Shadow Knight's Story

"Star Darling, We're going to be late, your hair looks fantastic and Cici doesn't need to change she looks perfectly fine the way she is." Shad knocked on the door to Star's closet. As usual, the process of getting the entire family out of the house was taking far too long.

"Kage! Make sure your sister is ready!" Shad yelled down the hall expecting the usual back talk he got from the rebellious teen. She had gotten both his and Star's stubbornness which made progress with her very difficult. He took a deep breath he was going to need to drain a human after all of this. There were going to be a lot of old classmates at this reunion, many of which he had seen around since school, a few of them he had only recently made amends with. He wouldn't admit he regretted a lot of the things he did in high school but looking back he probably could have held himself back from trying to kill the humans every other day and given a little thanks when the others helped him.

"I'm coming in." Shad opened the door, Cici bolted to him and wrapped her arms around his waist.

"Daddy~! I wanna wear the red dress!" Cici looked up at Shad with big puppy dog eyes. She was currently wearing a pink dress and it looked adorable on her. It took all of Shad's control to break eye contact with the little girl and give Star a look that said they should get moving.

"Stellaaaaaaaaaaa" Cici squirmed, "Daddy was gonna let me change though! Right Daddy?" She looked back at Shad over her shoulder. Shad shook his head.

"No, your sister is right we need to go." He replied and was happy Estella was moving them out the door. He quickly gave Star a peck on the cheek as the kids made their way downstairs.

"It's going to be a long day." He whispered to her, "Think they're going to behave at all?" he challenged knowing they would probably wreak havoc at the reunion.

"Do they ever behave?" Star scoffed at Shad when he asked. She gave him a wink and a quick peck before her voice changed. "Alright, everyone in the car! Now!" All three children immediately went to the car. No if's, and's or but's. She grinned before grabbing Shad's hand and dragging him down the steps with her. Her lovely, fluffy tails tickled his nose and wrapped around his arms. She had overdressed with a tight, black satin dress that was too short for a mother of three and revealed curves that no one should be allowed to have.

[gonna jump to arriving at carnes if that's okay with you shad! If not we can roleplay on the way there]

The Knight family walked up to the group that was already formed and standing there in front of the gates. She had heard Arthur talking about the strongest monster here and she gave an evil grin.

"You want to know who's the strongest one here?" She asked, lifting an eyebrow. "You're looking at her." She gave a little hair flip that went with it. The only way Star had changed was she looked even prettier due to her longer tails and her hair and gained long, beachy waves instead of being pin straight.

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Estella followed ten feet behind the rest of the family, but walked with an intimidating swagger. She rolled her eyes when her mom spoke. She would definitely argue that she was stronger than her mom, but not to her. When they got to the group, she leaned on the nearby fence with one foot up against the post. With a quick glance, she figured out that all of the kids here were much younger than her She groaned and leaned her head back. This sucked. She did NOT want to be here.

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Kage wore his sunglasses despite the fact that the sun wasn't out. He didn't want to have any accidents with eye contact today because he wasn't sure his mother would help him break the spell depending on who it was. He was calm, cool and collected. That is, until the wind blew.

The most delicious scent that had ever crossed his nose hit him hard like a wall. Even with the sunglasses blurring his vision, he spotted the vein on Arthur's neck that was pumping the sweet nectar. His eyes then darted to Jaimie's then Amber's neck. Then he eyed the twins. Even Kalen got his watchful eye for a second. His fangs elongated and ached instantly.He had to let go of Cici's hand so that he didn't accidentally break it as he clenched his fists to hold himself back. His eyes went back to glaring at Arthur.

"I don't think I can do this," he growled through shut fangs. They were walking closer and closer and it just got worse and worse. He kept walking with them, but his stride had changed.

Star arrived on the scene and with her the entire Knight family, including Shad. Shad looked on par with Star for once, he didn’t dress up as much as she did but he was still looking stylish in a dark navy pinstriped button up and off-black slacks. He decided to ditch his jacket to make things slightly more casual and the shirt was not buttoned up all the way despite Star’s objections in dressing. The years had done nothing to his looks and only his improved maturity made him look any older. His aura had matured too, instead of the raging red fire it had been in school it developed into a smoky purple mist that he let leak from his body to let everyone know of his presence and power.

He merely rolled his eyes at Star’s comment, there would be no argument from him on that topic and he was more interested in greetings. Fangs out and eyes a deep crimson red he smirked.

“Funny seeing all of you here. Nearly all the monsters are represented in such a small group." He paused and glanced over the group and their children his presence rather unavoidable. "We could even hold our own council, I’m sure some of you could do better than the current leaders.” Shad joked sparking conversation without singling anyone out.




Cici looked very confused as Kage let go of her hand and she grabbed onto his closed fist. She felt fine, there were some pretty smells and she hoped to get a taste at some point but she was rather nonchalant over the presence of humans. Her senses were overwhelmed with wonder and her skipping especially energetic.

“You can do this Kagey! If you get hungry just pretend everyone is a goo monster that tastes really really bad! That’s what Daddy told me to do if I get hungry~!” Cici smiled with little baby fangs at her big brother to cheer him up.

Just a few feet from the entrance to Carnes-High, an explosion of thick, black smoke disturbed the mountain air. Once it partly cleared, four figures were revealed, a man and woman and a boy and a girl who shared a chilling similarity. One of the man's hands instantly drifted towards the woman protectively as they began to walk.

Lin swept Freezer's hand away like a cobweb. "Stop! I'm fine, honestly" she snapped irritably at him before giving her high-school sweetheart a softer approach. "It's not like I'm inexperienced" she murmured gesturing towards the two children in front of them.

Freezer observed his wife with a small smile, she was wearing a deep blue Maxi-dress, with her miles of thick wavy hair left tumbling down her back. It made her look like a Greek deity. Freezer sighed and held his hands up in defeat. It wasn't her delicate looking body that made him fuss so much, it was the bulging pregnancy bump that expanded out from beneath the dress that concerned him.

Their two children huffed and sighed as the couple realised they'd stopped the group from walking any further. "Come on, at this rate we'll miss the reunion" Lin added giving the children and Freezer a push forwards. Freezer gave a scowl and linked an arm around her waist. "Didn't even want to come. Not when you're like this." he muttered under his breath. 'there are people here who would see to you having a stillborn' He thought the last part, but didn't say it, knowing it would only leave him getting beaten by a heavily pregnant woman.

Elle, one of their children, marched ahead confidently whilst giving her surroundings wide, curious eyes. She had heard stories about this place, about the people in it and now she was here it was difficult to believe her parents actually went to school. That the people in the stories were real.
"Elle not too far ahead!" Lin moaned, knowing the angelic 'looking' little girl would cause nothing but devilish trouble when out of sight.

Falcon on the other hand, their son and Elle's twin, clung to her hand like leech. She smiled down at his gorgeous face as Freezer scowled down at him. "Falcon don't cling to your mother like that, you'll trip her up!"

"I'm helping her walk" Falcon retorted.

Closing in on the school gates, Lin and Freezer actually paid attention to their surroundings and found that they needn't look far for the people they once knew at school. Pretty much all the them stood in a small group just inside the school gates, with children too!!
Lin gave the group a wicked smile and glanced up at Freezer, who couldn't help but give a charming smile, knowing full well he'd missed the sight of the people they used to mess around with. The only problem they faced was how everyone would remember them...

Lin decided to select the most closest individual to her kind. "Well, well if it isn't Arabella..."

Amber only smiled as Aiden mentioned that they should take more vacations. It was a good idea, but they would always have to plan around the full moon. She hesitated, though, when she heard another familiar voice. She felt a moment of fear, almost feeling like she was back in high school again. But she forced herself to calm down. Sure, Lin had tried to eat her liver, but that had been so long ago. Years had passef, and things had changed. Maybe Lin had changed, too. So she offered the witch a smile in greeting. She glanced around the children when Lin asked if the others were strong. Aiden asked for her opinion, and she paused a moment to think about it.

They were only kids, really. Maybe she really did just want to play; it was possible she wouldn't act the way her mother had during high school. Besides, only one was full human, and the others would help if he needed it. And it wasn't like they were going to be left unsupervised for very long, if at all. She nodded.

"It's okay with me, as long as everyone's careful not to hurt each other." Lin had thought to ask, so maybe she had changed a lot, for the better. This might be a chance for them all to get along.



Arlayna hesitated as Adrien moved closer to the other boy. She hurriedly moved to catch up, to keep close to him. She glanced over the pair, somewhat curious, but also wary. She didn't know these two. Adrien seemed eager to make friends with them, so it looked like she'd be following them around a bit. She wasn't sure, since they were half vampire, and she knew her mother had had blood taken from het by a vampire in high school. Besides, her dad didn't seem to like the vampire there. Still, if Adrien wanted to play and make friends, she'd follow.

(Sorry if it's short; I'm trying to post from my phone.)

"Is that even a question worth asking?" Shad decided to step in as Lin asked about the children. "except for maybe the adopted human." Shad gave Arthur a glance, "All of these children are raised by some of the strongest monsters of our time and have very unique powers of their own." He raised an eyebrow at the pregnant woman.

"If you're worried about your kids being too much for our kids to handle, perhaps you should have raised them with a little more control." the last word had a fiery edge to it as Shad stood up for the others. He wasn't particular to the two witches, mostly because they were too close to him in power and too much of a threat.

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"I already said my name is Cici!" The young vampire hissed, "Mommy and Sissy were right, boys are stupid." she stuck her tongue out at the young werewolf. She then giggled and twirled her dress a little.

"But at least you two smell good! Can I have a taste?" The little vampire asked with dazzling puppy dog eyes.

"Of your blood?" she clarified before moving closer to the two and peaking around to look more closely at the sister. Cici was in no way shy and more than often didn't realize how people might react to her.

"Or let Kagey taste!" She smiled. "He's always so hungry!" She cooed.

"Pleaseeeeeee" she looked extra adorable with the hopes to charm them.

Estella was swimming around underneath the feet of the monsters and humans gathered in front of the gates. The shadow world that she had inhabited was the black and white, reflected version of the real world. Up was down and down was up, the only color anyone would see would be their shadow above them and the person that dragged them into the shadow world. That is, if the demon didn't posess their uninhabited body.

Estella giggled as she pulled on Ashton's shadow's pigtails. In the real world, the little phoenix would probably think of it just as the wind moving her hair. Next she went to her brother and tied his shoe laces together. The only sign of her was the shadow moving along unnaturally on the pavement. The shadow world was her domain and so far she was the only one in her family to reach it. Maybe Cici will one day.

She stayed in the shadow world to watch everyone else, using her dad's shadow as a cover. In the upside down shadow world, she was standing next to him. Hm hm hmmm. She thought, looking her dad's shadow body straight in the eye. She lifted one finger and a nail was elongated. She slit her other wrist, quick and effortlessly. It almost immediately healed, but not before she got a few drops on her nail.

"C'mon, Dad," she teased in front of his face. She waved the drops of delectable kitsune blood under his nose. "Control. Control. Control." she mocked him like he would talk to Kage about his blood thirst. There was a reason she wasn't doing this to her out of control brother. At least her dad had some control. She waited to see how long the shadow's scent would take to reach the real Shad's nose.

She giggled before slowly switching to the real world back in her original spot behind everybody and kept an eye on her dad. If that didn't work, she had some plans for the two phoenix children.

Adrien gave a small smile at the younger vampire named Cici as she stuck her tongue out at him. As Cici asked to have a taste and stared at him with those puppy eyes. Adrien furrowed his brow in response "I dont think thats a good Idea Adrien said rubbing his head as he felt a little funny it was like two forces fighting inside of him one gently pushing in while another was trying to push its way out. He shook his head softly trying to shake the sensation. His dad had told them to find the harmony between themselves and their beast but Adrein wasn't sure where that place was, or if it was even possible. "Besides Cici isn't monster blood supposed to taste horrible? We are most definitely monsters."

Aiden looked at Shad as he spoke about control and winced a little at the remark himself. But instead of going onto the offensive Aiden just stood there. "Today is suppose to be a happy day so lets make it one. Besides I'm rather interested in what You have all been up to. the last ten years....Even you Lin My sister talks to me but well as you can imagine she lacks perspective at times. How is the coven....How are you two holding up these days?" Aiden asked with a small smile and genuine interest trying to get the conversation away from hostilities. Fact was he had seen real villains over the last ten years. Hunting down artifacts and disposing of them had rossed his path with several unsavory characters who wanted ultimate power.

Shad's temper sparked right up as Lin mentioned his control problems, it wasn't like he was still in high school, he could control himself perfectly fine now. But right on queue the scent of blood hit his nose and his fangs slid out to be more noticeable. His eyebrow twitched with curiosity and surprise. The scent was familiar, not human, not werewolf, but it had a canine accent, honestly it reeked the most of demon. But who was a dog like demon around here. With a second inhale of the thirst inducing liquid he knew exactly whose blood it was and frowned about the source because he knew very well she wouldn't have injured herself by accident.

Luckily Aiden stepped into the tension between him and Lin to clean up that mess and change the topic so he might be able to deal with the little demon running around waving blood in his face. As Star chimed in he hoped it wouldn't continue the argument but his lovely wife had a point if his kids were uncontrollable Freezer's should be just as bad. For a moment Shad's eyes shifted to Kage, if anyone was going to lose control it would be him, his heart sank at the thought that the thirst Kage had was all his fault, but at least the kid had a handle on himself while talking to the mutts.

Suddenly Estella decided to stop sulking off in a corner and grace the rest of them with her presence only to suggest they move. Shad shot her a glare to let her know he knew she was up to no good.

"Yes, let's head in to the actual party." Shad agreed with his daughter and then darted to her side with a flash of speed before checking her wrists and fingers to see where she cut herself. He then looked her right in the eyes with the fire of his temper. "we'll talk about this when we get home." He quickly hissed before dropping her hands and returning to the others. He walked right up to Star and put and arm around her waist. He was more stressed than he would have liked and Star would probably notice it.

Lin shared daggers with Star when the fox-demon butted in, the two wives were rarely not at odds. They were rivals at high-school and now they were non-direct rivals at the council and courts. Fashion, children, families, diets, styles...everything they did at some point was compared by the people.

Luckily Aiden cut in and cooled the situation with the reminder that this was supposed to be a good day. Freezer had hung back the entire time, he wanted to say something, worried that Lin would get too stressed but then he didn't want to get involved. Getting angry wasn't going to help anyone, he'd gained more control of his predicament but there was no total control with this kind of thing. He smiled appreciatively at the werewolf and decided he'd put the hostile first impression aside and like the wolf.

Unmistakably one of Shad and Star's older children suggested they move along and the group seemed to agree, Star also suggested in her "remark" that her oldest was perfectly capable of looking after the children. He decided to trust her opinion.

As they walked, Lin hobbled over to Aiden and Amber and gladly began to complain about the hardships of council and the damned witch courts that remained far too strict. She also asked about the couples family and often wondered how they were getting along and if they had similar troubles with their children etc. Freezer gladly tagged along, holding Lin's hand and listening in.

Amber followed along next to Aiden, letting him answer the questions, since he seemed to be so eager to answer them. So far it looked like Lin had changed; this sort of conversation didn't seem like her during high school. Maybe this was a good thing. She glanced around at the others, though. Star still didn't seem to get along with her, and Shads temper seemed to fare as Lin mentioned his control issues. She was quite sure everyone knew he was much better about controlling himself. If anything, she thought, with a glance back, it was the children they had to worry about controlling themselves. They didn't have nearly the amount of experience the others had.

That was actually what worried her at the moment. Adrien had been having issues controlling himself lately, and Arlayna hadn't exactly mastered self control, either. And who knew how much control the other children had. She only hoped they would have to sense to avoid anything that might cause a fight. Granted, this place was used to fights and was probably repaired several times over the years from fights between students; it wouldn't be anything new to them. But still, it would be nice if they could avoid too much trouble.



Arlayna sighed with relief. The older boy had discouraged his younger sister, so the question no longer mattered. It looked like she had given up on the idea, anyway. She looked to the parents as they walked away, and moved even closer to Adrien. She felt his moment of panic he felt, and thought about it for a second. Finally, she turned her attention back to her brother and the other two. Well, if Adrien was trying to be friends, maybe this was a good time for a bit of adventure, she decided. She took a deep breath before saying anything, hoping it was loud enough for the other two as well.

"Maybe...now we could explore a bit. I mean, Mom and Dad are talking with everyone else...they aren't paying attention..." Typically she didn't suggest exploring, but this time was different; their parents had walked away, and they hadn't wandered off. And, if the other two heard and were willing to follow, they could. Anything was better than doing nothing, anyway; at least this idea meant she could walk around a little more, even if she'd still be following Adrien.

Adrien looked over at the new person walking up she was older by a few years it looked. She had come up when they had mentioned looking around and Adrien only smiled at her. "An Adventure couldn't hurt. We were just thinking of exploring the grounds a little bit." Adrien said with a bit of a smile as he looked over to his sister giving a small nod with a smile.

Aiden looked up as Desmond and Kalen seemed to join Lin Freezer Amber and himself While Desmond immediately seemed to gravitate to Freezer Kalen came over to Lin and himself. Aiden listened to Kalens conversation and saw it as a good time to quite himself a little as he listened to the two talk and then Desmond talking to Freezer.

Aiden Gave a small nod to Desmond as he slunk a little closer to Amber and looked over his shoulder to see if the kids were following them. They were standing there and estella Was next to them with the other two knight children. Aiden kept a comment to himself and looked over the group as a whole only a few seemed to be missing but he supposed not everyone could make it after all. Aiden looked over to Shad and gave him a smile "So Shad, What is new with the knight family?" Aiden asked trying to be polite.

Shad looked rather grim, like he was lost in thought about something bothersome. When Aiden caught his attention and gave him a smile. Shad decided to lighten up at this greeting and attempted to smile back but it still resembled an arrogant smirk.

"Other than raising three demon spawn with fangs and holding a place on the council not much." Shad replied simply. "Honestly the kids are just growing up so fast I can barely keep track of what happened this week and last month let alone last year, and I don't even recall the last time our families met. But those mutts of yours were much younger." He meant no offence on calling the twins mutts, but if Aiden wanted to take offence Shad wouldn't be thrown off.

"And I don't know if Cici was even born then." he puzzled over it and then looked over at the twins and his kids to see if he could judge the ages but to no avail, the difference in aging processes was not something he was in the mood to calculate.

Aiden gave a small grin as he listened to Shads reply just glad he didn't have to deal with a teenager yet. Shads remark about the mutts only made Aiden smile the term wasn't wrong and shad wasn't using it in a derogatory way So Aiden let it slide. He thought for a moment as Shad mentioned that he couldn't remember if Cici was their and Aiden gave a Grin. "It was about a month After she was born. We had heard the news So i thought a small visit wouldent hurt." Aiden said as they continued to walk "Well I cant say things are different on my end Shad. Adrein has started having night terrors and attitude problems and anything that affects one of them well it might as well affect the other." Aiden said glancing back to check on the children before looking back to Shad.


"But other than the troubles of parent hood Id say things are going good with me and Amber." Aiden said a sincere smile stretching across his face as he stole a glance at his high-school sweetheart before continuing. "The farm house keeps us out of the way of both sides of our worlds and gives the kids plenty of room to run around. How about you and Star you both seem to be doing very well aside from the children.

"Well, I've never been one for sitting around with a bunch of ancient monsters arguing over policies, so I've definitely got to say you're winning as far as jobs are concerned. Unfortunately, I can't let my Father take his place back so I'm a bit stuck for the moment." Shad sighed. "We don't all have a sister willing to take our place." he smirked teasingly.

"Star seems to love it, my high status in the monster world draws a lot of attention and the occasional guest." Shad shrugged like it was all no big deal. He had grown a little more humble since high school being on the council wasn't that big of a deal to him.

"Now that I think about it we probably could use a vacation." Shad replied and began to let his mind wander to a possible island trip sometime soon.

Aisden gave a grin to shads Comment about his sister and was about to reply when Desmond decided it was time to show off his sons capabilities. Aiden was really on par with Kalens attitude here. But He knew better than to make any sort of deal out of it instead he merely clapped after it was finished He then turned back to Shad and replied Your right not all of us have sisters with political agendas and like to use their brother as a threat for nuclear war...but hey family what you going to do I have to play nice with Kivan once a year if not more and then there are the trips to the grandparents those are always fun...I keep trying to tell Amber one day soon we need to tell them..." Aiden would trail off as he dug around in one of his pockets looking for something to pull out.

After a moment He gave a small sigh and looked over to Desmond who had finished talking to himself and Aiden waited toill after freezer and Lin's reply. Before he would speak to him. "You know Desmond I couldent help but overhear you talking to yourself....I might know the location of a few things to help bolster him...." Aiden said a bit more quietly and directly to Desmond and Kalen.

Estella grinned at the group. "We'll then let's go!" She turned around and started towards the graveyard, but stayed with the rest of the group. While she was walking, she took note of Arthur. He was quick for a human.

"Not too bad, Dessy!" She said, laughing. It'd been awhile since she had last seen the Hirule. She was also looking at him from a slightly different angle now. Same with all of the older monsters. She used to look up to all of them, literally and figuratively. She thought Arabella's light and tingly magic was so cool! And the way Desmond got all glory was so impressive! That was before her grandpa showed her what monsters were really like. These were just a waste of power now.

The little Phoenix lit a tree on fire and she laughed. And her family was the control problem ones?

Kage on the other hand was looking at all of the power with wide eyes as soon as Cici dropped the blood topic. His excitement was so hard to contain, but he had to or else it would affect everyone else. The enchanted glasses also helped with it.

"Where are we going, Stelly!?" He asked, smiling brightly. Then, a flash of light appeared and Arthur pulled a sword out of his pendant. "THAT WAS SO COOL!" He shouted. He hardly noticed the tree.


Star shot a look in Kage's direction. He was getting worked up and she didn't want to have to wipe out some memories. As Desmond displayed his son's powers, Starlet nodded in approval.

"Not bad for a human," she said, slightly impressed. She meant just that, however. If he was a monster, it wouldn't have been that impressive. She looked over at the little fireball of a Phoenix and grinned. She walked over to the little girl who was currently hiding behind her brother.

"Hey there, wanna see something cool?" She asked, crouching down to the girl's level. Star lifted one hand in a majestic way and a red fireball sat in her palm. It held no heat, but if it touched a human's skin it left burn marks similar to a chemical burn rather than a flame. That was a kitsune's fire. She then used her other hand to mold the ball until it was a sword.

"The key," she said, using a maternal voice. "Is to only use as little flame as possible and stretch what you have out. If you use too much, you'll end up without eyebrows!" The only reason she was bothering with the little girl was because of what she was. How did Arabella and Jaimie come into the custody of such amazing creatures? And to not have them learning? Such a waste.

Shad, looked to Aiden and then Amber as they spoke, the two hadn't changed much still unbelievably in sync but their isolation was strange to him. It was for the best though, at least his kids were monster hybrids, no one likes a human hybrid. Of all people Jaimie and Arabella made the smart decision of not having kids even when witch hybrids don't usually cause problems.

His attention was then turned to the human and the fireball. All Shad could think was "show off" when Desmond shot one of his aura orbs at his son to display his abnormal abilities. Nothing would change Shad's mind about the kid, a human was a human, any three of his children could overpower him in the blink of an eye. But he now knew better than to challenge Desmond on that point.

The fireball was a bit more unexpected. Shad had visited the Flynns on rare occasions and never with his entire family. Judging by the speed at which Arabella put out the fire the young phoenix created this was a common occurrence. Honestly, he was more impressed with Arabella's coolness at the situation than Desmond's display with his son. When Star stepped in Shad was very curious as to what interest she could possibly have with the pheonix, that was until he saw the fox fire. He smiled seeing she was trying to help, she was quite the mother now.

Desmond couldn’t help but overhear Freezers comment on the sword as he watched the young boy return to his group of friends and he huffed a bit, “You and me both, but that blade is one of a kind, and unfortunately I doubt it would let either of us so much as hold it now… it’s found its owner.” He commented much as Freezer had – that is to say more to himself than anyone else. Aiden's comment, however, brought bout a more direct response, "Last thing that kid needs is more artifacts for him to cause trouble with..."

“Ahem, anyway,” Kalen coughed and returned her attentions to Lin, “You are practically glowing! When’s the newest addition due to make an appearance?” she began the pleasantries again when a nearby tree burst into flames, not that she was very surprised, “Woah! Light show.” She commented before returning to the pregnant witch.

Desmond also drew his eyes away from those with whom he was conversing and noting the tree bursting into flames, “Hello! That’s the good ol’ days.” Looking to Shad however he shrugged, “Well, we never really burned the place, just smashed up a courtyard… or three… and we certainly never destroyed an entire spa.” He added the last bit to Freezer but with a more playful note, not really pointing blame but more just reminiscing.

Arthur, meanwhile had returned to the group of children and Ashton torched a nearby tree trying to impress him. He laughed lightly and knelt as she buried her face with embarrassment in Rayburn’s shirt. Reaching out he patted her head, “Wow, Ash, you really got some fire in ya’ eh?” the tween chuckled as he smiled to the young and impressionable girl before standing and stepping back, letting Mrs. Knight talk to the young Phoenixes, and turning to Falcon whom he’d brushed aside, “Sorry about that, that was really rude of me… I’m Arthur Ruler!” he said with a smile presenting his hand to the young boy. The kids were getting along fine it seemed, at least all over the place, the two were children had met the vampire kitsune kids and lived to tell about it and Rayburn had lost to Arthur… again… so it was all going rather well, or seemed to be. The Gargoyle that watched on from afar, it’s head just barely tilted out of place form the perch it had occupied for decades upon the room turned it’s gaze away from the gateway, returning it forward to its original position.

But Desmond had not gone without noticing such creatures and as he caught the slight movement from the corner of his eye he looked back to the two before him with a more business like face. He’d taken notice of Aiden and Amber’s children earlier with a smile on his face but it was one held in spite of truth, the truth that they were much like his son in that they were some of the top priority targets of the Isolationist movement. And it was for them and others that this extra security was being activated. Freezer, Shad, and Desmond were all in a small grouping of their own, the others having gone about other conversations or actions just slightly away and so he spoke more candidly, “So much for a quiet reunion, eh? Here stand some of the most powerful monsters in the entire world… and still I wouldn’t be surprised if at any second the Isolationists came storming this place, trying to catch us off guard.”

As if on cue, such a commotion burst into life at that moment, though admittedly with a great deal less evil intentions that what Desmond had suggested, “Greeting, Alumni!” a familiar voice boomed form the school side of the courtyard as a good looking man, with blonde hair, and a name plate stating he was the Assistant Principal stepped out toward the groups, “It’s been too long!” Jacob called with his arms outstretched in welcome.