Walking towards the gate to the school was a short blonde woman and a yellow-haired girl holding hands. The little girl's long waves were tied up into pigtails with bright blue ribbons. Sitting on her head and playing with the ribbons was a small, white monkey that seemed to be the happiest monkey on the planet. To the alumni of the school, they would recognize him as Arabella's monkey, Baine. Due to various enchantments, the monkey had a much slower rate of growth. Regular visits to a certain elf aided in the monkey's youth.

The monkey wasn't the only thing different about the girl. She had two orange wings popping out of her back that were fluttering with every step. The girl seemed frustrated as she jumped up and flapped harder.

"Flap them at the same time," Arabella suggested to the small Ashton. She had run to catch up with Ashton's attempts at flight, leaving Jaimie and Rayburn behind. At another failed attempt to lift off, Arabella smiled warmingly before suggesting that Ashton waited until her brother could teach her.

"How about we stop and wait for Daddy and Ray?" She asked, crouching down to get on the little girl's eye level. Arabella waved a hand over Ashton's hair and fixed all of the crazy flyaways that had occurs during Ashton's attempt to "fly away".

Farther back on the road a red-headed father and his equally red-headed son took a slower pace. The boys looked unhappy about the whole situation

"But dad" the boy whined. "I don't want to go." He looked up at his father with pleading eyes.

The taller, more mature looking Jaimie broke from his nostalgic trance as they walked down the very same road he ran on that first day of school and smiled at his son.

"It'll be fun! I promise, I know there a few kids your age who should be there and you're even allowed to spread your wings." Jaimie explained. "Everyone there will be special just like you." He cleverly dodged the word monster, it had become second nature at this point. The boy just gave him a pout, he didn't like meeting new people. "Cheer up buddy" Jaimie tousled Rayburn's hair.

"Let's go catch up to Mom and Ash. You want to race?" Jaimie said with a spark in his eye. Rayburn's eyes lit up at the mere mention of a race and his pout turned into a large grin.

"Ready, Set, GO!" Rayburn shouted and took off, Jaimie kept up to him with no trouble what so ever flames started licking the edges of Rayburn's hair as he ran next to his dad. Still Jaimie kept the pace even if he wasn't in his best shape ever.

"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.

Kage was dressed and ready to go as he was sitting on the steps. When his dad told him to get Stella, it might as well have been a death wish. With a bit of a grumble he extended his tail and ear just in case she sent shadows his way. He jumped up the steps in one leap and knocked on her door.

Estella was laying in bed with one of her boy toys on the phone. She hated how needy they got after she sucked their soul! But she was above taking random strangers off of the street. That's when Kage knocked on her door. With a flick of her wrist, it flew open to reveal a scared-looking younger brother.

"What?" she asked, arching her eyebrow.

"Dad says it's time to leave," he said, staring back at her. She grumbled, but followed Kage back down the hall. When he headed down the stairs, she headed to her parents' room where she heard Cici grumbling.

"Just wear the pink one!" Stella said, throwing open the door. She picked Celinia up and threw her over her shoulders like a sack of potatoes. "You're making us late!" She then began down the steps so she could leave.

Star was about to point out that Cici had just worn her red dress when Estella intervened. Star followed, growing at Stella. "Be nice to your sister!" she knew Stella wouldn't hurt Cici, but the older girl wasn't always nice.

"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.

“Ugh… I understand your concerns, Councilwoman, but I assure you I know what I saw.” Desmond was being firm as he spoke into the phone with barely contained aggravation, “That was definitely a Doppelganger, no doubts about it, the aura and the figure was absolutely unmistakable.”

Desmond continued with his conversation as Kalen rolled her eyes standing by the stove, the water was about to boil so she removed it from the heat and poured it into her cup, “Jeez, he’s been at it all morning…” she commented as she submerged the tea into her cup and let it stoup, “She is never going to admit it you know!” she called out to him. He just frowned deeper, if that was possible, considering the situation. Finally she took the tea from the brew and took a sip, smiling at the flavor.
“Look, I don’t care if you are willing to admit it or not, but the fact is a doppelganger killed and replaced a student of my son’s-“ the line was louder as the other side shot back, “they killed and replaced a student at my son’s school and attempted to assassinate him. Whether or not you had a hand in it isn’t the issue here, fact is that the captured assailant has named two of your representatives as the backers for the attack. That is, before he was killed… suicide my ass.” More retorts, however in the meantime Desmond’s coffee was finished and Kalen brought it to him, taking a sip as the other person continued to produce excuses and Desmond placed the cup down rather hard and broke in again, “This is not a discussion, Councilwoman, I am calling to inform you that I will be pressing an investigation on these events and that’s all. Now if you’ll excuse me.” with that he hung up the phone and took in a deep breath.

“It’s alright dear,” Kalen cooed as she stood beside him and placed a hand on his shoulder, “Arthur is fine, he can handle himself after all. And don’t forget what today is.” She added as she walked back to the main stair, “I’ve got to go get ready; it’ll be nice to see the old gang again… Desmond, could you get Arthur up please? He always sleeps in so late on Saturdays.”

“Huh, oh, right the reunion!” Desmond, for a moment, took a trip down memory lane before letting himself relax more, he’d been under a great deal of stress recently but he was actually looking forward to today, “I’ll get him, Hun, you just leave it to me.” He assure as his typical smile returned to his face again.

“I’m counting on you!” she called down the stairs.

“Sure! No problem…” he replied while inwardly he thought how he would ever get the kid to wake up this early. “Oh boy, what have I gotten myself into this time… hmmm, guess I’ll finish my coffee while I strategize.

---

While his parents were down stairs getting their morning coffee and, most definitely in his mother’s case, tea Arthur was still snoozing in his room. Or normally he would have been on a Saturday but unfortunately for him he’d forgotten the previous night to flip the alarm clock to his weekend setting the night before so he was already awake. Oh well, he vaguely remembered that there was something they were going to do today. “But what was it?” the boy wondered aloud.

“Meow!”

The cat on his bed complained at this sudden outburst that had awoken it from its gentle slumber and looked up at him. He glanced away from his hand held game and too the animal. The creature stepped up onto his chest and pawed at his face, must to his disapproval. He loved his cat but the thing had sharp claws! Given the quiet moment to think more on the day however he felt the sleepiness that he’d been fighting all morning after waking up early slip further away, What was it?

Knock, knock, knock!

“Come in!” he called.

Desmond opened the door with a look of relief on his face, “Ah, good, you’re up, that’s the first good news I’ve had this morning.”

“Morning, Pops, eh… wait… are you trying to say I’m difficult in the mornings?”

Insert Desmond’s devious grin, “No, I’m not trying to say that I am saying it.”

“Gee, thanks…” the youth returned to his game as his cat hopped down and moved over to Desmond, sashaying between the man’s legs as it rubbed against him. Reaching down the Hirule picked up the mammal and gave it a pat, to which it just meowed loudly. “Okay, okay, I hear you; I’ll get your breakfast!” Arthur directed to his pet that jumped from Desmond’s arms onto the nearby dresser.

“Well, while you’re up grab a shower, son, and get dressed. We’ve got to go to the reunion today.” he explained while leaning in on the door jam, “Kage and a few other kids your age should be there so it shouldn’t be too boring.” He added.

Getting off his bed and stretching Arthur yawned once and then nodded to his father, “ok, I guess, it’s not like I’ve got anything better to do.” He surmised, “But do we have to leave this early? Carnes is just down the mountain.”

“Your mother is already in the shower, that mean you’ve got two hours before she’ll be ready… I hope…”

Resolving himself he just nodded again and went to collect and feed his cat, “Yes, sir.” Glancing into the small mirror atop his dresser, however, the boy’s calm face broke into one of dismay, “Wha! Aah!” he dropped the cat, not that it had any problems landing on it’s feet, though the swishing of its tail indicated it wasn’t happy as the animal growled slightly and exited the room, sitting in the hall with its back to them both.

“What is it?”

“A-a pimple, come on, today of all days!” the pubescent preteen exclaimed ash e he grabbed the mirror and brought it closer to his face, staring angrily at the white head that had appeared on his otherwise perfect forehead.

Desmond had for a moment tensed, being on guard since the attack a few days earlier, but relaxed and sighed in relief and embarrassment at the standard preteen problem the boy was showing. But of course that would be his problem wouldn’t it, he had yet to be told about how one of his school mates was dead in that attack. Desmond decided now was not a good time to tell him either, and so just laughed, “You know, pimples are just the start there kid, soon you’ll have to deal with a whole mess of other issues, like- .”

“Ugh! Dad, just stop right there, now is not the time for ‘the talk!’” the youth yelled making Desmond laugh even harder as he stepped up to the boy.

Still chuckling he patted the young boy’s head, “Oh, thanks son, I needed that.” he brought his hand down to the boy’s face and pointed at the blemish. A moment later a blue spark arced across his fingers and into the sore, causing it to shrink and shrink until it could not be seen, simple but meaningful magic, “There, better?”

Rubbing the spot against the ingle of the energy still found beneath the skin the kid smiled, “Much, thanks Pops! It would have been impossible to treat that thing in such short time.” And with that the kid gave Desmond a quick hug and hurried off down the hall, shoeing the cat along to the kitchen to be fed.

The older Hirule just stood there smiling, thinking of how care free the young boy was, and then his smile faded as he realized the truth he’d yet to learn. This would be the first death of many though. The young boy was destined for this though, for he was the bridge between two worlds that couldn’t or perhaps shouldn’t touch. And the worse part of this all was that Desmond was the one setting him on that path, predestined or not. Will he take it as a gift or a curse I wonder?

---

“Wow, this place sure has changed… and just think, kiddo, you’ll be here in a few short years too!” Kalen commented as they walked down the tree lined street next to the school. “I mean, the old buildings remain but those dorms are new, aren’t they Desmond?”

“Huh? Oh yeah, I got some letter about it from the school Alumni Foundation, they’re supposed to be individual rooms now instead of the shared dorms from back in our day.”

Arthur puzzled for a moment at that comment, “I thought you two didn’t stay in the dorms?” as he walked along behind them, hands behind his head looking about to take in the school he’d soon be attending.

“Yeah but we had some special circumstances.” Glancing ahead he spotted a few other families and moved up to walk next to his parents, “Hey, who’s that?”

“Looks like Jamie and company to me, dear.” Kalen commented. Desmond just nodded and waved with a smile to the figures in the distance as they approached the gate themselves.

Amber looked over the familiar building. Clearly very little had really changed. It wasn't often they all left for the same place, and she wasn't entirely sure just how the twins might react to the high school they'd be going to several years from now. But that was a little ways off, she reminded herself. She glanced over the twins briefly before looking to Aiden.

"Doesn't look like much has changed, does it?" she asked, looking back to the building. She paused, glancing towards the grounds when she saw a hint of movement. There was Kalen and Desmond along with Arthur, and Jamie and Arabella along with Ashton and Rayburn. Looked like there were already people she knew. And so far she got along well with them. It was always good to see old friends, especially when she couldn't talk much to her family so they wouldn't find out about monsters. Somehow, she couldn't imagine her parents taking that very well. At least she didn't need to keep secrets from these people.

"Even some of the same people," she joked, waving to the others. "Hopefully Adrien's temper won't cause any problems with the other kids," she added in a whisper to Aiden.



Arlayna followed closely behind Adrien, eyes darting around rapidly. This was a new place, and there were a lot of people here. At least, a lot more than she was used to at once. Well, on the bright side, she could still follow Adrien around, or her parents, if she got separated from Adrien. Not that she couldn't find any of them if she did get separated, but still, she felt better to have someone to follow.

She glanced at her parents, then looked over the building. From the looks of things, there were going to be a lot of people there. There had to have been a lot of students at school there, and then many might have brought their kids. She was uncomfortable with the thought, but did her best to brush it off. "There are a lot of people here..."

Aiden smiled as his mind raced with nostalgia to the years spent at Carnes. His hair was especially unkempt today he had gotten home just the day before last from an expedition And it had been a rather tricky one at that Amber spoke up talking to Aiden causing him to glance over to the twins. as she talked Arlayna wasn't to much trouble herself but with Adrien one couldent be to careful. " I heard they re did the dorms finaly and updated a few of the more archaic rooms." Aiden said with a soft smile as he wrapped an arm around Amber gently. just as the others came into view. "Aiden smiled slightly seeing Jamie and Arabella and nodded His eyes moving to to find Desmond and Kalen and their son.

"It looks like the four of us have made it i wounder if the knights will grace us with their presence?" Aiden asked softly to Amber with a slight bit of venom. Truth was Aiden was getting along better with Shad as time went on but still part of him had a hard time letting go all the attempts on Amber he had made those years ago. "Adrien will be fine today Im sure...And if he isn't we will have a talk when we get back to the house." Aiden said loud enough for his son to hear him. Fact was he had been a little more uppity after his last visit with Amy. Aiden had suspected she had finally told them just who they really were and a ten year old couldn't process that much responsibility or comprehend it so it had all gone to his head.

Adrien Stared wide eyed as they approached the school he had seen pictures and heard his dad talk about it but it was so much bigger in person so many new smells Adventure could be around every corner. He kicked a little rock in front of him and grinned As he whispered to his sister "We should go explore if we get the chance imagine what we might find!" he said excitedly as his father spoke up to him. Adrian glanced at Arlayna and gave a small nod "Yes Dad i wont start any fights today I promise." Adrian said quietly he couldn't explain it he had just been feeling more and more aggressive recently so much energy and no direction made it hard to focouse. adrian glanced around as he fealt his sister begin to grow more nervous. and just gave her a playful push. "it could be worse there could be no one here think of all the things we will see today!"

Aiden looked back as Arlayna and Adrian talked catching his doughters statement. "A good few are family friends sweetheart. You dont have to impress any one just be your charming self and it will be all right I promise." Aiden said as they approached the group

Jaimie let Rayburn pull in front of him as they made it to Arabella and Ashton. Rayburn was ecstatic, sending a few stray sparks from his slightly fiery hair. The phoenix looped around Jaimie with his arms spread wide and a few cheers of victory before getting his hair ruffled and extinguished by his father. Rayburn gave his father a big toothy grin before stopping his victory lap.

"Guess you beat me! But keep the heat down buddy, we're not on school grounds yet." Jaimie chuckled and shook off the burning sensation off his hand from his son's flaming hair. He was used to getting burns and by now he knew how long he could put his hand in fire before injuring himself. "They used to be pretty strict about keeping human forms here but I'm sure you can let off some steam once we get inside. Just be careful okay?" Jaimie advised as Rayburn curiously looked over the crowd apparently not paying attention to his father. Jaimie sighed and turned to Arabella giving her a smirk and a shrug as if to say they'd just have to hope for the best.

He then turned to find his son looking over the crowd very intently. "Who did you find?" Jaimie crouched and followed Rayburn's trail of sight to see who the boy was looking at with a hint of recognition.

"Desmond and Kalen!" Jaimie smiled and waved back, "They even brought Arthur." He then turned his head a bit farther to the right to look around some more.

"Is that? No way! Aiden and Amber!" Jaimie felt like a high schooler again he waved to them just as eagerly as he waved to the Rulers. "And if I'm right they brought the pups too." he joked, "They're about Ash's age right?" he turned to Arabella.

Rayburn looked at his Dad unsure, he was saying a lot of names and he was having trouble putting a few of them to faces. His temperature fell as he started to grow more passive.

"Well, I guess a few thigs needed to change about the dorms, anyway..." After all, it wasn't exactly fun sharing a dorm room with a witch that wanted to kill her. As she felt his arm around her, she moved a little closer, leaning against him slightly. She glanced back briefly as she heard whispering behind her, but figured the twins probably couldn't get into too much trouble...right? She frowned slightly when Aiden mentioned the Knights. She shook her head.

"Maybe you should try letting that go; we want them to get along, and being bitter about something from high school won't set a good example." She nudged him a little. She understood his irritation, and he had been better about trying to get along with Shad, she knew. But still, his attitude could be a little better about it. It wasn't like she couldn't hear the venom in his voice, and if she could hear it, chances were the kids might notice it, too. She shot another glance back at the twins as Adrien promised not to start fights. She turned her attention back to the group they were approaching.

"Almost like the first day of school all over again, isn't it?" she asked, joking.



Arlayna could only manage a small smile at her brother as he mentioned exploring. That would probably be fun, she knew. But her smile didn't last too long. There were still a lot of people. And while her dad said a good deal of them were friends, she knew there were a lot of others that weren't. But, when her brother gave her a playful shove, she grinned. She shoved him back, then moved a little ways away, waiting for another shove. She knew Adrien had promised not to fight, but this wasn't a fight; this was a game.

And, when they had a chance, there might be another game: exploring the building their parents went to during high school. Who knew what they'd find once they had a chance to look around? But, as they got closer to the group, she went back to hiding behind her twin. She looked over the group somewhat warily, unsure of how she was supposed to behave.

With a slight increase in pace the Rulers moved forward, Arthur still scanning the others who were approaching and waving to them; a group of four total adults and the same number of kids, at least one of which appeared his age, all seemingly pleasant. Course Arthur knew the Flynns, and their son Rayburn, fairly well. They were always coming over for dinner and such. Mom liked having Arabella drop by or going to the city and shopping together, and Dad was always interested in what Jamie had to say about the latest stories in the Human world… specifically things that were being seen as regular events but were really monsters behaving badly. But seeing the other group he had to think back a little ways to when they had last stopped by. According to Dad they kept a ‘low profile’ which was pretty common in the monster world. But as he looked at the various people from his dad’s stories of the old days a thought occurred to him, “Dad?”

“Hmm?”

“These guys were the people from all your stories about those fights in high school right?”

“That’s right.”

“So who’s the strongest?”

Desmond nearly tripped at that question, “Well, uh, son, that’s a difficult question to place. I mean it wasn’t really a competition we were in.” a diplomatic answer as Kalen chuckled to herself about the sudden outburst her boy had made. It was just like Arthur, always assessing, always curious, always decisive, and Desmond really shouldn’t have been caught off guard there.

“But aren’t you the strongest there is?” he asked again as he looked to the rather large man to the left of them (Aiden) and his wife with a slightly cocked head.

Before Desmond could tell his son a flat nope his loving wife intervened, “Why don’t you judge for yourself?”

Taking her at her word Arthur nodded and moved to the head of the trio as he reached into his collar and withdrew the necklace that hid beneath his shirt. The pendant was warm to the touch despite its steely construction, pulsing with a light beat in harmony with that of his own heart. A brilliantly intricate piece of jewelry. He grasp the pendant and closed his eyes for a moment, his Parents stopping behind him.

“Don’t overdo it now, Arthur.” His pops advised as he stood slightly back with Kalen, watching.

“I won’t.” he assured as he drew form the pendant a small droplet of power. His feet felt lighter as a small circle of air escaped from him, his sports coat blown back slightly as his bangs rose in the air a fraction of an inch. The wind however was minimal and died down after a single burst as his full weight returned to his feet. Opening his eyes he looked about again. A sparkle now rested within those deep green orbs, and with that small drop of power he viewed the world anew.

Looking about he saw each figure as little more than a silhouette, however the surrounding air that was typically boring in the normal spectrum, was on fire in every color of the rainbow. Glancing about he was astounded by what he saw, the kids had some huge aura’s of their own but those two monsters, Arabella and Aiden… they were a whole different thing all together. Heck, the two humans were extraordinary in their own right, each with an Aura as four times larger than any human he knew. By contrast when he looked over his shoulder his mom, Kalen, had no aura what so ever save a slight glowing trail emanating form where her eyes would be. And Desmond’s aura was barely larger than a human’s right now. Guess he’s keeping a low profile too…

He closed his eyes again as he stowed the pendant back in his shirt and began moving again with his parents. “So, what do you think? Have an answer yet?” his mom asked.

“No…” he commented back, “give me a hint?”

“No way, Sport, I’m having too much fun with this.” Desmond chuckled.

Kalen elbowed him lightly, though her strength almost pushed him over as they walked forward, at last meeting at the gate with the other couples. Having come from three directions the three families met simultaneously at the entrance to the school.

“Hello there strangers, I don’t suppose you’re here for the reunion party too?” Desmond said jovially as he and Kalen moved forward for the greetings. Desmond shaking Jamie’s and Aiden’s hands and Kalen pulling Amber and Arabella into a hug, whether or not they wanted it. Arthur, meanwhile, walked straight up to Rayburn.

“Sup, Blaze, how you been?” he asked as he presented his fist calmly in a more youthful greeting. Desmond always said name your children whatever you like, and their friends will call them whatever they want. Rayburn and Arthur knew one another well enough, but didn’t go to the same school. Perhaps a good thing since the young phoenix might torch the place on a whim. Lord knows Arthur had to fight that urge without magical powers. “School out for you too?”

Ashton flitted over to stand between her brother and her dad so that she could hold onto her brother's shirt. Her little hands were turning white with how tightly she was squeezing onto his shirt bottom. The aura from the two families was immense so it made her even more on edge. Then Arthur came over to talk to her brother so she hid even more behind his elbow and looked up at Arthur with her big, blue eyes. She knew who he was, but still stayed quiet.

Baine suddenly perked up his little white head and stopped playing with the yellow pigtails. Something had caught his attention. Without thinking twice about it, the monkey hopped off of Ashton's head and ran straight towards Kalen, pulling itself to sit right on her shoulder. He pulled on her hair lightly as if saying "hi".

Arabella watched Ashton immediately take to Raeburn out of the corner of her eye. She was a little nervous for Ashton because she got so shy. Even though they were adopted, Arabella had immediately felt maternal towards the two of them. Especially towards Ashton since they met before she had hatched. Arabella slipped her hand into Jaimies and gave his a squeeze. Suddenly, Baine took off towards Kalen and she laughed. Arabella's eyes got really wide with excitement and all of her maturity went out the window.

She let go of Jaimie's head so that she didn't drag him or the kids with her so she didn't scare them. She couldn't wait a second more and flashed over right in front of Kalen and squealed with delight. "Kalen!"she shouted, hugging her tightly. She then hugged Desmond with the same enthusiasm, squealing his name as well. Then she looked down at Arthur and grinned. "He's gotten so big!"she said, roughing up the top of his hair. Next she flashed over to Amber and Aiden and gave them the same treatment. She gave the twins a big, collective hug.

"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.

-----

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.

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


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.

“yeah, school’s out so things have been more fun.” Rayburn smirked at Arthur’s nickname for him and gave him a bro fist in return. He felt a tugging on his shirt from behind him as Ashton held onto him with her steel grip. “huh?” he slowly turned to her and began to peel off her fingers

“Ashton, it’s Arthur, remember? The human prince?” He chuckled remembering one of the imaginary games the three of them tried to play. The phoenix’s powers made the games more interesting as save the princess from the fireballs turns into save the prince because the princess doesn’t burn.

"Come on, we're not kids anymore..." Arthur griped quietly as he kicked a bit of dust. Looking for a perfect opening however as he feigned attitude he smirked and sprung, his right hand flying up as he flicked the phoenix on the tip of his nose with a devious grin. "Well, Maybe not too grown up, eh, Hot-head?"

“Not fair!” Rayburn laughed as he rubbed his nose. “I’ll show you hot-head!” he smiled and flames licked his hair again as he dove at the human to tackle him to the ground, all in good fun of course.

Tackled to the ground by the flaming headed boy Arthur grunted as he hit the floor but never let his smile fade, "Oh yeah! Take this!" and with that pushed up with his knee to try and roll them over, hopping to get himself on top and in control of the wrestling match.

Desmond chuckled as he looked on at the two young boys being... well... boys. Kalen however was shaking her head and rubbing the bridge of her nose, "They'll get their clothes all dirty... or worse burned off!"

Arthur easily over powered Rayburn as he was older and bigger making it tough for the phoenix to win the upper hand. He had the air knocked out of him as Arthur pinned him. “Not fair! You’re bigger!” Rayburn whined he didn’t dare use fire to fight back because he knew he wasn’t supposed to and his parents were right there.

(Elrith wrote the Arthur parts...I'm trying to respond to everyone at the moment X_X)

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.

"Goo monsters, huh?" Kage said, getting a good idea. He can use Cici as a distraction! He crouched down, opening his palm to take her tiny hand in his. "Do they look like this?" He lifted up his glasses so he could look into her pretty eyes. He was picturing all of the people as funny little blobs with googly eyes. As their dad talked, a giant purple blob opened its mouth and mimicked his voice. When he looked into her eyes, he transferred the vision to her. It was a power that should be developed as a weapon to incapacitate enemies, but he never used it for that. He didn't have any enemies.

He put his sunglasses back down and the vision would disappear from Cici. He smiled and looked over at the boys wrestling. A smaller girl was over there that could get along with Cici probably, but Desmond's kid was there. He just smelled too good and Kage wasn't sure the goo would be good enough. Instead he took her over closer to the twins.

"Hey guys," he said, flashing his fox-like fangs.

Amber blinked with a little surprise as first Kalen hugged her and Arabella, and then Arabella hugged her and Aiden, but it was quickly replaced by a grin. It had been too long since she had seen them, really. She watched the twins being hugged, and glanced over everyone again. She didn't see them all that often; she spent much more time at home, and the others had their busy lives. So it was nice to have a chance to see all of them like this, even if it was at their old school.

"Hello, Kalen, Arabella," she greeted as she was hugged. She made sure to return the hugs; she really was relieved to have time away from the house, and having friends there helped. She looked back to Desmond and shrugged. "Well, it was a chance to actually get out, at least." Perhaps she spent a little too much time at home, she thought, but shrugged it off. She glanced at Arthur, briefly examining the power he released before deciding to ignore it. Anyway, he seemed to want to greet his friend Rayburn more. She only gave a brief glance to Kage as he approached the twins.

She shook her head at Shad's comment, though. She couldn't really say anything, though; she had very little knowledge on the council. She knew Aiden had retrieved artifacts for some of them, but that was about the limit of her knowledge. Still, she greeted both him and Star with a smile. Even if he had taken her blood when they were in high school, she still considered him a friend. She just had to ignore her brother saying she was insane for that.

"It's nice to see everyone again. I missed hanging out with you all."



Arlayna watched everyone greet each other, hiding behind her brother the entire time. She vaguely recognized some of the others there; they didn't get many visitors at home. She hesitated and looked as Kage brought Cici over towards them. She gripped Adriens sleeve tightly, but figured it would be rude not to greet him, since he had spoken to them first. She paused, taking a deep breath before answering in a quiet voice.

"...Hello..." At least she made an effort, she thought. She only hoped she had been loud enough for him to hear, because sge really didn't want to repeat herself. Then she'd just feel ridiculous, and her shyness would only get worse.

Aiden smiled as Desmond took his hand and gave it a good shake. "Its good to see you outside of business for once Desmond." Aiden would say with a lighthearted element to it. it seemed the whole group had arrived. then Shad arrived and Star made her announcement of who was the strongest Aiden looked at Shad and gave him a respectable nod. the two had come to terms and truth was Aiden was probably the one actually holding onto the grudge. But that didn't mean he didn't respect Shad or what he did do to help Amber in those days.

For a breif moment as the other kids wrestled and played Aiden suddenly seemed to realize how removed they had been over the last few years he was about to push the kids over twords the wrestling duo when Kage and Ciciri walked up to them he let out a small sigh of relief as he continued to turn his attention back to the group and shads statement.

"As I remember it most of us here have served on the council at one point or another." Aiden said then gave a small laugh "Some would even say its because of a few of us that certain issues are issues at all." Aiden said as he steeped past amber up to Kalen and Arabella. "I dont even get a hug?" Aiden said with a smile as he opened his arms and hugged the two girls. for a quick second. before letting go and asking them. "How have you guys been?"

After they would answer he would turn back to the group. "Im starting to think maybe we need to take more vacations honey..." Aiden would say with a smile.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________

Adrein had shoved his sister back again After she had shoved him then they were at the group of adults and there kids. Adrein had seen pictures of a few of them but he hadn't met them and if he did they hadn't left an impression. Finally after a moment two approached them. and instinctively Adrien stepped between them and his sister. it was just an instinctual move and his curiosity had taken over . "Hello Im Adrien and the quite one here is Arlayna." He said staring at the other boys fangs tehn looking over the girl

Kage took his glasses off and got down to look Cici in the eyes. She stopped fidgeting for a moment to look back, Kage had such pretty eyes Mommy said they were magic and Cici might have magic eyes too, but she knew they'd never be as magical as Kage's. She didn't understand Kage's illusion magic but she thought it was really cool whenever something happened. She glanced around looking for what vision Kage gave her this time.

"Daddy's made of goo!" Cici giggled and watched the purple blob talk just like Shad did. As Kage put his sunglasses on, hiding the pretty eyes, the vision faded but Cici's smile didn't.

"Do it again do it again!" She managed to beg before completely losing focus and turning her attention to introductions. Kage approached two kids that looked a little older than her, they looked very similar to each other.

"I'm Celinia, but Daddy, Mommy, Brother, and Sissy, all call me Cici so you can to!" Cici introduced herself with a smile and saw Kage had his fangs out so he copied him, showing hers too.

Kage eyed the way Adrien stepped in front of his sister. Definitely protective of her and Kage didn't want to seem threatening to them. He glanced down at his sister who was showing her little vampire fangs and shook his head, laughing.

"Kage Knight," He introduced himself. He was the only one in the whole family who didn't have a nickname. It didn't bother him much, but sometimes he wished he had one.

----

Estella was bored already so she decided it was time for a little... Entertainment. She was so secluded from the group that nobody would probably notice her disappear into a shadow on the sidewalk.

"What to do, what to do," she thought, as she moved around on the sidewalk. That's when she had a brilliant idea and she headed towards the middle of the circle so that she blended in with all of the natural shadows.

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..."

Ashton watched her brother and Arthur wrestle and was left out in the open for a few seconds. When she realized everyone could see her, she looked up with a wide-eyed, deer in the headlights expression. She then quickly moved to hide between her parents' legs. From her hiding spot, she could watch Arthur and Ray play. When Arthur called Ray hot-headed, she giggled. The sound was light and airy. If bubblegum had a laugh, it would be Ashton's.

Arabella watched Raeburn out of the corner of her eye just to make sure they didn't get into too much trouble. When Ashton came over to stand betwee her and Jaimie, she started playing with the little girl's hair. She felt a wave a relief come over her with the little fireball next to her. She didn't want any accidents with Ash's uncontrollable and developing powers. Especially around people such as the Knights.

When Kalen started fretting about clothes burning off, Arabella laughed. "You have no idea how often I'm fixing clothes! I'm working on fire-proofing the house now that Ash is getting older. I don't want her sending her bed up in flames during a nightmare!" They had been lucky so far, especially with the way Ray would have his flashbacks. She had been there for almost all of them and had been able to soothe him out of it with magic, but it worried her that one day he would have one of his horrible ones with just Jaimie and Ash around.

Arabella heard her name called, but not at all in a nice way so she turned around quickly. When she saw who it was, she had to hold back a groan. Be mature she told herself. She looked over the famiily. One dashing male witch with some amazing eyes that Arabella knew better than to look into, two twins that were very similar, but some features were different, and a very pregnant Lin.

"Oh, hey Lin!" she said, sounding as sweet as ever. "I didn't realize they would let you guys come to this!" All the while, Arabella kept a protective hand on the top of Ashton's head. The two witches were already trouble. She couldn't imagine how they had raised the twins.

Adrien smiled back at the other boy who had introduced himself as Kage Knight. He pointed to his sister and smiled as he spoke somewhat quickly. And this is my twin Arlayna!" Adrien would step toward Kage a little bit putting a more normal gap between him and his sister as he looked to the little girl "Well whats her name?" Adrien asked as two more adults walked by them with their two children. It was enough to trigger an instinctual response in Adrien to acknowledge the presence of whoever they were.

Aiden smiled as the conversations around them continued everyone seemed so happy and so Aiden just smiled and stood there letting people catch up. There were alot of memories of this place so many things happened here it had more twists than a Shakespeare play and the cast was equally diverse, still there were very few things that botherd him as much as the womens voice who would carry out to Arabella. It was a painfull reminder of the brand on his shoulder and the tribal markings he had etched into his body and of the blood that pumped through his veins. Aiden turned towards the voice and sure enough it belonged to Lin. They two had made there way almost all the way into the Council and in the witches court word was they were growing to be the rather large power house.

Aiden put his right hand to his side resting next to the bone knife just in case anything should happen. Aiden turned his grimace into a smile as he looked at Lin and just smiled. "Im surprise you found the free time to come to such a small event Lin...after all don't you have witches council to be heading or some other official business that needs your attention?" Aiden then gave a small nod to Freezer, fact was Aiden never had to much of a problem with freezer not personally anyways.

Jaimie squeezed Arabella's hand as Lin greeted her, he recognized the two witches instantly and had to stop himself from staring daggers at them. He looked at Freezer briefly with hate, he still didn't take the resort trip they all took in school lightly, the warlock had gone crazy and Jaimie considered him one of the more dangerous monsters in the area. Forgetting that people still may have grudges against him, Jaimie didn't dig out his old enchanted dagger and bow for the occasion and began to feel unsafe without them.

Arabella handled Lin well, but he would just have to hope the pregnant Lin wouldn't take it the wrong way. She seemed to have the situation under control so he let his hand slip out of hers as he turned his attention to the fighting boys. Regardless of the walking burn kit that was his wife, Kalen was right, the boys' game could heat up at any time.

"Boys, can you play tag with the others or something, well, safer?" Jaimie suggested lightly with a smile.

"Why?" Rayburn whined. "We're having fun! No one is going to get hurt! He can't hurt me and I'm not going to burn him." Rayburn argued while shoving some more to try to get Arthur off of him.

Lin grinned at Arabella whilst placing a soft hand on top of her son's head. She eyed all the children present and tried to figure out which ones belonged to the white witch if any but none of the children struck her immediately.

Aiden was next to speak to her, he obviously bore bad memories between them as he stiffened up at the sight of her and her family. Lin lifted her chin up in a defensive manner and brought her children closer, Elle was standing far too close to him. She remembered how unpredictable the werewolf had been at school, she'd seen him at the coven and she wouldn't entrust him with her worst enemy let alone her family.
She smiled at him all the same, the polite smile she used for the husbands of important women, the same husbands that stared at her for longer then they should.
"Haven't you noticed I'm pregnant Aiden, even I need time off eventually. Besides I wanted to revisit the school, we wish to send our children here when they come of age" she replied giving her twins a quick glance.

Freezer on the other hand had acknowledged Aiden's nod and had nodded back to be polite, but he didn't like the vibe he was getting off of some members of the group. He moved forwards slightly, ready to fend off anyone who felt like taking a stab at Lin, especially Aiden who had noticeably reached for a knife.

"We were hesitant to come, after all Lin is so fragile right now, we didn't want to run into any trouble, but mothers will be mothers. They never know when to rest." Freezer exclaimed with a warm smile his eyes on anyone who looked unhappy about their arrival. He wanted to make it clear that Lin was just a heavily pregnant mum, not the devil coming to snatch up their children for supper.

---

---

Elle shrugged away from her mothers hold and eyed the children and adults present. They were a weird looking bunch, especially the kids with wings. She almost glared at them all with her sharp, golden eyes before deciding she would play with some of the girls. "May I go and play?" she asked silkily, a playful smile preying upon her lips.

Falcon clutched his mother's maxi dress in the balls of his hands when Elle asked to go play. There were a lot of strangers and some of the children looked weird.

---

---

Freezer glanced between the kids, the other parents and Lin. He wasn't sure that was a good idea. "I don't know if that's a good idea baby" he murmured to Elle. Lin frowned at him, she seemed indecisive. She looked at the others.

"Are your children strong?" she asked hesitantly, checking whether they'd be able to withstand an accidental slap or poke from her children without breaking in half.