight the lizardmen of Mars perhaps? Or are we going to face giants in Jupiter?"

Then she stopped speaking, and just headed towards Joshua with a nod as she said, noticing how reality slowly fragmented for her consciousness:

"It is weird, something... I feel like if I briefly forgot a few seconds between our conversations, but I'll go. There is no other way for me to seek what I achieve, yet, I won't be picking sides in this before I get the full knowledge of what the hell is happening, so..." she then smiled brightly and jumped flamboyantly, "time for random fun, great!"

She grabbed then Joshua's hand, smiling to him as she tried to give him a passionate kiss, something he would obviously not let her do, and thus Yelena shrugged and calmed down.

"I... am sorry, there is something that I was touched by... it is not really bad, neither it cares about anything... it is just pure, unfiltered, beyond good or evil. It is just," she tried to have proper words, "Chaos... as in random, unpredictable, without purpose, or perhaps with shifting purposes, without any pattern. It is like madness... and it can be dangerous even though it has no ill intention, or any intention, but I have everything under control, so... no worries. Nevermind this philosophical rambling, I am ready to go and learn."

"I hate being rude, but I'm under the impression you're schizophrenic." Zena tried to wrap her mind around the many shards of conscience she felt within Yelena. "And that may be just the tip of the iceberg. You seem... changed, that's the word, from just a moment ago."
"She resisted your hugs like a solitary soldier against a bomb on his foot then tried to kiss me." Joshua huffed, his head still tilted away from the insane woman now touching him. "Something isn't right. But to address the concerns of a few of your alter personas, I plan on traveling to Irene directly, she will know what to do." He sighed heavily, unsure of what to do with Yelena. If he brought her with, she could be a liability. She could freeze on them in the middle of a battle, killing them all. Of course, there was the possibility that she could be their greatest asset, saving all their lives multiple times.
"Alright, let's get this over with." He closed his eyes, focusing on Irene. Flashes of light barely discernable as circles of runes appeared, then vanished, each time changing places as his magic felt it's way through until it found her and changed. It grew both in size and complexity before it seemed to form a solid base upon which anything could be built. Everyone in the White Tower who hoped to help out was pulled through what felt like a tube no thicker than a human hair before a sudden relief was felt as they suddenly stood not in the cafeteria, but next to their friend in need. "Hello Irene." Joshua greeted her, not as an instructor to a student, but as a colleague.

He smiled a bit. "I will join you in battle, my skills could prove useful." He plased a large hand upon joshua's shoulder. He glanced at the woman who seemd to speak as if mad. He regarded her slowly untill her last words, at which point he smiled.

"Fear not, you have been touched by the Wyld. A force of raw random creation. Do not fear it." He chuckled a bit, looking to the two who had identified themselves as instructors. "So where are we going? and what is the nature of our battle?" He asked, a glint of anticipation and excitement in his eyes.

He grumbled at the sensation of the teleport. He much preferred the travel techniques of his people, though this would do to save his power for the coming battle. When they arrived, he looked around, regarding everyone who had arrived with curiosity, Before he turned his attention to the area in which he was standing.

OOC: Alright, if anyone missed the memo, those going after Irene are now in THIS HERE (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=594448) thread.

Galvenor looked on as those rushing off to battle faded away via Josh’s teleport spell. He had felt it trying to take him along but it was unable to. He quickly created an Avatar to remain behind and then willed himself to where he felt Irene and the others were.

"Oh now I feel just miserable" Drai'lee said sadly, as she settled to Khatt's shoulder

"I hope every one will return safely." She looked over at Mali and the others who remained behind, and then to Galvenor.

"So what now?"

"We take our minds off what is happening. We can either work or play. Afterwards we will either play or work. I will let you chose which you do first. A third option is to sit up in the Crystal Dome and watch what is going on."

Galvenor was ready to either teach those who exercise wisdom and insight and stayed behind or to call a festival so they had something to do while waitinf for the others to return. If they chose to watch he would have the Imps set up comfortable chairs upstairs and he would conjure some viewing mirrors for them to watch. He hoped they did not chose the last but he had to offer the option.

"Part of me wants to watch, to know they are safe, or in danger, but that might not be best." Drai'lee's wings drooped more "I thhink I'd just fret over either and my decission."

She sighed and gave Galvenor a wry smile "I came to find help, to figure out how to get my majic fixed and learn to use it properly. And you are being kind enough to offer, I think I'd prefer to be about that. And then maybe when such as this happens again, I'll have something of use to offer." Her voice had firmed.

She was a very direct little fae and far prefered to be active rather than moping.

Marvel had given her some insight on to what might be her problem and she'd very much welcome Galvenor's thoughts on it as well.

"Any others wish to do a little work then? We can start learning about what weaknesses you have and how to overcome them."

Galvenor was pleased at least Drai'lee wanted to hit the books. He hoped the others would follow her lead.

"Working sounds good." Mali said, nodding. "I too would prefer to watch, but I know from experience that by watching I'll worry more." She thought she knew her weaknesses fairly well, but then again, having someone else's input is always far more valuable than your own. "Where do you suggest we work, with such a small group?" It seemed to be just a few students.

"The Library would be cozy and warm. The protections on the books make it safe enough in case there are mishaps."
Kyle sat up at the mention of the books. He loved books and had memorized all his old aster’s but for some reason he was never able to actually make anything beyond the most basic magic work. “Yes, let’s go there.”

Marcus looked up from the large hot mug of chocolate with marshmallow toppings he had just started, sticky sugary mustache on his upper lip. “Can I bring this along? I just started drinking it and it would be a crime to waste a good mug of coco.”

“Yes, if magic cannot hurt the Library then a little coco should not matter.” Galvenor’s comment was punctuated by a glare from a passing Imp as it figured it would have to clean up messes upstairs too.

Mali giggled a bit and set off. "The library does sound good." Singing softly she was unaware of flowers that fell behind her and combust upon contact with the floor. It wasn't until she skipped out of the cafeteria and looked to see if others were behind her that she noticed the ashes vanishing and stopped singing.

Angelica simply sat, sullen, wings drooping, staring down into what had been a warm, cozy cup of chamomile tea. It reminded her of Marvel now. Now, chamomile would be out of the question.

Meanwhile, she knew, he was leading some attack squadron in orbit over some forsaken world. Not for the first time, she wished that war could be outlawed.

----------------

OOC: This one's a little dry...but...the humor is there...

Drai'lee looked over at Angelica and shook her head "You Celestials are all alike - utterly selfish. You want people to be your puppets, to do what you want them to do wether it is their wish or not. "Because it's good for you" You hide it behind some facade of 'godly' but it's just your ego thinking you know best for others"

With that she wizzed out of the dining hall and was shortly in the library with Mali and the others.

"And you fae are alike, too," Angelica said quietly. "For you, 'communication' consists of you talking and others listening. You send, but you do not receive." She sighed, shook her head and slowly picked up her pen.

"Actually Drai'lee listens very well." Khatt said softly

"But you have to admit that it wasn't a Fae that put a compulsion spell on Marvel, and thus took away his free will." He looked at Angelica and shook his head "And being a goody two wing may be your cup of tea, but he loved you enough to give you up so you would be happy - and you and your little cotterie of angelic fascists do that to him."

"I'm not saying the Fae are perfect, and certainly not Drai'lee but sheesh, you don't have a lot of room to be throwing stones." With that he padded quietly out after the others.

Again, they speak but do not listen, Angelica thought. Father, be merciful with them. They know not what they do.

Mali was not oblivious to the tension around her, but rather than addressing it directly, she attempted to diffuse it, at least temporarily, by dragging the subject off species differences and onto their group. "Galvenor, what do you have have in mind for us?" She asked, truly interested.

"That is simple, everyone who stayed behind has the wisdom to recognize they had weaknesses. We will find ways to help you work on them to strengthen those areas."

"Who wants to go first?"

Mali, not typically one to go first, sighed. "Oh why not. It's best to get things over and done with than to fret and worry about them until the end."

"Whomever wishes to go must first state their percieved weakness. After that we can work on comming up with a solution."

Mali opened her mouth, let out a kind of weird nervous moan, closed it and tried again. "I can see what I want, and how to get there, but actually doing it another thing. And if that doesn't happen to be the issue, it's either that I can't control the spell and it ends up too weak or too strong, or I plain don't know what to do."

Drai'lee and Khatt sat watching intently, they were sure that Galvenor's working with Mali would be of help to them too, as their problems were somewhat similar.

As they sat there, Angelica joined them, book and quill floating in the air in front of her.

"Interesting, actually that is a common problem that all mages experience at some time in their career. What else is there?"

Marcus shyly spoke from the back.

"I, um, kinda have this thing that happens to me when I see wolves. Even dogs scare the crap out of me. I am sure glad there are no pet dogs here, only nice cats and Khatt."

Kyle remainded quiet as he read through a book but still paying attention. He was quickly turning pages almost like he was paging through but he could read an entire book within an hour and still retain the memory of every word within the tome. That was his curse, he knew too much but he was not aware of it so didn't speak out.

"Marcus," Angelica asked, "was there some event from your life that may have led you to fear dogs and wolves?"

OOC:

I have found a kludge that allows me to post in these forums again. Thanks to my friends for all their help.

When the beautiful winged girl spoke to him, he blushed a brilliant shade of embarrassment. Pretty girls just don’t talk to country folk like him and he suddenly felt every eye on him.

“Um…” he began but then had to clear his throat. “When I was little, wolves got my...” He swallowed the lump rising in his throat. Even this long after it was hard to talk about it. His gaze sunk to the floor and he remained quiet for a few seconds.

“I mean, my parents were…” He had to stop again not quite finding the words and also being able to say them. Tears began to well in his eyes and he felt one burn down his cheek and had to take a deep breath in order to quell a sob. Unable to go on, he simply fell silent. It was clear that wolves killed his parents but there was something else there that he was unable to mention.

The book in front of Angelica vanished in a little puff of white smoke. Slowly, carefully, she walked up to the young mage and, very gently, put her hand on his shoulder.

"It's alright," she said. "You can tell us. I'll give you the strength." As she spoke, for a moment, her halo glowed bright.

It was not so much a spell she was casting as an aura of peace, calm and safety that she gave off. It didn't make one feel invincible so much as that one was among friends.

OOC:

While you're calling her a fascist, the thing you forgot was that she's the one who took the Glamour of Evil off of Marvel in the first place, turning him from Evil--and Big Father punished her for it by turning her into a MRGD herself. That is how she came to be Marvel's wife. When he first turned from Evil to Good, she taught him how to stay on the Righteous Path.

She's not so much a fascist as a crusader. She's big-hearted and bold--and that's why she's one of the most troublesome of Heaven's Heavenly Scribes. They're supposed to OBSERVE, but she INTERVENES.

OOC: Ah, but Drai'lee and Khatt don't know all that - just what Marvel and Angelica have said in their presence and what the pair have witnessed. And putting a compulsion on him ( well on any one ) is a huge no-no in Drai'lee's book { and even more so in Khatts, as he's been under one before} And Khatt knows an Angel or two besides Angelica, so he has some standards to measure by.

The Fae believe that 'Big Father' is pushy and antiFae anyways

________________________________________________________

Drai'lee looked surprized as Angelica moved to help Marcus. Hadn't expected it of the busy body. She could understand his fear. Hungry things with big teeth...well most animals were bigger than the Fae and weren't always turned aside by majic. But animals just ate you.

There are worse things out there[/i] Drai'lee shivered to herself. And some of them claim to be relatives.

Mali momentarily contemplated knocking that stupid halo off of Angelica's head but resolved to simply loathe her. This was a place to learn, and she acted as if she already knew everything. "Marcus, it's alright. Memories may be painful, but they make us who we are. If you've tried to hide the memory away, it's going to be covered in barbs and spines, it will hurt, but once you share it, give that little piece of yourself to someone else, it gets better. We don't need exact details if you don't want to share them." She smiled gently. She'd always thought of magic as a last resort. It's worth knowing, and well worth mastering, but if you can achieve the same effect without any special power, that's true magic.

OOC:

Brothers,
Uncork
More
Posts!

Marcus’ face went white with fear and his eyes rolled back and he collapsed in a heap on the floor.

“Well, that was useful…” Galvenor started saying as he stood to go to the boy’s aid when he was interrupted.

Grey light seemed to begin radiating from his unconscious form and he rose slightly in the air. Energy arced from his body to each of the ones in the room and everyone suddenly found yourself lost and alone in another world. It was winter here and the snow crunched beneath your feet as you trudged through the snow. Nearby firelight could be seen through the trees. Overhead a fading crescent of a moon shone through the gathering clouds.

You stood in the snow wondering what the hell just happened and where you were when the howling started. Rushing through the deep snow and the fir trees, you tried to reach the supposed safety of the fire but judging from the numerous calls, there were many wolves closing in from everywhere. Familiar shouts from the direction of the firelight drew you toward the safety almost as urgently as the howls behind you pushed you forward. Needles raked across your face leaving scratches as they seemed to try clawing your eyes out when you suddenly broke through them into sight of your home where mom and dad were frantically calling out for you. Running across the clearing you rushed into the warm safe arms of both your parents. You were safe from everything evil and terrible you could imagine and even forgot about the howls that chased you through the darkness, the only thing you could hear were the loving cries and the two beating hearts of your parents.

Then mom screamed.

Looking up at her beautiful face marred with terror you followed her gaze to the tree line where you had moments ago tore through to see huge black and brown shapes erupt from the cover. Red firelight glinted from eyes that were completely inhuman as they tracked toward the three of you.

“Run, I will hold them off,” shouts your dad as he grabs a burning brand from the nearest fire with one hand while pushing the two of you toward the safety of the log cabin. Mom screams desperately to him, “come with us dammit, we need you!”

“No, they will get us all if I do, now Run!”

Mom grabbed your hand and rushed toward the thick walled cabin. You could only stumble as you watched the Worgs circle your father and the fire he kept at his back. Mom ran toward the cabin but came up short half way there.

“No!”

She changed direction and ran away from the front door. You looked to see what she was terrified of and saw more of the Beasts already arriving at the front of the cabin, cutting off the path to safety. She ran to the shed built a few feet away from the back of the cabin and again stopped short. The snow and ice had frozen the door shut and there was no time to seek safety within. She picks you up and shoves you toward the roof where you could barely reach.

“Marcus my son, pull yourself up and I will get another brand to keep them away from you. Whatever you do, don’t come down from the roof. Promise me son.”

“No mom, no. I want you and dad up here too.”

“We don’t all get what we want, do we?”

“But mom…”

“Shush, listen to your mother and do as I say.”

"But..."

"Whatever happens, remember we both love you."

You felt her leave you and rush away toward the nearest fire. The growls and barks of the Worgs fill your ears as they rushed after her. As one tries to jump up and pull you down, its claws tearing great rips in the back of your leys. The pain washes over you and you barely pull yourself free of the beast onto the roof. You turn to see your mom beginning to be surrounded by the remainder of the pack like your father did moments before. The shouts and yells of your father could still be heard over the baying of the Beasts as they milled around him, staying out of reach of the swinging firebrand he used to keep them away.

Panicking, your mom tries to make a rush through a gap in the incomplete circle her attackers were still trying to complete. Taking the torch she grabbed out of the bonfire she ran to the sidewall of the cabin and put her back against it. The Worgs followed and make a semicircle around here while she began to swing wildly at them. Three lunged at her from one side, distracting her while a fourth pounced on her newly exposed back. The torch went flying to land in the woodpile next to the cabin while the pack surrounded her, tearing bits of flesh out of her as she screamed like you never heard before in your life. The screaming continues seemingly forever until it ended with a sickening gargle as her throat was torn out and she finally suffocated on her own blood. The Beasts continued feeding while you watched, helpless atop your wooden pedestal only a few feet away.

“Sylvia! Nooo!”

Dad picked up a second brand and holding one in each hand tried to go to her aid. He made it halfway before the pack brought him down and he dies screaming under a blood speckled blanket of black and brown fur. You were able to see the whole thing from your perch atop the shed from the light of the fires. The torch accidently flung into the woodpile caught hold of the chopped fuel and soon the cabin was aflame too, illuminating the whole place in eerie light making the white show look orange, except where mom and dad were torn apart. The pack were now circling the shed where you were sitting, the burning tear marks on the backs of your legs reminding you this was not a dream. One of the larger Worgs walked forward out of the group.

“What are you waiting for manchild? We will get you too. Your Pack Leader and his She-Bitch have already filled our stomachs. You will join them soon, when you least expect it. We will remember your scent and track you for the rest of your life. Right now you are nothing more than a swallow or two, when you grow a bit and fatten up we will return. Hopefully your scrawny fur will keep you warm until morning.”

The Worg pack leader made a funny snorting sound that reminded you of laughter.

“Don’t freeze on us, we expect you to survive so we can eat again.”

With a growl, he turned and entered the rest of the pack which moved aside for him. With a chorus of howls, they ran off into the darkness. You lay on the rooftop, crying for mom and dad wishing the cold would take you but the heat from your blazing home kept you alive. The last thing you saw a hunting party from your neighbors riding into the clearing. Darkness finally took you into its tortured dreams…

Suddenly everyone found themselves back in the Library again. People stood looking around wondering what just truly happened. Kyle whistled to himself from where he sat stunned.

“Wow, I never thought I would see a Wyrdling, it takes a lot of magic to do that. I have only read about them in my old Master’s oldest books.”

Marcus still lay on the floor, unconscious.

"Ohhh, the poor, poor boy!" Angelica exclaimed. Eyes wet with tears, she bent over and gently placed a hand on his shoulder again. Again, her body began to radiate a warm, healing glow.

"Awaken, my dear boy," she said. "You are among friends now. We will not allow you to come to harm while we are able."

Mali was torn between the horror of the event she'd just witnessed, concern for Marcus, and hatred toward Angelica. "You can't do anything without magic can you?" She half accused. "There are some things a person should recover from naturally." She turned her attention back to Marcus and kneeled down beside him. Gently, she took his hand smoothed the hair from his face, the way her mother had always done. She didn't realize until later just how much she'd picked up from her. With her drunkard father, she'd had to look after her younger siblings and though her mother possessed great power, she rarely used it with her children. Sometimes the best thing was simply another person being there helping in the most ordinary of ways.

"But, dear, it is natural," Angelica protested. "I give him strength. I do not force him."

"Natural for you, but not him. Have you ever let someone heal naturally or do you always butt in?" Mali really didn't like her. Angelica was clearly one of those people who always knew what was best for everyone and always had to be a part of whatever was going on.

"But he is healing naturally!" Angelica protested. "There is nothing unnatural about what I'm doing! And, kindly tell me, was it too much 'butting in' when I removed the Glamour of Evil from Marvel's soul and turned him from the Dark Path? Is it too much to ask that those who are Good do something to prevent the spread of Evil?"

----
OOC: Angelic magic works with--is derived from--the forces of nature. Because of this, not only is it the least painful/most pleasant to use of all forms of magic, but it is also one of the most potent, and will work when most other forms don't have enough of a magical spark to set them in motion.

"Naturally would mean on his own. You're influencing." Mali snipped. "As for Marvel, I'm not going there. It's entirely personal choice. Maybe he liked that path and wanted to stick with it. Perhaps he even misses it but because you changed him, he can't go back. Did you ever think of that? Clearly not because you always think you're right."



OOC: That's all fine and dandy, but explaining it to us doesn't explain it to her. Also, good and evil mean jack to Mali. She personally leans toward good, but is pretty well neutral in that if someone good picks a fight with someone not so good, she'll bash their skulls in just as hard as if it was the other way around.

"Who died and made you capable of reading my mind?" the Angel asked, her voice starting to rise. "And who are you to define for the entire world what 'natural' is? Did you ever think that it might have been by his choice that I did what I did? Did you think that he might be able to 'go back,' as you call it, any time he so desires? No--because, despite what you may claim, it is you who must always be right! It is you who must be the world's foremost expert and know everything about everyone! So don't go lecturing me on how I'm arrogant--it's the height of hypocrissy!"

-----------

OOC:

Fine--but even an Angel can get pissed off. :) :) :)

"What you are doing may be commonplace for you, but who said it's common for him?" Mali pointed at Marcus. "And I have no idea what happened with Marvel, nor do I honestly care. That's between him and you. From what I've seen, you can't do anything without showing off your abilities. First you tried to soothe Marcus with your power, now you act as if he isn't strong enough to recover on his own." Through all this, her voice stayed even. Oh it was quite clear she was ready for a showdown, but she kept level headed, knowing that Angelica would be losing focus as she lost her temper.

"I'm trying to help, unlike some people here who just stand around and snipe at those around them," Angelica shot back. She reigned in her powers. If he was going to heal, what she had done would be enough to help it along.

OOC: Taken from the end of my last post in the "Dissention" thread:

IC:

Marvel stepped into the White Tower, in the best shape he'd been in in years, and with a new belt buckle that had a big 'S&M' in its center...and instantly put up a spell that jammed all telepathy set against his mind. Looking around him, he saw Khat standing there in front of him. He was in Dra'gon La'dee's room, and she was sound asleep.

"Anybody for a nice, big boo?" he asked--though he was deliberately quiet, not to scare them out of their sleep.

OOC: As explained in Dissention, Xos and company will only gather here, maybe visit a few days, then depart. They have business to take care of elsewhere.

IC:

A man appeared outside the gates to the tower without anything betraying his appearance. His robes were solid white at the moment, and his hood was over his face. His beard almost reached his waist.

An imp rushed out to great him and open the gate, but paused in fear after he did so.

"YOU!" the imp said, shocked.

"Yes, me. I have returned for my things, events of great importance are underway." the old man said.

The imp opened the gate quickly, and the old man walked in.

"I see Galvenor's redecorated. Take me to the hall of artifacts. More specifically, take me to the tome of The Magi-Masters." The Old Man said.

"Uh, yessir." The imp said.

Minutes later, the old man was before an ancient volume encased in glass and surrounded by multiple protective spells, in addition to any Galvenor may have placed around the volume.

"Book. Come to thy master." The old man said.

The book deactivated its own protections and ghosted through the glass, coming to rest on the old man's hands.

"Who are you?" an imp demanded from behind the old man.

He turned to the imp, letting his robes resume their normal look. It was difficult to tell if they were black with white symbols, or white with black symbols, the symbols being a merge between magic, and science. The same went for his pointed hat, gloves, and boots. A gold ring with a diamond, Ruby, Emerald, and Sapphire adorned his finger.

"I am Xos Xilanthes, the owner of this tome. I left it in Galvenor's care the day I departed so that he might use it as an educational aid when the time came. Now I have need of it again for the moment." the old man said.

The Old Man opened to the first page, adorned with a massive written spell in runes, seals, and sigils. He pressed his hand to it and activated it. A summons departed for far away locations. Soon, others would arrive.

His task done, he put the book back, and found his way to the cafeteria where Angelica and Mali had been previously left arguing.

"It is done Galvenor. After they arrive and rest up, we shall depart henceforth for Warhaven where our Tower lays hidden East of The Sun, West of The Moon, North of Heaven, and South of Hell. We cannot arrive there though, unless all eleven of us depart together." Xos said to Galvenor's other avatar as he took a seat nearby.

Despite visibly seeing the immense energies in his body, none would get more than a barely noticeable blip from the venerable wizard when it came to sensing just how powerful he was. Aside from Galvenor, Xos realized no one there knew who he was.

"Pardon me, I am an old friend of Galvenor's. My name is Xos Xilanthes." he said, and left it at that as he addressed everyone else in the room. No sense in tooting his own horn and boasting of his power, Historians did that enough for him.

Galvenor stopped the girls from arguing.

“There is nothing we can do for the youth; he will have to recover on his own. A Wyrdling takes a lot out of an experienced mage, his was done purely instinctual. It is rather amazing it did not kill him…”

Galvenor trailed off before remembering where he was.

“I suppose you don’t know what a Wyrdling is. It’s a very rare ability that so far has only manifested in great mages. It is a complete sharing of the experience. It is not sharing the memories but reliving them as if you were there yourself in his place. Many people usually suffer traumatically from the event so please monitor yourself very closely. I would not be surprised if any of you picked up his phobia or even forget his parents were not your own. In reality, they were and you might remember their deaths like he has to. That is why the ability is not taught, it can pose too great of a hazard to those around the wielder.”

“I am curious as to how Marcus acquired it though…”

He was interrupted by the entrance of Xos.

Mali gave Angelica a nasty smile, knowing full well that Galvenor probably saw it. "Latent gifts pop up all the time." She offered to their teacher. "For example, I'm the first bardess to show up in my family for nearly seven centuries, and the first with any magical ability for more than three." Zena's near perfect memory was something like what Marcus had done, so the aftereffects weren't as strong as they would have been to someone who had never seen something relived before. Still, she couldn't help taking a quick glance around the room looking for wolves.

Before she could continue, the flash of light from Josh's teleport made her see stars. "I'll fix the floor later." Josh shot at anyone nearby as he headed to his room. He had a few letters to write.

"What...?" Mali was cut off. "Don't ask. He's blocking any attempt I've had to figure out what's going on." Zena sighed. "And that was a particularly long trip through Limbo." She still had the book tucked between her stomach and forearm as she sat down next to her friend. "Hey there Xos." Zena said to him as if greeting an old friend although perfectly aware of his power. Mali gave her a confused look before looking to Galvenor then Xos himself.

Josh contemplated using the ring he'd been given to sort this out here and now. "No, I'll save that for later." He set out five sheets of paper on his desk and placed five pens at their heads, allowing them to work at their own pace and inspecting them as they wrote his letters. He placed his ring in a locked drawer at the back of his desk, putting a few extra layers of security over it to keep the ring out of the wrong hands.

Xos looked at Mali.
"We've met before. We'll likely meet again. Might I ask what the current topic of discussion is?"

Marvel felt the spells unwind as the book undid them. He felt the book move through the halls. It was dead, but it was magical--someone with almost no power to speak of was moving something with a lot of mojo.

His sense of paranoia already enhanced from his time in the Angels' archive (time? Actually, time had stood still while he was in there--it was a characteristic of the building), Marvel decided he was going to have to see what was going on for himself. So he teleported straight into the room, gaudy belt buckle and all.

There, not to his particular surprise, stood Xos and Galvenor. Angelica was also in the room. This presented an opportunity.

He swished across the room as if the intervening distance wasn't there, took Angelica gently by the arm, teleported back into his room and, as she started into a junior sermon about how irregular the whole thing was, brought down a Veil of Privacy that blocked out the whole entire rest of the world.

--------------------------------------

He had even gone so far as to memorize the reference numbers of the archive files! How he had managed to gain access was anybody's guess, but it was obvious that his magical prowess had increased dramatically since he had left. If he hadn't been so sharing, Angelica would have been petrified. Instead, he had told her a story that explained his behavior perfectly--and, for this reason, the Angel was merely frightened out of her wits.

He had defeated Apollion, the dread demon of war. He had made it look EASY. And he had SUCCEEDED the demon to become Warlord of Hell. And now, he ran a school for mages. This was most disturbing.

"But," she finally stammered, "how? What? What am I supposed to do?"

"Keep this to yourself. If anyone asked, I was just telling you that I had new Angel Armor, new powers and a new sense of purpose. Nobody will believe it, but they won't question you too hard. Then, if I don't come back from my little chat with Galvenor and Xos, get back to Big Father and get the news to them. I don't care how you do it."

"But--but--why ME? This is the kind of thing that Avenging Angels do--I'm just a scribe!"

"Because, in the library, I told the Angels that I'd inform them of my findings. And you and I both know what kind of scribe you really are. I'm banking on Big Father knowing it, too."

"But--but---."

The Veil lifted. Marvel teleported her back.

"...Might I ask what the current topic of discussion is?"

"---AAARRRRGHHH!! MEN!" Angelica threw her hands up in the air and stormed off. She was play acting so that she could get away to contact Big Father, but it was a good acting job.

Marvel smiled a sardonic smile. It was odd to see him this serious in front of friends.

"Gentlemen," he said, "I would like to discuss History with you...at your earliest convenience...in your office, Galvenor." As he spoke, he brought Shelly up into Active Mode. If this turned into a good scrum, it would be about as useful as a wind breaker in a tornado, but it looked impressive enough at the time.

"You know, I'm thoroughly unimpressed. I've seen enough angelic and demon armors in my time to fill entire worlds. So if you were trying to, in some manner impress or intimidate me, you've missed the mark by about a Light-Year, maybe more. I'll bother to measure it later.

All it does now, is tell me your expecting me to suddenly attack you for no valid reason. I have reason to believe Galvenor's in a similar boat, so why don't you turn that ridiculous outfit into standby while Galvenor takes us to his office? It wouldn't do you a lick of good anyway if we decided to pounce." Xos said, all business.

OOC: Xos put the book back, it never left the library, so I don't know where you got the "moving through the halls" part from.

Mali and Zena snickered while Xos treated Marvel like the child he always acted like. Indeed it was a funny sight to see the former allies on opposing sides.

Josh meanwhile finished reading through all of the letters. "Off you go." he said, sounding less than the semi-whimsical those words required for full effect. He tapped teach one in turn and they exploded in a shower of sparks.

Off in Sylvonia, five desks saw the same shower of sparks containing the various warnings. It looked like he letter was a small firecracker and interrupted anything they may have been working on. He only gave each person as much information as they needed. He was hoping they'd all cooperate and work out the details for themselves.

Back in the library, Josh reappeared on top of the damaged floor he'd created. He'd composed himself, hiding the terror and fury he had boiling away inside him. Kneeling down, he tapped it and restored the library to it's former glory. "What's so funny?" He asked stiffly of Mali and Zena.

Galvenor looked at the two comparing sized and shook his head. He thought Marvel had made progress but it seemed he was slipping back to his childish ways and Xos was not helping thing any. He best diffuse things now or they might surface their ugly heads later.

“Now you two, knock it off. You are both in my House and I expect everyone to be on their best behavior.”

Galvenor turned to Xos. Marvel is one of my chosen Instructors here. You telling him what to do is a challenge to not only his Authority but also mine. You will treat those within my walls with respect or you will be sleeping outside.

Galvenor turns to Marvel. “Xos is a guest and he will be treated as one. Power down that toy of yours before you blind someone that uses Magic to see. If you wish to speak with me privately, go to my office and knock when you arrive. I will be waiting.”

Turning to the others in the room, he speaks to them. “I must apologize to everyone for the disrespect you were just given. It was not my actions that caused it but it occurred within my house none the same so please forgive me the transgressions you have witnessed…”

Shelly went to Standby Mode. K'thanid was right about Xos--he was pretty clueless for someone with his level of power.

"I do not have and have never had any quarrel with you, Xos," Marvel said. If he weren't heeding Galvenor's wishes, he would have casually reminded the old sorcerer that he was the one who pulled the guy's reckless butt out of Doctor Schmuck's hungry little soul. Maybe he would indulge himself later.

The simple truth was that Marvel and Xos were, in many ways, very similar. Both of them used their mojo in ways that were in some respects scientific. The Yendorian Magical Framework had a very math-and-physics-ish bent to it. Made it work a little like Angel Magic. Saved the spellcaster tons of mojo. The stuff Marvel had seen Xos use had a similar flavor.

Still, the undemon had other things to occupy himself with. He focussed his heart and mind, teleported to Galvenor's office and ever-so-politely knocked on the door. The teleport worked perfectly, too. Looked like ol' Khornepone had been telling the truth for a change.

While he waited, he couldn't help but indulge in his little penchant for satire.

Illusionary rocks appeared in the room around him.

"So...just forgot all about me, huh?" ZAP! A "rock" turned to dust.

"Always have to bring me along and then just leave me there!" KAPOW! Another "rock" bit it.

"Who do these guys think they ARE?!?!" CRACKLE!! FIZZLE!!! Whisps of energy around the demon coalesced on the remaining "rocks" and turned them all to powder. They vanished as the office door opened.

Then, smiling his good ol' friendly smile, he looked inside and asked, "Remind you of someone?"

OOC: Relevant yet not, here is part one of the gathering of the Magi-Masters as they make their way toward the tower.

IC:

A man in white armor stood on a far away world. He was in the mountains, on a precipice overlooking a valley. He was watching a rare and exotic beast munch on the grass in the valley below.

The beast itself was solid white. It was a horse of course, but not an ordinary horse, for they're not rare or exotic. This was an Alicorn, a Unicorn with the wings of a pegasus. But this wasn't the frail gentle creature associated with innocent maidens and kind princesses, this was a holy terror, a powerfully built War Alicorn. It was one of the most regal and Majestic of all creatures, putting all others to shame.

A sound, distant and inaudible caught the man's attention as Xos's summoning spell reached him. He raised his head to look, then nodded.

"Starfire, time to go, we're needed once more." The man yelled, leaping off the side of the mountain. The startled alicorn looked up, and took to the air, catching the falling paladin, carrying him off to a gateway that had appeared in the air.

The first to arrive would be Rahegalhoff, the holy paladin and his best friend and partner, Starfire, the War Alicorn Stallion.

Yet the portal let them out very far away, so it would still be some time before they arrived. However, Galvenor and Xos could both feel his presence, though it was half a world away. Angelica, as an angel, could feel only that something extremly powerful from her own side was coming. Marvel could get a similar feeling as though an Angel of Divine Wrath, of the same sort that had annihilated Sodom and Gomorrah so very long ago, were on its way.

The rest wouldn't feel a thing, as the man was actually restraining himself. It was just those four parties that could feel something, each due to their individual circumstances.

~

On the plane of Death, an old woman wandered, as though lost. Many healers tended to the living, but few cared enough to tend to the dead as well. Such was this woman, wandering through the afterlife making each soul more comfortable in its eternal rest. Some were waiting reincarnation, others were on their way to a paradise of one sort or another, others were bound for places they were thoroughly warned about but did nothing to keep from going there.

She paused as she felt Xos's summoning, and then continued on her way, helping the spirit of an elderly woman to make it to the pearly gates, after which she would then go on her way to the tower.

~

Deep inside a Volcano on another world in another galaxy on another plane, surrounded by flowing magma, an old man pounded away at a machine of incomprehensible design. Where the heat would kill most people, including mages, this man it only empowered. As he took a break, he felt Xos's summoning. After muttering a few unkindly words not fit for written words he cast a spell on his project sealing it in a capsul barely the size of a pill and put it in his pocket. Then he leaped into the magma!

~

In the Elemental plane of water, an old man swam with Dolphins, chattering about their daily life. He felt the summons pulling at him, and so made his apologies as he swam deeper into the ocean finding a certain current to take him away.

~

Deep within a forest a ancient woman tended the ecosystem. It was no mere forest, but her Garden, and she had been tending it for thousands of years. The plants tugged at her, not wanting their mother to leave. She stopped to hug a particularly emotionally fragile tree and reassure it she'd return, then stepped into a special tree she had planted on the edge of her garden.

~

High in the elemental plane of air, an ancient woman soared along with birds on the jetstreams. Behind her trailed a gossip of teenage school girls, learning how to fly on their own without assistance.

She felt the summons and smiled, leading them to a large floating island nearby.

She sent a message to the wizard school about what she was going to do, and where she was going, after they all touched down.

"Alright, now here's your test to see if you've learned anything. Make it back to school on your own. If they have to come get you, then you fail." the elderly woman said, and disappeared as a bolt of lightning struck where she was standing.

Fortunately, no student would fail, though it would take one particularly slow learner four hours to make a twenty mile flight.

~

A man and a woman whose exact age were rather ambiguous stood at the center of the Elemental Plane of Time where a hidden temple few masters could reach, let alone anyone else, stood waiting to take the brave to the plane of madness known more commonly as The Far Plane.

"So it seems we've reached the proper moment for his call."

"Indeed, but we wait for day 2. That is our appointed time of arrival."

"Still, we must leave."

Together they walked into the temple to The Far Plane, or so it seemed.

~

Suspended over a tank filled with water, the old man wondered again why he would volunteer to let himself be dunked in a tank filled with water when he could've just as easily created the new orphanage himself. Then he saw all the young smiling faces having a good time, and got all the answer he needed. Xos's summons came, and the old man sighed.

At that same moment, a ball hit the target making him fall. He cast a spell unseen, unfelt, and unnoticed, replacing himself with the town mayor. The offical was rather surprised to find himself all washed up, but the old man was nowhere to be seen.

"I'm needed elsewhere, so it is for your own sake I leave, least something terrible happen to you by my inaction, again."

~

In the middle of a Library large enough to be an entire world sat a woman with more tattoos than a woman her advanced age should have. Each and every one of them was a Rune, a Seal, or a Sigil, and all of them were magic tattoos, placed there by her own magic. She was in the middle of writing an entire book, and having started that morning, was already halfway through the book. She sighed as she felt Xos's summons, layed down the pen, and let the book stay open to her place.

Through the labyrinthine corridors she walked, knowing this great maze by heart.

"I see you have been doing research, is that what you wanted to discuss with me?"

Galvenor turns and leads the way into his office. He gestures at the chair while he takes one near it. He picks up a teacup off the table and holds it out while the pot floated up and refilled his glass with the hot amber liquid.

"Drop the theatrics and get to the point. Drama does not work well in this office."

"To the point, then: yes, that's what I wanted to discuss. It was nice knowing you when I was a bumbling mage who couldn't cast a spell half the time and you were that benevolent presence who could show me different. It's not so nice now that I've got control of my powers and find you in charge of a place I left on less than the best of terms. Before I can work with you, I need to know who you really are, and what you're really after. I've spent my life trying to keep the balance with 'noids, demons, Big Father--the works. I'm running out of patience. I don't need another weight on the needle, and I'm a little bit pissed that you didn't let me know about this one. I'd be a lot angrier, except you've given me what I came here for. To be blunt, I don't know what to make of you.

"And I need to know what the heck you're planning on doing with the hoardes of hell. That could easily affect me. I was transferred to the Diplomatic Division before I got to that level--but I know what they're capable of. You just going to sit on them? You think they'll stand for that?"

“Well, it is good to see that you have grown, but do you know why?”

Galvenor took a sip of the hot tea before setting the bone china on the table again.

“I truly hope you will not say your Armour had anything to do with it. Does a Knight who dons a suit of armor become a better swordsman? No, they only survive longer and hopefully their skill with the blade will grow through experience. The Ring I gave you allows you to teleport easier and it allows passage into and out of the Tower. Perhaps your confidence was boosted by its possession to allow you to perfect your teleportation elsewhere. I can see in your face I am speaking the truth.”

“It was through my influence you obtained the growth you achieved. What did I do? Nothing, I let you push yourself to your preconceived limits and into new areas promoting growth. If you knew you were not in actual danger and I would have negated the risk, you would not have tried so hard. Your self confidence grew allowing you to manipulate and handle more power and to believe you were doing it correctly.”

Galvenor reached and took up the cup again. He drank another sip and placed it back onto the saucer he was holding in his other hand with a soft clink.

“As far as the others, I ask you not to reveal the Truth to any of them. The same reasons apply to them that applied to you. Many of them have problems with Confidence and if they knew of my identity then they would not be allowed to grow, always relying upon me knowing I could handle any problem that arises. You have seen them, use your own experiences to pick which ones need a better self confidence. Which ones are miscasting because they do not trust in themselves. You can destroy their future progress just by uttering the Truth.”

Galvenor took another sip and then let the cup and saucer float back to the table.

“Now back to the rest of your little argument. Do you know why I was allowed to keep Command of the armies? Do you truly know why Ka’loth is still Warlord?”

Galvenor turned to face Marvel, looking him in the eyes. He wanted the demon to see he was not lying and the eyes are what reveal if a person is telling the truth easiest.

“I was petitioned by several other Powers to remain in that position. Apollyon was deceitful as well as corrupt, as you truly know all Demons were. One cannot trust a Warlord that has their own self interest ruling first. My presence offered stability and Powers on both side of the fence wished a Neutral Entity to retain the post. I already demonstrated the ability. My Immortality also made it easy to see I would remain for a long time and not easily disposed. I was by far the lesser of any evil so I was asked to remain.”

“If you noticed, the maneuvers the Armies were sent on were only important ones. There were no petty maneuverings designed to make me look good to the Hell-King or any others. I just did my job knowing all that was expected of me. The Armies have become stronger under my tutelage since none of its resources have been wasted upon foolish self indulgences or dumb raids to either side. This allowed the Armies of Light to pull forces guarding against petty raids to build their power base too. Yes, your Big Father was one of those who petitioned my stay, but you will either have to ask him or take my word on this because you will not find any sort of mention in the Archives.”

“As you can see, the Armies have no choice but to stand down and train while we wait for the next inflammation to be dispatched to. I am keeping it in a state of readiness. This suits both sides of the equation and will continue to do so. The Diplomatic Corp has done their duty and will continue. If you are truly no longer a Demon, I am curious to know why you are so concerned for your fellow troopers. I thought you left that all behind long ago.”

Galvenor hesitated before continuing.

“I trust you have found out what you came here for, if not you should ask.”

"It's a damn complex, contradictory world," Marvel said. "I left that plane when they tried to kill me. I didn't really have much choice. That's the delicious irony of it all--they CREATED me. Still, SmashMouth is my father--if he still lives--and I wouldn't mind knowing how he's doing, genitocidal streak and all.

"I haven't found out what I came her to find out. I found out why OTHERS wanted you to do the job. I didn't find out why YOU want the job--and I didn't find out why you want to run this place. As to my concerns--that's easy. I don't want another Sanitation Detail trying to blast its way up my behind. Your servant imps, for example, could easily be Special Forces under cover. I don't think I'd like it very much if they came out from under cover while I was sleeping.

"I'm going to be sleeping off campus for a while.

"And, in case you couldn't feel it, too...an Avenging Angel of some kind has popped in on us to say 'hello.' I think I'll leave him/her/it to your hospitality.

"Oh...and, if I might ask a favor--one that could be very much in your self-interest--I'd appreciate it if you could explain to me what I need to know to take this all to the next level. Something tells me that you're going to need some insurance sooner or later--a check-and-balance sort of thing--and I'm as good a candidate as you're going to find. Best of all, let me know and I'll do the work myself--IF you're as all-out benevolent as you claim to be."

The White Tower. A place of magic and mystery, a place where many came to learn at the hands of some of the most powerful mages to ever exist. It was a place of learning, of discovery. A place where race, ideology, or code did not matter; only that you came to learn and push yourself. However, it was also a place to go when dealing with supernatural crises and other problems that cropped up. And for the Magi, that was all they cared about. Outside the White Tower, far enough so that its protective magics and barriers did not affect their arrival, a white tear opened in the fabric of reality. From it could be felt the raw power of magic itself, for this was a portal to the Ley Lines. From it stepped three beings, one human (http://th01.deviantart.net/fs17/300W/i/2007/146/1/1/Magni_by_scyfon.jpg), one Tarani (http://th00.deviantart.net/fs4/300W/i/2004/256/9/3/Elven_Priestess_by_Anyima.jpg), and one small child (http://th04.deviantart.net/fs9/300W/i/2006/143/6/b/light_and_dark_by_dementedmonkey.jpg). The human stood up, his red hair ruffling in the wind, his red and back cloak doing the same. He carried in his left hand a large spear, with the design of a dragon upon it. He gazed at the woman next to him, a Tarani, or elf as most beings knew them as. She wore a bizarre design of red, gold, and black robes, with a staff held in her hand. Her eyes and demeanor seemed entirely lifeless and cold, while the humans was determined but grim. The child with them was quiet, looking at the ground and remaining silent.

The human began to speak. "Akara. I take it that this is the place."

The Tarani nodded. "Indeed, Valkrya. This is the White Tower, the legendary home of magical learning. From what I managed to gain from the spirits of the dead, this place is headed by a being known only as Galvenor. He is reputed to be immensely powerful, so let's try not to anger him."

Valkrya sighed. "With what we're here to talk to him about, that may be difficult depending on his demeanor." He turned to the small girl.

"Nil, come with us. We're almost there."

Mutely, the girl nodded and the three set off towards the tower. Any of the nearby populace or passing travelers would sense that these three were a strange bunch. They obviously did not fit in, and might as well have worn signs proclaiming foreigners. The two adults, Valkrya and Akara, both had strange feelings to them, as if something big was with them but couldn't be seen. Any with magical talent would see a large magical aura about them. The child was the strangest; whether magical or not, anyone could sense a powerful feeling of wrongness about the child, as if being in her presence caused you bones to go weak as if you were old, for your eyesight to dim, for the world to feel like it was out of place, that everything had become out of wack. A sense of wrongness on a subconscious, almost instinctual level.

After disturbing the locals, they finally arrived at the gate of the Tower. Akara walked forward and bowed to the ones who had come out to greet them. "Hello, honored denizens of the Tower. I am Master Akara, and this is Master Valkrya from the Academy of the Seven Realms. We seek an audience with the one you know as Galvenor."

It just so happened that Xos had wandered outside by this time.

"He's in his office at the moment, this fine imp will show you the way." Xos said, opening the gate.

The imp felt disappointment, it wanted to open the gate. Regardless, it lead them all the way to Galvenor's office. More specifically, to the waiting room outside the office.

"He is with another at the moment. He has already been informed of your arrival and shall be with you at his earliest convienience. Meanwhile, feel free to take a seat and wait right here. May I fetch you some refreshments while you wait? We have a large collection of fine magazines for your reading enjoyment." the imp said, indicating the collection of magazines.

Among the stacks of magazines, there were three well known magazines:

Mage Weekly, which as average a magazine as one could find covering various news stories in brief, but other tips and tricks for mages to follow as well, such as a recipe for home made Spell N Wash, advertisements for Groomby's magic wands, or even advertising the famous Wizard's Mall in Warhaven.

Then there was "The Informant" which was less than reputable, especially with its sources. This weeks big story involved a well known wizard caught in the act of kissing a scullery maid. It also featured theories on the locations and activites of both the very wizard that had lead them in the gate, Xos Xilanthes, a very famous wizard in and of himself, and the very person they had come to see, Galvenor, headmaster of The White Tower.

The last Magazine that was well known, among the dozens of lesser known magazines, was The Arch-Magi Monthly. It was one of the more prestigious magazines, featuring articles and news stories from throughout the Multi-Verse, all of them highly credible.
The ads in this Magazine were for products and services who's quality was well known.
The most eye-catching one was simply a posting of Kalia Xilanthese, wife of Xos Xilanthese, travel schedule so that whomever needed healing could contact her and arrange for her to drop by. She never charged a thing, and was perhaps the best healer/Physician/Doctor in the Multi-Verse.

OOC: Warhaven beat me and delete isn't working for me.

IC: Zena's doorbell effect upon the gates of the tower triggered itself when the three newcomers grew near. "We've got guests!" She didn't quite scream, but she was excited. She was about to get up to let them in when she caught Xos near them. "Shoot. I've been beaten." Josh chuckled to himself. It was about time someone was faster than Zena. "Xos has them in the waiting room to Galvenor's office and they've got some strange magazines up there. Oh well, I'll beat him next time."

"Just keep telling yourself that, Zena." Mali joked. "You're only so good and you know it, especially when compared to him."

Valkrya and Akara turned to face the new arrival who had just come out of the Tower. Both gave him a look as they looked him over and took in who he was. He was someone powerful, that much could be garnered through his magical aura. And he had a similar manner as they, meaning he had been through a lot before. And he was probably old; most of these mages tend to be like that. At his words, Akara merely nodded. "Good, then let's get going. Time is of the essence and Galvenor's aid is required." One with Xos' senses would sense the wrongness coming from the child and be able to understand that it was coming from her magical aura, while obviously showing one who hadn't yet entered training, and that it was not supposed to exist. The imp opened the gate and they walked through, heading deep into the tower until they came to a waiting room of sorts.

The imp babbled on about Galvenor being busy and would be right with them, along with some nonsense about magazines. Valkyra turned to look at the imp, interrupting it's rant about reading material. "That will not be necessary. Two waters and a glass of orange juice for the child." He turned from the imp and sat on the floor, his legs crossed, eyes closed, and hands on his knees. Akara went into the same pose, while Nil watched them. They both began to meditate, communing with the Realm of their specialty. It was a good calming technique, as well as giving them a unique sense of their power and what it was capable of. Not to mention time passed rather quickly for those who meditated in such a fashion. Nil simply sat and fingered a silver medallion she wore around her neck. It had the design of an upright hand, fingers outstretched, with fire pouring out from it.

For now they would wait until Galvenor would be able to see them.

Over the next several weeks the Magi-Masters gathered, but by then, it was too late.

Xos looked up as he suddenly felt ten familiar presences outside the gates.

The Magi-Masters had arrived.

Plain for all to see, out in the courtyard sat a very rare and exotic beast. Rahegalhoff's War Alicorn, Starfire. It munched on the grass and flowers.

They were all so very old, and all as powerful as Xos. It was, overwhelming, to be in the presence of that much knowledge and skill.

They journed up to the cafeteria where both the students wee, and Xos had returned to.

The first to enter was Rahegalhoff, the Holy Paladin. His armor was white, with Gold where the seams should be. Yet, there were no seams in his armor, as though it were a second skin. His shield was a Kite Shield, and bore the crest of The Omnisource on it. He put one hand on his longsword and drew it, holding it in front of his face. It was Golden white, and had the word Justice emblazoned down the blade. The sword glowed white, and the armor visibly flowed into the blade, leaving Rahegalhoff in a very nice Suit and Tie, both white of course. He sheathed the sword, nodded to the students, and took a seat.

The next to enter was Kalia Xilanthese, Xos's wife, she wore grey robes covered in the universal symbols of healing.

Behind her came a giant of a man, eight foot five inches tall, bulging with more muscle than most warriors. He wore robes of red, and looked like he was genuinely on fire. It was all a trick though, because his robes were made entirely from the pinions of The Phoenix. He was Ray Ignintantus, the master of fire.

Behind him came a man of average height and lean build. His robes were made of blue scales, blue scales from The Leviathan. He smelled of the ocean. He was Chris Morganson, the master of water.

Next came a Woman around which the air seemed to be in constant movement. Electricity flowed accross her white robes like they were a Jacob's Ladder. Of course, being that her robes were made from The Thunderbird, it was fairly obvious as to why they would do that. Kado Ventus-Pulsus, the Mistress of Sky.

Behind her came a man and a woman arm in arm. The man seemed to be in a constant and continuous state of Temporal Flux, whereas the woman seemed to be an anomally in space. The man wore robes of Silver sands in which one could look into and see any moment from their own past. The woman wore robes of Golden Sand, into which one could look into and see anything going on in any other location. They were the masters of Time and Space, Chron and Stella Jugis, the masters of Dimensional Magic.

Behind them came a woman that seemed to have wildflowers growing in her hair, of which she did, with vines coming out her sleeves, of which she did. Her robes were made of the hairs of The Behemoth, Rose Le`lanshire, the mistress of Earth.

Behind her came a woman that appeared to be tattooed from head to toe in various runes, seals, and sigils. Of course, these tattoos were natural, in place from her own magic, and not made of ink. Symbols trailed in her steps, glowing for a second, then disappearing. She was Scria Esselnvia, the Mistress of Written Magic.

Behind her came a man that seemed rather unfriendly, scowling with great displeasure at what was going on. He seemed to wear Night itself for robes. Indeed, they actually actively absorbed all light sent his way making the dark corner he stood in all the darker.

Kalia examined Xos while the rest held him down.

"Yes I'm happy to see you too, but I didn't think a reunion would require holding me down." Xos said, thoroughly confused. The others said not a word.

Satisfied, she turned to an imp.

"As I told you approximately one month from now, we're not too late to save Xos from the Supernatural Disease known as Mordenkainen's Dreadful Rot. I hope your promise that we can borrow both the kitchens and a large black cauldron are true. Mine still holds true that the kitchens won't need any special treatment after we're done. I'll even clean the cauldron myself." Kalia said.

She turned to the students.

"Have any of you, at any time, for any reason used your powers on Xos, or touched his mind with your own? If so, then you have Mordenkainen's Dreadful Rot, and are dying. Fear not for I know how to cure it. I will not apologize for not exhibiting Good bedside manner at the moment, because its either get business done and out of the way, or waste valuable time being gentle.

Tell me quickly so I know whether to make only twelve doses, or if we need more. We all have the the beginning stages of Mordenkainen's Dreadful Rot. Xos contracted it from Nasagori. We contracted it from Xos, in an alternate time line, but by the time we discovered it, it was too late, and one month from now, we had to hold his last funeral. Now however we have plenty of time." Kalia said.

"Madam, the kitchen is yours. the cauldron is empty and waiting on the stove." the imps said as they left the kitchen momentarily.

Kalia nodded, looking at the students awaiting her answer. Xos had gone pale. Mordenkainen's Dreadful Rot? It explained so much. The loss of power, the loss of clear thinking. The inability to think before he spoke. Shooing Cthulhu away, treating Marvel like a child. No wonder he wasn't the same old Xos.

Zena thought for a moment, first pondering the group before her and their abilities, then their meeting Xos until now. "The only time we came close to using any form of magic on Xos was when Marvel separated him from the bad doctor. I've got a pretty good memory of that if anyone cares to see. Multiple actually." She chuckled, remembering her temporary split personality. She had a few issues keeping her eyes off of the scowling man in the corner. Once you got past the doom and gloom, he wasn't all that bad. Of course, there was hardly a chance in the bowels of hades that he would waste more than a tenth of the most fleeting thought on her and she knew it. Still, window shopping was nice and she may as well dream big. Josh and Mali exchanged glances wondering just how crazy she'd gotten lately.

...

Zena gawked for a moment as the man she'd stared at before as well as his companions regressed in age. "Now there's a body to match the mind I saw." She muttered.

"What was that?" Mali looked up from the table she had conquered with sheet music. It seemed she was in the middle of composing her second symphony of the day. "Music written simply for the love of music is one of the best pass times." She'd once explained to Josh. Most of these works would be filed away in one drawer or another until she decided it was time to work on one here and there. At that time, it would be nearly completely rewritten, retaining only the feel of the original, and be listed as a perfected work. Or in her eyes, an almost-but-not-quite-decent piece.

"Nothing." Zena returned to her candle making. She'd neglected to bring any kind of a burner from her room and so was melting the wax on her own. She couldn't quite master the flames as Rage had done and had the singed hair to prove it. "Dammit!" She screamed as she lit another lock on fire. In her attempt to put out the flames, she managed to soak herself to the bone in a sphere of water. "What did the parts do that the whole can't!?" She couldn't figure that out no matter how much she pored over the memories.

"Zena, if I've told you once, I've told you a thousand times. Stay calm and you'll have better control." Josh sighed, putting down his various pages of notes. He got up from the typewriter, leaving the braille page where it was to go help Zena dry off. Sure he could just make another pair of glasses if he needed them to read the pages, but it was easier to focus on other things and search his notes if he could feel them. He put a hand on Zena's shoulder and the water vanished, but not with heat. No, he left her as cold as she had been drenched.

"Thanks, teach." She grimaced, lighting a few of her finished works to try to warm up. That was simple enough, just a small spark. Hardly enough to go wild on her progressively ragged appearance. She'd need another haircut tonight and she was quickly running out of ways to look decent. "I'm just about to a pixie cut." She whined, realizing how bad that last one was.

"Anytime" Josh chortled, ignoring the sarcasm. He went back to his typing, or perhaps embossing was a more descriptive word.

OOC: With the masters temporarily out of commission and having only two posts left, here then is the permanent character.

IC:

With a slight buzz and a crackle a blue burst of energy deposited her infront of the gates.

I will send you to a tower of white and imprison you inside of it for all eternity.

Those were the thoughts running through the young woman's mind as she looked at the tower in fear. She had altered the spell with a teaching rune just before it was cast, hoping to avert her imprisonment, but did it work?

The gates opened for her and a magical compulsion pushed her inside, closing the gates for her. She looked around and saw an imp she hadn't noticed before, clearly it had been what opened the gates.

She backed away in fear, her tenuous grip on reality slipping away as darkness enshrouded her mind.

...

Minutes later, an imp was before Josh clearing his throat.

"The Master is busy with the other teacher, thus we imps turn to you. A young lady has entered the courtyard, but we frighten her. She trembles with fear at the very sight of the tower, and when any of us try to approach her, even the kindliest among us, she barks at us as though she were a dog and tries to attack us. Very clearly something is wrong, and we request your help."

If Josh chose to assist the imps, he would find the following scene:

She was curled up against a corner of the wall. Her black hair was covered in bird droppings, as were her robes, which were torn at the most indecent places. She had a wild look in her ebony eyes, and carried three dolls. Her skin was white, as though she had never been in sunlight.

One doll was covered in Mythril Platemail armor. It carried a similar sword.
One was in Mage robes, wearing an oversized hood that covered its face in shadow.
One was a male fairy.

All were one foot in heighth.

At the very sight of another imp the woman turned and tried to claw her way through the wall screaming in terror.

A sign on her back read
"Fragile, Handle with care."

Josh looked to Zena for a moment. "Oh it feels like there's more than one being, but there's certainly only her." She said, not looking up from her candle making.

"Good to know." He returned his gaze to the imp. "Please have your fellows keep an eye on her without approaching her. Just make sure she doesn't do anything too bad, especially if she flees from me." He had the impression teleporting to her would be very bad and so took off toward the amber "elevator." Drifting down to the entry, he left the tower and easily found the girl. Having forgotten to remove his glasses, he spotted the sign. "Oh that's never good." He strode briskly, confidently toward the girl, but tried to not be threatening.

"Hello there." He called as he got near. He slowed his pace, expecting the imps to back off, and kneeled beside her when he was within arm length. "Is there anything I can do to help you?" He ignored the filth and damage done to the poor thing and extended his flesh-and-blood hand in a gesture of friendliness.

"I don't wanna be imprisoned. I don't wanna be imprisoned. I only asked to learn new things. I don't wanna be imprisoned. I'm not a bad person." she said sobbing, rocking back and forth.

It was at that point that her powers were revealed.

The doll of the mage squeezed its way free and turned to Josh.

"Milord, if you would indulge me, its obvious this is not the White Tower of Banishment, which was the place she feared so greatly. We were about to be sent there, but upon my advice, she altered the spell being cast on her with a teaching rune. She is forever banished from her former master, a dreadful terrible Demon Lord in an Alternate version of Hell. His name is Xith'Rith'Xail, and is hailed as The Demon God. He has fathered seven powerful Arch Demons known as The Seven Deadly Sins. Each Demon manifests as one of the classic sins, my favorite being Lust." the mage doll said his voice was the sort one might expect from the typical nerd, high pitched and whispy.

Must curiously, the woman's hands were wiggling, as though she were controlling the doll. Her lips, though still sobbing, where moving in the same pattern as the doll was speaking.

Right after the mage mentioned his preference for the sin of Lust, the knight doll got an arm free and smacked the mage doll in the forehead.

"Pervert. She's a succubus, you really that desperate your willing to die? Anyway, if you would be so kind, chase the imps away. Her former keeper employed imps who were found of torturing her, making her become terrified of imps. Eventually, she'll calm down, unless you happen to have some fashion of speeding her calming down.

I know not if you follow the ways of charity, but I beseech you to find a pair of willing young ladies who will help our mistress bath, and maybe find a decent set of clothes that aren't ripped in all the wrong places. We cannot pay you back in money, but perhaps some form of service? She's an apt young pupil, if we could only find a school that could help her. In time, maybe her mind will heal. Maybe you know a good psychiatrist, or powerful Psion that could help?" The Knight doll said, his voice was deep and solid, like that of an experienced warrior.

Neither doll sounded feminine in the slightest.

The woman looked up, and Josh could see something new. A beautiful Tiara with an orange glowing gemstone in the middle, wrapped around her forehead.

Any attempt to touch it would fail, as it would shimmer as though it were an illusion, but it was no illusion.

Josh had to work to keep his jaw from dropping at the sight of the dolls. "It's... It's not a prison here. You're free to come and learn or leave if that's your choice. I've a few friends that can help you to clean up, but I can help your clothes now." He touched her shoulder, a brilliant yellow sundress looked out of place against her otherwise filthy exterior, but at least she was covered now.

"Now as for the imps," He glanced at those nearby. "Not to be rude, but she is not comfortable with your presence. If you can please give us some space until she feels better, it would be greatly appreciated." Translation: Get lost, now. He tried to be polite while making the new arrival feel better, and yet still sending the imps away.

"Now then, let's head upstairs. The cafeteria is kind of a common area. You can get a snack there. All we ask is that you only eat what is necessary, try not to be gluttonous for food is not something most can pull from thin air without a lot of work." He scooped the girl up in his arms, letting the puppets onto his shoulders and teleported to the cafeteria.

He set them down at a free table. "Imps, if you'd please come with me to the kitchen." He cleared the room of them, making the girl as comfortable as possible. He waited at the entry, requesting a simple snack, crackers a little bit of cheese and cold cut meat, for the girl. He personally took the plate to her.

"Hello there." Mali said pleasantly, putting down her pen and giving her eyes a break. "I'm Amalia, that's Zena." She gestured to herself first, then her friend. "What might your name be?" She asked as Josh presented the small meal to her, just in case she was hungry. If she had been in the condition she looked, she probably was.

The woman stared in curiosity at the pair, confusion running through her minds.

When questioned, she bowed before the pair, the confusion leaving her face replaced with a sense of understanding.

"My name has only ever been Aiko. I have never been known by any other name." She answered promptly. Her voice was quiet, seemingly incapable of being any louder. She wasn't hard to hear, just soft spoken.

She looked at josh briefly, as though requesting permission to eat, then remembering his words eat quietly with the manners one might expect from royalty.

Then she knelt on the floor by Josh, as though she were his slave, clearly ready to take a command at any moment.

The fairy doll looked at Zena and Amalia, then at Josh.

"I believe your allowed to use chairs here." There was utterly no trace of sarcasim to be found in the dolls voice, it was completely serious, which lead to some disturbing possibilities about her past, all things considered.

Aiko slowly got to her feet and sat near Josh, still looking at him waiting for some sort of a command. Uncomfortable with actually using a chair, she looked ready to leap out of it instantly and resume kneeling if it turned out she was not in fact, permitted to use a chair.

"Well, Aiko, it's a pleasure to meet you." Zena said, smiling warmly. Her appearance gave no sign that she was anywhere close to a lie with that statement.

Josh sighed at Aiko's reluctance to relax. "I'm going to be honest, I am an instructor here. If you break the rules, I will not be afraid to let you know. However, you are a guest here. Please make yourself comfortable, help yourself to some of the food if you're hungry. If something is bothering you, let us know and we'll try to fix it. You've done no wrong in coming here and have no reason to fear being in this place." He again offered the plate, a gentle smile on his face trying to encourage her to be at peace. "Go ahead." He said, not ordering, but coaxing her to try some of the food.

Aiiko looked at the plate quizzically.

"But, there's nothing more on it, I ate it all. Is it one of those magic plates that can be eaten too?" she asked.

The tiara on her forehead began to glimmer brightly.

"My baby, I need my baby. Where's my baby?" She began looking around frantically for a baby that wasn't there.

"What did Xith'Rith'Xail do with my baby?" she cried.

There were many minds in Aiko. The most dominant three had traits one might expect from a real person like one of her dolls. One was of a knight, one was of a mage, and one was of a fairy. Buried beneath those false minds, was her real mind, and it had surfaced.

There was also a mind in the tiara, but it was its own mind. It was a connection between her mind, and that of the tiara that was driving her insane.

Cafeteria:


Galvenor stood in the cafeteria while Marvel went up to his office to meet win an avatar he manifested and had waiting. When the guests began to arrive Galvenor only sighed to himself. There went any semblance of trying to settle things down to a dull roar and getting classes going. He will have to make sure better locks were installed.

When Kalia mentioned about the disease Galvenor was pissed. To say he was pissed was actually an understatement.

“I want you to take him out of my school right this moment. The entire place is magical and might allow transference. The only way to make sure he is safe is to quarantine him in a Magic Dead zone. Take him to the Arena right now. By the time you arrive I will have the fields in place.”

Galvenor stopped any of the so called magi masters from arguing with a single glaring look.

“I am responsible for each and every student under this roof and I will not allow anyone to endanger them. In order to remain you will have to go through me. My word is final here and absolute in authority. If you want to argue, take it to the Avatars, BelDragos is my Sponsor.”

“You have five minutes. I want things taken care of by the time I return.”




Office:


Galvenor looked at Marvel. For being terrified, he was holding up a good front. It was a good thing he did not have to take care of the ex-demon to silence him any. It was completely unnecessary at this point so Galvenor was not worried.

"It's a damn complex, contradictory world," Marvel said. "I left that plane when they tried to kill me. I didn't really have much choice. That's the delicious irony of it all--they CREATED me. Still, SmashMouth is my father--if he still lives--and I wouldn't mind knowing how he's doing, genitocidal streak and all.

That is an easy one. I can either send for him or have a report made up on his doings if you wish. Perhaps even a simple viewing…”

Galvenor caused one of the mirrors to cloud over and then clear, showing the present location of SmashMouth. (assuming the character is alive, if not please rewrite this part in your reply) The viewing showed him in his normal activities at this moment and was only one-way so there was no way for SmashMouth to know he was being watched.


"I haven't found out what I came her to find out. I found out why OTHERS wanted you to do the job. I didn't find out why YOU want the job--and I didn't find out why you want to run this place. As to my concerns--that's easy. I don't want another Sanitation Detail trying to blast its way up my behind. Your servant imps, for example, could easily be Special Forces under cover. I don't think I'd like it very much if they came out from under cover while I was sleeping.

"I'm going to be sleeping off campus for a while.

Why did I take on the job? It was not my choice. The position chose me, or did you miss that in your research. I did not try to absorb Apollyon’s Coil, it chose to enter my being and root itself there. Perhaps it was BelDragos’s Will, who really knows. Since then, the lives saved by my controlling the Armies of Hell are uncountable. The Cold War between the two forces are only standing still instead of trying to build and manipulate which only dragged in Innocents. From where I am seeing things, I am doing more help than harm.”

“The Imps are part of the Tower. Anyone impersonating an Imp would be immediately noticed by the Tower and also by me since I am attuned to the Tower. That means the Imps are extensions of my Will in a sense. Yes, that means I am mopping, cleaning, repairing, and cooking for everyone in the Tower. If you wish to not trust me yet allow everyone to remain here then go ahead. There is a small village growing just down the hill next to the Arena. Merchants who wish to sell to students and instructors was well as the School itself have put out their shingle. I am sure

"And, in case you couldn't feel it, too...an Avenging Angel of some kind has popped in on us to say 'hello.' I think I'll leave him/her/it to your hospitality.

"Oh...and, if I might ask a favor--one that could be very much in your self-interest--I'd appreciate it if you could explain to me what I need to know to take this all to the next level. Something tells me that you're going to need some insurance sooner or later--a check-and-balance sort of thing--and I'm as good a candidate as you're going to find. Best of all, let me know and I'll do the work myself--IF you're as all-out benevolent as you claim to be."

“So, you first disguise a threat and then ask for a favor, are you sure your demon self is truly gone?”

(I as a player do not know what Marvel needs to do. I will let you post the answer.)



Waiting Room:


Galvenor entered the waiting room, or rather it was the avatar that just left the cafeteria. The one talking with Marvel was still within the office.

“Hello, I am Galvenor Elvarryinn. I am the Chancellor of the White Tower. Is there anything I can do for you?”

Josh just about jumped out of his skin. "Aiko, please stay calm. I don't know where your baby is. If you give us a moment, we can have Galvenor help you." He looked toward Zena. "Call him!" he urged, setting the plate down and putting an arm around Aiko, trying to comfort her.

Zena's eyes glowed for a moment as she sent a message to the headmaster. We have a bit of a problem. Can you come help? She eyed the tiara, something felt wrong with it, she just couldn't place exactly what.

Mali meanwhile had started singing ever so softly. She only had a vague idea of how to calm someone so hopefully this wouldn't go overboard. While Josh felt the intended peace flood his system, Zena fell face first into a pool of freshly melted wax and started snoring peacefully, if loudly.

Valkrya and Akara both felt the powerful auras that entered one after another, along with the aura they knew belonged to the man who let them in. Apparently something was going on, but they did not bother to ask as it was not their business. They continued to meditate, and Nil continued to play with her medallion, while the dispute raged inside the cafeteria. Finally, when an avatar of Galvenor walked in, they both immediately sensed him and turned to look at him, breaking their meditation. He introduced himseld and they both nodded. "I am Akara, Master of the Death Realm, and this is Valkrya, Master of the Elemental Realm. We both are teachers at our own school, the Academy of the Seven Realms. We have come to ask your advice on something."

She turned to Nil, who had backed away a little bit upon sensing Galvenor. For one such as her, his aura, although not entirely sensed, scared her in its immensity. "Come on now, it's alright. He won't hurt you." The girl looked at her, unsure, but slowly came back forward. Akara nodded. "Alright, can you show him what you showed us back at the Academy?" The girl looked down at her feet and spoke quietly.

"I...I..I don't want to...it makes people upset....and it feels weird."

Valkrya put a hand on her shoulder. "It's ok, Nil. If we are to do what we came here to do, Galvenor here needs to know what you can do."

The girl nodded slowly and then clutched her eyes shut. She focused heavily, her teeth grinding together in effort. She held out a hand and after several moments, a burst of pale silver-white fire burst forth. The feeling of wrongness Galvenor had been sensing the entire time suddenly jumped up incredibly and he could sense a hungry, yawning chasm coming from the flames. He would see that she was connected to an entire thread of magic, only it seemed...empty and eternally hungry. After a moment, she stopped and looked at Akara who nodded.

"As you can see Galvenor, we have a problem. Her power can be very dangerous....and our Academy is unable to teach her how to use it due to some...issues. So, we feel you and your Instructors are the only ones who can help her."

"No threat, Galvenor. Insurance. Anyone can be corrupted, turned or taken down. If that were to happen to you, I'd like to be able to set it right, turn you back or help you get back up again. Shelly would know if you'd lied--you haven't. You're serious about this job. Now, all I've got to do is see if I'm right about you not using the place to fatten up the students for some horrible sacrifice and/or devouring ritual. I need to watch from a distance for a while. It's not that I'm accusing you of anything, it's just simple logic.

"And no, my demon self, as you call it, will never be truly, completely gone. I wouldn't last long if it was.

"Perhaps I wasn't being specific enough, however. I don't know whether Irene was a stealth threat or not, but I know that her mind's disappearance had 'Tzeentch' written all over it. I'd like to know what I will need to do in order to become sufficiently skillful to interrogate Tzeentch and have a better than 50-50 chance of getting her whereabouts and her motivation without getting turned into a frog in the process.

"Maybe we should get Xos to let me learn a thing or two--or a few billion--from him. He and I have VERY similar magical styles, and, way I see it, he owes me a favor for getting him out of Doctor Schmuck's clutches."

"WOAH!!!" the demon said. "What the heck is THAT--and I mean besides UGLY."

He could feel Nil's little parlor trick even through a supposedly magic-proof door.

Aiko:

The tiara was activly fighting Mali's powers, struggling to quell her song. It felt, like a child resisting the command to go to bed. Then, slowly, it fell asleep, and so did Aiko and her dolls, the fairy drifting to the floor.

...

Xos and company, just minutes prior to Aiko's entrance.

Kalia glared at Galvenor.

"Don't you dare tell me how to treat my husband or anyone else. I don't tell you how to teach, so don't you dare tell me how to heal. If I thought this place was in danger, I would've already had the appropriate Null Magic Fields in place, attached to Xos as we moved him to a separate location. I created this damn curse in the first place as you well know, so I would think you could trust me to know what I'm talking about, especially since I've been fighting to destroy it ever since then. Just be glad your not physical or I would hit you so hard with my spoon right now it would shatter. Out of respect for our long standing friendship though, I will move him." she said just as angry as Galvenor, and so they did, which explains why Xos and company were not there when Aiko arrived.

Mali stopped abruptly, looking at the damage. "Oh crap." She jabbed Zena in the ribs and she shot up.

"The answer's 42!" She shouted before looking around. "Good one, Mali." She scoffed, rubbing her eyes. She pulled her hands away to see the wax. "Oh you're in for it now." She managed to keep a small jet of water under control long enough to cool down the wax and peel it off.

Josh ignored the duo and held Aiko upright, gently shaking one shoulder to try and coax her from slumber. "Come on Aiko, Mali didn't mean to put you to sleep." He glared at Mali. "Next time, try to be a little more careful. I know you were trying to help."

"Sorry." She mumbled, realizing she'd chewed Angelica out for doing the same thing to Marcus.

Aiko woke up, but it wasn't Aiko in there.

"Right then, what's going on here? AHA! I have transferred again." Aiko said, standing up straight, adopting the pose of a soldier.

"Sir Edward the Knight, reporting for duty sir. I apologize for not being in uniform, as sometimes I am pulled from my body into the mistress's body." Aiko said, imitating the voice of her knight doll. Except, she wasn't imitating. She honestly believed that's who she was.

Zena blinked for a moment, stunned at the mental turn of events. "You're giving me a headache." She complained while pulling off the last of the wax and throwing it into a metal bowl. "Considering I can't keep up with you, can you elaborate as to why your minds keep sharing the body of Aiko?"

"I'm going to agree with Zena on this one." Josh sighed. "At least you seem to know what's going on, so can we get some details?" He took off his glasses, turning them to dust which vanished before leaving any trace on a surface in the cafeteria. It would be easier to keep track of their minds if he could "see" them.

"Hmm, that is a difficult question for me to answer indeed. My powers are of the sword, not of the mind. I know very little, but what little I do know, I shall share. Midor, Fairy of the Shleaves, would be a better source, when he wakes up.

We three share Mistress Aiko's mind, because she is our mother. Not in the traditional sense mind you, but her mind conceived our own. I shall assume you have read works of fiction. We are her characters. Except she believed in us so strongly, that her mind gave birth to us. But, we are too young yet to exist on our own, so we are still connected to hers, not our own fully developed mind. If you shall forgive me for phrasing it so, she is pregnant with our minds. I don't know how precisely we came into being, but that is the best description I can give you of why we share her body, and yet inhabit the body of a doll. The Doll is who we are, or at least, our own perception of ourselves. When Mistress Aiko made them with all the loving care she could, she secured through some close friends of hers, The Seven Deadly Sins, a rare and precious stone called a Soulstone, though it may have been corrupted from its original purpose if its name is an indication. It, it holds our mind. The more she uses the dolls, the better we become, the more healed her mind is. Or, that's what the Fourth Doll says, she lives in the Tiara, a beautiful and charming little girl named Calbrena. She's half Angel and Half Demon, though none of us know how that could come to be. When she tries talking to Mistress, Aiko has one of her spells. Midor can explain better, but he always wakes up last." Edward said.

Aiko stumbled a moment, and the Edward doll glowed slightly.

"Ladies, I pray you pay no heed to the lout coming out behind me. Isildor has always been a Perverted fool with one thing on his mind." Edward said, but right after the first sentence, Edward switched to his doll body, and the second mind, Isildor was awake.

"Well thank you shorty for that warm introduction. Ladies, pay no heed to what this boring nobody says about Isildor the great. I have two things on my mind. Both of you." Isildor said smiling.

OOC: Man Isildor is creeping me out. But he makes me smile.

Mali's eyebrows shot up high enough to the point where they were in severe danger of becoming part of her bangs. "You've got to be kidding me. You're a guy, hitting on two women, from inside a woman's body. You've got zero chance."

"Mali's right. That's actually quite disturbing. Skip the theatrics and tell us anything you know your obviously far more intelligent counterpart failed to tell us." With the information from Edward, she didn't feel like probing into Aiko's mind. She feared she might get lost.

OOC: Sans smiling, he has that effect on us all.

"Theatrics? What do you mean theatrics? I'm not a theater mage. This isn't broadway. Or are we doing a show I'm not aware of? Besides, if it wasn't for me, she wouldn't have escaped her life of slavery in the first place. In the place we came from, women held no value, and as soon as they showed any signs of middle age, they were taken away and never seen nor heard from again. I don't mean they were released somewhere nice and pleasant either. They were executed, their souls taken and turned into more demons.

So while she spent her days in a life where she held no value beyond her body, and no rights to either it, or anything else, I spent mine sneaking around libraries. Eventually, in a rare act of charity, Greed helped me to help her escape. We fled to a world that was mostly wild. Civilization hid in the distance, but we never dared approach it. All in all, except for the six foot carnivorous rabbits, it was a nice place.

We lived there with her for a few months, until the demon hordes of The Abyss took us away again. It was then that, while she was stripped and beaten, I snuck off knowing what came next. Banishment to The white Tower, a prison filled with Xith'Rith'Xails prisoners. Its not a pretty place, so I shall spare you the details. I needed only one rune to throw the spell off, and found an education rune, giving it to Mistress AIko.

She threw it at the last second, right as they were casting the spell. And instead of ending up at The White Tower of banishment, we ended up at The White Tower, the school. Say, what do you teach here anyway? It'd be dandy if I could learn to make better magic in my real body than pint sized magic.

Isildor transferred to his real body, and made a fireball, the size of a marble, with just as much impact.

"I feel so impotent." He said putting the fireball out.

"If you weren't so busy being a pervert all the time, maybe you could get somewhere." Edward said.

"Gentlemen, if we could settle down, perhaps I could finish this tale for Mistress. But first, the lady's throat has gone dry from talking, maybe a glass of water is in order first. Allow me to introduce myself, I am Midor, Fairy of the Shleaves. I am a Psion, not a mage, I understand the truth of this matter much better than either Edward or Isildor, and as soon as I can get a glass of water, I shall enlighten you." Midor said. He had Aiko take a seat.

"Bleh, she needs a bath, a sentiment, even she agrees with." Midor said seconds later looking at Aiko's hair.

"Well would you like a bath first or a glass of water?" Zena asked, a small orb of water appearing her cupped hands. At least, there was until it popped like a water balloon spraying the room. "Sorry!" She yelped, pulling the water toward her like a sponge.

"Perhaps you should stick with your psionic abilities for now." Josh suggested, touching the table next to Aiko. A crystal glass grew from the spot and filled itself with cool water. "There you go." Josh said, pushing it toward her. "Would you like to continue or would you prefer a bath first?"

OOC: Midor talks like Emperor Mengsk from Starcraft, just to give you an idea of a style I'm not sure I can imitate since its more how the words flow as he says them, rather then how they would be written.

Midor took a drink.
"I shall, continue. First, let me clarify Edward's explanation. We are not yet our own minds. We are more apart of her, than we are separate. We have the potential to become our own separate entities, which I would like very much, but I still want what's best for her. All three of us serve a purpose, and it all relates around her daughter, Calbrena.

Edward was born first. He was born of the need for protection, the natural motherly instinct to protect one's young, combined with the helplessness to do anything, at all. Thus Edward was born, taking on what Aiko thought were the typical mannerisms of a knight. I hope he's been at least bluffing his way through ok. He is the most likable of the three of us.

Isildor was born second. When Xith took Calbrena away, he returned the next day with the very Tiara she now wears, glowing stone and all. She couldn't understand, if he promised to return her daughter to her, why he would give her a tiara instead. She knew it must be magic, but she couldn't understand, so she envisioned a mage who could, thus, Isildor was born. But, when he was first born, he was so, dry, it was like he was an automation. No personality at all. So she transferred to him, a secret she just couldn't accept, for as far as she knew, it was unnatural to love and desire a woman willingly and never so a man. I'm sure you can understand then, why he acts the way he does. If you knew her past, the daily torture she went through at the hands of male demons, I'm sure you could understand why she is the way she is. Thus Isildor's perverted personality.

Me, I was born last, for she figured out an even greater secret she couldn't cope with, and so I was born, the knower of secrets. I tell you know, while she is still asleep that which I am sure you have figured out just in our stories. The soul trapped in the tiara is none other than her daughter. But, and I mean no offense sir, it would take someone more powerful than you to undo Xith'Rith'Xail's powers. Someone with power over the mind, and the magic. A feat Isildor and I together cannot accomplish, at least, not without destroying Calbrena in the process. Not yet anyway.

Now she spends her days, ignoring the truth, unable to cope with it. Her daughter was killed, and she carries her around in her tiara. Meanwhile Xith'Rith'Xail watches and laughs, amused by his own actions. I hope you help her as she stays to learn, for I know what Isildor does not, this is a school of magic, which Mistress, and by extension, we need. I hope you have the understanding to help a woman with a distorted self-image, and a misconcieved notion about rights in general. Be very careful about what you say to her, for she assumes that since you helped her and gave her a new dress, that you are her new owner, and will follow anything you say, to the letter. I do mean, anything. I say that only because you do not seem to be the type to knowingly take advantage of her, and so say so, so that you might consider your actions and words carefully, least you inadvertently have her do something you do not intend." Midor said, revealing the secrets they needed at long last. The last part was directed at Josh, hoping Midor's feelings were right.

Midor's wings fluttered, a sign he was back in his own body.

Aiko looked at Josh.
"If it would please you, may I have a bath?"

Midor and Edward were looking at Josh carefully.

Josh sighed. This was going to be a lot more complicated than he anticipated. "Mali, Zena, would at least one of you care to help Aiko with her bath?" He realized that would probably sound like an order to her and so looked to her. "Remember, you're a guest here. If you want something, all you have to do is ask."

Mali tucked all of her music into a number of brightly colored folders and then put them into a bag that seemed to be too small to hold it all as she then pushed her flute case into it as well. Zena too packed up, putting her leftover wax back into its jars and then sending the whole lot of raw goods and finished works to rest in front of her door. "Let's get going then, shall we?" Zena held the cafeteria doors open while Mali went on ahead to wait for them by the amber elevator so they could head down to the bathrooms.

OOC: Sorry for this. Marvel is the maniac in me, and he has made me impatient. I coudn't wait for Balrogga to post. I've been blocked for several days.

IC:

Marvel stepped out of Galvenor's office. The old mage had basically told the undemon to take all the time he needed to figure out where he was. He had taken his magic to a new level now, and should as much become acquainted with this before he moved on. Galvenor had also agreed with him that Xos would be a great help in the whole process. It was quite professional, but didn't really solve anything.

He missed Dra'gon La'dee. She had been sleeping for a while now, and Marvel wanted to speak with her and see what had happened while he was off getting his butt whipped and repaying the favor. It had been a while since anyone had wanted to get as close to him as she did, and he liked the familiarity.

-----------

OOC: TG'ed Tanara. She says she's having trouble signing in. Maybe someone else can help?

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IC:

So it was that he more or less barged into The Unholy Trinity (no, he did NOT assume that the two adult mages were the parents of the brat, but it was fun to name them as a group) just as el kiddo sicko backed down its Spell of General Ugliness.

He also ran right into Galvenor. He looked back through the office door, which hadn't closed yet. There sat Galvenor. He looked in front of himself. There stood Gavlenor. Marvel was tempted to kick the standing one in the backside, but thought better of it.

And then he knew what the first new spell he was going to learn was.

"Avatars," he mumbled.

Then he felt the Bad Mojo again--coming straight from the Brat. That was all it took. He was interested now. This situation needed to be controlled, and he was going to walk in and start controlling it before it, too, got out of hand.

"Name's Marvel," he said to the adoring throng, one hand on his hip and the other extended outward. "I teach illusions. Now, don't tell me, let me guess. You're here 'cause the kid has weird powers and you want us to figure out how to make 'em work."

As Valkrya and Akara waited to see what Galvenor would say, a strange looking youth man exited Galvenor's office and walked into the waiting room. They could see that Galvenor was sitting in his office. They glanced back to ensure that Galvenor was still standing in the room with them. Both Magi looked at each other, impressed. So he could manifest multiple avatars? That was interesting. The man, after seeming to realize the same thing, walked over and began to speak to them. Akara shifted to focus her attention on him. He must have noticed the aura that Nil was putting out. When he extended his hand, Valkrya and Akara both stood up to shake it before sitting down. They listened to his assumption of the situation and shook their heads. Akara spoke first.

"That is not exactly true, Mr. Marvel. We have plenty of students at the Academy with "weird" powers. The reason we brought Nil to see Galvenor is that she has powers that shouldn't exist. Mages have the great power to do great harm or aid to the universe, but there is always a counter or limit to what they do. Nil's powers do not have that limitation. She can essentially unmake anything she touches with her hands or fire she generates. And that's only the tip of the iceberg. We came here since the Academy is divided on what to do, as the magic she is calling upon is forbidden but yet it is obvious she was born with it. There is too much support for those who wish to ban her and...make it impossible for her to go on like other children. We do not want that, so we came to a place that could help her with this, that place being this White Tower."

OOC: Tell Tanara to have the url she goes to be forums.joltonline.com, not the old one. They still have the old Jolt up but you can't sign in.

Marvel flexed his wings. They had shaken his hand. It almost made him laugh. Then, they had minced words. The kid had weird powers, alright--so weird that they thought that they were weird. Maybe the guy should consider changing his name to "Titus Holdt." No wonder they were having trouble with the kid.

"Now," he said, releasing his the grip of his dark red hand from the mage, and curling his tail behind his back so as to appear less threatening, "let's get this straight. You're here because you're afraid that Nil over here is going to implode the multiverse because of a spell jinx?"

As he spoke, a translucent image of the White Tower appeared in between them. There was a soft, "oops!" and then it all got sucked into the middle of the picture with a loud slurp, fading from view with a resounding pop!

Nil laughed. "You're funny." As she did, Shelly, the turned demon's Angel Armor, which was now a belt buckle with "S&M" (for "Shelly & Marvel") on it, flashed dimly.

"Not to worry," Marvel continued. We have an Angel among our students--if anyone can teach safety, it's her. And something tells me that somebody just called for her." He rolled his eyes as he spoke.

"Coming!" sounded through the room. Quickly, a lovely, glowing angel flew in through the nearest hallway.

A bananna peel (an illusion) appeared in the air in front of her as she flew quickly by. Before she knew what had hit her, she was tumbling through the air (something caused a sudden stroke of turbulence where she was flying)--complete with the sound of squeeling car wheels and a loud crash when she came to rest. Something stopped her before she could hit the ground and hurt herself, though. Didn't stop her from looking at Marvel with eyes like daggers, though.

"Hi, dear," Marvel said, between chuckles, not looking at her. "Looks like you're driving yourself a bit too hard again."

"You," she replied. "Will. Get. Yours."

"Oh, come now," Marvel said. "It was you who taught me to do no harm, and I have made sure that you are completely unharmed. Where's the harm?"

OOC:Based on what I've read, I think I can genuinely help.

IC:

In addition to all the other visitors, another old mage walked in, the same one with the unpleasant scowl.

From him, they could feel the exact same wrongness, the exact same power. To Agrinja, Nil's powers were neither weird, nor wrong, they were simply pleasantly familiar. He eyed Nil for a moment, taking stock of the young girl and her potential.

Yep, I believe she could very well become a master someday.

Yet he did not voice his thoughts.

"We are waiting for you, when you get a chance, in the place given." Agrinja said.

He turned to Nil and company.

"Good morning, possibly afternoon. I am Agrinja, Archwizard of Destructive magics, including their ultimate form, Uncreation. I haven't seen a non-Warhaven mage of Destructive power in, ever. It has brought me pleasure to know that you exist young lady, perhaps someday we can, talk shop, as it were." Agrinja said, formally introducing himself.
----
Aiko
----

Aiko followed Mali and Zena, who in turn would be subtly guided by disguised imps to the room that would become Aiko's own.

Aiko's room was still blank yet, but as soon as she walked in, A four poster canopy bed appeared in one corner with giant fluffy pillows appeared in one corner, a dollmaking station in another. Three smaller beds appeared, one for Edward, one for Isildor, and one for Midor.

A large walk in closet manifested near the bathroom, and a large area rug spread accross the floor.
The Closet, most mysteriously, was filled with a selection of fine clothes any young lady would be proud to call her own.

"Wow, I get a magic room? But, I'm not special." she said, nervous.

OOC: Explanation in OOC thread on Nil's powers and being.

IC:

Marvel replied to their explanation with something they didn't expect: ignorance. However, both Magi pushed down the irritation his reaction caused, since they were newcomers and he obviously didn't know the whole story. Valkrya looked at Marvel sharply. "Marvel, this is not a simply 'spell jinx'. Where you got it into your head to assume such a thing is beyond me. The strange feeling you get from here is not a little quirk; it's a sign. Nil's powers are not supposed to exist. Do you understand? Magic is a force that was created by the universe, and there is a form of magic here the universe did not intend. The aura is a warning, to those who can use magic, to beware those with these abilities. Her potential to destroy is far above what you think it is. Anything destroyed by her ability is destroyed forever. No coming back, whether a God or mage is trying to bring it back."

Marvel, however, continued by doing an illusion with his magic of the Tower appearing and vanishing. Nils looked up and smiled a little at the demon, before returning her gaze to her medallion. The demon then insinuated that they had called for someone who could teach her. Akara began to speak. "Well, actually, considering the severity of the situation, we were thinking to get Galvenor to-" She stopped when she saw an angel come through the door and then suddenly was tripping. Both Magi sensed the demon was doing this, and their irritation showed visibly this time as they watched the exchange between the two.

"As I was saying, Mr. Marvel, we would like Galvenor to take a look at her abilities and such to determine what she needs. We will be taking your suggestion under advisement, though. It never hurts to have more people to help." Akara turned to the angel and nodded in acknowledgment, an action followed by Valkrya. Then another mage entered, seeming to be one of the powerful ones they had sensed earlier. He introduced himself as Agrinja, and the Magi introduced themselves and Nil. When they heard his little speech on being able to help, Akara and Valkrya sighed. The former began to rub her temples while the latter put his face in his hands.

"As we explained to Marvel here, her power of Uncreation is only one part of her potential abilities, as well as not being in the area of Destruction, as you see it, Agrinja. It's a violation of the universe, cannot be reversed, and is something that the force that created us ALL did not intend, nor want, to be created."

Mali chuckled. "The whole Tower is magic. This is your room and nobody can enter without your permission. Should you need something, you will probably find it in one drawer or another around here." Zena meanwhile had wandered into the bathroom and with a slight bang, filled the tub to the brim with water.

"Hmm, I think I've got a bit too much in there." She contemplated for a moment on how to resolve the situation before settling on lighting a fire within the water, thus heating it as well. Steam billowed forth and out into the bedroom, signaling Mali and Aiko that the bath was ready while lowering the water to a more reasonable level. "I'll be back in a moment." Zena called, running from the room to her own across the hall. She scooted the box of candle supplies to the foot of her bed and entered her own soon-to-not-be-boring bathroom. She dug out any number of cleansers and scrubbers and bath salts before returning to Aiko's room.

By the time of Zena's return, Mali had set the dolls in their beds, helped Aiko to undress, and then to get into the tub. "Oh it's about time!" Mali said, pulling a small jar from the top of Zena's pile. She opened it up and emptied the standard ounce of salt into the tub. The scent of lavender filled the room, though it only took the slightest edge off of Aiko's stench. Pausing only for a moment, she proceeded to dump half the jar's remaining contents into the tub, much to Zena's distress.

Lining up the various items she'd brought over, Zena selected a rather large, almost spherical, bottle and poured its clear contents into the tub. While no scent wafted up, the cleanser would make cleaning Aiko up all that much easier. Zena handed Aiko a smooth wooden rod, the end of which held a sponge. "Go ahead and scrub your body." She said, trying to give a certain amount of privacy to Aiko while Mali found a pair of gloves among the various objects and began to rinse out Aiko's hair.

And so it continued, the duo viciously attacking the grime covering the new student until the water ran black down the drain. Mali left the bathroom to select another outfit for Aiko while Zena helped her to dry off.

"There must be a balance to everything. I believe we have different beliefs. For Uncreation is necessary to keep eternal creation from overwhelming everything else. But, if you find it an aberration, there are many ways it can be taken away. Alternatively, you could be given the power of Creation. I leave it to you then." Agrinja said, and left them to their business.

---
Aiko
---

Aiko cooperated, Isildor kept creeping over to sneak peaks, and Edward kept dragging him away again. Eventually, Edward just sat on Isildor, which resolved everything.

Aiko felt clean, almost, worthwhile again.

"I certainly agree dearheart, baths are wonderful." speaking to someone that wasn't there. What Midor didn't know, was that Mother and daughter could communicate subconciously on occasion, resulting in comments that came out of nowhere.

Aiko continued on as if nothing had happened, settling upon a blue Kimono with a flowered design. Her skin, once clean, was milky white.

"Beautiful." Isildor said with all the sincerity once could expect from a doll.

"You know what we need to do?" Mali asked of nobody.

"Do tell." Zena said before Mali could continue.

"Someone needs to make something to cover Isildor's eyes." She grinned, throwing a sly look to Isildor. She looked Aiko up and down for a moment before going to her back and grabbing her hair. She worked into something of an up style, leaving only a few coy bangs and grabbed the pins from Zena's hair for good measure. Zena grabbed Aiko's hand and Mali shoved her along to the mirror in the bathroom, which had cooled sufficiently so as to allow them to wipe off the mirror and have it stay dry. Zena pulled only a little eyeliner and powder from one of the many pockets on the jacket she wore today. Mali applied only enough eyeliner so as to draw a little more attention to them while Zena killed the shine from having scrubbed all the dirt off.

"Oh we have got to show her off now!" Zena giggled excitedly. It wasn't a full blown makeover, but having removed the filth from Aiko, the difference was remarkable.

"You're right, as usual." Mali too had to contain her exuberance. She looked Aiko in the eyes. "You really are pretty once you get cleaned up."

Aiko blushed out of sheer embarassment.

"Th-thank you." she said, unsure of what to make of the situation.

"Hey! Who turned out the Lights?" Isildor asked, as Edward kept his eyes covered.
"Thou shalt not look at a lady in a familiar fashion while she is in a state of undress, unless she is your lady wife!" Edward admonished, holding the struggling mage down.

"Ya! About like that!" Mali giggled as Edward wrestled with Isildor.

"Now come on, off to the cafeteria." Zena gave another tug on Aiko, heading towards the "elevator." Mali followed behind, keeping Aiko from tripping over her own wardrobe until they could make it to their destination.

When they arrived, Josh had returned to transcribing his notes into braille and his glasses had slipped nearly to the end of his nose, giving him a middle-aged look. He pushed them back up when the trio entered and did an almost comical double take of Aiko. "I guess it's a good thing I sent you with the two of them." He chortled, admiring their work.

Aiko blushed furiously, unused to compliments from men.

She sat down, not knowing what to do next.

No, Titus and Holdt (they'd never told Marvel their names) weren't afraid that Kil would permanently implode the multiverse, they were afraid the kid would implode the multiverse permanently! How overefficious can you get? And, of course, the next thing they had to do was talk another mage with similar powers into getting the heck away from them.

The good thing, however, was that he'd managed to get the poor kid to smile. With teachers like this, it was probably the first time the kid had smiled in weeks.

The demon looked at them both.

"OK," he said, "show me where I'm wrong. If I put up an illusion over each of your heads..."

Over each of them appeared a white cake-like shape with "THE CHILL PILL I NEED" written on it, about twice the size of their respective heads, with little icicles hanging off of them.

"...and Nil over here Uncreates 'em (OK, kid, do your stuff)..."

Nil smiled and almost effortlessly wiped the illusions out of existence.

"...and I--fully aware that the mojo used in the original illusion is completely, irretrievably gone--put up another, identical illusion..."

"THE CHILL PILL I NEED" reappeared, twice.

"...how is this that different from what would happen if I had dropped the illusion..."

The illusions disappeared.

"...and then brought it back?"

Marvel smiled, but did nothing. He hoped he had made his point.

Valkrya watched the little light show the demon put on the try and show the point that Nil's abilities weren't as worrisome as they made it out to be. Akara looked at Valkrya and they both shook their heads, their faces showing irritation. When he was done, Akara simply spoke coldy. "Are you quite finished? You are? Good. I won't bother wasting my breath on a second explanation since it seems the concept has gone over your head by miles. Honestly, if you are supposed to be an Instructor and can't get a simple concept, then it makes me wonder about your capability to teach."

Valkrya then spoke. "I know what you seem to think, that we are uncaring and just want to dump Nil off. First, you are wrong, and second, shame on your for assuming that. We brought her here since we have no protocols in place to teach about this and the political situation in the Alliance prevents us from teaching her, since the government is still battling over it. Not to mention she'd be in a place that would be hostile to her; we can't control people's thoughts. So, it was thought best to bring her here. If you want to say something, do so with words, not with your illusions. Don't play games, we're not in the mood. Finally, to answer your 'question'. We don't know everything about this ability, since testing it tends to kill a lot of people and leave tears in the Ley Lines, that which gives us our power and sort of, you know, maintains the ability for life to continue in the universe. Can you remake the illusion again? Can you make it again if you had your magic ripped from your or be resurrected when you are burned into nothing? No. That's the point."

"Nope," replied the undemon. "I don't think that you don't care, I think you're too caught up in your silly little rules. You're too busy with your governments and your politics to even talk to me as if you're dealing with an actual person here! You talk on and on about powers and how this and that should or shouldn't exist--well, surprise surprise, it does exist, and you'd do a whole lot better recognizing the reality that just smacked you in the face than arguing over whether it should have been able to.

"My point--which went over your heads by miles and miles--is that the magic doesn't make the mage. This is a real problem and you're not going to solve it with mere formalities."

"Please!" It was Angelica's turn to speak now. "There is no need to argue. You're both right. It is true that this young lady's powers are so great that they can have affects far beyond herself and this room. It is also true that this does not make the person who wields them any less of a person, and that platitudes and posturing won't change things.

"You must forgive each other. Valkrya, you must forgive Marvel for his distrust of authority. As a foot soldier for the underworld, he has been made to do things that you and I can only imagine. If he seems to come on too strong, it is only because he is a champion of the downtrodden--and, if you'll pardon my saying so, you and yours could use a champion such as this one. Marvel, of all the souls I know, yours is the one with the most compassion. You must have compassion for Valkra and Akara, too. They are very concerned for this young lady and what she could do--even if they speak of it in different terms than you do. The mere fact that they are here rather than trying to destroy this lovely girl is proof enough of that. You have that in common, you know.

"Can you find it in your hearts to work together for your common good? Can you live at peace?"

Marvel looked at the two of them, a mild disgust plain on his features. "I can," he said, "but they're going to have to work on their denial of reality."

"Valkra?" Angelica asked. "Akara?"

Valkrya and Akara watched with cold faces as the demon decided to rant. When he had finished, Akara this time spoke. "Again, are you done with your ignorant rant? Good, it appears some education is in order and it will do you some good. We described how her abilities aren't supposed to exist because EVERYONE kept asking about it. It was an explanation, not how we approached the problem. But since you like to assume, you made an ass of both of us. Perhaps, you didn't understand when we said we didn't know how to deal with this. We have NEVER had anyone develop these abilities in the Alliance, and since they are forbidden, there is no CURRICULUM for such abilities. As such, trying to wing training with her would be like an amateur trying to juggle GRENADES his first time at it. If you cannot understand THIS simple concept, then I fear for her education at this Tower."

She stopped when Angelica intervened and spoke a plea of the demon's qualities and how they needed to work together. Akara was about to speak again when Valkrya intervened. "We do not believe he is a bad person or anything....Angelica was it? It is good to have compassion, a rare trait in today's galaxy. However, the fact that we have had to deal with his assumptions and judgments till now don't make us happy, and while he can distrust authority all he wants, if he insists again that we don't see her as a real person, there WILL be a problem. I hope that THIS time we are understood."

When Marvel made his little snide comment, Valkrya simply stood quietly for a moment and then shook his head. "Why Galvenor seeks such an immature demon for his Instructors is beyond me. But since you requested it, very well. We'll play nice as long as he does."

They sat back down to wait for Galvenor to respond. Akara glared daggers at Marvel, while Valkrya pulled out some food and handed it to Nil, who nodded in thanks and continued eating, showing no sign of a reaction to the fight.

"Well Aiko, feel free to wander around a bit. If you go somewhere you shouldn't, you'll know in one way or another." Josh said, packing up his notes into the typewriter case and tapping the rune on the top. With a flash, it vanished from the cafeteria, appearing in the perfect center of his bed. "I should go check on Marvel, who knows what trouble he got into." He left the room with a similar flash, moving himself to the hallway outside Galvenor's waiting room. He managed to catch the end of Angela's speech and decided to make an entrance after the shoddy truce.

"Hello there." He said in a cheery voice shockingly different from the obvious tension. "It looks like I missed quite a bit." Clearly he hadn't missed as much as he acted, but his tone didn't beg for more information.

Mali and Zena meanwhile had said their temporary farewells to Aiko and headed to Zena's room. They found places for the couple dozen candles she'd managed to finish, with the remaining 14 being arranged in various groups around the bathroom. Following their impromptu decorating session, they'd found a couple books they hadn't yet read from Mali's bookshelves and headed to a shade tree a good ways away from the main entrance, but not so far away that they'd be hard to find. They had every intention of trading the interesting plot points for the next few hours.

OOC: Telros, I must humbly insist that you not cut in in the middle of my posts. They are meant as complete units, not to be interrupted. I give you the courtesy of waiting until the end of your story to continue with my posts. Please give me the same courtesy.

IC:

Oh, I'm immature. I have a better idea of what they're doing--not to mention the world around me--than they do, but I'm immature. Yeah. Right. But Marvel held to his part of the bargain, merely returning his hands to his hips and returning Acowa's stare. It wouldn't do to challenge either of them to a Wizards' duel (not to the death). Had to keep on the bandwagon and resolve honest disputes peacefully.

Angelica, of course, laid in her most calming smile. It was a little unnerving, but served its purpose.

OOC: Dastardly, did something happen that I missed? Also, I hope I'm not bothering you with our recent IC tizzy, =P.

As Galvenor spoke with Marvel, the demonstration of the powers in the waiting hall caused both to stop dead in their tracks.

“Our conversation will have to wait. For now be assured I have no ill plans toward anyone who is a student here, I will protect them all with my life. There is obviously something we need to attend on the other side of the door, immediately.”

Galvenor remained seated while Marvel walked to the door and opened it, leaving it slightly ajar. After a curious glance from his instructor, Galvenor canceled his Avatar in the office and left the one in the waiting room. He then watched the interaction between the newcomers and his instructor. He could see Marvel was trying to save face from the previous conversation, his emotions were written in his features and his out of the ordinary actions. When he did his demonstration with the illusions, it was easy to see how he missed what was actually going on. After shooing away the brief appearance of an elderly man Galvenor addressed the situation, feeling Josh approach from the levitation chamber.

“You are slightly mistaken. Think what happens when you dispel something you create using your illusions. The magic is returned to the surrounding environment. You break the way your willpower is containing the magic to create what you imagined. When the form is broken, the energy is as I said, returned to where they were. Anti-Magic is still a magical effect. It pushes power away from an area so constructs cannot form and spells will not function. If this was not true, then the spell Anti-Magic Sphere would not be a spell.”

“What the child did was completely different; please watch carefully paying attention to the actual flow of the magic at the smallest level.”

Galvenor knelt so he was eye level with Nil. He reached out and conjured a small item. Light formed in the palm of his hand and a small jeweled bird appeared. The clockwork toy moved as if it were alive but the key in it’s back slowly wound down until it stopped. Handing the toy to the little girl, he spoke to her in a genuinely affectionate voice.

“I know you are scared, especially with everyone talking about you as if you are not here. Don’t worry, I will not let any of the scary or crazy ones harm you. Can you please take this trinket and do your trick with it? I want to demonstrate what your powers really are so they will understand you."

Nil took the clockwork bird in her own hands and looked at it. Galvenor could tell she wanted to play with the toy instead of using her powers on it. “Go ahead, if you want I can make another for you afterwards. Someday I might even teach you how to make them yourself if your skills lead that way.”

Nodding, she took the toy and looked at it. Without warning, the metal bird began to unravel. It was not the toy falling to pieces, it was literally disintegrating right before their eyes, not leaving behind even dust.

“Thank you my child, here is a replacement just as I promised.” Galvenor handed her a bejeweled canary that would make quiet chirping sounds when the key was wound.

Standing and turning to the others, including Josh, he addressed them.

“Did you see what I mean? The magic bound in the toy did not return to the environment. If you cast Disintegrate on an item, it obviously disintegrated it but the energy of the spell returns to the environment to provide equilibrium. Nothing from that toy returned, it was all simply absorbed away to nowhere. Even Kajeenith in his supposedly absolute mastery over something he called the Void, he still used Magic even when exercising its powers, and it was after all a part of his creation myth and balanced somehow.”

“This is something completely different. The energy and materials went completely away and are not part of anything we can detect even with our skills. Even the metal and gems were completely eradicated and does not exist in any manner other than as memory.”

Turning back to Nil, Galvenor addressed the girl. “I want to ask you if you would care to stay. We will try to learn about your Gift and to teach you how to control it as well as other possible powers you might learn. Please think it over and don’t feel pressured to stay because your two friends wish you to. You will have to want to stay or you will not be free to.”

Galvenor knew Valkrya and Akara would know what he was doing. A child with great powers made to stay someplace would end up causing a lot more problems as she acted out or fell into depression. By making her want to stay and giving her the choice, he was ensuring her cooperation in the near future at the very least.

Josh watched with curiosity to see exactly what Galvenor was talking about and sure enough he was able to witness the magic disappearing. He'd always been fascinated by the spread of energy, heat being the easiest to observe, and now with this display he'd witnessed something new. Nil's ability not only captured his attention with an iron fist, it terrified him. He'd always created or altered, but destruction, true and complete removal of something, was out of his abilities. Nil on the other hand seemed to be a vacuum for all things, almost an opposite to Josh.

Clearly this child would need to be taught how to handle her gifts properly or we will face some immense problems in the future. Of course, there would be great challenges right now, but it's better to face them in a controlled environment where any problem could be contained. Well, hopefully.

Josh cleared his throat, not to get attention though it did help, but rather to loosen his nerve clenched larynx. "Nil, we would very much like the opportunity to teach you. We understand that this is a strange place and we're willing to help smooth the transition as much as possible. I know Marvel can come off as a bit clownish, but he means well. If he's offended you in any way, don't take it personally, it's happened to us all and nobody's perfect." He glanced at Thug 1 and Thug 2 when he mentioned this last bit. "We want to take the time to understand your gift and help you to bring it under your complete control, though you're doing very well on your own. Rest assured if you don't like it here, this is not a prison and you will be free to leave, but please, give it a chance." There, that wasn't so bad. Now if only his forehead would relax, worry lines before you're 20 are a very bad sign.

Marvel looked at Galvenor. I knew, he psent. You didn't have to show me. You think I can't feel when the mojo gets sucked out of my hands? I'm not going to talk to those two--we don't speak the same language, and it could be dangerous. Can you ask them if they've tried using something like a Geometric Construct--you know, the Micelanders' cubes--to act as a shield--a buffer--against the kid's powers?

It took almost an hour, but...with great discression and great decorum (not to mention incredible pretentiousness), Melvin-bore decided to take Niller the Killer off of Titus & Holdt's hands.

Marvel just kept his mouth shut--except for an occasional brimstone belch. One time, he even made it look like he was belching fire and apologized for a "slight case of heartburn." It was great. Everyone was thoroughly disgusted.

That...eventually...brought the undemon, along with Bionic Joke, back into the old ubermage's office. Once everybody was there, the topic of conversation somehow turned--after a few curtly-worded warnings about Marvel's behavior--to the new curriculum.

---------

OOC: Thought I'd update things to the point that the OOC thread said they should be at. Good luck from here.

Josh summoned a pair of chairs for himself and Marvel from the floor, promptly taking the smaller of the two, and waited for Galvenor to take his seat.

"Looking at who we have to teach and what they can do, it would be near pointless to try to teach them en masse for more than a few things. My suggestion is to teach them a few basic tools everyone should know and then instruct them individually on how to use their gifts." He paused before saying the last word with reverence.

"Perhaps teaching them to recognize certain types of magic and how to counter it after that would be a good place to start."

OOC: Alright, there's a good chunk of what we decided on MSN without specifics. I left some out for the sake of having a decent IC discussion.

Aiko meanwhile had retreated to her room, her three dolls following along behind like one small parade.

She looked at all the empty shelves, and the doll making station, and felt happy. Then she noticed the small empty bed next to hers, and a tears welled up in her eyes.

Shoving grief off to the side, she went to the doll crafting side of the room and began to make beautiful dolls. Some Porcelain, some plastic, some of other materials. It was a long and laborious process, and over the course of an hour she was only half way finished with one. A little girl doll, with a white dress, blond hair, blue eyes, and a pretty smile.

"My little calbrena." Aiko whispered softly a tear in her eye.

OOC: Just cause I couldn't simply leave her in the cafeteria.