Archer Kennedy's Story

Monday
Ten dorm rooms, a huge theater, a courtyard, a pool, a gym, an outdoor battle arena, a café, a dance club, a dance hall, a school store, and several different classrooms were what could be found in the University. Now, in the large theater, all of the students were gathered. They sat in front of a large stage where the twelve Olympians were gathered. Athena, who had the idea for the school and was therefore headmaster, was at the podium and was speaking.

Or trying to speak. The students, though, wouldn’t be quiet. Athena looked quiet timid in front of all of them. She would have hated for her plan to fall through.
“May I have your attention? Your attention, please?” she said, but was not heard over the chatting children.

“Everybody shut up right now!” Ares yelled powerfully. All the students went silent.

Athena took a deep breath and continued. “Thank you. Now, as you all know this is the Demigod Academy. You all have gifts. A gift of us gods. You possess spectacular powers to control a certain element. Obviously, none of you are quite certain how to control it. And that’s why you’re here. Here, we will not only teach you how to use your powers, but also about what it means to be a Demigod. You must use your powers for good. And to do that, you must learn about our history and train each day. I hope you will all enjoy yourselves…” Her speech went on for about ten minutes and most of the students lost interest after a while. Finally, she said, “Have a great year! Please hurry onto your first class which I believe is ancient Greek history. And—“

“Not so fast!” a voice from out of nowhere came. From the deep tone and rage within it, everyone could tell it was Hades. “You think this is a grand idea, Athena? You believe that all these little…rodents have the ability to be gods? And what about my children? Where are they? I’ll tell you now, Athena and the rest of you Olympians, this school will fail. Shut it down now or there will be hell to pay. I guarantee it!”
After a moment, all the students began to talk about what that meant.

“Children! Please! Please! Don’t panic!” Athena tried.

Then Zeus stepped up. “Silence! All students should immediately report to the common room at once! You are to stay there until further notice. Any student caught outside of the common room shall be expelled…dismissed!” And he left. All the students filed out and were escorted by minor gods to the common room. They sat around in silence waiting for what was going to happen next.
----
SAPPHIRA:
Sapphire looked around at everyone. She didn’t know what to do. Her hair a light shade of pink, she was feeling alright, but a little worried. She looked around at the other students, but was still a bit confused as of what to do. It was frightening. Especially for her. She knew Hades and knew that he would make good on his promise to end the school.

But there was nothing she could do, was there?

Doug let out a light yawn as he found his way to a seat in the common room, folding his larger-than-average frame down onto it. He certainly didn't look worried. In fact, he was grinning faintly, if a little sleepily; this was all happening a little early in the day for his tastes. He was used to sleeping most of the sunlight away and partying long into the night, so it would probably be a little while before his sleep patterns adjusted to this new schedule of classes and trainings.

They'd forced him to wear a shirt, very much against his will, for the opening ceremony, but he'd undone every single button to leave it hanging open to expose his chiseled torso. He idly brushed some blond hair from his half-lidded green eyes, letting them wander around to appraise his fellow students. "He's just one guy. Er. God," he drawled, noting the panic in some of his peers' expressions. "Our moms and dads'll kick his ass, then we'll get to dive right into the boring school stuff." He lifted his broad shoulders in a shrug, then folded his arms across his chest, grinning. "Anyone wanna play a game while we wait?"

"A game?" Cali asked, "What do you mean?"

Siren rolled her eyes at her sister. "Depends," she said twisting her crimson hair.

"Pearl, don't be rude!" Cali scolded her sister. They were twins, but Cali always felt like the older sister. She was worried about the situation. Hades was a pretty scary dude. But Siren thought of it as an adventure. It was exciting. And anything to get out of class for a while.

Archer
Good God! Er... Gods, he supposed. Good Gods! How terrifying that had been! Archer laughed and grinned all the way to the common room. He was in a damn good mood, a damn good mood indeed. He wasn’t going to let some hellion fuck that up for him. Not Archer Scott Kennedy. No siree. He wasn’t even sure why he was so happy. Maybe it was the thrill of being near kids like him, demigods. In a way, it was like a whole big adventure. Arch loved a good thrill. Damn, he was in a good mood.

So, when some guy said, "Anyone wanna play a game while we wait?" , Archer casually chucked his hand into the air and replied, grinning, “Sure. I’m up for it. Have anything in mind?” It was one of the rare times his words didn’t contain vile swears. Road to recovery.

Seth
Oh. How lovely. A threat?

Seth was rather bored. Bored and infuriated. Too many people. They were all so... happy. Well, compared to him, anyway. A lot of people were happy when compared to Seth. Too many. He trudged after the other kids to the common room, where he promptly took a seat in the corner, cross-legged on the chair. He never liked having his feet touch the floor while he was sitting in a chair. Pet peeve of his. Seth wasn’t sure why. It was just uncomfortable.

Not as uncomfortable as being in a room full of people.

Roy was terrified, at first it was uncomfortable with the whispers, but the cry of God of War which ended the whisper almost makes him stop the heart and to complete the lord of the underworld in person comes causing an uproar, luckily before passed out they were sent to a common room which, although not was satisfactory, was better than being in the presence of the Gods, he breathed a few times to calm down and looked around, for some reason a blond giant decided that was appropriate to take off his shirt and propose a game and what is more, there were people willing to do it, insane undoubtedly, a God threaten them and they want to play ..."I don't want share my room with any of them" he mumbled.

Sator’s Perspective

Watching the other “kids” sit down and settle in, talking and speaking of a game, Sator was bit irritated. One was off in what seemed to be a little fit of anger, a small one at that. Another seemed to shyly watch everyone else with utter apprehension and anxiety.

Sator thought nothing of all of this. Truly so. Perhaps he was even skeptical it was happening before his eyes, especially the whole gods-thing. Hermes came to him one night, just as he was laying in a particularly comfortable patch of corn, to tell him that Demeter, Lady of Agriculture, was his mother. Of course, Sator shrugged off this raving, naked lunatic with, “Hmm… that’s nice. Would you like to have sex?” Hermes was probably most obliged, though out of fear of Demeter he rightly rejected.

So was Sator the child of Demeter? Eh, maybe. Sator was a Christian, however. He didn’t believe in gods, let alone Greek ones, and he wasn’t sure what to think of all this. He wasn’t sure if a farmer finally hit him on the head with a rock and he got knocked out what. But it would make sense, all of this, Sator supposed. It would explain why Sator suffered and enjoyed such a dichromatic life, and would put to rest the question of who exactly his mother was. But he didn’t need a mother, and he didn’t need a father. He was an independent man. A virginal man, yes, but a man just the same. “A manly man, indeed,” he thought to himself. His only mother in life was the Virgin Mary, and he no pagan usurper could ever convince him otherwise.

He eyed a most becoming young woman sitting at the foot of a column in the commons. She was a bit near the large group of the kids. “Mmm… she is most delicious,” Sator thought. The others were not ugly, and some were certainly gorgeous, but had yet to capture his attention. What better way to catch their attention and prove his manliness than to catch her eye.

She seemed to be a rancher girl of some sort, a lil’ pistol packin’ mama it seemed, dressed in a cute little blue dress and a leather vest. Her hair was pulled pack in a pony-tail, and her eyes seemed generally enthusiastic. Sator strode gently towards her, his boots clacking against the marble floor, each calculated step purposed toward gathering attention.

“Excuse me, mi’lady,” Sator spoke, his accent leaking out a bit, attempting to catch her attention. Her smiling eyes caught up to his and he glared deeply into them. He grabbed her hand, catching her unawares. “Ah, you are indeed very beautiful,” he began to inch her hand closer to his mouth, “I am Sator Cereris Terensis, but you may call me Saturday.” He kissed her hand and looked back up to her eyes.
 

Victoria’s Perspective

“Get up off me, or I’ll be fixin’ to open a can’a whop ass!” she roared at Sator. “Ain’t no man touches this lil’ girl!” Sator jumped back up, surprised and embarrassed. His lips were sputtering for some type of salvation.

“Listen up men!” Victoria called out attention to the whole group, specifically those with the dreaded snake-organ, “Ain’t none of ya’ll ever touching this! Neve’ eve’, and ya’ll can just keep your hands down each others’ pants, ‘cause I like ladies and ladies alone.”

Bowing her head in a last grace of Southern ladylike behavior, “Thank ya’ll.”

Ain’t no man ever touchin’ without her consent. It made certain sense that Ares was her father, she was as tough or tougher than him, and she was prepared to get into the nitty gritty of things. But Victoria knew that at the heart of things, women were stronger than men, and her mortal mother was a helluva lot tougher than any man, God of War or not.

Doug Merryweather

To be fair, Douggie hadn’t removed his shirt. He’d wanted to, but they wouldn’t let him! So he’d just unbuttoned it was all. Some kid with blue and black hair, cute, was grinning like a madman, and he responded in the affirmative regarding a game to pass the time. “Well, I can think of a few games I wouldn’t mind playing with you,” he answered Archer, following up with a devilish wink.

His eyes skirted the room again as he considered the question earnestly. What sort of game? A few of the other kids seemed terrified, but most of them just seemed to be waiting. They wanted to see what happened, and they were neither afraid nor excited. Some huge guy was hitting on a girl, and Douggie laughed aloud when she professed her Sapphic tendencies for all to hear. “Duly noted!” he piped up, still laughing and shaking his head. It gave him an idea.

“Well, we’re kinda limited on options, so how about we play one of those… get-to-know-you kind of games. Like, we’ll go around, and everyone says their name, who their mom or dad is, and then just a random fact about themselves. Like, I’m Doug, or Douggie, or… well, no, don’t call me Douglas unless I’m in trouble. My dad is Dionysus, and…” He paused to think up a good ice-breaker fact. “And I once made a wish on a dandelion, and it came true.” He grinned a huge grin, then settled back in his seat. “Who wants to go next?”

Archer
Arch laughed at the guy's flirtatious joke. He hadn't been flirted with by a guy before, except at parties his friends dragged him to. After listening to Doug talk (wow... Dionysus. Neat-O), he said, "I'll go!"

He crossed his arms and introduced himself. "Archer Scott Kennedy, ladies and gents. My old man is the big guy, Zeus. And one time," he grinned a mischievous grin here. "I almost robbed a bank. Next?" He sat back in his chair, hooking one leg over the other. 

Seth 
Seth was pretty sure he was surrounded by idiots. Idiots and freaks. 

There was this one guy who wanted to play a game, of all things, and some chick who had a mighty big ego exclaimed that she was a lesbian, basically. He had to refrain from thinking that although she was bigger than him, he could most likely kick her country bumpkin ass. 

Oh God the game started. He tried not to sigh as he stared out the window, wondering why he'd shown in the first place. 

Sator’s Perspective

"A game, I see?" Sator's attention was caught by all the "fun". The blond muscle-man started it all. "An icebreaker?"

The muscle-man, Doug, his father was Dionysus, and the pompous fool's father was Zeus(surprise surprise).

"I do not know if you have already heard," Sator's deep, rumbling voice was ragged from his embarrassment, almost cut weak, "but if you didn't, I am Sator Cereris Terensis." He rolled his "R"s, and anyone could tell he was Mediterranean.

"You may call me Saturday, if you find my name, a... tad too odd," he smiled, watching the chemistry between Doug and the pompous fool named Archer. "My mother, eh, she was Demeter, if you believe all of this."

He started laughing, "I have nothing really interesting about me... I suppose you can see, both my eyes and hair are heterochromatic. Something I've had my entire life."

He looked at the little one off in a grumbling corner.

"And you, little one, would you mind sharing yourself with us?" Sator smiled a bit, winking at the little one, "I am sure I would like to know you."

Archer
Archer smiled and leaned forward, eyeing Doug. "Well that sure does sound damn skippy, Douggie. I'd be happy to go with you." His smile morphed into his signature charistmatic grin. He was in a damn good mood today. He was about as giddy as a five-year-old in a freaking candy shop. Screw Hades. He was having fun. Heck, he even wanted to hear that Cali girl sing, for crying out loud.

Seth
Seth blinked a few times, taken by surprise at Sator's words. He was even more surprised when Sator's large hand was laid on his relatively puny soulder. Despite his experiences during his childhood, Seth had never felt so small. Seth, shockingly, was speechless for a few moments. He didn't know what to say. An almost total stranger had come up to him and professed possible friendship? Today wasn't going at all as expected. But perhaps... that was a good thing, for once. For the first time in his life, Seth gave a friendly smile. He had to admit, it felt good to be liked. It felt good to know that someone wanted to be his friend despite his attitude. And that... well, that had never happened before.

So, staring wide-eyed at the not-so-strange-anymore stranger, Seth blinked one more time and replied, still in a state of relative surprise words he'd never dreamed would come out of his mouth. "I'd... I'd like that, Sator."

TIME LAPSE

After the strange ordeal with the school, the teachers decided that it was safe to allow the students out of the common room. They all went to their classes and the next night, they prepared for the dance. The gods were allowed to visit their children before the dance as a sort of welcoming. Many presented their daughters with gifts of dresses and helped their sons into suits. The dance was a formal.

As every student was required to go to it, several sat around and sulked. Those who wanted to dance enjoyed performances by the muses that attended as well as a single song sung by Calliope.

The dance, now in progress, seems to be going well.

___

Sapphira should have been down with everyone else. All the other students were there. But her mother was still locked away in the underworld and she had no friends yet to lend her a dress. For that reason, she was tearing her bag apart for any dress that seemed to be fomal. Any long dress would be good for her.

She sighed and continue looking through her bag. Nothing seemed to be there.

Her roommates weren't the nicest. She actually really hated them. She would do anything to switch. One didn't talk to her and the other already let her know what he thought of her.

Before the dance…
Seth
Although he had only seen his mother before about, say, three times in his entire life, two of which when he was a toddler and once when he was about eight, and his memory of her features were likely to have worn, Seth instantly recognized Nemesis. He wondered if it worked that way for all parents and their children.

They’d sat in the corner of the room, Seth noting that they had similar tastes when it came to placement in a room full of people, sitting in chairs opposite each other. Seth sat in his unique fashion of sitting cross-legged on the seat while his mother sat like a normal woman, that is to say, not like Seth. She hadn’t brought a suit for him, and he hadn’t expected her to. Besides, the clothes he wore were dark enough to pass as formal anyway.

They gazed into each other’s eyes for a bit, each surveying the other. He saw that they had the same eyes, an eerie emerald shade. They had similar facial features, and Seth was pleased to notice that her hair was as light as his. So that’s where he’d gotten it.

Nemesis spoke first. “So, Seth, are you enjoying your new school?”

His response was silence.

She smiled a knowing smile. “I take it since you’re not listing off the ones you want to kill, it went relatively well, yes?” He remained silent to this as well. To his surprise, she laughed. Nemesis leaned forward and planted a kiss on his forehead. Appalled, he scooted the chair backwards, a what-the-fuck-did-you-just-do-to-me-woman expression blatant on his face. “Mother,” he hissed, crossing his arms and glaring. Nemesis laughed again.

“Don’t use that tone of voice with me, young man,” she said, still giggly. Seth hung his head. Oh dear.

Then, she stood up, patting Seth on the pale head. “I just wanted to see how you were adjusting. And if there’s anyone you have any problems with, let me know, okay?” She laughed again, then added, “I take that back. I think you can handle yourself.” And with that, she left him and walked out of the room.

Archer
Mother of… awkward.

Zeus sat across from him, eyeing him in an intimidating fashion that Arch didn’t really like. He opened his mouth to say something at last, but his old man beat him to it.

“You are one messed up boy, you know that?”

He gaped. What the hell?

And that’s exactly what he said. “What the hell, Dad?”

The man shook his head and narrowed his eyes. “You’ve experimented with drugs, almost got thrown in jail, scare the living shit out of your family, and you still have the audacity to say ‘What the hell?’ I’ll tell you what, boy. You’ve got some balls.” He sat up straight and looked Arch in the eye. “But you’re stupid as hell.” The man sighed and placed a hand on Archer’s shoulder. “Wise up, kid. Wise up. Now take this suit and have a damn good time. Just think about what I said, okay Archer?” Archer nodded, and his father smiled and stood up. Then, without another word, he left the room.

At the dance…
Seth
As he stood by the wall in a room full of music and dancing people, Seth all of a sudden felt self-conscious. Let’s see. He was short, he had white hair, of all colors it could’ve been, and he looked like he was going to rip someone’s throat out at any second. Well, that’s how his older half-sister had described him sometimes. He leaned against the wall and crossed his arms, and looked at the ceiling. It was a weird habit of his. One of them, anyway.

Archer
Once he got to the dance, he suddenly realized how out of place he felt. It was a formal dance. The only “dances” (if you could call them that) he’d been to involved grinding, drinking, and passing out on the floor somewhere. It was weird. He felt fancy. It was weird. Eugh. He shuddered inwardly, then looked around for Doug. He needed someone to chill with.

Douglas Merryweather

Before the dance…

A rare frown had formed on Doug’s lazy, handsome features. He was staring hatefully at the tuxedo his father, whom he was meeting for the very first time, had brought for him to wear. It was alright, as far as monkey-suits went. The suit itself was white, pristine and sort of shiny, while the lapels and accents were done up in a cool mint green. He could picture himself in it, and knew he’d look amazing, but the idea of wearing so much clothing just didn’t sit well with him.

“Do I have to?” He was practically pouting.

Dionysus was leaning against the wall, smoking… well, it looked like a cigarette, at least. He offered it to Doug, who took a grateful drag, and then nodded. “Yup, kiddo. Them’s the rules. I was never one for ‘em myself, but, well, being a god is a little more difficult than you might imagine.” He reached up, ruffling a hand through Doug’s blond hair. “Just think how much fun it will be taking it off after the dance, mmh?”

Doug grinned, just a little sheepishly. He’d done some research and knew full well that his dad was basically the god of good times. “The guy I asked is really cute. Zeus’ kid, actually.”

Dionysus shrugged. “Well, don’t expect a happily ever after there. If he’s anything like his dad, fidelity isn’t going to be his strong suit.” He smirked, and Doug could see exactly where he got his smirk from. “Then again, if you’re anything like your dad, you’re probably okay with something pretty open, huh?”

Doug nodded, and without even a modicum of modesty started changing into the tux. Dionysus came over to help, when he got to the bright green bow tie, and they stood in front of the mirror, both grinning madly. “It does look pretty good,” he had to admit aloud. “Hopefully Archer will like it.”

Dionysus produced a small, earthen-looking jug with a cork stopper in it. He slipped it into the pocket of Doug’s jacket. “I take it I don’t need to tell you what to do with that, right? Some rules are just made to be broken, after all.”

Doug knew full well what it was, and he was chuckling all the way to the dance.

At the dance…

He spotted Archer immediately when he came in, a little fashionably late. The other boy looked uncomfortable, but as cute as ever. Doug waved over to him, but he had some business to take care of before he joined his date. He wound up tugging at his cuffs and collar about a thousand times. The tuxedo was downright oppressive, and he truly couldn’t wait to get out of it. If it weren’t for all the fun he expected to have… well…

He stopped by the punch bowl, glancing around surreptitiously. Only when he was reasonably sure no one was looking did he uncork the little bottle and upend it over the bowl of ruby-colored fruit juice. He quickly used the ladle to stir whatever it was his dad had given him to spike the punch with in, and then fixed two cups of it, one for himself, and one for Archer.

Now, this was no ordinary alcohol. This stuff came from the god of booze himself. It wasn’t a matter of proof or anything like that. One cup would get you pleasantly drunk, enough to have a great time even if you were a shy wallflower sort. Two, and you’d be wasted, the life of the party. Three… well, three cups, and you wouldn’t even remember the crazy things you wound up doing when you woke up the next day. Even demigods didn’t make it to four cups, not of this stuff.

Even as resistant to alcohol as he was, Doug could feel a bit of a kick as he sipped some, crossing the dance floor to Archer. He waved and nodded to the other godlings, unable to keep a very satisfied and mischievous grin from his full lips.

“Hey hey,” he said as he drew up to his date, offering him the glass of punch. “You look like you could use this.” He winked at Archer for the second time that day, before taking a glance around. Things were probably about to get a lot more lively.

Archer
He waved happily as he saw Doug, and waited with his hands in his pockets as his date got the two some punch. He'd been distracted by the muses though (those girls could play!!!) and gave a little jump of surprise as Doug came over and handed him a cup. Archer nodded his thanks and looked at the pink liquid in the cup. Then, instinct kicking in (party instinct, to be exact) he lifted it to his lips and downed it all in one go. Wrong move. 

He placed a hand at his throat while he coughed once or twice, then he placed it back in his pocket, while the other hand held the empty cup. "Wow," he said hoarsely. "That... that burns." Then, he stood up straight and started chuckling. A familiar lightness came over him. The buzz. 

Laughing a tad bit more, he eyed Doug and commented, "You sure do look nice tonight." His voiced was laced with a chuckling giddiness that he always experienced after drinking. 

Seth
When he heard 'Kid', he immediately frowned and turned pink again, but when he recognized the voice, he replaced the frown with a faint smile. He couldn't help but feel relieved that he knew the context in which "Find a room", was used here. 

He shrugged and stopped his leaning on the wall. "I guess I'm fine. I've never been to a dance before... but so far it's okay."

In answer to Sator's other question, he glanced up at the ceiling, involuntarily blushing a tad deeper. Seth hoped Sator couldn't tell in this light. "If you're still up for it, I suppose so." He let his gaze drop from the ceiling and he looked about the large room for any doors that could possibly lead to vacant ones in which he and his date could chat or whatever... And then in occurred to him. He had a date. A date. A completely voluntary date. He smiled a little brighter. Maybe this place wasn't terribly bad after all. 

“So do you,” he responded, drinking in the other boy’s appearance. It was sort of the one upshot to this whole formal business, everyone looking their best. He gave his collar another tug, then straightened his bow-tie a bit, even though it wasn’t crooked at all.

“So, I know this is kind of lame and all, but we should make it… un-lame.” He took another big swallow of his own punch. “Wanna dance?” Sapphira had already started, and sometimes, lame stuff could be fun. It was all a matter of who you were with. He extended his hand, offering it to Archer, fully intent on dragging his date off to the dance floor.

Archer
Surprisingly enough, it didn't yet occur to Archer that he didn't really know how to dance. But hey. His dad had said to have a damn good time, and he wasn't going to waste it by standing there. 

So, he took Doug's hand, grinning like a madman, as usual. "Sure," he replied. "Beats standing around, that's for damn sure."

Seth
Seth let out an uncharacteristic laugh as he was pulled along by Sator out into a hallway. As they walked, a familiar figure turned a corner and came into view. Seth almost stopped in his tracks when he saw that it was none other than his own mother, Nemesis. 

She kept up her slow, graceful glide as she saw them, and laid a hand on Seth's shoulder as they passed, and both him and Nemesis stopped. "Why Seth," she said, smiling that smile of hers. "You never told me you had a date. I would have loved to know. Oh well. Have fun." She patted Seth's head and walked off, turning her head around to fix an unreadable look on Sator. Then, she was gone around another corner. 

Seth lowered his head as they kept walking, his free hand in his pocket and his green eyes fixed on the ground. Mothers. Jeez.

The dance went on. Everyone seemed to actually be having a good time. But suddenly, a bloodcurtling cry ripped through and school, echoing off the walls, and filling every room. The music immediately stopped. Everyone froze where they were and looked around. A second cry, a little louder than the last one, came and everyone now knew where it came from.
Those who got to the hallway first saw the huge hellhound on top of Sapphira. The girl, staring up at it, was unresponsive. A part of her white dress was stained red with blood. She was pinned to the ground and the hellhound droolled over the bank face that stared up. She was obviously in shock.
But the hellhound that was prepared to devour the girl was the least of the other students' worries. Nine more hounds were now growling, their red eyes glowing as the stalked the students. They moved in closer on them, one slashing at a girl who quickly jumped back.
Hestia knew she couldn't protect all of them.

Archer
What the fuck? Was he seeing shit? Hellhounds all about the students, one on top of the quad-polar chick, Sapphira or whatever. Archer brushed his dark bangs from his eyes. A manic grin spread across his face. Fighting time? Fighting time. 

His special brass knuckles were in the pockets of his suit; he never went anywhere without them. He pulled them out and fixed them on his hands. A hellhound stalked closer to him, growling and saliva dropping from it's bestial fangs. Archer's diabolical grin widened. It reared back and launched itself at him. He took three large, quick steps backwards, and even though he escaped its grasp, he received a small cut on his abdomen. As the creature realized it'd missed its target, Archer covered the distance, pulled back his fist, and punched the creature right between it's deranged eyes. Even despite the fact that Archer had substantial strength from those years of brutal street fights, the beast was in for some real pain. Archer's brass knuckles were special, you see. When they hit something at a certain speed, they sent out a shockwave through the body of the person (or creature) it impacted. The harder the hit, the bigger the shock, and Archer had hit the thing quite hard. Archer let out a deviously pleased cackle as the beast shook spasmodically and flecks of foam fell from its jaws. 

He drew his fist back from the hellhound's forehead, a wisp of smoke rising where the shock had originated. It stumbled around, spasming every few seconds. Arch took this opportunity to slam his left fist into the side of its face, near its eye. Another shock. Again, he struck its face, causing more electricity to course through its body. He struck it repediately while it was disoriented from the constant shocks. Pretty soon, it keeled over all together, and Archer looked at the cut on his chest. It wasn't too bad, but he did feel a little bad for ruining the fanciest clothes he'd ever put on. 

Seth
Seth was substantially stunned. Everything seemed to be happening too fast. First, he was in Sator's arms listening to his words, and next thing he knew, he was in the hallway, Sator was vomiting by the wall, and Hellhounds were surrounding the students. He blinked a couple times before registering the danger that they were in. 

As Sator ran forward to rescue Sapphira, Seth's features softened into a mask of emotionless concentration. He summoned his chain scythe, Retribution. The chain scythe was basically a small "mini-scythe" attached to a weight the size of Seth's fist by a lengthy chain. He held the scythe part in one, and twirled the weighted end around slowly with the other as he drew closer to the beasts. He decided not to use his martial art skills, for that would risk getting too close to the Hellhounds. If he were to somehow end up pinned beneath one, he'd be a goner. He had to be careful anyways. A lot of the monsters would be delighted to find a small target such as himself. 

Ironically, just as he was thinking this, Sator slashed at one of the hounds, and it turned away, looking for easier prey. What luck that its eyes landed on Seth. If Hellhounds could grin, that's most certainly what it was doing. Involuntarily, Seth took a step backwards, still swinging the weight in a circular motion off to his side, increasing its speed. Soon, it was a black blur at the end of the spinning chain. The beast drew closer. Seth narrowed his green eyes and lashed out with the weighted end. The beast's eyes widened as the weight struck it, hard, on the side of the head. It whimpered and staggered to the side a bit, then shook its head and launched at Seth without warning. He tried to dodge to the side, but its beastly claw caught his shoulder, tearing a small gash. He gritted his teeth in pain but struck forward with the scythe end anyways, determined to ignore the pain for now. He slashed at its exposed neck, ripping a larger wound. Blood spurted out and covered the sickle and a bit of his hand. The beast whirled around, growling in pain. Seth took another step back, years of training kicking in. The thing jumped at him again, but this time he was ready. He backed up quickly, launching the weighted side. As its paw was brought down, the weight's momentum caused the chain to wrap around the Hellhound's ankle. Seth then jerked the chain roughly to the side, causing the beast to lose its balance. Blood from its neck wound spattered the floor as it fell to the ground. This technique was an ancient one, but Seth doubted it was meant for Hellhounds. Despite that, it worked well enough. Seth finished his attack by running forward and jabbing the sickle right between the beast's malevolent eyes. More blood seeped between the sharp blade and even more when he jerked it out of the beast's head. Satisfied that it lay still, Seth trudged over to a shadowy corner to see about his shoulder wound. Hopefully, he wouldn't get attacked again any time soon. It was a miracle that his bleeding gash hadn't gotten him killed. 

"Sorry," she answered, "I'm not a dancer--" and then there was an ear-splitting scream, like a banshee. Stepping up to his cousin, Alex already went into proposing a plan.

"You check the east hall, I'll check the west?"

"That'll work," she answered, taking off her shoes. Before they ran off, though, they were interrupted by another scream, even louder and more defined.

"Okay, let's both check the east hall."

"I'm good with that." As the two chased the scream's source, Ashe called for Nyx's son to come along, too. Finding Sapphira in the hallway, she was surrounded by giant demonic dogs.

"I don't think they're here to play fetch," Alex retorted. "You know, having our bows on hand would've been useful about now. A good arrow to the nose would get 'em." Alex could almost feel himself holding his bow. He raised his hand like he really was, holding his other at what he imagined to be the bowstring.

Then, somehow, strains of moonlight reached out from around his hand and shaped the very bow he was feeling. Long and silver, a silky matching quiver formed strapped across the back of his tuxedo while one last string of light became the arrow on his string.

"Oh ho, this is sweet."

A little bit jealous now, Ashe figured she could do the same, but to no avail at the time. It was odd.

"You won't be able to run around in your dress," Alex noted, "or at least not too well. Here." Releasing the bowstring, the arrow of light and quiver alike disappeared as he handed the bow to Ashe. When she took hold of it, it flooded golden from her hand out, a similar quiver strapping itself to her back as it did Alex's. Once she moved it to aim at the hound on top of Sapphira and pulled back the string, an arrow from the light of sunrise took its place between her fingers, ready to fire.

"Don't miss," he teased; the two had one of those twin-like moments, where Ashe knew what her cousin was thinking of doing. She didn't fully approve of it, but he would've stayed somewhat safe in that position. As she steadied herself from the excitement, the hulkingly-tall Sator Terensis leaped and lashed at a hound that dived in for a bite, only to make it fall back to recover and find more viable prey. Other students joined the party soon enough, taking on their own.

As Sator and the hound atop Sapphira had their stare-down, Ashe took the chance to fire her arrow right by Sator, nailing the hellhound in the chest before releasing a flash of light that brought it to its hind legs. That was still just a distraction, because Alex ran right at the blinded beast and got on its back. Once it got back down on all fours, he was riding it like it was a bull at the rodeo. In hindsight, Alex realized that he didn't have enough strength to fell the damned thing, but hey! They got it off Sapphira!

In the meantime, while the other students were taking out the rest of the hellhounds, Ashe ran over to Sapphira's side to help her up.

"Are you alright?"