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NHP-S17 "Lorelei"

"Everyone, please, be quiet! I beg of you... make these damned voices stop!"

0 · 697 views · located in The City of Anthemia

a character in “Anthemia Academy for Hunters”, as played by Feyblue

Description

New Human Project Subject Seventeen - Designation: "Lorelei"

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"If you give me an order, I will obey. If you ask it of me, I will serve. That doesn't mean I have to like living this way."



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NAME:
She is most commonly referred to by her codename, Lorelei, but it's unlikely this is the name she was given at birth. Whatever her real name is, even she doesn't know it.

AGE:
17

HEIGHT:
5 feet, 6 inches.

GENDER:
Female

HOMELAND:
Leviathan

PRIMARY CLASS:
Exorcist

SECONDARY CLASS:
Medium

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LIKES:
✔ Listening to music in her headphones, which are almost always seen either hanging around her neck or placed over her ears.
"It helps me shut out the voices."

✔ Sweet or otherwise compellingly delicious foods. Although her serious demeanor might conceal this fact, she actually has a tremendous appetite. The prospect of tasty food is one of the few things that can put a genuine, childish smile on the young Medium's face.
"Ice... cream? I've never heard of it. What does it taste like? Can I have some?"

✔ Winning. She has a strong competitive streak, feeling obligated to succeed at any endeavor she begins or is otherwise roped into. Growing up in a laboratory where failing to be anything short of perfect would result in being thrown back out onto the street trained her to feel that success is the only acceptable outcome to any situation, and to feel personally guilty for even the most trivial of losses. On the upside, this makes her a hyper-competent assistant in any venture, but it also means she's progressively striving to live up to an ideal of perfection that most would assume impossible, and consequently finds it difficult to relax under almost any circumstances.
"Failure again... Again and again and again and again and again and again and AGAIN! One more try... I'll get it right this time! I have to!"

✔ Collecting stuffed animals. Although it might seem tremendously unusual, given her icy, rude demeanor, she has a certain love of cute things that comes from a desire to be more like what she views as a normal girl. However, as such hobbies are highly frowned upon in a laboratory environment, and pieces of her "collection" have had a tendency to be mocked or confiscated in the past, she guards her secret love of the adorable closely. Besides, if anybody were to find out about it - especially her peers - it would ruin her image.
"D-don't read too much into it, okay?! I just like them..."


DISLIKES:
✘ People telling her what to do. While she's long since become accustomed to being treated as a tool for Daemon extermination rather than a Human being, overbearing adults, their irrational systems, and unreasonable expectations never cease to grate on her. Although she's reluctantly polite in the presence of the overseers observing her development as an anti-Daemon weapon due to the punishments she is sure to receive for disrespecting them, to her peers or minor figures of authority who she does not care to acknowledge, she acts fiercely independent, wanting to claim at least some small level of freedom for herself. This can lead her to act recklessly, disregarding advice just for the sake of being contrary and doing things her way, even if it goes against her common sense.
"I just want to live for myself - to succeed and fail based on my own merits. I'm tired of being a pet who only gets to assume responsibility for her failures while others claim credit for the results of my hard work. If that's wrong of me, then so be it. I'd be more than happy to be wrong if it meant being free."

✘ Being mocked. She has a sort of rebellious pride, and hates to have her accomplishments belittled or otherwise made light of. She's only gotten where she is today through her own efforts, and if anybody wants to question that, they'll likely have a very angry, unstable water-manipulating psychic on their hands.
"Correct me if I heard wrong, but I do believe you just called me a subhuman dog who only got where she is today with the backing of the NHP. Tell me, what would you say your favorite appendage is? I'll take great pleasure in breaking it for you."

✘ Being close to other people. Due to the modifications done to her to enhance her mental potential, her formidable psychic powers are rather difficult to turn off. Consequently, she has a tendency to randomly read or influence the minds of those with whom she makes eye contact, or to catch brief glimpses of the futures of those she comes into contact with, or other such things. Similarly, when angry or despondent, she has a tendency to cause strange telekinetic phenomena close to her person that can often prove harmful to others. Therefore, to avoid hurting people or hearing their inner thoughts, she tries her best to avoid close proximity to others, and to keep from making eye or physical contact with them.
"Just shut up... Shut up! Shut up, all of you! Shut up and leave me alone...! Shut up..."


STRENGTHS:
Lorelei is certainly a very, very powerful individual - one of the few students at the Academy who is capable of wielding both Elemental and Mental Magicks. In particular, she specializes in the Mental applications of her powers, capable of most disciplines of the Medium class. Although she is incapable of utilizing curses, she is more than able to communicate telepathically, read and alter the minds of others so as to understand their thoughts and project powerful, realistic illusions that it's difficult to recognize as such due to their basis in fundamentally altering the perceptions of those who perceive them. She also possesses a sort of clairvoyant sixth sense - an omnidirectional sort of spacial awareness that allows her to recognize properties of objects according to her five senses, even when she has no means of exerting those senses at a given time. This allows her to see objects within a certain radius from a bird's eye view, recognize sounds and smells and trace their origins, and to fundamentally comprehend the texture and even the structural makeup of objects just be looking at them, as though she can "touch" each individual part of an object without actually coming into contact with it, producing a highly accurate mental image of how things are composed - if not how they function.

In particular, however, due to certain procedures done to her during her time as a lab rat, she has a much greater potential for telekinesis than almost any other psychic. With a larger range and capacity to focus her soul's "force" on objects due to her intrinsic understanding of the area around her thanks to her clairvoyance, she is capable of lifting much heavier objects with her thoughts, and controlling them much more precisely at much greater distances than an ordinary Medium.

Although perhaps not as prodigious in this field as in Mental Magicks, Lorelei does have a great deal of natural talent for controlling water. However, her ability in this area is much more limited. Water is the ONLY element she is capable of manipulating, and her abilities to summon pure energy to fuel this power are very limited, making her utterly incapable of using the impressive spells most Exorcists rely entirely on. However, what she can do, she can do well. Able to comprehend the entire structure of any water compound she is manipulating, she can control its form with unparalleled precision, down to freely altering the hydrogen and molecular bonds connecting the individual molecules of the water she controls, giving it whatever properties she needs. So, while most water-manipulating exorcists would probably use some lengthy invocation that would end with dropping a glacier on their target's head, Lorelei takes a somewhat different approach. Her usual method of attacking with water is by absorbing water in the surrounding air and condensing it to the point where it is literally so dense that it behaves like a solid, taking on roughly the shape of a "sword." Then, by tightening of inter-molecular and hydrogen bonds, Lorelei can render her solid water as hard as the toughest metals, and by reducing the flat of the blade to a single molecule in width at all points and then causing its edge to oscillate rapidly, she can make the blade capable of cutting through most things with ease, as well as causing the blade to be completely invisible to the naked eye from the side, as its edge is literally too thin to be seen. Furthermore, by altering its shape, Lorelei can actually extend and contract it by absorbing water from or releasing water into the air, and puppeteer its movements at will, turning it into a variable length and size whipsword. For a final touch, she renders the edge of the blade either tremendously acidic or basic, causing it to, respectively, corrode most metals or rip apart biological matter like a hot knife through butter. So, in short, it can change length and direction at will, and cuts through just about anything it has to, and you can't even see its blade coming towards you. In short, it's a truly terrifying, not to mention dangerous, weapon. However, although it has a great deal of offensive ability, given that she can strike with it from almost any angle with very little movement on her part aside from a flick of her wrist, given that it is made of water, it requires an immense amount of concentration to maintain, and can't stand up to direct attacks, seriously limiting its utility as a shield or similar defensive measure, and forcing her to utilize her precognitive and mind-reading abilities to predict an opponent's attack patterns and continuously dodge rather than enter a direct confrontation of strength - something which she's fortunately good at, as her powerful telekinetic abilities can also be used on herself to move her quickly in defiance of laws such as friction or gravity, or to cushion herself against impacts in the event of an emergency.


WEAKNESSES:
However, although Lorelei's powers are incredibly potent, they also come with equally crippling drawbacks. Her psychic powers - her most useful asset - are generally "on" at all times, such that she has to deal with unintentionally reading the minds of those around her, or perhaps influencing their perceptions with minor illusions based on her emotions. So, for example, if she was upset, she might unintentionally make herself invisible, or if she was angry, she might suddenly become a looming, imposing silhouette with glowing red eyes, or something similarly threatening. Furthermore, she sometimes has random out of body experiences, or unexpectedly gets little glimpses of the futures of people or things she touches. And, perhaps most alarmingly, sometimes unintentionally exerts telekinetic forces on random things in her vicinity whenever she has a lapse in her emotional control and grows particularly angry or sad, throwing random objects in her area into walls, or sometimes even at people.

Speaking of her telekinesis, although it's tremendously powerful compared to a normal Medium's abilities, it does have a major flaw. Namely, it's tremendously difficult to focus on moving more than one thing at once, making it near impossible for her to manipulate any more than one object with any semblance of precision or power. Thus, although her weight limit is considerably higher than that of most psychics, she lacks the talent to precisely control multiple smaller objects.

Her elemental magic, meanwhile, lacks power, making its incredible precision and her own ingenuity the only way she can overcome a truly strong opponent, as without any flashy, major spells at her disposal, all the weapons she really has at her disposal are those she can create using her "water solidification" strategy, as energy based or otherwise non-water magic is completely beyond her.

Finally, physically, she's very agile and flexible, facts which are only aided by her ability to telekinetically control her own body for greater precision. However, she lacks any sort of significant upper body strength, as although she's in good shape, her training focused more on honing her psychic powers rather than the properties of her physical body - another reason why, save with the aid of her telekinetic powers, it's very difficult for her to actually shield herself from incoming attacks, forcing her to resort to evasive, hit-and-run tactics instead.

Furthermore, her pride and hatred of losing, while they make her a very determined combatant, also make it very difficult to convince her to retreat, even when she's outmatched. Without the assistance of a more levelheaded commander to keep her recklessness in check, it's quite likely that she would get herself into a great deal of trouble. Of course, having somebody giving her orders raises a whole new difficulty, as unless she were to trust the person in question, she'd probably disobey them just to assert herself under most circumstances. Consequently, she's not much of a team player, and should be looked after carefully at all times to ensure she doesn't get herself into a situation she can't handle.

This extends to her personal life as well, as even if she's suffering inside, she is loath to ask somebody else for help, save under the most dire circumstances when she has no other option. Anyone who would be close to her must be willing to tolerate her secretive, my-business-is-my-business-and-mine-alone attitude, yet at the same time ready to catch her if she falls, thus necessitating a certain level of willingness to assist her without actually forcing that help on her, and thus damaging her pride. She's a confusing person to be sure, and it takes a very specific sort of individual to deal with her.


PERSONALITY:
Lorelei is... complicated. On the one hand, she's bitter, jaded, and cynical, viewing other people are, for the most part, either incompetent idiots who couldn't even help themselves if their lives depended on it, or self-interested, dishonorable bullies who just use other people as puppets without any consideration for their well being. Resigning herself to her lonely fate as a tool forged solely to exterminate Daemons, she has decided to simply perform her duties to the best of her abilities to protect the masses, as she'd rather the world be populated by honest idiots than disingenuous villains. Although she looks down on those around her, however - showing respect only to those she has to and generally pushing away those who don't fit that description in favor of acting according to her own interests and wishes - any show of virtue or kindness in her direction does earn the one who makes such a gesture a sort of grudging respect in her eyes, simply because she's stopped expecting she'll be treated in such a way.

Deep down, she's a kind enough person, but she's stopped expecting humans to be honest about what they want and why, and stopped assuming others will actually care about how their fellow man feels. But although she styles herself as a realist and those less cynical than herself as naive, in truth, she hates the world as she sees it, and wishes it would change. It is for this reason, and this reason alone, that she strives with such determination to fulfill her assigned purpose, embracing her role as an instrument of battle even though she hates it. She hopes that somehow, once the Daemons are exterminated, peace and order may be restored, and the world will no longer be governed solely by the self-interested agendas of those in power. But although she dreams of a better world, she's long since ceased viewing such a thing as a possibility. But, even so, there is one dream she'll never let go of.

Quite simply, she wants people to acknowledge her and treat her as a human being, rather than as a mere tool for her makers. But, due to her abrasive demeanor and tough exterior, it's unlikely anyone who views her as a person would see her as anything short of a headache. Sadly, she hasn't learned the finer points of expressing her emotions, and consequently, usually ends up sending mixed messages in a vain attempt to hide her shame. So, to those she doesn't know, she ends up seeming inconsiderate, and to those whom she's willing to ease up a bit around and actually tolerate the company of, she still seems intolerable due to her self-centeredness and inability to trust others enough to show them how she really feels. The fact that she usually knows exactly what people she talks to are thinking doesn't exactly help, as she judges lies very harshly, and isn't afraid to call others on what shortcomings she perceives from unintentionally reading their minds, viewing it as their just desserts for making their thoughts so intolerably loud and bothering her with them in the first place.

Even so, she hates hearing the voices of others, abhorring the fact that her powers remind her daily of exactly how pathetic and low human beings can be. Hence, when she's not trying to actively push others away from her both due to her cynicism and trust issues, she's avoiding them as much as she herself can so as to avoid hearing their thoughts. This is where her love of music comes in, as by blaring it loudly in her headphones and shutting out the world, she can generally quiet down the voices of other people that she "hears" at random.

And, if one can get past her harsh exterior - a shell erected to push away the world and thus protect her from being harmed by others, their cruel desires, and their ruthless system - they might find that, once they've gained her trust, it will be very difficult to lose it. She's undyingly loyal to those who would defy her cynical view of the world, as she herself desperately hopes to have her twisted ideology proven wrong. And, driven by a sense of honor, to those who would lower themselves to show kindness to her, she will in turn show her own affection - although she may not admit it.

On a final note, the two sides of her personality are both rather... shocking... in how different they are from one another. On the one hand, her true character is that of a rude, tsundere cynic, and yet, in the presence of authority she has no option but to respect, that all changes. Suddenly, she becomes a model of understated behavior, standing rigidly at attention like a career soldier, responding quietly and politely to all questions, and doing what she is asked without hesitation. She's been trained to know when to follow orders, and to know what will happen when she doesn't. Even so, that doesn't make it any less shocking when she goes from acting like a calm and emotionless soldier when in the presence of her handlers to her disrespectful attitude towards anyone she feels doesn't deserve respect. Overall, she's a confusing case, and certainly a difficult person to deal with for anyone who isn't willing to spend time and effort earning her trust.


BIOGRAPHY:
Orphaned as a young child during a Daemon attack, the girl now known as Lorelei was one of the lucky few who managed to board a refugee ship back to her home city of Leviathan. She was less fortunate, however, when it came to acquiring lodgings there. Nobody had room for an extra child to manage, nor did they have any interest in caring for a traumatized orphan. But, as it turned out, the government of Leviathan had a keen interest in unwanted children like her - valuable test subjects who nobody would notice disappearing, and who had no power to resist the authority of the research and development wing of the state. Taken off the streets and offered a home, clothing, food, and water in exchange for "serving her country" as a valuable lab rat, she had little choice but to accept or starve.

And so, she was slowly forced to conform to a rigid set of restrictions, like a soldier might expect to be broken in to his new position as a subordinate. Mandated to treat her superiors with the utmost respect, to never ask questions, talk back, and resist, failure to comply with her strict new disciplines was met with denial of food and water until she finally gave in. Although proud, the nameless experiment knew when to quit on certain issues, at least. And so, bit by bit, she was tested to determine her specializations, until finally, the day came when the researchers in charge of her decided to try pushing her limits a little bit.

Having come into possession of the remains of a Daemon that attacked the soul of a human rather than its physical body, they had obtained a way to "pull" on the limits of a person's very soul. In exchange for extreme pain on the part of the subject, the researchers found that they could actually strip off tiny fragments of the girl's soul, wait for her energy to slowly replenish itself, then splice back on the energy they had removed, thereby increasing her total capacity for psychic power. Fortunately for Lorelei, she wasn't the only subject in this program, nor was she the last - and so when researchers discovered that overusing this process caused side effects that were anything from losing one's identity, memories, and ability to think entirely to tearing one's own body apart with uncontrollable telekinesis, it was reluctantly reigned in, such that Lorelei was only "enhanced" - for a certain definition of the term - within relatively non-harmful limits. Although her powers were still nearly uncontrollable in their strength, the process hadn't gone far enough as to erase her identity completely, or to make her telekinesis so strong as to be self-destructive. However, it was at this time that she forgot her name, and who she had been before coming to the lab - a fact which overjoyed her handlers, who now had a much more compliant subject at their disposal - or at least, so they had hoped.

In reality, Lorelei, as she had now forgotten her past self, found no other option but to serve. But, far from doing so willingly, she knew full well from reading the minds of her overseers what they had done to her, even if she herself couldn't remember it. And, for the unforgivable crime of stealing her very identity from her, she vowed never to trust anyone again if that trust might lead her to be hurt as she had been.

Nevertheless, she had no choice but to follow the whims of her handlers - and so, when they mandated that she attend the academy to further improve her powers, she could only accept, take the possessions that were allowed her, and report for training there...




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WEAPONS:
The small crystal woven into her hair is actually a magic amplifier that helps her channel her water magic. Similar, much smaller crystals are woven into her blouse and tunic, forming many of the azure lines and ribbons that criss-cross the otherwise black-and-white ensemble. These crystals function by storing water into which she's already poured a great deal of energy, meaning that in an emergency situation where she doesn't have access to water, she can also use this hyper-compressed water, as well as similar substances kept in vials in the pack on the back of her belt - shown in the pictures to the right - to fight.

As for an actual weapon she wields to strike foes, the only such thing she possesses is the whip sword she creates using her powers.


MAGICK:
Primarily Mental, but also Water-element Magick.

SKILLS:
Being charged with keeping her quarters in strict order, and due to the laboratory she was raised in, Lorelei is a very cleanly person. Everything at her disposal is always well kept, and in good order. Also, due to her lack of experience with decent food, now that she's partially out from under the thumbs of her handlers, she has started learning how to cook - although this, like her collection of plushies, is an embarrassingly feminine thing that she hides due to its clashing with her tough image - and is actually getting pretty good at it. And, from listening to music all the time, she's also gotten surprisingly good at singing - no surprise here, she keeps this a secret too.

MISCELLANEOUS:
Due to not having the chance to peruse many books in the lab where she was raised, she's actually nearly completely illiterate. Fortunately, she can just read the minds of those around her if there's any text she needs to understand, but it still frustrates her to no end.

Her strangely two-toned hair is one of many side-effects of some of the soul-warping experiments she underwent. She likes the weird image it gives her, since it flies right in the face of the obsessive order and uniformity enforced by her caretakers, and so chose her current attire to accentuate her already... unique... appearance.

Her Theme Songs are Die Lorelei, by the Doujin music group SOUND HOLIC, and Nano's cover of Rolling Girl.

So begins...

NHP-S17 "Lorelei"'s Story

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Noel Audrey Rose Character Portrait: Asher Donovan Character Portrait: Maddox Forester Character Portrait: Caesar Minamoto Character Portrait: Nina Sasami Character Portrait: NHP-S17 "Lorelei"
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#, as written by Feyblue
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"Report to the research center in the West Wing." That was what they'd told her to do. She'd felt her heart sinking at these commands, as she'd been hoping that she'd finally get the chance to live in an ordinary dormitory environment, instead of a whitewashed lab with cameras watching her every move and coat-wearing researchers staring at her all day, governing every second of every day of her life. When she wasn't practicing her powers in their strict training regimen, she was undergoing new tests to explore the limits of her abilities, and exceed them. It was an exhausting, merciless routine that left her utterly burned out at the end of every day, with no freedom to do any of the things she enjoyed. "Just deal with it," they had said dismissively. "We need to remain closeby to monitor your vitals at all times so you don't suffer the same fate as Subject 13. Too much money has been put into your creation for failure to be tolerated." Ah, Subject 13 - the Sword of Damocles they hung over her head at the slightest provocation. Having read the minds of her handlers, she had seen in full detail the gory fate suffered by her predecessor as her body crumbled and warped, bones snapping and turning to dust, eyes spewing blood as her skull collapsed in on itself as though an invisible hand had crumpled it like a wad of used tissue paper. That was the fate that awaited her, they said, if they were not hovering over her shoulder for 24 hours of every day of every week, monitoring her powers and "protecting" her from herself.

It was all hogwash, of course, mused the girl, brushing back some errant strands of her two-toned hair as she strode calmly through the main hall of her new school, the fluttering of her entourage's coat tails ringing in her ears as the scientists flanking her on either side continued leading the way to her new prison. The girl known as Lorelei had read enough of the minds of her handlers to know that her powers had not, nor would they ever advance to that volatile stage. But that didn't stop them from using that as an excuse, as though they thought she was too stupid to remember anything. Then again, in a way, maybe they were right about that. Who had she been, she wondered. Why had she ever agreed to sign her rights over to the researchers who now governed every aspect of her life? She was sure there had been some important reason, that she'd had no other choice. She just wished she could remember what that reason was. Maybe then, this tiring, ruthless tedium would be a little more bearable.


"Is that the NHP representative? She looks so young." Lorelei grimaced, gritting her teeth as the intrusive voice burrowed its way deep into her consciousness, countless others joining it as the students bustling about stopped to gawk at what they must have viewed as a new and interesting plaything.

"Look at her, just strolling in with her escorts like some sort of wannabe princess."

"I've seen her type before. She's probably a total bitch."

"'Next generation of humanity,' my ass. Just 'cause a lot of money's riding on her she waltzes in here like she owns the place. We worked hard to get where we are, you know. Some no-talent fake human who thinks she's all that just because her creators' connections can get her anywhere has no place here. Go back to Leviathan, you arrogant slut."

"WHO SAID THAT?!" Snapping at last, she stopped suddenly, rounding upon where she thought the voice had been coming from as her hands clenched into fists. Her hair began to flutter wildly on an eldritch breeze as her narrowed eyes glowed with their own internal azure light, darting from one face to the next as she tried to find the source of the voice that had so insulted her. How dare they claim that she had done nothing to get where she was. She'd been fighting to survive each and every day of her life! But more than just that... she wasn't a fake! She knew she had once been a person. She had been a Human like them! She must have been!

"What the hell? Who does she think she's talking to?"

"Is she alright in the head?"

"What a total psychopath."

"Oi, NHP goons! Keep your bitch on a leash!" Shouted a voice from amidst the crowd, which was echoed by several more a moment later as mocking laughter resounded all around her...




Lorelei's eyes snapped open where she lay. That dream again. Well, less of a dream than a memory, she supposed, sitting up in her bed, glancing across the room at the far wall, staring into the blank whiteness of the featureless room surrounding her, its otherwise blinding color reduced to a mere dull gray by the deadened lights of the laboratory bedroom. Ever since she'd arrived, things had been largely the same. People either avoided her out of fear of interacting with a "lunatic," or mocked her between one another, either unaware of or unconcerned by the fact that she knew full well what they were saying. The voices were always so loud, each and every one of them either mocking or pitying her. It just made her want to scream, to throw their insults back in the faces of the ones who so smugly mocked her. But it was pointless. The voices never stopped talking, never stopped insulting her - and she hated it.

She groaned, stretching her arms as she tried to shake off the stiffness that had overcome her body after spending the night atop the small white "bed" - more of a glorified, expandable couch, really - that provided her "room" - more of a glorified cell, really - with one of its two sole furnishings. Well, she supposed it could be worse. At least she had a bed, and that certainly beat spending her nights strapped to an operating table with electrodes probing her brain for the slightest hint of psychic activity, countless syringes full of sedatives ready and waiting to be pumped into her should her powers ever go out of control, all alone in the darkness with her body aching and her thoughts a mess. It was probably for the best that she couldn't remember much of that period of her life - although what she did recall nevertheless made up a good portion of her nightmares. She supposed she'd been lucky to simply dream she was being humiliated, rather than experimented on.

Crossing the tiny chamber in a few quick strides, her feet making naught but a faint shuffling against the frigid, infuriatingly pristine white floor, Lorelei idly swung open her wardrobe - the other bit of furnishing in her humble abode, a large, gaudy mahogany object which looked almost hilariously out of place against the monochromatic backdrop of the lab - and, reaching inside, withdrew her "uniform." Well, technically, just the black and cerulean tabard she wore and the tie that accompanied it were actually part of the apparel she'd been assigned by the NHP, while the long-sleeved black undershirt, matching opaque tights, and short, half-blouse, half-dress she wore were all her own personal additions to her attire. Placing all these things on her couch, she turned, slipping out of the flimsy, backless white nightgown she wore and casually throwing it across the room into a hamper in the side of the still-open wardrobe. Standing bare at the center of the small room, she turned, spreading her arms like a conductor, then sweeping them upward, the azure crystal that she'd taken out along with her uniform shattering outward into a large mass of floating water that washed over her in an instant, wrapping itself like a raiment around her and running over her form, precisely darting into each pore and clearing it in turn in what was equal parts morning practice and self-grooming ritual - although she had a sneaking suspicion that the only reason she'd been allowed to use her magic to clean herself was because the surveillance team enjoyed the free show they got over the cameras. Ensuring that her aura of water covered her most important parts from the angles at which her sixth sense helpfully reminded her the cameras were positioned in at all times, Lorelei concluded her little bath by purging all the water that still clung to her pale skin, running it up and through her hair, sending a two-toned cascade of raven and snowy tresses fluttering outward as though caught on a powerful breeze, before the water at last morphed back into its crystalline form, weaving itself back into her hair as she picked up the clothing she'd left on the couch. She was just about to set about getting dressed when the door snapped open with an audible hiss as the sealed environment of her room decompressed slightly - she still thought vacuum sealing the doors as a defense against any sort of germs contaminating her sleeping environment was a little excessive, but she supposed that her handlers couldn't afford their valuable test subject catching cold if they could help it.

Turning to face the intruder, Lorelei almost forgot to conceal her scowl as her eyes met those of Dr. Bessiger, the right hand man to the chairman of the NHP, and her personal handler and commanding officer. He was a tall man, and surprisingly young for an individual of his status and expertise. He possessed a heavily built, study physique that suggested he'd probably done his fair share of physical activities in the past, which, when combined with his formidable height, gave him a very imposing stature that most people couldn't help but be cowed by. His blonde hair was short, cut very methodically around his eyes and ears, and trimmed with the same obsessive zeal along the back of his neck, while his midnight blue eyes gazed coldly over the top of his spectacles. From the precise crease in each leg of his slacks to the pristine cerulean suit he wore, he was the perfect image of order. Lorelei forced back the bile that crept its way into her throat as this man, her eternal tormentor, stepped calmly into the room, his eyes sweeping over her naked body with all the interest one might have expected someone to show some small, insignificant animal's carcass. In his expression alone, he made it abundantly clear that he, unlike the watchers on the 24 hour cameras she lived with, didn't view her as a fellow Human being, even if only in the sense of a slave to be leered at. To him, she was nothing but a tool.

"Good," he said coldly. "You're awake."

"Did your parents ever teach you how to knock?" Lorelei wanted to say, but stifled herself out of fear, simply turning herself about, standing rigidly at attention, and placing her right hand over her heart in salute - a gesture which, fortunately, had the side effect of covering her sensitive regions with the clothing still draped over her arm. "Yes, master," She replied dutifully, her voice cold and stoic as she tried her hardest not to spit the hateful word by which she was forced to refer to him, her maker, and her unmaker should she ever set a single foot out of line. This was the man who controlled her very fate, and if she did not remember that and show him the utmost respect and humility, the things he could do to her or have done to her would make starving to death on the streets or being devoured by Daemons seem merciful by comparison.

Dr. Bessiger gave a self-assured half-smirk, stopping in front of her and reaching out a hand, placing two fingers upon her chin and slowly, forcefully raising it by several degrees. Lorelei winced as she fought back the impulse to lash out at him, to release her powers and fling him away, his chilling, powerful touch sending chills down her spine of a sort far colder than the brisk air of the lab against her bare flesh. Her azure eyes reluctantly rose as she looked up - or perhaps the matter of note was that he had deigned to look down on her? - meeting the midnight blue gaze of her handler, her creator, her owner, the man who held everything she was in the palm of his hand, and who would shape her, like a dollmaker might give form to a doll, in whatever way he pleased. Lorelei hated those eyes, loathed them with every fiber of her being, despised the way they seemed to pierce like daggers through her, dismantling her and laying her bare before them, her individuality stripped away by their cold awareness as her very self was reduced to mere data, reflected in the eyes of that terrifying man who held absolute power over everything she had been, was, and ever would be.

"Look me in the eye when you speak," Ordered the doctor, his voice that of a disapproving father to a petulant child, commanding the respect of his rude and arrogant creation.

"Yes, master," Lorelei repeated obediently, her words utterly void of any of the feelings or emotions whirling through her terrified brain, containing nothing save the blind respect and acceptance that the doctor demanded. She was barely able to muster even this sort of empty, mechanical speech, her breath nearly choking in her throat as she spoke the words she so hated for a second time, her eyes unable to escape the gaze of those horrible blue orbs that dominated her vision, staring down at her with soul-crushing intensity. Finally, as suddenly as he had forced her to meet it, the man broke off his gaze, giving a self-satisfactory nod to himself as he released her chin and turned, walking casually to the opposite edge of the room, shutting the still-open door of her wardrobe as he passed it out of obsessive-compulsive fervor. Lorelei gave a silent gasp of relief, sucking in the breath that had been stolen from her when those eyes had met her own.

He had to be there for a reason. The doctor never interacted with her so personally unless he had something he wanted her to do. The sooner she could figure out what exactly that thing was, the sooner he might leave her in peace, the sooner she might escape from his hateful presence, even if only temporarily. And so, her words still devoid of any feeling save obedience, she spoke.

"What is it that you wish of this unit, master? I will obey," She said humbly, making sure to avoid speaking with any pretense of humanity before this man who refused to accept her as such.

"Well, aren't we eager?" Laughed the doctor quietly. There was nothing outwardly malevolent about his laugh. Unlike the cackling villains in cliche films, his mirth was expressed in a thoroughly ordinary, perhaps even understated manner. But to Lorelei, that only made it all the more terrifying, as it presented the possibility that this man was really nothing but an ordinary person doing his job - and that just so happened to entail commanding her very destiny, and crushing it beneath his boot heel if such measures became necessary. "In that case, you'll be pleased to know I have good news. You've finally been reassigned."

The experiment's eyes widened as her mind processed these words. Reassigned? Her last teacher had been killed practically on the same day he'd been charged with her instruction. As a result, she'd ended up spending most of her time in the lab running tests like always, waiting for the opportunity to be assigned once more to a group so as to improve her skills and run missions. She'd never actually been part of a major operation, nor had she participated in actual combat against a wild, powerful Daemon. The closest she came to having real battle experience was fighting some of the captured Daemons brought to Leviathan for training purposes - although she supposed any battle where you ran a risk of dying couldn't exactly be called anything but "real." If she was finally being reassigned, then that would mean her first chance to actually perform the duties for which she'd been created, and to destroy the Daemonic invaders. Forgetting her fear for a moment, she gave a smile of surprise - yet this soon collapsed when she remembered what else being assigned to a group would mean - she'd have to work with her peers, most of whom at the very least knew her, and, more often than not, either thought she was insane or simply despised her for the manner in which she'd entered the academy. Her expression of delight swiftly turned to a grimace. Still, she supposed, it would be better than staying here in the lab, where this man had absolute command of every aspect of her life. Besides, she'd long since learned to stop hoping for anything she knew she wouldn't get, so there was no sense in getting worked up over it. She would simply fulfill her duties. Then, at least, she would be blameless, even in the eyes of the peers who so looked down on her. "When shall I begin?" She asked quietly.

"Today, in one hour. You'll be in class designation 2-2-1-3, on the second floor. Hurry up and make yourself presentable, then report to your new teacher. That is all." Rounding on the door, the Doctor left just as suddenly as he had entered, and her room sealed itself once again in his wake. She sighed, too flustered by her fear, confusion, anxiety, and anticipation to care about the cameras watching her as she set about dressing herself, slipping into the sleeves of her undershirt and blouse before fastening on her tabard and pulling on her customary pair of tights. Brushing back her hair, she snapped shut the bindings on her shoes, and turned for the door. This was it. This was the day she'd been waiting for.

She opened the door, and stepped outside.




The school was as noisy as it had been the last time she'd been outside of the lab - about a month ago when she'd finally been given some free time, although what she'd been expected to do with this break, exactly, she still wasn't sure - but she shut it out as best she could, blasting loud pop-rock from some no-name artist in her headphones as she walked briskly through the halls of the academy, trying to find her way to her new classroom. Unfortunately, given that she couldn't exactly read, checking a map was out of the question, and she didn't want to take off her headset to read somebody's mind for directions for fear of being bombarded by the thoughts of those around her. The last thing she needed was to make another scene on the first day of her new start. There couldn't be too many classrooms in the first hallway of the second sector of floor 2, so finding the third one shouldn't have been too difficult - if she could just find sector 2. She was so caught up in her frustration that she almost missed the sign overhead with some text she couldn't understand and a 2 on it. Huh. That was easier than she had expected, she mused, turning off her music now that the crowds had thinned somewhat and placing her headphones back around her neck. A short while of searching later, and she found herself in the classroom - and she wasn't alone. Already, several other students were present, as was a slightly unkempt man who was evidently their teacher. Walking purposefully up to the man at the desk, she supposed it would be best to make a good impression, if only to avoid the scolding that Dr. Bessiger would invariably give her if she failed to. So, acting as she had been taught, she placed her right hand over her heart in salute, standing rigidly at attention as she reported her presence and gave a brief introduction.

"Subject 17 of the New Human Project, reporting for duty. This unit's designation is 'Lorelei.' This unit will follow all instructions provided, sir," She said quietly, her voice and expression a blank, unfeeling void as she had been taught. Her introduction completed, she gave a rigid bow, and then swiftly moved away to the far corner of the room, finding an empty desk far from the other occupants of the area, so that the voices of their minds might not reach her so easily. Staring into space, she tried her best to just ignore whatever snippets of their "voices" she did hear, not wanting to know what they already must have thought of her for fear that it might cause her to snap and forgo the disciplined exterior she had practiced for so long...

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Noel Audrey Rose Character Portrait: Asher Donovan Character Portrait: Maddox Forester Character Portrait: Nino Mitsuki Character Portrait: Caesar Minamoto Character Portrait: Nina Sasami
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One hand tightened around the grip on her spirit sword, blood dripping between her fingers; the other clenched on her shoes so as not to leave dirty foot prints in the hallway of the beautiful dorm. Nino's whole body was shaking from exhaustion, her fae hovering around her in case she passed out and he needed to call for help. The daemon had been three times her size and had devoured two others by the time she had gotten to it, the memory of their screams still fresh in her mind was enough to break the fragile line she was walking on.

Nino opened the door to her room and collapsed in the entryway, her knees digging into the plush carpet of the luxurious room she had recently been upgraded to. She threw her equipment into the large space and screamed, thrashing about in a fit of anger and horror. Her familiar, a fae about the size of a five year old, knelt at her side, his crystal wings drooping with heartache. It was her fault they were dead, if she had just been a bit faster then the poor souls would still be walking on this earth. "Hey, it's okay. You did everything you could," his soft fluttery voiced reach her ears as tears licked her eyelashes and slowly snaked their way down her cheeks. Nino army crawled the rest of the way into her dorm and slammed the door shut, her whole body still shuddering.

"Go home," Nino whispered to the fae and used the wall to bear her weight as she pulled herself up. Avoiding her spirit sword and bag Nino walked over to the bathroom and began pulling off her dirty clothes, throwing them into a laundry basket that would be neglected until the end of the week. The familiar refused to relent and sat on the edge of the table in her room. "Mitsuki," he said seriously, using her last name in an attempt to pull her attention away from the temptation of a shower. "What!" Nino snapped, she just wanted to forget about it. First their home room teacher, now those two humans. Who else would die before these damn daemons were wiped off the face of the earth! He flinched and jumped off the table, touching her leg lightly. He had gotten so big; when the two first contracted he was about the size of a dragonfly. "You can't just go around skipping classes and killing every daemon in sight, it won't bring back your professor or your d-" Nino slammed the washroom door shut and turned the shower onto full blast.

When the hunter emerged he was still there, playing cards with her second familiar. It was a rarity to see both of them in the same room, especially since Nino had only summoned one and had since ordered him to return home, but that was a familiar for you. Always showing up when you least expected or wanted it. A knock coming from the entryway drew her attention away from the two on the floor and Nino carefully maneuvered around them wearing nothing but a towel, avoiding her strewn belongings and trying not to get the carpet too wet.

"Mitsuki Ninomya, your home room has been changed to Second floor room, 2-2-1-3, you will now report to Superior Professor Asher Donovan during your mornings here at Anthemia, do you have any inquires?"

"No, but thank you for informing me." She knew they were artificial, but Nino also believed that deep down the AI's had some sort of intelligence and so the hunter tried to be as polite as possible in case of an android overthrow. Call her paranoid but Nino did not want to be enslaved by some machine in the future. "Alright you two time to go home, I have class." She turned towards the two fae who were giving her questioning looks. Celina, the female and yet less feminine of the two stood up and walked in a circle around Nino before shaking her head and disappearing without so much as a goodbye or thank you for the power bars she had half devoured and left on the table. Miki, the more likable one ran over and threw his arms around Nino, lightly touching the contract on her stomach through the towel. "If you need any help don't hesitate to summon me." He said and ran back towards the pile of playing supplies in an attempt to clean up the mess Celina had left.

Nino shook her head and went to the closet in the bedroom, meandering through the hangers of stuff she had brought from her home in Leviathan and purchased with the plastic card in her wallet. Eventually Nino decided to face the day and walked to the classroom after bearing the torture of her psychometry and munching on a power bar as she went. "2-2-1-3," the female sung in a breathless whisper and turned the knob with the correct room number.

The Professor was nothing like she had expected, their last home room instructor had been so prim and professional looking and this man was... Neither. "Excuse me for my untimely fashion, I was a bit held up this morning." Nino said quickly and took a seat beside a familiar face.

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Noel Audrey Rose Character Portrait: Asher Donovan Character Portrait: Maddox Forester Character Portrait: Nino Mitsuki Character Portrait: Caesar Minamoto Character Portrait: Nina Sasami
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"Lasiere, Vance, your home room has been changed to second floor room, 2213, you will now report to Superior Professor Asher Donovan during your mornings here at Anthemia, do you-"

"Shut the hell up." Vance shoved the android aside with a gloved palm and walked past it, ignoring its insistent dialogue as it continued to talk in spite of his blatant order and the fact that he was now a good distance away from it. Just another reason to add to the list of things that make androids irritating, if it could get any longer. He pulled back his sleeve and glanced at his watch as he walked, keeping his peripheral vision wide alert as he did so. Sure, it was just the school campus, but being raised in a place with no hospitality to speak of ingrained certain habits into you and that was one of them. Even when he appears relaxed and laid back, he never lowers his guard - a sense of safety gave him no comfort so he only found peace in wariness and suspicion, whatever little grounds for it there may be. He'd more or less memorized the entire layout of the academy so he made his way to class in no time, opening the door and taking a look at who he'd be sharing his morning hours with, cramming his hands into his coat pockets as he took a cursory look around at the new faces.

Vance's eyes shifted toward Maddox. First we have...glasses guy. He looks like a little twig that could break with a slight breeze, I at least hope he's as smart as he looks. Doesn't look the kind to talk much, either. Hm, maybe we'll get along, but I won't have my hopes up. His attention moved over to Noel. And this one...looks like the annoying, pushy type, the kind of person without perspective that won't take no for an answer. We'll see. The next one he settled on was Nina. What's this pipsqueak doing here instead of some elementary school? I really don't want to have to deal with that, moving on. He looked toward Nino. Well, this one looks normal enough. Seems like something's bothering her though, and I'm going to take a quick guess that it's a time bomb waiting to go off, but hey, maybe I'll be wrong for once.

Next, Lorelei. Well, it looks like somebody clearly doesn't want to be here. She better not be one of those sulking types that try to infect everyone with their inner demons, that's something I can go without listening to. Caesar was the next in his line of sight. ...What is he doing? Pretending to be a turtle? Whatever... He turned to Robin. This guy looks totally lost. Do I even want to know? Of course I get the class full of weirdos... He shifted to Hector. Hm, this one seems to be no nonsense, I like that. But I guess I'll reserve any real judgment until he actually opens his mouth. Lastly, his eyes feel on their new teacher. So this is Asher, huh? Looks pretty sleazy to me, but I guess his reputation has to come from somewhere. This should be interesting, to say the least. Vance took a seat up front and put his arms on the table in front of him as he folded his hands together, awaiting some kind of directive as he looked straight forward. And now, another waiting game.

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Noel Audrey Rose Character Portrait: Asher Donovan Character Portrait: Willow Petra Uskose Character Portrait: Maddox Forester Character Portrait: Nino Mitsuki Character Portrait: Nina Sasami
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#, as written by toajojo
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Willow slipped out of her bed early as she did every morning. She knew there was no reason for her to get up so early in the mornings, especially since at the moment, she had no homeroom class to attend. She could not help herself though. It was such a well ingrained habit from her childhood home in Terrasis that she did not even bother with an alarm. Her mind was it's own clock. Always making sure she rose before the sun was able to greet the east horizon and went to bed before the midnight darkness consumed the skies. Her grandparents were firm believers in in the old adage, Early to bed, early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise.

Being the stickler for routine that she was, Willow began her morning rituals. She moved through the motions systematically. Tucking in the edges of the comforter, she tidied up her small futon tucked away in the corner of her decent sized bedroom. Leaning down to the well worn blanket, she took a deep breathe. Searching for a hint of her home's scent. Nothing. She let out her breathe and pushed herself up from her knees. She was not totally sure why she tried. Their scent had long since faded away.

Willow raised her slender arms above her head and stretched. Throwing her head back she let out a wide-mouthed yawn. With a roll of her shoulders, she continued with her schedule. Leaving her bedroom, she made her way into her small living room. Behind her modern grey suede couch on the opposite side from her sleek television, she kneeled once more on the wooden flooring. There, was the largest window in her entire dorm. It was where she had her indoor shrine in the midst of her small window garden.

Running her hands down her thighs she smoothed out her silk lavender night gown and then placed them flat on the cold wood. The tips of her index and middle touching as well as her thumbs. Dutifully she bent over in a most humble bow. Her forehead on her fingers and her nose to the ground. In a quiet, gentle whisper she began her daily prayers. Speaking fluently in the holy tongue of her religion.

"Lel twa jomenti al...Fo letimu el tsah tjumeni jah hun mu...
...Lel twa sjah lenti al fo letico...Ol tah lementi al tsah jutenija.
Al fo letia leja al tash...A la rey yo, ya.
Lyttie..Tu-liatua ruecies Systina et-Freyia.
Renies teal dear siesty litea...Rushes."


That particular prayer was just a short recital of words. There were much longer ones that she knew, but she chose to stick with this one usually. Just to keep her mornings quick and efficient. It covered the basics. Thanking the one who reigned sovereign over the planet and it's inhabitants for giving her life and protecting her. Apologizing for any malevolent intent that might have seeped into her heart before and asking him to cleanse her. Promising to do her best to bring others to the light. All that religious stuff.

Rising from her subservient position, she got to her feet and examined the plants in her garden. With butterfly-like touches she ran her fingers over their leaves, stems and flowers. Cataloging the progress they were making. Smiling, she spoke to them softly. Whispering sweet nothings to them as if they were her significant other. In a way, they were. Willow regarded all plants and animals as beings with close attachments to her. They all had a life force in them keeping them going day after day, for all she knew they could feel the same way about her.

With one hand, she grasped her small trimmers and set to work. Some of their vines were wrapping around her small alter. That could not do. With one Snip and another, she put the blades down and admired her handiwork. Reaching for her watering can, she carefully and loving gave each a drink. Making sure not to drown them or give them too little. Willow glanced out of the window and spotted the sun just beginning to rise. Giving the sky a strange, but beautiful mish-mash of colors. She was right on time. The best time to water your plants was right before the sun rose. It stimulated faster root growth. Well, of course she did not need to go through that whole process like others might. After all she was quite skilled in the field of nature magick. With a single stroke she could make all of these flowers bloom even if they were not in season. But she did not. One, it was against the rules to use ones magick if not in critical need of them or given specific permission. And two, she enjoyed watching them grow on their own. With her gently nourishing them, nudging them forward like a mother. It gave her a sense of pride when they finally bloomed. Putting her watering can down, she gave them one last smile before getting ready for the day.

Getting ready always took her the most amount of time. Stepping into her spacious bathroom, Willow turned on the shower and let her gown fall from her body. Getting inside, she felt her muscles relax as the heated water pelted her bare skin. Quickly grabbing her soap, she began to cleanse herself. Starting with the top of her head and hair, she made her way down. Soon enough, she was rinsed and out, wrapped snugly in a towel. One for her body and another for her hair. She slipped into one of her usual simple dresses and wiggled her feet into some tall lace-up shoes. Pulling her towel from her head she let her pale lavender hair fall to her knees. As she braided it tightly, she pondered if she should get it hair cut. Biting her lip, she shook her head to herself. No. She was too sentimental for that.

Rummaging through her compact refrigerator, she found the leftovers she saved from the night before. Throwing it in the microwave for a minute she said a quick prayer over the food and sat down to eat. It was a small meal. A glass of water, two biscuits with a honey spread, but it was filling nonetheless. When she was finished, she cleaned her already spotless kitchen and prepared to go out for the day. She needed to find something to do before her afternoon classes. Willow slid her small ocarina onto her neck, her wooden staff onto her back, and messanger bag over her shoulder.

Opening the door to enter the hallway she released a startled yelp. With it's hand poised to knock on her door was an AI. Willow placed a hand on her chest and calmed her breathing as the AI stared at her. Seemingly waiting for her to get her bearings together. She cocked her head to the side and smiled at it, a signal for it to continue on with what is was programmed to do.

"Uskose, Willow. Your Homeroom has been changed to second floor room 2-2-1-3. You will now report to Superior Professor Asher Donovan, during your morning hours at Anthemia. Any inquiries?" The artificial intelligence recited and waited for her response. Willow mulled it over before shaking her head. She was returning to class!

"No. Thank you, very much for telling me though." She replied politely. Giving the robot a shallow bow. It turned on it's heel and left her without another word. Willow, could hardly contain herself. Shutting her door behind her she sprinted down the hallways and staircases. Eager to get to her new homeroom. So it seemed that she was not being dismissed from the academy and now, she even had The Asher Donovan as her teacher.

Reaching room 2213, Willow hesitated for a moment. Her nerves chose to get the better of her right then. Curses. Taking a deep breathe, she steeled herself and pulled her immensely long and thick braid over her shoulder. Grasping the handle to the door, she twisted and pushed forward. Walking into the room gracefully, she showed no hint of her nerves. Stopping in front Mr. Donovan's desk, she bowed respectfully low. The end of her braid touched the ground and she rose. With a sweet smile, she introduced herself. "Willow Uskose. I am honored to make your acquaintance Professor Donovan."

She turned and quickly headed to a seat. Choosing one in the front row, she slid into it. Putting her satchel and staff on the floor beside her. Deciding it could not hurt to be friendly, she twisted her back and looked behind her at the boy who she was seated directly in front of (Robin) and flashed him a small, but bright smile. "Morning."

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Noel Audrey Rose Character Portrait: Asher Donovan Character Portrait: Willow Petra Uskose Character Portrait: Maddox Forester Character Portrait: Nino Mitsuki Character Portrait: Caesar Minamoto
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#, as written by Zalgo
Joe & Frank


Crash! Crunch! "2-2-'BZZZRT-1-3" Zap, Crunch.

A cacophony of metallic crushing and electronic buzzing sounds just barely reached Joe through the haze of his sleep. He slowly opened his eyes, the sunlight burning as it met with his vision. After a few moments Joe found himself where he last left himself going to bed last night: A bench out on school grounds, Frank wrapped around his area. His summon, a rather significantly large trash dragon named Frank, had just swatted a robot who had made the time old mistake of walking up to a dragon without loudly announcing itself. Then again, to the untrained optic sensor his dragon looked like little more than a trash heap when prone.

"Ah heck. They're probably gonna charge me fer that." Joe shrugged. "Ah well, don't matter none too much. Never had much a need for money. Just means I'm gonna need ta find some meals fer a bit." Lazily he picked himself off the bench and stretched. The remains of the robot were pulled into Frank. The pieces that weren't completely crushed into slag in the first hit were ground into pure junk by the shifting wood, steel and stone that comprised of it's body. Raising it's head Frank was about the size of a small warehouse in both height at the shoulder and length from nose to tail tip. With the robot slag pulled into it it was now at the cusp of it's maximum mass limit. It was not an inconsiderable creature but Joe felt it could use to be bigger, something he hoped he would figure out how to do at this school.


Despite having had barely woken up Joe recalled the numbers the flattened robot blurted out in it's last moments. "That probably somethin' important. I'd better do some sleuthin'." He concluded, walking on his way to find something corresponding with the numbers. Given their arrangement they seemed to relate closest to room numbers. Either that or it was a phone number it didn't get to finished. He'd find out soon enough.

Joe hadn't had any missions since the last teacher died and quite frankly he didn't mind all that much. The free time gave him plenty of peace and quiet but there was always those rumors that buzzed around about inactive students getting booted. He wasn't really scared of that but getting tossed out would be inconvenient. He wanted to find out as much as he needed to know from this place before ditching it like his last place and taking to the road.


When he got to the entrance to the building he looked up to Frank. The dragon's face was expressionless as it was just a bunch of garbage arranged into a dragon shaped head but he could still tell it wasn't happy with him going somewhere it couldn't fit. It was just a knack Joe picked up after all these years of living with Frank. "Look buddy, I swear I'm not going to be too far out of reach. I think the room probably has a window you can look through. I'll call 'ya over when I find it alright? Try not to wreck anything alright?" He reassured Frank. The dragon sat down and simply waited, a clear enough signal for Joe to go through with it.

Eventually he found the door with the number the robot had blurted out in it's death throes. "Well, hope I ain't wrong here." He spoke mostly to himself as he pushed his way in through the door. Inside was a rather eclectic gathering of the more unusual students. There was a teacher he didn't really know anything about and well, that was about it. He'd of cared more about the details but he didn't think it was of much importance. Simply striding through he went over and opened a window, sticking his head out. He gave a loud sharp whistle which rang out across the general area. "Yo, Frank! I found the right place!" He yelled out hoping Frank heard him. He turned away from the window a moment over towards the teacher. "This is the right place, right?" He asked, hoping he didn't just walk into a classroom uninvited and disrupt everything. That would be mildly embarrassing, nothing too bad for him though. The biggest nuisance would be having to explain himself.

The whole room shuddered with each step of it's large feet. It was a gentle rumble at first but as it got closer the room shook quite a bit as Frank parked himself right outside the window, causing one last big thud as it sat. Though it didn't seem to have eyes of any sort it's head was looking in through the windows at Joe. "See Frank, I told 'ya it was gonna be fine." He told Frank through the open window. It's blank emotionless mass of trash that he calls a head didn't change at all but Joe was sure it got the idea. With that said Joe grabbed the seat closest to the window, always welcoming a chance to sit and rest whenever he gets the chance.

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Noel Audrey Rose Character Portrait: Asher Donovan Character Portrait: Cuddy Vann Character Portrait: Willow Petra Uskose Character Portrait: Maddox Forester Character Portrait: Nino Mitsuki
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#, as written by Kapento
Cuddy Vann



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It was very strange, even still, to be this far from his sandy homeland. Cuddy, although thrilled to be at the Academy could not help but desire to see even an inch of sand once more. Just think of the sandcastles! But he'd put this behind him for now. There was more important things at hand to contend with. Such as the particular android that had been hunting down Cuddy that morning, with a supposedly important message for him, and unfortunately had found the boy hiding in an old closet. Why? Well why not dude! Where else you gonna hide?

"Vann, Cuddy, your home room has been changed to second floor room, 2213, you will now report to Superior Professor Asher Donovan during your mornings here at Anthemia, do you have any inquiries?" The android spoke in a matter-of-fact soulless voice.

"A-Ah don't think so! But if I eva' do then I'll be sure to let you know." The blonde boy answered cheerfully, his purple-y orbs glancing curiously over the talking-thing. What was it again? Android. Cuddy was still coming to grips with all the gizmos that the academy had, least of all the androids. It wasn't like he was completely oblivious to them but the little chit-chatty things were something of an annoyance to him now and again. Especially since they always managed to find him. "Oh well, ta-ta for now I guess. Next time tho' I'll win that round!"

Grabbing his things together and throwing a bag halfheartedly over his shoulder the boy made sure to be prepared for whatever came his way that day, taking a moment to double-check once more, before finally continuing on his way down the hallway. The android took it's leave and rushed off past him, Cuddy merely huffing with a shrug before walking just a little bit quicker. I better not be late or I'll look bad yo!

His hurried walk gradually shifted into a panicked run as the boy made his way to the designated classroom. Naturally, what with all the hurrying and mad-dashing, Cuddy arrived in time. With a deep breath and forced coolio demeanour the blonde lad sported his commonly used smile and stepped into the room. By the looks of it there was already a bunch load of people there before him, but he wasn't worried. Promptly walking over to the desk of Mr. Donovan the boy thought best to let his attendance be known. He sure-as-hell wasn't getting marked as absent!

"Oh, hello Mr. Donovan, sir! I'm Cuddy Vann. I hope am' not late or nothin'." With a somewhat chilled approach to his teacher Cuddy merely widened his smile in hopes of things getting off to a good start. "Well, I best be gettin' to my seat and all, a-- Oh yeah, your thee Asher Donovan? Wow-oh-wow I can't believe it! Hey I'm a real fan a--" Beneath all the rambling a quiet little inner voice deep in his head was telling Cuddy to shut-up. Needless to say it took a few more minutes before the boy took any notice. "Ah, sorry I best be goin'!"

Turning on his heel the student moved along and sat himself down on one of the seats towards the front. He hadn't really took the time to notice who exactly was in his class, but after spinning round on his seat the blonde lad eyed up all the faces near and around him, only really vaguely knowing a few. Oh well. He figured he'd get to know them soon enough anyway. For now he'd just behave himself at least.

Throwing his bag to the floor and chilling in his chair Cuddy waited to see what happened next. However, the whole lookin' cool and doin' not a lot act didn't last long. Before he knew it the boy dug out an old what-dah-call-it and was fiddling around and tinkering as always.

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Noel Audrey Rose Character Portrait: Asher Donovan Character Portrait: Cuddy Vann Character Portrait: Willow Petra Uskose Character Portrait: Maddox Forester Character Portrait: Nino Mitsuki
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#, as written by YuumanN
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For the first time in a while, the thought came to him again.

“Well, these things happen.”

Months had passed, and Lev still couldn’t think of anything more than that apathetic phrase when the image of their former teacher, killed in a mission, appeared in his mind. Admittedly, this somewhat worried him.

It had been the first time in his life a person close to him – at least in the sense that they saw each other almost every day – was taken by Daemons and, contrary to what he had initially expected, it didn’t affect him that much. It did take him by surprise when he heard the news and even got him wondering how such a tragedy could have occurred to a Huntress he had always perceived as careful and reliable, but minutes later he was more preoccupied with how he would face his numerous fees with the limited budget he received from the Academy and the following weekend he hadn’t spared a single second of thought on her.

He didn’t appear to be the only one though. Fellow Hunters seemed at a loss during the week when she died, wondering if the incident had occurred due to a malfunction, a mistake or an irregularity of a different sort, but eventually people ran out of curiosity on the matter and it was as good as settled. It made sense; they were at war and even if they didn’t have access to the exact numbers as they were still in training, students in the Academy could figure out many men and women died each day. Daemons didn’t rest or mourn, and there was no noticeable sign that their numbers were decreasing, so how could humanity spare time and resources for those who had fallen?

Still, this woman had shared wisdom with those who would become the next generation of humanity’s vanguard against Daemons to ensure its survival in the future, and in her spare time joined Hunters in the field to fight like a soldier. There was no way that such a lifestyle had left her any time to form a family of her own or pursue any ambitions. Almost her entire life, from late childhood to death, had been sacrificed to fight for humanity, which was more than the overwhelming majority of people could say, and still it was most likely that a decade from now no one would remember her face or even her name. No; that was a privilege that was saved only for those who knew when to die, made beautiful speeches to earn a cozy seat in one of the major cities’ government or, even better, were willing to print their faces on pop magazines so that a new generation of teenagers could grow up with propaganda-fueled dreams of unrealistic glory.

But
“these things happen” indeed.

Maybe what bothered Lev was the acknowledgement that, as selfish and despicable as this society that ignored the genuine devotion of a brave woman resulted to him, he would still prove exactly the same as them.

Perhaps, despite his attempts to convince himself that he was fighting for mankind and not for himself, he was scared of facing the fact that his efforts would still make him no more than a nameless soldier in history at most.

Or maybe he had too much free time to spend thinking on pointless trails of thought.


“OI! OI LEV! FUCKING OI!”

Suddenly, the surrounding background he had been pushing back in his mind brusquely recovered its colors and life; the sound of heavy machinery at work and raspy voices of middle-aged men and women screaming obscenities at each other echoed in his eardrums again and demanded his attention, prompting him to wonder how he had been able to space out in the first place. He sought the voice that called his name through the framed visor of his face shield and soon spotted a short-haired and generously bearded man he recognized as Gene, one of the more experienced workers and student supervisors.

“Sum n’droid ‘ere s’got a messige for ya or sumthin’. It’s in da way, so go lissen to it so it leaves awlready!” he said, not bothering to hide his irritation or the fact that he was in a hurry.

Lev freed one of his hands to signal an ‘ok’ to his boss, who stormed off expressing his distaste for androids in mumbles to no one in particular, making an exemplary use of the word ‘fuck’ and all its known variables plus a few others. Good guy though. Occasionally.

Putting his tools away, Lev made his way to the entrance of the Academy’s arsenal, where he had been spending all his mornings for the past few months. All Scholar students in their last obligatory year were required to complete a certain amount of hours of actual work in their discipline, among other tasks, and seeing as he already visited the arsenal with some frequency, it was no surprise he ended up resorting to it to complete his academic duties. He had actually fulfilled this requirement some time ago, but since he had no morning classes ever since the death of his home room teacher, he preferred spending his time there helping with the avalanche of work the mechanics found themselves underneath of due to the increased frequency of Hunter deployments.

Every single day there were new jeeps, tanks, boats, swords, guns, androids and ammunition to repair, upgrade or manufacture, and they were always running late. Able hands were never missing and there were no restrictions on going over the minimum service hours, so Lev’s presence was always welcomed and appreciated. Besides, this way he got to see all sorts of newly developed machinery, even if he wasn’t allowed to actually work on the most expensive ones.

He opened the entrance door and, sure enough, an android waited with infinite patience on the other side. Standing uncomfortably close to Lev, it seemed to instantly identify him.

“Keisting, Lev. Your home room has been changed to second floor room, 2-2-1-3, you will now report to Superior Professor Asher Donovan during your mornings here at Anthemia. Do you have any inquiries?”

Expecting a less relevant message, it took the young man a few seconds to process what he had heard. He checked his ancient wristwatch and briefly wondered why he would be notified in such a short notice of his new schedule, but figured his intercom, which he had left in the locker room, would be filled with messages of failed attempts to communicate with him a while ago.

“No, you can go.” He finally answered the android’s question as he remembered it was still waiting for his response without the slightest sign of apprehension, and instantly closed the door on it. The last ad Lev had heard consisted on a jingle with choreography included, which only made him feel ashamed on the robot’s behalf. Besides, some of the mechanics in the armory had taken to vandalizing the robots as a way to express their discontent when they showed up merely to promote their commercial, and if any of them saw it, it could only mean trouble for everyone.

Having no time to waste, Lev broke the news to Gene and left for his dorm, where he had to fight a mountain of broken machinery and spare parts to get to the bathroom. He showered, changed into his uniform and saved the disassembled parts of his firearms into a wheeled bag in record time, taking special care with his ‘Stingray’ sniper rifle.

Even with the heavy additional weight, he managed to keep a good pace and found his new classroom in only a few minutes despite being more concentrated on trying to remember where he had heard the name Asher Donovan rather than keeping track of where he was going. Before entering, he stationed and chained the large bag outside the class, seeing as it was too large to keep inside without it inconveniencing people. Though he did notice Noel appreciating the view through a window with a distinct air of nostalgia around her, he had no words of encouragement to share, and decided to go straight into the unknown.

As he stepped into the classroom and took in the image of his new teacher and classmates, he waited a few seconds to gather his thoughts. He finally remembered why Asher’s name seemed so familiar, and recognized his face from the cover of one of those magazines some girls around the Academy always seemed to have at hand. Although he was sure his new professor was a reliable and capable Hunter, the idea of learning under a pop idol didn’t fascinate him, and for many reasons. He then turned his attention towards the students; most of them seemed to be busy doing their own things, one of them was asleep, and there was a dragon sculpture made of trash peeking through a window
 good vibrations all ‘round.

“Mornin’” he greeted the room with an unenthusiastic tone, briefly noticing in terror that Gene's dialect was slowly rubbing off on him. “Lev Keisting.” he added when he noticed the checklist on top of Asher’s desk.

With nothing to add or comment, Lev scanned the room for a free seat and headed straight for the last row. The only ones close to being neighbors to him were Caesar and Lorelei, both having already taken the corners of the classroom and each sitting a distance of two or three desks away from him. Having nothing more to do, he sat back and patiently waited for the rest of the students to show up.

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Noel Audrey Rose Character Portrait: Asher Donovan Character Portrait: Cuddy Vann Character Portrait: Kenji Yamanaka Character Portrait: Willow Petra Uskose Character Portrait: Maddox Forester
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#, as written by Ahri
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Kenji lay sleeping on a park bench as his familiar poked at his face in an attempt to wake him up. Every once in a while a person would casually stroll on by giving strange glances towards the guy sleeping on a park bench being poked at by what seemed as a cat. This was not unlike Kenji though as he had to live this sort of a life style because of his grades. School has never been his strong suit and studying was a daemon all of it's own to fight for Kenji, and considering he never liked to study it never got easier. That combined with his lack of will to pay attention school what was not what he expected, his vision was a battle of strength and will the person who was strongest rained supreme. Sadly this was not so, intelligence and tactical styles with a mix of precision and strength all combined into making a good student. Only having half of that has kept him pretty far from the title of valedictorian.

Not to mention it also made so the fact he earned an almost minimum when it came to allowance. For a while he had been rooming with a somewhat friend it was good, but having to keep his tail a secret when rooming with someone is hard. On top of the fact that he was kicked out yesterday because Kenji has a habit of leaving a messy room and when you are told to pick up and your answer is "uh..ya...on day." While reading book you can get into a situation that you may not have wanted. That is exactly where Kenji is, reduced to sleeping on a park bench, but he has saved up a bit of money since rent was free and he ate the bare minimum keeping good track of money and what he was spending it on.

After a solid ten minutes of his face being prodded by his familiar he finally awake. Looking around he had a stupidly happy smile on his face, but after noticing where he was and feeling his back his expression turned into a part silly sad face. Standing up and having a good stretch with his spine cracking with ounce of pressure put on it. "Note to self find a place to stay and soon. Bench's equal bad for your back it seems." He said while looking at Riku.

Riku hopped onto Kenji's shoulder and they started to set off towards the city to get some food. Twenty-minutes later after a quick bite and almost getting into a brawl, which is the usual for Kenji, he returned to the bench which had turned into a semi-home for now. Just as he dropped down on to the bench and closed his eyes getting ready to go take a nap a voice was heard right over his shoulder. With a glance back an android was standing there ready to say something. "Kenji Yamanaka, your home room has been changed to Second floor room, 2-2-1-3, you will now report to Superior Professor Asher Donovan during your mornings here at Anthemia, do you have any inquires?"

Kenji looked back at the android with a puzzled face . This was either really good because now he wouldn't have to worry about being dropped from the school. Or it could be bad since this means a return to the curse of having to study or for him not studying. Snapping back to reality he turns from the android throwing up a hand as he walks away towards the school. "No, I'm fine go back to whatever you were doing." He said as if it was more of a annoyance then anything else. As he walked he tried to think of the name Asher Donovan, Kenji could have sworn he had heard it somewhere, but he couldn't recall because most likely he wasn't really paying attention so he must not be that important.

His habit of picking fights had seemed to not diminish at all almost getting into a couple brawls just on his way to school. When he got to school he noticed his nickname The Blue Devil or Monster didn't seem to go away even without him causing trouble on campus itself for sometime, though that was bound to change soon enough since he couldn't be away from fights for long. Reaching the school and it seemed as if he would finally get back to clearing this world of its evils be it the daemons or humans who would act as daemons. It didn't matter to him as long as in the end this world was a better place Kenji has no problems becoming the monster needed to accomplish that, just as he had done once before. The class room was finally in sight which hopefully he wasn't going to be the first, but not last either as he is usually late this time he may have gotten lucky because of the bench and it being a poor choice of comfort. Opening the door to the room it seemed as if their were already quite a few people inside. It didn't seem as if he was late which might be something that should be praised as his first and last time.

All his excitement to get back to school to hunt down some daemons seemed to fade the second he opened the door realizing that normal school also had a factor. He sighed looking at the new teacher with an un-entertained expression. "Hey, I'm Kenji." He said with as little effort as needed. Giving a half wave along with it he dragged himself towards the back of the class room taking a seat there. Taking his wrapped swords off his back and placing it against his desk he sat down placing his arms on the desk and resting his head on them. Still keeping his head up though so that he could check out his other classmates trying to pick out who he was going to avoid, and checking out the girls picking out the cutest. His secret technique of storing all his energy during class by putting in almost no effort so that he would have double outside and during fights was now an official go.




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Character Portrait: Caesar Minamoto Character Portrait: NHP-S17 "Lorelei"
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#, as written by MeshET
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It wasn't long before he realized that he had hid behind his 'great wall' for quite the time now, as when he put down his bag, already several other classmates had joined in. Putting down his bag on his thighs, he briefly scanned the room. There were three new classmates to be exact and they were all people that he found similar, yet absolutely no recollection of it in his memories. A fairly short purple haired girl, another girl with a long silver haired and a black haired boy, who decided to take a seat at the front of the class. But because he was only looking front, he completely missed another girl.

Caesar turned his head to the right, and found one of perhaps the rarest moment he could even have in life. She had a two toned hair, one black and the other white, the former facing him where they're sitting. She was sitting in an extremely disciplined manner, as if she went through military training but despite that, Caesar finds that she has an attractive aura around her. It could be because even though she gave off a demanding or a strong image, but he feels that something about her made him feel similar. But if anything...

She looks pretty. That was Caesar first and foremost impression. While her attire and her hair may come off as a weird combination to some, but to Caesar, it felt unique. Sure, there may be other more quirky or weird people around him, but Caesar just couldn't put her the same as those other people. The black and white combination with teal colored linings on her garb only serves to compliment her fair white skin. Caesar immediately got curious and leaned forward, trying to get a better look at the pretty girl next to him.

When he switched to another angle, the face that was blocked by the black hair previously were now visible. Her expression was a disciplined one, just like the way she sits on her chair. Her teal colored eyes, her sharp chin and her small lips were all but definitions that make her look all the more feminine. Should the girl ever decide to dispose of her tough exterior, there would be no doubt that she would be one of the most beautiful girls he'll ever meet - save for Nexus, that is. Wow... I've never met someone like her... She's pretty...

"I sense an intrusion. Someone's probably digging into your head, kid. You should be careful of what you're thinking, Caesar. Who knows what they might be plotting. The sheathed orange blade's voice rang in his head. Caesar took note of his, but he remained staring at the rare moment beside him. The blade then continued. "Well, the girl is definitely one of a kind. Judging the powers emitting from her, she's probably one of 'em water exorcists. I don't like those kinds. They make me sick." Then, in order to silence the annoying brother, the two guns at Caesar's waist spoke up as well. "Didn't you say there was someone trying to listening in on Caesar's mind? Stay quiet or they'll know of our existence, you idiot. Also, Caesar, dear, don't stare at the girl too much. She might notice it and think that you're weird."

Just as Nexus said that, Caesar realized what he was doing and quickly shrunk back to his seat, holding his back tightly to his chest. I hope I didn't make a bad impression... I can't help but feel attracted to her... If Nexus was in her human form, she would be patting his head now. The blade, Nefarius, should be attempting to say something now, but Nexus immediately stopped him, blocking the signal of Nefarius' messages from reaching Caesar's mind. For the moment, they both decided to stay quiet and left Caesar alone. The girl was one of the few people that Caesar pays extreme attention to, and if things work out, maybe the girl can help Caesar express more of himself and perhaps kill Caesar's shyness.

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Character Portrait: Caesar Minamoto Character Portrait: NHP-S17 "Lorelei"
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#, as written by Feyblue
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The young psychic, for her part, had been trying her best to ignore everybody else in the room while not seeming inattentive to the teacher's actions - after all, the last thing she wanted to do was miss her instructor's orders and be seen as a disinterested egotist by a figure of authority who would doubtless be obligated at some point to give a report to her supervisor - that man she so despised, Dr. Bessiger. However, without her headphones to drown out the noise, several voices began to force their way into her mind, different murmured words from countless different students pouring into her unwilling consciousness, blending together into a completely unintelligible stream of half-sentences, images, and vague emotions. Lorelei gritted her teeth, trying to ignore the ever-rising cacophony of thoughts that assaulted her, when suddenly, a single voice, closer, much clearer than the others spoke out, its quiet, awestricken tones drawing her attention to it simply by virtue of the fact that she could understand it. The moment she focused her attention on this voice, all other sounds ceased, as though drowned out by those murmured words.

"Woah... I've never met someone like her. She's pretty..."

Lorelei's eyes rose up from where they had been focused blankly ahead, slowly peering to the right to see whose thoughts, exactly, she had begun to read. An image of herself displayed through the eyes of another emerged as she followed the source of the words that had suddenly caught her attention, drawing her to focus on the boy sitting next to her, watching him out of the corner of her eye as he continued to stare at her, seemingly transfixed. "He seems... young..." The psychic mused to herself, somewhat surprised by how he looked. Granted, this was a school for aspiring warriors, and she had no doubt that his actual age was somewhere close to her own, but his appearance nevertheless evoked a somewhat deceptively childlike image that belied the darkness deep within his red-brown eyes. His hair was a dusty brown shade, like a maple leaf just beginning to redden with the onset of fall, while his skin was tanned from the light of the sun in some places, and yet still remained pale and fair. Actually, with his soft-looking face and small size, he almost seemed like a girl, considering his rather pointed lack of facial hair or even stubble to show that he'd once had some, and the fact that he probably wasn't much taller than she was. He had the look of somebody who'd been forced to grow up in mind faster than his body could match, with an appearance that simultaneously evoked images of a youthful teen and a homeless drifter. People like him were all too common nowadays. Yet, despite his out-of-place image, Lorelei immediately noticed a slight smile on his face, as though remaining there out of cheerful habit even though his attentions were currently elsewhere. That, she realized, was unusual for someone who was probably one of the many working orphans left in the wake of Daemon attacks. It was almost impressive, seeing a kid like him grinning after whatever events had caused him to come here with that mature look in his eyes. Lorelei grimaced slightly as she realized that she'd just been getting dangerously close to staring herself, and turned her focus back towards the far wall, flushing slightly as she continued to perceive his eyes running over her, as though he was intent on burning a hole in the side of her head.

"Huh. I wonder if he knows what I am. Probably not, considering he's ogling me as though I was a normal person. Er... He does realize he's been staring at me for the past thirty seconds, doesn't he? And that I've noticed? So why hasn't he stopped? What is he, some sort of space case?" Lorelei's eyebrow twitched slightly as she raised it in equal parts confusion and annoyance. The boy's attraction to her had provided an interesting diversion that had helped her shut out the voices of her classmates, and had thus given her some small peace of mind, but nevertheless, it was getting more than a little distracting having him leering at her, seeming intent on appraising every last aspect of her appearance without even taking into consideration the fact that she was a living, breathing person who was fully aware of his actions. She was just a few seconds away from snapping at him when, suddenly, a second and third voice rapidly reached her ears. They were indistinct, as though not meant for her, and their words nearly unintelligible, but from one - a low, booming masculine voice several decades older than the boy in whose mind it evidently resided, its words sounding like the roaring of a lion - she got a feeling of intense wariness and hostility, as though her own intrusions into his skull had been perceived, and this strange guardian was far from pleased, while the second - a gentle, distinctly feminine speaker whose words carried a lilting cadence like flowing water - merely seemed to be warning the boy that she'd noticed him. Lorelei raised an eyebrow. She knew it didn't mean much, coming from somebody who heard voices, but having two extra personalities in your head was probably a sign you had some serious problems.

Still, it wasn't any of her business. Butting into other peoples' thoughts was just asking to be singled out and derided. Her only duty was to fulfill her assigned objectives as quickly and completely as possible. Social interaction was both unnecessary and disadvantageous. So, although she had to admit that the boy's attention was certainly intriguing, responding now - especially after whatever those voices were had told him that she'd noticed - would only draw his ire. She would just ignore him, drown out his voice like she had done so many others before.

-Is what she told herself, but she found herself glancing furtively to the right again despite herself, hoping that she'd find the boy simply going back to what he'd been doing and ignoring her. It was in both of their best interest not to involve themselves with others at this juncture - and yet despite that thought, she found herself grimacing slightly with what she refused to admit was a sense of guilt as she found the boy hunched over, as though trying to hide his face in shame. Was he only trying to keep her from noticing him now, when he already knew she was onto him? She didn't even need to read his thoughts to see right through this boy. He must have been scared of what she thought of him now.

"I hope I didn't make a bad impression... I can't help but feel attracted to her..."

...Wait a minute, come to think of it, why would he care what she thought of him? Since when had her opinion meant anything to anyone? Maybe, she realized, she'd been too harsh in judging him. Even if the thought of being stared at disgusted her due to the constant fixation of the monitoring staff upon her, this boy was somewhat different, for one simple reason - he was viewing her as an attractive and interesting person, not just as an appealing object. So, even if it was probably just because he didn't know what she was, she supposed she'd forgive him for bothering her. His thoughts had been interesting enough to read, after all, and his honesty did him credit. So, Lorelei sighed silently, it seemed she would have to set things right. He had complimented her, after all, which was more than she could say for... well, pretty much anybody else she could remember ever interacting with, really.

"You know, it's kind of hard not to make a bad impression if you don't even say anything," She said at last, sounding equal parts resigned and vaguely amused as she responded to the words he'd only spoken internally. "Not to imply that I know a damn thing about social interaction, but I'm pretty sure you should at least give a woman your name before you gawk at her like you've forgotten how to move your eyes," She added, raising a finger to her own twin azure orbs, as though to say "My eyes are up here, by the way."

...Urk. Now he just looked more crestfallen than before. Had she come off as too stern? To be fully honest, she'd mostly just been trying to joke and lighten the mood a bit. The reason she'd seemed irritated was probably because she hadn't bothered to mask what frustration she did feel, not all - or even most - of which was his fault.

"Well? You were the one who started staring at me, so don't expect me to introduce myself first. I kind of like the sound of it, so if you're not going to give me anything to call you, you can just keep calling me 'Pretty' as payment," She said sarcastically, giving a faint yet smug half-smirk that went completely against her stoic countenance a moment prior. Figuring that since the teacher probably couldn't hear her from where he was, wasn't paying attention, and, even if he was, likely wouldn't care, and that she'd probably never have to interact with this boy again anyway, she might as well take the chance to amuse herself a bit without worrying about what other people thought of her. With any luck, the kid would loosen up a bit, calm down, and stop beating himself up over something she honestly didn't care all that much about. After all, compared to being monitored 24/7, being stared at for a few seconds and complimented for it was a non-issue. Either he'd probably take her jokes in stride and distance himself, or, if he decided not to take the hint and keep trying to start a conversation, she'd tell him who she really was to scare him off. Nobody wanted to associate themselves with a subhuman. She was sure that this boy would be no exception.

...Still, although she should have been relieved by the knowledge that she could poke a little fun at this boy without worrying about any further interactions with him or any opinions he might formulate, though, somehow the thought that he'd probably go from complimenting her to hating her the moment he knew who he was talking to was a little depressing. Lorelei found her momentary grin vanishing in an instant as she sighed to herself. Couldn't be helped, she supposed. That was just how people were.